Danny Paul

White meat chicken. Never liked it because it tasted dry. Now I eat it all the time. Also sardines, didnt eat them before surgery but I’ve found a taste for them post surgery.

I use my scale at home. I weighed myself in the morning on the day of my surgery. That's what I use as my base weight. When I weigh myself I try to do it at the same time with the same shorts I did the original weigh in. Don't know if this is logical but it seems to work for me.

I chose the sleeve because it was a less invasive surgery with similar results.

Iviv, get the surgery. Once you get the surgery you'll start to feel much better about yourself. Once your comfortable in your own skin you can work on your relationships with your family. Your happiness depends solely on how you feel about yourself. Right now from what I'm reading you're not feeling good about yourself. You're overweight while those around you are losing weight. You want to feel like you belong but you can't because of your physical appearance. Change it. WLS is not a panacea but a very effective tool to make a drastic life change. On the other hand you say when you lost weight : Will you find it in yourself to succeed in relationships when you lose weight this time or will you go back to previous behaviors? If you look at the WLS a one time golden ticket to make positive improvements in your life your chances of successful family relationships will be good. On the other hand if you have WLS and use it as a tool to "even the score" with your family you are doomed to fail on many levels. One which would be to gain the weight back and continue the cycle of being miserable after finally losing all the weight and not being a positive person. Get the surgery, work on being a happy person and most of all don't use your weight loss as a weapon to get even with others. You can probably be the most positive member of your family if you start to feel good about yourself.

Had a different surgery years ago and I'm prone to keloid scarring. Went to a plastic surgeon who injected the scars with cortisone injections and they flattened out. Insurance covered the procedure.

Used to eat them pre surgery as a snack when I was losing pounds. Sams club used to sell them

It took me six months due to my insurance regulations. Had a to go to a nutritionist six times, a psyche evaluation, tested my lung capacity, endoscopy and as a person with heart disease a thallium stress test. I'm a little over a month post op and down 25lbs.

I think anyone going through any surgery has mixed emotions. As you can see in the forums the vast majority who had the surgery don't regret it.

My surgeon cleared me for Tylenol but told me not to take stuff like Aleve. As for the mints, post sleeve I try to stay away from anything with sugar and I'm cutting my consumption of sugar substitutes as much as I can. I used to drink crystal light now I drink plain water. Hope this helped.

Mahalo, I have the app on my phone and started using it.

I was using an app called Protein-Tracker to track my protein. After updating my phone I can no longer use it since the developer hasn't updated the app. I found the app to be very good in tracking my proteins. Can anyone recommend an app that I can use to track my proteins? A big mahalo in advance.

Jsemmig, No Alcohol. When I had my Psyche visit I asked the Dr what would disqualify a person from getting approved. He said if you were an alcoholic because you cant drink alcohol during your recovery period. My surgeon told me the same.

Sweet, I drank sugar free Powerade, water, herbal tea, and clear chicken broth my wife made me. I bought bone broth from Costco and other broths in the supermarket but none compared to my wife's homemade broth. As I progressed into the pureed phase, my wife made me lentil soup and bean soup which to my surprise I was able to eat without pureeing. The first few days I found it to be a job to get my fluids in (64oz) I did it and as time went on it became a little easier. I wish you luck on your surgery .

Had to have my BP meds adjusted when I became light headed and dizzy.

I eat peanut butter also as it's on my meal plan. One teaspoon is 80 calories 3/12 grams protein. I guess it's something I'm used to unlike pureed foods. I usually eat it as a snack.

i still feel like i am the same person before surgery, First off congratulations on your weight loss. As for feeling like the same person, if you're decent human being no matter how much you change physically you will always probably feel the same. I wouldn't look at this as something that needs to be changed. Always be true to thyself.

Since your sleeves how is everyone doing? I'm in Westchester and was sleeved on 8/31. So far so good. Today I experienced a fullness where I am having difficulty drinking and eating. (puree stage) I'm hoping this passes and I can get in my proteins and fluids.

Jess you've made a life changing decision to have WLS when hungry try getting your mind onto other things and your cravings will go away. You've been given a golden ticket, continue to use it wisely and you'll achieve many personal goals as well as getting healthier for you and your family.

During my group sessions one person said "Look at this surgery as a reset and be careful what foods you reintroduce back into your routine" The person stopped all breads, most carbs and limits sweets to a thin slice at birthdays. I thought this makes sense since we were all given a golden ticket that we should use wisely. My sister is a master baker and pre surgery she would make me sugar free pies and cakes. I asked her not to make me anything post surgery since I didn't want to reintroduce those types of food back into my routine. I'm taking the advice of my group partner and I will try my best to reset what foods I will eat continuing forward. Some people like my sister will bake elaborate pastries only to give them away since she bakes for the love of baking. Some will bake and consume most all that they create. At this stage I hope most of us aren't consumers but givers when it comes to baking goods.

Told a total of five people. When people asked when I returned to work after 2 weeks and down 20lbs I said I had a stomach virus while on vacation and that I'm still on anti biotics. (The reason for my limited diet) So far it seems to have worked.

I'm 60 and was sleeved on 8/31. So far I've lost 22lbs. My main objective for the surgery was to get off of as many meds as I could. I wanted to protect my organs long term from the effects of the meds I was taking. The day I left the hospital, Dr discontinued all of my diabetes meds(four total) the next week my BP med dosage was halved and one med of the two meds I was taking for cholesterol was also discontinued. I still need my acid reflux med since I find I still get heart burn despite eating a lot less and eating foods that don't tend to promote heartburn. As for getting my protein in, Dr. says eat till I get full and don't force yourself. I eat my two ounces of puree and that seems to do it for me. I do three shakes a day with 23 grams per 8oz shake (Matrix made by syntrax) I bought a stackable shake bottle on ebay. It has two compartments. One for the shake mix the other for my pills. I went to the dollar store and bought 2oz containers with lids to portion out my food. I started pureeing everything just to see if I could tolerate the taste. It seems when the food is pureed I tend to like the taste better. Example, I never ate sardines but when I pureed them they tasted better and they are a good source of protein. I couldn't tolerate the taste of the commercial broths so my wife makes mine fresh. She puts the broth in the fridge to let any fat from the chicken used to make the stock harden. She takes that out and the broth is practically fat free and much tastier. I puree the chicken she made the broth with as an added meal. I live in a highrise building and as part of my excercise I walk up the stairs. I'm up to five flights so far each day. Reading the posts of people in our 60's it does seem we lose weight at lesser rate than those that are younger. As long as I can continue to lose the meds (which means my ailments are under control) I'm a happy camper. Good luck and good health to all.

Thanks for sharing. I'm very interested in hearing from others who are long term sleeve patients and their successes (or failures)

I took my kindle so I could read a book, my cell and a charger. That's it. The hospital gave me a gown to wear and a pair of no slip socks. After surgery I slipped on my underwear after the catheter was taken out. I went to a room and started walking and used a breathing device to cut down on the chance of pneumonia. The first 24 hrs I couldn't have anything liquid even ice chips. I was able to get the nurse to give me swabs and some water to rub in my mouth since I was so thirsty.

Had my sleeve on August 31st also. I weighed in at 211 three weeks later I'm at191. 20lbs down. I haven't lost weight in a few days and I'm not too concerned. Surgeon tells me I wasn't too heavy to begin with and I will probably loose another 20lbs in a few months. My main goal for the sleeve was to get off of my diabetes and heart meds. i take so many meds it would only be a few years when my liver and kidneys would fail. Since leaving the hospital all my diabetes meds were discontinued and my BP med was reduced. I'm hoping on my next visit with my cardiologist discontinues my cholesterol meds.

Many years ago I topped out with a 44 waist. Through dieting I went down to a 38 waist. I went to a friend who took my 44 and 42 waist pants to his church and they were taken by people who could use them. Subsequently I went back to size 40's and since I didn't give them away I didn't have to buy new clothes. As others have said, you can part with the larger size clothing.