Miss Mac

Prior to my sleeve on 12/23/2013, I had chronic diverticulitis for years. I was not constipated though. I had a lot of abdominal pain and diarrhea attacks several times a month. A month before my sleeve I was in the hospital for eight days with ischemic colitis and nearly had to have a section, but the meds finally kicked in and I was able to go home intact. Two weeks later I was allowed to start my pre-op liquid diet and proceeded with the sleeve surgery. I am over 13 months out and have not had even one episode of diverticulitis or any other colon issue.

At 13 months out I can relax about it a little, but if I gobble-gorp something, Miss Tummy will punish me for about four hours.

So log as it is moist. You know the drill about small bites and ridiculous chewing.

Look at DVDs nd Youtube videos by David Stamps. He has a variety of exercise formats for people with mobility issues - even bedfast. He is easy to follow, not to mention easy to look at.

I am one of the fortunate few who have not experienced hair loss. From the start (12/23/2013) I took 20,000 mg of Biotin daily. Walgreens has the 10,000 mg capsules and I still take two a day. However, I did have a big problem with dry shredding fingernails, so the doctor recommended taking Gelatin every day. Once I started that, the nails returned to healthy in about two weeks. Thanks to outstanding post-op nutrition, my hairdesser said that my hair is now the healthiest she has ever seen it.

As soon as I went to soft foods ( 4 weeks) I could have any of that if it was very moist. Fish was the hardest to eat. At six weeks I had the go-ahead for regular cooked foods and moderate spices. Just make sure that the meat is soft and moist, not dry. Eat small bites....chew well.....you know the deal. The hardest thing for me to add back was raw foods like apples, cole slaw, lettuce.....those things took all of six months - but I can eat that stuff too, now at 13 months.

Complications are soooooo individual. I just turned 63 at my one year surgiversary for my sleeve. My oldest sister had a gastric bypass in 2000 with horrific complications including peritonitis and poor healing of the incision. This was not laparascopic. My next youngest sister had a gastric bypass in 2011 and has done very well. She looks and feels great and has lost at least 150 pounds and had plastics done as well to put everything back in place. She looks and feels better now at 55 than she did in high school. I had my sleeve in December 2013. I have gone from a 53" waist to a 38" waist and have lost 66 pounds. I am a slow loser because of orthopedic and spinal issues making it difficult and painful to exercise, but I am only 14 pounds away from my doctor approving a panni, which would take another 12-15 pounds off, putting me close to goal. I have had ZERO complications, not even the shoulder gas that plagues so many people post-op for a few days. At 5'4 and 235 pounds, I was almost as round as I was tall. At 5'2" and 267 pounds, you probably are too. You have the advantage of youth on your side and have so much life ahead of you. Excess weight is a thief and steals so much enjoyment from life. If you are an independant woman, don't say another word, and just go do it. If you are still living with your parents, I like the idea of taking them along for an information session. This is not the easy way out - it will change your life and habits forever and takes new committment every day. I don't doubt that they want you to be healthy; they just are concerned that you might suffer like your mother has. Don't wait forever. I have been on a diet since 1978, and GAINED an extra 80 pounds. In the end, it is about your own health. At the age of 24 you should be making your own decisions about your health and finding physicians and services that you are comfortable with.

I found The Congo Cookbook online. You can download it from LULU for $23 and change. Amazon.com does not have it. But it you go to this link: http://www.congocookbook.com/index.html You can download the individual recipes for free. I don't know what else to tell you without knowing if yo are going to be in the bush, villages, or larger cities. I was just reading that the open markets in the villages are hotbeds of food poisoning. Just do your homework on this one. I am sure you will find a way to get healthy palatable Protein with what is available. Tell us more about your trip.

an apple a day

1. Happy Birthday. 2. Why are you still there?

I am an old Girl Scout from wayyyyyy back. One of their rules that I still live by is "Be Prepared". It is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. I packed a book to read and crossword puzzles, but did not use them. I either slept or watched TV. I took house slippers but wore the slipper socks they provided. I took a CD player, but played the mellow music station on the TV instead. I did use my robe for walking out of my room, my chapstick - frequently, and my teddy bear (yes, at 62 years old I took a teddy bear). I used my teddy bear to support the arm that had the IV in it. I did use my gas x strips, but did not have any shoulder gas at all. I found they were an excellent breath mint. I used my nail clippers, too. Something else I always take to the hospital is a notebook and pen. I write down who comes in my room, what they tell me (or promise me) what medicines or food they give me to take. This has paid of more than once when meds were late or incorrect. At the rehab place I was at after a knee replacement, they finally got the message by the third day. I was there two weeks. The word got out that I was a journalist. I just let them think it, because they gave me better treatment because of it. Aside from wearing the loosest clothes I had so that I could be comfortable coming home, that was pretty much all I used for the two days I was there. Oh, maybe TMI, but anytime I travel or go to the hospital, I take cheap underwear so I can just throw it out. I do not like to travel around with bags of dirty undewear in my luggage.

Promise him you will never say another word about it if he takes out extra life insurance, because you are going to need it soon.

With a BMI of 40.1 and several co-morbidities, I was approved by BCBS Federal Employee two days after my packet was submitted.

David Stamps has several videos (both Youtube and for purchase (I get mine through Amazon). I have Chair Tai Chi, Chair Boxing, Chair Salsa, and Exercises for the Bedridden. He has others. Same as you, my weight loss has been slow because my ability to exercise consistently is hindered by spinal collapse and nerve damage. I also have Leslie Sassons Walk Your Belly Flat. That is my favorite one because I can either follow along by walking through the house, or on a bad day - in place within my walker frame. I also have a few chair exercise videos formulated for senior citizens. There is quite a variety available.

My doctor said it was up to me whether or not I wanted to spend the money on Biotin. I went all out and instead of getting the 325 mg dose, I got the 10,000 mg dose from Walgreens and still take two every day, plus I have sugar free Jello every day (for the gelatin) and bone broth Soup several times a week. I am 13 months out from my sleeve and had no major hair loss at all.....just a few strays around the house. At around two months I did have an issue with brittle nails, but that resolved by month four.

My boyfriend and I prepared for the possibility. I told him that if I get mean or unbearable, he should call my daughter and tell her he is sending me back! Thankfully, when I get upset, I tend to isolate myself rather than lash out. My bariatric physician doubled up on my Welbutrin, and that helped, too, by reducing my anxiety level.

Anything oily should help. People on here have used Peanut Butter, Goo Gone, olive oil, baby oil, chapstick, and as mentioned, Vaseline, makeup remover.

Same for me.......glue and stri-strips and band-aids. By the third week, most of it had worked its way off. The steri-strip residue will come off with something oily, like baby oil, olive oil, etc. The only issue I had with the incisions was a couple of blisters from the band-aids, but they have healed, too.

Sorry to hear about the GERD. My sleeve solved that issue plus ischemic colitis, chronic diverticulitis, and pre-diabetes. I am a slow loser - 66 pounds the first year. My original goal was 100 pounds. At my one-year check-up my goal weight was changed from 135 to 155. The doctor said that if I can lose another 14 pounds, a panni should take care of another 12-15, which would put me close to my original goal weight. That is do-able. Like almost everyone else, I was in a big hurry at the start too, but I have mellowed out about it now. I was curious about the staples, though. Did you have a single large incision? I had the four little ones and was and was glued and taped back together.

Just remember........most people are no darn good. How about....."I am not fat or ugly. I am just allergic to you and I swell up."

Make two lists: Concerning your relationship, What's in it for him? What's in it for you? Instead of thinking "I love him, so why does he treat me this way?" start thinking "Why would I love someone who treats me this way?" Why are you still there? When your lease is up, move out and leave him there to deal with the landlord and sheriff. You make your own money and are supporting the both of you, even though he apparently does not contribute. He needs someone he can control, and you need someone who values your opinions. He does not care about your health, but expects you to support his. It sounds like neither one of you is good for the other. There is no good excuse to perpetuate a mistake. You don't need a marriage - you need distance. For all the inconvience involved in parting ways, the peace of mind is worth it. (This comes from a woman who escaped from a diagnosed psych/sociopath in the middle of the night and spent some time in a women's shelter - I moved 300 miles away). My opinion may sound harsh, but life is too short to waste time with a jerk.

Last August, at my 9 month mark, I got really sick with something or another and was sick all day and through the night. After my third explosive (both ends) trip to the bathroom, I did not make it back out. I passed out and hit my head on the bathtub (about 1:30 in the morning, and was out for an hour). I finally woke up and tried to call my man, but the bathroom door was shut, the bedroom door was shut, and the window air conditioner was on. My voice was faint because I was weak, and he could not hear me. I tried to get up and passed out a second time....hitting my head on the bathtub a second time, and was out about an hour and a half. At about 4:00, I came around again and finally stumbled my way to bed. I fell asleep and did not wake up until he had already gone to work. Sparing some other details and scoldings from my daughters and doctors, I ended up in the ER with an overnight stay for fluids. They were sure it was dehydration, but I had to wear a heart monitor for 30 days. Lessons learned: Try not to get dehydrated. Don't lay down and go to sleep afeter a concussion, let alone two. Call the doctor or 911 instead of waiting three days. Don't take passing out lightly. There was a guy on the forum a while back who passed out and busted his jaw.

At 30 pounds down, other people started to notice that my face was thinner. I waited until 40 pounds down to do my first closet flush. At 50 pounds down, I finally could see a difference myself, and did a second closet flush. At 66 pounds down, I have gone from 22/24/ or 2X/3X to 14/L. There is a pair of size 12 white skinny jeans in my closet, just waiting on that next jump down. Hang in there. Even if you will be a slow loser like I am, just stay with your program. At 13 months, I am losing by milligrams instead of pounds, but the scale is going in the right direction.

Ask him how he handles pain management and what he can do to prevent you from getting that horrible shoulder gas. My surgeon extracts as much as possible. Consequently, I had no shoulder gas to deal with at all. Some folks suffer needlessly with something that could have been prevented at least partially.

I heard this from a pulpit once, about how to respond to nosey people: "You don't have to lie - just don't tell everything you know."