sippsters

Yep I've heard of it. My nieces husband had it done. It's called a fundoplication and its a treatment for gastric reflux. Here's a link. http://www.m.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/fundoplication-surgery-for-gastroesophageal-reflux-disease-gerd

I like roasted edamame! Very crunchy and good protein. There's a brand called Seapoint Farms I but at Kroger that's excellent.

Memorial Hermann in The Woodlands first and third Thursdays. Great group.

Got mine at Houston Northwest Hospital on Nov 19 and I'm down 60 lbs and off bp and diabetes meds and insulin! Dr. Turnquest (well, God through him) saved my life!

3 months out and I've lost 53 lbs, I'm off insulin, metformin, high blood pressure meds, cholestorel meds and more.

I had surgery on Monday the 19th, went home the next day, and went back to work the next Monday, the 26th. I'm a web designer so it's a total desk job but I've been making a point to go for walks twice a day for 10 minutes. I'm still only on clear liquids; tomorrow I go for my first post-op with the surgeon at which time I should be cleared to eat soft foods. I too was worried that it would be hard to go back to work that soon but I've been really surprised--it's like I didn't even have surgery. In fact I have more energy than I did before the surgery, and absolutely no pain this week! I highly recommend the VSG! I've already lost 12 lbs in 10 days. I'm sure that's mostly Fluid but I'm so excited to be on this journey, and amazed that I have no hunger! I've read that the lap band doesn't remove hunger like the sleeve does. So glad I chose the sleeve!

I just downloaded the book to my iPad. Thank you so much for the recommendation. I'm going to dive right into this as soon as I'm done watching Downton Abbey Revisited. Ya'll are such a blessing!

Hi everybody, I've been lurking on the boards for so long that I felt it was time to come out of hiding and say how much inspiration you've all given to me without knowing it. You are a great source of information, comfort, and camaraderie -- it feels wonderful to know that I'm not alone. My real name is Michele. I'm originally from St. Louis, MO but I've been living in the Houston area (The Woodlands to be more exact) for 14 years. I'm 49 years old and I have a host of problems that I hope are going to be greatly improved by the surgery -- diabetes, high blood pressure, low thyroid, high cholesterol. Diabetes is the main one. My mom was about 100 lbs. overweight and died when she was 62 from the complications of diabetes. It's taken several of my friends too, and I just don't want to go out that way if I can help it. It's funny, I'm a conservative Republican but I tell everyone "Thank you President Obama!" If it weren't for Obamacare I don't know where I'd be. Because of the PCIP program which is part of the Affordable Care Act, I am able to get insurance and I couldn't afford it previously. I was turned down for other insurance and the Texas Risk Pool insurance was twice as expensive as what I pay for deductibles now. Anyway, my insurance covers bariatric surgery. I had to be on medically supervised weight loss for 6 months, then they approved me. Because of previous surgery I had on my ears this year, I've already met my out of pocket maximum so this surgery is free for me. I have been truly blessed. This past year has been an epic saga trying to get to this point. After doing everything I needed to do for six months and gaining approval for the surgery on the first try, I found out my surgeon was out of network because the medical group he was a part of fell apart and he joined with a new group and my insurance couldn't find him on their network anymore. Finally my insurance suggested that I find a different surgeon so I looked around and found one who has a lot of good reviews online -- and this is going to be my hero - Dr. Dexter Turnquest. My surgery is scheduled for Monday the 19th at 1:00 pm. I'm so excited that it's finally happening yet I'm feeling more nervous and I have more trepidation than I thought I would. My surgeon allows only Clear Liquids for the first week (yep the week of thanksgiving - maybe i can find some turkey broth). Then after that I go on the soft diet. He said he wants his patients eating their Protein, not drinking Liquid Protein, so I'm glad I won't have to be on the Protein Shakes -- I'm sorry, they're mostly awful. I worry what it's going to be like to be at home and not chowing down. I wonder what it's going to be like not to eat certain things, not to eat as much as I used to eat. I wonder if I'll get really depressed because that's been my coping source all these years. But I know that God is on my side and He has brought me to this and He'll help me get through it. But I can't help wondering and worrying a little if it's going to be really hard. Can anyone recommend things I should have on hand for that first week when I'm home that I would regret if I didn't get? My friend is going to spend the night with me the night I come home (which will be Tuesday afteroon) but after that I'm mostly going to be on my own sitting in my little apartment. Please let me know if there were things, medicines, food items, that you were really glad you had around. Anyone else live in The Woodlands area? I would love to go to a support group and make some new friends. I think it would help me get out of myself and help me take the focus off ME. There's so much more I could say so I'll just leave it at that for right now -- thanks again to all of you for being here!

I wanted to follow up and let everyone know how well my surgery went. I was very surprised how little pain was involved post-op. Any little bit of pain I had was very well controlled with IV morphine. I'm now on Lortab liquid and down to just 1 or 2 doses a day. My surgeon was excellent, everything went as planned. I was shocked that a procedure like this only takes about an hour. I woke up dreaming about flowers and at first didn't remember that I had just had surgery. It was amazing. I want to just say that the nurses and everyone involved in my care were just great. I had the surgery at Houston Northwest Medical Center, in the New Beginnings program. I really recommend it if anyone is considering it. So my surgery was around noon on Monday and I was on my way home at 2:30 on Tuesday. I was concerned before the surgery that I would be hungry and missing Thanksgiving this week, but you guys were right -- I didn't want food at all. It's now Friday and I still am not hungry at all. I'm praying it stays this way. I'm on clear liquids only until I see the surgeon for my post-op appointment next Thursday. Then if all is well, I'll be cleared to start on soft foods. My bariatric coordinator said that he doesn't want his patients on Protein Shakes at all. He would rather we get our Protein from "real food." That was a surprise to me, and also that I go straight from clear liquids to soft diet. I'm looking forward to it, but not because I'm craving food but rather because I'm excited about the adventure I'm on. I'm going to be back to work on Monday - I'm a Web Developer at an advertising agency. I'll need to make sure I keep getting my liquids in. I hope I won't forget to do that throughout the day. I also hope that my energy level will be good and I'll be able to concentrate on my work. Has anyone else gone back to work a week after WLS? What was your experience with it? Also, is anyone on this board involved in any support groups in The Woodlands, Spring, Magnolia, or Conroe area? I am very interested in going somewhere. The hospital I went to has one, but it's at 6:00 and it would be really hard for me to make it there after work on time.