Wheetsin

LOVE this idea! Easier than measurements, and so much better than a scale. (Sorry, I'm terribly anti-scale during weightloss, but rather pro-scale for maintenance). I keep my jeans that I wore the day before surgery, and won't wash them (don't want to be able to attribute anything to shrinking/stretching). I only wore them for 2 or 3 hours, and will only be putting them on for a min, so it's not as gross as it sounds.

That's a great tip, plus it makes exchanging a lot easier. And you can try the stuff on. When losing and I see something that I love for some event that's coming up, I buy it in 3 sizes - what I'm currently wearing, and the next 2 down. That way whether I hit a stall or not, I'm covered. Then I can simply take back the 2 that don't work. I gave up on trying to guess what size I'd be at any given point in time. I never even came close to being right.

As others have said pre-op and post-op are completely different. It will be hard post-op to get basic liquids. You just won't have the capacity. I'm 5 weeks out and am just now starting to feel tiny flashes of hunger. You'll be drinking constantly, but not making much progress because you can only drink small amounts at a time (I can now pull in and swallow 3 small mouthfuls in a row, but any more is uncomfortable). My pre-op diet was for 2 days, so it wasn't hard at all. I just gorged on Jello.

Hmm, I can see that now, and I agree that's what he/she probably meant. But when the word is "bi" I read "bi". Really makes no difference. It's still a question that's impossible to answer. If that makes me a bi, or b***h, I'm ok with that.

At the end of the day, hunger really has nothing to do with it.

When I had my lapband my husband nicely pestered me to throw my old clothes away (or technically donate them). I dropped 6 - 8 sizes, and got rid of some things, recycled quite a bit to other lapbanders, and threw some away but I had a LOT of clothes, so I still had a LOT left over. I'm glad now that I didn't get rid of them because I needed them after my band was removed. I have everthing from 14/16 - 32+. Hopefully I will never need them again, but in the back of my mind -- you never know. I've told myself that if I can get under 200#, I will get rid of EVERYTHING, even if I have to set it out on the curb. You know those big, trunk-sized storage bins? The ones people put fake trees in, or entire collections of seasonal decor? I have over 60 of those full of clothes (yes, we counted - we moved in 2010 and my husband was like, "Paying the movers to move those clothes you don't wear (1), and those (2), and those (3)..." actually counting how many trunks we had. Trying to "encourage" me to part with them. About 30% of them are too small for me and I will wear again, and about 70% are too big and hopefully I won't wear again. I've sorted through everything and currently have 3 piles. Keep (will fit but not now), donate (wouldn't wear even if it fit), and try to sell (a HUGE pile, mostly career-wear, and everything still has the tags on). Until we get those piles cleared out, we can't have our basement finished - which is a current goal. So I have motivation. I just need to get past the brain roadblocks. You guys are all doing so well!

hair loss generally starts a few months after surgery. About 3 months seems to be really common. Sometimes less, not too often more. How long it lasts varies greatly. When I had my lapband it lasted about 6 weeks (the worst part), and about 8 - 10 weeks total. It was over 6 years ago so I'm getting sketchy on the details. It is primarily a nutritional thing. There are no set correlations to surgery, though some people do have that reaction. There are people who will lose hair if they have anesthesia, regardless of surgery or not. In my case I have had: Lapband surgery - lost hair significantly. Gall bladder removed - no hair loss at all. Lapband removed - no hair lost at all. Sleeve - no hair loss yet, but I'm still a pup... it's coming, I have full confidence. The only time I lost hair has been when it coincided with extreme changes to intake/nutrition. I see this pattern most of the time. There's no research indicating that Biotin supplements help (or hurt) with hairloss from bariatrics. That doesn't mean don't take it, it just means take it with the understanding that you might be disappointed. It could be that it helps, but it could also be that the hairloss had run its course and was ready to stop anyway. I'd love to see some actual research done on this (and Nioxin) because the bariatric community is probably keeping those markets alive. The best result I've seen personally was a girl who got really hairy arms, but continued to lose her head hair.

There's some kind of bar that's supposed to simulate the effects of the lapband. I saw it on an infomercial twice when I was home recvoering from sleeve surgery (after revision from a band) - how ironic. But I have no idea what it is called. I'm guessing it works on an expansion principle. But the question then becomes, do you really want to eat something that expands that much? What's it going to do to you from the stomach down? Almost makes me cringe. You can cut any thing out of your diet and lose weight. Carbs/sugar, fat, calories, etc. Unfortuntely our brains are not usually along for the ride. As others have said, there are lots of things that work. As long as you keep them up. Just like the sleeve or any permanent bariatrics; they have to be lifelong commitments. Many of us don't really have a problem losing weight. We've been there, done that, a few times over. Our limitation is in keeping the weight off. That's because most people see "diets" as temporary states that you do until something, then can stop. Yet somehow still expect to maintain the loss. True diets are intended to be short term. But very few of us benefit from short term. People who get to the point of MO usually need more than a diet. That's the whole premise behind the necessity for a true ifetime comittment of lifestyle change. Even WLS won't ensure weightloss if you can't make the necessary changes. Look at the band (and to a different degree, the sleeve). Since they're restrictive, you're responsible for everything you eat. When I had my lapband I could (on average) eat 1/4 - 1/2 C of solid food. But bet your booty I could suck down a super mega shake without thinking twice, if I wanted to. Maybe now I can't do super mega, but I could still make the wrong choices and be completely accountable for them. We don't need a food that fills us up. We need a pill that fixes our brains. It's not our stomachs that are killing us, it's our cognition.

I had this with my AGB, but have not yet had it with sleeve. There's nothing like yakking up the saliva equivalent of shampoo lather, is there? There are probably variations, but generally this is the result of your esophagus "pumping" to push food through. It sort of churns saliva up into foam. In the case of the AGB it's the esophageal contractions to try and get the food through the stoma. In the case of the sleeve, it seems like there are a lot more causes. Maybe try this and see if it makes any difference. Don't take any single bite of food that's larger than a large pea. Ensure you chew it to the point that you almost don't need to swallow because it has just sort of worked its way down your throat ("chew to goo"). Put your fork/spoon down, and wait at least 3-5 minutes before you take another bite. Use a timer if it's hard to keep track. Then try another bite using the same procedure. If that helps, you're most likely having issues with chewing enough, swallowing too much at once, or eating too fast.

I would say call your nutritionist. Extreme fatigue is not uncommon (I went through it my second to third week). They should be able to help you figure out sone ways to feel normal again. They may advise a bit more sugar (a cup of juice, or popsicle or something) so you'll want to make sure you're doing it under their guidance. Also, make sure you're getting in enough hydration. It doesn't take much drop in our internal Water volumes before you start to fall apart. The Protein helps too, but IMO the water is a much more immediate player.

Love how you post in the Mens Room and get mostly female answers? Upper GI endoscopy is probably the test. (The tool is an endoscope, the procedure is endoscopy, and upper GI is where they're going.) You'll most likely be in twilight sleep for it, and completely unaware - or maybe slightly aware. I can remember being wheeled into the room. I remember them telling me "We're going to stick this in your mouth" and it looking like a big beige Tylenol with a hole in it (they thread the camera through it), but I don't remember it going in my mouth. I also remember them telling me they were going to spray the stuff that numbs the throat (limits gag reflex) but I don't remember tasting it or anything. I just remember these things as snapshots after the fact. It's truly no where near as horrible as I expected it to be. Usually insurance companies are wanting "documented" weightloss attempts (e.g. those mentioned before, for which you would have a receipt, or log, or weigh-ins, or could somehow verify you really did it). But not always. Write down anything you can think of: what you did, what you lost, etc. In my documentation for my first bariatric surgery (lapband) I included a crazy, but successful diet I did ~1995 where I ate whatever I wanted but no more than 10gm of fat a day. I also documented my Atkins diet attempt, for which I printed out logs I'd kept on an Atkind diet messageboard. DcMak72 - it indeed will be here like *that*. Use the time to get your preparations done - find a few Protein powders you like, start making the behavioral changes you'll need post-op (e.g. chewing everything to goo - breaking bad chewing behaviors is harder than it seems it would be), if you don't yet start ensuring you're taking in 64 oz of Water a day, at least -- if you're going high protein use 64 oz as your base, and add 8 oz for every 25 lbs of weight you need to lose. I had to wait about 6 mos between my band removal and my sleeve (insurance fiasco), and about 1.5 mos between being scheduled and surgery date. At the time it seemed impossibly long, but overall it flew by. Best of luck!

I felt great for the first week, maybe a bit less. Then I was hit with a huge bout of - not lethargy exactly, but zero energy - which lead to lethargy. It took my body a while to adjust to the sudden changes. I wanted to be up and moving around, I just couldn't. I seriously could not finish a shower without having to sit down (good thing my shower has a bench seat in it!) If I went upstairs, I would have to sit and rest after the stairs, and there's only like 16 of them (I didn't have to do that at my heaviest weight). When we did go out, I would need like 4 breaks between when I started to get ready and when we actually left. We went grocery shopping and I had to get one of those electric cart things - I seriously couldn't even just stand in line and wait. That lasted about a week and a half. Then overnight I felt much better, about 80%. And slowly that went up. It wasn't until about 1.5 weeks ago that I really felt myself again. Which do you think applies more - are you sort of lacking in motivation, or do you not have the energy to? If it's motivation, maybe treat yourself to an outing of something you usually enjoy. If it's energy, I would say take it easy (not sedintary, but easy) until you feel like you have a little more stamina. You definitely don't want to do too much when you're feeling like everything completely drains you.

This was one of my most "boastful" NSVs when I hit it with my AGB (most any kind of "V" I kept to myself, or between me and DH). Can't wait for it again. I used to have to travel frequently, and would always just kind of tuck the seatbelt under my stomach and pull my shirt down, hoping it would look like it was fastened. Never once asked for a fastener -- I figure that if something goes wrong with the plane the seatbelt isn't really going to make much difference. Then several months went by, I fly again, and have a foot or so of leftover seatbelt (on the same plane/route/flight). I flopped the extra out on my leg, making sure everyone could plainly see that I had room to spare. The seatbelt NSV is almost as good as when us ladies can finally "lady cross" our legs again. Congratulations!

I'm definitely not bi, though I have nothing against those who are. But seriously, how could someone answer "When can I eat my favorite meal?," down to the week and date (or week, or date, not sure what you were after), without any info other than that? If you could ask something a bit more specific, such as "What foods allowed at what stage per your plan" or "When could you have X, which happens to be my favorite food" - that's something we can answer. Notice that even though you have replies, there's no one who is able to answer the question you asked. Would it help if people shared post-op food stages?

Seriously? There's no way anyone here could tell you that. For one, we have no idea what your favorite meal is. For two, we don't know what your post-op diet is. For three, regardless of post-op diet, we don't know when you will tolerate what. If your favorite meal is Jello, you can have it now. If it's well done steak and celery, it's gonna be a while. Look at your post-op eating instructions. Locate the food category that matches the foods in your favorite meal. Based on the # of weeks out it is allowed, calculate.

This is exactly right (what your surgeon said). So many people get bad advice about this from their surgeons and I don't understand why. Yet 1000s of antibiotic Rxs are written for viral colds, so who knows. Here's an explanation I've posted before:

Let us know what your surgeon said. Left side is the "access portal" for all the instrumentation, and in my case where they removed a big mass of scar tissue. It _hurt_. At first it wasn't that bad, but around week 3 it started to hurt worse than it hurt initially, and didn't really stop until about a week ago. It wouldn't hurt all the time, but I could barely bend, and sitting up was a bear. I had Lortab and it didn't help this particular pain. It's only occassionally noticeable now, but when it hurt it was a deep, burning, pinching feeling. I never vomited, but I did have to lift DD (about 40 lbs) in a psuedo emergency one night, long before I should've been lifting that much.

Use the search function (upper right) and put in his information. Dr will be filtered out, but "baker" and "arkansas" yields some results. Just some tips to help - you'll also get better responses if you edit your post subject to include his info. When people see "has anyone" -- that doesn't tell them anything about what the post is asking, and they're not going to know what you're looking for, or if their info is relevant. But if they see "Dr. Baker in Arkansas" they'll know to click on it if relevant. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=search&fromMainBar=1

Oh, that sucks. My nuritionist considers it a mushy (only salmon, tuna and whitefish) so I could have it @ 3 weeks, but waited until last weekend. It's the only thing right now that lets me get near 70gm Protein. With shakes and what not I'm topping out around 50 gm. Well, save the recipe. It's worth the wait.

Maybe the juice and Beans, but I would not do ground beef at 3 weeks out. That's one of the hardest meats to digest. My program allowed deli meats at 3 weeks out, and soft meats (think canned). Yes, tuna is one of them, but there's also ham, chicken, the "potted meat products" like Underwood stuff, etc. Are you allowed any of that? I'm kind of a food snob, but I love canned Hormel ham with some miracle whip - "ham salad." It's the only form of ham I ever eat, and the only time I ever eat miracle whip. But for some reason I love the two together. You also don't have to eat meat, if nothing is sounding good or allowed on your plan. Around 4 weeks I made some fish chowder (cod) and lived on that for a few days, but if you're fished out, that's not much help.

I started Miralax this morning, and will add in BeneFiber tonight. Been 2 weeks for me. I was going every 4 - 7 days but it's completely stopped. I wasn't even really paying attention and all of a sudden it was like... Umm, self, you haven't pooped in a REALLY long time... Drinking a small apple juice right now, and going to try and get in an extra 20 oz of Water tonight. Hubby is threatening to get me this to wear, to "celebrate" whenever I get somewhat normal bowel function back. I'd probably totally wear it.

That's one of the NSVs I'm waiting for. For YEARS I've wanted a pair of brown leather, heeled, knee boots. They had some really cute ones (not leather tho) at Avenue 2 years ago. I went in one day and they had my size on clearance for $9, down from like $85. When does that ever happen?!? I bought them and could only zip them about 1/3 over my calf. DAMMIT. I couldn't even pretend to zip them up all the way, not unless I wanted to lose a lot of skin in the process. Before I got fat I used to love knee boots, wool skirts & cowl neck sweaters in the winter. Can't wait to wear such an outfit again. Super congrats to you on your awesome NSV!

There are provider requirements, but any employer can customize those. So what Person A had to do to be approved is not necessarily what Person B will have to do. The core requirements tend to follow FDA guidelines for approval. Employers can go more lenient, or strict - depending on their pocketbooks. You can always just call your provider and ask them the requirements for CPT 43775, for your plan. Make sure to have a copy of your SPD handy.

Oh I gotcha. Congrats on the approval (I skipped the posts in the middle)!

I don't think it's silly to worry about hairloss (I DO think it's silly to worry about surgery scars, tho!) Hell, my initial fatloss & hormone influx made me break out like a teenager, and I completely avoided going out for a few days because of a "few" pimples on my chin. I don't know of anyone who has gone bald (that's about 8 yrs on WLS messageboards and having met probably around 200 WLS patients). Well, who wasn't already bald, anyway. I do know several people who thinned enough to have noticeable bare spots, where you could see the scalp through the hair. I lost hair for about 6 weeks when I had my band. I lost a LOT ot first, and then it tapered off. At the time my hair was about to my waist, so even just a little hair looked like handfulls. Now my hair is above my shoulders, so hopefully I won't have the same shock this time around. I did lose quite a bit of hair, but I have pretty thick hair to start with (I used to get it thinned when it was longer). But I'm having a much harder time meeting dietary requirements this time around. With my band, even super restriction never took 4 hrs to get in a Protein drink. So who knows what will happen this time around.