piercedqt78

Even just starting research you have joined a new family. We are a family of LOSERS but the very best kind of losers. I have always said that when I had WLS I lost weight but gained a family and they are worth their weight in gold, and I mean their pre-surgery weight! I don't know what I would do without my little bariatricpal family. I have been around since each type of weight loss had their own site, that is why my post count is so high, and I have made friends from all across the country that have remained in my life through thick and thin. We have even met at Disney and spent the day riding roller coasters together! My bariatric family understands things my home family will NEVER understand. If you haven't walked a mile in my plus sized pants there in no way you can understand what I'm dealing with, but the people her get it.

I had surgery on May 8th, and on June 20th I rode everything at Universal Studios Orlando for my daughter's b-day. I was fine. The biggest challenge was finding stuff to eat. I had a small side of grits and scrambled eggs for Breakfast (a few bites off my hubby's plate), for lunch I had a yogurt, and a Protein shake that I made with a Bariatric Advantage pouch and a carton of skim milk, and half a bottle of Water, then for dinner I had a side order of shrimp from Jimmy Buffets. I ordered a shrimp cocktail and just skipped the sauce, I used a few extra lemons and a dash of hot sauce to give them some flavor. It was hard watching my family eat giant cheese burgers, and fries, but I did it, and was satisfied after the meal. I was comfortable with what I ate, and went home without feeling hungry. I live about 3 hours away from the park in North Florida, so on the drive home I stopped at a gas station and bought some propel to help replenish my electrolytes. Just remember to stay hydrated, avoid the beer gardens at Busch Gardens, as the alcohol will hit you much faster, dehydrate you, and are empty calories. Do your research ahead of time on what they allow you to carry in foodwise, I have a card from my doctor explaining that I eat a limited diet, so they allowed me to bring in my little lunch box sized cooler with my applesauce and yogurt in it. I also had my little carton of skim milk for my Protein Shake. If you are on your regular food stage, then look at menus online to see if they offer anything you are willing/able to eat. Now that I'm further out from surgery I just get a grilled chicken salad or a grilled chicken sandwich with no bread, and I eat the chicken, and I ask for fruit in place of fries, or just order ala carte. I was fine on the rides, it was the other changes that surprised me.

Yes, please! I'm afraid that I won't be able to get all my Water in either. I'm just not a big drinker now; can't imagine when my stomach is smaller. I get the closest to getting my water in each day when I have a water bottle in hand constantly. I have a brita water bottle that filters the water as you drink it, and I have an odd quirk. I love the ice from Sonic. Once a week I treat myself to a rt 64 unsweet tea with the splenda sweetened blackberry flavoring added to it, but when I'm there I pick up 2 bags of their crushed ice. I love the way it crunches, and it seems to keep my water cold longer than regular ice. I did a side by side test, with regular ice cubes, and and sonic ice in identical glasses and tap water, the sonic ice was still visible over an hour after the normal ice cubes were gone. And the water with the sonic ice was colder. My daughter did her science fair project on this topic, and it turns out that because the ice is in such small pieces there is more exposed surface area, so the water actually DOES get colder. So that's one way I trick myself into getting in more water. I use ice that I like. It's something that I do just for me. I know it sounds crazy, but it makes me want to drink more water. I also use a product called true lemon, it's dehydrated lemon juice, in a crystal powder. It comes in small pouches like crystal light, and I add that to my water when I get tired of just plain water, it's calorie and caffine free. I will put a pack of nectrese and a true lemon in my bottle, to make 10 calorie lemonade. They also make lime, rasberry-lemon, and orange. They are a good source of Vitamin C, so I keep a few in the side pocket of my purse. And since I love coffee, and hot tea, I bought myself a keurig, and keep a good supply of decaf coffee, and herbal teas, they are a great way to get water in too. As long as it's caffine and calorie free it counts as water.

I want to make a statement that my surgeon reminded me of this evening. I saw him at a social event hosted by my bariatric team, and I thanked him for saving my life. He reminded me that he didn't fix me, he gave me the tools to fix myself. I gave him a huge hug, and thanked him for the tools, and for believing in me, and for having a staff that is amazing cheerleaders and great support. I saw a group of post-op patients doing a fashion show this evening, and the people that walked the catwalk had lost a total of 2,200 pounds, I was dumbfounded when that number was announced. There were mother daughter teams that were sleeved together, and husband/wife pairs as well. I will say that my support came from friends, and my daughter, not my partner in the beginning, and now that he is on board things are much much easier. Going into the operating room without his support was hard, and I cried all the way down that hallway, and went under sobbing. The nurse held my hand, and told me that she would be my support if I needed someone and he didn't come around. I'm lucky and glad he did come around, and now my hubby is an amazing cheerleader, but I will say doing it with someone being negative is HARD.

We did some really fun pictures tonight with a professional photographer, and they will be emailed to us in a week or so. I will forsure post them. I didn't model tonight, but I will be up there next time.

So can I be the official May cheerleader for you guys? I'm willing to help if I can. You can message me here, or post in this thread if you have questions, or want encouragement or support. I'm here to help if I can.

the hardest part is getting my Water in each day, and also trying to keep my Vitamins in check. I seem to have something different low each visit. For example my Iron was low in my first set of labs, then without adding iron to my supplements it was fine the next time. But my b1/thiamin was low, and even with taking 2 super b tablets a day, it was still low. I am now taking 2 super b tablets and 2 b1/thiamin tablets a day and I just had labs drawn this week, and will have results next week. I am almost never hungry, and I can't stand sweets anymore. When they remove the bulk of your stomach they also remove the area that produces the hunger hormone, and the part that makes you crave sweets. I can't even do the kids chewable vitamins, they are too sweet and make me gag. So I take regular tablets, and they go down just fine. I take a handful of vitamins a day, and I'm healthy, happy and have more energy than I have ever had. I just posted a huge thread about my very emotional NSV tonight. My surgeon that is normally very composed, and not very friendly just very to the point, told me how proud he was of me, and corrected my mom when she said I had lost too much, and called me perfect and compared me to a Barbie. I joked that I gained 20 pounds just from my head swelling. I was banded in 2005 and started at 244 I lost a grand total of 40 pounds with my band. Then when I had my revision I was 206 the morning of surgery last May. So I have lost a total of 129 pounds total, but 91 of those were with my sleeve. I actually lost the 91 pounds in 7 months. I have been at goal since before Christmas.

I would be more than willing to help in anyway I can. You can contact me at piercedqt78@gmail.com to set something up. I'm in the western burbs of Jacksonville and use one of the large bariatric groups in the area. I attended their fashion show/meet and greet this evening and had a blast. I would love to help set up a monthly meeting/luncheon/outing. I can also give you the name/number of my surgeon if you need someone for your followup care. I'm really happy with my group, the entire staff is caring and kind, and they are the best cheerleaders any patient could ask for.

My doctor says the cold is from 2 things, you are losing weight, and losing your "insulation" and you are taking in fewer calories, calories turn into energy and energy creates heat. I am almost 1 year post-op and I'm finally not taking a sweater everywhere I go, and I live in Florida. So the cold is normal, and the dizziness upon standing could be low blood sugar, or if you are taking blood pressure meds, you might need them adjusted, if not, you may just have low blood pressure now that you are losing weight and eating less. I would pick up a cheap blood sugar kit and monitor your sugar level when you get dizzy. I hope you have called your surgeon or pcp to get in for a followup. Some of the symptoms you are describing are normal, but the fact that you are having so many symptoms is worrisome. Please take care of yourself.

It gets better, honest. If you work your sleeve, I mean really use it to it's full potential you will get rid of that sound in no time. I will be your biggest cheerleader, and do everything I can to help you stay motivated! It's worth every struggle, and every effort you put into the process.

Hi Chad, welcome. I will say this, my husband has always been with heavy women, and I was no exception. He married me when I was a size 18. He wasn't totally on board on with the surgery either, and we have a 12 year old daughter. I wanted to be able to be her mom for the long haul. I wanted to be around to attend her wedding, and also to see her have kids of her own. My ever expanding waistline wasn't going to let that happen. I was on track for a stroke, type 2 diabetes, and who know what else. He didn't threaten to leave me, but he wasn't very supportive. He didn't attend my seminar, or any of my pre-op meetings. He even tried to talk my PCP out of clearing me for surgery. I did everything on my own, and pushed forward to save my own life and health. I had a lapband, for almost 8 years, and had complications, he wanted me to have the band removed, and not have the sleeve. I had only lost 40 pounds, and I was gaining that back quickly. So I again pushed on without his approval, or support. Now I'm down from 244 pounds to 115, and he is so happy with my energy level, greatly improved health, and my renewed self confidence. He now attends my followup appointments, insists on taking me to my NUT appts, and has been great about ordering foods that I can share with him, so that I can eat healthy, and not be stuck with 4 or 5 meals worth of leftovers. After he saw the amazing results, and how the surgery improved my life he sat me down and said how sorry he was for not being there for me through my struggles with my weight, and the 2 surgeries. He said he was afraid he would lose me and didn't want to even imagine life without me. And he said that seeing me going into surgery and then coming out with drains, and not being able to eat was really hard for him. He explained that he knew I was struggling, but out of fear he didn't feel able to support me the way he should have supported me. What I want to say is that you have to do this surgery for YOU, and no one else. Don't let anyone talk you out of doing what is right for you, and what is best for your health, and future. Don't let your boyfriend talk you out of getting the surgery that is being covered. I don't want to sound like a jerk, but he is your boyfriend right now, what if you break up and your insurance changes in the mean time, then you may or may not have coverage for your sleeve. Just think of this as a lifelong decision that will affect you, and who ever is in your future. Don't let someone's fear keep you from taking charge of your body and health.

I was May 8th last year. May sleevers are the BEST sleevers. Good luck to you all!! I'm always here if you have questions, or want advice. According to my doc, I ROCKED my sleeve. The time will fly by, and before you know it, you will be rocking skinny jeans, and posting NSV's.

Ice Cream. I can eat frozen yogurt every night without an issue. And I LOVE the yoplait frozen greek yogurt bars, I have 2 a week, and they are delicious, and they have Protein in them. I don't feel guilty having dessert that has protein in it. But if I eat 2 oz of ice cream I'm sick, puking and dealing with severe stomach pain.

Girl, you have NO reason to be self conscious in those dresses, you look AMAZING! Just remember that you are still losing, so don't spend a ton of $$ on new clothes that you will fall in love with and then they will be too big. I shopped at thrift stores, and resale shops as I dropped sizes. Now that I am at goal I am starting to spend some $$ on my clothes. I figure all the money I saved as I was dropping sizes I can now spend on stuff that I will be able to wear long term. But like I said you look FAB now. Congrats on your loss.

I had to have my band removed, and I was sleeved at in one surgery. My stomach had prolapsed into my band and I was struggling to keep any amount of real food down. I was able to eat, but it was 50/50 on it staying down. My surgery was approved on May 7th, and my surgery was done the morning of May 8th. I got the call to be at the hospital at 5pm on the 7th, told nothing by mouth after midnight, and not to worry about anything else. I had eaten grilled fish, and a soft pretzel just before the office called me. I was living on gatorade, and smoothies with Protein boosters. They didn't have any issues with the size of my liver, and I healed just fine. I did exceptionally well with my sleeve, and my doctor couldn't be more pleased with my progress. So don't stress about the pre-op diet, like others have said, no two doctors have the same plan for before or after surgery. It's still being perfected. Just relax and be thankful you don't have to starve yourself prior to surgery.

I'm available during the week also.I'm not working at the moment, so any day is good for me. I have a really good RA doctor if you want to seek a second opinion for the gout.

I had a lapband and like you only lost about 30 pounds. I was revised to the sleeve last year in May, and I'm already under my original goal.

I have a bypass friend that swears by cherry juice to help with his gout attacks. He says it cuts the pain, and flareup time in half. Something in the juice that reduces the uric acid absorption. Might be worth looking into? I would love to meet up for lunch somewhere, name the time/place and I will make it work.

I LIVED on ice chips from Sonic in the first 2 weeks home from surgery. The hospital brought me tea over ice chips, and all of my Water was over ice. But only after my leak test.

Do you go to the support group meetings? I never seem to be available to go, my daughter is in jr high, and always seems to have homework or my hubby is working and I can't be at the meeting, due to her needing to be home and in bed for school the next morning. I was banded before my sleeve, and had major complications, so I was revised to the sleeve last May. I LOVE my sleeve, it was the best thing I could have done.

I'm just outside of Jax, in Orange Park. I used Dr. Uchal, and will be one year post-op May 8th. Are any of you attending the fashion show on Friday at Riverside with North Florida Surgeons?

That is a great way to look at it! I would ideally like to be a size 8 also. I'm in a 9-10 now and I know with a few extra pounds gone I'd fit into 8's. As I bought a few pairs of longer shorts for summer in an 8. They are real close (like I need to lose 5-10 pounds and they'd fit perfect! lol I do have another question for everyone.... How does everyone maintain? What is your routine like? Your intake? Your effort you have to use? Is it harder for some or easy for some? I had the same thought, I had a size in mind, and when I hit that size, I kept losing. I wanted to be in an 8, single digits was all I wanted honestly. Then I somehow skipped the 8's and went right into a 6. I was wearing a 10, and they started to be really baggy, so when I went clothes shopping, I tried an 8, still baggy, then I tried a 6 and they fit. I have toned a bit, and can wear some 4's, and some Jr 5's. I'm maintaining now, I use full fat yogurt, dressing, and I eat 1/2 an avocado for a snack once a day. I also eat the Oscar Meyer P3's, they are 140 calories, and about 16 grams of Protein, they consist of meat, cheese and nuts. I get them from the deli meat dept, by the lunchables. I have been eating pretty much whatever I want (healthy about 95% of the time) and maintaining. I figure I'm getting about 1200-1300 calories a day vs the 800 when I was still losing weight. I see my surgeon again in 2 weeks, and I can't wait for him to see how great I'm doing.

I can't give any advice on keeping the girls, but I can say that I went from a 38dd, to a 36c, but have stayed proportional. I didn't want to look like a Barbie doll. If I had kept my chest size and lost the body size, I would have to have everything tailored to be able to fit into clothing. I can wear a med and even some smalls, without having to have anything altered. If my chest was still the original size, I would need a large with the body taken in.

Love it, and I LOVE the color!! Congrats on the 111 pound loss that's amazing. I'm a Scion owner, they are made by Toyota, and are such fun to drive. I rewarded myself with a cruise when I got to my goal (see my profile pic)!

People that have surgery in Mexico fly home just a few days post-op. And it's the same for people that have plastics in Mexico and Brazil they fly home and have their pc remove stitches etc.