JamieLogical

I will be keeping you in my thoughts today. I really hope everything is alright with your sleeve and your staple line. I agree with others that you should turn to the love and support of others now to help get you through this. You had the surgery. There is no going back now. So you need to find your way forward. I hope that between your surgical team, primary care physician, some sort of professional counseling, and support from your loved ones, you can be successful long term. It's not an easy process. All of us struggle along the way. It's figuring out how to handle that struggle and solve your problems that will get you through to the end.

I really hope you talk to your surgeon today. You could have done real damage to your sleeve by eating too soon. You could get food caught in your staple line which can cause abscess or ulcers. You need to take care of yourself! You are healing from a major surgery! You need to treat your stomach like a precious new born baby. "Cheating" immediately post-op isn't like cheating on a diet. It's not an "oops, I'll do better tomorrow" situation. If you had knee surgery, would you be walking on it the very next day and then saying to yourself "it's okay, I'll just make sure to rest it tomorrow"? Your stomach needs to heal, just like your knee would need to heal.

Well, running and exercise are great stress relievers. I HATE running. Like completely and utterly hate it. Every single step I am thinking... "when will this be over? is it over yet?" But it is undeniable that running regularly keeps me in a better mood the rest of the time and takes my mind off the stress in my life. So I put up with the hour of misery every other day in order to make myself happier the rest of the time. I also find it incredibly helpful and constructive to have a goal or goals that I am working towards and can focus on. When other parts of my life are out of my control and getting me down, having a goal I can work toward and feel like I am making progress on something I have control over is incredibly reassuring.

You aren't going to stretch you sleeve. You really aren't. Your restriction will "relax" over time as you heal up and fully recover, but that happens whether you overeat or not. Also, it's absolutely normal to feel hunger post-op. The trick is distinguishing between head hunger and actual hunger. For me, head hunger is a craving or like when I see a commercial for something on TV and I think "that looks sooooo good" and then I want to eat it. Physical hunger is completely different. Usually I don't even realize what I am experiencing is hunger. I get grumpy and mean (totally like a Snickers commercial). I don't notice, but the people around me do. I went on vacation with my parents about 5 months post-op and my mom started carrying turkey sticks and peanuts in her purse to feed me when I started being a grouch. Early on post-op, it's hard to get enough calories in to sustain you. So your body will experience true physical hunger.

I definitely still enjoy food. It's just different now. I can't binge the way I used to. So instead of getting pleasure out of how MUCH I eat, I get pleasure out of the quality of what I'm eating. I am over two years out and I do enjoy sweets, Snacks, junk food, and fast food from time to time. But it no longer controls me. My cravings for that stuff are no longer constant and all-consuming. And even when I do "indulge" I can eat so little of it that it really doesn't make a difference. I had a period of I'd say about 4 months post-op where I really struggled with the emotional aspects of not being able to binge my feelings away. My brain still wanted to binge. My stomach was not physically capable of it. It took a while for my brain to catch up to my stomach. But I found other ways of processing my emotions and I rarely have emotionally induced eating anymore. When I do try to eat my feelings away (which is rare now), I am quickly disappointed, because I can't eat much. Here are some pics to help inspire you: The second-to-last one is after completing my first half marathon and the last one is me finishing my first marathon!

I feel you so hard on the tuna! I was so excited to be able to have some when I reached that stage of my post-op diet. But I could maybe get two bites in! I was allowed to have 2 oz. of it... I probably managed half an ounce! But don't worry, it gets easier day by day. You will get there. Sounds like you have a great attitude about it. So I know as long as you stick to your plan, you will have tremendous success!

Is the nausea related to the sleeve or to the pregnancy? Can your surgeon or OB/GYN give you anything to help control it that won't adversely affect the baby? I can imagine it's pretty tough to find things that don't upset your stomach when you are fairly newly sleeved AND pregnant! Maybe try to focus on calorie-dense foods if you can handle any of them. I had to get my calories way up while training for a half marathon so I started eating a lot of cheese and nuts to help pack in the calories, without eating much more food.

That would be a question for Dr. Ramos' coordinator, I think. Different surgeons/clinics do it differently. When I had my plastics, I was driven back across the border in a car by a person with dual citizenship. When I had my VSG, I was driven to the border in a shuttle, walked through the customs area, and then was picked up by the shuttle on the other side.

With your limited ability to exercise, you will need to focus a lot on nutrition. Go back to the basics and put protein first! Also, make sure you are drinking plenty of water and not drinking your calories. Are you allowed to bike at all with your ankle? That might be a good alternative to walking while you are healing up.

I had my surgery a little over two years ago (September 2014) and the separation/divorce stuff started back in May (2016). The separation was entirely my idea and decision. I wouldn't say that the surgery necessarily caused it, but I think it highlighted some of the fundamental differences in us. I am continually striving for self-improvement.. I am not content to be stuck in a rut. My husband was very content in his rut. I think maybe the surgery emphasized the differences in our outlooks on life. My husband summed it up pretty well in one of our discussions after we separated. I have always enjoyed MMORPGs... they are a type of video game where you play a character that explores a world, learns crafts, fights monsters, gains levels, makes allies, and completes quests. They are very open-ended and there is a ton of room for improving your character through various styles of game-play. You set your own goals and work towards them. He always liked linear games with a clearly defined ending that you can "win". Apparently, after we got married and settled, he felt he had "won" and didn't have to play the game anymore. Whereas, I am always striving to learn new things, explore, and grow. We are just different people. My surgery and subsequent weight loss were just strong examples of my determination to improve myself.

Huge congrats to you! It is a very exciting time. I know exactly what you mean about being anxious and nervous and excited at the same time. Just know that even though the next few days and weeks will be incredibly hard, they will be SO worth it in the end! Focus on one day at a time... heck one hour at a time! Do the things you need to do to take care of yourself and ensure a safe recovery. Sip, sip, sip. Walk, walk, walk. Take all your meds and vitamins as prescribed. And try to get your protein in. It will feel like a full time job keeping track of it all. Especially the water in the beginning. But hang tough and you WILL get through!

I haven't been pregnant post sleeve, but I think you should be able to get in more than 500 calories a day at 4 months post-op. What are you eating in a typical day right now? What is limiting your ability to eat more aside from your restriction? Are you experiencing nausea, vomiting, excess acid, or difficulty swallowing?

I am considering an inner and outer thigh lift. I would prefer that the inner thigh lift only be done with a horizontal incision in the groin crease, as I do not want the vertical scar. For the outer thigh lift, I am hoping the incision can be tied into my existing tummy tuck scar. I am a runner and I'm completing my first half marathon on April 24th. I am concerned about the amount of recovery time I will need before I can start running again. I am worried about the higher risk of incision reopening and infection associated with inner thigh lifts. And I am wondering if it is really worth it. I love the results of my tummy tuck and breast lift w/ implants and would definitely do those procedures all over again, but the thigh lift seems less necessary, more risky, and less likely to have significant results. For anyone who has had a thigh lift, do you feel it was worth it? What was your recovery like?

Why are you even trying to stay under 1000 calories? Did your surgeon or nutritionist instruct you to do so? My nutritionist just wanted me to get 100 grams of Protein per day in and not worry about calories at all. I did start worrying about calories once I was at goal and trying not to LOSE any more weight during my marathon training. I started tracking calories to make sure I was eating back all that I was burning. Turns out, I need a good 2400 calories a day to maintain at goal because of how much exercise I do. During my weight loss phase, once I was all healed up and eating solid foods without issue, I would guess I was eating about 1400 calories a day? And I managed to lose all the weight and keep it off. Not sure why you would need to stay under 1000 unless you are completely sedentary. Too large a daily calorie deficit can have a permanent impact on your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight and keep it off in the future.

PS: To the OP, only YOU can decide if surgery is what is best for you. As for a travel companion, I went to Mexico twice for surgery by myself. There will be other patients there for you to bond with and socialize with. Having a friend or family member there would actually probably put more stress on you, since you would feel obligated to keep them entertained instead of only worrying about yourself.

Mexico has many skilled and experienced surgeons as well as world class facilities. It is ignorant to say that "going to Mexico for surgery is like going to Iraq". I can't speak to the conditions in Iraq nor the quality of medical care available there, but I can attest that I received excellent care in Mexico both times I've been there for surgery (once for plastics and once for VSG). For my plastics I can promise I received MUCH better care than I would have in the US. I had nurses tending to me 24/7 for two full weeks post-op. In the US, I would have been sent home a day or two post-op and left to fend for myself or had to depend on loved ones for embarrassing tasks like using the toilet and showering. Are there hacks performing surgeries in Mexico? Of course there are. Just like there are here in the US. But if one does their research and due diligence, it's not hard to find well qualified surgeons and to go to Mexico for surgery with full peace of mind.

I never once feared for my safety in Mexico on my two trips there. The part of Tijuana where these clinics and hotels are located is the more "upscale" part of town. You are shuttled around by a professional driver who is familiar with the area and traffic. Are there sketchy areas if you stray too far off the beaten path? Sure. But we have those in the city where I live in the US too. Tijuana is literally directly across the border. If you look at a satellite image of San Diego and Tijuana, it's hard to even see where one ends and the other begins. You won't be traveling down any deserted highways. You won't be out of areas that are patrolled by police. You will be in a highly populated area that pretty much, in every way, looks and feels exactly like being in a US city, except with more signs in Spanish.

Glad to hear everything is still chugging right along. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you can get in before the end of the year!

@@Spiceyfrog My belly button was reconstructed. She did a great job. Scar is deep inside it so you can't see it at all. Edit: Another fun fact is that mole that is now right above my belly button used to to be up even with the bottom of my breasts.

Good luck! I am sure everything will go fine. Just remember, after you wake up, sip sip sip and walk walk walk.

I had pre-ordered a FitBit Blaze back in February and received it on February 26th. Since then I have been wearing it 24/7, except in the shower or bath. I have also been tracking all of my food intake on the FitBit web site and so far I am happy to report that it appears to be pretty accurately monitoring my heart rate and calculating my calorie burn. The first week or so, when I worked out, I wore my old chest strap heart rate monitor as well as the FitBit, so I could compare the two. The heart rate readings on both seemed to match up pretty well. The only thing I noticed was that toward the end of my long runs for my half marathon training (past 6 miles or so), the FitBit seemed to read my heart rate lower than my chest strap. My theory is this had to do with fluids pooling in my extremities making it harder to get an accurate reading through my wrist. The major discrepancy was that my HRM calculated a much lower calorie burn for my workouts than my FitBit. But I have come to believe my FitBit is the more accurate of the two. Even though my HRM was programmed, with my gender, height, and weight, I think the algorithms it used to calculate calorie burn were just off. FitBit has so many users and such a large market share, I am inclined to believe they have been able to hone their algorithms over recent years to be more accurate. Over the 19 days that I have been wearing my FitBit, I have averaged a caloric intake of 2010 calories a day and an average calorie burn of 2344. I'm not actually trying to lose weight right now, but with my half marathon training, I have found it challenging to eat back all the calories I'm burning. So I have had a total deficit of 6338 calories over the last 19 days. That comes out to a loss of about 1.8 pounds and that has been pretty much exactly what I've seen on the scale. So, overall, I've found that both the heart rate reading and the calorie burn calculation seem to be pretty accurate. I'm going to continue tracking my food a bit longer just to get a bit more data, but ultimately I will be happy to stop tracking my food, because it's kind of a pain! I think I would recommend the Blaze to anyone who is looking for a fitness tracker that is also a serviceable watch. My main complaint about the watch functionality is the limited number of clock faces available (only 4 right now). I am also a little put off by how expensive alternative bands are, but there seem to be some 3rd party replacement bands coming on the market now, so that might not be a problem much longer. Hope this helps some people who might be interested!

Congrats on 4 years of successful weight loss! I just had my 2 year surgiversary in September and it's been great for me as well. I love being far enough out now that there are people in my life who never even knew me pre-op. It helps really bring home that this new me is the REAL me now. They never knew any other version of me. I also love that my WLS lifestyle is just the new normal for me now. I don't have to think about it all the time or figure things out anymore. I know exactly what I need to do and I do it automatically. I too think it's cool the way I have become kind of a "mentor" to some people. I try to be as helpful and informative as I can. I find that sticking around these forums helps keep me accountable as well. Been such a great experience all around!

I still take Vitamins. Though I think it's unlikely you will find one that has everything you need, since you need both Iron and calcium and you can't take both of those at the same time, since they compete for absorption. For my Multivitamin, I still take Vitaleph, which is the one my surgeon recommended. The instructions say to take three per day (spaced out), but I have only been taking two a day for over a year now and my labs are good. For my calcium I was taking Citrical Max +D3, but even though I am on a PPI, my primary care physician told me I could cut out supplemental calcium since I am getting so much from my diet and to just take D3 by itself. I just take my grocery store brand D3. My nutritionist from my surgeon's office also wanted me on a probiotic, so I am still taking one daily. I use this one: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B002S1U7RU Finally, I use a B12 spray every morning. It's this one: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00K5NEPJY Those are all the vitamins my nutritionist/surgeon wanted me on. In addition to those, I take Vitamin C, coq10, and Omega 3 every day. I was taking those before my WLS and have continued to take them since.

Dr. Almanza... there's your answer. That guy is a hack and I would say 90% of the stories about injuries/death/complications from patients who go to TJ for WLS come from HIS patients. Why anyone still uses him is a complete mystery to me. I have seen dozens, if not hundreds of accounts of how terrible he is. Yet some people apparently still do ZERO research and end up going to him. It is mind boggling. There are so many reputable and trusted surgeons in TJ that are reasonably priced, so I have no idea why anyone would resort to going to him. As far as I know, he's not even the cheapest!