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Kindle

Gastric Sleeve Patients
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Everything posted by Kindle

  1. Kindle

    So hungry!

    You are eating a fraction of the calories that your body is used to. You have nothing solid going into your stomach. Of course you are hungry! Why wouldn't you be? This isn't easy, but you decided to change your life for the better. This is just part of the process. And like already mentioned, part of it could be acid. Take some maalox and see if it helps. Then talk to your surgeon about taking an H2 blocker or PPI. Most surgeons Rx them postop anyways to help with healing.
  2. Kindle

    jerkey

    If you are approved for solid, dense foods then sure. I didn't start eating it until about 4 months out, but jerky is now a staple food item for me....beef, elk, turkey, bison and even bacon jerky. I Eat it several times/week.
  3. Kindle

    Gallbladder stones & surgery

    I am 23 months out and had my gallbladder removed on Wednesday. It's like a VSG flashback. Sore ab muscles, bloated, swollen belly and 4 holes in my belly. And fortunately, no nausea or gas pain this time, either.. I was driving day after surgery and have been able to do everything I need to at home, including feeding horses. I was pretty tired after Thanksgiving dinner at grandmas, but of course I was only about 28 hours postop at that point. Still no bm, but that's pretty normal postop. Usually takes me 5 days. Going to lay low today and tomorrow and back to work Monday.
  4. Kindle

    Sleeping

    I slept on my side starting the first night after surgery. Couldn't sleep on my belly till about 3 weeks. I had no pain, it's just I felt so bloated.
  5. Kindle

    Gallbladder surgery was a piece of cake!

    Just wanted to add this is all so surreal. It's like a VSG flashback. My belly is super swollen and my incisions, although in different places look exactly the same. I'm also too bloated to eat or drink much, so my sleeve feels like the original restriction. All I could manage was one tablespoon each of potatoes, stuffing, yams and turkey yesterday. Did manage to eat a sliver of pumpkin pie with whipped cream, though! Been eatin Jello, Soup and sippin on Protein shakes and hot chocolate all day today. I'm super chilled just like after VSG. Luckily no gas pain this time, either. I'm taking miralax and lots of Fiber to help with my post-anesthesia constipation. Looking forward to a shower tomorrow and hoping I poop soon. It's just so weird to be right back where I started.....
  6. Kindle

    Flying post op

    My surgeon gave me a pair.
  7. My insurance does not cover WLS in any way shape or form for any reason. Being self employed I have to get an individual policy and my state opted out of WLS coverage under the ACA. No option for me except self pay. Spent all my savings, that had been ear marked for a new truck (and a bit on a cc) and got it done anyways. Still drive a 17 year old rust bucket but have no buyers remorse. Best money ever spent.
  8. Wow, that is high capacity for your sleeve! But good for you for finding a way to still make it work. That's what it's all about....taking responsibility for your choices and never stop trying! You are definitely an inspiration.
  9. Kindle

    Phentermine after gastric sleeve

    So will eating more and eating healthy. How far out are you? Are you getting in at least 60-80g Protein, 64oz or more of Water, eating veggies? Fruits? Healthy carbs? Taking all your Vitamin supplements? Have you had bloodwork done? Too few calories, unbalanced nutrition and vitamin deficiencies will all result in low energy and slow/no weight loss. If you aren't doing these things, you should make them your priority. This is what you will need for long term sucess. Chemical stimulants are not the answer and I would hope no ethical, responsible doctor would prescribe them in your circumstances..
  10. Kindle

    Phentermine after gastric sleeve

    Why are you wanting to take it?
  11. A VSG procedure results in reducing the capacity of your stomach. That's it. That's all it does. I have NEVER read of a true "failed" sleeve. Stalls are normal. Failing to meet goal is not uncommon. Gaining all your weight back can happen. But NONE of these so called failures are the result of your sleeve not doing what it's supposed to do. "failures" are thpically the result of poor choices, unrealistic expectations, certain medications that cause weight gain, and/or other medical conditions. However, if you can eat 4-6 cups of food in one sitting, then yes, you have a failed sleeve. And, like cowgirljane mentioned, you can't possibly declare weight loss success or failure until you are at the very least a year or two out. And true success is really never reached....you not failing your sleeve is a challenge to be met every day for the rest of your life.
  12. All of the protein products I use (Muscle Milk, Unjury, Syntrax, premier, quest) have 20-40g protein and less than 3G sugar. As for sweetness, I use twice as much water or milk to mix them so they aren't so sweet. I dilute the RTD 1/2 and 1/2 with milk. Or, you can use unflavored whey protein and tailor the sweetness and flavor to your liking.
  13. Ditto. It was 8 degrees when I fed the horses this morning. Gonna be a high of 26 today :/ And the fleece leggings work great! I have two pairs plus one pair wool long underwear and 2 pairs of heavyweight silk long underwear. Insulated coveralls, down jacket, gloves, wool hat and sorels sitting by the back door to pull on when I go outside to feed or shovel or plow.
  14. Turn my thermostat up to 70. Sleep in a 95 degree waterbed. Wear lots of layers. Wear long underwear everyday from October to May. Keep an extra jacket, Fleece hat, and pocket warmers in my car. Niece made me a couple infinity scarves last year...wear em all the time. Drink lots of hot chocolate and hot tea.
  15. Kindle

    Flying post op

    How far out are you? I had a three hour flight home 3 days postop, followed by 6 hours driving. I wore compression stockings and walked the whole time in the airport waiting for my flight. Got up and walked the aisle a couple times during the flight. Stopped and got out to walk every two hours while driving.
  16. Kindle

    Cheating

    I can't think of anything..... I followed my pre and postop diets to a T. And since then I don't have a "do not eat"list. Anything and everything in moderation. There is no such thing as cheating in my world, only choices. No guilt, no regrets.
  17. Why don't you just Call your surgeons office and ask? They are the only ones that can answer your question. No one else's experience has anything to do with your surgeons or your insurance's protocols.
  18. Kindle

    ZERO Regret!

    Already lookin hot!
  19. Excellent post @VSGAnn2014. I'm gonna steal it. So sorry about your recent and past losses. I'm not a hugger, but hugs to you. Grief definitely puts life in perspective. All the little WLS details lose their significance and kind of become a blessing because they are one of the few things we can control.
  20. Kindle

    Curious

    Are you talking about the kids size cheeseburger? I'm two years out and I could maybe eat it if I took the top half of the bun off. I can eat 2/3 of a quarter pounder with none of the bun or 2/3 of a Son of Baconator from Wendy's with none of the bun. And, BTW, these are things I eat like 4 times/year when I actually go to a city with fast food restaurants. It's a rare treat of junk food.
  21. Kindle

    Post surgery pain level?

    No pain, abs just felt fatigued. Never needed any pain meds.
  22. I use Premier chocolate or vanilla RTD so I don't have to deal with the clumps that powders can form when mixed with a hot liquid. I also use Torani syrups to make flavored coffees like hazelnut, Irish cream, pumpkin spice, and English toffee.
  23. First off, congratulations on an amazing job. You look fabulous and have obviously been very dedicated. Goal weights are usually just random numbers. You can stay where you're at if you are happy and healthy there, or keep losing if that's what you want to do. I just quit losing when I quit losing, it just so happened to be below my randomly picked goal weight. I do have to be very mindful in order to stay at this weight, though. I could easily bounce back up, but I've made the choice now to "fight" to stay where I'm at. So are you struggling to lose at this point, or are the pounds still slowly coming off? As long as you are eating on plan and feel you can continue to lose then go for it. But if you are unhappy trying to lose more and don't think you look good, then stay where you are and enjoy life for awhile...that's why we did this, right? But really it's not an all or nothing decision you have to make right now. It's not like maintenance is "irreversible". You can always buckle down agin at some point and lose those extra 15 pounds if and when you want to.
  24. I feel your pain. I got a C. diff infection, also from clindamycin for a tooth infection. It just so happened to be 6 weeks after my VSG. Uncontrollable diarrhea with about a 10 second warning via severe cramping. No stopping it, no preventing it. At first they put me on metronidazole for 10 days, diarrhea cleared up, all was fine but then came back within 2 days of stopping meds. Another two weeks of metronidazole. Same thing, cleared up but came back as soon as I stopped. The worst part was that the metronidazole made me extremely nauseous and I could barely eat or drink anything....I was seriously having to spit out my own saliva cause swallowing it made me gag. I ended up needing IV fluids for dehydration 3 times. Plan B....vancomycin for three weeks. This is normally insanely expensive. $800-$1000 for the course but my gastroenterologist has a pharmacy that makes a vancomycin elixir for like $150. Vanco worked great....cleared up the diarrhea and didn't make me sick. But once again, 5 days after stopping the diarrhea came back. Oh, BTW, I had been drinking/eating yogurt and taking OTC probiotics since day 3 postop. I was also taking a 22 strain 50,000CFU probiotic and Sacromyces supplements once I was diagnosed with C.diff. Obviously didn't matter. So restarted Vanco and made plans for a fecal transplant. My insurance insurance wouldn't pay for it but I wasn't about to go through months and months of an ineffective antibiotIc regimen. Normal poop was worth the $$$ I had to pay. My gastroenterologist had done about 35 of them with a 100% cure rate. So I recruited a friend to be my donor.( my PCP's wife, actually), we went through all the blood and fecal tests to make sure she wasn't going to give me any other transmissible diseases and went ahead with the fecal transplant. It was super easy...just a glorified colonoscopy and it was an INSTANT CURE! Never had an issue since, and that was 20 months ago. BTW, I now list all of the C diff risk antibiotics as allergies so no one ever administers them again. In fact, I don't plan on ever taking any antibiotics ever again unless it's life or death. I just had my gallbladder removed and I let them give me ONE injection of ampicillin periop but refused the postop prophylaxis. Good luck!
  25. I flew back from Mexico 3 days after surgery..... 3 hour flight and then drove 2 hours. Drove another 4 hours the next day. I planned to drive straight home the 1st day but it was a white out blizzard and the roads were icy so I stayed in a hotel till the storm passed. I had no problems at all on the flight. Like Remix, I wore compression stockings and walked all over the airport While waiting for my flight. I asked for help with my carry on luggage and brought propel packets to put in my Water to drink. Also found Muscle Milk in one of the airport stores to sip on.

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