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Is it possible to be off topic in such a off topic post? Anyway, I will talk about a lot of things on the forums, but always get creeped out by bodily function posts and never open them. I suppose we all have our limits. I'm willing to help with a lot of things, but diagnosing poop issues is above my pay grade. ~Cheri

It varies by surgeon. There are benefits to having one and benefits to not having one. I didn't have one, either, and it was one less thing to worry about. Good luck, ~Cheri

Now you're being evil. I'm going to refer all PMers that I can't help from personal experience directly to you. ~Cheri

^ The real thread killer...

Honestly? I can say great job that you're tracking. I can say it looks like you're making good food choices. But the only way to know your optimal diet and caloric goal is to track and watch for patterns. What worked for me won't necessarily work for you and you'll find as many different and varied approaches to diet here as you'll find members. I think you're on the right track. As you progress farther out track your progress and fiddle with your diet (adding in more Protein here or more carbs there) to try and find your optimal diet. Often it's a larger window than we realize. I lost just as well eating 700-900 calories with about 70 grams of carbs daily as I lost eating 400-500 calories a day and eating 40 grams of carbs or less. Same pokey pace, far less mental struggle due to carb deprivation for me. You'll find what works best for you and should stick there. Good luck, ~Cheri

Should be no problem. Once you're allowed full liquids, I also found satiety with really thin Cream of Wheat. ~Cheri

I'll be three years out in July - my situation is WAY different. Bread does expand a bit. That doesn't mean it will stretch your sleeve. What it means is that you can go from feeling just fine with a few small bites and within a few minutes be uncomfortably full or even toss up those last bites. I have a bigger issue with pasta, rice and flour tortillas, honestly, but everyone's body is different. In any case, in the early stages it's best to focus on protein first just because you have so little room. I didn't start incorporating more carbs and eating a more balanced diet until around six to nine months post op. ~Cheri

It's actually the first phase of the DS (duodenal switch) but I agree and would definitely wait to finish having kids because of the malabsorption of the DS. But with only 95 pounds of more than 300 in your initial goal to lose, I see no reason the sleeve can't get the OP there if she recommits. ~Cheri

First, congrats on your success so far - losing such a significant amount of weight is a success, despite your struggles right now. Second, congrats on your new addition, stress and all! Kudos for stepping up and admitting that you're struggling. It's embarrassing and it's hard to admit and of course it's frustrating. But coming here and looking for support is a big step and I applaud your decision to do so. It sounds like you have a few things going on. Major emotional upheaval and the stress of a new baby coupled with remaining disordered eating is wrecking havoc on you right now. I am sure that the stress is also affecting your hormones which can't make things any easier for you. I do suggest that if you can and if you're comfortable with it, that you pursue some counseling to help you through this rough period. There is no shame in it, and you'll have a dedicated person that will listen and help guide you through this part of your journey. You might even shelve some of those food demons for good, which can only improve your life and your chances of staying at goal once you get there. You have a lot going on and it sounds like that old coping mechanism is what's cushioning the blow for you. It's only natural because we spent far more of our lives building those habits than trying to break them. But you do have to learn how to break them eventually if you want long term success. Try to go back to basics. A good place to start is to purge your house of the foods that you're using to cope and sabotage your success. Try the five day pouch test. It's hard, but it will very likely help you #1, kick the carb monster off your back and #2, remember how you're supposed to be eating. Because you need to go back to the beginning here and start over. Ninety five pounds sounds overwhelming but it's a fraction of what you've already lost and you can succeed here if you buckle down and put your best foot forward. Protein shakes. Protein first. A gallon of Water a day. High protein Snacks between meals. No slider carbs. Good quality carbohydrates in moderation with your meals to prevent binges on junk. You know this stuff - I'm sure that you don't need anyone here to tell you what to do to lose weight because you already shed a lot! You can do this. You're not failing, you're hitting a roadblock that many of us hit at various points. I fell off my plan twice in my 17 month loss phase. It didn't stop me from picking up and getting back on program so I could hit goal. Best of luck. Search out those emotional eating and binge threads on VST. They're really useful and full of ladies with similar struggles. You really CAN do this. Do not give up and take it one step and one pound at a time. ~Cheri

Not me...I was actively trying (and used fertility treatments) but I have seen it over and over again. Increased fertility is one thing we experience as we lose weight. In addition, those wacky hormones for months post op can't help. We see folks here on all sorts of forms of BC that get pregnant without trying, especially ladies that previously had trouble getting pregnant. It can't be easy to have a surprise like that, especially when you were trying to avoid a pregnancy. Best of luck, ~Cheri

Great points, Nerdy. It's important to understand that avoiding those foods when possible is always healthier, but in the real world we often have to make compromises like this. It's fully possible to incorporate these things wisely. You just have to be diligent and use moderation. As a side note, I save so much money now...I just order a sandwich and it's two meals for me. I don't need a drink, don't want any sides and that old craving for fast food fries is long gone. ~Cheri

Oh, and it's now everyone's personal goal to see that you don't get the last post on your thread killer thread. Just sayin'. ~Cheri

Wait? Dear me, do I see NEWBIES commenting on how repetitive the posts are on VST at times? Say it ain't so. Folks, take my advice and don't mention it. People call you all sorts of names when you do. ~Cheri

I'm absolutely going off topic just to say it's nice to see Lissa around again! ~Cheri

I'm one of the folks that did have very low B12 levels and I do self-inject. It's absolutely no big deal and not even painful. For me, it's a sub-Q injection into my stomach and it's really worked wonders on my energy levels and even helped relieve some of that memory loss I was struggling with post op. Well, it helped until pregnancy brain set in, anyway. ~Cheri

Yes, you just need to stay on top of what you're doing. Do not slip into denial, avoid the scale and stop watching what you eat. I, personally, do not diet and I abhor the very idea of dieting for life. But I still make those good, basic post sleeve nutritional choices the majority of the time. I flex the rest of the time. In this, I feel satisfied and do not experience regain. I also weigh daily because the first place I'm going to see a change in my diet reflected is the scale. It's important that you don't approach everything you've done to this point as a diet - as something that ends now that you've achieved goal and feel more comfortable with your body. Because it's that very approach that can lead to backsliding and regain. Just stay on top of what you're doing and don't take goal weight as a free pass to eat whatever you want whenever you want it, and you should do fine. Congrats on having such success is such a short time. ~Cheri

I think some crossover is to be expected, BUT a majority of the conflict, disagreements and sarcasm here are from people that I wouldn't consider vets at all. To me, a vet is someone who is experienced here on VST. They're active, they're posting, they may or may not be at goal but they've been sleeved longer than a few months. I dearly love the posts of several posters that have less than one year post op, so I hesitate to say that a time constraint is the boundary. And frankly, I'm not down with the mods having to police and keep people out, either. I'd rather people just steer clear on their own, knowing when something isn't directed at them personally. The idea behind the vet board was to give us a place to vent and discuss those things that just don't apply when you're newly sleeved or even new to VST. It was to give us a "safe place" to discuss and get ideas on issues we face as people that don't need to be here but choose to come back to help other people. Our perspective and how we answer questions is different than someone still experiencing the glow of a fresh surgery and feeling eager to help everyone around. It IS different for us and it's actually really annoying and frustrating to see people come here, stir the pot, insult the vets and then distract with silly babble for the next ten pages of a thread. Almost every other board is a free zone for new people to post and they do it to their heart's desire. As vets we can (and frequently do) choose to only answer the posts we want to answer or help on, and we leave other newbies to answer the ones that are repetitive or for some reason annoying or uninteresting to us. I've been here a while and will likely be here long after some of these critical newbies are long gone because they've burnt out. I've seen really fantastic vets chased off the forums by burnout and constant criticism of their posts from people that simply don't get it. Plain and simple, if you're not a vet, try to understand that you just don't understand and keep that in mind when you jump in here and slam everyone. ~Cheri

That junk is addictive, that's why you want it so badly! It's no help now, but in a few months, odds are good most of that will turn your stomach. You've got to give the liquid diet post op diet a real shot as hard as it is. You need it so you can heal properly and avoid unnecessary complications. This is one of the hardest parts of the process from a physical point. And it's definitely normal to feel "hungry" while on liquids. Hang in there. Try your hardest to overcome this and take heart that in a few short weeks you'll be frustrated that you can only eat a few bites at a time. ~Cheri

True story.

Eh, but what do I care? It's all about me, anyway. At least I get to have my say, and unlike my kids, I don't have to watch the people I'm lecturing walk away or hear them say, "Yeah, yeah, we get it". ~Cheri

Good advice here. I experience this urge to eat endlessly around my cycle but otherwise it's not really the same for me. If it's only around your cycle, odds are good that it's purely hormonal and something you'll just have to learn to cope with, unfortunately. If it's something related to the desire to binge, to graze, to eat emotionally, etc., it's important to work on addressing it so it doesn't haunt you in maintenance. There are some really great threads here that can offer you some support if that's the case and I urge you to search them out. Have you recently weaned off your PPI? That could be part of the issue. Are you low-carbing? For me, incorporating a higher number of good quality carbs really curbs the desire to snack and to graze on less healthy choices. And of course, focusing on good quality, high Protein Snacks at regular intervals throughout your day can only help you, so try that if you aren't already. I need to eat every couple hours, not just a few times a day. Good luck, ~Cheri

I thought I was the know it all. Actually, I think I kill threads because I just don't stop writing and people get tired of reading my long posts so they stop commenting on the thread entirely. ~Cheri

Great work! I can't believe you've already been sleeved two months. Just wait until you peek back at six months out. It takes us a lot longer to see progress in the mirror than it does in photos. Whenever you're in doubt about your progress, take a few snapshots for a reality check. Keep it up! ~Cheri

My mom just lost her job with FedEx, too, and is now totally reliant on her partial disability payments (that were thankfully just approved a week ago). Sorry to hear you're experiencing this, too. I hope something turns up for you quickly. Keep your eyes open and be flexible is all I can suggest. Flexible in a speedo on the internet might make you some cash if you found the right audience. ~Cheri

I'm so sorry about your complications. It sounds like pure misery and I hope that you'll have relief from all of this soon. Perhaps cross posting this over in the complications forum will help more people see it. You aren't alone in having complications and I hope that someone out there that has overcome them can give you some reassurance and hope that this will pass for you, too. Best of luck and do keep us updated. Every bit of info out there helps people researching or struggling with a similar situation. ~Cheri