BKLYNgal87

I love it! Can't wait until mine totally disappears

The amount of money governments waste on silly research would boggle the mind.

I was back to drinking coffee at 1 week post op. Had no issues. I use skim milk and usually no sweetener whatsoever.

For me it depends entirely on what I am eating. With dense protein my signal is usually a gurgling noise or I just get the overwhelming feeling that if I take one more bite I will hurl (never have thrown up though). Anything other than dense protein, I generally don't feel any fullness at all. So I time my meals for 20 minutes and no more, and measure out everything so I know I'm not eating too much.

I'm guessing if this is a concern of yours that you must have no background in medicine in general or oncology in particular. I'm not trying to be rude, but it sounds like you aren't getting your information from informative or reliable sources, and this misinformation is making you a nervous wreck. JerseyGirl has given you some great advice as she always does. No need to repeat. But I'll address the bolded concern of yours to the best of my ability. Cancer is extremely complicated. Cancer is not one "disease". It is hundreds of thousands of them, millions of them in fact. Millions upon millions of errors. It does not have one sole cause ever. Truthfully there are no longitudinal studies of cancer prevalence in post-VSG patients because the procedure hasn't been around long enough. But gastric bypass has been around quite a while, and several studies have been done that seem to assert cancer risk (certain cancers) is reduced in those who undergo bariatric surgery. Why? Because being obese is already a serious risk factor for various cancers, particular in women. On the flip side, there was a study in Sweden that concluded gastric bypass patients were at a slightly increased risk of colorectal cancer, but the mechanisms are far from clear - was nutrient malabsorption over a long period of time involved? Or changes in the cellular composition of the organ tissue? The problem is - no single answer is ever the answer with cancer. You can have risk factors but that doesn't mean you'll get cancer, or a particular cancer. The best thing people can do is try to live a healthy, balanced life. Eat right, exercise, leave the rest up to fate. Seems your obesity is contributing to several ailments already. No doubt your health is impacting your well-being. Get as much valid information as you can to assess the risks of surgery vs. the benefits. It is no minor change - it is lifelong. And to be successful in maintaining weight loss long term, you have to be vigilant in your diet. But you have to look to the future and imagine what your life will be like if you stay the same. That's what I did, and it didn't look pretty. So I made the decision to have the surgery and haven't for a second looked back.

I have banned myself from Starbucks for my own good. I am partial to skinny lattes with sugar free syrup or Pike's roast with lowfat milk, which are good options. The problem with Starbucks is all the fat and sugar-laden goodies they peddle. I find it very hard to resist if I walk in there. So I don't walk in there. But if you think you can exercise more self control, why not?

I don't think Lyndsey's goal in posting her sister's story was to scare anyone out of going under the knife, per se, but it's a warning and a reminder that there are inherent risks in surgical procedures (btw this is nowhere close to exclusive to bariatric surgery). Those risks are compounded by many factors - some related to the quality of care received, some related to underlying conditions in the patient, some are less defined. Mortality isn't common at all, that's true, but when one says something like "this story is sad but it's so rare, it's so unusual" part of me feels that it's trivializing the experiences of the families who did lose loved ones. It wasn't "rare" enough for them to not experience it. All of us took (or are considering taking) a risk. There are a lot of unknowns out there too, even for those who heal well and don't experience complications. Think about this: there are no longitudinal studies on VSG patients - the procedure hasn't been around long enough. It may be the right choice for a lot of people to make here and now who can't lose the weight any other way, but that doesn't mean anyone should brush off the risks, the stats, or the unknowns. Every patient should be well informed, but we should all also listen to that little voice in the back of our heads. If something doesn't seem right or you don't feel ready, don't go through with it. This is one of the hardest decisions many of us will ever make. No one should do themselves the disservice of deciding without seriously considering all possibilities.

My future MIL has a lot of reasons to dislike me, my weight is only one item on the list. When I was obese she'd say to my fiance that this meant I was lazy and ugly and not wife material. Now she tells him as soon as I get skinny I'll leave him for someone better. I just can't win. Thankfully she doesn't live in the US, and won't be at the wedding

BMI as of yesterday = 29.9! It's been a whirlwind 6 months since I started the pre-op diet. I am down 75 lbs. Went from a size 22/24 jeans to size 12. I wouldn't characterize my story as a success yet because I've come to realize that the biggest challenges still lie ahead, but I've made a lot of progress. As per gamergirl's request, I have uploaded pics. ^ Me before pre-op diet. Highest weight 260. ^ Yesterday. 75 lb loss. Current weight 185. Everyone have a great weekend!

Thanks Laura! I have to say in the last 6 months the most important lesson I learned was to plan every meal and plan every workout. I don't have much control when I do things on the fly .

I'm with Arts. I can't do one bite, because one bite is never one bite.

Will you be using a nasal pillow or face mask? Everyone is different when it comes to what works for them, but try both to see which you'd be most comfortable sleeping with. My suggestion for getting used to the mask is to start using it on a friday night (provided you don't work on the weekends) and keep it on the whole night, whether you sleep or not. Then the next night chances are you will be so tired that you'll sleep with the mask on much better. It took me a while to get used to it, but once I did, my life markedly improved. Edit: I want to add that since I've lost 75 lbs I have needed my air pressure level adjusted to a much lower setting. I am hopeful when I'm closer to goal that I won't need it anymore at all. Many people are able to cure their sleep apnea through significant weight loss.

I guess I could author a "The Journey So Far" thread . At the moment on top I am in between sizes (12/14). I guess fortunate for me my girls haven't deflated yet, but I'd love to get rid of some of this damn back fat .

I won't lie, I had a couple of my uber expensive suit pants tailored in the beginning rather than buying new ones, but those have since gotten too big. Went from size 24/22 to a 12. I am not eager to buy up a whole bunch so I am subsisting on 4 outfits right now. I have 2 huge trash bags of clothes that I am sending off with the Vietnam Vets of America this weekend. I've never been so happy to see my drawers and closet sparse!

How far out of surgery are these people? Check back with them after 6 months or a year and let's see if they are singing the same tune. I think my motto for this site should be "It's stomach surgery, not brain surgery!". The sleeve is absolutely not a cure for emotional eating or even hunger for the vast majority of people. I don't see how it could be, as stomach hormones are not solely responsible for the feeling of hunger. A lot of the hormonal process takes place in your brain too. In the beginning while you are healing and re-adjusting it's normal for cravings and hunger to be minimal. Your body withstood major trauma. But these habits and hormones return for a lot of people a few months after surgery or a little further down the line when they are in maintenance. For me the hunger isn't as voracious as it once was, but I definitely started falling back on old habits (not overeating but eating trigger foods and snacking). Trigger foods and snacking are things I will always struggle with. The sleeve helps me to keep portions small, but the rest is up to me.

In a word: marketing.

I work for a hospital and agree you shouldn't disclose the hospitals or doctors were involved until a formal complaint or suit has been lodged because you don't want to be countersued by the hospital or doctors for libel. Complications are very complex in nature and there's no way to know for sure from speculation what the cause of death was, or even if her complications played a role. Was an autopsy performed (I'd have to assume given her age it was)? If so the results from it should paint a clearer picture. I hope it will offer your family some closure as well. Then you can move forward with your decision making. Lyndsey, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

I have a piece of fruit nearly every day. I do not eat much in the way of rice, Pasta, bread etc because they are trigger foods for me. Sweets were and will always be my biggest trigger foods. Yes, the sleeve restricts how much you can eat at one time, and in the beginning for most people you also lose the desire to eat because the stomach tissue removed from your body produced a lot of hormones associated with hunger. But this lack of hunger tapers off for most people after a few months, then it's more up to you to not snack a little all day long. To be successful post-surgery you need to examine your bad habits (overeating, snacking on bad foods, etc), replace them with good habits (Protein first, portion control, etc), and be vigilant about maintaining those good habits. It is a tool, and if used well, an excellent one.

Unless you are bulking up like crazy, which we women hardly ever strive to do, you will build lean muscle and lose weight at the same time, provided you are being compliant on the diet. Diet, the high Protein low carb diet in particular, is absolutely the most essential component of weight loss, but it starts to get harder the further out you get from surgery to lose weight without physically challenging yourself and burning off calories. If you are physically capable of exercise and you like doing it, go for it. Why not just cardio at first? My routine: I do interval cardio 6 days a week (1 day is a tabata class), either 30 minutes or an hour, and I lift weights usually for 30 minutes 3x a week. I am still losing pounds (albeit currently stalled - it happens to us all) and getting ripped. I have been back at the gym since 3 weeks post-op. I lost 73 lbs so far and am almost 6 months post-op, so no, I don't think exercise has impeded my loss at all, and I went from a body fat percentage of 47% to 34%. My cardiovascular health has improved tremendously. I had elevated blood pressure pre-surgery, and now it's 118/78 and my resting heart rate is now 50. Also, I do not eat back any calories, no matter how many I burn through exercise.

Very similar to Atkins and that is why the sleeve diet works. But some surgeons require you to also eat low fat in addition to low carb. Here's an older article that has been circulating about the Atkins and other low-carb diets - it's an excellent analysis: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html?src=pm

You look absolutely terrific! You don't even look like the same person, even. Congratulations on your success!

Glad to hear you got some answers. Yes at 2 months post op you should be able to take just about any pills no problem.