SerendipityHappens

the seeds have a chance of getting inside healing staple line. Many people have no restriction on seeds however.. and most of those of us who do are cleared to have seeds between weeks 6 or 7... I'd say you're not in serious danger since so many people don't have the restriction at all.

I've had a pannus since age 11... I have no idea what it will be like without one...It's just part of my body that I'm so used to now I can't imagine not having it.. .I actually have two sticks of deodorant.. one for my pits and one for under my roll.... TMI? perhaps, but it will be nice to downgrade to only one stick of deodorant and some point! I guess I can add that to the list of NSVs I'm looking forward to.

Mine was around 35 minutes for the actual surgery. My surgeon does 3 or 4 surgeries a day so she is very efficient even with doing the extras such as an oversew of the staple line.. she always works with the same team so they all know exactly what to do like a well oiled machine. Also, I had very little visceral fat and a small liver so there was tons of free space in my abdomen for her to manipulate the instruments making the surgery easy for her.

Hello, I also dieted my way to gallbladder surgery by doing a super low-fat diet. I made it up to 360 pounds and a BMI of 60 by just letting things happen. For me before, there were only two switches.. "diet mode" and "free for all mode" With the sleeve now I'm discovering what "moderation mode" is like. Also, before, people would tell you to "fill up on vegetables" UH, I don't mind eating vegetables, but eating a huge plate of them was NOT ATTRACTIVE. Now when I want a snack and I'm feeling a bit of hunger but I don't want to burn through a lot of calories, I actually do eat 3/4 of a cup of veggies and the amount tastes good and is enjoyable and it actually makes me feel satisfied. WOO HOO! Of course I still struggle with emotional eating and cravings.. and sometimes I give in.. but when I do it's TEMPORARY and I get right back on the horse. As for how to pay, Of course insurance is your number one option.. if that is not an option, Mexico is an option too. I had my surgery in Tijuana for $4,500 which included everything but tips for my drivers and Airfare! Prices in mexico seem to range from $4,200 to $9,000 depending on city, doctor, and hospital. Prices in the US seem to range from $10,000 to $30,000 depending on city, doctor and hospital. I couldn't afford to pay for my Mexico surgery right away so I decided to use those months of waiting to start a pre-preop diet. I'm an excellent short-term dieter and my surgery date was like a light at the end of the tunnel that kept me motivated. I dropped 50 pounds before my surgery which helped give me a head start and made my surgery a bit easier for the doctor and safer for me. Best wishes to you!

I was lucky, I could gulp and chug very soon after surgery.

Three and a half drinks last night over a 5-6 hour period.. Lots of water and some food in between and I STILL promised the Irish boy sitting next to me that I'll be his NEW BFF and I'm pretty sure I kissed a man with Maori tattoos on his chin. I'm 40 years old and up until last night, I've never been intoxicated... EVER.... I thought I was doing good with pacing myself and eating bits of food etc....WRONG. So glad I looped in my friends PRIOR to going out of the possibility of alcohol affecting me differently because BOY, did it EVER....but fortunately they kept me in check and took me home and tucked me in... BUT now as a special added bonus..Now I'm hungover and ridiculously nauseated... Who gets hungover on three and a half drinks???? OK, just wanted to share the experience. If you choose to drink post sleeve, please be sure that you have friends who will watch out for you.. or drink at home.

I tipped my driver $5.00 which I thought was an ok tip since he had four patients he was taking. if I had been alone I would have tipped more.... I didn't tip the marriott shuttle driver though as I got whisked away so quickly I didn't have time.

I drank 80 ounces of liquid the day after surgery while still in the hospital! The day of my discharge I had a 16 ounce portion of chicken broth in one sitting...same day I accidentally forgot I was sleeved and drank three gulps of warm apple tea in a row.. and NOTHING HAPPENED. Liquids have from pretty much the first day, just run right through my sleeve. My sleeve had hardly any inflammation following surgery and that's why I never had a problem with liquids. Some people's sleeves are so inflamed that they are nearly closed and that's why they can't get liquids down at first. So if you're able to tolerate liquids better, that's a good thing, that means the swelling in your sleeve is going down.

Chicken wings with buffalo sauce made from real butter and Frank's red hot..dipped in homemade bleu cheese with tons of gorgonzola and bleu cheese and a greek yogurt base (because that's how I like it)... I used to eat 10 as an appetizer.. now I eat five as a meal.

six weeks for me. one thing about salad and many raw veggies is that when you chew them, the long fibers remain intact which can cause problems for some people. I cut all my salads up into really small bits like tabouleh.. that's how I like it anyway.. and it goes down nice and easy and I never had a problem with it. I even early on, I ate raw celery, raw broccoli, etc... just cut up nice and small. YUM

He will be 35 in a week. I'm 41. I believe that for casual dating that age really is just a number.. but I'm looking for long term so I wouldn't want to go much younger than 35 or any older than 50... Mostly I would go with younger because I still want to have have a child, and 35ish year old men tend to be in that place in their lives.

Current BF contacted me in the early afternoon... we met that evening. For me, the sooner the better. They call it online dating, but you're not really supposed to try to DATE online, the whole purpose is just to find potential dates. Occasionally I'd wait longer to meet someone if we lived in different cities or if our schedules didn't quite match up, but if he's not interested in at least TALKING about a meet early on, then NEXT... I don't have time to waste on someone who just wants to chat with me online.

That is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was in excellent health at the time of surgery and had zero complications and an easy recovery and I wasn't cleared for anything more than walking until I was six weeks out. SLOW DOWN!

Wake up 2multi capsules and 2 calcium and 2 fishoil lunch 2multi capsules and 2 calcium and one probiotic dinner 2 calcium Bedtime: 1 Iron 3 days a week. (I don't need it every day) I can take my multi and calcium together because my multi does not contain iron.. I take a separate iron pill before bed.

Yes, I had Valenzuela/MiDoctor/Marriot/MBC/Christy I received excellent care and couldn't be happier with my decision.

Seriously? You've been around the Mexico forum to know that Garcia, Lopez, Illian, Cabrera, Kelly, Valenzuela, etc are all around 4,200-4,700 and none of them practice at Jerusalem.

It's not expensive. I shop a a thrift shop and sometimes the cutest stuff will come in but be a size or two too small, but I get it anyway because I'll fit it soon enough. Also, I don't need a LOT of clothes in each size. I have one pair of jeans that fit me well and a few pair of other pants. I have three really cute tops and several "ordinary" tops... I wear the cute tops each one day a week and wash them.. I don't worry about wearing them out because they'll be too big before they fade from over-washing!

I consumed 600 calories when I was on protein shakes!

I'm sorry to say, but I'm completely disgusted with your friend! I'm 100% against fat shaming. I also believe strongly in the "Health at Every Size" movement. I had accepted my body. I loved my body. I did not have surgery because I was ashamed of my body. I had surgery because I love my body, but I felt that the size that my body had become was a hindrance to me and was keeping me from doing all that I wanted to do in life. If someone else is in a fat body and they don't feel it's a hindrance, then they should not even consider the surgery! Even though I have had the surgery, I am still an advocate of the Health at Every Size philosophy as it helped me be as healthy as possible in the body that I have. Oddly, surgery was only an option for me BECAUSE I had learned to love and had finally accepted my body. I know that there are many out there who are true friends and good people, but just say the wrong thing, I get that and I feel that the relationship can be mended as they learn more about surgery and these people can actually become our greatest supporters.... I don't believe that this particular friend is one of them and cutting her loose might just be the best thing for all.

I'm losing at an average of a pound to a pound and a half a week. Not exactly a breakneck pace for someone of my weight but I'm OK with it. I'm eating 1240 calories a day.

I had surgery first thing in the morning on March 13th and was released from the hospital on March 15th in the afternoon as soon as my drain was removed. I was sleeved in Mexico, so upon discharge from the hospital I went to the hotel and stayed there for three more days before flying home. I didn't really feel that for me the hospital stay was even necessary, I definitely would have been fine having it as an outpatient procedure as some people do. If I had the option I would MUCH rather have been discharged the same day and done ALL my recuperating at the hotel!

d'oh,I'm disappointed. I've been waiting for a report on the bike! I just got a bike a few days ago and I rode it home from the bike store.. four miles in heavy traffic and I'm not a very competent rider.,, which apparently is quite obvious because the guy from the bike shop called me to make sure I got home safely.

I'm just counting biking with an aggressive goal of 300 miles. As for what we "should" count.. I think we should count whatever is going to motivate us to push ourselves and increase our activity.

I start my day with a scoop of protein powder in my coffee. I'm not hungry in the morning so I don't force myself to eat. I NEVER have a problem reaching my 1240 daily calories or meeting my protein goals so why force myself to eat in the AM?