Bob_350lbs

Thanks Susan, that answers that question! No wonder why my nephew is willing to give me his blackberry, cuz he want the !phone. I can hardly wait to get one now, just have to find the best price. All those apps sound pretty good to me, thanks so much for the info. That IS your language, girl.

Wow Mac, how do you get all the knowledge? It's fantastic. When I first was researching the sleeve, Dr. Feng impressed me by calling me personally from my inquiry via the internet, and he called me after hours, when I got home from work. But, then I thought, maybe he isn't as busy for a reason..He even said he left LapSF, because he *cares* about his patients. And, that made me wonder about a falling out between them. But, he was very honest, and told me I would need 3 weeks off work, not 2, because it is major surgery. And, he was right. I could not have gone back at 2 weeks, in my case. And, after I voiced my concerns that I had, he mentioned that one of his pts would soak potato chips and eat them during the soft food phase. I felt that he almost seemed a little desperate for patients. But, he was very friendly, and told me that at a lower BMI of 39 I could expect to get down to 130 lbs. I felt he was very realistic. But, he has closed his practice Crystal Springs and joined another group in the East Bay. Anyway, I wish him well. And, I think he probably is a very good surgeon, but I haven't found many pts who had him. Thanks again for your wealth of knowledge, it knocks my socks off, how you know all this!

you know, when I am frustrated now, since my stomach is so small, I can't eat to sooth myself, and I find myself getting angry and expressing the anger or repressing it and sorta get teary eyed, almost to the point of crying. It's probably the real emotions I needed to get out to begin with. I don't have panic attack though, but my sister has panic attacks real bad and always carries xanax with her. It is the only thing that has ever worked for her. Now, since my weight is down, I like to soak in the tub after working all day..that is very relaxing, and coming here to post :-) Also, I think I am getting addicted to the rush that aerobic exercise brings.

Cindy, 9/24 will be your new birthday, congratulations on your brand spanking new life! We have about the same starting weight and goal wt, so we are gonna get skinny together~ P.S. I can't update my tickler, but now it's at 25 lbs and I am wearing 16WP not my old 22WP. Yaaay!

Nana, I know exactly what you mean in regard to the bathroom issue and the stall. I feel like jumping for joy when my bowels finally move! When I eat solids, I include greens as much as possible and add benefiber to my shakes. My water intake is always over 64 oz too. And, those gall darn stalls.......I stayed the same one whole week, but the next dropped 5 lbs. I think constipation could be part of it too. I have been lucky and never vomited anything. If I eat too fast or a new food my stomach doesn't want, it goes right through me. But, I can tolerate all foods so far, nothing makes me throw up.

Dr. John Feng told me that he taught the VSG to "those guys" at LapSF. I wonder why he isn't on the list as an *expert*? Maybe he couldn't make it.

Janette, here's to the new you! I am excited for you too! Blessings.

I have only told my family, because I need their support, but I haven't told anyone else. I guess I am afraid of be judged and watched. Maybe, a little fearful, that if I fail, again, then everybody will know I failed. After this is all over with, then I will tell people, but right now, I don't want to. Later, if I can help anybody else, I will tell my story.

Hey SoCal, you are so right about family being supportive, they can make or break you. It's kinda like an alcoholic recovering in family of drunks. LapSF believes that their pts will not succeed without the family cooperating and keeping the junk out of the house. I live alone, and it has helped a lot, when I spend the weekend with family, if they are cooking and eating high carb foods, like spaghetti, mac & cheese, choc chip Cookies, it is so much harder to comply with the program. You have to put your foot down! But, the good news is that the first two weeks on liquids are easy. It is nothing like before. This time you have no appetite and you stomach is swollen from the surgery, so you just have to sip, sip, sip, to get in your fluids and Protein. The first day home, I was super-sensitive to artificial sweetners and thought I would fail, because I couldn't literally "stomach" my Protein shakes. The nurse told me to drink milk, so that is what I did until day 3. Then miracles of miracles, on day 3, I could drink my protein shakes, and by week 3 was on mushies, and by week 6 eating reg foods. I have had no complications, except constipation, diarrhea, which is normal in the beginning for a lot of us. But do not under any circumstances consume anything but liquids for 2 weeks, or whatever your surgeon recommends. There have been pts that have eaten one bite of broccoli during phase one and ended up in the hospital for over a month after the did that. Don't mess around. My only problem is learning to eat slowly. You must take 30 min to consume your meals. If you don't, it hurts real bad and you could hurt yourself. If you don't have time for a 30 min meal, drink a Protein shake. Anway, that is all for now.

How can we know who is getting paid to promote their surgeon? I can only tell one poster, by her signature, the patient coordinator. When I was researching surgeons, the best I knew how, on U-tube there are a bunch of video testimonials for this surgeon, and the patients are still doped up from surgery, they may be in the civilian clothes, but you can tell some are still very much under the influence of pain meds. It does provide comic relief, but it almost seems unethical. I wonder how much they got paid for their video testimonial. It just turned me off. But anyway, I know what you mean about "coordinators". It just seems unethical. And, when I see a bunch of phony looking certificates in the background, I just think they look fake and overdone, like they are over compensating. And, their government is so corrupt. That is why my in-laws moved to the states. They were tired of the corruption and poor health care. Regardless of that, I am sure I would have been fine with Dr. Aceves. But, after my divorce, I didn't have anyone to take me to MX.

You go girl! Tell me you secret for your long eye lashes, you look gorgeous! Is it Latrisse?

Man, I have never had that problem when I eat too fast, but by golly I have suffered a lot of a pain and diarrhea if I eat to fast - my body cramps down and I have to head to the toilet pronto!

To go out and do things, feel good about myself and not feel embarrassed by how I let myself go. When invited somewhere go, not stay home and be withdrawn, because I am ashamed of myself and to not be judged by my size. To care about having "cute" undies, instead of just ones that fit. To walk into a clothing store and actually try clothes on in front of the 3-way. To make better eye contact, because I like who I am. To apply for that promotion and know that I have an equal chance as my thin, attractive coworkers. To have pride in my appearance. To be able to look at myself in the mirror. To have more energy. To take the energy and live my life, travel, attend events, plays, movies, family gatherings, office parties, volunteer, and pick up a sport for a new hobby. Learn to Tango, swing dance, ride a bike again, roller skate, and play like a kid. There is so much good stuff out there for us, my family of VSGer's!

I thought that all the blood thinners you got IV while in the hosp were to dissolve the clot?

Yes, Lan2K, you are in my prayers. It will be fine, a piece of cake. That's the beauty of the sleeve. It's so simple.

Congratulations GMS! Sounds like you doing well. Just sip, sip, sip.

Well, for me it has been about technique and choices. If I can't take 30 min to eat a meal, then I should just drink a Protein drink. To eat properly, I have weigh out 2 oz food, put on an appetizer plate and divide into 6 portions. Then set a timer for 30 min and eat one portion every 5 min. This morning, I took over an hour to eat my Protein Bar, because I got up and did other things, paying bills, etc. then you have to wait one hour before drinking anything. However, I sipped 2 oz coffee over an hour w/my bar. And choices...eating frozen yogurt is too hard for me to control right now, and there is no real nutritional value, no protein to speak of. This is what I want my day to look like: B: one egg omelet w/minced bell pepper, onion, 1/2 slice ff cheese single & vits or a medifast protein crunch bar S: 32 oz of Water mixed w/one scoop of fuzzy naval Protein Drink and later 1 oz of turkey Jerky L: 2 oz tuna salad mixed with one tsp light mayo, minced onion, on romain lettuce leaf or something else similar S: 32 oz of water mixed w/special K protein water powder or another fuzzy naval and later maybe 1/2 c low fat cottage cheese mixed w/minced celery D: 2 oz pork tenderloin stir fried w/zucchini, onion and some seasoning S: Medifast parmesan cheese puffs made w/soy protein about 600-700 calories, 80 gms protein, 64 oz water and then I walk on the treadmill or around the neighborhood 30-45 minutes and use light weights to tone while watching tv. But, it is key to take 30 min to eat your meals, or you will hurt yourself. And you have to wait one hour after meals to drink fluids, and after drinking you have to wait 15-30 min before eating. I don't know if it's about will power, but choice and planning and following your surgeon's orders. I still have problems controlling how fast I eat, and how much I eat, and believe me, it's painful if I break the rules.

Eating slowly is the most difficult part for me so far. At first, you will feel stuffed on a couple bites of mushies. Slowly, you can tolerate up to 2 oz of dense food, but it feels like you just ate Thanksgiving dinner. My biggest problem is eating too fast. It is painful, it feels like the food is stuck my esophagus, and I get the hiccups. A sure sign of eating too fast. And, my surgeon told me I will hurt myself if I continue to eat too fast. Gosh..it's a challenge for me. His suggestion was to set a timer for 30 min. Never eat more than 2 oz of dense food at a time. Divide the food into 6 portions. Then take 5 min to eat each portion. It works, when I have the will power to do it. If not, I suffer. It seems the better the food tastes, the harder it is to control myself. One night we stopped at Big Spoon Yogurt and I had to throw it in the trash, because it tasted so good, and I knew If I let myself, it would be my demise, not because it hurt going down or felt stuck, just the opposite, it slid down like silk. Dangerous for me. And, I my hunger came back when I started eating real food again. Head hunger or not, it still felt like hunger to me. I write down everything I consume. I average 700 calories per day and 70 and more grams of protein. that's all I have to say for now. If you follow the rules, you will do fine.

Marie, check out this PS @ www.afterobesity.com. He specializes in PS after massive weight loss and he does it all too; face, eyes, arms, thighs, abd, boobs. His prices are on his web site too. The Mary from "Mary's story" was at the first seminar I went to. She looked great! The whole front row of women all had become runners. There are lots of before/after pics too. TTFN

What does <3 mean? We will all help keep you sane, but this is going to be one crazy wild ride to the thin side. I am so excited for all of us! We are gonna be one of those skinny bitches wearing all kinds of cute clothes in size small. For me, it's never to late to be the person you have always wanted to be..never too late for a happy childhood either. By the way, I know this is TMI...BUT.....after 6 weeks of either constipation or diarrhea...I had my first regular BM!!! Yay! I am normal again. After I started adding veggies to everything....mother nature finally kicked in..gee, I hope I weigh less tomorrow..

My surgeon also says it's a myth. He told me the body will digest whatever you put in it. So, I figure he is an expert in this area. If you find a Protein Drink w/35 gms, go for it. But remember, calories count too. 1 gm of Protein = 4 calories. So a protein drink has 35 gms of protein, and is over 140 calories, has extra calories from other stuff they added, we probably don't need. Anyway, that is what I was told.

Well Mac, we were fortunate that Dr. C is close to home and that he is a highly-qualified bariatric surgeon. He has done sleeves for years. The day I was there, he did 5 surgeries that day. And, most of us had the sleeve. A couple of them flew in from Hawaii and spent the week in SF. I don't think I would have done it if it weren't for that. It just isn't me to travel to a 3rd world country for surgery. I was afraid of all the drug wars going on down there, afraid that if I had complications and needed ICU and specialists, could they provide that? And, I didn't have family to travel with me to Mexico. Probably, with Dr. Aceves, it would have went fine...but...I'm nervous Nellie. I want PS so bad when I reach my goal, but I don't know about having it done in Mexico, but the prices sure are tempting.

Good advice Mac. Especially since most ins co don't cover the sleeve, people are forced to go to MX. So, Where can people find unbiased statistical reports, etc. for MX and US surgeons? I don't trust people that are working for the doctor they are recommending, and I don't trust what I read on their websites. Buyer beware is how I feel. You can give me all the testimonials in the world, but I always wanted the cold, hard, facts. It is a serious decision not to be made lightly. We are not buying soap here, but having most of our stomachs removed. If it were me, I would want unbiased data. But, where can you find that? Thanks for listening, and I didn't want to stir up the pot, but this is how I feel about it.

I have traded overeating for dolphins. Dolphins, that is what I call endorphins. Aerobic exercise makes me feel good, and I feel rotten if I don't get in at least 45 min. I love it, the music, the sweat, the DOLPHINS, it makes me feel great.