VSGAnn2014

What do you mean by "eating normal"?

Excellent blog. Thank you.

Roxie, I apologize for my curt response earlier on. I've since read your dozen or so prior posts and now appreciate that you've not had the most supportive pre-op situation, that you're only a week post-op, and that you've had some (understandable) high anxiety about your own WLS. But if you start out here by telling people that your way / your values is the only way to proceed WLS you will not find wide support here either. A lot of people here do drink alcohol post-op. But most of them do so rarely and not early on. As you'll also learn, surgeons' instructions are considerably divergent, one from the other, about so many things. BTW, if you found this very mild alcohol thread tough going, go read the ones on marijuana. People here have a wide range of values and lifestyle preferences. Your way will be your way. Theirs will be theirs. Please consider this just some kind advice about how to find a home here. And I wish you the VERY best results possible from your own WLS.

OK, I think I understand now.

@@Roxie Malone ... it's not *your* value I'm interested in, but the value of your comments and advice to others. When someone is as judgmental as you were earlier about others' options and choices, it's good for readers to know if you've had WLS yet and how you're doing, while presumably following your own advice. Have you had WLS yet?

Interesting post, CGJ. Hmmm .... thinking ....

Dependency issues? Red flag X 3? Total failure? Put a weight ticker up. Seriously.

Here's the deal. Your doctor, lovely as she is, is no different from the random sister-in-law who's against you having WLS. What they have in common is that they ... ... HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT OR EXPERIENCE WITH THE GASTRIC SLEEVE. In fact, they shouldn't even be talking about it. And you shouldn't be talking with them about it. They are ignorant (uneducated, uninformed, without data). Until you either insist that your PCP get educated about gastric sleeve surgery or you stop allowing her ignorance to influence you, you can't really advance toward WLS. My strong advice is that you should find another PCP who knows what gastric sleeve surgery is about. Work with him or her.

Thanks, @@Brian66 and @@latinmami0511 for chiming in here and reporting from 5 and 3 years out. Your long-term results are very inspiring for me. I'm only a year out. Feeling great, doing great. I plan to be feeling and doing even better 4 years from now. Thank you both!

Stop talking to him. Block him. He and his disease are jerking you around. Don't put yourself in that situation again. Move on.

Everything I'm going to say you already know as an experienced backpacker, but I'll remind you anyway. I've backpacked and trekked in North America, Europe and the Himalayas. As we know, slow and steady is the way to go -- stepping, drinking, eating. First, know that in a few months you'll be drinking a LOT easier, bigger and faster than you are now. By six months, if you're like me, you'll be drinking almost as easily as you did pre-op. So don't worry about getting enough Water down. And you know how we're told not to drink our calories? On the trail that's actually a great way to keep our furnaces stoked. Also, it's not just calories we need on the trail, but electrolytes, as in Gatorade and other good sports drinks. Trail mix, chewed well throughout the day, has about everything you need -- some Protein to support muscles you're breaking down and building, natural sugars you need for energy, and Fiber for keeping your gastrointestinal system moving internally. I don't think backpacking post-WLS would be tough at all. Your back, hips and knees will think you're a teenager again. I'm nearly 70 years old. Two years ago I was ready for a double knee replacement. Last month my PCP told me not to plan on having the surgery anytime soon. I walk and hike again, and I'm mostly pain free. I don't take Aleve anymore. My new goals for the next few years include hiking the Milford Track and the English Lake District. My life is new again.

Frankly, I was ready to leave behind parts of who I had become pre-op. I realized I could not move forward in life if I didn't finally learn how to care for myself and build the discipline to do that every day. And I sure as hell wasn't caring for myself every day (or sometimes not even every month) in the two years prior to my WLS. WLS gives us a tool (sleeve, bypass, band, etc.) to finally get healthy enough long enough to care for ourselves. After that, it's up to us to get even healthier and build the new habits and lifestyle that will KEEP us healthy. Good luck to you.

Yeah, WLS and heat strokes do not mix well. At all. For one thing, dehydration (which can happen quickly and easily in the first few months post-op) can mess you up bad. Some people wind up in the hospital to be hydrated by IV. Sounds like your riding and outdoor habits are already dehydrating you. For another, the rapid weight loss puts a big strain on your kidneys, which has to excrete not only the post-op toxins, but the waste products from your weight loss. That's why your surgeon's instruction to drink 8 glasses of Water daily should be followed assiduously. Finally, think about this: To be successful long-term with WLS, post-op you'll need to be both willing and able to change how you care for yourself, i.e., care for yourself a lot better. Most of us became obese or morbidly obese pre-op because we never learned how to care well for ourselves or developed the discipline to do so every day. This journey is all about self-care. That's the only way we will develop a healthy lifestyle.

I have seen zero studies that measured and reported changes (down, up or both) in VSG patients' levels of ghrelin. I see ghrelin changes discussed a lot, but no specific references to research. Has anyone seen this kind of research?

o u kidz lol

Boy, all these rules. So many rules. When I first met my husband, he was recently widowed. Much too recently, I thought. Turns out, the amount of time he'd been widowed would have been too soon for ME to fall in love again. But it wasn't too early for him. As I said to someone else on this forum today (different thread), none of the rules work 100% of the time. But the following two, taken together, are pretty good: * Use your best judgment. * Occasionally, suspend your judgment and be open to "possibilities unimagined." Here's to everyone who wants love finding true love.

Oh boy. How old do you have to get before you realize that when your body hurts there's something wrong? And that it's probably not going to get better until you stop hurting it. Stop running. Do something different. See a rehab specialist, an orthopedist, anyone who doesn't think the way to fix something is to hurt it some more. (Not being snarky -- just want you to stop hurting yourself!)

Oh, yeah. That's easily done. Not. Who got me on board? Me. Did anyone here actually ever have someone "talk them into" dealing successfully with their obesity?

If you have that kind of science fair project brain, you are going to rock your sleeve. Honestly. You are at the right place.

@@kgunchic ... just wanted you to know that in 5 days I'll hit my first surgiversary. My sleeve still fills up and also signals satiety. Are you still eating lots of Protein and eating protein first at all meals? Or have your eating patterns changed? If the latter ^^^, I'd urge you to give protein a chance again. At the times when I've gone carb-heavy at mealtimes, at the end of the meal I'm full, but I'm not satisfied. I'm still learning how to do this thing right. Not perfect. But right.

I think that's the fastest I've EVER heard of anyone losing after WLS. That is so not normal. For one thing, your kidneys must be exhausted just pumping out all the waste products from weight loss. Be sure you drink, drink, drink, drink, drink Water. And at your rate of weight loss, you should be eating some carbs for energy. I hope your nutritionist is a good one.

Probiotics REALLY help me. Consider taking one daily.

I don't know any rules about how good love / marriage will enter your life that are 100% true. Sometimes love / marriage (the wonderful kind) walks in when you're least expecting it and not in accordance with your own rules. Here are two rules that, taken together, do seem to apply though: * Use your best judgment. * Occasionally, suspend your judgment and be open to "possibilities unimagined." I have a feeling love will find you, Daveo.

Yup ... suck it up time. Just get through this. Then get through the next thing. And then the next thing. That's literally how this process works. One thing at a time. I have confidence in you.

Your stomach's volume does increase over time. When you're newly sleeved your stomach is swollen and angry. As it heals, you feel less restriction. HOWEVER, your restriction at 3 months post-op should be quite considerable. Are you eating the Protein first? Or are you mixing it all up with the bagel? If you're not eating all the tuna first, try that and see how that works for you. And about that bagel, even though it's "multigrain" and "thin" ... try eating instead some higher Fiber (green or other colored vegetable) after you eat the tuna and see if that reduces your hunger.