nelady

I can chime in on ths discussion. I went on a cruise in May and drank alcohol just about everyday, usually with dinner or at the pool. I don't drink wine, so usually had one of those fruity drinks or my standard amaretto & 7-up. Thr carbonation in the mxer was a bit uncomfortable sometimes, but a burp usually took care of that. I did feel the liquor a bit sooner than before the VSG, but not too much. It probably affects people differently. Other than on the cruise, I am lucky if I have 2-3 drinks a month. And as for the weight gain - I actually lost 2 pounds while on the cruise!

Clay I live just off Ocean Ave about a mile up from Ocean Beach. We have lived in NL for just over 17 years now, but off and on before that. My husband was stationed on the USS Philadelphia, the base hospital, then in Milmed, back to subs on the USS Archerfish, and then to NUMI. Out of all that we were here in SE CT, except for a 2 yr stint in Bremerton, WA. My husband retired in 1996 and went back to college to become an accountant, so we just stayed in the area. Now all our kids live here as well, so we are here permanently. We have 5 kids and 11 grandchildren and except for one grandson who is in Iowa, they all live withing a 15 mile range. That makes for huge family holidays! I made the final step today and made the appt with the PCM to get the final referrals for the psych and dietician, so we'll see how quickly this goes. Good luck on your surgery - not long now! Yvonne

Hi all, I live in New London, CT and my husband is retired Navy (26 years). He was a corpsman on subs. Clay, you probably wouldn't recognize the place! It has changed so much. I have gotten the referral from the PCM and contacted the doctor's office and they sent me the paperwork. I still have to do the nutrition & psych evaluation. I would really like to get out of the 6 month diet thing, but not sure I can. I was under a dietician's care at the navy base for awhile, but it was a couple of years ago. I guess I need to get back to my PCM and get the rest of the appts set up. I keep having second thoughts about this due to the post-op food restrictions. Anyone else do this? Sometimes the thought of never being able to eat/drink certain foods again is daunting. Sounds like most of you had an easy time with Tricare, let's hope it's the same here. Glad to meet you all. Yvonne