*susan*

First and foremost, everyone is permitted to share their personal experience on this forum. Whether you agree with it or not, it is their experience and they are welcome and encouraged to share it, whether it was positive or negative. You are welcome to disagree, but you are not welcome to be disrespectful to one another. Next, I feel it is important to say that being a "coordinator" does not mean someone does not care about the patients they are working with. On the contrary, many of them, myself included, have gone through weight loss surgery, and after having seen the wonderful, life-changing effects it had on us, choose to pursue a career in which we can help others have similar positive outcomes. Everyone needs to make a living, if we can do so by doing something we truly enjoy, all the better. I am very concerned for my patients, I want them to succeed and am in contact with them from start to goal. So, please, do not make generalizations that all "coordinators" are in it just to make a paycheck and care nothing about the patients. There probably are bad coordinators, bankers, chefs, doctors, waitresses, dog groomers, etc. But just because one is, doesn't mean all of them are.

VST is a forum for vertical sleeve weight loss surgery support. Those who have had the surgery, and those who are family, friends, and supporters of them are also welcome to come here, participate, learn, educate and be educated. Often, those who have never experienced being morbidly obese truly don't understand what it means to those of us who are, or what we have been through, both physically and mentally. They tend to be more sympathetic to the person who has an addiction to alcohol, smoking, or drugs. But the difference is, nobody needs alcohol, drugs or cigarettes to live, but we do need food to live. And, that alone makes our struggle that much harder. Momto6ix, in order for Rick to succeed, you need to be on his side, loving him and supporting him 100% of the way. I do applaud you for asking what foods are best to make for the party, and being sympathetic to his needs. Please refer to our food and nutrition forums at http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/forum/7-food-nutrition/ for some great ideas on what you can cook and he can eat. He is going through a lot of changes right now, physically and emotionally. If, at this juncture in his journey he doesn't feel ready to face certain situations, then respect that and support him. He has to learn how to handle the different situations he is going to encounter in the future, and he will. But right now, he is still new to all of this. Allow him the time he needs to adjust to changing his eating habits, learning to exercise, dealing with the changes his body is going through, etc. Also, keep in mind when your body is going through such drastic changes, you also have a lot of crazy hormonal/chemical changes going on. Eventually, it will all level out. He will learn how to deal with social situations where food is involved and he will be ready to start going out and living life again. Just don't expect it to all happen overnight. Lastly, everyone please remember our forum rules, primarily the one which refers to everyone being respectful of one another. We are all here to both learn and educate. The attacks are unnecessary.

Holy crap on a cracker! I don't do drugs, but am actively seeking out a valium after reading this thread. I have three things to say: 1) Glad to see things have worked out. Newcomers to the thread, please don't resurrect the bad feelings which occurred at the start of this thread, and fortunately have since been worked out. 2) If I had known about the sleeve when I was at a 30 BMI, you can bet your booty I would have had it done. I knew my eating was out of control back then, I knew regular "diets" didn't work for me and it would have saved me years of heartache and health problems. 3) Surgeons in Mexico are just as qualified, if not more so, than those in the US. There are good and bad ones, just like here in the US. The key is to do your research. As long as you have done so, you will be fine.

Hi Kimkai, please try and see if you can access it now. If not, let me know.

I suggest everyone calm down and tame the arguing. Weight loss is not easy, whether you have surgery or not. There is no one method that works for everyone. Just because something worked for "John" doesn't mean it will work for "Jane". Our bodies are all different, and we cannot and should not compare our losses to anyone else. Look at my stats, and how far out I am, I am one of the slowest losers I know. But that's okay, I am still over 100 pounds down from when I started and still rocking my sleeve. I'm not in this to win a race, I'm in this to get and stay healthy. Sent from my iPad using VST

PdxMan, I don't disagree with you. I don't necessarily disagree with Puja either. I disagreed with the statement that drinking and throwing up is a topic that should not be discussed in the vets forum, because it is a valid issue for vets. However, I may have been hasty in the way I handled my response, and that is a direct result of my frustration over another thread where a member created a topic to specifically discuss the issue of thread hijacking and it ended up being an all out attack fest on her, to where we ended up removing a topic in which very valid points were made. As the OP, you are well within your rights to say, "hey, this is not what I started this topic about, will you please start a different thread for that and return mine to topic." And as such, I would expect myself and other member to respect your request and do just that. The problem is, where do we draw the line as to which people can post in certain forums? And how do we do that within the limits of the software we have without being overly restrictive? Vets are upset about people posting in this forum who are not what one would actually consider to be a vet. Similarly, we are having men complaining about woman posting in the men's forum, and woman complaining to us about men posting in the Powder Room. They feel those forums should be a safe place to post sensitive issues related to just their gender, without fear of the other gender coming in and making a joke of it. If a woman wants to discuss sagging breasts, she should be able to without the fear of a man coming into the room and offering to help hold them up for her. But it happens, As many people are currently complaining about, when people post about issues they are having, they are posting it because they have a serious question they want to discuss. While others may find humor in it, they need to respect the person who posted their topic, and not turn it into a bantering fest to see who can outwit the other, which has happened on way too many topics lately. We have a lounge, that is what it is for. So, I apologize if I responded in haste last night, to Puja, and apologize for those who attacked her, which is something else that is happening entirely too much lately. Between the previously mentioned issues and the attacking, I allowed a bit of my frustrations to come out, which was not appropriate. PdxMan, as I said before, you bring up some very valid points. I feel like the newly sleeved can learn a lot from at least being able to read what the vets are posting. Just like I feel like men could learn a lot about sensitivity to woman's issues, and vice versa, by being able to view the issues they are posting about. But, if that isn't working, then maybe we need to work together to find a reasonable solution. What would make it easier for the staff to help figure out what is best, in a way that can please as many of the different personalities we have posting here as possible, would be if the information was gathered in a more concise manner. PdxMan, you seem to have some really good thoughts on this. We just need to come up with a way to ask some very specific questions in what everyone considers a vet to be, and how this forum should be regulated. Perhaps a poll so we could gather more concrete information? I need to go get ready for work right now, so if someone wants to take the lead on this, that would be wonderful. Otherwise, I will look at it this evening. In the meantime, I will send an email to Alex so we can start discussing some ideas as well.

I'm four years out, and still have issues at times with eating and drinking, which leads to vomiting. Just because I am a vet, that doesn't mean I still don't have issues with my sleeve. Are you going to tell me I'm not allowed to post about that issue in this forum? Now, seeing as I am the one who created this forum, I will define what the plan was. The plan was to moderate it by requiring people to have a certain amount of posts before being able to post here. By doing so, we hoped that by this point they will have learned all the answers that the newly sleeved have, thus leaving this forum for topics to those who are not newly sleeved, but still have issues whether they are four months, one year or four years out. From what I have seen, the newly sleeved have respected this forum and the need for those a little further out to have a place to go. I would hope and expect that everyone can see the name of the forum and respect why we have it, without our having to further police it by making it a restricted by password/invite forum only. Newer sleeved members are able to read this forum, and thus learn and be informed about issues they may encounter as time goes on. Sent from my iPad using VST

I wish I had the problem, one or two drinks and I am the ultimate party girl. Three or four and I am passed out praying to the porcelain god. Sent from my iPad using VST

I enjoy a beer, wine or White Russians on occasion with no problems. Well, no problems other than since getting the sleeve I have become a total lightweight when it comes to alcohol. One or two drinks and I am the life of the party, lol. Sent from my iPad using VST

You should be fine. The staff at the hospital are so attentive, your every need is taken care of. And like the other poster said, you will enjoy walking the halls with your fellow sleeve sisters and brothers. I know I formed a friendship with several who were there at the same time as I was, and we still communicate with each other four years later. Sent from my iPad using VST

It is scary as hell. I did a complete metabolism reset and it really freaked me out those first few weeks when the scale went up. But, like I said in the other thread, I promised him I would give it eight weeks. Now I am so glad I did, I love being able to eat more and lose a couple of pounds a week in the process. I just hate having to admit he was right, lol! Sent from my iPad using VST

That's me, a true party animal! And, thank you, I figured it was time to change things up a bit. Sent from my iPad using VST

If your liver is too large, it can result in your not being able to have the surgery laparoscopically, which would either result in having to have an open procedure or have your surgery postponed. However, as I said before, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Sent from my iPad using VST

I've not heard of Zombie Run, sounds cool, off to the App Store I go. Sent from my iPad using VST

You are welcome! Sent from my iPad using VST

Oh my virgin eyes! Sent from my iPad using VST

Yay, it won't be long now. Let us know how you are feeling as soon as you are up to it. Sent from my iPad using VST

I use both map my run and Endomondo and love them both. Hence why I am always switching back and forth between the two. Sent from my iPad using VST

Sounds yummy, I love spaghetti squash, thanks for sharing! Sent from my iPad using VST

Ayla, just losing 5-10 pounds shrinks your liver pretty significantly. You should be fine, I am sure you will wake up sleeved and on the road to a healthier you. Sent from my iPad using VST

Sometimes when out with friends I get so busy having fun, I am not really thinking about what I am putting in my body. If I drink anything with carbonation within an hour of eating, that is a guaranteed race to the bathroom to vomit. Such a joy. Sent from my iPad using VST

Yeah, I'm not big on change. Sent from my iPad using VST