Inner Surfer Girl

A cold sore is caused by a virus. Once you get one it tends to reoccur. You can get a cold sore ointment at a drugstore. Definitely talk to your doctor if you are concerned.

Congratulations to the winner! And congratulations to all of us LOSERS. Good try.

You've only failed if you completely give up. You are still here seeking help so as far as I am concerned you haven't failed. So, you haven't seen as much progress as you would like. You obviously know why. Why not make an appointment with your NUT and talk about your goals and how you want to proceed? Why not find out when the next support group meeting is and attend? Why not go back to basics? Track your food. Focus on getting in all of your Protein and Water. Pitch the junk into the trash (and don't get it back out). Take your Vitamins. Find something easy to get you moving. Take a walk. Sign up for a dance class. Join the Y. You know what to do. And, if you need even more help, consider finding a counselor or therapist. Embrace the Stall! http://BariatricPal.com/index.php?/topic/351046-Embrace-the-Stall

Congratulations on making such a big decision and welcome to this site. It is a great source of inspiration, information, and support. I was sleeved April 20, 2015 and couldn't be happier with my experience, my recovery, and my results so far. Learn as much as you can and ask lots of questions. One thing that really helped me was to gradually wean myself off of carbonation and caffeine pre-op. That way I didn't have to deal with caffeine withdrawal after surgery. Keep us posted on how you are doing.

I don't know why not. Once you are cleared for all foods then any grilled meat should be ok. I had grilled salmon during my soft phase and it was delicious. @@Dub, can give you lots of insight into grilling!

Why not make an appointment with your NUT to talk about your goals?

Are you getting in all of your Protein and fluids? Are you avoiding starches? Are you taking your Vitamins? If you aren't getting enough protein or vitamins your body is going to want to eat to get those nutrients. If you are eating starches, then you will crave starches. Are you tracking your food? Do you plan out protein-rich meals and Snacks throughout the day? If you have a plan, then you will be prepared to eat something healthy instead of mindlessly eating whatever comes to hand.

I was on clear liquids the day before surgery and nothing by mouth after midnight. Please get clarification from your team.

Congratulations on making the decision to put your health first. You are worth it.

@@CowgirlJane. Thanks for the recap. Either a troll, someone really gullible and immature, or someone who needs much more professional help than we can provide.

When I went for my first follow-up post-op visit and nutrition class there were seven of us in the class who had our sleeves either the same day or the day after. Those of us who were following the program exactly as written were feeling great. The four people who "cheated" a little and ate off plan were miserable and having a tougher time. I know it's anecdotal but it made an impression on me. There is a reason we have a very strict post-op plan. It was developed based on research and the experiences of people who have gone through the process before us. It is for our benefit. If you remember that it might make it a bit easier to stay the course and follow your plan.

Congratulations on your success and thank you so much for sharing with us about your journey. I appreciate it. I am so sorry you work in an environment with so many unsupportive and toxic people but am glad your fiancée and friends are there for you. You mention your bariatric support group and friends as being your support network which is awesome. Do you also have a therapist? I know it takes time for our view of our body image to catch up with reality, but a therapist may be able to help you reconcile that view as well as help you with strategies for dealing with negative people and the stress eating urge. Best of luck with your upcoming wedding and marriage. I am sure you will be a beautiful bride!

Absolutely.

You have a few options: You can worry about it. You can decide to accept that whatever the scale says tomorrow is just a number. Or, you can just not weigh tomorrow. Until you have been at this a while you may not yet be used to seeing the scale move downward after a stall so I can understand your fear. I know for me, in the past when I was dieting, there was always a time when the scale eventually started moving in the wrong direction so that may be what you are bracing yourself for. Believe it or not, even if in the short term the numbers on the scale fluctuate a little or stalls for a while, you will see the numbers drop as long as you do your part and follow your plan. One of these days you may actually start looking forward to your weekly weigh in.

I agree. This sounds like something you should call your surgeon about.

Congratulations!

I am so glad to hear you are better. Thank you for the update. It will only get better from here.

I just read the responses and didn't see the original post but I gather that you had the sleeve surgery because your mother wanted you to but never intended to go through with it and now don't know what to do? Is that the gist? Whether or not you wanted it you now have had the surgery. What choice do you have but to accept it and move forward? You need to take control of your health and your recovery. Did you receive any nutritional counseling? Do you know what your Protein target is? Did you receive a detailed post-op food plan? Do you have a Vitamin schedule? I recommend you learn as much as you can, make an appointment with your NUT, and find a good therapist. A few books you may want to read: Alex's Big Book of Gastric Sleeve, Eat it Up! (a book written by a therapist who works with WLS patients), and The Emotional a First Aid Kit (I think that is the title. I haven't read it but have heard really good things about it.) I also recommend you consider reading Melodie Beattie's book entitled The Language of Letting Go. It may help you come to peace with your situation. We can help you, but it is important you use all of the professional resources available to you.

The member with the 4 millionth post is (drum roll)..... I have no idea! I need to wait until tomorrow morning for one of our techies to reveal their identity As long as it's not a spammer I will be happy for whoever wins.

At long last, I am finally able to post my surgery date. I had my last surgical appt. today and was given a date for this coming Monday. My pre-op diet (Adkins Stage 1 -- I refer to it as the bacon diet) starts tomorrow so I don't have to do 10 days as I was anticipating. It has been a long journey so far and I have been ready for quite a while. I went from 150% against surgery to being eager to get it over with. Thanks to lots of research and all of the wisdom and experience from the folks on BariatricPal and my bariatric center staff/surgeon, I feel like I couldn't be more prepared. I am so looking forward to getting my life back!

When did you last talk to them about it. 5 weeks seems like a long time.

Have you talked to your surgeon about this?

Definitely call your surgeon. I wouldn't wait until the end of the week.

Your stomach does NOT remain whole. You have a little pouch that is made. The difference between GB and the sleeve is with GB they leave the remaining larger part of your stomach attached while with the sleeve it is removed(normally 85% is removed). I wouldn't want any newbies to miss understand what you are saying.Yes, indeed. Nevertheless, your whole stomach remains inside your body. Albeit, divided in two. Unlike having more than half removed from your body. This was a con for me. I chose the sleeve for many reasons but one is that my stomach, even though the fundus has been removed, still functions the way it is supposed to. The entire digestive tract is intact with the stretchy part removed. The impact is on volume and hunger hormones.

Congratulations! Being able to fly comfortably is HUGE. It is so freeing to be able to travel easily. As to your in-laws. I would much rather someone say nothing than to be rude. I don't know them but maybe they are reserved or as you mentioned too self-involved. But, maybe they truly don't notice because they see the "real" you.