JamieLogical

Boobs are a lot easier, recovery-wise. So maybe those first and then work your way up to the TT? If you do the TT first, you may change your mind about having boobs done, since that one is tough! Or you could do them both at the same time, like I did, and just get it over with so you only have one recovery period. One thing to keep in mind in addition to the time off and the pain... each time you are recovering from surgery you will have to cut way back on exercise, so that's always a scary prospect when you are relying on regular exercise to keep your weight in check. I have to have my boobs redone soon due to malpositioning of my left implant and I am DREADING falling back to square one with my upper body strength training and running.

Plastic surgery, just like WLS has to be for YOU and YOU alone. You can't/shouldn't do it for anyone else and you can't/shouldn't NOT do it for anyone else either. It's all about you being comfortable in your own body for the rest of your life. No one else has to live inside YOUR body. When I had plastics done, it was 100% for me and I am so grateful that I did. No regrets!

There is little evidence that bougie size makes any difference in long term weight loss or stomach stretching. Here's a great article about it: http://tinyurl.com/qxchkcv

Ugh... I've watched a couple more episodes of this show in the past few days and it mostly just makes me want to throw things at my TV..... You seriously ate a pork chop, french fries, and two eggs less that two weeks post op and you wonder why you are laying in bed throwing up?!?!?! What is wrong with these people? I'm convinced now that this show is one of the reasons why WLS has such a bad rap.

Congrats! Best of luck with your plastics and I wish you an easy recovery. Just a word of warning, the recovery from plastics is BRUTAL compared to WLS. It is serious business! Make sure you are able to take adequate time off work and have someone to help you in the early days at home. You will NOT be doing things for yourself... like not even bathing yourself in those early days.

I was allowed coffee at 30 days post-op, but advised to add cream or milk. My nutritionist didn't want me drinking it black, since it's harder on the stomach. I put two ounce of soy milk in mine. Two extra grams of protein that way! I tried using protein powder instead of creamer and it was.... not good.

I'm sorry I can't help you with your question, as I only researched TJ docs, but I just wanted to congratulate you on getting one step closer to your surgery by beginning your research. I am glad you are open to surgery in Mexico, because it genuinely is a great self-pay option and there are many excellent surgeons. Hopefully someone can help you with the specifics of your question.

Definitely think those people who have it easy and feel great post-op are the exception, not the rule. I felt like complete crap and it seems that most of the people felt the same. You just get that small handful of people on these boards saying how great they felt and how they were up and walking around and having a grand old time... I felt basically one notch above death.

Well they definitely seem to be all over the place with most other pre and post-op restrictions, but carbonation is one that seems to be pretty consistent across the board.

Every single person who has posted to this thread says they were instructed not to drink carbonated beverages....

@@amyecpa Have you been taking a PPI for the reflux?

100 pounds is certainly doable with sleeve. If you had significantly more than that to lose, I might advise RNY, but with "only" 100 to lose, either surgery could be successful for you. You should definitely look at all the pros and cons of both and think long and hard about which is the best option for YOU. I agree with the poster above me that there are no guarantees with either surgery. They both require your compliance and hard work.

No carbonation ever again were my instructions. I have sipped a beer once post-op (I'm 6 months out), but that was a special occasion. Definitely don't plan to make a habit of that!

I had my plastics in Mexico, so they weren't prohibitively expensive to begin with, but the way I financed mine was to borrow against my retirement. If you or your husband have a retirement account, you should look into that option. The nice thing about it is that you are just paying yourself back with interest.

And you didn't punch him in the face? You have far more self control than I do!

I would say no, but you should probably ask your surgeon.

I drink 3 cups of coffee a day, but I am on omeprarzole, so maybe that prevents me from getting the false-hunger feeling that some people get from acid?

To be fair, different surgeons have different recommendations regarding this. The brand of Vitamins my surgeon recommended are capsules (the kind that can be broken open). I was supposed to open them and dump the contents into my shakes or yogurt immediately post-op and then I was allowed to begin swallowing them whole 7 days post-op.

I watched an episode yesterday that had me shouting at my TV. A woman had gastric sleeve, same surgery as me, and she was having a slice of raisin bread for Breakfast. That was it. Just a toasted slice of raisin bread. I was like "WHERE'S THE F'ING Protein?!?!?!?!" And I did NOT censor myself! She seriously thinks bread with cinnamon , sugar, and raisins is an acceptable meal?!?! And this is what she's eating when the cameras are on her. What is she eating when the cameras AREN'T rolling?

The sleeve will NOT prevent you from eating the wrong things every day. The OP has seen the error of his/her ways, rescheduled surgery, and stuck to the pre-op diet since making the original post. I don't think any of us expect someone to be perfect 100% of the time, but if someone is cheating EVERY DAY of their pre-op diet, that is a legitimate reason to question whether or not they are ready for this surgery. It requires you to stick to a specific diet for a LONG time post-op. Cheating post-op can have serious consequences if it means eating solids too early or doing other things that could affect your sleeve's ability to heal. And even once the sleeve is healed, not having the discipline to eat the right things can slow/halt your weight loss or even contribute to regain. Do you have to be perfect 100% of the time once you're healed? Of course not. Will you have to make good choices every single day? YES. You need only watch a couple episodes of My 600 Pound Life or read some of the posts on the veterans forums here to find out how easy it can be to fall back into bad habits and regain weight. The sleeve is a tool, it's not a fix. It does nothing to resolve your emotional and psychological issues. If you don't get your mind right before the surgery, you are going to be confronted with some very harsh realities post-op.

I ask for a to-go container right off the bat. That helps. As for the bread on the table... I've done pretty well at just ignoring it, so I don't have any advice there. I have dieted a LOT in my life, so I have long since developed the ability to sit through an entire party with a bowl of cheese puffs in front of me without eating a single one. I just cease to see it as food and it doesn't register with me. But that's my own situation, so that doesn't help you at all!

I don't see how this is different from the balloons and other techniques that already exist to give people a sensation of "fullness". For years they have been using temporary non-surgical methods to help bariatric patients get down to a weight where it is safe for them to have surgery, but always with the goal that they WILL have surgery at some point. A temporary device like this might help for rapid weight loss, but it does nothing for weight maintenance, since it must be removed after 6 months, just like the balloons. I think it's safe to say that MANY of us are perfectly capable of losing considerable weight "on our own" (medical conditions notwithstanding), but the real trick is maintenance. I know they call it Weight Loss Surgery, but, for me I have always thought of it as Weight Maintenance Surgery.

Sounds exactly like me. I really had to WORK to get my calories above 1000, but now I make at least 1050 every day. I aim for 100 grams of protein. I work out 5 times a week. And my loss is slow and steady, with no stalls. I've never gone more than one week without losing. My labs have all been perfect. I did have hair loss that started about 3.5 months out, but it had stopped by 5 months and never was visibly noticeable.

Best of luck!

Why?