Nate

I brew my own tea and use splenda to sweeten it. Usually 1 packet of splenda to every 16oz of tea since I dont like it too sweet. you might give that a try.

After my surgery one of my large incisions were wide open because it wasn't healing properly when they applied the glue to it. I went to my surgeon and had him look at it because like you I was freaked out to have a large hole open and exposed. His instructions were to shower every morning, then to clean the incision with peroxide, apply a very small amount of antibiotic ointment, and then cover the wound with a absorbent dressing sponge or pad and some tape. I was to continue doing this until it was healed most of the way and able to scab over like any normal cut or abrasion would. He said any redness around the immediate area would be normal, but if it spread out from there and felt warm to the touch to get to my regular Doc because it would probably be infected. I followed his directions for a couple weeks and everything was just fine, it closed up nicely and just recently healed all the way. Hope this is some help to you.

Don't stress much. The major object of the pre surgery diet isn't so much about losing weight. It's meant more so to help reduce the size of your liver. When they do the surgery laproscopicaliy they have to move your liver to the side with a little wire utensil. The smaller and less fatty the liver is the easier it is for them to accomplish this. If they cant move your liver, you run the risk of your liver being nicked during the surgery. That would lead to the Surgeon having to open you up completely to repair the liver. Everyone cheats at one time or another. A muffin isn't so bad. Just stick it out and do your best. You can do this!

Seeing as we're allowed to post off topic stuff here in the Man Room I figured I'd rant a while before I kill somebody. It all started last July. I was in a car accident in an older vehicle that didn't have an airbag. You'd think my fat belly would have saved me, but nope. I ended up kissing the steering wheel and knocking out and or shattering almost every tooth in my head. When all was said and done They were able to save 10 of my bottom teeth, the top were too far messed up so what was left were pulled so I could get a full denture on top and a partial on bottom. I was dealing with one of the major chain Dentists to get the work done. They were ready and willing to pull all the teeth and do the bone adjustments to get me ready to be fitted for dentures. They even went as far as taking casts of my jaws. After that I was told it was just a waiting game. I had to wait for them to submit to my insurance and receive approval on the dentures to get them made. So I wait. And wait. And Wait. After 3 Months I call the Dentist and inquire about whats going on. They say "Oh we're not sure, maybe they didn't get the request properly, we'll submit again." And I wait, and wait, and wait some more. In Feb I Call the Insurance Company and ask what the hold up is. They inform me that they never had any request submitted from the Dentist. So I call the Dentist and tell them. They say that they will submit the request for dentures again. And I wait. After a month i receive an approval letter from the Insurance Company saying I was approved for upper dentures. No mention of the lower partial at all. So I call the Insurance Company. They inform me that they only received a request for upper dentures from the Dentist, no lowers. That I would need to have the Dentist submit for the lowers and they would have no problem approving them for me. I call the Dentist and have them submit for the bottom partials, and I wait. And Wait. And Wait. Call the Insurance Company yet again. They said they have received nothing from the Dentist regarding lower partials. They call the Dentist for me and give them the Fax Number of where to submit the paperwork instead of mailing it in and they tell me to call back in a month. That brings me to June when I'm being sleeved. I decide to lay off a month to recuperate and not stress over this garbage.Come July i call the Insurance Company back. Surprise! No request for bottom partials has been submitted. So I call the Dentist yet again and this time I'm told "No we're not submitting for them. We've already submitted for them too many times." That was the final straw. I called the Insurance Company back and informed them that I wasn't dealing with this Dentist any longer and that I would like help finding a new one. They help line me up with a new one, I go in, tell them my story and they're very sympathetic and ready to make everything right. The staff even showed me as they Faxed in the request for my dentures, both upper and lowers. So I wait a month. And that brings me to this morning. I receive a call from the new Dentist's office this morning. They informed me that they received the approval for my bottom partial denture, but the Insurance Company wont approve the upper denture because they've paid off on one once already at the previous Dentist. The previous Dentist never made them! So I've spent the last 2 hours on the phone bouncing back and forth between the old Dentist, the new Dentist, and the Insurance Company. The new Dentist is very nice and willing to work with me no matter what happens. The insurance Company told me I have 2 options. Get one denture made at each Dentist, or try to get the old Dentist to refund the payment to the Insurance Company, then once that is accomplished have the new Dentist resubmit for my upper denture. So I called the old Dentist and fought it out with them and they said their Corporate Office could take up to 6 months to review the reason for the refund and to actually refund the payment to the Insurance Company if I want to wait that long. I think it's a line of bull crap, but I'm so frustrated and want all this to end, and I want my teeth already. So it looks like I'm going to have to have each denture made at different Dentists. I'm not happy at all! Anyways that's all. Thanks for letting me vent. I feel a little better.

I wasn't required to do any pre op liquid diets or anything. I'm doing just fine. Had my 3 month appointment today and I'm 70lbs down. If you choose to diet prior to surgery that would be all the better to help mentally prepare you for what's to come once you're sleeved. It would also help reduce the size of your liver which would make the surgery easier for your Doctor because it would be easier to move it once they get inside you. And every pound you lose prior to surgery is one step closer to your eventual goal post sleeve.

I have yet to tear into a thick juicy steak, but I've had a burger, meatloaf, and roast and nothing bothered me at all. Just remember to take small bites and chew thoroughly and you should be just fine. Try it at least once, if it doesn't agree with you then you know to keep away from it.

WTG! Congrats!

Was sleeved June 5th. Just got back from my 3 Month Appointment and I'm happy to report that I've lost 70lbs since surgery.

I used to get real tired as I'm sure a lot of us did prior to the sleeve. Being the diabolical genius that I am, I would drink a large 24oz energy drink with one of the 5 hour energy shots poured in it every morning. I did that every day for almost a year. Until it caused my kidneys to fail.

When I was getting the post surgery/pre-solid food talk from my NUT I was told to chew each bite a minimum of 30 times each. and that the average meal should take 30-45 minutes to eat. I'm lucky if I can stretch my meals out to 20-25 minutes though, and I'm not eating fast at all.

OHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I'm tellin!! :ph34r:

another thing you might try which I really like and still do daily is chocolate flavored protein mix in my decaf coffee. add in a half teaspoon of hazelnut creamer and it's even better!

It is absolutely OK to get your protein over the course of the day. There's no rule saying you have to shotgun it straight down. If you need to, try mixing your protein in a little water then mixing it with some low fat yogurt, or possibly sugar free pudding. I had to do that a couple times during my liquid stage to get my protein in.

Not yet, but I'm down from a large B cup to a small A cup!

BTW... Decaf tea if at all possible!

Sugar free Popsicle, fudgesicles if you have access to them while working. They make you feel like youre being naughty and cheating. And try brewed iced tea with barely any sweetner in it at all. Just enough to tell theres some there will do the trick.

Awesome! Looking great! WTG!

I know it's hard. Your body just went through a major trauma, and change. But you need to look at the big picture and remember why you went through what you did. You did it for you... for your health, and your happiness. It may seem overwhelming right now. But things will get better eventually. You have to just give it a little time for your body and mind both to come to terms with whats actually happened over the last week or so.. You're already doing great, you've been one of the fortunate ones to have a flawless recovery. That's something to be very happy about right there!

Looking good. Congrats on the loss so far. Youre doing great!

Hmm weird that you wouldn't feel full. The Softer foods do tend to fill you up less easy though. As I'm sure you've read here a million times; the sleeve is a tool. We need to learn to use that tool properly. I really think they should send us to classes before we get sleeved to help us learn how to eat properly and healthier once we get the surgery. Not just recommend certain foods and tell us "this is good, this is bad, now go get em Tiger!" I know myself when I ate prior to the sleeve I would eat and eat until I was stuffed full. I don't want to do that now. I just want to eat enough to be healthy and lose weight. The thought of being full never even crosses my mind any longer. There has been a rare occasion when I ate a little too much post sleeve and I got that I'm full and I probably over did it feeling and I didn't like it one bit. If I could offer some advice it would be to go pick up a food scale somewhere and start measuring out your food. An ounce or two of Protein, another ounce or two of veggies, maybe an ounce of potatoes, stick with a 4-6 ounce meal. Learn to consume the food to live, Don't live to consume the food.

What did you eat? How long did you take to eat it? All that factors into the equation.

Just stick with it and fight the good fight. Things will get better with time. If you continue to get dizzy and near fainting I would call the Doc and alert him about it and see if he has any advice. Otherwise you're doing great. You can do this!

So far i've lost at least 63lbs post surgery. Add in the 40 I lost prior to surgery and i'm well over 100lbs gone. i go see my Doc on Tuesday for my 3 month appt. i'll know how much more I've lost then.

The noodles didn't send your sleeve into an uproar? Any type of noodle or bread feels like concrete in my stomach so I tend to avoid them as much as possible now and only eat them on rare occasions.

That's what children are for... even the grown ones! LOL Seriously, have someone come help you put stuff away when the time comes.