DanaInNewOrleans

I take a lot of meds in the morning and night. How am I going to get them all down in the weeks after surgery? I usually throw 8 or 10 of them in my mouth and swallow. But from everything I'm reading you're lucky if you can take tiny sips after surgery.

I have to chime in here as an Ambien Supporter! In fact, I think Ambien saved my life. I've been taking it for about 7 years. My insomnia reached a critical point -- I've always suffered from it but it got to the point where I was endangering my health from not sleeping. My doc rx'd Ambien and my life immediately changed. I actually slept and slept well. I wake up with no grogginess at all. When I first started taking it I would take it when getting ready for bed -- and I always tinkle before getting in bed. I would sit there tinkling and the carpet looked like it was moving...lol... I always thought it was funny! Then I would go to bed and feel great when I woke up. The only other side effect is something my husband still talks about to this day...and it only happened once...apparently I got a little, uh, lets say less inhibited one night...lol... Both my brothers take Ambien too with no issues. Obviously it affects everyone differently. As for being addicted -- like I told my doc-- who cares? I'm addicted to something that helps me sleep like a normal person. The alternative is to lose my mind and health from not sleeping... So whats worse? My doc said hey, I agree with you. For me, Ambien was a miracle.

Lisa, thank you so much for taking the time to put your experience down for us!! I LOVE reading everyone's stories---every little detail!!! It helps take the mystery and fear away. And yours was perfect!! I felt like I was there with you. Hell, by the time I finally get to surgery (late November) it will feel like deja vu after reading everyone's stories. Congratulations! Ok Pre-Surgery VSTers, we need to all promise to try and write our stories -- think of how much this helped US and when we write our story we will be helping each other and all the new VSTers after us. I promise!!

My heart sank when I read your first post and now I have a big smile on my face. Such great news. Congrats! Can't wait to hear all the details of your journey!! Dana

This is my suggestion as well. Maybe you make a deposit and then temporarily be assigned as a Self Pay and then let them file with the correct insurance?

Does this mean the powder doesn't have any flavor -- (ie, not as gross) or does it mean it still tastes gross but it is just not a flavored gross?

It's amazing how many different "rules" the docs have about this. My nutritionist told me NO STRAWS!!!!! LOL.....

I wear a hi-waist firm shaper and a great sports bra by Maia. It is now my favorite bra and I wear it with everything. In fact I bought 3 more colors. Here is the Amazon link http://www.amazon.com/Moving-Comfort-Womens-Maia-Black/dp/B001B1PL1A/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1345957471&sr=8-7&keywords=sports+bra+full+figure

Congratulations Phillip! I'm in my insurance mandatory pre-op period. Hoping to have surgery at the end of November. I cannot wait!!! Keep us posted. I love to read the details of the new sleevers because it sort of keeps me excited and less anxious. Dana

I'm thinking many people break this rule, right? I'm just curious about the actual medical reason for the restriction with the sleeve.

That doesn't seem possible!!! Are you around lots of jealous types??? Maybe they don't want to be too personal? ( or are you talking about family?)

I plan on mixing it with Hood Calorie Countdown milk and whatever else I can think of to mask the taste...lol...suggestions? On the powders and the extra ingredients...... I want to start now before surgery to get use to the Protein routine. I am not a big drinker so I know I've got to work on this before surgery. By bang for your buck I mean protein grams not $$$ bucks! Thanks!

Hi everyone, Let me start off and say I have not had the surgery yet. My first appointment is this week with the surgeon. Of course I'm reading this forum like crazy and something I've read quite a bit is that it is hard to eat all the calories required. Some people say they have more success when they eat a little more but sometimes find it impossible to eat more. I worry about this too. Isn't staying on 500-600 calories daily just wreaking havoc with our already compromised metabolisms? Now for the stupid question. Many people supplement with Protein shakes to make sure they're at least getting that in-- what about trying to eat more things that are higher calorie ( of course in small portions) that give you more bang for the buck to up caloric intake? Am I crazy? It sounds like that would simplify the daily struggle. I'm not looking forward to having to obsess about tiny amounts of this and that and here and there 18 hours a day. What about supplementing with protein and then try to have something higher calorie as a snack -- say a scoop of ice cream or some chocolate. Then maybe have chicken salad for dinner with real full fat mayo... I'd love to hear individual daily menu examples -- from all different stages. Ok, that was just me rambling on about things that are zipping around my brain...

Hi, I'm just curious about the sleevers who were prone to motion sickness before their surgery. How did you fare with nausea issues after surgery? .... ( I'm stressing out about nausea). I've read a few horror stories here about horrendous nausea, ending up back in the hospital for dehydration, picc lines.... ( yes, I am completely paranoid) ~Dana

Sending prayers and positive thoughts!! Keep us posted when you are able.. Sending positive thoughts your way

Hi, yes, my one and only previous surgery ( thyroid cancer - thyroidectomy) was miserable because of nausea after anesthesia. It began while I was still in lala land in recovery. I have these vague visions of me turning my head and throwing up, someone wipes my face/mouth, turn my head and puke on the other side ....over and over. I was sick 24hours-- nothing they gave me worked. They would not let me go home. I would not let an ice chip touch my lips.. finally they sent a different anesthesiologist to my room to discuss something new to try. It was some kind of mixture/cocktail of 3 different drugs. And it worked!! She came back and told me the name of the drugs and said I should remember it for the next time. Well of course I remembered it for abut 7 years and now I have no clue other than one of the drugs was a steroid. I had never had surgery but I knew somehow that anesthesia would make me sick. I told the anesthesiologist when I met with him that, trust me, I will be sick. He said no worries, I'll give you Zofran " you'll be fine --- it's what we give chemo patients".... Yeah right! I am more afraid of the nausea than anything else. Do you happen to know the name of the "good stuff" .do you? LOL.... I am definitely going to be insistent. My first visit with Dr. Lavin and I was already trying to tell him about my nausea issues....

Hi, Can you elaborate a little on a few of your points? You said sometimes the sleeve is not the best surgery for someone with metabolism issues and that a different surgery may be more appropriate... why and which one? I have been very concerned about this issue. I lost 160lbs 10 years ago on low carb ( I was still overweight -- size 14/16) and managed to keep the majority of it off. I've gained about 60-70 pounds over the last 5 years even though I still adhered to a low carb diet ( just maybe not as strict). Ok, so I'm thinking that maybe my body is immune to the low carb at this point so I tried Weight Watchers.... I GAINED WEIGHT ON WW. That is how I ended up here. I felt surgery was my only hope.... Let me add that I had Thyroid Cancer and my thyroid was removed, but I take Synthroid so that should not be the issue. I also have Multiple Sclerosis but cannot think of any reason MS would affect weight loss. You also said that if you only had 1 protein shake in the morning and 1 protein bar at lunch you would faint... But isn't that close to what we're supposed to be doing. Lets say a protein shake has 200 calories, so far so good right? A protein bar has 200 calories. So we're at 400 calories before dinner. My impression was that staying around 600-800 calories is optimal to keep losing? Help! Now I'm concerned that I will be failure at this!!

Last night I ordered a bunch of the single packs of Unjury to try. I ordered direct from their website unjury.com Each one was $1.99

Hi, I'm Dana from New Orleans! I'm 49, married, no kids - except the 4 legged kind. I'm shooting for a late November surgery date. My Aetna 90 day requirement is up on Nov.13 and the office said it usually takes about 10 days to get an approval back. I just wish I would have come to this decision (it was almost an epiphany for me) a few months ago -- I am chomping at the bit here. I've been overweight/fat my entire life starting at about age 7. Ten years ago I lost 160lbs over a 1.5 years on low carb. Even after the 160lbs I was still overweight but very happy at a size 14/16. I managed to keep the majority off but I have gained back 60lbs over the last 5 years despite still being on a mostly low carb diet to this day. I thought ok, maybe my body is immune to the low carb thing since I've been doing it over 10 years. So I tried Weight Watchers and GAINED weight. I felt like I was losing control of being able to maintain or lose. I remember thinking, ok, apparently the only way you are going to lose weight is if you cut your calories to bare minimum. But who can really live like that? I started investigating the sleeve and knew immediately that this was the tool that was going to allow me to cut my calories for a lifetime, allowing me to keep weight off. I'm hoping to lose 100lbs which would put me at 168lb. I know that is not a normal BMI but I think it's realistic. If by some miracle I lose more well, I cannot even imagine that honestly. I weighed 169lb when I was 12. To me, being a normal BMI is a pipe dream. I'm looking forward to the November Sleevers encouraging one another and sharing the ups and downs of this life changing journey. I'm so excited about it I feel like I could jump out of my skin. I'm going to go crazy for 3 months. If they called and said Dana we can do your sleeve tonight at midnight I'd be there with bells on. ~Dana

Just wanted to share some ideas I came across that I really think will help me with the shake thing. I'm sure the sleeve veterans know these things but maybe some newbies could use the info. I was digging around here last night trying to find different opinions/ideas on Protein shakes -- I'm supposed to be doing Prescriptfit right now per NUT but I just cannot stomach them. Too frothy and slimy and gross. So that means in less than a week I'm already disobeying instructions I've always thought the Atkins RTD shakes were the best around and I could drink them with no trouble. No slime, no bubbles, no froth. The Premier Shakes are good too. I have pretty much decided that I'll have to just circumvent the NUT if I wanted to be able to be successful and get enough protein after surgery. I just put my Atkins Mocha Latte in my little personal blender with 1 tablespoon of sugar free banana cream pudding and about an inch of fresh banana and it came out awesome! The only problem I'm seeing is that I only have had half of it and I am stuffed. The Atkins shakes have 15 grams of protein. After surgery I will only be able to sip, sip, sip, sip -- 1 shake will take me all day! I cannot figure out how people can realistically get in the amount of protein they want you to have in the first few weeks(months) after surgery. I've seen people mention "high quality protein" here. I have no idea how to tell the difference. I didn't even know there was a difference so I have no idea if the Atkins shakes have quality protein. Also MegInNOLA posted about making her own Protein Shakes and smoothies because she never could tolerate the protein powders. She uses simple ingredients like Greek yogurt, egg whites, milk etc. Why that never occurred to me I'll never know. Thank you Meg!

Netrition is awesome too.

I haven't tried any of them yet. Some on VST like them, some don't. I think more people seemed to like them than dislike them so I thought I'd give the samples a try. Fingers crossed!

Hi, I just ordered a bunch of samples of the Syntrax nectar from bjsbariatrics.com. They have a sample pack for $14.99 and you get to choose the flavors you want. Dana