920amy

I am 4 months.

I don't know what it is about that special kind of sourness. I have been eating pickles like crazy, loved them before surgery, but now, WOW! Also, the otehr night I went to my parents for dinner, they were having brautwurst, and I couldn't seem to stop eating the sourkraut! I think it's common to crave vinegary-sourness when losing drastic amounts of weight, my father is currently doing the HCG diet, and my mom said he also is eating pickled anything like a fiend. I read pickled foods help with digestion, so maybe we are just craving digestion help? Funny to know my dad and I aren't the only pickle monsters!

I am not in the Land of Smiles any longer I lived there for 5 years though, and am fully fluent. I Kitung Thailand mach mach I visit as often as I can. Where are you located? I used to live in BKK off of Silom Soi5, then I moved and lived for several years also off Ekkamai Soi11 off Sukhumvitt. Did you have surgery in Thailand? PM me!

Sawasdee-ka! You may have hit a stall, not it's not unusual, most people talk about the 3 week, 3 month and 6 month 'dreaded' stalls which are quite common, but you can hit a stall at any time unfortunately, it's basically your body getting adjusted to the big drops you've made. You may hear people talking about 'stair step' loss, it's basically where you will lose A LOT then nothing....A LOT then nothing...it's very common for this type of surgery. So early out, don't worry so much about the calories as you do about getting liquid and Protein in. Shoke-dee, na!

I used to be tiny small, and as I grew in size, I saved all of my clothes as I got bigger and bigger. I was up to a 24, and as I got bigger, the more expensive jeans were. So, when I was a size 18 up through 24 In each size, I had 2 pairs of jeans, one light, one dark, and I would go back and forth, light jean day dark jean day. Now that I'm back into a 14, I have 12 pairs of jeans suddenly!! WOW! I told my husband, I'm not really sure what to do with myself in the morning when I get dressed, the choices seem to be overwhelming! I LOVE shopping in my own closet!! Good for you!!

Just noticed this thread, I tried to click on the blog link, but it says the blog does not exist. Maybe the link is broken? I was sleeved in TJ my Dr/ Lopez, I had a good experience, but some things were different that's for sure. I did have a private room, so I think it jsut depends. I had my motehr travelling with me, and she and I shared a hopital room when I had surgery. She slept in the patient bed that was next to mine. Dr. Lopez had us do a 3 days clear liquids only before the surgery, and a bowel prep also, so I think there are a lot of variations between how Dr.s do things not just US VS Mexico. I hope the blog links gets up and running, I'd love to read your experience!

I think it's funny how people react when they haven't seen you for awhile. I cut my hair really short when it started to fall out, so now I'm rockin a short pixie hair do, and my hair used to be down to the middle of my back. I have run into more than one person that I haven't seen for a long time and when they recognize me they say 'WOW! You cut your hair! It makes you look SO much thinner!' LOL The first time it happened I was shocked, now I just laugh it off The last time, I said 'Yeah, who would have thought cutting my hair would make me look like 70 pounds lighter!' The person looked at me funny then it was like a light bulb went off, and they asked if I had lost weight too. I don't really tell anyone about my surgery, or tell anyone the numbers of my loss unless they ask, but people are funny. I hope you enjoy everyones reactions. You'll get tons of them

Every Doc and NUT has different ideas. The main reasons they want us to stay away from caffine, is because for many people, it can be a hunger stimulant. Also, being a duiretic, it can cause you to easily get dehydrated when we are at a point (especially early on) when we need to be extra concious of getting our liquids in and not getting dehydrated. Another reason is because the acidity of straight coffe can irritate or enflame the suture line, and cause you pain and discomfort. I found for myself, personally, I'm fine drinking caffinated things now, but when I was within the first month, coffee upset my sleeve. I also like the chike coffee drink. There are a couple other ones out there also. I'm not saying to completely disregard your NUT or Dr. but be sensible, and do what feels right for your body. Everyone is different. Good luck on your journey!

You didn't really eat and drink, you drank a savory brothy soup, basically like chicken broth. Also, warm liquids seem to be much easier digested especially when you are early in your recovery. Don't worry, you are fine, it is really hard to over do it when you are on liquids, your polyvoric valve is essentially not closed at all when you drink, so it basically all drains into your intestines. If you over did it, you would feel very uncomfortable, and have 'sliming' which is basically like saliva bubbling up from the back of your throat. That would have been followed by vomiting. You will be fine

Why wouldn't you be allowed to paint your nails? I don't see why not.

Personally, I didn't have any pain from my incisions, my drain made me uncomfortable, but there was no pain from the incisions. I was given ketorolac pills for pain when I was released from the hospital, and I used those for about 4 days, but I don't know if a compression belt would have helped. Everyone is different. Maybe ask your surgeon? I would just hate to see you spending money on something you don't end up using.

Zen, What are you thinking of having one for? For after your surgery? I had surgery in TJ Mexico, and did not have one. I think it would have irritated my incisions if I had. I did have a drain after my surgery, and it was there for 3 days after surgery. It was a pain in the a** to try to carry around, not have it drop out of my PJ pockets, and try to not have it get in the way when I showered. I can't imagine trying to deal with a binder on top of that! Unless your surgeon says you need one, and I'm not sure why he wouldn't provide you with one if he thinks you need it, then I wouldn't waste your money on one.

sounds good, if you think you'll miss the crunch too much, you can line your cupcake pan with wonton wrappers, 2 per cup, and then bake, or you could also portion out and freeze raw, then when making for some crunch, just cook loose in a skillet and enjoy in lettuce like lettuce wraps.

I think for everyone it's different. Part of it too will be because your tastes/sense of smell changes. For me, I used to LOVE seafood. Any and all kinds. Now, I can't hardly stand the smell of many kids of seafood and the taste is like dead rotten ocean salt. I also used to LOVE bacon, now it tastes like salty grease. However, everyone is different. The good thing about having issues with digesting certain foods usually goes away with time. I personally haven't eaten anything that physically disagreed with me luckily, so just know some things will change, and be open to knowing it might not always be pleasant figuring out what those things might be for you.

You are asking us to tell you if it's worth it, I think all of us post-op will resoundingly say, yes, it was worth it for us. The questions you might actually be asking yourself is Are you ready? The things you are worrying about are really minor when compared to the more energy, the better health, the longer life you might live because of the surgery, in my opinion. Also, I don't want to sound like a negative nelly, but it sounds like your worries may be hiding some deeper issues for you. Have you talked to your Psychiatrist about these fears? For many of us, it's an 'easy' road, but there are those out there also who have suffered complications, and their journey is different, and more difficult. The truth is, eventually you will be able to eat your favorite foods again, you will be able to drink alcohol, and if you want, you can drink while you eat. The other half of that coin is our favorite foods probably contributed to how we got to where we needed surgery in the first place, alcohol is a lot of empty calories, and sadly some people find it too easy to trade their food addiction for alcoholism, and drinking while you eat fills you up faster, makes your food digest faster, so you are hungrier sooner, and can make you really uncomfortable, and possible cause you to vomit. Having the sleeve is not like a magic pill. It doesn't make you skinny automatically, it is a great tool for encouraging you to make better choices, but if you're afraid of those better choices before you get the tool, you might not know how to use it once you get it, and that could make you more miserable. I don't think anyone can answer for you if it's worth it, because only you know yourself, but do be sure that you know yourself enough to know you are ready and can face the challenges, because this is a change for the rest of your life, it's not reversable, and yes, you will have to make sacrifices. I hope you can do some soul searching. Good luck on whatever you decide.

You are asking us to tell you if it's worth it, I think all of us post-op will resoundingly say, yes, it was worth it for us. The questions you might actually be asking yourself is Are you ready? The things you are worrying about are really minor when compared to the more energy, the better health, the longer life you might live because of the surgery, in my opinion. Also, I don't want to sound like a negative nelly, but it sounds like your worries may be hiding some deeper issues for you. Have you talked to your Psychiatrist about these fears? For many of us, it's an 'easy' road, but there are those out there also who have suffered complications, and their journey is different, and more difficult. The truth is, eventually you will be able to eat your favorite foods again, you will be able to drink alcohol, and if you want, you can drink while you eat. The other half of that coin is our favorite foods probably contributed to how we got to where we needed surgery in the first place, alcohol is a lot of empty calories, and sadly some people find it too easy to trade their food addiction for alcoholism, and drinking while you eat fills you up faster, makes your food digest faster, so you are hungrier sooner, and can make you really uncomfortable, and possible cause you to vomit. Having the sleeve is not like a magic pill. It doesn't make you skinny automatically, it is a great tool for encouraging you to make better choices, but if you're afraid of those better choices before you get the tool, you might not know how to use it once you get it, and that could make you more miserable. I don't think anyone can answer for you if it's worth it, because only you know yourself, but do be sure that you know yourself enough to know you are ready and can face the challenges, because this is a change for the rest of your life, it's not reversable, and yes, you will have to make sacrifices. I hope you can do some soul searching. Good luck on whatever you decide.

Good for you! You're so brave to have done both of these procedures together!

If it's healthy and your sleeve doesn't mind, I think your NUT should approve, after the sleeve you will find it is tough to get a lot in, so when blending, try to add protein powder, this should help you a lot to get your protein in and extra nutrients.

I had surgery in TJ, Mexico. We were given antibiotics to take right after surgery. The pills were HUGE! They were like horse pills! I thought, no way can my sleeve handle this! The trick was to take about 2 Tablespoons of maylox about 5 minutes before the pill. I took the entire course of antibiotic without trouble that way, and that was literally the day after getting out of the hospital. Maybe that will help you! Good luck!

I have been a long time proponent (and owner) of the vitamix. I take my blending a little further, and even make my own butters and flours for baking. Using your blender is a really great way to get back to food basics and get away from overprocessed junk that we as a society tend to gravitate to. I blend fruit, veggies, tons of things. The pulp and 'ruffage' is actually really good with the sleeve, as it can be easy to get a little 'stopped up' from time to time since our diet pushes so much protein. Just be sure not to add a lot of sugar, or other empty calories when blending.

I made it! That is all

Dr. Lopez out of Mi hospital for me was $4,750 through A Lighter Me that included 3 night hotel stay at the Marriott and all 'food' (broth and popsicles) from the hotel also.

I had a lot of questions about the drinking from a straw. I never heard of the celery thing. Also, a big one is no chewing gum. The straw thing has to do with you accidentally swallowing air as you drink from a straw. Also, not being able to tell how big of a drink you take when you drink from a straw. I have found both of these to be true. Now personally, I had to try this to see if it was true...yes, it is true, at least for me, lol. I began reintroducing straws around 2 months I think. I still am cautious about drinking from them and conciously only take small sips from them. I still prefer to drink from the sides of a glass instead of through a straw. I heard citrus fruit, and it has more to do I think with the acidity. I also found this out to be true. I didn't eat citrus, but rather I tried to drink orange juice, and than around 1 month I tried to drink fresh squeezed limeade. WOW did both of those burn and make my stomach curdle! I think it's because we are not producing enough stomach acis to digest the harsh acidity of these yet. Another one is coffee or caffine. Again this has to do with acidity, but also because for many, caffine is a hunger stimulant, and for some they add many empty calories to their coffee to drink it. I have not really had any coffee in any mass amount since surgery, but I have a bad black tea addiction. Caffine or not, I'm sorry, I could not break away from my lipton brisk iced tea. I'm not a big 'sweet drinker' so getting liquids in with my iced tea has been my life saver. I don't think caffine has ever been a hunger stimulant for me, and in fact is a bit of the opposite. Another thing with caffine is that it can act as a duiretic and cause you to easily become dehydrated when it is very important to stay hydrated after this surgery. With the chewing gum, it has to do with swallowing air, and people accidentally swallowing the gum and getting it stuck in the incision. I thought this was silly, I'm a grown woman, I know not to swallow gum, but I naver was a big gum chewer, so haven't tried this yet. Another is alcohol. They say it will be absorbed faster into the blood stream, making you a lightweight and then causing the buzz also to wear off faster. Alcoholism is on of the types of 'transfer addictions' people with WLS can get, you go from being addicted to food to being addicted to something else, for some people it's alcohol. I've had a glass of wine about 3 months out, and it gave me a similar 'burn' as the orange juice did, so I didn't care for the way it settled. I will have a few drinks in the future, but I don't see myself finishing a bottle of wine by myself as I had done before the surgery. Another is drinking during a meal. That is because the liquid will fill you up fast causing you not to eat enough Protein and then will also cause the food to 'slide' through so you will not feel full for as long. If you drink too soon after eating, you could make yourself overfull and be sick. Yes, this is a good rule to follow. I've done all of them and prefer to NOT drink while eating. It feels weird at first, but you get used to it. The bottom line really is, there are tons of rules, some your surgeon will tell you, and some you will see around here, you will find some people that throw the rules out the window, and think they can keep on eating how they did before and do whatever they want. Some people will pick and choose which rules they feel apply. In the end, there's probably no rule that you must follow or you will die. You will get out of the sleeve what you put into it. Don't think that your life is over or there will be things you can NEVER EVER EVER do again, because it's just not true that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Take what you read here to heart, but don't be afraid to find out for yourself either

I have found my 'go to' shake these days is called Rockin Refuel it's a pre mixed drink made by Shamrock. The lactose free chocolate has 30 grams of protein, and is only 190 calories.

My 'girls' are taking the plunge. I started out a 44DD @ 265, I noticed my bras getting looser and looser, but I just hooked them tighter and tighter until I ran out of hooks, when I was about 230, I finally budged and went to buy a couple new ones. I only shop Soma, and so I got measured, and I had gone down at that time to a 40DD, about a week ago, I noticed my cups weren't filling out anymore, so I went back today, got remeasured and am now in a 40D. I think that just like anyone, some of us will lose more and some of us will lose less in different areas. I personally plan to get lifted and filled and nipped and tucked after my weight loss is complete. It's a personal decision for everyone, but I think the best indicator of how your own body will react will be how your body has behaved in the past when you lost weight, except about 10 times more drastic since the weight loss will now be about 10 times as much and fast. Good luck to you!