angel22_99

I follow her on Facebook, she has a page just devoted to healthy eating. She is awesome!

Since this topic seems to have gotten back on the rails, I thought I would add my story (which is meant to be lighthearted). My surgery was on 9/16/14 and I was supposed to go on a protein shake only diet for 2 weeks before, but I actually started on 9/1. I was so good the whole time, except the NIGHT BEFORE my surgery! At approximately 6pm on surgery eve, I ate a CHICKEN WING! I don't know why I did it, I guess I just saw it there, had a momentary brain lapse, and ate it. I felt so guilty. The worst part is that the next morning when they were prepping me for surgery, they asked me when the last time I ate solid food was and I lied! Terrible terrible - don't do that! I was so stressed out about this that the first thing I said when I woke up from anesthesia was "did I get the surgery done?" and they laughed at me and said, "yes, you had the surgery." I was so afraid that he would open me up, see a large liver, and close me right back up. As a matter of fact, he said my liver was very small and looked great (I specifically asked the surgeon about my liver, but never confessed the "chicken wing incident"). So my point is that no one's perfect and we all screw up - there's a reason why we are on this board. The thing I am working on is not letting food rule my life. Stressing and pining over every bite you eat is just as mentally dangerous as binge eating. Somehow we all have to learn how to make life be the center of life, not food. The surgery actually helps with this because it does take a lot of the pleasure out of eating, but it still doesn't fix all problems surrounding food.

Yes! This is what I cannot wrap my head around. Physically, how does someone 500+ lbs maintain (OR GAIN!) weight after having the VSG. HOW??? We saw the same thing with Paula last week and Bettie Jo this week (she lost nothing for the 1st 2 months...HOW?!?!) Bettie Jo and Paula both had the gastric bypass, which is different than Penny's surgery, but still! Dr. Now keeps saying these people have a low tolerance for pain, so how can they manage to eat enough to actually gain weight? Did the good Dr leave their pouch/sleeve too big?

In a sick sort of way, the ones who fail are often more inspiring to me.

Hello Sept peeps. So I have been mainly fine and have had only minimal issues, like lots of hair loss. I'm also down 75 lbs. I have noticed over the past few weeks that every time I eat, whatever it is, I get nausea and stomach pain. Sometimes I throw up and quickly feel better, but last night when I threw up, not only did it burn my throat, but I still felt really nauseous after. Anyone else experiencing this? Is it too soon to be the gallbladder? (Not taking any gallbladder meds)

I had a hiatal hernia repaired during my VSG (9/16/14) and I still take prescription Pepcid every couple of days, where in the first three months, I took it twice a day or I felt the B-U-R-N! So yes, I still have heartburn, but it is slowly starting to get better.

You know, you are right. Why condemn someone for something all of us commenting are guilty of (or we wouldn't be posting here!) - giving in to our eating addiction? Did fat shaming help any of us lose weight? It didn't for me! I mean yeah, she was given a powerful tool and didn't use it to its fullest extent, but she can still turn it around! I hope she keeps visiting that psychiatrist...the whole family should visit one! I'm trying to reach out to her on twitter...I am fascinated by her story and I really want to know what makes her tick. In a way, she is inspiring me to try harder.

Her story just proves that this surgery doesn't fix the brain. She must have pushed through the pain to still be able to eat enough to gain weight. She should have pushed through the pain to try to get up every day, or do arm exercises while in bed, or something!

I often feel ill for 10-15 mins after my 3 bite meal and my husband will always ask if he can get me something to make me feel better (like a drink of water, etc.) and I usually say, can you find the other 3/4 of my stomach and put it back in please? Lol. Or at Thanksgiving, I asked him if I could borrow his stomach. It's all in good fun. I do miss eating, but I definitely don't miss a tight size 24 jeans!

Heck, I'm 2 months tomorrow and I still live on hot herbal tea

I too was on regular solids on day 15. It was a big learning curve. Now we are at week 7 and I'm still struggling with many solid foods, but it's manageable.

Yes. He promised it will get better. He told me to not worry too much about eating as long as I am getting my liquids and protein shakes. The problem is that he should have removed a portion of my brain during surgery to eliminate my "hunger"---it's hard to describe the feeling, but it's a cross between wanting to eat because you see friends and family eat and feeling weak and crappy so you think eating something will make you feel better (it doesn't!). I really could get by with liquids and protein shakes, I just have to get over my head hunger. Also, my surgeon used a whip-stitch to close up my stomach along with the staples. He said that could give me less room then others usually have in my stomach at first, but those stitches would dissolve. So hopefully time will help.

I'm hoping that when I completely heal it will get better and I can lay off of the crusty bread/pretzels/crackers. I'm a veteran Atkins dieter and I love eating that way. It just that the queasy feeling and throwing up my entire meal is really getting OLD and I feel betrayed that it's the chicken/eggs/cheese/protein that's doing it.

Is it just me, or are higher carb foods easier to tolerate? I feel horrible about this because I know it's always "protein first" but I will throw up quicker on chicken or turkey then I will the crusty edges of the bread or a small hard pretzel. Why is crispy better? (Surgery date 9-16)

I'm right there with you all, my scale hasn't budged in a week, but I had lost 40lbs since 9/1 so I can't complain. Also, It's physically impossible not to lose weight when you are consuming less than 1,000 calories (I haven't even hit 600 yet!) so hang in there!

I see you are at the "what the F did I do to myself" stage. Many of us go through this. I wish I could tell you that on day 4 you will feel all better, but you probably won't. I'm at week 5 and I still have days where I think it would be much easier to just deal with being fat...and others, like today, where I can get into a smaller size pants when I realize it was all worth it. Hang in there, you are not alone !

Remember, they can always revise the sleeve into a bypass if you are not successful enough.

Just goes to show, the didn't fix our brains. In a way, I am a little envious of you because most days I just want to eat so badly, and I can't. My surgery was 9/16 and if I get in 300 calories a day, that would be a lot. I see my husband and kids eat and it makes me so sad because it's painful to even take a bite of some foods. My brain is so into the fat person mindset that I am actually depressed about not being able to eat. I really hope this feeling goes away.

I didn't have it done, but when he did the sleeve, he saw a small one and fixed it.

The only reason why I picked the sleeve is because I have an illness unrelated to obesity and will need to take medication for the rest of my life.

I'm so glad it isn't just me....I was getting nervous about visiting my surgeon for my 5 week follow -up because I'm only down about 3lbs since I saw him at my 2 week follow up. (Down about 38-39 from pre-op on 9/1, surgery was on 9/16).

To me, this sounds like multiple sclerosis. I have this disease (prior to WLS) and have some of the same issues--especially the vision symptoms. If she hasn't had a brain MRI and possibly a spinal tap, she should.

If I may be so bold....have you pooped lately? Last week, I was up 5lbs, then the next morning after a serious BM, I was down 7. I also have issues with water retention since I'm not drinking enough (it hurts!) and my ankles are always swollen. Today is my 1 month surgeversary!

Eating is still painful at the point for me (1 month post op) and there is pretty much nothing I can eat without at least a few minutes of nausea afterward. It makes me sad!

Did your gf have an MRI of the brain (sorry if you said it and I missed it)? How old is she?