theantichick

Oh, forgot to add... and you probably already know... RNY and lapband were not options for me because I do need to be able to occasionally take NSAIDs and steroids. for RNY and lapband, the contraindication is pretty much absolute. Lots of doctors will say no NSAIDs/steroids with VSG, but the contraindication is a relative one, not an absolute one. It's a risk/benefit analysis your team does. I'm allowed to take NSAIDs when needed, as long as I stay on a PPI. My rheumy hates steroids, but if I were in a bad enough flare she'd do a short run of them. I have a history of mild/moderate reflux, which was a minor concern with the VSG, but it had always been manageable with diet/meds so we went ahead with the VSG. I haven't had any reflux problems with it, but of course I'm on a PPI forever anyway.

I have rheumatoid/psoriatic arthritis. I finally decided to have VSG after my rheumy advised in favor of it. She said there isn't a guarantee, but... the stomach tissue that is removed with the VSG plays a role in the inflammation hormone cascade, and fat cells store and release hormones that are involved in inflammation. So the surgery can have a positive direct impact on auto-immune aside from the benefits for the joints with the weight loss. I had to be off of my meds for 3 weeks before surgery and a couple of months after, so my joints were hella sore by the time I had surgery. I felt like I flared up with the surgery, by day 3 post-op my joints hurt much worse than my surgery sites. But the joint pain started subsiding a couple of weeks post-op and has been manageable. I've only had to take NSAIDs a couple of times since surgery (didnt' take them at all for 3 months to let my sleeve heal). Now, my inflammatory factors are down, back on the meds and dosage I was pre-op and it seems to be working better. My rheumy says there is no need to discuss biologics in the foreseeable future now (we were looking at biologics before the surgery because the inflammation just wasn't coming down). And my joints are happier with 72# lost. Not a cure, certainly, but I think improvement directly because of the surgery.

I've absolutely eaten fast food. Once I was cleared for a full diet, of course. The fact I cannot eat ketogenic actually makes it harder for me, because I don't have a hard carb restriction. What I have found though is that I don't want to waste valuable sleeve space on anything that isn't either nutritious (Protein, protein, protein) or absolutely fabulous. Drive through food generally isn't nutritious to speak of (though there are exceptions) and it generally isn't good enough to earn space in my sleeve (there's a couple of exceptions). But then I also have been in therapy for almost a year with my food issues. I don't emotionally eat the way I used to, and I am learning to get my emotional needs and relationship needs met with the people in my life instead of forming bonds with food. So my hubby is my honey bun now, not that icky gooey thing from Little Debbie. I really worry for people who don't seem to even see that their obsession with crap food is not healthy. I am starting to think that mandatory counseling for no less than 6 months and a sign-off from the counselor saying this person "gets it" should be needed for WLS. And a test to make sure they understand the doctor's instructions pre- and post-op.

Not closing your day doesn't lose you anything. The only thing it does is calculate how much weight you'd lose in x number of weeks if you kept eating the way you did that day. They don't want to encourage anorexics. Once your intake is above 1,000 you will be able to start closing out your days again. sent from mobile device

Mine counted. I have no problem keeping up at work, I have a cup beside me all the time. It's at home when I can't seem to keep up with the drinking. LOL.

I had a great experience. I packed WAAAAYYYYY too much stuff. All I really needed was a comb, toothbrush, a change or two of underwear, biotene spray, my phone, and my charger. I do wish I'd not packed the rest of the nonsense I took, and used the room in my bag for a heating pad. That was something that really helped the soreness when I got home. I have a history of severe nausea post-op, and my surgical team did an amazing job giving me meds to counter that. Which caused me to have complete amnesia from the pre-op room when they pushed the first sedative to an hour or so after I was in my room, which has never happened to me. Makes me want to get a copy of my records and find out exactly what they gave me. LOL. I had virtually no pain from the gas that many people complain about. My surgeon does her leak test in the OR, so something to do with the Water for that may have cleared the CO2 out more effectively, I don't know. My overall pain was there, but nothing too horrible. We'd decided on a milder pain med than she normally prescribes because I don't like the side effects of the one she normally uses, and it was sufficient. I just felt like I'd been kicked in the gut and had that residual severe soreness. The staff were great, making sure I had plenty of water and things to drink on day 1, and then Protein shakes and water on day 2 (my doc keeps us overnight to make sure we can keep fluids down well). The tech came in several times to make sure I got up and walked (which helps with the pain, but disconnecting all the stuff is annoying). Slept in short spurts, but that's typical in a hospital. Didn't have enough focus to read a book, so I played games on my phone and facebooked and watched a marathon of whatever crime drama was on TV that day. Doc came by to check on me Day 2 and discharged me. Very uneventful, which is the way we want it. You'll do great. As a nurse, I'll just say that you should work with the nurses about letting them know when you're STARTING to hurt so they can stay ahead of it with your pain meds (if you need them, some people have very little pain). Knocking pain down when it gets bad is MUCH harder than keeping it at bay. And the rest of the time, walk walk walk and sip sip sip (as soon as they let you have drinks).

LOL. One of my bonus daughters, when presented with the quiet game, goes about 5 seconds and then says "oh, well, I lose" and continues her almost non-stop patter. Good thing she's cute.

I've never eaten them, but the concerns with foods safety-wise while advancing your diet are (generally speaking): hard/sharp edges & seeds can damage a healing incision - I don't know how hard/sharp pork skins are, but they look like the consistency of chips, so if you're not cleared for chips I wouldn't want to try them. For example, I was cleared safety-wise for saltine crackers pretty early on because even though they're hard out of the package, they convert to mush VERY rapidly, even before you can swallow them if you chew well. (The carb content is another issue entirely.) But Triscuits I wasn't cleared for until I was released to a full diet because the hard fibers don't convert to mush rapidly, and remain tough with sharp edges and fragments break off easily. And while I wouldn't choose chips during weight loss anyway, they are kinda in the middle safety-wise, and I wouldn't have wanted to risk it until I was cleared for all foods. foods that swell up in the stomach can damage the healing incision - I don't know if they swell up or not, my best guess would be that they don't much? digestability (based on moisture content and density, mainly) - denser and drier foods are harder to digest, so they can cause discomfort. Not usually a safety issue, but the discomfort can be intense, and some foods that are particularly hard to digest (like the Triscuits mentioned above, or fruit rinds, or fibrous vegetables) can have fragments break off and damage the healing incision. It's always safest to check with your doctor or team for any foods that aren't on your specifically approved lists, up until you're cleared for a full diet. But at least safety-wise, those are the general things they're looking at when they answer the question.

I found a few days after surgery I didn't really like any of the Protein powders I'd so carefully tested out and chosen pre-op. I choked them down for a couple of days and then sent hubby to WalMart for some Premier Protein. I hadn't liked it pre-op but it went down OK at the hospital (that's what they had) and post-op it's the only one I tolerated. After several days of sweet Protein shakes, I was also desperate for something NOT sweet, which is when I discovered I could put unflavored Protein powder in chicken bouillon if I dissolved it in a little lukewarm Water first. So my tastes started changing right off the bat after surgery. I'm still finding things I used to like that I don't really care for anymore.

I had only been on BP meds for a few months before surgery. After surgery, I kept a close eye on my BP and about a week after surgery my BP was getting low at the same time I was getting lightheaded, so I stopped the most recent med (I was on 2 different ones) per my primary doc's instructions. About a month after, I was having low BP again so we stopped the other one.

My surgeon doesn't even do the pureed phase unless a particular patient has an individual need for it. She says that if your teeth work well, you don't need to blend soft food. LOL. I like the fork test. I went for foods of the mashed potato consistency (not actual mashed potatoes, just that consistency) at first. My instructions were to start with the softest and moistest foods first, and make sure they were settling OK before working my way slowly up to the firmer/drier foods. My doc also said that lots of her patients don't tolerate eggs well during this phase, and if that happened not to worry, just to hold off on the eggs until after soft/moist meats like roasted chicken were sitting well and then try them again. And that's exactly what happened. Eggs were a no-go with my sleeve, but after chicken was working OK tried them again and they were fine.

I wasn't even aware there were personal shopper services available without paying an arm and a leg for them. LOL. Nordstrom has always been intimidating for me, but there's one very close to me and they have the personal shoppers there. Years ago, I got a bonus in the form of a Nordstrom gift certificate, and my sister and I went shopping there and we found a couple of amazing items, one top that I've now worn several times a month for at least 10 years (and one of the few I get compliments on every time I wear it). I may have to get over the intimidation factor and check them out. And now that I employ my Google-fu (which is certainly stronger than my girl-fu) I see that Macy's has personal shoppers as well. Bwahahahaha. I may become truly dangerous here.

LOL. I have a 19 year old daughter who's the same way, but she and I don't share tastes enough for me to rely on her. She has a TOTALLY different idea of how I should look than I do.

I have to start hitting some resale shops to get me through because I'm almost out of clothes. The only reason I have work clothes is because I am HORRIBLE to try and fit in pants. Tall, huge hips, relatively small waist. So almost 20 years ago when Lane Bryant had a style of pant that worked for me, and I outgrew them, I packed them away in the back of my closet because "I'll get back in them someday". Well, almost 2 decades later, I finally have. Once they're too loose for me, I am going to make a couple of drawstring maxi skirts to get me through until I'm at goal, because I am NOT going through the hell of finding pants to fit me until I'm at goal. LOL. But I'm down to those slacks, and about 4, maybe 5 tops I can still wear that look decent, but most of those are bordering on ridiculously too big. So I have to buy some things so I don't go to work nekkid. LOL. So while this will not be my final wardrobe, I want to start training my eye for colors/styles that are flattering. I will graduate with my master's in December, and should be to goal by then, and my career should shift into at least management at that point with the potential to end up in the C-Suite. So I really need to start looking more pulled together and polished than I have as a lowly programmer/analyst by end of year.