joatsaint

When I got home I had to sleep propped up - like I was in the hospital, for about 8 days. After that, I could lay flat on my back, it took a few more days before I could comfortably lay on my side.

When I got home I had to sleep propped up - like I was in the hospital, for about 8 days. After that, I could lay flat on my back, it took a few more days before I could comfortably lay on my side.

I answered a lot of those questions on my Youtube channel. If you'd like to hear my answers, check out the link in my signature. If you have more questions, feel free to hit me up by private message and I'll be happy to share my experiences.

I answered a lot of those questions on my Youtube channel. If you'd like to hear my answers, check out the link in my signature. If you have more questions, feel free to hit me up by private message and I'll be happy to share my experiences.

So you want a food selfie???????? Okay, here is Frankensleeve and one of my favorite meals - black Beans and ground turkey meat. To give you some size comparisons, I shot it next to a disposable lighter and my 1/2 cup Gladware container.

So you want a food selfie???????? Okay, here is Frankensleeve and one of my favorite meals - black Beans and ground turkey meat. To give you some size comparisons, I shot it next to a disposable lighter and my 1/2 cup Gladware container.

Eating while drinking? That's just crazy talk! :-P My own experience at 2 weeks post op, I could not eat but a few tablespoons of food a day - so I didn't worry about getting all that Protein in. I just did my best to stay hydrated, and as long as I felt okay, I wasn't worried about it. I never asked my doc about it, but I don't think it is reasonable to expect post-op patients to be able to get in the recommended amounts of protein so soon after surgery.

Eating while drinking? That's just crazy talk! :-P My own experience at 2 weeks post op, I could not eat but a few tablespoons of food a day - so I didn't worry about getting all that Protein in. I just did my best to stay hydrated, and as long as I felt okay, I wasn't worried about it. I never asked my doc about it, but I don't think it is reasonable to expect post-op patients to be able to get in the recommended amounts of protein so soon after surgery.

My food is pretty boring, I don't change much. The 1st week was pretty much only sugar free popsicles - my stomach wouldn't tolerate anything else. 2nd week I was drinking broth and eating cream of mushroom Soup (less than 1/2 can a day). The next few months was pretty much cream of mushroom soup daily, some boiled eggs, re fried Beans mixed with ground turkey/chicken breast/pork loin. I did try different things during those months - like fruits/vegetables to see how my stomach tolerated them. I'm a big fan of yellow squash and green beans and white eggplant now. Now at month 10, my diet revolves around black beans/garbanzo beans/lentils mixed with ground turkey/pork loin. I let myself eat whatever I want for 1 meal a week and once or twice a week someone brings in something like cake/cookies at work and I'll eat 1/2 a cookie or 1/2 a 6oz Styrofoam coffee cup filled with cake. I really like it when we have party trays with grapes and pineapple chunks! Fortunately, VSG cured my food cravings and I don't really need much variety. I keep my old boring beans and turkey meat around the house and can eat it for every meal. I switch between beans/garbanzo beans/lentils and ground turkey/pork loin. Every once in a while though, I do get a craving flung on me - about the 2nd month I was walking past my mom's kitchen table and it had a banana in the fruit bowl. And suddenly I HAD TO HAVE THAT BANANA! :-p

At 4 weeks, I was eating boiled eggs, shredded cheese, refried beans, ground turkey meat.

I gotta tell ya that post-op, I didn't even think about having sex for at least the 1st hour! :-P But seriously, I was in so much pain for the 1st 8 or 9 days that all I ever thought about was, "When will this stop hurting?!!!!!!!" But others had a much easier post-op recovery than I did, but it still surprised me how often this question is asked in both the men's and women's private forums. And as always, go with your doctor's instructions 1st - if he told you. If he didn't or you can't wait, just be careful and don't doing anything too acrobatic that might stretch your staples or stitches. Keep Pimpin' that Sleeve!

1 Houston, TX 2 VSG 3 not far enough along to have plastics done 4 N/A 5 I paid out of pocket $5k for everything - all tests, doctor's visits and surgery. But remember, with the reduced food intake, I expect to spend less each year on groceries and that will pay for the surgery in 3 to 4 years. And mother of all questions, are you happy with the results? YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES

I understand your feelings. Unfortunately too many people want to shoot us down if we don't do things "the right way", meaning, the way THEY think is should be done. So first they condemn you for gaining weight. Then you have WLS to loose the weight. Then they condemn you for not doing it "the right" way. But these same people will have patches sewed to their tongues, take diet pills, go on crazy diets, listen to hypnosis tapes, and drink special fat burning tea - all to lose weight. And that's okay according to their rules. Ahhhhh.... so many people.... so few places to hide the bodies. :-P Keep Pimpin' that Sleeve!

The most controversial question I see on the weight loss surgery forums is, "Should I tell anyone that I'm having weight loss surgery?" And the answer is really up to you. It really depends on if you have a good group of friends and family that support your decisions or are you going to be the target of office gossip? Just remember, you can always tell someone about your WLS, you can't untell them.

By the type of questions they asked me, I gathered that they were only looking to find out if I had reasonable expectations from WLS and how I viewed the world around me. The questionnaire had lots of "rate this from strongly agree to strongly disagree" type questions as to how I saw myself and the world around me. I tried to answer everything in the middle range between strongly disagree and strongly agree so that I wouldn't look too extreme in any one viewpoint. My doctor told me that the psychiatrist I was going to had done these evals for him for a long time and was known for expediting the paperwork - so I knew my doc was not sending me to a psychiatrist that was known for denying WLS candidates. After all, my doc stood to lose 15 - 20K if the psychiatrist disqualified me.

I have a veeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrry sedentary desk job. But, I had a difficult recovery, but still was able to go back to work on day 10 post-op. The days I took off were 5 business days and 2 weekends. I felt I was able to go back to work once I felt comfortable driving my car again, about day 8.

If you are like me and suffer from Head Hunger caused by the Ghrelin hormone - post-op that near constant nagging sensation to eat will be gone. My entire outlook on food has changed since surgery and I don't feel the cravings to eat a particular food as I did pre-surgery. It's like a switch was flipped off in my brain. So even if I was losing weight slower than 10lbs a month, the hold Ghrelin had on my brain is gone and I know that every pound down is not going to come back.

I add it to my refried beans and as a thickener for other dishes like my beans and turkey hamburger meat mixture.

Can I eat (insert food here) after Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy WLS surgery? The answer is... most likely. It's really going to depend on the person and how you have healed. I have not found any food that I could not eat, once I was back on full foods post-op. Surprisingly, the processed foods/snack foods/fast food was the easiest to digest. It was the healthy foods - boneless skinless chicken breasts, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, pineapple, apples and grapes that gave me trouble up until about the 6 month mark. At 9 months post-op, I can eat anything I want with only the occasional stomach growl. The best NSV post-op is that I have not wanted all those processed/fast foods that I craved pre-surgery. I can honestly say that I don't even think about going out for pizza or hamburgers any more. So if you're worried about not being able to eat your favorite foods post-op, you may come to realize that post-op you don't WANT to eat them ever again. :-)

I thought I would miss those things as well. Right after surgery, I really wanted a Whataburger, but it was a month before I was back on full foods. I tried a piece of pizza at the 6 week mark, ate 2 or 3 bites and didn't want anymore. It just didn't taste that good. I think the 6 week detox from bad foods, post-surgery, reset my taste buds. :-P

Milk of Magnesia worked for me... a little too well. I took more than the recommended dosage. :-) http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/blog/2115/entry-5950-constipation-and-milk-of-magnesia-or-how-fema-declared-my-bathroom-a-national-disaster/

From what I've read, it is a special pass that lets you use a special car lane at the border to reduce your waiting time to cross. The passes are offered by merchants and businesses like hospitals as an incentive to buy from them. I've seen a few websites that offer a complimentary pass for using their medical services. Here is an example. http://www.whitesmil...ck-border-pass/ But you would need to contact your hotel, physician or hospital to find out if they offer the pass or if you can buy one locally once your in Mexico.

I'm experiencing some of these things too. My knees bang together when I sleep on my side and I can now feel the car seat pressing on my tail bone. I wonder if I'm going to need butt cheek implants to reduce the pressure on my tail bone? :-P

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/blog/2115/entry-5594-quick-faqs-frequently-asked-questions/

Yep, I had them too. It wasn't too bad, but I could feel a pulling sensation each time I tried to sit up or get out of a chair. It does go away after a few days and it helps if you have one of the elastic binders to wind around your stomach.