Forsythia

You are making the assumption that she has a separate Obgyn. I don't. I see a nurse practitioner who does everything for me.

Ditto on myfitnesspal.

I had my surgery at the crack of dawn on Cinco de Mayo. Seriously 7am (way too early!). I was not allowed anything to drink until the next day. I didn't have any blood in my throat but I had a foley (catheter) and there was some blood in the pee and I freaked out and was all OMGIMBLEEDINGINTERNALLYIMGONNADIE!!!. But then again I am a bit of a drama queen. Everyone assured me I was fine. And I am. LOL!

Yesterday I took a half day from work and had not one but two appointments. The first was with my nutritionist at 1:30 and the second was with my nurse practitioner at 2:30. They were not in the same building. Or even on the same complex. The nutritionist is at the main hospital. My NP is further south, down by the Dailey Center. My NUT was very pleased with my progress and happy with my eating patterns and pleased with my sugars. She approved me for a general diet again (so hello, protein bars, you and I can be friends again). She also confirmed that I should be eating between 800 and 1200 calories a day (which is right where I am on any given day). My NP, well she had some other nurse working with her - an extern, they called her, who thought my sugars were way to high. Since when is 118 or 113 too high? Heck most of the time it is like 89 or 92. Considering that I was really out of control pre surgery I would think she would have been pleased. But no. Way to shackle my buzz, Debbie Downer. She kept trying to get me to go back on to Metformin. I was diplomatic, but basically said no. She was all like, "but it helps with weight loss". Sure does, by making me **** uncontrollably. TMI, I know, but anyone who has taken Metformin knows this is a reality of the drug. I go to the gym four days a week. Do 40 minutes of cardio and another 40 minutes of weights. I can only eat,maybe 1200 calories a day. I will do that over taking Metformin for weight loss. After 25 minutes of Debbie Downer my actual NP comes in and, knowing my history agrees with me and does not make me start back up on Metformin.

I've had IVs twice in left hand. The first time I was six. It got really puffy and swollen and they had to move it to my right hand. The second time was this past May during my sleeve surgery. It didn't get puffy or swollen this time, but man my hand sure was sore after they removed it from me. Sore for days. And it hurt coming out. I had a foley catheter and that didn't bother me when they removed it, but the IV... man those things can suck it.

No drain here either. I am guessing that a drain would depend on several factors such as how your personal surgery went and the surgeon's preference to use them or not.

Ha!! I totally would have loved to have had my surgery in December 2013, but I was not able to due to timing and the six months BCBS IL wanted from me. So I had to wait until this year and hello deductible city and OOP maximum reset! I only wish my deductible and OOP max were as low as yours! But hey, my hospital loves to give you an interest free payment plan because they would rather get the money in small $82 batches than not get anything at all!

I don't think it is an offhand comment at all. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. The implication is that she is thin and can eat any damn thing she wants. That's apparently the prize of being thin!! And since she is eating like a "bird", the person who made the comment is subtly judging her. Your thin, have a burger. You deserve it. The same thing goes when you fill up a plate and someone asks "Wow, you're going to eat all that?" Those sorts of comments are not offhand. And are really judgey. Really, aside from 16 year olds, there are very few people who can eat what they want and not gain weight.

It's not a lie though. I've been sweating my ass off in the gym and counting calories like a fiend. I know all of you guys have been too! So I am eating differently and working out. Yes, I had surgery, but it is not the only thing I've done to lose weight.

Pre-surgery, like the last poster I was also on Metformin and Glipizide. Initially the surgeons left me with discharge instructions to stop taking the Glipizide but continue to take the Metformin. My blood sugar was so low on it that on my post-surgical follow up they advised me to stop taking it (Like, when I say low I mean like 66 low, even AFTER eating something carby). Generally my sugars run from 89 or so to about 115 now.

I can only imagine that eventually I would have lost a foot or gone blind from my type II Diabetes. Or that I would have had a heart attack or died some premature death because of my size. So no, zero regrets.

I was told six weeks at my one week post op appointment. Now I'm just shy of 2 months post op and my whole body is sore today from weight lifting yesterday. LOL! I'm still easing back into it, lifting more conservatively than I would have before!

For the most part, yogurt goes down fairly easily. a 5 or 6 oz container is pretty easy to eat. 2.5 oz of chicken salad and a half ounce of cheese will fill me up quite quickly. The chicken is much more sold and therefore takes up more space, even when I am doing my best to chew chew chew it down. Its been almost two months since the procedure. If someone saw me eating a container of yogurt, they would never realize I had any surgery. Seeing me portion out the chicken salad though makes you realize how small the stomach really is!

I used to work in advertising. One of the accounts I worked on was McDonald's. Another was Bel Cheeses. And my agency also had the Corn Refiner's Association. Those "sugar is sugar" HFCS commercials we put out sure were embarrassing. I tend to notice advertising more, because I used to work in it (I miss it, its a very chill atmosphere unless you are client facing, which I was not). Oddly, I love to watch the food network and PBS and watching cooking shows! It doesn't bother me to see food or see people cooking or eating. I feel the sleeve has been freeing in that I no longer have to worry about eating all teh foodz. I can just have a bite or two and be done.

In my first week post op, one day I went to bed, the next I woke up seven lbs lighter. It was bizarre. I mean, did I sweat it out while I was sleeping? Did the fat fairy come it take it like the tooth fairy? Where did it go? Ha ha. Anyhow, yeah, it is totally normal. I'm 7 weeks and almost 40 lbs down. But it has slowed from that rapid clip (including a 12 day stall!).

So I play Words With Friends. I have a game going with my cousin Sharon. She starts a chat with me saying "Congratulations on your Lap-Band" OMG WTF?! First off, I did not have a lap band. I had a VSG, but whatevs. Second of all, since my cousin Sharon knows, this means that my mother told her sister (my aunt) who told her (and who knows else.. I'm sure my cousins Tina, Debbie, Mark and Nate Jr. all know by now as well). Great. My mom told my private business to her sister. She has no right to tell my business to anyone. I am not ready to deal with my extended family knowing all of my business. And they all will know my business. That would be like me telling my mom I was pregnant and her telling the family before I announced it. So I'm a bit miffed at my mom. What is funny is that I had to be badgered to tell my parents about it. Initially I was not going to. BECAUSE OF EXACTLY THIS HAPPENING. Why is my private business okay for the entire family to know about? I would never tell everyone in my family about some other family member's private medical procedure. "Oh hey Suzie, I told cousin Jeannie that you had an STD. Hope that is okay." It's not okay. Not one bit of okay.

My LA Fitness is in the same building as Mariano's, a grocery store here in Chicago. Funny thing is I go in the Mariano's all the time to get my Protein shakes because not everyone has the Premier ones. I just beeline for the shakes or Greek yogurt or cat litter and avoid all the rest of the store. Mariano's has the dessert counter with Cookies and cannolis and cupcakes that are delicious and the devil. So I turn my head the other direction because those cannolis are the my personal dessert weakness.

Sometimes you only need a couple of sessions with a trainer to kickstart you or learn some new moves to incorporate into what you are already doing. I had a trainer.. she was so mean to me LOL. Have fun!

I don't understand what you were expecting of the site? You get a random bunch of people together on the internet and everyone is going to experience the same event differently. Add in regional variation, cultural variation, race/class/ethnic variation.. no one is going to have the same answers for you. And of course we all think we're right. What person doesn't think they are? It takes a very self aware person to say "My bad, my info is not correct". And for a lot of questions, there really is no correct way of going about things. There might be three different paths to get you from A to Z. And this is true of fitness forums, fashion forums, gaming forums..whatever. It is just the nature of the internet beast.

I've been going to a gym since 2011. (Off and on, obvs, but now on). I still get intimidated going in there and seeing the dudebros with the muscles at the free weights and the super fit girls in the fancy work out wear. But the key is to realize that everyone there is in their own zone and will totally ignore you. No one is judging you for being the fattie on the treadmill. If anything, they are proud of you for taking the first step. You'll also notice that as you go there, not everyone is super fit. We just have the perception that we are the fattest fat person there and everyone is looking at you. There are a lot of older people, bigger people, pregnant people. People just trying to better themselves. You'll start to see regulars if you go at the same time or take a certain class. Strike up a conversation! Maybe that person was in the same boat. Also, I had to do a six month program as well. Honestly, use it to educate yourself, get used to making smaller changes so things are not so jarring post surgery. Start going to the gym now. Cut out pop. Start learning how to cook using healthier ingredients. Don't look at that six months as an obstacle.

Yes, itching is normal. Its a side effect of the healing process within your body. You might notice the same thing if you trip and scrape your knee. Where the skin knits itself back together from the cells working over time to repair, you get the itchies. I always felt it helped to scratch near the offending area but not directly on the area so as not to redamage it!

My hospital only allowed psych evals from a very small list of vetted people. Before you turn that in, make sure that your surgeon's office does not have a requirement for that. When I went to see the psych, I passed right away, but a lot of people do not. They have to make follow up visits. But the whole point of the program is to progress and learn and change before going under the knife. A lot of people get really quick approvals from their insurance. My insurance required 6 months of classes (which my hospital also required). So if your hospital or insurance requires monthly classes, don't think of it as an obstacle, think of it as a chance to learn and improve your habits - use that time to get your psych to change his mind.

Could be a side effect from a medication. Were you put on anything new post op?

Two ways to go about this - rubbing alcohol or baby oil. Rubbing alcohol dries the adhesive up and oil reacts with it to cause it to come off as well. Get yourself some cotton balls and have at it. Both methods have their pros and cons. Oil is messy and stains. Rubbing alcohol dries you out but doesn't stain.