Wheetsin

ETA: here is a link to the Howie reference cited above. The Lang is also available, but in German. http://anesthesiaweb.org/images/breastfeeding/Howie-2006.pdf (Howie 2006)

Things that are mushy won't really grill, they'll just seep between the grates. You could grill something, then turn it into a mushy. You can turn anything into a mushy with a powerful blender and some milk. I don't feel like I've really given you any information, maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're asking by grilled mushies? ETA: I have grilled tofu, now that I think about it. But IMO it's better in a pan.

If it helps, the information wasn't posted as a direct response to you.

Here's another you might enjoy. It has been a favorite of ours for many years. 4 oz of cream cheese 4 eggs 1/3 C heavy whipping cream 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese 1 tsp italian seasoning 2 C mixed italian cheese 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 C low carb pizza sauce (at the time Mama Mia's was the lowest I could find in stores) Preheat oven to 375F. Beat together cream cheese and eggs until smooth. Add cream, parmesan and spices, mix again. Spray 9" or larger baking dish with butter Pam (or spray of your choice). Sprinkle 2 C cheese into dish, pour egg mixture over cheese. Bake 375 for 30 minutes. Remove form oven let stand for 5 minutes. Spread on sauce and 1 cup mozzeralla cheese top with any of chosen toppings (pepperoni & sausage do very well with this recipe). Return to oven bake til bubbly and brown. Let stand for 10-15 minutses before cutting. Friends who have had it all say they prefer it to regular pizza.

It's probably going to happen. It's an exception when it doesn't. Expect it to hit around 3 months out. As advised previosuly, just search for it -- threads abound.

They've now done the VSG through the vagina. I don't see how that could be preferable to a few scars (my biggest is maybe an inch).

Completely depends on your skin type and how your body scars. My scars from my lapband in 2006 are virtually invisible, except for the (much larger than the others) port scar. I'm not healed up enough yet to know about the scars this time around, but they were much smaller than my band or GB scars so I suspect they will virtually disappear. FYI, African Americans (I'm assuming from your avatar pic) are about 20% more likely to keloid than Caucasians. I'm white, and my port scar has now been opened 4 times. The first and second time the scar was hypertrophic (like a keloid, but doesn't go beyond the injury), then gradually went down over several years. It's fairly flat now, and the portion that was re-opened for the sleeve is not showing any signs of being hypertrophic this time. Hope this helps.

I can try salads/fresh fruit/vegetables in about 5 more weeks. My plan quickly brings you to soft foods, and then has you stay there for a long time. I heart salads *sigh*. Really, I miss bleu cheese dressing.

I don't know how long ago you had your band, but the way it works and the way the sleeve works are completely different. (I had a band for almost 6 years.) Most of the tricks to eat around the band will only make the sleeve issues worse. That's because the food isn't "stuck" like it is with the band. With the bands, things are fine as soon as the food & saliva clears the stoma. Now, you no longer have a constricted esophageal stoma, you have the same stoma you had before any surgery. The issue now is capacity. Once it's in your stomach, it has to either go down or go up. There's nothing you can do to "force" food down through the stomach and into the bowel any faster, and even if there were, you wouldn't want to do it because you'd probably end up dumping pretty severely, or worse. This freshly sleeved, I would not encourage vomiting. That can put a lot of stress on your fairly fresh staple line. If it happens, it happens. But honestly one of the best things you can do is just wait it out. I'm guessing you're still on mushy foods. Your stomach is going to contract about 3x a minute to grind its contents up, and push them downward. The softer/more liquid the food, the faster it will be moved through. It shouldn't take THAT long to get relief. If your sleeve decides it's just not going to deal with it, you'll know it. I get a very slight full sensation. I have to really pay attention to it, and I have to be careful about how many bites I take and how much time elapses between them. Right now I can go 2 - 3 ounces of soft foods, maybe a little less depending on how sense it is. I can eat something like an individual babybel without any trouble, over the span of about 10 minutes. I can eat about 2 oz of pureed/thinned Beans over maybe 30 - 40 mins. I can drink Water pretty much non-stop as long as I don't drink too big of a gulp. I've not yet thrown up nor hit a point where I'm really hurting, nor have I picked up on any soft stops (but I didn't have one with my band either... I did at first, but it went away). Hope this helps.

One word - sashimi.

The pre-op gets better, don't let that one day of misery change your mind. But in complete honestly, if I "only" had 40 lbs to lose, I would not do this surgery either.

Here's an explanation of this I've posted previously:

Stoneyfield organic oikos. Lately I've been digging the plain with SF syrups or cinnamon mixed in. Tastes cheesecakey.

Super common with several weightloss surgeries. The stomach gurgles when empty because of trapped air (long story short), or when full because of gas. Or when stressed because things are being hurried along at a much faster pace than normal (it's part of an evolutionary flight or fight response). It's completely normal for the noises to change as things like stomach function, shape, size, etc. change. That's just acoustics.

Low carb diets have their stalls, and one of the most tried and true ways to break them is to temporarily increase carb intake. Another method that almost always works is the Atkins "fat fast." People also usually have good luck by upping their fat intake. I did a very strict version of Atkins for a very long time, and without fail anytime we had gone out for crab legs the night before (I'd crack several into a bowl, then just pour the melted butter in until they were saturated) I'd wake up 4 lbs lighter. I don't really advocate drinking butter, but you can add in healthy fats with olive oil (add a tbl to some tuna salad), avocado (also good in tuna salad, or on a spoon, I'm not picky with my avocado), etc. You also don't want too much protein. Most people don't know this, but your body can become very efficient at converting protein to glucose if you have too much of it in your system.

Never leave the recliner & eat lots of McDonald's.

I had a drain. It was removed the day after surgery. After seeing what came out of it, I'm glad I had it. Had some anxiety about removal. I'd read a lot of horror stories and expected it to be very painful. I was almost disappointed. The nurse told me she was going to pull it out so I grabbed DH's hand and waited, and then I saw her tossing it on the tray. I literally felt nothing.

Some of the things mentioned in that thread: Nook or e-reader, or iPod. Toddler utensils Water bottles that fit in car holders Recliner Etc. If those aren't things you consider "gadgets (nook) or utensils (toddler untensils, demi plates) or little things (water bottles, ipods, etc)" then what specifically are you looking for? Might be easier if you gave an example or two of things you THINK you might need, so we can get an idea of what you're looking for. "Little things" doesn't really narrow it down too much.

Here's the article I mentioned: America's Fat Hatred

People are nicer because we aren't as disgusting to them. I posted an article earlier today on the fat hatred epidemic in America. It was a good read. Through the eyes of most people who have never had a weight problem, we truly are self-indulgent slobs who need to just eat less and exercise. We pretty much break their concepts of self control, and I've personally been told by someone (who wasbeing more honest than critical) that becoming my size would be her greatest fear in life. No one is going to go out of their way for "that" person, who has those feelings/beliefs/cognition. I don't do friends well. I don't really like people that much. I have a very few close friends whom I've known for a very long time. Everyone else I would consider an acquaintance. I don't really enjoy the process of getting to know people, it's such a PITA and I don't find many people with much to offer. And it takes a while for me. People start off around a C- with me, and have to work their way up from there. DH is the opposite, everyone is an A+ and you have to do something fairly egregious to get marked down. If I met a new acquaintance, I don't think it would make me mad, because I had just met them - right? That's a timing thing, not a weight thing. If a former friend or acquaintance were suddenly interested in reinvigorating the friendship because of weightloss, I wouldn't tolerate that, but anyone who knows me knows that so I don't expect much problem with it.

I don't get hungry, but my stomach grumbles like no one's business. I've also retained a "gurgle" that I had with my lapband as well. Stomach makes crazy noises when I eat something semi solid, but doesn't make too many growly noises for liquids anymore. It used to. DH claims my stomach noises woke him up a few nights ago. It gets really, really loud sometimes.

Well, what you're asking us to tell is pretty much entirely time that we're unconscious. Is that really what you're wanting to know? Because stories will be really short, and very specific to each person. I was wheeled into the OR, and as I entered the operating room and it looked familiar - had a brief conversation with my nurse and found out it was the same room I'd had my lapband done in over 6 years prior. They pushed the gurney next to the operating table and I scooted over. I'm a bit taller than average so they were joking about having to make the table longer since my feet were hanging off the edge. They started hooking up monitors (the sticky tabs had been applied in preop). The nurse anesthetist said she was going to give me some oxygen and I said, "Whatever, every time you guys tell me that it's lights out." She jokingly told me to stay awake if I wanted to, and I said something like, "That's up to you more than me" and next thing I knew I was in recovery. They give most people versed or some other "relaxer" that tends to have an amnesiac effect before you go to the OR. Some surgeries I have full recollection of up until I was out, some I remember nothing about the trip to the OR, and some I remember intermittently, almost as mental snapshots. When I had my GB out I was telling the nurse a recipe for Greek meatballs as they sedated me, and literally the next thing I knew I was in recovery and she was trying to wake me up to get the end of the recipe before her shift ended.

Oh I didn't like them when I had my band, but I'm also enjoying the nectar Proteins by Syntrax. 0 cals, 0 carbs, 26g Protein per scoop. I mix a scoop and a half with cold Water, a packet of either SF lemonade or strawberry lemonade drink mix. Over ice. The first drink or two always strikes me as weird, but after that it's a flavor that I could best describe as lemon cream. So far their lemonde flavor is the only one I like. I've tried the fuzzy navel and literally spit it out. I used to be able to drink it OK but my 'buds are changing.

I use EAS powders with either Skim Extra milk, or light soymilk, and doctor the crap out of them with good quality additives and SF syrups, sometimes a bit of fruit or veggie juice. That works, and I actually look forward to having them. Had what I call a PBJ one this morning, yummy. In a pinch I use the EAS low carb drinks (AdvantEdge). I prefer strawberry of the flavors, and tolerate them best when they're super cold, just shy of being frozen. Once they warm up they're gross. Unfortunately they're usually warm before I can finish them, so I drink them over the course of several hours, re-refrigerating them as I go. I was at Sam's Club today and just bought the Premier Protein shakes that a lot of WLS & body builders people seem to enjoy. Haven't tried them yet, but one is in the fridge for tonight. 30g of protein in like 11 oz - that's really good. The EAS ones only have 17gm. I'm all about protein dense, because I still have capacity issues.

I drink Old Orchard Healthy Balance apple juice, only as a treat or when I can tell my blood sugar is a bit wacky. Per 8 oz 25 calories, 0 fat, 5g carbs, 0 Protein. It's about the lowest carb juice I've found, and that makes it good to me. You can drink whatever juice you want. You might want to cut it with some Water, and if you're recently post-op you might want to avoid citrus.