JamieLogical

@@ssourgirl That was one of the things I really struggled with in the early months. Not being able to turn to food when I was down or upset. I found it incredibly frustrating and, of course, that just made me more upset. The good news is, I did eventually realize that I was just not going to get comfort from food the way I had in the past and I stopped trying. It's a process.

@@Babbs Really, any weight we lose at all is improving our health. Look at all the info on how losing just 10% of your body weight can improve health in all sorts of ways! I don't know how many of us are going to reach the epitome of perfect health eventually, given the damage we've all done to our bodies by being obese for long periods of time. All we can do at this point is our best. We can take comfort in knowing that we will never again be as unhealthy as we once were. I do plan to work hard to be as fit as I can be to try to make up for all the years I spent being a fat, lazy slug. I know that I love the feeling of being strong and fit. Knowing I could run a mile if I needed to, or lift a heavy box or something. Those are good feelings and I want to keep improving.

I read today that the average BMI for women in the US is 29. This is just two days after I heard that the average size for women in the US is 14. Well, I'm in 14 jeans now and I'm almost down to a BMI of 29, so I guess this means I'm average. I am not sure how I feel about this news. On the one hand, I am really happy that few strangers would look at me and see me as "fat" anymore. I love that I can buy my pants in the normal sections of normal stores, instead of having to hit up the plus sizes. But, on the other hand, I am *just* this side of obese from a BMI stand-point. I was thrilled to be merely "overweight", but find it a bit alarming that the upper end of the overweight BMI range is now the norm for women in the US. I guess, overall, this is good news for me, but bad news for the country as a whole.

Glad to hear you are doing so well! I too am thrilled with my decision to have VSG. I am slowly approaching my goal weight and feel great (except for a head cold at the moment). I love being active again and feeling strong!

I do roller derby as well. I didn't play this season, since I had my surgery in September and that's when our season starts. I have every intention of playing next season though. I'll be a year post-op by then. If your seasons are similar, I don't think there would be any reason for you not to be able to play again in the fall. Your incisions will be healed up in a matter of weeks post op and I know I personally was cleared for all lifting and intense exercise at two months post-op.

You probably haven't stretched your sleeve. That's very hard to do. But as you heal up, you WILL be able to eat more than in the very beginning. Right after surgery, you have a lot of swelling that provides additional restriction. As you heal, you can gradually eat more and more, but never anything close to what you were able to eat before the surgery. What kinds of foods are you eating? How often are you eating? Are you getting in all of your fluids and protein? You mentioned pain in your throat. That could be acid reflux. Are you on a PPI? Acid can often present as "hunger", so if you do have uncontrolled acid production, that could be a big part of your problem.

@Babbs@B-52 I don't know if B-52's post was douchey. I alluded to the fact that it was disheartening that the upper end of the overweight BMI range is "average" these days in my original post. Maybe he just said it a little more harshly. In general I think he's right that BMI isn't as important as body composition. I'm sure we've all heard references to being "skinny fat". Where people don't necessarily weigh more than they should, but they aren't fit or healthy due to bad eating habits or substance abuse. My brother was always skinny as a rail and had a heart attack at 41 because he lived off of soda, cookies, and potato chips and his only regular exercise was walking his dog.

You'll get better at "eyeballing" it over time. That was one of the harder things for me once I started eating out and such. Trying to accurately guess how much I could safely eat without that tight esophagus feeling. But I'm really good at it now. When I go out, I look at what I'm served, say to myself "I can eat 1/3 of that" or whatever and then that is just about perfect.

One of my first meals out was Mexican as well. Our favorite place serves "Mexican Breakfast" on Saturdays, so I had eggs with some cheese and enchilada sauce and some refried beans. I think I got about three meals out of it with all the leftovers!

@@Cody's mom I used Dra. Laura Carmina Cadenas of Beauty Enhance. The recovery house is called Beauty Care Recovery House.

A "spit stitch" is when the internal, disolvable stiches pop out through the skin, instead of fully disolving internally, like they are supposed to. It can look kind of like a pimple until the stitch breaks through the skin completely, at which point it looks like you have a little bit of fishing line poking out of you. If you grab that end with a pair of tweezers, you can pull it out as far as you can under tension, then cut it very close to the skin with a pair of nail scissors. Once you let go with the tweezers, the end will retract back down under the skin and eventually dissolve like it should. A couple of times I had spit stitches that just pulled right out when I grabbed them with the tweezers, because the other end of them was already full dissolved.

Yep! I believe they have turkey chili and black bean Soup on their normal menu, so both of those would be good, high Protein options.

Are you allowed ground meats and legumes yet? If so, any place that serves chili is a good option, since they usually serve cups of it and it's high protein.

@@Robynne Hazebroek-Buzanko Did you surgeon warn you about spit stitches? Those can be a little disconcerting. But, don't worry, they won't affect your overall healing.

Yeah. I need to get under 155 (my personal goal) to reach a "healthy" BMI and I am not so sure about what that will mean in terms of my size and appearance. As it is right now, I can see my ribs above my breasts. Not sure how "sickly" I might look if I really lose another 26 pounds. I really want to focus on just lowering my body fat percentage and increasing my muscle mass and not worry about the scale so much. I'd like to at least get to my surgeon's goal of 165, but we'll see.

Welcome! Feel free to ask any questions or express any concerns and we will try to help you out and support you any way we can!

I am on Seasonale, so I only get my period every three months anyway. When I was due for my first post-op period, it didn't come. I was terrified I was pregnant, because I'd read about how the surgery can make you more fertile and a lot of women get pregnant unexpectedly post-op. My husband and I even used back-up birth control for the first month or so post-op to be on the safe side. I ended up taking three pregnancy tests, all negative. I continued taking my pill and the next time I was due for my period, it came like normal.

The first couple of weeks are just so rough. I promise you it will get better! You will feel normal again! I remember those dark days in my early weeks when I was crying and uncomfortable and struggling, but they are a very distant memory now, seven months post-op. I feel normal 99% of the time and I have become used to my new life. You will get there. Just have faith and patience. Do everything you can. Sip, sip, sip. Walk, walk, walk. Get in your liquids and as much protein as possible. Stick to your nutrition plan, and you WILL get better and be successful.

You are not alone! And your surgery isn't broken. Hang in there and keep doing what you are doing.

I have had surgery in Mexico twice. The first time was in August 2011, when I had a multiple cosmetic procedures all done at one time after having lost 90 pounds "on my own". I had an extended tummy tuck with muscle repair, breast lift (donut lift) with augmentation, body sculpting via lipo ALL over, and fat grafting to my upper buttocks. I was very active on a plastic surgery web site and forums back then, which is unfortunately no longer an active site. That is how I originally heard about the surgeon I ultimately chose. I had originally looked into pastics in Costa Rica with a Medical Tourism company, but ultimately chose to go to Tijuana. As I am sure you know, there are many experienced and qualified surgeons there. Multiple factors contributed to my decision of surgeon. I liked that she was a woman (I was very self-conscious about using a male surgeon back then). She didn't have a TON of name recognition in the US, but those who had used her had great reviews. Her before/after pics were excellent. I loved talking with her. She contacted me personally and we had many conversations via phone and email and I genuinely felt she had my best interests at heart. And I liked that the package I got was an all inclusive sort of deal where I stayed in the recovery house she is affiliated with, with 24-hour nursing staff, hospital beds, all my meals prepared, etc. She came to visit me EVERY single day I was there and I felt exceptionally well taken care of. I stayed for two full weeks. My second surgery in Tijuana was my gastric sleeve, which I had on Sept. 1, 2014. I had ZERO qualms about having surgery in Mexico again, since my first experience had been so positive. I received less personal attention this time around, only staying in the clinic one night and spending the rest of my time in a hotel, but this was a much more "minor" surgery, so I don't think I would have needed, nor wanted the intensive level of care I'd received after my plastics. As for the area where these surgical centers are located, most of them are in an area called Zona Rio, which is a more "upscale" part of town. I never felt unsafe at any time on either trip. In fact, I joked a lot that it was pretty much exactly like being in the US. All the same stores and restaurants I was used to seeing at home. I did see some street peddlers on my way into and out of Zona Rio, when traveling to/from the border. I also remember seeing someone selling puppies out of the bed of a truck on the side of the road one day on my first trip and the driver who was with me explained that that specific street/area was where people went to buy dogs. So, apparently that's pretty common practice for that spot? I didn't go out walking on my own on my first trip (mostly because walking more than about 12 steps after my tummy tuck wasn't happening), but towards the end of that trip, two of my nurses took me to the beach to walk around some. There was definitely a mix of classes on that trip. On the way out to the beach, we drove through some VERY ritzy shopping areas with fancy restaurants. But, at the beach itself, there were some run down little hole-in-the-wall restaurants/bars and I saw some pretty raggedy looking houses and apartment buildings. Still, nothing I felt unsafe around. There were lots of clearly less well-to-do families enjoying themselves at the beach. It was actually a great experience! On my second trip, I did more walking outside on my own, since we are supposed to walk, walk, walk immediately after VSG. I walked in the area of the Marriott (the hotel I stayed in), and felt perfectly safe and comfortable. There was a Walmart in a plaza up the hill from me. I think there was an Applebees in there... it was all very normal and a lot like any middle-class, suburban, US neighborhood. There are wonderful, skilled, experienced, and caring surgeons in Mexico. Just do your research the same way you would when making any large life decision. Don't go for the lowest price. Find the right balance for you that will make you and your husband comfortable and confident. "You get what you pay for" applies in any country, it's just that your dollar goes a little further in Mexico.

Search for "week 3 stall" on these forums and you can read the thousands of other posts saying the exact same thing. Nearly EVERYONE goes through this.

I don't think yo are doing any harm by drinking liquids quickly. Some people have trouble doing so post-op, but if it's not causing you any discomfort, then I think it's perfectly fine.

I took off two weeks and wish I could have taken a bit more. I wasn't in pain, but I was VERY tired all of the time until I was able to at least start on soft food/purees at 18 days post-op. Going back to work while still on just full liquids sucked pretty badly. I have a desk job too, but the fatigue was a real issue for me.

The day before my pre-op diet began was an annual picnic/cookout that all of my husband's friends from college have. I really wanted to not overdo it, but over the course of the day, I ended up eating quite a LOT and it was all junky cookout food. I just buckled down hard the next day and stuck to my pre-op diet and all was well in the end.

I had a lot of swelling in my stomach and esophagus post-op that made it very difficult to even drink for the first couple of weeks. No matter how small a sip I took, I would have this whole process of constriction, gurgling, and burping that was SO uncomfortable. The good news is, it got better and better as the swelling went down and I was able to drink much more easily a few weeks out.