carolyn24seven

Shower every day! Sponge baths, bah! I am getting cold now too. I had not felt cold for about 10 years prior to this. Amazing. Hot shower will feel soooo good, go for it. E N J O Y.

Oh sweetie, I am so glad to hear from you again. You have been really going thru it! You are comming out on the lighter side now. You will make it. Keep up what ever you are doing to make this work. The sleeve is a tool we all need to learn how to use best for our bodies. the head work is often the hardest part. Keep posting, you are not the only one with the issues you are dealing with. ((((huge hugs))))

Believe in yourself Dani. You are a smart, strong young woman. You have not made this decision frivolously. You are serious about finding the right path for yourself and have and will continue to investigate for yourself all the aspects of this decision. The future is always terrifying in some aspects. That does not mean we will not go forward, right? Trust yourself, be strong in your heart. Know you will do well with this~ and you will.

I was a sweets eater. Spice gum drops, good and plenty's, chocolate mini bars. DAILY. I am almost 6 weeks post op and have not had craving one. I am eating more cookies now. I am eating these super thin ginger snaps. 2 with coffee in the morning. I am eating toast with PNB. I am eating the protein bars that are covered in chocolate about one every other day. the protein drinks are all chocolate. Maybe that is why no candy/chocolate cravings? I am down 32 lbs since surgery so the amount of sweeties I am getting is not a problem. I had a huge issue with being hungry right after eating. I was so embarrassed about that. My Dr. said he had never heard of it. Thanks Doc. I find out now that it is very common in obese patients. We have a high level of Gherlin in our stomachs. When the 60% of the stomach is removed so goes the Gherlin. I pray it stays gone. I can honestly say, even if you are hungry again, you will not eat much. I go for the protein first. I get about 3 bites and am full. seriously. I drink water all day. That helps with hunger. You will find what works for you. The sleeve is a tool we all have to learn how to use it with our bodies. Have patience, stay true.

Norma, have you heard of the SynviscOne injection for your knees? I had it done in September, before my VSG. I am bone on bone in both knees. that stuff worked amazing for me. I am moving so much better. I am off of pain meds, and only take a anti inflamitory as necessary. Once I get the weight off, I will consider getting my knees replaced. UGH!

Helen, White castles are a very small hamburger or cheeze burger. The buns are like a dinner roll. Very soft white bread. The meat patties are square like a large postage stamp. they put chopped onions, grilled if you want on and that is it. No sauces of any kind. there are little packets of ketchup and pickles and mayo you can add your own. The whole thing is steam cooked. All very soft and wonderful. Horrible for you I am sure! It is a chain of fast food places in the Mid west and Eastern part of the US. I do not thave them in California. I have relatives in Michigan. Hence my knowledge. White castles were the cure for a hangover when I was of that inclination. We can get them here frozen from costco, but, they are NOT the same. All the restruants out here are making "sliders" little tiny hamburgers, but, really good ingredients. Excellant for sleevers. Only, three of us need to go eat one plate of them. hahaha. It's all good. Ky-Hen: congrats to you! I will be joining you by Christmas. (I am a"teener" today~218~) missed 19! Happy happy happy us.

wow Joon! You are doing way better than I did. right after surgery you are up and posting a coherent message. Good for you! Not me, I could not focus for very long at all. Could nt follow a T V show or read my book. Everyone of us is so different. I did not mind the blue juice so much and did not find it messy. I was up walking around alot. I was afraid of pulling stiches also, I used the side rail to get in and out of bed. Wound up with aching back muscles. On 3rd day I had the massuse come in and relieve thoes poor muscles. There was no way I could have slept lying flat. I so wanted a recliner chair to sleep in. I made a kinda recliner in my bed at the hotel. it worked fine. gosh, you are just doing so good. Keep it up and say hi to new for me. gotta brag here for one sec: I am a "teener" today! Not yet 6 weeks post op and am 218. yipeee! ONEderland here I come.

you are welcome Chancie. Maybe that is a business opportunity for you if you cook? I have thought that would be a great "at home" business for stay at home mom's. Getting the regular customers it the hard part. Other wise you would waste a lot of food. I thought people that run day care centers should do this also. Or, at least have it as an option. Slick way to increase profits I think.

Thanks Okay. I am gonna try it tonight. I will cook it in a heavy cassorle dish. Dutch oven? I have not heard of a dutch oven. I will let you know how it turns out.:huh0:

Chancie, there are home delivery and/or pick up business's that have opened up that are not restruants. They do not serve food at their place of business. They are "fresh meal prep kitchens". Basically you call in your order and they deliver on a regular basis. Or, you stop by on your way home and pick it up. Kinda like take out but healthier. It can be pricey. You would have to do your research to make sure they will cook low fat or lo carb or what ever you want. It started as a way for busy Mom and Dad's to give their kids a healthy "home cooked" meal after work, and stop the fast food habit. Now it has expanded to diet concious and gormet also. It can be cheaper than restrauant eating, with kids anyway. I am not sure how it would apply to sleevers. My Dr. friend who is diabetic uses a service in my area 3 to 4 times a week. It works for her. To find them in your area look in the phone book. or call you local hospital and ask if there are services that they know of for diabetics. Call your Chamber of Commerce. I truly think restraunts need to get on top of this. I know Olive Garden does special take out, but, again it is pricey. Polly's pies does a Turkey dinner with all the trimmings for 2 for only $39.00. I bet it would serve four easy. Or-probably 12 sleevers. HAHAHA Anyway. That is what a fresh meal prep kitchen is.

Approx. how long to cook? 30 min 60 min.?

My gall bladder recovery was very painful for me also. I was on RX pain meds for two weeks. Then Tylenol for another 2. I had a slow recovery. Much slower than VSG. I think the reason was: my gall bladder was emergency surgery, due to gall stone stuck in the duct and infected. I was on antibiotics for a 21 day treatment. I was constipated from the antibiotics. Eat greek yogurt. Benefiber. Other food I was told to eat: salad with Low fat dressings, bran muffins and stewed prunes. (OK TMI warning here) When the antibiotics stopped, wow, did I find out in a hurry that I did not need the prunes anymore! What a swinging pendulum ride that whole deal was. And painful to boot. Took me about 2 months to get back to "normal". Hang in there, this will pass. pun intended, LOl

If you do have to take extra money, get travelers checks. THomas Cook issues them in $100.00 increments. If you do not have to use them you can deposit them back into your saving/checking account when you return.(I got them in $1,000.00 increments also). My bank issues Thomas Cook travelers checks for free. I know American Express charges a fee but I do not know how much. Do not get the $20.00 size, it takes forever to sign and you are more likely to spend a $20 one than break a $100 one. If they are lost or stolen they are replaced. Keep the numbers separate, write them down and leave them at home. I made a photo copy of my travelers checks and left them in my bill payer file. I re-deposited all but one of the $100's when I got back. That one travelers check is in a very back part of my wallet for "just in case". It is good forever and it is insured. Better than cash for me. I won't break it for a $10.00 item. No way. Hope this helps a bit.

Travel safe Tiffy. Walk in thoes mountians. I feel some how closer to God in the mountians. Enjoy your visit. I know it will be a challenge eating wise. I wish you a peacefull Thanksgiving.

Chancie, I have a night shirt for you. It is red with big white letters saying: "wait santa I can explain" hahahaha anyway, I love my lap top. Dell. and I have the dreaded Vista program. I have a desk top. HP. But just love the lap. ?? I am going to get an external mouse for the lap. Used one on my friends lap and made a huge difference in ease of operation. My friend carries this ex-mouse in a pink jeweled baggie like a cell phone. Too funny. I won't take it that far, but I am getting one. In my area we have computer fairs once a month at the local fair grounds. great place to pick up a used lap. Great computer guys there also. Check your local College for deal referrals. Sorry you have to work the holidays. We will be thinking of you, and praying you have a peaceful holiday anyway.

Oh yes, the evil Egg nog. I loved that stuff. My hubby loves the stuff. None of the "lite" version either. THe real stuff. Got some last week. I had 2 sips. Small tiny sips. Y U C K. Triple yuck. I could not throw it away fast enough. I will wait until after Turkeyday and try some in my coffee. I am drinking FF hazelnut in my coffee, soooo egg nog should be ok, right? Why do we fight so hard to keep the things that are so bad for us? I do not want to be "deprived" of anything I guess.

I have several in my area. I eat so little it does not seem cost effective to order from them now. Maybe later on, like 6 months post op? Let us know how this works for you. My dear sweet Husband now wants to loose 8 yes a whopping 8 pounds. So he is eating soup with me, but then goes in and gets cereal or icecream etc. Poor guy. I will cook healthy for him. The fresh cooked healthy meals plan sounds good. We shall see.

Congrats Joon and newmom. Sounds like you two are on an excellent adventure in sleeveland. Calling all Angels: fly down to Mexicali and be with our new sleeve sisters and their Doctors. May God grant them peace and safety. Let the Journey begin.

Cajun: good for you. Glad you posted, I did not even think of this as a sleeve item. I went to a birthday party this weekend. Had 3 bites of cake no icecream. No one cared. THey were all happy to see me loosing weight. Everyone noticed it in my face! The people at this party all knew about my sleeve. These are the positive side of my family/friends. I will try with the "other" side over the holidays. I do not know how Normal I felt? I was just glad to get it over with. Weird response huh?

I used grape Isopure with grape juice for frozen popcycles. Pretty good. Waaaay better than drinking just the Isopure.

W1hoop Anna and THin. You guys are gong to be soooo happy next year. Celebrate early, dance all December long. Whoo-hoo

If you have a "El Pollo Loco" in your area they have tamales right now. Made with the grilled chicken. It was a little spicy for me, but I managed to get about half of it down. I made patato skins for friends. I used ground turkey, mild salsa, cheeze, avacadosour cream and chopped red and green onions. (I like colorful food). I had two left over. wrapped one up for lunch and it re-heated great. Wendys has baked potatoes with chili. you will never finish it, but can be used for left overs easy enough. Tiffy: you are not sabbotaging your self if you are still loosing 1-2 lbs a week. Plus you are working out. Do not listen to nay sayers. You are doing fine.

Janet, I sucked on food too. Just to get the juices out. I chewed some tuna and spit out the "wad" but I got the tuna flavor and got to chew something. that was the thing I missed the most, chewing. But, fear now, this will pass soon enough. Hang tough sleeve sister. Drink your protein.

Warm tea. Herbal. Made my new tummy feel soooo good. Congrats on going thru with it and becoming a sleeve sister. Welcome to the loosers bench.

I want a support group. I would go once a month easy. Anyone know how to find one if you haven't been sleeved in your home area?