makemyownluck

I have the same concerns, and really there is no definite answer on this. Some people snap back, others don't. Since I've always been heavy, I'm expecting to have excess skin. However, I've also read quite a bit about how after you lose the weight to wait a year before having surgery to remove skin because the skin can shrink up a bit if you keep toning with exercise. Again, not true for everyone - genetics plays a role as does your personal history. I already have a bunch of stretch marks - but I'll happily use Spanx than carry around the extra weight!! Good luck! I'm using Palmer's Shea Butter lotion and Bio-Oil. I'm only 3 wks post op, so I don't know how well it's working, but my skin is nice and silky feeling!

I got mine at the hospital. I just asked them for one and they brought it to me. They make lots of types - mine was pretty simple, just a long stretchy piece of fabric with velcro. I still use it occassionally, I'm 3 wks post op. It helps when I'm cleaning the house and moving a lot. When I move around for longer periods of time, I get a little achy in my belly and it really helps. Ask your doc if they would give you one in the hospital. I also got one in the hospital (a different hospital) when I had my GB taken out. It's not an uncommon thing for the hospital to provide.

JEALOUS you don't have a preop liquid diet! That was honestly the hardest part for me... it's been smooth sailing for me since surgery. I have had no complications, no nausea, no vomiting, no food intolerance - everything tastes the same... it's been great. Had surgery 3 wks ago yesterday, I'm down 25lbs since surgery. That's over 8lbs a week - never lost that quickly before!

I totally get what you're saying about the tiers. I work in health insurance, and I actually understand their wonky rules! lol But part of the benefit of having insurance is so that the bills go to them first. Here's the problem with paying up front: You give X amount of dollars to the hospital when you have the surgery. The bills come into the insurance company and you don't know what's going to be paid first - so that by the time that claim from the hospital is processed, the insurance has already applied other things to your deductible, and now you're the one stuck trying to figure out the mess after the fact. Having worked in insurance, I know there are a lot of instances like these where the hospital required payment up front, then DIDN'T include the patient payment on the bill when they submitted to insurance. So now, the hospital has been OVERPAID, and YOU have to go back and try to fix all of it. Also, I'm assuming you've met part of that deductible already, right? And with the pre-op testing and visits, that should gobble up a lot of that deductible as well. I have a $1500 deductible and I met all of that long before I made it to surgery...

TRUTH! Why wouldn't a high BMI'ers opinion be just as valuable to you? We're all in the same boat.

It helps with the surgical gas!! I had some issues with my heart rate/very low bp and so they didn't have me walking around in the hospital as much as other people usually do, and those helped SO MUCH with the gas. Definitely pick some up if you can! Good luck!!

Good luck! It gets better every day post-op - you'll do fine!

Time passes so fast post op! I'll be 3 wks post op tomorrow and I feel good. First few days aren't the greatest, but they give you drugs to sleep most of the worst off. You'll be okay!! Try to get a good nights sleep - use some melatonin if you have it!

Who on here is considering lapband? lol - not true from what I've seen!! I chose sleeve over band because I didn't want to bother with fills, I didn't want a foreign object in my body, it has higher long-term complication rates and from what I've seen on this forum, many people are dissatisfied with their weight loss from the band and get a revision to the sleeve. I chose sleeve over RNY because RNY makes you sick. It makes you sick if you want to enjoy something you 'shouldn't'. It makes you sick because your body can't absorb Vitamins and minerals the same way and you suffer nutritional deficits that can be life long. And I didn't want my intestines cut up. With RNY, your stomach is still there, meaning it might NOT take your hunger away and it has a chance of stretching your pouch so that you gain weight - but still have to deal with the nutritional deficits because you can eat as much as before, but your body isn't getting the nutrients it needs from your food. It's harder to find a balance with that surgery. I chose sleeve for ME because it offers what I need: portion control! I'm 3 wks post op and I feel like I eat like I did before, as far as the size of bites. I drink the same as well, I haven't had any nausea, vomiting, food intolerance... in short, my recovery has been great. The sleeve, IMO, offers a more 'normal' post op life. Once I'm done with my stages, i can eat pretty much whatever I want, just a LOT less of it. Of course, I've made changes to what I'll eat. I'll make healthy choices more often than not, but if I want to have cake on my birthday, it won't make me violently ill (like with RNY). Plus, I wanted a permanent tool. I don't see the point (for me) in getting a band because I think the big selling point with the band is that it's "reversible", meaning you can have another uncomfortable surgery to remove the band, when I need something that will help me for the rest of my life. So between the band or the permanent surgeries, I chose something permanent. And, for me, the pros/cons of VSG vs. RNY are clearly in favor of VSG. Everyone is different and has different opinions, obviously. It's smart to check out all your options before committing to anything. Good luck!

I know exactly how you feel. I've lost 50+ lbs but I still have soooo far to go that it's hard to get REALLY excited about it. I know 50 lbs is a lot to lose, but it's also just the tip of the iceberg so it's so hard to really feel great about yourself when you see that you're still big despite the loss. I'm not sure how much farther you have til goal, but I have 200+ MORE to lose, so girl... I can relate to this!! That said, it IS a wonderful thing that you've lost 50 already! That's 50 lbs off your heart, off your joints, off your whole body forever! Maybe you don't see/feel it now, but all the work you are doing is paying off, you're headed in the right direction and it's just going to keep getting better and better! As for the jerks yelling things at you - I'm so sorry you've had those experiences. I've had my share and it's never easy. There are times that I have given people a real piece of my mind and made them feel like a-holes for saying something in the first place - then there's the time I bawled hysterically because a 3 year old in a store kept yelling "You're fat! You're fat! Mommy, that lady is fat!" at me in the middle of the check out line at the store. There's not really a good way to deal with it - just try not to let them get you down. Feel bad about it if you're not doing something about it - and since you ARE doing something about it, just try (TRY) to let it roll off your back. You'll lose the weight - they will be jerks forever!!

Is the surgeon/hospital you are going to part of your bcbs network? If so, then you shouldn't have to pay anything up front - that's part of their contract with bcbs to be a provider in their network. I'd contact my insurance to verify the providers you chose are in network and will be paid at the highest available level for the surgery. If not, you might need to start shopping around for a different surgeon. Or try to work something out with them about the pre-payments. I have bcbs (but in IL) and I didn't have to pay anything up front.

Lip balm, your own toothbrush and toothpaste, biotene mouth spray, gas-x strips, deodorant and your favorite tea (if you like tea). I brought a ton of other stuff and only used the things I mentioned above!

I just emailed my NUT this same question. I can pass on what she says... but I'd suggest emailing your NUT if you can. Mine actually prefers emails to visits, which works out nicely for me and my wallet! I'm currently 3 wks post op (well, 3 wks post op tomorrow, actually), and I'm getting in about 900-1100 calories per day, 80-95g Protein per day and about 50-70 carbs per day. I track everything on MVP - mostly to watch my protein intake because I feel like I don't eat enough to get too many calories or carbs at this point.

It's only Tuesday, and I can already say that this week stinks. I've been stalled. Stalled for about a week. It's frustrating. Today I stepped on the scale and actually put on 3 lbs since yesterday. I know fluctuations are normal, and I'm also on my period so I know that's not helping, but I just can't help feeling totally hopeless. I feel like I'm gonna be "that person" that this surgery doesn't work for. My first week, even in pain, I was flying high because every day the scale went down. Then week 2 it stopped completely. Now it's almost week 3 and I'm gaining. I'm feeling very much like a failure today. I sat at my desk today at work and just cried and cried. Not sobbing or anything, but I just couldn't stop the tears from coming. And it doesn't help that my mom keeps calling to ask how much weight I've lost. I try to explain the stall to her and find myself getting choked up and sad because I'm so frustrated that I've gone through all this pain/work/discomfort/change (not to mention how much money I've spent!) and it's just not happening the way I wished and hoped it would. My activity is minimal, I'll admit it. I'm not cleared for any weight lifting or exercise beyond walking right now. But I have been going for walks - albeit short walks - around my neighborhood. I still have soreness that flares up if I move around too much - pretty sure that's because I have such a jiggly belly, so it's constantly moving around. I also still can't sleep on my side and get comfy, so I feel like I haven't really gotten a GOOD night's sleep since surgery. The soreness and feeling unrested is wearing me down... I'm struggling to stay optimistic that the stall will pass and that I'll be back to losing soon enough. I hope I didn't go through all of this for nothing.

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to everyone who responded here. I've read mannnnyyyyy posts on this forum about stalls, but I didn't expect to have such an emotional reaction to it when it inevitably happened to me! In the past few days: - my period ended - the tears dried up - I lost 2lbs. Now, I don't know if the stall is necessarily broken, but I am hoping to see a loss. I've decided to limit myself to weighing in only once per week! I think I'll be happier than if I check it every day. I It's ironic - pre-op, I didn't ever own a scale. When I bought it, I didn't weigh every day. It was only when I was on that pre-op diet, I started weighing every day. It's not a good habit, so I'm gonna cut down!! I appreciate all of you that took the time to offer encouragement. It's so nice to have people who understand what I'm going through! Good luck to us all!

Well, according to your ticker, you've lost over a billion pounds! You should be proud!! Jokes aside, I hear ya. I'm stalled out after only 2 damn weeks and I'm feeling really, really down.

Hey - when you are no/low carb and high protein, you are in ketosis (which means you are burning fat). It's a good sign, actually, and it WILL go away, but it might take a few weeks. look up "ketosis breath" if you want more details about it. Mine passed after about 2 weeks. Gum helps, if you can have it, but so does Biotene dry mouth mouth wash and/or biotene mouth spray. I also ended up brushing my teeth 2 or 3 extra times a day when it was super bad! Also, make sure you're getting enough Water, that helps it quite a bit as well. Good luck, guys!

Gas-X strips! worked for me, anyway. I'm 32 y/o female, sleeved 5/2. Down 27lbs since surgery. Doing great - have had zero nausea, vomiting, dizziness since day one! Getting about 1000 cals a day and 90g Protein. Can drink normally - haven't felt hungry since pre-op!

I am, J - how are you feeling these days? All well on your end?

I'm 9 days post op this morning. Yesterday I was cleared for full liquids and soft foods at the same time. I ate: yogurt with fruit on the bottom a scrambled egg with cheese premier Protein shake in chocolate a small piece of sharp cheddar cheese. This was over the course of about 9-10 hours. Right before bed, I started thinking I was such a pig. That I did too much, too fast. I didn't feel sick. It all went down fine. I feel fine this morning. So I took a step back at the big picture. What I ate was not bad. I did pretty good as far as choices, but I didn't meet my protein goal. So technically, I didn't do great, either. It just strikes me how I'm feeling guilty about what I ate. I never really felt hungry. It was just like every few hours, it would pop into my head to eat something. So I ate a little bit of something and felt fine. This morning I had a Jello cup when I woke up. I was doing that for the week I was on clears only, so now it felt like habit, lol. Now I've been up a couple hours, so I just made a scrambled egg, with parmesan cheese, a little basil, salt and pepper. I make it in a coffee mug in the microwave. Heat for 30 seconds, stir. Heat another 5-15 seconds and it's done. prepare, cook and eat out of the same dish! I'm going to start sipping a Protein Shake in a bit. If I can get 2 of these down a day, I'll be really close to meeting my requirement, so all my other meals should get me to goal. I'm making some chicken Soup for late lunch. No actual chicken - but onion/carrot/celery sauteed in olive oil with garlic and rosemary - then add a tsp of better than bouillon, some tomato paste, mix it together well and sautee some more, then add chicken broth and simmer until veggies are super tender with 1-2 bay leaves. I hope it's good without the chicken! I might try blending it together with some unflavored Protein powder and see how that tastes. and dinner will probably be 2nds on the soup, maybe some cottage cheese or yogurt later as well. and another protein shake. This seems like SO MUCH to me!! But I want to get my protein and fluids in... It is nice to know that my love of cooking can survive post-op. Because I took pleasure in making my eggs delicious and I'm looking forward to making the soup later. I was worried that food would turn me off for a while post-op!

Considering she's telling you that you need to see a doctor for these questions, I don't know why she thinks SHE'S qualified to tell you what you should and shouldn't do, when it sounds like you didn't really give her any details. It is hard, though, to convinice an MD you've never seen before that you think surgery is the best option - they don't have first hand knowledge of what you've weighed, or how long you've been overweight or what you've tried, etc, so they look at this as a "first attempt" going straight to surgery when it should be more of a last resort. While that nurse may have given you some attitude, she did raise some important points. You do need to find someone (a doctor) who will provide you post-op care in the States. You need to ask what the Mexican clinic/hospital you are going to would do in case of emergency. I think it definitely could've been done in a more professional manner, but ultimately, you get what you pay for! Definitely do all your research and preparation beforehand so you don't have to deal with it when you're post op. Good luck!

Hey Jeffie! I hope it's getting better for you over there! I agree with KC above who says it's time to stop beating yourself up. It's a learning experience! You certainly aren't the first or last sleever to make a mistake like this. Just know that it's too soon for that and stay on course as much as possible! It's only a matter of weeks before you can eat more normally, so you're bound to make some other bad food choices at some point - but that's life! I track everything I eat, so even when I indulge, I still can keep it in perspective vs. all the good I'm doing. Yes, it's dangerous to indulge now when you're recovering, but in just a short amount of time, it will be all about balance! Don't let any naysayers get you down - it's possible to be stern without being condescending. I really think you've learned from this, and I'm glad I could help you through it! I hope you didn't do any damage, as leaks are serious and can be fatal - and recovering from one is no picnic either. If you want some scare tactic type inspiration, go search out some threads about leaks and read what they go through!! I hope all is well. Good luck, hon!