MacMadame

Are you on Actigal, Daisy? That can help save the gallbladder and lots of docs put all their patients on it.

On my profile on OH, I have a blog post which lists a bunch of links to posts from people 1 year out or more. http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/macmadame/blog/2009/06/08/long-term-sleeve-experiences/ Note: it's formated correctly on my Mac but is one big paragraph on a PC. I don't know why.

The hanging skin in general is so frustrating because it hides what's going on. It hides your muscle definition and your fat loss. Argh!

Do you ever workout with a trainer or with a group strength class? They might be able to help you. I have nice arms now when I flex them. They are only gross when they are relaxed.

Can I guess? I'm guessing her other health problems require it... Was I right? Do I win a prize? (Yes, I was the kid at the front of the class in school waving my hand to answer every question.) Anyway, congrats on getting a date. Making people wait 11 months for WLS is crazy though.

I had them for my c-sections and hated them. Didn't have them for this surgery though. I don't think I had a Foley either. If I did, I was asleep for it so it didn't count.

Don't worry, it doesn't work like that. At least not with the 3 insurance companies I looked at. I think I look older but I also think I look better and more interesting. I'm a bit jowly but that runs in my family and mine aren't as bad they used to be so I'm hoping they tighten up over time.

I never thought I wanted to be 110 either. Or that I could. But my body appears to have other ideas. I'm not *that* shocked as I've seen this happen to other people before me. I keep looking in the mirror and thinking "I have a 1-2 more pounds that can come off here and there (usually tummy & thighs) and then I'll be done. There's no more left". I've been saying that for about 10 pounds now. :001_tongue: I was a D/DD to start and at one point I lost more off my chest than my boobage and went up to a DDD. But now I'm down to a large C. I'd like to be a comfortable C and then stop losing there. In some ways I feel like my face looks older, but I also think it's more interesting. Before I looked like a weird, age-less baby. I like having definition in my face. Luckily my loose skin there is minimal and it appears to be firming up over time. My tummy and boobs are another story. I have a lot of skin damage there so I'm not sure what will happen. But I'd rather have flapping skin on my tummy than flapping fat pads. If I could keep all subsequent weight loss to that area, I'd be a lot happier about continuing to lose. It's my thighs and arms that dismay me the most and yet those are the things I'm completely unwilling to get PS on. But I have WRINKLES in my hanging skin. It's the wrinkles that get to me. A flap of skin that's not supposed to be there like my panus? No big deal. Wrinkled skin that makes me feel like I'm 100? A completely different story. Since I don't have a lot of skin damage there, I'm hoping that part tightens up to an acceptable level over the next six to 12 months. Anyway, as long as my weight loss is not coming out of my muscles (and it's not right now) and I'm not super-restricted on my eating, I think I'll just ride it out and see what happens.

That looks more like a Wagner face to me. Anyhoo, on this big trip to TX.... the last two weeks of May are always booked for me and the first two weeks of June tend to be pretty busy too as it's the end of the school year for my kids. Just throwing that out there...

I have a "detach and go" pill organizer for my Vitamins. I take today's with me in my purse. That's my only product. :cursing: Mostly, I've just worked out routines through trial and error. I find that starting the day with a Protein shake works really well for me and, on days when that doesn't happen, I'm always thrown off and struggling to get in my protein. I top my protein off at night with a protein hot chocolate most days too. In between I mostly drink Water except when I work out. For workouts I have a special mix sports drink I've concocted which is designed to replace the calories I'm burning in the workout. If it's a super-intense or long one, I also gel or have a banana or protein muffin or Protein Bar in there somewhere. My Snacks are protein based. So mostly FAGE yogurt, cheese sticks, nuts, cottage cheese, beef Jerky... stuff like that.

Most surgeons say no carbonated beverages with any of the surgeries. There are different reasons they give, but very few say "sure". :cursing: I can take any pills I used to take at this point. I couldn't at first... I lost my pill swallowing mojo for a while!

It's going to depend on where you live and what your policy says but a lot of them will cover that sort of complication even if they don't cover the surgery. That's what my insurance told me. I have a weight loss exclusion so my surgery wasnt' covered and I was worried about complcations. The insurance company wouldn't promise but they implied rather heavily that a leak would be covered. They flat out stated a band removal wouldn't be covered.

Some seminar I went to, the surgeon said that in most treatments, surgery comes first and drug treatments come later. Now that we know more about the hormones involved in obesity, I think a non-surgical treatment is actually possible. But it's going to take a while.

I know the ending even though I haven't seen the movie. :001_tt2:

I've been looking into that! I can't decide whether to get the version that has the info on the web site or right there on the bracelet. (Well, it's more like a strap. Definitely not a fashion statement.) I'm thinking that the first responders aren't going to be able to get my info off the internet at the scene so maybe I should get the one with the info right there. It's for running and biking, in case I get hit by a car or have a bike crash, more so than for visiting the ER.

Tijuana was like that when I lived in SD. You'd pop down for the day, eat out, do some shopping and come home before dark. We'd take the trolley to the border then walk over. It was great. I wouldn't go there now though. It's a war zone in a way.

Knowing I can't eat a lot has really liberated me at social gatherings. I am not shoving food in my face as fast as I can as often as I can do I actually get to *talk* to people and concentrate on them. I thought I was before, but I clearly wasn't.

It's not about losing weight for me. I've lost weight in the past. But I could never keep it off. I couldn't keep it off because I was hungry all the time. With the sleeve, you are satisfied on very little food. So you can keep it off because regular eating doesn't feel like dieting.

Dr. Cirangle's office can be disorganized. I always get my appointments rescheduled because they mess up the calendar. But he's great! I think other surgeons do it as one procedure though. Some prefer it that way and some prefer for you to heal in between so it's going to vary.

Well, I am only 5'1". I was 110 in HS. I was 4'10 and 95 lb. when I started but I got up to 110 and 5' at the end. Or maybe I was already 5'1" by then. (It's so hard to remember.) I was 125 and 5'2" by the time I graduated from college. During all that time, I was SO convinced I was a big porker too. But I really didn't start packing on the pounds until I got out of college. Isn't it weird how we can't really see ourselves clearly until a lot of time has passed.

Heh. Some people swear by aloe vera juice for that as well. I just followed my doctor's orders.

That's where cross-training comes in. Do something else on the days off -- something low impact and/or that uses different muscles. Make sure you take at least 1 day off a week though!

Just a little update. I'm doing better, I think. I'm still losing but I want to lose a bit more to have a cushion. I'm eating about 1650 calories a day on average and I'm going to up that when I get to 110.

I'm not familiar with him, but I would ask any surgeon: 1) How many sleeves have you done? 2) What size boughie do you use? 3) What kind of EWL do your sleeve patients have? 4) What's your complication rate? This has been my experience... I can eat pretty much anything I want if I'm careful and stop when I get full. Any food will hurt if I eat too much or too fast but there is no food I can't eat if I really want to and am willing to take the time. The only exception is that I have developed mild lactose intolerance so I can't drink a lot of milk without getting a tummy ache (and sometimes diarrhea). Never had a band. But part of why I didn't get one was because some people seemed like a big slave to it. Lots of people have. I'm 51 so I better not be getting pregnant!! But there are people who have and they don't seem to have any particular problems. That's true for all the WLS types though. The main problem I've seen is that people gain some baby weight and then don't always get it off. Also, with the band, sometimes they don't get their sweet spot back. Puke away... um, if you want to. I hate to puke, personally. Only if you want to be. If you don't take your Vitamins or eat right, you can get in trouble, but it's really hard to do. We absorb every calorie we eat so there is little room for malnourishment. IME you can easily eat 1500-1700 calories a day with a sleeve and most of us don't need to eat that many, except in special circumstances (pregnant, athletic). Nope. I see my surgeon a lot (more than most from what I can tell) but the most I've seen him is every 2 months. Um..... <crickets> Okay, sometimes I want to eat something. Let's say dessert. I think I've saved room for it, but I haven't. There is *nothing* I can do to make room for it. Except wait it out. Some times that pisses me off. :thumbup: Yep. I work out with a personal trainer 1x a week and we do all sorts of core work. I also do some with other workouts I do. I lost 32 lb. pre-op just making lifestyle changes. It took me 7 months. At 7 months out post-op, I had lost 63 pounds. So almost twice as much in the same timeframe. That seems faster than what I've seen with the band. Having to wait 45 min. to start drinking again.

Some things you can do: 1) Start practicing chewing well and eating slowly 2) Start taking your Vitamins 3) Wean off caffeine (you shouldn't have caffeine immediately post-op for a number of reasons and you don't want to deal with a caffeine headache on top of everything else immediately post-op) 4) Wean off carbonated beverages 5) Buy samples of Protein powder for immediately post-op. Don't worry about finding one you like pre-op as most people's tastes change post-op, at least at first while in ketosis. Just stock up on the samples so you have lots to try. 6) Talk to your family about your expectations of them Some things your family can do: 1) You'll have weight lifting restrictions at first so they can help out by doing chores that require lifting. 2) Get an agreement about what they can and can't eat in the house and in front of you when you are on the liquid diet. Remind them that this time is not forever but it's probably going to be hard for you. 3) Ask them not to be your food police! (Unless that's okay with you, but it drives most people mad.) 4) Be prepared for mood swings and unhappiness on your part -- your hormones will be going nuts during this time and that effects different people in different ways. You may not be too bad or you may be a crying irrational mess. It's best to be prepared. :thumbup: