1959JimmyJames

Seriously, that is your question?

I couldn't stand the protein shakes. I thought they tasted horrible and I couldn't doctor them up to hide that taste. I just drank a lot of beef stew broth and chicken soup broth. I never felt sick or really tired so I guess I was getting enough protein and iron.

I really believe that some insurance companies deny first and wait for an appeal. Patients will get desperate, and seek out an alternative. The insurance company saves money by not paying a claim that would be approved on appeal. I had to go through an appeal. The clinic and my doctor handled it and it was approved but the process took a few months and was stressful. They had all of the correct information the first time around but they denied it, saying, "I didn't have any co-morbidities". The appeals panel had a conference call with my doctor and he explained everything to them and they approved the procedure. This should have been approved when the request was first submitted but it was rubber stamped denied. If you feel desperate, then they have you. If you haven't already, then you should give the appeals process a chance. Those other surgical alternatives will still be there. If you can afford it then I would take your husbands advice and do it there. Your doctor is there, your hospital is there, your home is there, and your family is there. Although, a nice medical vacation to Las Vegas, could be fun. Good luck.

What does your doctor say? You need to stay on top of this and get it fixed because it can lead to some real problems. Good luck.

You're going to feel like this for a few more days. As bad as it hurts, you have to get up and walk. You will feel better soon.

When I started eating mainly solid foods the dumping syndrome stopped. I still get the dumping syndrome. It just depends on the food. If it is sweet and loaded with bad carbs, then I pay for it with extended visits to the bathroom. But it is my choice if I wish to eat something bad. I don't feel deprived of anything. If it is mainly protein like, steak, potatoes with real butter and real sour cream and asparagus, "my favorite meal", then I usually have a normal bowel movement everyday. You will probably have to learn this on your own. What works with your system and what doesn't. If you are spending a lot of time on the toilet, I would say to keep your doctor informed and just follow your meal and beverage plan until you are released to eat solid foods. After that you will have plenty of time to see what works for you. I have noticed that if I eat a real good protein like steak or salmon, it takes a long time for me to feel hungry again. You will begin to recognize the full feeling as a tightness in your chest. When I feel that, I stop eating immediately. That is how I get the full feeling, and some other members have posted a similar experience. You have to remember also that the amount of food that I am talking about will fit in a half cup. So that is just a few bites of steak, a few bites of baked potato and maybe 2 large asparagus spears. It takes a bit for your brain to realize, that's enough. Take care and keep posting.

This is gross to say bit you are going to have diarrhea a lot. I read one member comment that said "never trust a fart". You might be able to tolerate milk again later. All of your nutrition is coming from liquids right now. They are going to run right through you. I looked at it like a cleansing process. My wife made home-made Soups and stews and added extra broth to them and didn't let them reduce down very much so I could drink the liquid. It tasted very good. I am 5 months post-op and can eat just about everything that I wish. I tried ice cream the other day and was on the toilet for the rest of the night so no more ice cream for me. I ate Jello and popsicles and otter pops and Ice tea and Kool-aid with splenda for sweetener when I was at your stage. Don't worry about the gym yet. You need to heal. Just relax and don't worry about the scale either. Walk as much as you can and rest as much as you can. Always sip Water. Good luck to you. Keep posting.

The hot sauce tastes so good because it is probably the only thing that you're putting in you mouth that has any flavor to it. You are into your 3rd week post-op. I relied on chicken Soup broth at this stage. Also Jello and ice tea with that fake sugar stuff. Sorry, I can't think of the name right now. Asplenda. That's it. I was lucky to have someone make all this stuff for me, my wife. She made home-made stew with extra broth so I could drink the liquid. Tasted awesome. I also ate otter pops. The pink ones are the best I think. You need to lay off the hot sauce and anything else that can hurt your stomach. There are far more things to worry about right now than how good something tastes and quit weighing yourself. Your stomach is healing and you can damage it by ignoring your post surgery food and beverage plan. Stick to the plan. Good luck to you and keep us updated.

Sounds normal so far. Don't push your activity too much. You need to rest a lot.

This is something that needs to be solved by a doctor. I know that it is tough to afford a doctor visit and medicine if you don't have insurance but acid reflux can lead to serious problems, the worst being cancer of the esophagus, if left untreated. I have been taking a 40 mg pill of Nexium everyday for so long that I can't remember not taking one.

I tend to agree with the 2 posts before me. If this were common then we all would have heard about it. This may have happened to a few patients, but I have heard of people having bacterial infections in their stomach and they haven't had gastric surgery. It's just another thing to worry about. Stay diligent and always know what you are eating and how much.

Everything that you just listed. This is a common story with the band. It is a mechanical device that breaks. Some last a long time but it seems that most only last a few years. The sleeve is still a tool, but it is permanent. You can develop serious problems with the sleeve that are far worse than the band so I wouldn't say that it is too good to be true. If you use it properly, and your doctor is good at his craft then you should succeed with the sleeve. Good luck to you.

It does sound like a lot of weight in a short time, but if you look at it as a percentage of overall weight to lose, he is at around 25% of that. I am at 50% of my weight loss goal in 4 months post-op, and I feel like I am losing a lot slower than most. I am not trying to be Einstein with this, I'm just saying that if you take the pounds out and use percentages then his weight loss seems reasonable. I think that saying 85 pounds lost is fantastic and should keep him jacked up to continue losing like this. Keep up the good work and congratulations.

Some people will have an easy time with this and some won't. I was really miserable for the first 5 days, and I didn't do too much activity for the first month. I was feeling pretty good by the start of the 2nd week though. The pain was horrible for me too on the 2nd day. I just kept drinking the pain reliever to keep me knocked out and I sipped on water as much as possible. Otter pops helped a lot. Just having the flavored ice in my mouth for taste and coolness was good. You do need to remember to move around and don't let the pain keep you in bed. Blood clots are something to be afraid of at this stage.

Yes. My pain was more on the right side because the incission was bigger where the port use to be, I guess. I was in total agony for 5 days, but it got better after the first week. I had liquid painkiller. Very strong but tasted horrible. It kept me knocked out for those first 5 days. This is a walk in the park for some people. It was not like that for me and it seems to be tough on you too. Be carefull and let it heal. Everything is great now. I am glad that I did this.

That is incredible. 87 lbs in 3 months. What does that feel like? You were able to see an average of 7 lbs per week drop off. I am at 52 lbs lost, in 4 months. I am averaging around 3 lbs per week. I feel great but another 35 lbs would put me at 87 lbs lost. If I continue the way that I have been, then it will take another 3 months until I get there. Slow is OK as long as the weight doesn't stop coming off yet. I eat whatever I feel like eating and I haven't done a bit of exercising. That's probably why it is coming off so slow. Anyway, congratulations.

I am not sure if you are asking me or Beaglelover this question but I will answer it anyway. My diet plan following surgery was Clear Liquids only for the first 3 days. From day 4 until day 14 it was liquids only. I drank a lot of Soup broth and ice tea and Water. I drank liquid vitamins. I tried the liquid Protein Shakes but I couldn't stand the taste so I gave up on them. Day 15 through day 28 was liquids and soft foods. I made a fruit smoothie everyday. My blender was a real pal during this phase. I had boiled broccoli and mashed potatoes with real butter and gravy once. The flavor was awesome. Day 29 until now I have been on a regular diet. I can eat whatever I want. I continued eating soft foods and soup for a few weeks after the 29th day because I was afraid not to. I threw up once and had some real pain from overeating once. This might happen to you too. The pain lasted about 30 minutes. I guess that is how long it took to digest some food and empty out my stomach. I measured my food for a while. One half cup. I can eyeball it now. I eat from a very small plate so it looks like more food to my eyes. I can also tell from the tight feeling in my chest that I have had enough. A lot of people say that they are hungry all of the time at first and can eat too much. That didn't happen to me. I was never hungry. I get hungry now though. A couple of times I have noticed that if I didn't have this sleeve, I would just continue eating a tremendous amount of food. The food is tasting soo good and is something that I love but all of the sudden I feel that tightness in my chest like a wave hitting me and it snaps me out of it and I stop eating right then. Today is the 4th of July. I will be having a barbequed cheeseburger with all the trimmings and french fries and beer. I will have to drink the beer before I eat, plus I mix it with tomato juice because it takes some of the foam away, and I will not finish the burger or hardly any of the fries but I will feel like I did and it will be fun. And later on before the big event starts I will have a couple of Margarita's. It's clear liquids. Happy 4th of July. Remember the veterans.

I had a similar situation with my esophagus. I have a precancerous condition called Barretts Esophagus. I also had a band implant about 10 years ago. Everything was good for about 8 years. I lost 100 lbs and was feeling great. The band was adjusted right but I started throwing up all the time. I couldn't eat anything and I could barely drink. The opening at the band almost sealed off completely. The Barretts tissue had become irritated and swollen and closed up the opening at the band. My esophagus had dilated like a big balloon. They found all this because of a routine upper GI, that I have to have yearly. They removed all the liquid in the band. I had to drink a medicine for ulcers because I developed an ulcer in my esophagus. After a few months I had another upper GI and we found that the esophagus had returned to it's normal size except that now it was stretched out but the ulcer was healed. It was longer than normal because of the stretching and this caused a hiatal hernia about a year later. Your esophagus will shrink back down but it won't be normal again because of the stretching. I didn't adjust the band after I was healed so I put the 100 lbs back on. I love to eat and drink beer and talk with my friends and unless something stops me from doing that, then I will continue to do it.When I finally went in for an adjustment we found out the band was leaking and it slipped and would have to be removed. I had the sleeve revision surgery last March. My doctor removed the band, repaired the hiatal hernia and performed the sleeve surgery all at the same time. It took 4 hours. I was miserable for the first 5 days but by the start of the second week I started feeling good again. I am now 3 and a half months post-op and I feel great. I am down close to 50 lbs. I am not losing fast like some of the people on this site. I have back problems also. I am averaging about 2 to 3 lbs a week. I do not exercise at all. Just walk and sit in the sun when we have sun. You won't feel that plugged up sensation after the band is removed and it is nice to not feel the port anymore. I can eat more than I could with the band but it is not enough to keep me from losing weight because I am losing weight. I have had a stall but I didn't change anything that I was doing and after about 3 weeks I started dropping weight again. When I feel full I have a tightness sensation in my chest. It is not painful but I know that it means to stop. Even if I don't want to stop I have to. I have thrown up once because I ate too much. It was painful. I think that the sleeve is a much better tool. I don't throw up. I don't feel plugged. I can eat anything that I want, it's just not very much. I can still have the things that I crave. If I fill up on mostly meat like steak, the full feeling lasts a long time. If I fill up on salad or fruit then I get hungry again sooner. This is great. All of my suits are fitting again and my regular clothes fit good. I would recommed the sleeve surgery to anyone. I know there are people on this site that have had an awful experience with this, but I can only speak for myself and say that I think that it was very much worth it. I am wondering what my weight will be at Christmas this year. Good luck to you and keep us updated.

Glad that you are feeling better. Good luck to you.

No. I have not heard of that. I was able to sip normally, and I didn't feel any restriction like that. I would also be concerned with the blood coming up. Are you still in the hospital? Don't let them discharge you until this is resolved.

Bruce Peter. Yes. If you eat too much it will hurt. If you eat too much you will throw up. You have to be aware of the amounts of food that you are eating. I am only 12 weeks post-op. I don't know what 1 year post-op is like yet.

I feel bad for you Pinklove. Acid reflux is horrible and causes serious problems. You can have stomach acid burning your esophagus and not even feel it. This can lead to a condition called Barrett's Esophagus. It is a precancerous condition. We all have to decide what is best for us and our situation. I had terrible acid reflux but I don't feel it anymore. I have an upper GI every 3 years, with a biopsy, to monitor the Barrett's, and hope that it doesn't progress to a more serious stage. This was not caused by the surgery. The surgery actually stopped the symptoms. The lap-band that I had 10 years ago stopped the acid reflux also, for 8 years, because I had to eat a certain diet that helped people with acid reflux. When the band failed, 2 years ago, I reverted back to my old bad eating habits and gained weight and started damaging my esophagus with stomach acid again. I had 8 years of practice on what to eat and I still disregarded all of the information that I had, and starting eating everything until I felt full. I have absolutely no will power when it comes to eating and drinking and socializing. Since the sleeve conversion 12 weeks ago, I have no acid reflux symptoms and no stomach pain anymore. I feel great and I can eat whatever I feel like eating. My stomach being so small now fills up fast and that makes me stop eating. I am down 40 lbs now. I hope everything works out good for. Take care.

Bufflehead, just gave you some great information. The only thing that I can add is about the reflux. I am a band to sleeve revision. I have to take an acid inhibitor everyday for other reasons than this surgery, so I don't get acid reflux at all. I would still have the revision surgery anyway. Taking a 40mg purple nexium pill everyday for the rest of my life is so much easier and better than the alternative of being morbidly obese and having all of the complications that come with that. At one time I thought that the band was perfect but after mine failed and reading about all of the other band problems I would not recommend the band to anyone but I would recommend the sleeve surgery.

I am 11 weeks post-op. I remember that stuck feeling with the band. It made me stop eating immediately and after suffering for a bit I would usually go throw up and meal time would be over. I also remember how good it felt if the stuck food actually passed through. It was like total relief. All of that is gone. It does not happen anymore. I also don't feel the port anymore in my abdomen. I had the band for 10 years so I was used to all of those feelings that come with the band. It is really nice having it out of me. I hated that lump in my stomach and explaining it to doctors that were examining me for something unrelated to it. I also want to say that it worked for me for 8 years perfectly. I lost 100 lbs with it in a years time and maintained that for 7 years. I didn't have the problems that lots of other banders have had. I started gaining weight about 2 years ago and I noticed that I could eat alot more. I developed problems that I have talked about in my profile section under my story if you care to read it there. So, I had the sleeve revision in March. It was painful for me. I was hurting bad for about a week. Now that the incisions have healed and my stomach is far along with the healing process, I have become very satisfied with it. It was about 4 weeks post-op and I was into the solid foods portion of the plan that I noticed "restriction" for the first time. It was painful to me. This is not the stuck feeling of restriction from the band, it is a painful feeling from your stomach saying "No More Room". I stopped eating right then and after about 30 minutes it passed. My stomach was still healing and I pushed it too far with food. I then became more diligent with my portion control. I am now 11 weeks post-op and I do not feel any pain at all. I feel full. It is a full feeling that I used to get way before all of this. The problem is that in my head I can see that I have not eaten very much and I think that I should eat more, but my stomach won't let me. When my band failed I was able to eat much more, and I did, and I regained the weight. Now I have to retrain my head again to think that I have eaten enough. I eat less than my 3 year old foster daughter. She thinks it's funny because we eat from the same kind of plate. One of those little plastic child plates that are sectioned off into small portions like a tv dinner tray. She gets a kick out of watching daddy eat using her pink kids plate. The only difference is that she gets dessert after dinner and I don't because I am full and can't eat anymore. Good luck to you.

I am 11 weeks post-op. I can eat anything that I want, but I don't eat very much because I get full very fast. Nothing makes me feel nauseous so far. I too feel disappointed that I can't eat more of something that is tasting so good, but that is why I had this surgery in the first place. It makes me stop eating when I don't want to stop eating.