tcrehm

@@ANewMe9/21 I'm doing the challenge!

SW 177 GW 167 Good luck everyone and thanks Sarah!

Where is the Valentine challenge at on this site?

@@Desmond Longbottom when you Iron this out out can you share with me how you did it? " I still have to work on my reasons for eating as i still crave the "enjoyment" and "Comfort" that food brings. However that is a niggle that i am sure I will Iron out." I'm doing much better at this, but still not where I would like to be with it. Thank you for sharing your status! Things sound awesome for you and I am so happy!

Yes you can count any liquid (even your Protein shakes) as part of your daily liquids but stay away from too much caffeine as that is dehydrating. I have become rather fond of herbal teas since my surgery and only drink caffeinated tea about once or twice a month.

So is anyone seeing any major hair loss yet? I haven't yet but hit my 3 month point next week and am wondering if that is my next "challenge"!

Hi Vets, I checked with Alex and he gave me the go-ahead to collect information that would go into a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Section that is easy to find on the Website (actually he asked if I could help coordinate it when I asked if we could do it)! That may help alleviate some of the concerns I've seen lately about re-answering questions over and over and give a resource to those that need it. I believe it would be easier than searching the forum because it is hard to figure out an exact topic to search at times and as a newbie, searching may not be the first thought of how to find information. The vets have been answering (or at least viewing) the questions over and over so I am posting this in the vets section because I feel you are the experts for this but am eager to also hear from people that are not vets as well. So three things I am asking for to collect the information for Alex to post: a) Topics for FAQs (see beginner list below) Information to put into the FAQs c) Helpful hints on how best to provide the information and set it up (any web experts out there that can help advise?) Do we need to separate out for sections for each type of procedure or is the information universal for all procedures? How best to collect the topics and information to go into the topics? (I know SharePoint would be good but I don't think we have that with this site.) I'm sure you long timers have a list of what should be there, but here is few to start: - Hormone changes after surgery and impact on mood - Alcohol when if at all? - What to bring to the hospital for surgery (I saw someone has started a list already so this one may be close to being done for content!) - Surgery in Mexico - Pre-Op diet - Post-op diet - Maintenance diet - How often should I weigh and pros and cons of different frequencies - Stalls and what to do - Plastic surgery - Surgery regret - Challenges pre-op - Challenges post-op - Challenges in maintenance - Insurance approval and what to do if not accepted - Helpful hints for each stage - What to drink to keep Water amounts to where they should be each day - What to eat to get in the Protein - What not to eat and why - What to expect day of surgery. - What exercise works best at each phase? - Thing I should definitely call my doctor right away about I know that we have many different inputs from our own doctors and NUTs and would need to preface the FAQs with the information that your doctor's and NUT's advice should be followed over what is posted here, but it is to give folks an idea of what we have been told by outs for our WLS. Any other ideas are welcome and appreciated! Thank you!

I travel for work quite a bit so eating out is much more often of an affair than I would like. I have followed the faithful "eat Protein first" rule and then a couple of bites of vegetable and that works well for me. It is harder to fight the head hunger when you see the food being served especially when it is a set meal for a group and comes with bread, soup, appetizer, salad, main course and then dessert. However, my sleeve reminds me who is boss and I stop when the discomfort starts even if there is just a little bite left on my plate that is begging to be eaten so as not to be wasteful! I have started covering my plate with a napkin when done eating for two reasons: 1) to keep me from eating any more than my stomach can comfortably hold 2) to help avoid the comments about how little I ate. I hate seeing the distress in the wait staffs eyes when they think that I didn't like the food, but I assure them that it was good, I just can't eat much and that seems to help their concerns. So eating out has not been as challenging as I expected for finding foods I can eat, just working on ways to make it easier for me as I go along. (I really crave having bread, wine and dessert sometimes so I conquer that by not thinking about it because nothing good can come from that!)

Just to make things more fun I am flying to Europe tomorrow for work and will be there for a week and a half! So here's hoping that whatever it is resolves itself!

Thanks for the reminder! It is certainly a battle for life that we can't let the food win!

7 weeks out and pulse is down to low 50s and am fatigued and dizzy. BP is fine, getting in my protein and water and vitamins so any thoughts on this one? (I'm waiting for the doctor to call with results from blood tests and 24 hour heart monitor test).

Nothing seen in the blood work so far and the surgeon doesn't feel it is something lacking nutritionally since I had the sleeve and am taking the bariatric Vitamins. He thinks it may be my heart. Not sure I agree with him, but it is a bit unnerving to say the least especially since I am leaving for Europe for work on Sunday for a week and a half. Hoping to have the results back from my 24 hour monitor by Saturday before I fly out. Surgeon also felt my weight loss of 23 lbs since surgery (7 weeks ago) was too low. And I thought I was doing ok! Add in the fatigue and dizziness and it is all rather exhausting. I am blessed that my 17 year old son drove me all over this afternoon after school (doctor's office then hospital to turn in the monitor) because I am too dizzy to drive and he didn't complain one time (at least not to me)!

Hi all! I am 7 weeks post op from VGS surgery and am getting in about 60-70 grams of Protein per day and about 60-70 oz of fluids and take my Bariatric fusion Vitamins and Probiotics and B12 daily. The last week and half I have been very fatigued and dizzy at times. I took my BP and pulse to see if it was ok and my BP is fine but my pulse is down to around 50. I'm working on getting in to see the doctor in the next day or so but wondered if anyone had any ideas on what I can do to help with this.

Doctor did blood work and EKG. Pulse down to 51. They are putting a 24 hour monitor on me to see if there are any issues but suspecting they will find the answer in my blood work.

@ I would like to say I have been exercising a lot but can't say that I've been too much. I do walk usually around 5000 steps a day (which I know isn't much) but haven't even been doing that the last week because I am so tired. (I drove with my husband Monday evening and he insisted on driving home because my tiredness was impacting my driving). I was exercising a lot more three weeks ago because I didn't feel this fatigued. @@BLERDgirl Thanks! Doctor appointment scheduled for later today.

Lots and lots of fluids!

@@Dub I am almost 7 weeks post surgery and last week my energy levels were terrible despite the week before feeling fine. (BP was fine so that was not the reason). I don't think I am ready that I could try to work 13 hour days at this point with or without a lot of walking and I am a little further out than you. Take it easy and let your body guide you as to how much you can do. Best of luck! I can tell you will be successful at this battle of the bulge!

@@Kathleen568 My NUT said that is normal because we are eating such low amount of calories per day.

I too was weak from the pre-op liquid diet and didn't drive because I was afraid I would have a wreck. My NUT had me increase my calories up to 800 to 1000 with addition of milk. That really seemed to help.

I have told only my immediate family (3 sons and husband) and the people in my small group from church and two close friends. My extended family lives 8 hours away so they are not nearby to know I was missing in action for a couple of days and have been losing weight. Before surgery I didn't want the people that knew horror stories to tell them to me and have those in my head. Now I am just not sure how long term I will handle it. Still thinking....

@@Desmond Longbottom It's surprising how far down those underwear that are too big will creep!

At about 3 1/2 weeks out I ate grilled fish (about 1/6th of what was served and took the rest home to have multiple additional meals. I find that fish goes down the easiest (at least early on after when you start eating again). When I eat beef of any sort, it doesn't seem to digest as well but I am only 6 weeks post-op so not sure if that gets better or not. In getting in my protein, I don't really have any room left for anything else so not much experience with other types of foods at restaurants yet.

@@anna9/15 Side effects don't look too bad for that drug. http://www.drugs.com/sfx/lexapro-side-effects.html

@@4MRB4PHOTO You are cracking me up! I'm not sure your responses are valid to be put on FAQs but will be respectfully considered!

Would love your help! I'm a project manager and can help organize the heck out of most anything but could certainly use the help with writing and editing!!