piercedqt78

Remember you now eat to live, not live to eat. I have had the same experience, and at 5 weeks out somethings are great one day and not so much another. It's a learning process that's for sure.

Wow, how inspiring....Here is my list: 1. Wear a bikini 2. be comfortable in anything I put on. 3. be able to go all day without having to stop for a break when we are at the zoo or theme parks. 4. not struggle with finding a pretty well fitted bra. 5. be able to show my daughter a positive body image. 6. be able to get a pedicure, without feeling self conscious. 7. eat a single portion of gourmet food and be full. (I can already do that but haven't yet) 8. be a MILF 9. feel good enough about my body to DANCE again. 10. wake up and like what I see in the mirror.

I had a severe slippage, and was called on a Tuesday evening and told to arrive at the hospital on wed morning, my band was removed and the sleeve was done all at the same time. I didn't do any pre-op diet, but was restricted to liquids for about 5 days due to the slip. Since I was getting worse and not better, they did my surgery as an emergency.

I just packed up my 22/24 stuff to take to the local resale shop. I had a hamper filled with stuff. I have a small wardrobe for summer, but it will get me through for a while. I have lost 23 pounds, and have already dropped 2 clothing sizes. Being in FL I had an entire drawer of bathing suits that are all too big now. I will give them to my mom. While I'm excited to get into smaller sizes it was hard purging the closet this week. I gave up some favorites, but my family has made the comment that I look like a bad lady. I discovered my local salvation army thrift store has 1/2 off days and I found some GREAT deals there.

windex is how they got mine off when I was pregnant. They sprayed my finger and the ring until my hand was dripping, and it slid right off.

it's posts like this that make this place less than comfortable, or useful. I'm new to this forum, but was on www.lapbandtalk.com for years. we had some of the bitchyness, but it seems to be more negative here than useful. I'm not sure I even want to stick around here. I joined 3 sleeve forums, and this one seems to be the most nitpicky, snarky and the people here seem quick to judge others on everything from their food choices, to their choice of their doctor. it's sad, really.

For those that say they don't care for tomato soup, try the cambells golden tomato. lower acid, and it's really quite good. For soup, I bought some squash, peeled it, cooked the crap out of it and then pureed it and made it into a soup, it was delish.

I have developed a taste for Greek Yogurt, but will not eat the cabot brand at all. It is not smooth, and seems to be more bitter than the other brands. And I am starting to see greek yogurt cream cheese in my dairy section.

When I had my lapband 8 years ago I was hit with a quadruple whammy. I started to have hair loss from the surgery, and then the weight loss. Just as it stopped 9 months post-op my gall bladder had to be removed. Bam, more hair loss from surgery. Then 14 months later I had a grapefruit sized tumor in my uterus that required a partial hysterectomy. And then you guessed it, 7 months later the same tumor cells appeared in my only remaining ovary and it had to come out. That was surgery, and hormone adjustment time. I swear I thought I was going to be bald before it was all over. But rest assured it came back better than ever. Now my band slipped and I have to have it removed and was sleeved at the same time. I am not quite 5 weeks postop, and am dreading the mess from hair loss, but not so much the hair loss itself. I know it will grow back, and I will be thinner and happier when it does.

Just an FYI short hair shows the hair loss much more. I know I have short hair and it's starting to fall out, because there are less layers of hair covering the scalp it shows more. Also dark hair shows hair loss more than blonde. I am finding that the hair on my legs and under arms seems to grow faster....grrr....I think it is maybe due to the protein that we are getting? not sure. I just know that it sucks, losing the hair on my head and having to shave more often too. Seems unfair to me.

I am super close to my mom, and usually she is amazing. she encouraged me to have surgery, even though when I was banded 8 years ago she flipped out. But when she came to see me in the hospital 1 day post-op she informed me that this surgery will benefit her as well, she will just follow my lead and only eat what I am eating, and stop when I stop. Well here I am 4 weeks post-op and down 21 pounds, she has gained 5. When we have gone out, and I have ordered a side portion of chicken salad and only eat a few bites, she will either, eat the rest, or take it home and eat it as a snack later. But when I am eating my 2 or 3 bites, she is eating an entire meal. It was hard hearing her say that I had to have surgery for something that she could control without doing anything but following my lead. She also tries to get me overeat, or worse eat garbage food. It's driving her crazy that I am doing something about my weight, and she is afraid to do anything. I don't think it's anywhere close to what some of you are going through, but sometimes even the most caring of moms get crazy when it comes to weight loss.

Add a bit of 2% milk and it's great ranch dressing as well. You are skipping calories, and getting extra protein in your salads.

If you have papa murphy's in your area (they make the pizza and you bake it at home) they have a delite crust, it is super thin and gets crisp when you bake it. It's about the thickness of a tortilla, and lower in carbs than the regular crust. May daughter and I had a delite pizza last night, with garlic sauce (no red sauce), chicken, tomatoes, spinach, and light parm cheese. I had a single slice, only the toppings, but I'm sure I could have had the crust as well. I'm 4.5 weeks out from surgery. It was amazing, totally cured my cravings for "real food" and I didn't have to make something special for myself for dinner, when my family was having a treat. If you don't have papa murphy's then I would just put what I wanted on a pizza on a sheet of foil, and let it get hot and bubbly in the oven. Crust is not what makes the pizza, it's the protein, and gooey cheese imo.

One of my favorite treats is frozen greek yogurt. I have it 2 or 3 times a week.

I was told that yes it is normal. You store excess Estrogen in your fat cells and as you lose weight you release the excess hormones, so it can trigger a cycle. As you lose weight you can also become more fertile.

I was served hot tea in the hospital right after I did my swallow test.

Let me tell you the thing I learned the most from having my lapband and now being a sleever. You will change, a few times as you are more comfortable with your body, and appearance. When I lived in Chicago and had my little group of lapbanders that did monthly meetings, we always started off telling how our lives had changed from month to month. It amazed me how many of the girls said they had "upgraded" guys. Like others have said if he couldn't take you making better changes, then he didn't deserve the amazing end result. In your avatar you are beautiful, and when the right MAN not boy sees that he will treat you like a goddess, as he should. Remember that he is the one that is alone, you have your sleeve friends, and I bet you could replace him much faster than he could even get another girls #. So chin up, and instead of ice cream, go out and buy something sexy for the upgrade.

My doctor says that a small salad a day is great for you, after you are 4-6 weeks out. I have had the topping from a salad, boiled eggs, grilled chicken cut really small, shredded cheese, tomatoes (no skins), cucumbers (no skins), and some faux ranch dressing*. My family put everything on spinach, but I was worried that would be a bit much for my new tummy. *Faux Ranch Dressing is a packet of ranch dressing mix, 16 oz of greek yogurt and 1.2 cup milk. the whole bottle is only about 150 calories, and had protein in it too. Less milk and it's perfect ranch dip.

I was just converted from a band to the sleeve on the 8th of last month. And I can 100% relate to what you are feeling. I had the exact same thing in the hospital. I was only able to get 1/2 a popsicle down at each meal. Broth was not even an option for me. I was also given Jell-O. I thought I would be sick if I even tried it. I was about 10 days post-op before the jitters regarding food went away. Now I am 3 1/2 weeks post op and tonight I had really finely chopped chicken and grilled onions for dinner. I skipped the peppers and rice that my family had, but what I ate made me satisfied, and I am no hungry at all. I always joked that only skinny women forgot to eat. I have forgotten a lot of things, my keys appointments, and even to brush my teeth, but never forgot to eat, that is until now. I will look at my watch and see that it's time to get my daughter from school, and I haven't eaten all day. lol I have to work on that. But to answer your question, yes it's normal, and will pass. If you continue to have problems I would call the doc, they would rather have you call and put you at ease over something trivial than not call and it be important. Best of luck to you. This journey is not an easy one, but it will be well worth it in the end!

I'm in Orange Park. Just had my sleeve done on the 8th. I'm a lapband conversion, I'm down 16 pounds so far and feel great. I had Dr. Uchal at North Florida Surgeons do my surgery. I would love to get a group together to meet up, and have an informal group once a month.

I just had my yearly ob-gyn appointment, and was talking to my doctor about the band. My question is this, does it affect the pelvic/external exam? My pcp and the gyn have always sorta mashed around on my stomach and ab area. How long will I be sore after the port is in? Can they still mash around there after? Also I know that after a gbp they say no ng or scope of the stomach, is this also the case with banding? Will I need a medical id bracelet for this? I am full of questions and my seminar isn't until the 21st. So I thought I would ask here and the informed could explain it to me using little words :phanvan and easy to understand lingo as opposed to the big words the doctors office will use.~Mandy

The old thread was getting way to long so I'm starting a new one. ~Mandy

An august lunch sounds great. Let me know when everyone is free. I'm game to just about anywhere.

We have had good success with lunch at Panera in Oak Brook. That seems to be pretty central. Easy access and they let us sit and talk for as long as we want. Also they have pretty band friendly options.

I'm in Romeoville. But I can travel. I have a 7 year old little girl.