VSGAnn2014

A silly joke and a tip: Have you heard the one about the corduroy pillow? It's making ... HEADLINES! The tip ... did you know that when you are feeling down you can FAKE-SMILE ... that's right, just raise the corners of your mouth, lift your cheeks, and crinkle your eyes and that if you keep doing that, you may start to feel better and even happy. There's actual research backing up the value of this tip: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/smiling-happy.htm

It's not unusual, but ... ... for me Day Five was the first day I got in 60 grams of Protein. You can do it with shakes, milk, and yogurt, if your surgeon allows you to drink those food products during Phase 1 post-op. Don't worry, you'll get there, but do try to get there as soon as you can.

Regardless of whether you "feel buzzed," after two hours of drinking 8 shots (12 ounces) of hard liquor (50% / 100 proof), your blood alcohol level was 0.34%. I used this blood alcohol level calculator, estimating your weight at 300 pounds: http://oade.nd.edu/educate-yourself-alcohol/blood-alcohol-concentration/bac-calculator/ At 0.25% - 0.39% blood alcohol levels, you will experience "alcohol poisoning; loss of consciousness." At 0.40% BAC, you will experience: "onset of coma; possible death due to respiratory arrest." Reference for these facts: http://oade.nd.edu/educate-yourself-alcohol/blood-alcohol-concentration/ You might want to do some more study about how massive amounts of alcohol can kill you. Or not. Your choice.

I think NSVs are meant to be "non-scale victories." BTW, gallbladder surgery has more surgical mortalities than WLS. You can google that. And at your age / weight / general health, you're probably not bringing any complication vulnerabilities to the surgery theater. What if you weighed 400 pounds, had heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes? THEN you'd have to worry more about complications from surgery. Lighten up. We all survived. You probably will, too.

Your friend has her own fears and issues. You have yours. I would think that in making this decision, your fears and concerns are about a thousand times more relevant than hers are. Good luck!

How old are you, how tall are you and how much do you weigh?

Would you let your six-year-old's reaction to another major surgery determine what you would do?

I liked it. I didn't see the article as insisting that hooking up or being in a romantic relationship or getting married is better than not being in those states. I just didn't read that into it. Attraction (of all kinds) really is rather immediate. It's either there or it's not. This article merely encourages us to become more aware of our and others' initial responses and to trust them. BTW, our null responses may change into positive ones. Of course, we're empowered to notice those changes and act accordingly.

Try 20 shots. See how that goes.

Wow, killer posts above. Loved every one of them. Thanks.

Very glad to hear that people are advocating for themselves and finding doctors who are more knowledgeable, more supportive, and better physicians. So smart! The times they are a-changing.

Re the tuna, I found I could tolerate chicken months earlier than I could tolerate tuna. Tuna was just much more dense. I still use the cans of Water pack chicken in Soups, to make chicken salad, and to augment other dishes. Of course, your experience may well be different.

Caio, my surgery was August 18, 2014, which was 15+ weeks ago. I'm doing great. If you're looking at this post via a laptop you can see in my signature that I've lost 56 pounds total, including 37 pounds post-op. Yes, I started seeing the psychologist pre-op. He's one of those who knows a lot about bariatric patients' issues, as well as other issues everyone struggles with. He's an all-around good counselor. It's important to find a therapist who's compatible with you. I asked absolutely everyone at my bariatric center (except the surgeons) who they thought was the best therapist they'd ever met. Everyone named this guy. So I chose him, and it's been a good decision. I saw him every week for about a month. And now I see him every 2-4 weeks, depending on my work travel schedule. For now, that's a good schedule for me.

Kindle, what a wonderful post and how fun it is to see your before/after pix. Your body looks wonderful and like your skin has really responded great to the healthy changes you've made. Congratulations to you for all your successes. And thank you for your online presence on these forums. You're a true inspiration to me.

I'm seeing a psychologist. Those who have the disease of obesity -- that's us -- tend to medicate the stresses of life (both rough times and good times) with extra foods and less physical activity. We need to change those "go-to" responses. It seemed a no-brainer to me to give myself all the helpful resources I could muster along this WLS journey. My plan is to see my psychologist for at least three years during (the following are my own titles): * The year of losing weight, * The year of maintaining a normal weight and * The year of boring real life.

My doc required considerable WLS education prior to surgery (intro lecture, day-long class, appointments with a nutritionist and a physical conditioning consultant) and psych screening, but no dieting or weight loss. However, because there was so much time between my approvals and surgery (my surgeon was booked to the max!), I decided to spend those months losing weight and changing my eating / drinking / exercising behaviors. I lost 11 pounds and became much more active (thank you, Fitbit!). I stopped all carbonated beverages, reduced coffee to 1/2 cup a day, slowed down my eating, ate smaller bites, increased my chewing, drank 64 ounces of Water, used My Fitness Pal (love it!) to record all my food/drink, and other things we all have to learn how to do post-op. EDIT: I also started seeing a psychologist, whom I plan to see over the next three years of weight loss, weight maintenance, and living real life. Making those changes pre-op was bloody brilliant. After surgery, you want to focus on your physical recovery, not being overwhelmed by all the required post-op behavioral changes. Best to you on your own WLS journey.

ellefell, I don't think you've stretched your tummy. I think you've stretched your brain. Sounds to me like you (might?) have become more ambivalent about whether you want to stay a size 4 vs. a size 6 ... ? What about a size 8, 10, 12, 14 ... ? You accomplished so much to lose this weight. You certainly can lose this much smaller amount of weight. "Skinny people" do this all the time. Building this skill of losing small amounts of regain is essential to our long-term success. It's just another skill we have to learn. But first you have to decide what you want and what's important to you. And then you'll make that happen.

My surgeon does (in most cases) 36s. I'm happy with that.

Jeebus H. Keerist! That is effing criminal -- the way your surgeon runs his business! And one visit every two years for post-bariatric patients? F**k that! I don't know when your surgery was, but I assume you're less than a month out, right? OK ... here are several bariatric centers' plans for gastric sleeve patients ... go read them: http://www.peachtreebariatrics.com/docs/Gastric-Sleeve-Patient-Manual.pdf http://www.floydbariatrics.org/floyd-bariatrics-sleeve-gastrectomy-diet.html http://obesitycoverage.com/the-big-gastric-sleeve-diet-guide/

How can we have stalls? Because our bodies are not automobiles. They do not get X miles to the gallon with every 3,500 calories. They are MUCH more complicated than cars. And they're very effed up after having 85% of their stomachs cut out ... and after sucking in all those IV fluids ... and then losing all those IV fluids and some actual fat and some very real muscle to the tune of 10-20 LBs lost in the first few weeks after surgery ... and sitting around being prone and sedentary plus ... and taking opioids during and after our hospital stay and early recovery.

Wonderful! Wonderful! Thank you.

Jess, congratulations on your surgiversary. You look mahvelous!

Little 5.3 ounce containers of Dannon Oikos Greek yogurt (vanilla is only one of their delish flavors) have 12 grams of Protein. The yogurt goes down easily, tastes good, and also has some good carbs for energy. The whole container is 120 calories, for those who care about that.

Good grief, Freebird! You've lost 70 pounds! How in the world have you done that????

You're a stud, dude! Seriously, you look at least 10 years younger in your after picture. Congratulations!