Stacie

I am near goal and thinking about trying it for my chin also. I was hoping when I lost my hair that my facial hair would also decrease, but no such luck!

I was covered last Dec by UHC. no six month diet, was approved in about a week.

how far post op are you? I would have my doctor order a upper GI to be safe, but I had a leak, so I am a bit more cautious. And upper Gi is pretty basic and should be covered by insurance.

I am 8 months out and 15-10 pounds from my goal. I am thinking of joining weight watchers for the accountability and just because I always dreamed of becoming a Lifetime member and I know that I can do it now! It sounds like you have had great success so far. Are you gaining weight now, or just haven't quite got those last pounds off? Good luck to you in your journey!

I had pretty severe complications as well. I stayed away from this site for a while after that. It was a very dark time for me. I had surgery locally (WI) and developed a leak after two weeks. I mentioned it in your other post, so I won't go into too many details here, but please ask me any questions you have, I am glad to share. I also had a collapsed lung. I had a lot of pain for quite a while. But my leak did not heal for a long time either. Hopefully you will have excellent care now that you are home. Are you seeing a bariatric surgeon? I would definitely try to do that. I would also suggest you have them do a upper GI test with barium, or gastrograffin to be safe. That will be the best way to see what your stomach looks like now, double check for a leak, etc It sounds like you have alot going on, but you are only one week out of surgery, so hopefully everything will get resolved quickly and you will be on your way with your new life!

I am so sorry that you are having such a hard time. Are you still in Mexico, or back at home? I would really focus on keeping hydrated and moving around, walking, as much as you can, all while not overdoing it physically (I see you have 2 kids, so I know how hard that is!) I had a leak also, but is wasn't found for two weeks. And then had two further surgeries, 2 weeks in the hospital and 3 more months of a feeding tube. I also had water in my lungs which did take alot of out me. Try to stay upright as much as possible, versus laying in bed. walk as much as is comfortable. I am so glad they found your leak quickly and were able to repair it. I questioned my surgery for a long long time. I did not lose any weight till over a month out from my original surgery (like other mentioned, fluids, transfusion, etc, your body needs time to figure out what is going on). I have now lost 94 pounds and feel awesome. I still have trouble reconciling my surgery, but not because of any suffering on my part, just because it was a dark time for my family and we needed a lot of assistance for months on end (3 kids under 5 years). Hopefully you will now recover quickly and be up and on your way in just a couple weeks. I will be praying for you and your family. (Hugs)

I used to LOVE frozen custard. It was an obsession. Does anyone else have it? It is like ice cream except made with eggs and heavy cream (ooh so healthy!) It is incredible. Now I can barely have a taste. It makes my stomach a bit queasy. I also really can't do any ice cream, but I feel like this is really a blessing.

She's dumb and doesn't live in your body. :001_tongue: Listen to your body. I am eight months out and could never eat 1200 calories in a day without lots of slider foods. You are still so early out, Just focus on Protein, fruits and veggies first and you will be fine!

:tongue_smilie: I work in health care too and I wholeheartedly agree. Also, people love to tell people to just follow their diet plan, etc. But it frustrates me that there so many different plans out there for the same surgery! Better to ask and fully understand than just blindly follow, IMO.

Gosh, I had a pretty major complication that involved two follow up surgeries. So, three surgeries in 3 weeks. I am young, no comorbities, etc. I never really felt like I could die though, even in the midst of a leak. I agree with the pp that mentioned no smoking, follow your pre op diet to a T. And pray, pray, pray for peace in your heart and competent surgeons.

I just talked to my surgeon about this today. It sounds like there is alot more to it than just the size. I have a 40, but lately he has been doing "loose 38s" He said it is a percentage of 12 mm difference. so barely any. I have great restriction. I did have acid reflux early out. It seems to be diminishing lately. I no longer take a PPI, but I do get heartburn on occasion (2x/week?) My surgeon said that he worries about anything smaller than a 38 and making the lesser curvature of the stomach too narrow, potentially leading to a lager pouch at the top and/or near the bottom. Mostly what I took from his info is that there is alot of technique involved, not just a bougie of xx size. And to answer the initial question, by starting BMI was 43.

Congratulations, you look great!!!

Let us know how you are feeling, thinking of you!!!

Wow, those look great Tiff! Just wanted to throw out the general idea of chicken in the crockpot, you can find tons of recipes, add salsa, onion soup mix, cream soups, BBQ sauce. My fave was chicken, hot sauce (Franks), cream cheese and shredded cheddar. Also, rotisserie chicken is so nice and moist. I also ate alot of boneless wings, we have different flavors at some of the groceries up here. Easy and filled me up nicely. fish and seafood. My first amazing meals was steamed crab legs. Fish is by far the easiest thing to go down for me. I never have any problem and can get a nice size portion in. It was SO hard for me to get anything in at this stage too. Not hungry ever. No real excitement to cook much of anything when you are not hungry at all!! Good luck!!

I am getting close to goal and do not monitor my carbs at all. But of course, I can only eat small amounts, so I am taking in nowhere near the amount of carbs I was pre surgery. I do not find myself hungrier if I eat more carbs. But when I eat a nice portion of dense meat, I am fuller longer. But since I am rarely ever HUNGRY, it is really an inconsequential difference. To be honest, the carbs I tend to be eating are chips, crackers and fruit. I can't eat much bread and haven't eaten Cereal yet either. I was kinda scared when people talked about carbs being a big no no, I have steadily lost weight and have not made any food forbidden. I just ate about 3 triscuit and was filled up for a bit. I also eat pizza crust (1/2 slice) about 1 x week. I think you have to see how you are able to lose and work with that. No reason to limit carbs hardcore and then have to eat them to stop losing, IMO.

Hi Lis, I am glad to read an update. Do you have an ENT that you trust and can spend the time with you to get to an answer? The endo results sound promising, but I can imagine it is so very frustrating to not get any real answers when there are obviously issues unresolved. Thanks for the update and I will continue to pray for healing and answers for you. Stacie

Please stick with your diets. I did not cheat but still ended up with a leak. I would hate to know that I had caused it. Believe me, a little food a little early is definitely not worth a two week hospital stay and 3 months with a feeding tube. Not trying to scare you, but just keep up the soft foods for a little longer. You can eat anything you want soon enough!

I am getting the same error as delawaregal. Would you mind posting the top two or three vitamin brands. I am taking Flintstones, but would be happy to switch to something higher quality. THanks for sharing!

I am so sorry you are in pain Lis, I hope that the endo provides some answers. I will be praying for you on July 7th, if you don't mind that. I think it is great that you are being proactive. I am 6 months out and recently noticed an increase in restriction, it lasted about 4 days and really freaked me out for the same reasons - I am losing plenty fast and worry about being able to maintain my goal weight if I can't eat much. Not to mention nutritionally how much am I taking in? And then I also worry about exercising - burning more or as many calories as I am consuming - how does that work? I mentioned it at my support group meeting, but no one really could give me any answers (most have had bypass and restriction seems to be less of a concern). I didn't realize you had a 40 bougie. I still need to ask my surgeon what I have. I sure hope you get answers soon. Hugs to you.

I just got back from a 4 day camping trip that included a large group of people and LOTS of food. I am 7 months out, but I agree with Tiffykins. You probably have already established some good habits that will carry you. I tried to focus on getting in some Protein at each meal (made chicken, salmon, brought string cheese, ate Beans when they were served even though they aren't my fave) and then ate fruit too, just cuz it is refreshing and healthier. I also ate whatever I wanted for Snacks, but I found that I would just have one marshmallow or one bite of a cookie and if it wasn't outrageously good, I just tossed the rest. Though I have to admit Pringles went down way too easily! oops! I drank for the first time and quite a bit, including high carb (I am guessing) lemonade and vodka. I felt like I was eating continuously and was amazed to come home and not have gained a pound. Remember your Vitamins, I forgot mine and was annoyed with myself! And have a great time!

Thanks for the update, very inspiring!!

We are going out this weekend with a big group of people to Claim Jumper. I haven't really eaten out yet. I was just looking at the menu and trying to think of what I might order... Soup I suppose, maybe fish tacos. I will probably share something with my hubby. Just curious what choices others would make when eating out.