WLSResources/ClothingExch

He elevates "non-supportive" to a creative art form. Because I can't think of a workable solution, as it would raise questions that you don't want asked (about having surgery), I suggest we all come to your town to kick your husband in the shins. I hope you can work this out in reasonable fashion. Have you considered inviting him to attend a support group meeting with you? He may catch on from hearing other people's experiences. Yours is too close for comfort...maybe.

That's the point. Bouncing the feelings and experiences -- now and later -- around here and at in-person support groups are a great source of relief and good idea. My best advice for anyone who is having jitters in the weeks before surgery is to keep busy with preparations. Don't do everything at once. If you're typical day is busy, that's another thing, but if not so much, do a little prep at a time so that you're occupied until you leave home and head to the hospital. Before you head out on the morning of surgery, change the sheets. Simple task, but another way to keep your mind occupied for a few minutes. The reward will be a fresh, crisp bed when you get back home. If you're concerned, as I was, about keeping all instructions clear in your heads, get a sheet of oak tag and make a huge calendar to put on the wall. Draw it so that it starts two weeks before surgery and goes on for four to six weeks after. Write in all your little chores ("buy Vitamins," "buy Protein shakes," and so on) and the days you'll advance to various types of liquids to soft food, et al. Again, preparing the calendar is the good, compulsive kind of idiot work that helps keep jitters at bay. Referring to it daily boosts confidence that you're doing all the right things. Anyway, it worked for me.

This topic interests me as I may revise from lapband to sleeve. It sounds/looks as though the inverted sleeve seam is kinda-sorta-maybe like the seams on jeans?? GoldenGirl posed a good question about flexibility, etc. I suppose I didn't realize that a sleeve incision is stapled and that the staples are a permanent fixture. The idea of having them forever is uncomfortable. Can some not we worked out over time and end up floating in the body? In the case of inverted sleeve, is the suture material also a permanent presence along the incision line? That no one here had leakage doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Ten people or so are not a reliable sample. I'm not saying that the technique is or isn't foolproof, but it should be possible to find out more. I hope someone coming by here can give some info on Beachsprite's comment on sugar and whether she may have been referring to sugar during the healing process or forever after. Perhaps you're still around, Beachsprite? @@LMolina1987, are you still here? What was your final decision? How was it and how are you doing now? That is, if you've had surgery.

1. ' course I am. 2. In that case, screw. 3. Glad that your glands are still in good working order. You're fine. Git in there.

@@DirtyyMelodies, I just realized that you may think I'm making light of your breakup. Not at all. It is a major event and you are hurting deeply. Just for those reasons it's crucial that you act in your best interests in all ways. Losing a boyfriend is bad enough without losing yourself and everything you do that makes you yourself. If you're a student, your studies are a path to whatever is next for you. Let your work suffer and your sense of who you are will diminish with it. If you're working, the most important thing is not to jeopardize your income. It's bad enough to be hurting, but worse to be hurting while sleeping on a park bench. You'd begun the surgery process before he broke up with you the other day. The plan for surgery is another part of who you are. ONe of the worse mistakes you can make is to give up your self. You'll be needing her forever and she shouldn't be someone who could even conceive of bailing out on you. This may be the last thing you want to hear now, but that's how it is.

@@dnpatrick9 P.S. It's also a good idea to do something for forearms. They don't quite sag, but do get a little jiggly. I've seen something on sparkpeople, but don't recall what it's called. It was something about sitting with the forearm resting lengthwise on the thigh, palm up, and doing a small movement with a dumbbell. Don't just do it, though, without seeing the little video.

Look at that. Bozo broke up with you and you've already met someone new. A five-year relationship is significant, but don't mourn it by gorging on crap. Voodoo dolls are so much more effective. KInda Familiar is correct -- this is your time. You have the power to take good care of yourself, right down to eating for surgery and thereafter. A breakup is especially the time to take good care.

Pre-surgery doubts and jitters are common. How about asking yourself one question at a time? There are nine days before your date and that's plenty to get the supplies you need. Why not buy them and see if having the practical things taken care of make a difference in your outlook? Don't even think about buying them for post-surgery use. All you have to do is buy them. It's a simple, little shopping trip just for the sake of doing a little shopping.. More to the point, you don't have to have surgery if you don't want it. You have the same freedom to go ahead with it if you choose. It's that simple. Do you have something better to do on he 29th?

@@Muted_Tummy, I'm someone who thinks that the unfun medical and related things shouldn't be surprises. Your asking about GoPlay's emotional response to the prospect of soft food is smart. Keep asking about things like this, but also know that you may not experience the same emotions. Not everyone does. I send you a wish for happy and wonder-filled reactions all the way. (Do you want to know what I wanted to do to the surgeon who didn't tell me that I'd awake from appendectomy with a catheter? No, not that, but I did want to scream and him and maybe punch his lights out.)

@@dusky goddess, well, then...? For me, it was and will forever be Gregory Peck. "Underlying fears" sounds like a good guess. Don't over-think it. The fear could be because he really is the real thing and ...gulp!...then what? Or maybe your relationship history is skimpy. Or a dozen other things. Trust your instincts and throw yourself off the cliff. I refer to the instincts to stick around, not the instincts to run. If I may be so bold as to speak for our esteemed colleagues in this topic, we expect invitations.

You have the right to date around if you and the man you've been seeing haven't agreed on exclusivity. To be "seeing a very wonderful person" doesn't mean he's your wonderful person. If you do have an agreement, but have come to want to explore other possibilities, that tells you something. If he's just now brought up the subject of exclusivity and you haven't answered, there's your answer. Be kind in any case. He deserves it and so does your dignity. P.S. It's difficult to respond without knowing how long and often you've been seeing him or whether he's given you a reason to tell him you want to meet other men. In general, it's at about the six-month mark when people know whether there's anywhere to go. If not, farewells are exchanged or phone calls dwindle and cease.

You want exercises that target triceps and biceps. Easy to find by online search. Loads of sources with instructions for proper form (important), two of which are sparkpeople.com and livestrong.com. Whether building muscle will minimize sagging is something you won't know until you get there. If you succeed to some degree, it will be because of maximum diligence and maybe genetics. In any case, loose skin looks better over toned muscle than untoned muscle. Also in any case, strength is a good thing.

It's likely that Daniotra is correct. Whether you're just not saying it or don't know, pink suggests blood. Don't get excited. If it was a one-time occurrence, you may have scratched yourself. Otherwise it can be a little infection that can be knocked out easily. If I noticed blood in my urine more than once or perhaps twice, I'd make a gyn appointment.

You began by saying that you're dehydrated, so do call the on-call doctor. I imagine that you're in pain as well as dehydrated. No good. Call, call, call. I'm logging out now and expect to find a note next time that you took care of yourself.

I've never had a band emergency at an off time of day, so I'm just spouting what comes to mind. Call your hospital's ER and ask if someone on duty knows how to do fills/unfills. Are you in the Ridgewood vicinity? Call the bariatric practice of/affiliated with Valley Hospital (it may be properly called Valley Health System?) 201-251-3480. One of the surgeons, Dr. Bagloo, was a Fellow in bariatric surgery at Columbia University Med Center when I had surgery there. My surgeon, Beth Schrope, may have something to do with the Valley group, also, but I'm not sure. Call ER's of other hospitals in your area to see if someone on duty can do what you need. It's crazy for someone to tell you that you have to do without fluids for 3-4 days.

Duh, you could have told them that you need an adjustment. Isn't someone in the office today who is capable of loosening the band? It's crazy to expect you to wait until Monday. If no one is there, have the answering service get whomever covers for them. Let the service find out from a surgeon in your practice whom else you can call. Act quickly, as it's Friday afternoon.

[dumb, stupid technology] I get your point on the purpose of the exclusive forums, but see it differently. My concern is not with anyone reading material that makes them queasy. There are certain topics I simply may not want to discuss with boys around and would rather that they not eavesdrop. Now to my purpose for returning to this netherworld. You all should know that I prefer a penis of human proportion.

You're off to a good start, except for that boiled egg. I suppose that, when a stomach is a tender thing, an egg is no easier to digest than a hockey puck. You sound positive and happy. Great.

Arrange with family and friends and the sitter, especially those your kids know best, to stop in to help for a while.

Since we do have the "like" button, it would be nice if it gave the opportunity to be specific about what one likes. For me it's your being a health professional, therefore, not freaking out about weight so soon after surgery. I was wondering how you were doing the past few days. It's good to see you again so that I can tell you that the garage is off limits for the coming week. So are the monkey bars.

That's funny, but, as another old one, I disagree. To me, it's not unlike introducing the subject of bathroom habits at a dinner party. I don't want to know what I don't need to know. Even pronouncing the acronym, GERD, bothers me for the ugliness of its sound as a word. Call me a squeamish aesthete.

No way of knowing before you do it. Be aware that, as it's the unknown, filling to the max could leave you wishing for death. No bariatric practitioner will do that, certainly not right out of the gate. If you really wish to limit yourself to soft foods and purées for a while, why not just make those your food choices with a reasonable, working level of saline in your band? You'll do as you see fit. I don't know how much good work you've undone, but I'm there, too. In deciding how to get back on the horse, I wouldn't choose a route that might conceivably feel like punishment for having regained weight. That's what a period of soft foods and purées seems to me. The process of eating well and seeing results should be a joy. I don't see a month of mush, for example, as joyful. Best wishes for your renewal regardless of how you do it.

Extremely high in sodium. The labels are scary. Be cautious and think about limiting your intake so that, averaged over a few days or a week, it doesn't put your sodium numbers over the top. It requires being diligent about choosing very low-sodium things the rest of the day. This is just one of the reasons tracking food intake is smart to do.

Eeek. GERD is common enough, but you really don't want to introduce yourself to a stranger as someone who has a digestive disorder. I wouldn't want the first thing that someone tells me to be either non-attractive or about disease of any degree. If he were a specialist or researcher in the field, okay, but not otherwise.