pinkpeonies

My surgeon is similarly conservative. But there is a reason! His outcomes are phenomenal - both for weight loss and SAFETY outcomes. Waiting to eat lessens the likelihood of having a leak or other complications (if I recall correctly, it's been a while!). It was hard, I won't lie. But in the scheme of things, it's just a few months. You won't even remember it in a year or two. I can look back now and recognize that what I thought was hunger in the early days was reflux, and I should have been taking my acid reducers more often!

I was back to work in a week after my band. Sleeve was a whole other beast. Went back at two weeks, only because I have a desk job. It was a bit rough, but do-able. If you're on your feet a lot, I'd say closer to 4 wks is probably more realistic. It's a very individual decision.

I work in HR. My primary function is benefits, but I spend a lot of doing on employee relations and general HR activity. By virtue of my job, I talk to employees a lot. I conduct new hire orientation every Monday. I've always been an introvert, but really enjoy the social aspect of my job, because it's on a small scale and is limited. I have a lot of fun with it. But recently, I've noticed that people respond to me much differently. More positively. The same jokes I tell every week are a lot funnier now and get a lot more laughs and smiles. My boss never used to give me the time of day. I knew she hated me. Since dropping 90 lbs, I'm her right hand. She raves about my work. I'm no better at my job now than I was a year ago! In fact, last week she nominated me for a prestigious leadership conference in London. No non staff level manager has ever attended. I'm a "lowly" hourly employee. This is a really big deal. I'm excited, and proud, but it makes me wonder, why now? Just some introspective rambling, I suppose... it makes me almost embarrassed for my old self, and I want to give her a big hug. I wasn't a lesser person, or less funny, or more mean, or a crappier employee. I was just fat. Fat is a sin that just can't be forgiven by many.

Vanicream can be found at many drugstores, I buy it at Walgreens. EltaMD Intense can be found online, I usually get it from drugstore,com.

Curious if you've tried Vanicream, or EltaMD Intense? I also have rosacea and very sensitive skin, these have been lifesavers for me (in combination with religious use of Finacia to control flare ups). Both have minimal ingredients and are very rosacean-friendly.

Drink what you can. I wasn't able to get much in either, still can't. Just do your best. Has your surgeon talked to you about food phases? Mine considers pudding a mushy food, I wasn't allowed to eat it for 4 wks.

My surgeon said no to steak till 16 wks, and even then, to be very careful. I'd freeze it and wait.

My skin is a lot better now, too, and also more dry. I've tried a lot, my favorite has been Vanicream Lite. It's inexpensive, no wierd smell, very effective, wears nicely under makeup, and gets the job done. I buy it at Walgreens.

I was also a revision. Our recovery is more difficult than a virgin WLS patient. I was planning to be back at work at 1 week, but no way. I was in so much pain. I took two weeks off. I have a desk job, and really needed two more weeks. Not only was I so tired and lacked so much energy that I was falling asleep at my desk, but I could barely get out of my chair to use the bathroom. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford to take more time off, because I only get one week of vacation per year.

I've had the Mirena, and loved that my wierd irregular cycles went away completely. Most of my PCOS symptoms are gone, or diminished, now. My cycles came back like clockwork once I hit about 220 lbs. That was the oddest thing! I've been on the pill for 4 mos now, because honestly, the Mirena hurt so bad to get put in, I don't want to go through it again. I will say, the pill has been fine, and my skin is clearer than it's ever been in my entire life, which I'm enjoying.

I was too. I'm vain... I've always had long, thick hair that I spent a lot of time and money caring for and styling. I lost between 2/3 - 3/4 of my hair. Seriously. I didn't know people could lose THAT much. My aunt had DS and lost about half of hers, but still looked totally normal because she (like me) had a lot of hair to start with. I could have lived with that. I've been sporting a stringy little pony tail since my hair loss peaked in August. It's been 7 mos since my surgery, and I can see that it's starting to grow back because I have short little hairs sticking up everywhere. Awesome. I look ridiculous. lol. But I'm learning to deal, and learning different ways to style my pony tail. My security blanket was taken from me (I think I hid behind my hair), and I'm learning to cope.

I'm 4 mos post of and still can't get that much in. My surgeon's not worried - told me to just keep trying.

Toss it! I've done the same as you. I packed up all my skinny clothes and passed them to my aunt, who had DS surgery 18 mos ago, and she passed them back to me when they became too big for her. Now, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel. Most of my skinny clothes are too big. As I shrink out of my clothes, I've been packing up my nicer things for donation to YWCA's Working Wardrobe program, meant to help disadvantaged women build their closets to prepare to go to work. It makes me feel good about getting rid of it all.

I'm almost two months out, and that's been my pace nearly the the entire time. I'm a revision (band to sleeve), and it's exactly what my surgeon predicted, with me staying between 600-800 cals most days. Everyone's body is different. Your loss may speed up, it may not. The key is to stick with it, and avoid comparing yourself to others, IME.

Most, if not all, of the bills are in: $66k for the hospital, $32k for surgeon's fee, $31k for assistant's fee, $3400 for anesthesia, and various lab and xray charges. I'm at almost $140k, before insurance. I was a simple, no-complications revision: one night in the hospital, 4 hr operation. All claims received for doctors and ancillary providers have been processed and paid, insurance paid out almost $5k. The allowed amount for one night in the hospital was $9500, but insurance has denied the claim in full, and I'm responsible for the entire $66k (I know I can negotiate this down, but am not to that point yet). The reason they denied it, is that they say I've maxed out my $10k lifetime obesity treatment benefit. I called Anthem, they said that all my presurgical appointments (consults, EGD, bone density, etc) are counted against the max, as well as $3k of claims in 2010. I can only guess that those are related to my lapband, but I'm not sure how. My last fill was in 2010, and that was only $250. Before I had my sleeve, I called insurance to ask about the max (it's a new thing, implemented in 2010, did not exist in 2006 when I got my band). I was told only surgical services counted towards the max, not my consults and tests. Unfortunately, I didn't keep record of the date/time of the call. So I've made a request to have all my phone calls from 2012 pulled by insurance. And also have requested that they give me a full accounting of all claims applied to my max, so that I know what the heck they are looking at in 2010, and can articulate my appeal clearly. I'm just so frustrated. Was expecting to pay my $2500 out of pocket max, plus $1000 surgery copay, plus a few thousand of the hospital portion overage. Now I'm potentially facing bankruptcy, because where the heck I'm going to get tens of thousands of dollars, I just don't know. Has anyone else had a similar issue?

Six weeks out. 18.5 lbs lost. After the first couple weeks, averaging 2ish lbs per week based on my last 3 weigh-ins (I weigh myself once weekly, same time/same day each week).

Sleeved 4/4. Down 19 lbs. Slow and steady, no stalls yet. But super frustrating to be reading about everyone's big losses. So happy for you, but discouraged that it's not happening like that for me. Have been staying off the boards, it's getting to me...

My BFF had hers for 11 yrs, converted to DS. Took 6 hrs to remove, TONS of scar tissue and other issues. She's going great now. I had my band for almost 8 yrs, no issues at all with the removal and revision.

Gee, thanks - now I'm craving an apple fritter from Frost. :-p Sweets are my weakness.

Alcohol is *ridiculously* high in calories. From a weight management (and health!) perspective, I'd drop it completely. Learn to socialize without drinking. I'd consider seeing a therapist, or joining AA for help and support.

Blended? I would put it through the blender.

28 pounds in one month is AMAZING. I think you need to slow down a wee bit. What are your dr's recs for this stage? Mine doesn't even let us eat purees till week 5... Mushy at week 7, then can start to introduce food (like salmon) at week 9. Your tiny tummy needs time to heal.

Nectar is by Syntrax. Pretty much all the websites have it. I buy it from amazon because I have a prime account and get free two day shipping.

I was banded in 2005, just had my revision surgery two weeks ago. SO.FREAKING.GLAD to have that band out! Best of luck to you on your journey!

My doc had advised me to stick between 600-800 cals (preferably closer to 600) during the weight loss phase (first 12-18 mos). He thinks my maintenance will be more like 1100-1200.