LittleBill

So, it's an international problem, eh?

@@jdk524 I worried a little bit about it, but once you are being prepped, you just lie back and let people take care of you. That's what I did.

I was really fat. I am down to just mostly fat now, but I was similar to you. My BP was normal, as in 120/75 or so. Cholesterol was 142, triglycerides at 90, so on and so forth. I had no sleep apnea. Just a couple of months before deciding to do this, I hit the lowest number I could have to be diabetic. So except for being fat, I was pretty healthy. I was also very active for a fat guy, working a job where I was on my feet most of the day. This surgery is not a magic bullet, but it is a tremendous tool for helping to get rid of the excess weight, and give you a chance to reset your life. You are the one to make the decision, and I will not tell you what I think you should do. I can only tell you what I did and why. I am glad I had it. I would do it again if I had to make the decision again. Good luck with your own decision.

@@Raymia Many years ago, I got into an online argument with a very good friend of mine in real life about art. It was on a woodworking forum where we were both professionals. He was emphatic about all art needing to be appreciated, while I countered that just because it was art didn't make it good art. I wrote, "If I put on a pink tutu and danced across the stage, it would be art, but it would NOT be good art!" Well, a whole bunch of mutual friends and acquaintances started egging me on. They wanted to see me in the tutu. So one night, when I had too much to drink and not enough to do, I went looking for a tutu picture. I corralled Mrs. LittleBill into helping me (against her will) and we photoshopped my head onto the body of some poor little girl in an online catalog for ballet supplies. It created quite a stir on our forum, and earned me a reputation for doing outrageous things. This picture is close to 15 years old.

Lmbo @@LittleBill it will still be cold in here we don't warm up until May. Maybe I can get sweater dresses and tights. And if by any chance you decide to put on a little Black dress please tag me in the pic I can always use a good laugh. ☺ Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using the BariatricPal App I need to go find an old picture. And as you might suspect, it has a story. It ain't a little black dress, but it will be along the same lines. @@Raymia Oh yeah, I'm in eastern PA, so I know how March can be.

To be able to scratch my... never mind.

I use a scale all the time, but I combine it with a measuring cup. Volume and weight don't always match up. I was gettting hungry early for a while, and discovered that a 1/2 cup of the food I was eating came out as 6-7 oz on the scale.

I will be two months out in two days, and I am down 44 lbs from my weight on B-Day. I thought I had enough in the way of old clothes to get me through the winter, but I have gone down four sizes around my waist since I started in June. I don't look so good in a dress either. But if you are talking two months, you'll be into March, right? It should be a little warmer in Joisey by then.

I could transfer a big hairy patch to someone's head.

@@Treadmillwalker we're in the country too, but a main trunk goes right in front of our house. We've never been out more than 48 hours, and that was in Hurricane Isabel back in '03. We have a 19th century approach to this stuff. For short stints, the generator will keep the house warm and the food cold. We have an outhouse, a hand pumped well, and an outbuilding (now squirrel free) where we could live for an extended period of time without electricity. A whole house generator would cost us 10 times what we spent for our current setup, and all those lights on would only draw the neighbors.

RNY people need to be careful not to stretch their pouches because they do stretch. Sleeves that are properly made do no stretch. The idea that sleeves stretch is a myth that we really need to stomp out in the sleeve community. It is a lie and people keep using it as a crutch for bad food/life choices. It send the wrong message to new sleevers and spreads misinformation. A big part of that is the medical advice we get from the medical professionals at the medical centers where we go to get our surgery. Notice the emphasis on medical. I will return to that in a moment. I happen to agree with you that inaccurate information needs to be corrected. Your choice of words was stomped out. You corrected me on this last week, and I took that instruction from you because you are experienced, and I am still learning. But the overwhelming fact of the matter is, the medical community carries enormous authority with the things they tell us, whether those things are right or wrong. And how many times do we see posts here telling people to consult their surgeon, nutritionist, CRNP, etc? Those posts bolster that authority. in opposition to that authority are relatively anonymous people on the internet. Stay with me now, for the next few sentences. This is not to say you have no credence, nor does it dismiss your information out of hand. Lots of people on lots of forums remain anonymous and are still capable of establishing their own bona fides. In this particular instance, they are fighting the bona fides and the information given to us by the very people who shepherded us through the process of our surgery. So you need to consider that when you come up against anyone who is new, and who is repeating the stuff he or she was taught by their medical contacts. That's part one. Part two is attitude. It is a given that people are going to misunderstand one another from time to time. That happens in real life, and it happens even more on the web between total strangers who are limited to the written word. I make no excuses for anyone, even myself, when it comes to misunderstanding and responding to that. This thread is a fine example of how attitude can adversely affect a thread and personal relationships on both sides. Please note, I am not trying to lecture you, or lay any particular blame at your feet. This is merely a convenient place to make the observation. The veterans on this board are a valuable resource. They are here to help the noobs, by their own report. Writing as someone who has made teaching a significant part of his career for the last 24 years, I can tell you that part of helping new people is patience. New people have wrong ideas. New people make mistakes. And all of us were new people at one time or another - sometimes over and over again. I am an expert in my field. I am highly regarded. I spent years and years participating on forums in that capacity answering the same #$%& questions over and over again, correcting the same mistaken information, etc. It takes patience. And no, it does not require taking abuse. Abuse should not be tolerated, but that goes in both directions. So to come back to your choice of words, stomp out the information, but don't stomp out the person. That is counter to what the veterans say they are here for. People screw up. Tell them so, and then move on. But we're up to how many pages now of driving someone into the dirt because she screwed up? I don't think that is helpful. How many noobs who read this are going to be afraid to ask a question for fear of saying the wrong thing and being vilified for it? Please note, I am not justifying any behavior on either side. Again, I am only making observations. So this is getting long, and is way more serious than I like to be on a regular basis. I can only do serious for short stints. I have to go post a humorous story that happened. But please consider what I have written here - on both sides.

I don't know if it's an issue for me, but I do like to call my body parts by the correct term. Hell, I don't use text talk when I type and I insist on using correct grammar and punctuation in texts, too. Weird standards, I guess. Same here. The only "text talk" I use is K or whatev, and ONLY because it drives my kids nuts.

@@LipstickLady White men don't dance - at least, not very well. It doesn't matter how much beer I have (or anyone else has who watches me) It sort of looks like I am having a seizure.

But would beer be different? Beer has hops, and kangaroos hop, so would that make it a pouch?

LOL! I love reading your posts! Thank you!

I had some more today. I love it already. I bought it for Sunday mornings and getting out the door without having to starve through church. I just hope it lasts that long!

Getting myself back on track... Soda? I'll never miss it. Now beer is a different story. They told me at my program that carbonation was even worse than carbohydrates. I'd swell up and probably explode right there on the spot. You know, sort of like in the video below. But I went through with the surgery anyway. Slimming down was more important that quaffing a cold one on a hot summer afternoon. Now, I am learning some things here that are different than what I learned at the program. And being an old guy, I have a "trust but verify" kind of attitude about it all. So my research will continue on until I am satisfied. And I hope one day to be able to have a beer - not four or five, but a beer on a hot summer afternoon. Once in a while. And I will be sure to burp as often as possible to keep from exploding. As for drama? Wherever there are people, there is going to be drama. The big thing is, are you (and I mean you as in whoever bothers to read this) going to contribute to that drama, or will you be one to defuse it? I wrote some things in this thread I probably should not have, but cleared them up privately. We all can do as we please. We all make mistakes. The only people who don't are liars. It is how we respond to those mistakes that shows our character. And that's nuff said about that.

I have to say, some of the replies here have some good information, but some are... Y'all can decide which is which. I am not guiltless in piling on, but just from my point of view, I think the point has been made.

Haha, I will keep an eye out!

@@genn, Yeah, really! I am in Lehigh, on the edge of Berks.

Another titillating discussion on BP, I see.

No, but you can stack it up a bit and feel uncomfortable for a few minutes. Don't ask me how I know this. Imagine a sink where the water goes in just a little faster than it drains out. If you drink water, or anything else, fast enough, you are going to fill up your new tiny stomach, and then start in on the pipe (otherwise known as your esophagus). Your stomach will be emptying fairly fast, but not so fast as you can put it in.

It is frustrating. But you have answered your own question. Exercise and diet are at least as important, and in the long term more so than surgery. I am in a mini stall right now, and working hard to make sure it isn't longer. But this stuff happens when it happens. We can only keep doing what we know we need to do and wait for it.

I was told I could drive about five days after surgery. The best answer though, is to check with your doc if it is at all possible. Things to consider are how you are healing, whether you are taking narcotics or not, how you feel overall, etc. The 10 lb limit drove me nuts, as I am used to lifting 60-80 lbs with one hand. But I behaved myself. As irritating as it was, it was less so that popping open an incision.

I am in eastern PA. We are in the country, enough so that we have our own little target range, but the larger towns and cities aren't that far. When I was younger, there were several close calls, and a few people were killed in the woods during hunting season. We are about midway between NYC and Philadelphia, so we get all sorts of city people in the woods. I decided it wasn't worth getting shot. And thank you for your kind words on my stories. I enjoy telling them as well as writing them down. This is one of those things that really sucks, but even as it's happening, you know it's going to be a great story someday. I have lots of things happen to me, where the best thing I can say is, "At least this will make a good story". I once had a pastor who said to me, "I believe God brings all these things into your life so you can tell the rest of us stories". I also had another friend who was a pastor who had an incident very similar to yours when we were in Florida one time. He was sitting on the beach, just about to take a bite out of his sandwich. All at once, a seagull swooped down and grabbed it right out of his hand. And he was a skinny guy who couldn't afford to missed too many sandwiches.