joatsaint

During the 1st 10 days post-op, I kept having these post-apocalyptic dreams, almost nightly. I was taking a test to see if I was valuable enough to be part of some survivor group. The dreams stopped after the gas pains eased up.

Thanks for all the tips and advice. No plans for a real 5k run yet. But the lady I am dating is very very competitive... I believe she will challenge me to a 5k run once she realizes I'm really doing the training. I mentioned to her that I had started the C25K program, but she hasn't asked me about it in about a week. I'm going to keep it on the down low till she brings it up again. I need all the advantage I can get on her - she's already able to run 1 mile non-stop.

Thanks for the tip about the Krinkles, I'll have to check them out. You also might want to consider Harvest Snaps Snapea Crisps as another alternative to Krinkles. To me they were very much like eating Andy Cap Fries. The Protein is a little lower at 5grams, but they are low in calories. Harvest Snaps Snapea Crisps - Caesar I ran across these today at Super Wal-Mart and was in the mood for a snack. I'm glad I picked them up and now wish I had gotten the other flavors to try as well, or at least bought more than 1 bag of the Caesar flavor! :-P If you are looking for an alternative to potato chips, I can't recommend Snapea Crisps enough. Made from green peas, they have the texture of a Funyun or Andy Capp Hot Fries. Baked and crunchy, they have a hint of onion and parmesan cheese. $1.50 per bag / 3.5 servings per bag 1 serving = 22 crisps, coming in at a low 120 calories: 16 grams of carbs 5 grams of protein 5 grams of fat I wanted to love them, but they reminded me of these awful boxes of dried scalloped potatoes (old dried potatoes and yucky powdered cheese) my mother used to buy. Bought one of each flavor, and couldn't give them away at work - people tried them, no one liked them. Not much of a salty snack person, but if I NEEEED something (and sometimes I think we all feel that way), I'm a fan of the Health Wise dill pickle flavored protein krinkles.

I only had to attend 1 workshop. It was with a Nutritionist. It was all about portion control, good carbs, bad carbs and the proportion of protein to carbs I was expected to eat post-op. I'm sure your workshop will fall along those same lines - eating, exercise, and lifestyle changes to expect post-op.

I just finished week 1 of the C25k. It was much easier than expected. Now I just have to stay motivated to complete all 8 weeks. It does help me stay motivated, knowing people are watching my progress. [sharedmedia=videos:videos:3]

I personally don't believe you can stretch your sleeve. But I do believe that eating the wrong foods and eating when I'm not hungry can lead to weight gain. After 2+ years, I still only eat about a cup and 1/2 of food per meal, but I can eat again within an hour. So it's up to me to recognize when I'm truly hungry and when I want to eat out of boredom or just because it will taste good. Here is the article about possibly stretching your sleeve: http://obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-sleeve/gastric-sleeve-will-my-stomach-stretch And here is the 5 day pouch test, which is sometimes used to get back to basics. http://www.5daypouchtest.com/plan/theplan.html

Congrats on doing so well. Keep up the good work.

Hang in there angelad83. I'm over 2 years post-op, but I still vividly remember those first few weeks. Things will get better day by day. It seems like it takes forever, but for me, something changed around day 9. It was like I got past a hump in the road. My pain went from unbearable to tolerable, I was comfortable enough the drive myself, sleeping became easier - although I still couldn't sleep on my side, and my dreams of living in a post-apocalyptic world stopped!

I get bouts of head hunger, I've found that mine usually happen when I've eaten things like Pasta, rice, or things like donuts during the day or the previous day. I fight head hunger by eating pure Protein - chicken, beef, or pork. I fill up on protein, and then if I still "have to have" carbs, I am satisfied with just a few bites. I have to be very careful of how much and what type of carbs I eat, even at 2 years post-op.

Congrats on your first NSV!

I weaned myself off my CPAP by taping off the air valve a little each week. I had lost about 130lbs and I was into the 240lb range. My CPAP does not allow me to change the pressure, it's all done with a special device they plug into it. After 8 or 9 months post-op I tried sleeping without the mask a few times, but would wake up, gasping and out of breath. At 11 months, I started waking up because of all the air being pumped into my stomach. I was literally farting and belching so much that it woke me. So I started taping over the air valve to restrict the amount of air being pumped into the mask. I started out taping it about half closed and over the next few weeks, kept taping over more and more of the opening. I finally got it to the point where it was just about 95% taped over. During this time, I would randomly try sleeping without the mask and by the end of my 11th month post-op, I was completely off the CPAP. I've tried sleeping with the CPAP since then, and now I can't sleep with it on, just too much air going into my stomach. :-P

Thanks for adding the video category. I think it's a great idea to put all the videos in one place. Just posted my newest video of my adventure with C25K. But will notifications of newly posted videos show up somewhere on the sidebar (like in the "Recent Topics" sidebar) for those of us that want to know when a new one has been posted? Thanks,

I wanted the sleeve for the same reasons people listed above. I had my mind set to get the sleeve before talking to my surgeon, and I was prepared to argue over which type of surgery to have with him. But it turned out that he was pro Sleeve. He'd been doing Gastric Bypass for 12 years and Sleeve for 5 years. And he was convinced that the Sleeve produced results that were "almost" as good as the Bypass. "Almost" meaning, that his Sleeve patients lost approximately 75% of their excess weight, while his Bypass patients lost approximately 80% of their excess weight. He told me to realistically expect to get down to 235 from my beginning weight of 375. 2 years later, I'm easily staying in the 205 - 210 lb range. Needless to say, I'm very happy with my Frankensleeve.

Hey lisacaron, I'm glad you had success with the Band. I've only known one person with the Band and they may have had other issues that caused the Band not to work well for them. Essentially, they learned how to eat around their band and gained everything back, plus some. The most important thing I learned from this adventure is; I'm still the same old me, with the same food issues I had pre-surgery. And I have to take the right steps to keep from falling back into old habits. Thanks for adding your success story lisa.

On my 11th day post-op, I tried eating Cream of Mushroom Soup - after only being able to eat sugar free popsicles since surgery - and I could barely eat 3/4 of a can the entire day. 1 or 2 teaspoons was all I could eat every 1/2 hour or so. Frankensleeve took a long time to tolerate any kind of food post-op. I've seen videos and read many threads about VSG patients that were almost back to normal eating within a few days post-op, but that was not my experience. So try a teaspoon sized bite, wait a few minutes and see how your sleeve reacts. Then take if from there. You will quickly learn what your sleeve will or won't tolerate.

It varies by surgeon, they all have a set of guidelines that they know will work for their patients. I was never told I couldn't use straws, just to be careful and drink slowly. The same goes for coffee and alcohol. My doc never said I couldn't ever have coffee or alcohol again, but some doctors do forbid those items to their patients. Everyone is different and is going to respond to straws, coffee, and alcohol differently. So my approach is to be very careful when trying something new. If in doubt, I always call my doctor or nutritionist.

Good luck with your adventure. All I can say is that WLS was worth all the trouble I had to go through to get it done. From my own experience watching friends go through RNY, VSG, and the Gastric Band, is that, even if approved, I would not do the Band. I've just seen and read too many accounts of the Band not working out long term. On the other hand, all 3 of my friends that had RNY are all happy with their results - one lady being over 10 years post-op.

I had the Sleeve, and 3 of my co-workers have had Gastric Bypass. We range from 1 year post-op to 10 years post-op. We are all happy with our choices and results. I don't think you can really go wrong with either surgery. You are going to lose weight, the difference may be in how much mental effort is required. I lost 170lbs in 2 years with the Sleeve. But from seeing the results my co-workers achieved, I do believe the Gastric Bypass is a little more effective, because of the initial and long-term limitations in the kinds of foods their pouch would tolerate. So even if they wanted to go back to old food habits, they couldn't or were very limited. But the tradeoff is having to stay on Vitamin supplements for life and the rerouting of your intestines. But I would suggest talking with a WLS surgeon and get his advice on which surgery to choose. He'd be in a much better position to discuss the long term results you're likely to achieve with each surgery.

I right after surgery, I would get stabbing pains instead of hunger pangs. Really painful ones, over time, the hunger pain became milder and milder. Still, 2 years later, I don't feel hunger in the same way as pre-surgery. I get these mild stabbing pains, nothing really painful, just a reminder that I've gone too long between meals.

I lost 10lbs for the 1 week pre-op diet. Post-surgery, I lost around 20lbs in the 1st month, after that, I was averaging about 13lbs lost per month for the next 11 months. The weight loss seemed to get more difficult after 12 months - but of course, I was eating more and different kinds of foods by then - and I slowed to about 8 - 10lbs loss per month. I lost 170lbs and have been hovering around 205 for the past year. My doc said to expect to get down to 235, but I guess I'm an overachiever. And I feel obligated to say the numbers were monthly averages. My weight did go up and down and there were multi-week stalls, and there were some months where I only lost a couple of pounds. My weight loss was not in a steady downward trend.

In addition to the things mentioned by others in this thread, I would have prepared myself to be okay with the fact that I'm still "me" on the inside. I would have gone to a councilor to deal with the way I see myself and my outlook on life. I was so wrapped up in looking forward to the weight loss, that it never occurred to me to question my self image and how life was going to change once I lost the weight. Now I'm playing catchup.

I started experimenting with trying to sleep without my CPAP at 10 months post-op and completely stopped using it during the 11th month. I had lost about 130 lbs by then.

This is the one I bought about 4 years ago. It's still running on the same batteries. It's only a scale, no bells and whistles like memory. It has served me well. $36.99 http://www.amazon.com/Eatsmart-Precision-Bathroom-Technology-440-Pounds/dp/B0032TNPOE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424191655&sr=8-1&keywords=400+lb+scale

I just tried the Paleo Protein bars and they were not even in the same class as Quest bars! But maybe it's just me? Anyone else tried the Paleo bars and liked them?

I've never had troubles with "warm" coffee, I've never liked it hot, the way my mom liked it... boiling hot. I've got a guy at work that will pour a steaming cup of coffee and then stick it in the microwave for 30 more seconds! But if you are still in the 1st 6 months post-op, there are going to be many little things like this that will upset your sleeve. Things will return to normal a little at a time. My 1st 2 weeks, I could not eat more than a teaspoon of food per hour. AT 30 days, I was mainly living off Cream of Mushroom Soup. At 6 months, I was still having issues trying to eat any vegetable other than Beans, lentils and squash. At 1 year, I could eat anything I wanted with very little difficulty.