JamieLogical

I've been taking Vitaleph Bariatric multivitamins since I started my pre-op diet. I'm now 9 months post-op and all my blood work has been perfect. I also take a bunch of other vitamins too though....

The office I used to work in had a water cooler that used those 5 gallon water bottles. One of those weighs 40 pounds. When I had lost 80 pounds, I tried holding one in each hand and could not believe how much weight that was!

There's a learning curve to it. Once you are eating outside of your home at restaurants or parties or whatever, you just have to try to get better at accurately estimating the right amount. I accidentally overate a LOT in those early months of solids and still do sometimes even at 9 months post-op. But I am MUCh better about it than I was in the early months.

I wouldn't recommend eating bread at all, but there are some low carb tortilla options. My grocery store sells a brand called Father Sam's that I've had a couple of times post-op. But I usually just skip bread/carbs: http://fathersams.com/8-low-carb-wheat-wrap?ReturnUrl=LwBwAHIAZQBtAGkAdQBtAC0AdwByAGEAcABzAA%3d%3d

I was DYING of thirst and they told me I could swish water in my mouth and spit it back out. But I was too afraid I'd accidentally swallow it, so I didn't try.

Welcome! This site is great for getting answers to all your questions and for just getting some love and support in the hard times. So feel free to post often with any of your thoughts. Also, to set up your profile, I believe you need to be on the desktop/computer version of the web site, not the app on your phone or tablet. Once you are on the computer version of the site, you can click on your name in the upper-right corner of the screen and edit all your settings from the drop-down menu that comes up.

I haven't had any problems with spicy foods post-op. I was having strained enchilada soup in my clear liquid phase just a couple of days post-op. I will say that not being able to eat and drink at the same time has limited the amount of spice I can handle, just because I can't drink anything when my mouth is on fire from something super spicy.

Those are two of my BIG ones, though I like the Raspberry and Key Lime flavors of Dannon and I LIVE for chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Quest Bars. Some other staples for me are reduced fat string cheese and lightly salted peanuts. Recently I discovered that my grocery store sells "buffalo chicken pizza topping" over in their prepared foods section where they sell pre-portioned pizza toppings for "make your own" pizza. It's just cut up pieces of grilled chicken in wing sauce. I heat up a couple of ounces of that in the microwave and put a little 2% shredded mozzarella cheese on top for a quick lunch.

Good luck! See you on the losers' bench soon!

Did she even give you a chance to explain that you had done your research and made an intelligent decision? I find it a little alarming that a "friend" would have so little faith in your judgement. But if you can get her to calm down and at least listen, maybe you can try to explain a little about why you chose to have surgery in TJ and your surgeon. Maybe once it's clear to her that you really have done your research and know what you are doing, she will chill out a little.

It definitely deels like a job in the early days. Keeping track of taking your meds/vitamins, drinking enough, getting in yout protein, and spacing it all out appropriately.

@@Squizzo I had no trouble with large pills when I was cleared for them at 7 days post-op.

Well, you can always opt to have it removed, but I would suggest waiting a little while once you reach goal to give it a chance to contract naturally first. The usual recommendation is a full year at goal before having skin removal surgery. I personally had mine at 8 months after major weight loss a few years ago.

The lower BMI probably won't have too much effect on your recovery, but it reduces your risk of complications. As for weight loss, you probably won't be losing 20 pounds in a week like some of the higher BMI patients, but you can and will lose a lot of weight still. Probably not as fast as you would LIKE, but you will lose it eventually and that's what really matters. This isn't a race. Your sleeve is forever, so if it takes you 6 months or 16 months to reach your goal, it won't matter 10 years from now when you are maintaining your healthier weight. Sleeve typically does help with diabetes and weight loss helps with blood pressure. In fact, I'm struggling with LOW blood pressure now!

Congrats! Sip, sip, sip and walk, walk, walk! You'll be feeling a little better every day!

I am addicted to Truvia. I've tried another brand when my grocery store was out of Truvia and it was SOOOOOO GROSS.

It's not physically possible to get 30 grams of protein from 15 grams of product. Their *claim* is that it's the equivalent of 30 grams of protein, because it is more fully absorbed and utilized by the body than other whey isolate protein powders. I never bought into it. If I were to ever use it, I would treat it as though I was still only getting 15 grams of protein and not count it as 30 in my daily total calculations. It is nice that it mixes so well into other liquids and is pretty flavorless. So I might use it for those advantages, but I'd only count it as 15 grams.

I think pretty much ALL of us went through that. I would smell someone's lunch cooking or see a commercial for pizza or Red Lobster or something and I wanted it SO BADLY. Even though I knew that if I actually tried to eat any of that crap, I would be horribly ill and possibly do myself real harm. The head hunger is a big issue in the early days. It DOES get better. Eventually your brain will catch on. Plus, once you are on to more satisfying food stages, you can kind of trick yourself. Like once I was in my pureed/soft food phase, I made myself Shelly's Baked Ricotta (Google it for that and other great puree recipes!) and that almost was like eating REAL food! Just hang in there. I promise you that it does get easier and eventually you'll be able to eat all your old favorite foods (though you may not want to anymore by that point).

There was a thread a while back where some people posted about cost. I described my procedures and costs there: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/333460-looking-for-plastic-surgeon-in-north-nj-or-mexico-cost/

Smoking impairs tissue oxygenation and therefore reduces your ability to heal. You will have a lot of internal healing that needs to be done post-sleeve so I would definitely try to quit ahead of time in order to pave the way for the smoothest possible recovery.

It's nearly impossible to predict rate of weight loss. It's so different for everyone. I highly advise against settin time-based goals for your weight loss. You will be setting yourself up for some serious disappointment. Stick to your nutrition plan, stay active, get your water and protein, and let nature take its course.

I didn't go through BariatricPal to book my surgery, but I did use the forums extensively when researching surgeons. I ultimately chose Dr. Ariel Ortiz at Obesity Control Center, but there are MANY excellent surgeons both affiliated and unaffiliated with BariatricPal. I highly recommend reading through threads on these forums and doing your research.

There is actually a lot of info on Mexico plastic surgeons in the Plastics forum: http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/393-plastic-surgery/ I've talked about my surgery and my surgeon (Dra. Laura Carmina Cardenas) in several threads over there.

@@marfar7 I've had to resort to Zantac and Gaviscon a few times for heartburn. I had a VERY unpleasant bout of heartburn that would NOT go away the week before last. Sent my husband out for any fast acting heartburn relief he could find. He got me some sort of mint flavored liquid stuff and Tums chews. Still didn't help for more than like 2 minutes. Ugh, that was unpleasant. Not sure what caused it, but SO grateful when it finally went away after about a day and a half. I've been tempted to talk to my primary about prescription strength options, since taking two OTC omeprazole a day sometimes isn't enough.

Everyone goes through this phase. You have not failed. Stick to your nutrition plan, walk walk walk, sip sip sip, and the scale will start moving in the right direction again. I promise!