Paul Bahr

Hang in there brother. The liquids-only phase is really tough. Mine lasted a week and I was never so happy to leave it behind. You'll make it. I struggled with this issue last weekend. We went to our friends' house for Easter. Fortunately they knew what I'd done and were perfectly fine with my bringing my own stuff to consume. I'm in the pureed foods stage of my doctor's post-op diet and it was rough eating my blended soup while everyone else was eating ham, scalloped potatoes and all the rest. With this surgery, you've GOT to get your mindset changed to where food isn't what we're always looking for. I'm still working through this myself so I appreciate the struggle. I'll have another challenge like this to face tomorrow night during an appreciation dinner for the volunteers in the area where I serve at church. A couple of things I tried to focus on during the meal: This is only a temporary thing - I've got the rest of my life to eat regular food again. "This too shall pass". While sharing a meal with someone is centered around food, what's truly to be appreciated is the time spent with that person or people.

I just had this done nearly three weeks ago, band removed and sleeve procedure, all in one operation.

Besides clothes shopping, my biggest thing is going somewhere (restaurant, theater, amusement park ride) and not worrying if I'll fit or if whatever I'm sitting on/in will hold me. 3/30/2017 450/413/390

I feel your pain...somewhat literally. The pain from my current sciatica outbreak has been going on since last August (nearly 7 months now) and chiropractic wasn't really helping. It was one of the big reasons behind my getting sleeved. Since being sleeved, I've lost 25 lbs and the sciatica is still there. I'm concerned that I'm still gonna need to have surgery and that it might hamper my weight loss progress (or at least slow it down) until I get that surgery. I've been waiting to go back to the chiropractor because one of my incisions is right where I'd be putting my weight on the adjustment table. Maybe the adjustments will help now that I'm a little lighter...

I've used my blender twice daily for at least the last nine days. "Thin enough to suck through a straw" are my doctor's marching orders. Campbell's Chunky soups with added whole meats (canned chicken, ham cubes, etc.) blended in the blender have been my mainstays for this two week period.

My doc says anything you can eat if you didn't have teeth. You may have any of the following, or any soft/mushy food you could eat without teeth: Soft cooked moist scrambled or minute poached eggs, mashed potatoes, small curd cottage cheese, and yogurt with fruit, soups or chili with soft cooked vegetables. Soft cooked white fish, canned tuna, salmon, chicken, or beef that is mixed with low-cal mayonnaise. Refried beans, soft string cheese, oatmeal, grits, any fresh or canned soft cooked vegetables.

In general, I was good to go after about day 4. The biggest hurdle is working through the gas pain, and the walking will help. I've been dealing with sciatica pain since last August so that prevented me from doing a bunch of walking, but if that wasn't the case, I'd have been good to go.

Honestly, I've not heard of anyone having yearly checkups for the surgery itself. I think it's pretty much, once it's healed, you're good to go. Everything else should fall under general gastrointestinal functionality and be treated by a GI doctor. I'm not a doctor and I'm not far enough along in the process to speak factually about this, but I've never heard about check-ups. I've got a friend in Michigan who was sleeved a year and a half ago and hasn't had a checkup since. As for complications, I didn't have any (so far) with either of my surgeries, but that's where the patient coordinator comes into play. You've also got a ready connection to Dr. Kuri through her. Their complication rate is pretty low, at least as far as I've heard. I recently heard about a "medical complications" insurance policy for those who do medical tourism. It'll reimburse you for complications encountered if you choose this route. Don't think it's very expensive either. I didn't use it; I heard about it within the past few days...after my surgery. I'd really encourage you to contact Dr. Kuri and his staff via a web request at https://www.lapbandsurgery.com/. Joann will likely be the person to contact you. She's had the band for many years now so she can speak from firsthand experience.

Not to be blunt, but I don't know how you can practice this. It's just something you don't do. You have to consciously decide you're not going to drink while you eat. I know what you're thinking because I was someone who'd take a sip or more with/after each bite. When you get bariatric surgery, it's just not something you can do and expect things to work well. Drinking with your food causing it to wash through faster negating the benefit of whatever procedure you're having done. In this video, the demonstration begins around the 2 minute mark. It's really not as hard as you think it is.

So sorry for all of the chaos in your life and the loss of your dad. As for going to Mexico for surgery, I've done it twice. The first time was back in 2005 to get my LapBand, and the second was nearly two weeks ago to get it converted to the VSG. Both times, Dr. Pedro Kuri was my surgeon. My wife also used Dr. Kuri for her band back in 2006. Dr. Kuri has an excellent team around him from Carlos, the driver who picks you up at and takes you back to the San Diego airport, Dr. Peterson who gives you your pre-op physical, Joann (patient coordinator and source of information before and after your procedure), and the doctors who fill out his team. All top notch! The only complicating factor is that the hospital he uses doesn't have staff who all speak English. The two years of Spanish I had in high school nearly 30 years ago only goes so far, know what I mean? I made good use of Google Translate on my phone and it got me through a couple of spots. Otherwise, it's $5,500 for the VSG plus any travel expenses you incur in getting to him. I'd be happy to answer any other questions regarding my experience with Dr. Kuri. Just ask.

I'm nearing two weeks out from surgery and I was sleeved at 413 lbs. My wife's best friend was sleeved at over 300 lbs and is down to 190 after 18 months. This works. You got this.

You got this!

Oh, I'm definitely on the noisier side as things process through. Lots of gurgling and such. Weird in meetings. Makes me a little self conscious. I'll get over it as I get healthier. LOL

This was my experience. I took it easy days one and two, but by day three, I had no problems taking normally sized swallows of liquids. I'm not gulping by any means, but not sipping either.

Sweets is definitely my nemesis, too! I've got two teenage boys and carbs / crap is all they eat! Doing the post-op liquid-only diet took a huge amount of willpower to struggle through. My wife's friend had the sleeve done 18 months ago (give or take) and her doctor told her that an occasional sweet treat was perfectly fine. The catch is that you don't have it anywhere NEAR as often as we've done in the past and nowhere NEAR as much quantity as we've done in the past. If you're at a birthday party or special occasion, have a bite or two of cake/whatever. Fortunately, that'll be about all we'll be able to have. As with everything, moderation. The sleeve will be there to keep us from going overboard...as long as we don't put in liquid calories that go right through like milkshakes, etc.

I'd been doing the Paleo diet on-and-off for the past year and it really gets you ready to get rid of carbs, for the most part. If you follow the guidelines of "if a caveman couldn't have eaten it due to it being the results of modern technology, then I'm not going to either", it removes a vast majority of the carbs in our day-to-day lives. Focus on meats first, veggies, and fruits and you'll be full without needing too many carbs. This is what we'll be doing after being sleeved so why not start it now?! Give it a try.

Just remember this saying "this too shall pass". It's only temporary and, if it gets us to a healthier life with a lighter body, then it's a necessary evil. You got this!

Today's my first day on pureed foods. I've had two cans of Progresso soups blended down significantly with beef and chicken broth. It's never tasted so good. Beef Pot Roast and Split Pea & Ham. I added some extra ham from a leftover ham steak to get some extra protein. Just make sure it's blended smooth, like baby food. Remember, don't be so quick. We've got a lifetime left to eat. Let your body heal and be good to it while you're doing that.

I hear ya. I've got two more days to go before I can move on to the pureed stage. I'm SO TIRED of broth!!! BUT, we're on a new path and "this, too, shall pass". With the surgery we've had, we can do serious damage if we go at it too hard too quick. As the person above replied, imagine our stomachs splitting open inside of us. In one of the numerous videos I watched before getting the surgery, the guy conveyed the story of a newly sleeved guy going to a buffet 2 or 3 days post-op, getting three (THREE!!!) full plates of food and eating all of them, along with soda. His stomach literally split open inside of him, he became septic, and died. Really, was it worth it? Anyway, I keep the visual of what this guy did in my head as I struggle through this process. Keep your eye on the prize, not the path to it.

The head game is really something I'm still trying to get my head around, if that makes sense. I guess it's kinda like "if you wait to have kids until you have enough money, you'll never have kids". I'm pretty miserable at 440 lbs. I always say "I came out at 10lbs 1oz and I've never looked back!". I was born a big baby Was the biggest throughout all of school Shopped in the "husky" department all of my youth Can only shop in the "Big & Tall" stores Dealt with all of the BS of being ridiculed for the size I was/am Constantly think "will that chair hold me?" Constantly reject going to events at places I can't check out first, like a theater, concert hall, sports venue...because what if I won't fit in the seat or I'll bulge over into the next guy's seat? Can't play catch with my kids anymore - my 14 y/o is a sport nut and would likely be some better if dad would do stuff with him but I can't stand that long Don't travel much because I despise having to buy a second seat on a wide-body plain for my wide-body rear end Deal daily with sciatica pain (since Aug of 2016 - it varies from day to day but it's still there to a certain degree -- biggest fear is that I'll need surgery to fix the problem but will be told I'm too fat to have the surgery! I've definitely got some food issues to work through and I'm still not sure what's behind them. I'm ready for a change, but the "devil on my shoulder" keeps yelling in my ear!

This is exactly where I'm at and I've a couple weeks out (Mar 30 is cut day). It's the thought of it being a change, and a permanent one at that, that's got me tangled up. My thoughts go out into the future and all of the "what ifs". What if something comes up later on that I'll need my entire stomach for? I haven't got a clue what that could be, but it's something that runs through my head. And then there's the fear that I'l be a failure at this, too. I got the band back in 2005 and failed with it. What's to say I'm not going to be a failure with this? With the band, I always knew it could simply be taken out whenever it needed to be. With the VSG, what's gone is gone and can't be replaced. I'm a software developer and analyst so I'm naturally very "just the facts, ma'am". It drives me nuts sometimes.