*susan*

I have the loose skin, especially around my tummy and on my legs. I absolutely hate it, but I cannot afford surgery, so it looks like I am stuck with it. I would be interested in researching more information on Shriners though.

First off, welcome to VST, we are happy to have you join us here. Are you making sure you are getting enough fluids in? I experienced similiar pain, and it turned out I was dehydrated, the pain I was experiencing was a result of a urinary tract infection, which came from my being dehydrated.

Dee, revising from the band to the sleeve was the best thing I ever did! I have had so much more success and love it!

I guess I was lucky, I never experienced problems with hair loss.

You are doing great, and I love the wonderful attitude that you have and are approaching this with. I am confident we are going to see great success from you!

I was a diet coke addict before getting my band back in 2006. I had it for breakfast, break, lunch, break, dinner, evening snack; basically, I always had a diet coke near me. I thought I would go crazy without them. But honestly, it wasn't that bad for me. I quit cold turkey and missed it for a few days. Now, I can't stand anything carbonated. It just feels really weird and uncomfortable in my tummy. Anyone experience that?

Wow, that is so exciting, and I am sure you feel great! I remember the first time I went into Kohl's and headed for the plus size section as usual and discovered everything was too big and I had to move to the regular sizes for the first time in over twenty years. I actually started crying! Congrats, you are doing fabulous!

Be careful with that cough. Did they give you one of those breathing things to take home with you? If so, it is important that you do that several times a day. I started walking regularly the day I had my surgery. As for my physical exercise, such as the weight training, my doctor had me wait six weeks. That seemed about perfect to me. My surgery was not videotaped, but that would have been interesting to see. I understand where you are coming from with them finding the growth on your stomach. When they went in to do mine, they found three tumors on my liver and removed them during the surgery. I consider that a huge blessing, as who knows what would have happened had they not been discovered during my revision surgery. Best of luck to you.

It is sometimes funny how people meet. My brother and his wife grew up in the same area, lived twenty minutes apart their whole lives and never ran into each other. Instead, how did they meet? They both took jobs in Saudi Arabia and met there. I guess if you are meant to be with someone, you will meet them, somehow, some way, somewhere.

ishary, I will take care of your request for you. Everyone, Alex does his best to make this site safe for everyone, and a place where everyone can gain accurate and truthful information, as well as the support they need. There are a lot of people out there who, like Alex said, are just looking to make a quick buck. They do not care about you, or anyone else who they hurt along the way. Alex has to walk a fine line between keeping this site safe, protecting everyone from those who want nothing more than to take advantage of you, and at the same time protecting the site so it can stay online and everyone can continue to come here and get the support they really need. He does a tremendous job of that, and it takes a lot of work, time and effort to keep sites like this and LBT running, and I am very appreciative of him for that.

People are permitted to post of their personal experiences with a doctor, whether that be good or bad. We just ask that your experience be directly with that doctor, and not heresay.

Kathy, good luck tomorrow, you will do great. I was a band to sleeve revision and can honestly tell you I had no issues with head hunger at all. In fact, I never thought about food. Even now, at one year out, I still don't experience hunger and have to force myself to eat sometimes.

Welcome, we are glad to have you join us. You will find pretty much everyone here is very happy with their choice to have the sleeve. I know it is something I have never once regretted. Look around, and don't be afraid to ask questions, we are here to help.

Hey guys! I know, shock, Susan is here, she hasn't been around for a while. Well, you are right, I have been absent for a while. And during that time, my husband and I separated and my daughter and I are now living in our own apartment. So, I guess that makes me officially eligible to participate in this forum. It is weird, as soon as the wedding ring came off, I was amazed at how many men started talking to me.

Hello and welcome, we are glad to have you join us here! Wow, Ireland, I do believe you are our first, as you said.

I am sure we all have our personal reasons for wanting to lose weight and get the sleeve. And, I am sure there are certain things we all want to do once we reach goal that we have held back from doing because of our weight. I personally find those goals/dreams to be very motivating, and like to see some of the things that motivate others to lose weight, besides the obvious one of better health. For me, I want to be able to go to the beach without feeling ashamed and embarrassed. I want to lose the huge cover-up that I always where when we go. Another thing I have wanted to do my whole adult life is to shop at Victoria's Secret. I have never been able to due to my size. But, once I reach goal, I want to buy tons of sexy bras, panties and nighties. So, share with us, what do you want to do?

Wow, you look absolutely fabulous and radiant!! Awesome job!

Wow, smurfy pee. I don't remember experiencing this, but I had so many problems with nausea immediately following my surgery, I was probably concentrating more on not passing out than anything else.

Looking good, Norma!!

From what I have read, "referred pain" between the shoulder blades after eating can actually be a symptom of several different things, the most common of them being gall bladder disease. However, pain associated with disorders of the esophagus, stomach and pancreas may cause pain under the right shoulder blade. Any problem that causes irritation of the diaphragm can also cause shoulder blade pain. An example would be an ectopic pregnancy. A viral respiratory infection could leave you with pleurisy (inflammation of the lining of the lung) that might cause pain in your back. Pneumonia and pulmonary emboli may also do this. This is just information that I picked up in my reading, but as you can see, it can be a possible symptom of many different things. The best thing to do in this instance, is to see your primary care provider, explain what you are feeling and when, and have them do an examination to determine exactly what the problem may or may not be.

I am on Prozac, and it actually works really well for me. I guess I am fortunate to not have had any side effects from it. The only problem I had was cotton mouth for about the first three weeks, but then it subsided. The key is definitely finding the right doctor who will really listen to you and all of your symptoms. For five years I knew I had a problem, and it cost me a lot in my life. But, every doctor I talked to said it was all in my head. I finally found a doctor who really took time with me, listened to everything I said, asked a lot of questions and finally got to the heart of the matter.

Something else you might like to pack is a heating pad. I found it very soothing on both my tummy and back throughout the process. Good luck!

Sounds like you had a good experience and will be well on your way to a new, healthier you! This is such an exciting time, enjoy it!

Hi Lucy, I am also so sorry for all of the problems you are experiencing. I can honestly say my first five weeks after my sleeve surgery was pure hell. I too was constantly nauseous, had vomiting, no energy and felt completely miserable. Like you, I was out of work that whole time as well. My sleeve itself was fine. Like you, I spent enough time in and out of the hospital and emergency rooms during that month to last me a lifetime! I was an emotional wreck, crying all the time, feeling hopeless and scared that was what the rest of my life was going to be like. Finally, a friend of mine referred me to a bariatric doctor here locally whom she said had experience with sleeves and a great deal of experience with people who suffered complications. He saw me right away. Of all the doctors I saw, he was the one who finally got me on the road to recovery. My body was a mess. It was basically in shock over everything it had gone through. He took me off of all the medications all the other doctors had me on, which he said was only further weakening me. He gave me an injection of something, of which, unfortunately I can't remember what, and gave me a very specific meal plan to follow. I literally did a complete turn around in a matter of days. It turned out, I suffered from major dehydration, one of my incisions was infected, and I had major urinary and kidney tract infections, amongst other things. I had also managed to develop an ulcer shortly after my surgery. I just wanted to let you hear my story, so you know that you are not alone, and there are those of us who do not recover well after this surgery. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I feel great now, and do not regret having this surgery one bit. I would do it again in a heartbeat to feel as fabulous as I do now. Keep your chin up, and your spirits as well. Make sure you are getting enough fluids in. If not, have them check you for urinary and kidney infections. I had no idea I even had one, I didn't experience the usual physical symptoms. But, they were there and they were major, and draining all of the energy out of my system. Please keep us posted on how you are doing.

I can honestly say hunger is no longer an issue for me. Since getting my sleeve, I have not once said I am starving. I crave things, but that is head hunger, not real physical hunger. I am pretty good about eating my three regular meals on a relatively consistent schedule, so I think that helps too. 2b4me, you are correct, you are physically unable to eat the quantities of food you did pre-sleeve. Which, is wonderful!