SpaceDust

It can be tough, for sure. Sometimes it's better to go in phases. Maybe instead of however many you normally drink, you allow yourself a single soda in the afternoon this week. If you want to get off the soda entirely, maybe a sweet tea in the afternoon. Then start mixing your sweet tea half and half with unsweetened tea, or with Water, and gradually make it less sweet until it's really just unsweetened tea, or water. That way your body has a chance to adjust. What kind of soda were you drinking? If it was Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, or something else caffeinated, it might have been caffeine withdrawal rather than sugar. The sweet tea could also help take care of that. Again, cold turkey can be painful, though it's usually less than a week of pain, I hear. Or you could step down from it, as well, just reducing the amount you drink, or switching gradually to beverages without caffeine. Good luck - I know it isn't easy, I've mostly stopped drinking Coke Zero except for the very occasional one (i.e., maybe a couple a month). I do drink a lot of unsweetened iced tea, though

PB2 is great if you want something that's good and peanutty without all the extra "stuff". I sprinkle it on things, I've been known to make a peanut sauce with it to have with curry seasoned chicken if I want something reminiscent of satay, it's all good!

Wow. This is someone I would not be seeing again, and I would be telling the surgeon's office why I would not. I suppose I get that "tough love" might be needed if someone is legitimately being a lazy butt, but come on, if you are physically disabled, then back the heck off! And hey, at least you ARE losing! You'll probably see improvement in your mobility as your weight comes down, at least to the point that you may be able to get more exercise done in the pool. Meanwhile, heck no I wouldn't lie about your exercise! Celebrate the positives, and emphasize the progress you're making!

My experience with catheter (for a different surgery) was that it felt really odd, but it didn't really hurt. Nor did I end up with a UTI because of it, but it wasn't in all that long - about 36 hours.

Excellent! Way to get started!

My guess would be all those little chores you're doing around your mini farm Do you keep horses on-site? And if so, do you pitch hay for them? That's one example. Shovel? Hoe? All of that will work out your shoulders and upper arms quite a bit, and you end up with a fair amount of strength training doing that sort of stuff.

Good for you for posting your before pics! And good luck with your surgery!

Hi, musiclover! Welcome! First of all, congratulations on doing research - here you'll hear the good, the bad, and the really nasty stuff. Yes, there are bad things that can happen, but my research over nearly a year has indicated to me that the good stuff far outweighs the negatives. I'm hoping to get my surgery done this summer. With regard to gigging - I play woodwinds, and I play in pit orchestras as often as possible, as well as the occasional other gig. I haven't had THIS surgery, of course, but my experience with other abdominal surgeries (three of them - one open abdomen, the other two laparoscopic) is that because of the pressure on the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles, I would probably give it a month to 6 weeks before I tried to do a full weekend gig. I actually did a pit orchestra gig (4 nights a week) 5 weeks out after one surgery which had me back in rehearsals by two weeks after surgery. Luckily, I was working with a group that had worked together often, so I could take it pretty easy and not push it - I mostly played anything where I was exposed or a cue for someone else in the pit or on-stage, but rested a lot of the rest of rehearsals, and I was still pretty worn out. I didn't really play full-out until the week of dress rehearsal and opening (4 weeks out), and even that was tough. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't start lightly practicing until about 3 weeks out, and probably wouldn't take any gig longer than a night until 6 weeks out, but everyone heals at different rates, and you may have more energy earlier. Good luck!

You know that she's in the "easy way out" boat, and she responded in that manner. While I would have hoped she could put that aside to Celebrate your success with you, clearly she's taking this more personally than she should. You didn't make her go have surgery, you chose to do it for yourself. You knew the yo-yo drill was not working for you, and it is actually worse for you than just staying obese, according to some experts. That said, she may be a little jealous (and that much loss that quickly isn't going to change her mind about it being the easy way - she doesn't really understand what you have to go through for that "easy" loss). My first suggestion that you take her aside and speak with her about how you understand her reservations about this, but you have taken this step after a lot of consideration and research and would really appreciate it if she supported the results, if not the method. I'd also probably let her know that what she's doing is hurtful and drives a wedge in your friendship. From the sounds of things, however, she's not willing to discuss this face to face. Would she read an email, do you think? How about an honest-to-goodness letter on paper? Meanwhile, yes, I think you're being sensitive, but it's normal and natural to want your nearest and dearest to celebrate your successes with you. Do your best to let it go if you think she'll come around eventually. If not, maybe you need to reassess if she's really as good a friend as you've believed. If she's still your good friend in every way except with regard to the weight loss, then maybe you'll decide that yes, she is, and that's fair - she's still an overall positive element in your life. But if this has impacted how you interact across the board, is she becoming a negative influence in your life?

Is it time to start bringing out the unicorns farting rainbows yet, or is it too soon? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

Interesting idea! I'm up for participating. My surgery will likely be in late July, so I would suggest that it would be best for me to take eye photos no more than a few weeks before the surgery (so, late June, perhaps?) again soon after surgery (within a couple of weeks), and then at whatever interval needed thereafter. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

How awesome! And what a great visual record of the changes! Good luck with getting ready for your adventure to China - I'm sure you'll be ready to do the Great Wall! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

Looking fabulous! Way to rock the sleeve! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

My most recent pre surgery NSV was having my husband remove a link from my watch so it doesn't just slosh around my wrist and realizing that it won't take too much more loss for another link to come off! I was almost giddy about it, and it made my husband laugh (in a nice way). Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

Now that's an NSV I'm looking forward to! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

Thankfully my husband is every bit as capable of cooking as I am - I just cook more right now because I'm not working, and he generally doesn't get home until 7 - we just have more home cooked meals right now I already know he'll be perfectly okay with it if I don't cook while I'm on liquids, and he is supporting my decision to do this. Still, I'm wondering how much the tasty smells will get to me! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

Hey back at ya! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

Not nice to do this to me when I'm having a Protein shake! I ought to sue for, um, well, I just ought ta. Protein shakes are NOT good coming out through your nose, and then I almost inhaled when I shoulda been swallowing... Harumph! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

In addition to what Dean said, you may also have some sensitivity to coconut milk right now - I know that I have to be careful with it if my tummy is already upset, and I'm pre-sleeve and eat southeast Asian foods regularly, so it isn't like something my system isn't used to. Hopefully as your healing progresses that issue will resolve

Your body is going through a lot of work to heal up. In the short term, you'll be tired, regardless of what you're eating. Just focus on the most important thing - liquids! If you're really worried, though, or you truly think you're abnormally weak, it is probably a good idea to contact your surgeon on Monday just to reassure yourself.

Dumb is definitely NOT something I would associate with you.

You're thinking of the bougie, I think. Most surgeons these days use somewhere between a 32 and a 40, although larger ones are sometimes used in specific situations, I understand. My surgeon said the difference in volume of the sleeve with a 32 vs a 40 is almost negligable, for what it's worth.