Wheetsin

Thanks all. Sleeved life has treated me very well. I don't find it "hard" but I do have a tendency to stall long term (I've been sleeved about 15 months and have had two 3+ month stalls, the one I just got past had been in effect since March.) I've never gotten sick or dumped (yes, we can dump... anyone technically can), my capacity has not changed that much since I was about 7 months out, and I can't even begin to describe the ways this is better than the LB. I'll post better pics soon, and I plan to share a "no holds barred" on the skin. I will be getting plastics (plan is for a lower body lift/extended thigh lift) and so far it looks lie insurance will cover it (I'm doing it either way) because of some skin infection issues I'm starting to have. If my skin doesn't look bad, well - let's just say that it must be a flattering pic!

I don't post here too often anymore, but I know that sharing successes is an important step. I am down - a lot. Who knows exactly how much. I've had so many "starting weights" and "goal weights" I can't even keep them straight anymore. From my highest ever, I'm down around 180 lbs. Yes, I was really that huge. From my revision date, I'm down around 150 lbs. From size 30/32 (or higher) to a consistent L or XL top, 18 jeans (16 if I get Old Navy talls). My skin is a hot mess, as expected. I probably have 2 - 3 sizes' worth of extra skin already, and I'm not at goal yet. There are some problems at this reality, "good problems" that I wouldn't trade for how I used to be, but still problems. They don't go away. Their nature changes, but they're still around. Ah, goal. That changes too. The highest "normal" BMI for me is right around 175. My surgeon told me to aim for 210. My regular doc thinks 180 - 190, as long as I'm fit, is a good range for my frame. I haven't weighed in a few days but last time I did I was something like 208.4. Under 10 lbs from the 100s. I literally cannot remember the last time I was in the 100s. It was early college, but I have no clear memory of it. So for goal, I have somewhere between 0 and 30 lbs left to lose. I don't have a great "now" pic at the moment, but here's my before (before lapband in 2006) and my "now" from about 2 weeks ago. I've actually lost about 8 lbs since then... finally broke a miserable stall. People out there, especially "super sized people" - no, you don't have too much weight to lose, and yes, you can do it too.

Pic didn't attach, let's try again. I have to photograph myself in the fitting rooms now. I have no concept of my body's appearance unless I can see it as removed from myself. Hence the weird fitting room pic - I was trying on a new coat.

I meant to post this yesterday which would have been 8 months by date but I ran out of time. Quick overview - I had lapband for about 6 years, and I believe it was slipped for about 3 of those. I had revision surgery in March of this year. After my revision I stalled. Hard. Starting about 3 weeks post-op, and lasting until right around 3 or 3.5 months. I also haven't anything but swap the same numbers for the last 3 weeks. I've always been prone to stalls, but I do wonder what my loss would look like had I been able to 'capitalize' fully on my first few months post-op. Lapband highest: 348 Lapband lowest: 238 (a little lower, but that was due to pregnancy, not the band) Lapband removal day: 284 Sleeve surgery day: 348 Today: 228 8 months post-op and I'm down 120 lbs. My before pic was taken 3 days before surgery. It hurts my heart, a lot, to see where I was. I still have 40 - 55 lbs to lose (I'm about 5'10, so my "by the charts" goal weight is in the neighborhood of 175), depending on what "goal weight" I want to go by. My wads of loose skin are ridiculous - my body is _wrecked_. I'm pretty sure I'm already carrying about 2 sizes' worth of skin. But that was a known, and can be fixed. Highest ever sizes: 30/32 pant, 30/32 top Day of sleeve surgery: 28 pant, 26 top Today: 18 pant, XL top (sometimes junior XXL, sometimes misses L, just depends) I would've liked to have made 199 by 1 yr. I am not going to make it, but one of these days...

Not bad. Most of my "for VSG" scars are barely noticeable, or at worst a medium pink color. Very thin, like lines drawn with a pen. A few are worse, but they were re-opened for multiple surgeries. The condition of YOUR scars may vary and will depend on things like HOW you scar. That in turn depends on a lot of different things. Please see this post I made a while back. It's easier to link it than recreate.

Responded with all kinds of info, then caught that this was from 2009. Hate it when that happens.

I took 4 weeks off. I have a desk job - very cerebral but not much activity. I went back to work on a Tuesday. I probably could have gone back the Thursday before, but I really couldn't comfortably make it through a day until then. Not due to pain, but rather the fatigue and the way it made me feel. So I guess I took 4 weeks, needed 3.5.

That reminds me of when I'd first tell people about the lap-band, back when I had it. They put this adjustable band around you... automatically they're confused. They don't think of it as something that can open and close, they think of it like a rubber band that's a sealed ring. So they assume they cut through your esophagus, then reattach it with the band in place. The band is adjustable... how could it possibly be adjusted? Oh, so they have to cut you open everytime you need an adjustment? Fills are managed with a huber needle, to inject saline into a port under my skin... They stick the needle all the way into the band? Doesn't that hurt? Smart people asked these questions. I wish they could take the fat and put it in my boobs.

You might like this: How Did You Choose Your Screen Name? My story is in that thread:

Rice is generally not considered a soft food. It's something that is on a lot of "no no" lists because of the problems people have eating it. I tried it around 4 months out and did fine but I would not be eating it 2.5 weeks out, personally, even if it was on my OK foods list. Tortilla is the same. Breads generally are not OK 2.5 weeks out. I really think the foods you're eating are causing your problems. Glutenous & starchy foods are really hard to get down when you're still pretty raw from surgery. Not everything "soft" is OK on a soft foods stage. Like a "soft taco" isn't a soft food. It's a bit of soft food (soft fish) wrapped in a bread. The cheese would be a soft food. If you have lettuce or cabbage on it, not a soft food. I'm not trying to tell you something you may already know, just trying to emphasize where the line is drawn. As for esophageal hernia (hiatal hernia) repair - hmm. Do you know if a fundoplication was done as part of your hernia repair?

Oh my:

Not a Doc, best guesses below... "Wake up with the feeling of something in my throat" sounds like reflux to me. Are you taking PPIs? "Feels painful to swallow and now I'm having trouble swallowing" sounds like a few things. TIny bites and chewing well will only get you so far. You also need to watch your time between bites (perhaps you do). What things are you eating? And when was your surgery? What does "leveled on August 13th" mean? (I don't understand leveled in that context). Please explain more about "trouble swallowing." Can you swallow, but you almost have to fight your body to make it happen? Does the food feel like it isn't going down? RIght now it sounds like restriction, in which case it will let up, or should. But with no idea when you had surgery, what you're eating, etc. it's hard to even guess. Will need to know more to make any other guesses.

I want to know what you did with the egg beaters. And totally thought you were going in this direction: There seems to be a bit of a conspiracy to try and rid fat people of all bad eating habits ever, forever. When in reality, we would all be much better served learning the things we clearly cannot master, like "portioning" and "good choices" and "how to not be neurotic." Really - think about it. The weightloss isn't going to be the hard part, or the scary part. The scary part to me is going to be hitting goal, and then having to maintain it. WTF do I do then? I'll be like the gal who retires, and then dies. Maintenance is my big failure. I've lost weight many times. I've never maintained. I've gone from actively losing to actively gaining. The longest I've ever maintained was about 3 mos, and it was forced (I was living in Europe and had to walk about 200 stairs to my apartment - after walking down them, and then walking everywhere I needed to go which was lots of places because they didn't have "one stop shop" stores). They give us "rules" that really are not applicable to vertical sleeve especially so much as turning you into the ultimate healthy eater!!! Like - no caffeine. Low carbs. No sliders. No juice. That's not realistic for most of us. But it is going to boost their stats (pure coincidence I'm sure...). What they should really be teaching us are things like the difference between "I'm full" and "I'm no longer hungry." How many pounds could we have avoided if any of us really, really GOT that message? Or balance. Have carbs. Your body needs them. You will poison yourself on just Protein. But make room for it. Don't just throw it in on top of everything else. </rant>

The caffeine is kind of a health thing, like the rules to eat low carbs, but not so much a sleeve thing. The acids/tannins in things like tea and coffee can be irritants to the staple line and to extra sensitive stomachs, and can sometimes irritate the reflux/heartburn issues that tend to come with the procedure.