HeatherS.

I chose the VSG when I was in your place relative to health markers and 130lbs overweight with damaged spine and needing knee replacements far too young. I decided to have the surgery after watching my mom struggle daily with obesity-related comorbidities which got much worse in her 50s. I don't want to live like that. I'm now down 61 lbs since HW at 6 weeks after surgery. (Including pre-op WL of 25lbs). I'm joining the second opinion chorus. Mostly because the modified DS still has the issues that can get you into trouble. (Stoma vs valve, malabsorption, no revisional option).

It started resolving for me around week 6 (this week) though my strongest aversions remain.

I'd love to tell you! I read it somewhere on this or another forum and didn't think at the time to question. We'll blame post-op fog for that one. The calorie restriction studies ranged from 800-1500 as I recall based on the size of the person it was a percentage thing. A somewhat higher maintenance level would explain the apparent discrepancies I saw there.

You're welcome. I tend to eat in a way that mirrors Okinawa or the Mediterranean style out of habit and what I enjoy cooking, so it's hopeful to read. And maintenance calories seem to be higher than I'd heard which probably explains the discrepancy.

I think this has happened to so many of us whether a plane or an amusement park (I stopped going to most when my breasts headed for a K-cup, and I don't mean coffee!). I haven't been back since my breast reduction for fear first of pain, then of not fitting into seats. Except Disneyland. Bless them. The only rides I would struggle to get into are the whippy rollercoasters my back couldn't handle at the time.

Pain management was a big part of it for me. Both of my knees are shot, my mid-lower back has been getting steadily worse since an injury 3 years ago, I have fibromyalgia, AND osteoarthritis. Plus a tendency toward nausea. So far, my back isn't as limiting as it has been. It still hurts, but that's more manageable. My knees are also improving noticeably. No improvement to fibro or arthritis. Possible improvement to depression. Nausea is worse now. So this is 5-6 weeks. Your pain sounds like the kind WLS can really help. Go for it!

Except that Alex's contributions here have not established him to be dishonest. There is no censoring going on when someone talks about another business doing WLS in Mx. This forum overall is where people go to seek information. Alex reported what he heard and said people should contact Sandy for correction or confirmation. Instead he got confrontation. Because the confrontation seemed personal, I, an information-seeking person on the forum asked politely if the information was accurate. Others did the same. Sandy ignored the majority of all of those questions and kept attacking Alex, which struck many of us as unprofessional and bizarre for a person in her position. Alex's replies were all professional and did not include the thinly veiled accusations against Sandy herself which Sandy's posts exhibited toward Alex. And many of us pointed out to Sandy that this never even would have been a "thing" if she had just answered one of us instead of being cagey and attacking Alex. It's the immature refusal to set the record straight everyone is concerned about, because it shows the company in a poor light. That, I'm afraid, is clearly and solely on Sandy. Disclaimer: I don't know Alex or Sandy, and as a post-op who did not go to TJ for surgery, I have zero dogs in this race.

It was about two weeks between finishing Options and the scheduling OK. My options person said that's how long it always takes. It was a hard two weeks!

I got my approval to set up an appointment on Feb 13, my appointment was Mar 10, and then my surgery was March 27, because my Dr happened to have an opening that day. It was fast for me! How about you?

Go, South Bay sleevies! They'll take great care of you and you'll wake up in a seriously comfortable hospital bed, no joke.

Congratulations! I hope you'll have an appointment soon. Kaiser took fantastic care of me for my surgery and since.

Actually, you said you WON'T keep it off. Which isn't necessarily true and is why I replied with a more complete run down of what exercise will and won't do. Its not a personal thing.

This is the kind of PR mistake that only gets compounded by returning to comment as she has here. At this point, I wonder if she thinks Alex is paying us all to post or something. It wasn't a "big story" until she made it one by ignoring repeated polite (and then direct) requests from multiple people for her to confirm or deny and straighten out any errors.

Oh shoot, did I remember to reply?? I have more answers now, at least. - canned tuna (add Greek yogurt and make it even higher protein) -rotisserie chicken (sadly only moist enough the day you buy it, but this is the meat my stomach likes best) -stewed chicken (fall apart soft, cooked low and slow like in a crock pot) -finely ground beef (I've been having this with my fam on tostada nights, but remember to chew especially well.) I had some with my beans in a pinch at Taco Bell too -meatball soups. Our Tia makes aboldigas with big 3oz meatballs, and they are fall apart tender. -fish steamed in foil or parchment paper packets avoid until later: fried baked (unless in a packet with liquid) dried (jerkey) sauteed steak, lamb, pork

How long after surgery does this tend to start?

@Please I totally agree. My doctor also said the most important question you can ask is "how many of these surgeries have you done?" They become faster and more successful the more you do them. That's also going to be the doc who is rarely surprised or nonplussed by what he finds when he opens you up. I think he also implied that if you're just plain bad at it or careless, you'll be shut down before you can perform those thousands upon thousands of procedures.

I LOVE this broth. I have no sugar or carbohydrate issues, so for me, it's like the holy grail when I find it on the shelf.

I'll come back later and try again to delete that last picture. WTF, BariatricPal?

It's on the mobile menu under "patients" and then "my surgery". Hope this helps.

I respect that is your opinion, however scientists have found that the VSG alters metabolic and hormonal processes in our brains and bodies, too. If a person without gastric surgery eats as little as someone with, it causes a stress reaction starting in the brain. That stress reaction tells the body it's being harmed. (Which is why if you test drive a bariatric eating plan before surgery, make sure to consult with your Nut or doc to determine your calorie goal. Why? Bariatric patients, without that stress response, are able to eat less and lose the weight without the brain's stress defense mechanism sabotaging the effort. Granted, the study I'm including (the most recent I've read) is a rat study, but it aligns neatly with observed differences between caloric restriction alone (what you experienced with lap band) vs. bariatric surgeries like VSG, DS, and RnY. You can read about it here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4415587/

Most doctors. My doc is the head of the dept for a huge health organization, and he'll be the first to admit he's a fantastic surgeon with a ton of experience, but he knows better than to make egotistical unverifiable claims like that. (Unless, possibly, while joking. He's a card.)

She was alone because her mother had just died.

While shuffling down a longevity rabbit hole on PubMed, I found a fascinating recent study in the area of calorie restriction and longevity. What I wasn't expecting was its findings on low protein, high carbohydrate diets. The study found, amongst other things, that low protein, high carbohydrate (20% fat) was associated with the greatest longevity and best overall metabolic health in spite of a tendency to weight gain as fat. The improvement was equal to caloric restriction alone, and combining the two had no additional metabolic benefits (LPHC also tended to expend the most energy) The version of the experiment where LPHC was combined with CR had the same longevity, but also avoided the increase in body mass from the high carbohydrate Intake. They also had the best immune systems The low carbohydrate, high protein group were found to have reduced longevity and poorer cardiovascular and metabolic health, though again, LCHP group with CR fared better than those allowed to eat freely. The area where LCHP created an advantage was in reproduction. Not in fertility, but in the actual process of reproduction, which makes complete sense. You can read the whole report here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4472496/ It should be mentioned this study is still one part of decades of research on Calorie Restriction and dietary composition. From the strong evidence in favor of dietary restriction, we should all be seeing increased life spans (depending on age of intervention, some will be more modest than others). But I wonder how the evidence building up for HCLP can be applied to us. HCLP emphasizes low glycemic index carb sources and 5-15% protein intake, but at our level of consumption 600-1000 calories a day in maintenance depending on your needs), that would only be 12.5-37.5g protein which seems like it would result in a deficiency. The famous Okinawan Ratio is on the low end of that, though people studied consumed about twice the calories (if I remember right, and I might not) which is still only 25g protein/day. And yet, I'm not seeing any of these deficiencies in the literature. No deficiencies in the Okinawans either. Curiouser and curiouser. What do you think? What did this study make you wonder?

One more thing, I slept with a king size pillow over my stomach due to furballs, and it's been a life-saver while healing. 4 weeks out, I can tolerate being jumped on once more.