joatsaint

I found this on Walmart's website. http://see.walmart.com/drysprays Free - Get your choice of 1 of 5 different "dry spray" antiperspirant/deodorants - all they need is your shipping address and email. Degree Women Fresh Energy® Degree Men Adventure® Dove Women Nourished Beauty® Dove Men Clean Comfort® Axe White Night® P.S. When I went to the link, I was so stinky that I burned out their automatic stinkyness detector.

You should believe the guidelines your doctor gave you. He's in the best position to give advice. If you have to have some wine, you could try my patented "will Frankensleeve tolerate this" program. When I was unsure if Frankensleeve was ready for a new food, I'd eat about 1/2 teaspoon of it, wait 5 minutes, eat another 1/2 teaspoon, and wait another 5 minutes. If he hadn't had a bad reaction by then, it was safe to eat more.

I love it too. Maybe I could modifiy the design to be a version of Frankensleeve.

I was pain free by the 5th day. I still felt a little uncomfortable pressure occasionally for a few more days, but no pain. Walking is the best cure. Get up and move (even if it's just a trip to the bathroom and back ) Every little movement will help your body push the gas out of your system. I went into surgery knowing that walking was the best cure (from reading all the posts on Bariatricpal). So, even though I wasn't feeling up to it, when the nurses came to get me, I got up and walked as far as I could. And when I got home, it was wet and cold outside, I paced back and forth from the kitchen to the living room as often as I could.

Thanks for posting your story. I'm sure it will help others that want to know as much as possible before going into this "adventure". Welcome to the Loser's Bench.

I had the Sleeve and personally know 3 others who had the Bypass (RNY). We're all happy with our decisions and weight loss. But I can tell you why I didn't have Bypass: 1) I didn't like the idea of rerouting my intestines. 2) I didn't want to HAVE to take Vitamin supplements for the rest of my life. 3) I didn't want to possibly go through dumping syndrome or any other complications The pros for Bypass: 1) It's easier to lose weight and lose more total weight. 2) It's easier to get insurance to cover Bypass. My doc said that the sleeve has only been recognized by insurance companies as a viable option for about 10 years. But please ask a doctor what your best option is. He is going to be in the best position to make that call.

No, you can't stretch your sleeve. You'd be feeling the pain from your staple line before your sleeve began stretching. From everything I've researched over the past 2 years, it is very very difficult to stretch your sleeve. I'm sure it can be done, but it would take a concerted effort over time on your part to stretch out the tough material that constitutes the remainder of your new stomach. Depending on the person, food and drink capacity differs. Some people have an easier time drinking tons of Water post-op and it just slides right down. I wasn't one of those. Plain water was never easy for me to drink. If I mix it with Crystal Light, I can guzzle the stuff.

Congrats on such a great NSV.

I had a LOT of gas pains the 1st week. I was miserable. I wasn't able to sleep on my side and the gas pains in my chest kept moving around. The sitting in my computer chair was the only comfortable position... and I've never been able to sleep in a chair. I'd get up and walk around the house for some relief, eat a bite of popsicle, and go sit back down. That went on for about 5 days. Then things just got better. By day 7 I was able to drive and get out. On day 11, I went back to work with no problems. I wasn't back to normal for weeks, but things got better day by day.

I just got back from my brother's house. Other than Thanksgiving day and Christmas day, we don't ever talk or interact - not from any problems between us, we just have different lives. He invitied me, but I feel guilty for going over and eating his food because of the effort he went to and the money he spent. And I feel like a impositon or mooch because I don't consider us friends and I never do anything for him. BUT, he does it because he loves to cook and share and loves family get togethers, so I hope by participating that he is happy. I try to do my part by helping clean-up and getting him to talk about how he cooked this or that and making him the focus of attention. He seemed to have a good time and liked that attention. But if it were up to me, I'd just stay at home and answer questions on Baritatirc Pal.

Congrats on having a good recovery and welcome to the Loser's Bench! :-)

My incisions never hurt, but the gas was killing me. I was hitting the button on my morphine drip like I was a contestant on The Price is Right! :-P Hang in there, it all gets better day by day. And in a month, you'll be wondering why you didn't do this years ago. Welcome to the Loser's Bench. Here I am right after surgery - not feeling too good at that moment. :-) But I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

At the 6 month mark, I was up to 1/2 cup size bowl I ate out of. In the following months, I gradually began to eat larger portions. At 1 year, I was up to 1 cup and now at 2 years, I can eat between 1 and 1 1/2 cups depending on the amount of protein in the meal. For example, 4.5 to 6 oz of pork loin is a meal (it's fairly tough and dry meat - beef hamburger is even more filling). However, I can eat 1 large apple and 1 big banana or 2 bananas for a meal or I can eat 3 large yellow squash (probably 10 - 14 oz) for a meal.

I cringe everytime I hear someone use the word "journey" when describing any life realted event - not just for WLS. I've never felt comfortable using the word... so I'm not knocking anyone that likes to use the word. But I finally found my word - adventure. What's your favorite word to describe your "adventure" in WLS?

The main way I know I'm about to be full is the feeling of bubbles moving around the food in my sleeve. If I go past that stage, I feel a stabbing sensation where my esophagus meets the sleeve or I feel this painful stretching sensation in my stomach. I don't push it to this point very often and when I do, I get a painful reminder as to why I don't want to.

Maybe it was a mixed blessing for me, but, I was in so much pain those 1st 10 days post-op, I didn't want to eat anything. And it took months before any solid food didn't cause all kinds of grinding and twisting feelings in my new sleeve. Luckily, I never had a food craving or a real desire to eat post-op. Frankensleeve didn't like more than a tablespoon of anything and made sure that I kept within my dietary guidelines.

I only attended 2 follow-up sessions with my doctor. His office is 2 hours one-way from my house (he was the closest doc on my insurance approved list). My 2nd session, he was late and I left after waiting 60 minutes, never went back (this was the 3rd time he had been over an hour late for an appointement). Fortunately I've never had any problems or complications post-op, going on 2 years now.

I had Blue Cross Blue Shield - it only took 5 days after my doc submitted the papers.

Congrats on your NSV!

Ch@ss, you might try a trick I use to ease my cravings. I don't get random cravings for certain foods like I did pre-surgery, but when I walk past certain foods - especially donuts or cake, it's hard not to want a little. My trick is to go eat my normal portion of Protein or protein/vegetable mix, then, if I still want the cake, I'll get a coffee cup (a regular coffee cup, no cheating with one of those Starbucks Grande cups!!! ) and fill it halfway full of cake. That lets me ease my craving, without overdoing it.

Eggs are a favorite of mine - boiled or scrambled, but they were one of the toughest foods to adjust to post-op. Frankensleeve took a year to learn to tolerate them again.

Welcome to the Loser's Bench.

I started eating soup on day 11 post-op. The only soup I ate was Campbells Cream of Mushroom, straight out of the can (like a BOSS!) :-P And don't worry about gas, everything you eat is going to cause gas for the next few months. :-P

This was my favorite food for weeks and weeks once I was on solid foods - http://www.bariatricpal.com/blog/9018/entry-31168-my-favorite-mexican-food/

Attention proudgrammy!! Please put on your hard hat and clear out below. I'm coming down off the cross. I was informed that they needed the wood for other uses.