Forsythia

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This has made my Monday.

I was never and have never been on a PPI. No heartburn medication was ever prescribed for me (and I expected one!). I've never had issues with it either.

I followed my surgeon's plan. Just so happened that I was on liquids in the hospital only, and on purees immediately upon discharge. That was about a week, then soft solids for a month before being approved for a general diet. It really does vary program to program. You should ask your nutritionist or surgeon what is their basis for the length of their stages. There has to be some logic as to why they chose to shape their program how they did. Might not make you feel better, but it is interesting to know why they are mandating what they are.

My insurance was charged $48,744.36, and that was for the labs and recovery and room and drugs. The surgery was another $7000 on top of that. My share was $1800 for the hospital and like $500 for the surgery.

Are you logging your food intake in a program like My Fitness Pal? If not, start. You might be cheating your sleeve by overeating. Do you go to the gym or workout at all? If you don't go to a gym, you might sign up for one. Start slow if you haven't been working out. Ease into things by doing 20 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical. I personally find that I am more likely to workout if I am paying for it. Are you getting enough protein, calories and water. On the flip side of overeating, you might not be getting enough calories. If you are only eating 500 calories a day, you might need to up your caloric intake to 800 or 900 to begin losing again.

My waist is down to 40.5 inches. Two weeks ago it was 42 inches. I find measurements far more interesting than the scale. But I weight every damn morning. I don't measure every day. Conversely, I don't record my weight unless it goes down. So it might fluctuate or even go up, but I don't count that in MFP. Only when the scale goes down. LOL. I've transitioned from 18W pants to 18 misses pants. Misses pants are a couple inches smaller in the waist and hips.. And psychologically, it's more fun to get clothes from the misses department or a straight sized store like New York & Company than the plus department or Eloquii. Some 18s are tight, some are not. It's just funny how pants change from cut to cut, brand to brand. For example, at New York & Company, I tried on a pair of plain blue jeggings. They were an 18, but they were large. Later I checked the reviews on their website and the consensus was that they ran big. I got a different pair of jeggings (yeah, I like tight pants and I cannot lie) and they were much more true to the size chart (and size charts are funny in themselves, because my measurements are always larger than the size I am in, but I am not like a sausage in them). Possibly because they were high waisted and a different mix of material in the denim.. who knows. Also, public transit. I've noticed that people don't hesitate to sit next to me anymore. This is a blessing and a curse. People aren't repulsed by my girth, but damnit people are in my space now. LOL. And seats I would have avoided I no longer have to avoid (you all know the three seaters - fat girls like me always avoid that middle seat. I still naturally avoid the middle seat, but I can sit in that three seater and not encroach on the person next to me anymore).

@@veronicalynnnnnnn Lots of people become lactose intolerant post sleeve. Not sure why. You might find that things like cheese or yogurt are okay but milk is the devil. You might try soy or almond milk if that is the case.

Red wine. Too many tannins. No actual foods bother my sleeve though.

Um, I was just positing a reason why some doctors do not do the band any more. I'm not going to post some study because said reason made you mad. I'm also not saying the band doesn't work. But that was told to me by the clinicians in my program. You don't have to like it, but you also don't have to be defensive about what I posted either. That is the reality with a lot of programs. It is what it is and if you do not like it fine, but no need to go of on me.

I got it. But acknowledging it would get the song wedged into my head and I just can't have that. :-) As it is, I am picturing the video for that song right now.

Jasmine the loser's bench is a good thing. Now that you've had your surgery, you will be losing weight. A loser. We're all losers. But that's a good thing!

In the hospital both morphine and dalaudid made me feel pukey, but I didn't need them so stopped using them after the first few hours. Generally nothing bugs me. I've had a couple issues here and there, but they were all one off occurrences. I had a pretty uneventful recovery.

That's 14 more minutes than the day before. Be proud of that.

I eat carbs. The whole reason I chose the sleeve was so that I could eat what I wanted, just in smaller amounts, because I had no will to control myself. Sleeve gives me the control I didn't have before. So I can have a couple of potato chips, not the whole damn bag. Once you get past the liquid and the puree stages and get back to normal foods you can phase in bread or rice. You just have to feel things out to be successful. There are people who low carb because it works for them, and there are people who just eat smaller portions of the stuff they like, and they lose weight too. I'm in the latter group. I've lost 96 lbs since surgery and twelve more from my all time high. I don't consider eating small portions a diet. I consider it an adjustment. Because portion size needed adjusting.

I will drink a pre made shake if I have to, but I put a scoop of Protein in my morning coffee. @@Iowa_summergirl I eat between 1000 and 1200 calories daily. I'm almost 7 months post op and still losing. Was advised to get between 800 and 1200 calories a day by 1 month post op by my team. I eat closer to 1200 when I do an intense workout.

@@Inner Surfer Girl If ever there was a magazine for aspirational clothing. Vogue is it. It's like fantasy in glossy magazine form. I like In Style or People Style watch. They always have stuff a broke broad on a budget can afford. LOL!!

My understanding, at least with the surgical program at my hospital, is that the surgeons are no longer comfortable with the complication rates associated with bands. Lots of people follow the instructions to a T and still experience a slippage or something else. And the two surgeons at my hospital are no longer willing to entertain those possible issues anymore. That is why, at least at my hospital, the surgeons prefer not to do lap bands. A diligent patient wants to know about complication rates when they choose a surgeon. And surgeons know they don't look good with those issues on the books.

I am not addicted to caffeine. I get no withdrawal symptoms or buzz from it or anything. But still, I drink a cup of regular coffee every day as a delivery system for my Protein powder. After my surgery I could not hack drinking Protein shakes. They were just gross. Still are gross. I guess I can in a pinch, but I choose not to. Normally I put a scoop of vanilla body fortress in 10 oz or so of coffee, along with a shot of creamer and sugar free syrup. That's the easiest way for me to get my protein in. Once I was back on regular foods, caffeine was not restricted.

You can, if you have a ninja or other such fancy blender, blend any soup like cream of broccoli or cream of chicken down to a smooth consistency. These are also good soups to add plain Protein powder to (but, do not add them when the soup is boiling hot otherwise it will curdle your powder and the texture is just gross - sadly I know this from personal experience).

All Protein shakes tasted gross immediately post op. Now they aren't so bad again. But I cannot drink chocolate shakes anymore. And mostly I get vanilla and put a scoop of it in my coffee. But I can drink a vanilla shake straight if I need to. But chocolate? Nope.

The short answer is that yes, Pasta is okay. The long answer is that pasta and noodles are just empty carbs and not the best food choice. You can have a cup of chicken noodle soup or chicken and wild rice soup. A lot of people have issues with pasta and bread and rice expanding in their stomachs and sitting around in there making them feel like poo. Sometimes I'll have spaghetti and meatballs, but the reality is that the meal is two meatballs and maybe one twirl of pasta. There is just no room for it in there since the primary goal is Protein.

It's been over a year. Nope. Why does he or she need to know? Unless you have some kind of standing issue that prevents you from doing a move. But even then. Bad knees or an old rotator cuff injury don't have anything to do with your surgery. Your weight, yes, but the actual surgery you had, no.

I haven't posted on this thread in ages. AGES PEOPLE!! My bad. Right now I'm 217 lbs. I need to lose 5 more lbs and I will be 100 lbs down from my program start weight and 123 from my all time highest weight ever. I'm in a size 18 pants and 16 top. My next mini goal is 199. Where I will treat myself to a fancy Kensie dress (which I posted in the aspirational shopping thread I started in the powder room - go post something)!

I've never tried beef jerky. It just seems like a terrible thing to do to delicious beef. I want my beef done medium rare with a side of asparagus drizzled in olive oil and Parmesan.

I had a catheter, but was not on my period. The catheter was not an excuse to not walk. They just hung it to my IV pole and made me take laps around the hospital with it. LOL. Once they took it out, it was nice to put on underpants and not worry about giving the floor a view of my butt!