2goldengirl

Whoa. Hold the flames there. It's my opinion yes - because I've worked as a licensed professional in the health care industry for more than thirty years. I know a few things. There is a big difference between asking you to be tested and requiring rental or purchase of equipment. The only way for the undiagnosed population to be diagnosed is to increase the number of people being tested. Obesity alone puts you at higher risk for sleep apnea, and sleep apnea may be a contributor to obesity. It isn't very different from other screening tests, like colonoscopies, EKG's, and blood tests for diabetes. I get that you're pissed about the out of pocket, but to attach a conspiracy theory to it is misinformed.

It's not some conspiracy designed to get you to purchase anything, so let that go. There IS a big educational push by pulmonologists to get more people tested for sleep apnea, because it's estimated that a much larger percentage of the population have it than are diagnosed. Untreated sleep apnea, especially more severe forms, is a huge long-term health risk. I had the study even though I was certain I didn't have sleep apnea, because I don't snore. Guess what? I have it. Now that I have a CPAP, I sleep MUCH better and my energy level has improved. Untreated sleep apnea also slows your metabolism, which may be why bariatric surgeons are more on board with testing their patients.

Honestly, everyone, WLS patient or not, needs a basic course in human anatomy and physiology. We buy many cars in our lifetimes, but only get one body. It's important to know how it works. Though if we all had a better understanding how our bodies work, there would be a much smaller internet audience for the kind of hogwash that masquerades as fact these days. Don't get me started!

How did you have your RMR tested? I went to the UC Davis Sports Medicine Clinic. If you Google "RMR testing" and add your geographic area, you should be able to get places that do it.

I'm fortunate to live close enough to UC Davis that I had it done at the Sports Medicine Clinic there. If you Google "RMR testing" and your geographic area, you can find places that do it near you. But in the meantime, help your metabolism keep alive. Eat more!

Walking vs. elliptical doesn't matter - and if you overdo the exercise while you're not meeting protein/calorie/fluid goals, it can hinder you to overexercise.

You may not be eating enough. Especially if you are exercising. My surgeon wants her patients during their main weightloss phase to be 900-1200 cals/day. I just had my metabolic rate tested, and my RMR has dropped as I've been well under 800 cals/day for a lot of the past three months. My RMR says I shouldn't have less than 1290 cals/day or shut my metabolism further. Something to think about!

Call your surgeon. You may need to up your dose of your PPI, or take it twice a day.

I've suspected that my metabolic rate was lower than normal even preop from years of yo-yo dieting. Now that I'm fully recovered postop and cleared for all foods, I wanted to see what my RMR (resting metabolic rate) really is. UC Davis Sports Medicine Clinic is a little more than an hour from me. For $125 they tested my RMR and gave me a functional mobility assessment. The RMR test took about 25 minutes. I learned that my RMR is lower than normal. The exercise physiologist who did that test looked over my preop and postop intake (a period of about three months) and thinks that I've lowered it with too few calories over that period. That said, if I laid in bed all day and didn't even get up to go to the bathroom, I would still need 1290 calories a day. She suggested I not go below that figure, even though she knows I've been sleeved. If I want to get my RMR back to a more normal level, I need to increase both my calories and my activity together. This woman is a PhD in exercise physiology and works with world-class athletes as well as mere mortals like myself. I trust her advice. I say this because I got slammed a while back for following my surgeon's advice to get my intake up to 900-1200 calories each day for my "main" weight loss phase. Then I had a functional movement assessment by an MS in biomechanical engineering. It was fascinating. He had me perform seven compound movements, e.g., I was using both my upper and lower body in each of them. He measured my degree of movement, stability, and strength for each movement, and used computer software based on my results to generate an exercise prescription for a set of exercises I can to at home 4-5 times a week to improve each. I'm as out of shape as I've ever been, and have a nasty habit of doing too much, too soon, and setting myself back doing that. I now have an individualized prescription for my body and the way it works today, not anyone's guess at what will work. I plan to go back in six months or so and be tested again and see if I've raised my RMR. A super well-spent $125, as far as I'm concerned.

If she annoys you, just tell her "no, thank you". You won't be an invalid. You won't likely feel up to driving is all, so plan around that for the first few days. Any reasonably competent teen is plenty enough help.

I've been a mad cook since I was small (my mom started me out when I was three, no lie). I'm still a mad cook now that I'm sleeved. For me, the love for prepping food for those I love had little or nothing to do with me consuming what I've cooked. That's been true for years. I bake, but over the past couple years I've lost my taste for sweets. I bake it, but I don't eat it, and it's no hardship, because I simply don't like sweets the way I used to - but I still get a charge out of the doing of it. I stopped tasting while I cook quite some time ago, because even pre-sleeve, I found tasting spoiled my appetite for the meal. Someone else does my tasting, or I rely on instinct, which, by this time in my cooking life, is pretty accurate. I didn't do much cooking early postop, but I had a rough go early on and I didn't feel like doing much of anything. these days, my cooking is attenuated as we're remodeling the kitchen. Now I'm enjoying more meals out, and feeling the freedom of taking 3/4 of a meal home with me if that's all my sleeve wants. It's amazing how many meals I can get out of one restaurant portion!

Whoa. I think you'd be wise to manage your expectations. You've lost 43 lbs in less than two months. That's amazing progress. I've lost 24 in ten weeks and I'm thrilled with it. Why would you think you should be losing 5 lbs. a week? How much are you supposed to be eating according to your surgeon at this point? My surgeon wants me at 900-1100 and it's hard to get in that much. I know that I stall out eating too little. If you're hitting your Protein and Fluid targets and you've lost 43 lbs, I'd say you're doing great!

I use Splenda - very little of it. I use Premier Vanilla shake in my coffee for creamer.

Water won't stretch your sleeve, nor will liquids, they pass right through. If you were on a liquid diet preop and a liquid diet now, and not taking narcotic pain meds, diarrhea is normal for a couple days. Needing naps is normal, you just had major abdominal surgery. Expect to need naps, your body is very, very busy working on the inside!

PPO doesn't go through a medical group, so Blue Shield will look at your request directly. As long as you meed revision criteria, you should be good!

Which medical group are you with? The diabetes will be the comorbidity that counts.

As has been posted many, many, many times before - liquids don't give the same "aaack - full!" feeling that solids and semisolids do, they tend to just slip right through the pylorus and into the small intestine. Those of us who had more postop swelling had more trouble getting liquids in in the early days. Believe me when I tell you that everything is fine, Get your fluids and Protein in, follow directions. All will be well.

Your surgeon is an unmitigated ass. And he has clearly never taken a serious Water aerobics class. They are WORK, but easy on the joints. I had a bulging disc in my back a few years back, and the only hour of my day that I didn't hurt was when I was in the pool. I did nothing but water aerobics (I couldn't), and I lost 17 lbs. And as for swimming laps, does he have any idea how fit serious lap swimmers are? I seldom tell people to ignore their doctor's advice, but in this case, follow your plan. then when you go back to see him and you've dropped weight and he asks what you're doing for exercise, tell. him. Repeatedly.

I think the more you expect something, the more it happens. I had NO gas pain at all, no shoulder pain, nothing. The worst pain I had was getting in and out of bed the first few days from my larger incision. I did use a wedge at home and it helped getting in and out of bed (we already had one). I also didn't have any constipation - I found the liquid narcotic pain medication so vile tasting that I only took plain tylenol. I'm sure that helped. A little warm prune juice really helps with constipation. Things I brought to the hospital I couldn't have done without: chapstick, a pair of pajama bottoms for walking the halls (it was cold on my floor!), my hairbrush, and my fave face cleanser and moisturizer. Hospitals and hotels really dry out my skin. How soon you can be in a pool largely depends on the healing of your incisions. I had one that opened up and it took a couple weeks to heal over. This doesn't happen often. Good luck!

None of what appears in that image is remotely scientific. They're references to news stories and statistics. Where is the actual science?

Amazon does have the table of contents, but nothing in the TOC indicates scientific citations. Those are what I was looking for.

We're having our kitchen remodeled and new flooring put in throughout the house, so we're packing up things and moving a lot to storage. A friend and her teenaged daughter came over to help me this morning, as Huz was working. We worked like fiends, and got three big loads over to the storage room. I knew teenager was going to help another friend this afternoon, so I treated them both to lunch (in addition to paying teenager). We went to our favorite local burger joint. They use premium beef and everything there is super yummy - even the lettuce and tomatoes they use are great. I ordered a burger in a lettuce wrap, extra pickles. I ate about a third of it, and took the rest home. Teenager ate half her burger and took the rest home. Mom and teenager ate half an order of fries, and I had two, count them, two fries. This is the kind of place where formerly, I would have polished off a buger with the bun, and made a fair stab at a double handful of fries (they make super good ones). The basket of fries (and a pile of pickles) was sitting right in front of me - and I was not the least tempted to take even one more bite. This. This is what I was most wanting out of my surgery. I wanted my "enough" button set to a much more sensitive level. I enjoyed the burger (and the company) enormously. But I I didn't need "more". Just because the food was sitting in front of me didn't mean I wanted a single bite more than my body needed. The rest of the burger was split between an afternoon snack and dinner. The lettuce is a limp loss, but the pickles are waiting for me in the fridge. I'm meeting my macros for the day, too. Score all around!

I couldn't handle 24 oz at once, but I can and do handle an 11 oz Premier Protein shake each morning. I drink it over about ten minutes.

Occasionally I feel kinda "empty", but I haven't been hungry in more than two months since my surgery. Eat on a schedule, your body needs fuel.

I don't have an active job and I'm not hitting the gym, and I stall out at 600-700. I've I had to get myself to 800-900 before I started losing again.