MidwestGirl

I mainly play on Thrall (both Horde & Ally toons), but since I maxed out the number of toons I could have on that realm (I'm also an altoholic)....I started a night elf priest on Kael'Thas yesterday. :thumbup: Had no idea there were so many of us! :lol0:

Thanks for posting this, Tiff! Read through almost all of the recipes and will be making the taco soup tonight. Yum! :blushing:

My confession of the day...I slept in until almost 11, got up, read about 80 pages of a novel, and have been playing WoW since. I'm an addict. :blushing:

Wow, Britt. Sorry to hear that you are getting the runaround! I'm kind of surprised that BCBS Federal is doing this to you, as I had the same insurance. Mine was not revision, but my approval was very quick. I hope you figure things out soon. Best of luck.

Woot! I haven't been on in awhile, but congrats on all of those great NSVs! :thumbup: I graduated from college this past Saturday, and at our graduation practice, I had two classmates (neither of whom has seen me since at least December, and I got sleeved in Jan.) make comments. And this was with my gown on. One said, "Wow, Randi! You look amazing! How much weight have you lost?!" And I just said "a lot." :lol0: And the other girl (a SKINNY girl) said "Holy crap, Randi! You're like half the size you were before. You look awesome! How are you doing that? Just eating better?" And I said..."yep" hahaha. :001_tt2: I love when other people notice. Makes it all feel much more real.

I've been off my PPI for about 2 weeks now. I've been using Pepcid AC chewables when I feel the acid coming on - some days I need one, some days I don't. It's not nearly as bad as before though. My surgeon told me he didn't want me to take it for more than 3 months, and to get off of it as soon as possible.

I've had sushi post-op. I loooove sushi! And I don't count carbs (per my nutritionist's advice), so I had sushi rolls. It was a painful experience. Since the pieces are small I tended to want to eat the whole thing at once (wasn't thinking about it) and that was a mistake. But as long as you take it slow, I see no reason for not having occasional sushi. I just tried to take smaller bites, I didn't actually cut it up as I think that would just be messy. It wasn't too terrible with the rolls, as I got the "normal" kind with the rice on the inside, so the seaweed helped hold it together a little bit. Make sure you watch the sauces, though, as I'm sure they're probably not exactly sugar-free. :wink0: If you're worried about carbs, you can always just order sashimi. I definitely wasn't able to eat a whole roll. I think I had maybe 3-4 pieces and I had to have my fiance eat the rest, though I'm sure he didn't mind! I think I could probably eat more at this point (I'm just over 4 months out, and was only about 2 months out when we went). I would love to go more often, but it's hard to find good sushi here in the midwest! Hope that helps!

Wow, Tiffy. That is awesome. Thanks for the post!

I really really do want to be supportive, but after watching your most recent video, I find it difficult to do so. So you guys can flame me if you like, but I'm going to say my piece. Yes many people experience stalls, but you are sabotaging yourself by eating things like candy this early out. And yes, you probably are going to have to work out. It may seem like it's easy for everyone else, but we really do have to work at it. And yes, you probably will have to continue to work out even when you get to goal. For me personally, I had to surgery to get all-around healthy, which includes working out, not just to lose weight. It is a huge lifestyle change, not an overnight fix. I feel kind of bad that you didn't realize this before you had surgery. I'm not trying to be a complete jerk, and I do sympathize with the stalling, I really do, but it is frustrating to me when you say you just want to be like all the other people who had surgery and the weight just melted off. It makes it feel like you think we have it so easy. So I hope your stall ends soon, I really do. And I totally empathize with the obsessingoverfood thing. I am the same way even now, and I think it's something most of us go through at some point or another. But you also need to realize you took the step to make a life change. You're going to have to let the sleeve work for you. You can't eat stuff like candy and ice cream and expect big losses. It just doesn't work that way.

Thank you for posting this, Carol. I've been feeling the same way lately, so it was helpful for me to read the replies as well. I'm graduating from college next weekend and moving in with my fiance so big changes are coming and I'm starting to get waaaaay stressed. So thanks for helping post what I was too shy to!

I agree with MINI. You just had a MAJOR ORGAN removed. It's not surprising you're tired and short on energy. Most of us went through the same thing with, I'm sure, a few exceptions. You have to give your body time to catch up. One day your tummy was there and the next it wasn't - that's a pretty big deal. And 18 pounds in a month is awesome. I agree that you need to ask your doctor about prescribing a PPI - I went through the hunger pangs phase too, and the PPI really helped. It's definitely a learning curve, but you'll get through this. It gets better, I promise. You just have to give it a chance. I'm sorry you had the unfortunate luck of becoming lactose intolerant. That must really be the pits. :sad0: I luckily haven't had to deal with that. Keep your chin up, and don't give up on your sleeve! You knew it wasn't going to be an overnight fix coming into the surgery, so just relax and give it some time to work for you. Things WILL get better. :confused:

Thanks for posting this, Tiff! I used to eat those Betty Crocker Suddenly Pasta salads, the bacon ranch one, ALL the time. So this will be a nice change. And putting broccoli in there sounds great! Bookmarking it.

How much liquid are you adding to it? And also, what kind of crystal light? I add 8 oz. water, 1/2 packet of crystal light to a scoop of Unjury unflavored, and that works for me. You could always dilute it and add a scoop to double the amount of water, and double the crystal light. Also, I found that mine doesn't taste great with the plain lemonade crystal light because it's almost TOO light, but it tastes good with the pink lemonade crystal light which has more flavor. Hope that helps a little!

Woot! Congrats on the NSV! And just think...it only gets better from here!

Hey Jenn! I know what you mean about nobody other than those on this forum understanding. My family & friends are supportive, but don't really get it at the same time. Feel free to email me at randi.wedekind @ gmail . com. I have facebook as well, but my settings are set to make me unfindable, so if you'd rather Facebook, just PM or email me your name.

Wow, how could I forget about the grehlin?! :laugh0: Yeah, the whole not-being-hungry thing is pretty amazing, too.

I originally looked into the RNY. Then the financial advisor at my bariatric clinic (also one of their sleeve patients!) talked to me a little about the sleeve (I hadn't known about it), and I was sold. I am young (21) and want to have kids in the future, and that was one of my main reasons for getting the sleeve because I definitely didn't want to deal with the possibility of having vitamin deficiencies during a pregnancy. Also, I knew that the restriction was what I needed, not restriction + malabsorption. Don't know if that helps at all, but that's why I went with the sleeve. And I couldn't be happier! :frown1:

Had a big (for me) NSV just now. So I got out of the shower, and thought "what the heck, let's see how close my towel is to fitting around me..." And guess what?! IT FIT! It fit all the way around and tucked in without anything showing! (Well, except cleavage lol). This is huge for me because I don't remember EVER being able to do that. And I always wanted to buy the huge bath towels, you know, the really really big ones, just to be able to fit in it. But now I don't have to!!!!! :lol0: Woot! And Daisy, can't wait til I can go out and buy cute undies! You go girl! :frown1:

Daisy, you kick butt! Your successes inspire me to do the same. Congratulations on your surgiversary!

My confession is that I'm more obsessed with food now than I was pre-op. But I think it's maybe a good thing - mostly interested in healthier foods. I cruise food blogs all day and I cannot wait to graduate (some days!) in 2 weeks because I want my kitchen back! I want to be able to make a nice healthy meal for my fiance & me. We are doing a half-share in an organic CSA this year (community-supported agriculture), so we will be up to our ears in fresh, organic produce from mid-May to September or October and I'm going crazy thinking of all the things I'm going to be able to make with all that healthy food! I'm obsessed with the idea of eating organic & whole foods rather than processed junk. My plan is to get to the point where we no longer buy processed foods, or at least as minimally as possible. I find myself reading about baking bread (I used to be huge into baking) and even preserving and canning, which I've never done. My only downfall is that right now we live in a 1 bedroom apartment in the city, and therefore any gardening has to be inside. Although I did start a little container herb garden a couple weeks ago and my basil, parsley, and chives are flourishing! Now I just have to figure out what to do with them! :tongue_smilie: Anyway, sorry for the rambling. I've been thinking about posting this here for awhile now...I feel like most people around me don't understand because my new outlook on food was spurred mostly by my sleeve surgery, with a side of environmental consciousness, brought on by my environmental studies major roommate. :thumbup:Anyway, anyone else experience this?? I hope I'm not alone.

It will get better! I was the same way while I was on liquids. I would have given anything just to have something to CHEW. Sometimes I'd even try to chew my liquids just to go through the motion. :tongue_smilie: Keep it up, though, you're doing great!

I will be four months post-op next Tuesday, and I have already lost 57% of my excess weight. That's including what I lost on the pre-op diet and with 155 lbs as my "ideal weight" (25 BMI). My surgeon said that most sleevers average 60% EWL in the 1st year. I'm already almost at 60% and still losing steadily. Sorry, I guess this probably doesn't help much because I'm still losing, but that's where I'm at. :ohmy:

I had the same problem with plain water. It felt strange in my stomach for the first month or so, didn't matter what temperature the water was. I was also always a huge water drinker. I've never been a soda drinker, so water was always always always what I drank, and I was really upset that I wasn't able to drink it. I had to add crystal light packets to my water in order to drink it, or get Sobe LifeWater, but at about a month post-op, I started weaning myself off the crystal light. I started with 2 - 20 oz. water bottles with crystal light and 1 - 20 oz. bottle of plain water, and then after a week or so of that went down to 1 of crystal light, 2 of plain water, until I had weaned myself off of it completely. Sometimes my stomach is still a bit wonky with water, but I make myself drink it. It seems to happen more now if the water is really cold or first thing in the morning when I wake up. But for the most part, it's gone now.

Sorry, I misunderstood your question! My dietitian never told me that. I would say go with what your surgeon says, or perhaps call him?

Ugh, this bugs me. I'd have turned around and told her "Well, it's pretty DRASTIC to live with obesity when there are other options." And doesn't everybody have a friend who died. :svengo: