Tiffykins

My husband became territorial when I lost my weight. He would get super touchy-feely in public. If he even remotely "thought" another man was checking me out, he'd come over wrap his arm around my waist and "stake" his claim. One particular incident occurred while we were on base shopping shortly after his deployment. I was browsing while he was getting his pants tacked for alterations. A higher ranking gentleman walked up, simply browsing on the same 4way display that I happen to be standing at, and all he just something along the lines of "hi, how are ya?". . . Well, J marched over, slapped his arm around my waist, and kissed my forehead. The gentleman turned away, and I affectionately smiled at my adorable husband, and said " you can stop hiking your leg on my thigh". That night we had a long discussion about my weight loss, and I point blank told him "I'd leave you fat too!" As for the supplements, I'm not familiar with Acai stuff. But, your husband just might feel you're becoming obsessive. I know my husband became the "food police" and freaked out when I'd eat 1/2cup of food and be done. I think it's simply out of concern. I hope everything gets better, and things settle down between y'all. Lots of communication and reassurance is all we can really do to help through all these changes.

Kiss that surgeon ! ! ! You'll love the sleeve, and I'm 6 months pregnant, over 2 years out with VSG and THRIVING and so is Tatum so don't worry about having babies, it's very doable and actually pretty easy with VSG to eat normal, not puke, and have a great pregnancy! ! !

I wouldn't cancel your surgery. We're military, and considering the military pays movers to pack your entire household, you won't be required to technically do anything other than pack your essentials. As for losing insurance, why will you lose insurance? Do you carry another primary insurance over Tricare? You will be covered wherever you go with Tricare so receiving care and follow-up treatment at another location should not be an issue.

Ghrelin(hunger hormone) is also produced in other areas of the body besides the stomach, and it can take some time for it to flush out of your system. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you'll lose all of your physical hunger. There are several members here that report they are still hungry post-op, but that small meals give them satiety. If you are not on a PPI (Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix, Prevacid), you might want to discuss getting on one with your doctor. Acid overproduction can cause false hunger pangs. I had it happen around 6-7 weeks post-op, and went on prilosec with 100% resolution of hunger. Also, if you aren't eating more dense foods yet, then the thinned out, liquidy foods are going to go right through your stomach. So, you will experience hunger or that empty feeling. Increase your clear fluids, avoid carbs, and talk to your surgeon about getting on a PPI.

I went 2 days ago with my girlfriends. I had 1/2 the chicken cuban panini, and 1/2 the Thai chicken salad. I ate about 1/2 of the foccacia bread with the sandwich, all the meat/cheese, and ate about 1/4 of the salad. I can't eat the broccoli soup anymore. For whatever reason, I'm in the bathroom within 30 minutes of eating that particular soup. Plus, it's been over 100 degrees here, and soup has lost all of it's appeal.

I'm the oddball of the group as I never looked at those websites that much. I skimmed them, but I was cooking for myself and my family so I had to tweak regular recipes to make them more sleeve friendly. www.allrecipes.com is my favorite website. They have an entire low carb section, and I have saved over 400 recipes in my recipe box on there. We've tried most of them as well so I found that website extremely useful. My main substitutes were greek yogurt for sour cream, and to use pork rinds for bread crumbs as the binder in any recipes. Of course, there are other substitution, but I found a lot of the bariatric recipes pretty blah. When my tastebuds decided to go on vacation, and my appetite left along with hunger, I had to do something to get creative and make food taste better.

It's been pretty easy thus far to gain weight. At 25.5 weeks pregnant, a little over 6 months, I've gained 18-19lbs. My doctors are all elated. Tatum is growing and measuring heavy so I must be doing something right. I have found that my arms, legs, face, have all remained really thin, and I'm all belly. They bumped up my calorie intake because I was feeling so fatigued and lethargic so now I'm up to eating 1700-1800 calories a day. I've gained most of my weight in the last 2 months which is pretty common apparently. I'm still not physically hungry, but I'm craving more junk food than I ever did in maintenance. All is well on this end, and hope you are doing well.

My surgeon wants his patients off Protein shakes asap preferably by the time his patients are 5-7 weeks out, he wants food to be the main source of nutrients and protein, but if you need them, use them. Our bodies just doesn't assimilate the nutrients and protein in shakes properly for life. They're used for Meal Replacements, and recovery protein for body builders and for the healing period. If you're not on a PPI, I would recommend getting on one and talk to your surgeon, since your staple line is healing, and at some point, you're going to have to eat. Chronic reflux damages your esophagus and leads to many other problems. Ulcers aren't a huge concern for sleeve patients except when the overproduction is not managed properly, not to mention the swelling, and irritation to the stomach from too much acid. I hope it gets better ! ! !

I can honestly say I felt very similar to you in the beginning and I did worry about not eating enough, and losing weight so rapidly, but I felt amazing, and my labs were stellar. Medically, I was healthy, mentally I struggled. However, I can say that your body will stabilize. If you feel like you are not enough because you don't "think" you can, I suggest seeing a nutritionist, and setting a solid meal plan. Get some professional help because well we're all pretty new to all of this in the beginning, and we need help. Gastrectomies have been performed since the 1800's, and people live very normal, fully-functioning lives without their stomachs. You just have to wrap your head around the changes, and learn to feed your body right through the losing stage. As for the size acceptance, plus size world, I was extremely active in that world as well. I lost friends because they felt that I had shunned the fat world by having surgery. However, I never did anything to make anyone feel like I didn't accept them. What I found is that while I was and still very accepting of the plus size, BBW, size acceptance world, they are not accepting of me when I chose to have surgery to add years to my life, and ensure that I could have a healthy pregnancy and babies in the future. I was shunned for getting "skinny". All while, my main driving force was to gain health. At some point, you have to choose what is best for you and your future. Stay fat and die, or have surgery and gain health. I chose the latter, and I did lose friends because of it, but that was their choice, their issues, not mine. I did not feel exposed after losing weight. My personality has not changed at all since losing weight. I have always felt that losing weight doesn't have to mean losing myself.

Most surgeons prescribe a PPI for 3-6 months post-VSG. I did not have any reflux issues pre-op. I stay on my PPI at over 2 years out because I do not want to deal with acid, or the false hunger that comes with reflux. I've had a couple episodes of breakthrough reflux in the pregnancy, and have been absolutely miserable. It also helps protect the healing staple line. I went on Prilosec about 6 weeks post-op because of false hunger pangs. I stay on it because I can, and hunger scares the poop out of me. My hunger has never returned. I was switched to Nexium in January after a case of gastritis, and have remained on it in the pregnancy since Prilosec is not authorized for use by pregnant women. Once I deliver, I will switch back to Prilosec.

Can you have full liquids? Yogurt (NO FRUIT chunks or seeds), sugar free Jello, sugar free pudding, creamed Soups that were thinned out and strained were all allowed for me before the mushy stage.

Is Viactiv making calcium citrate now??? Because from my research and the only product labels on line are stating Calcium Carbonate which is not recommended for bariatric patients especially if we are taking an acid reducer such as Prilosec, Nexium etc. There are huge differences between citrate and carbonate absorption rates, and bone density scans in bariatric patients have shown that carbonate is not absorbed properly. It would be great if they were citrate.

Real meals lasted 30 minutes. I was instructed to eat/drink no more than 4ounces/0.5 cups in that time period, that counted as a meal, wait 30 minutes to resume drinking clear fluids.

Lettuce is difficult to digest, and isn't going to give you a lot of energy, drink some regular gatorade, or Powerade, Vitamin Water, or propel. I had a 3 month restriction on any raw fruit, veggies, or nuts because those foods are difficult to digest. If you can have cream soups(strained of chunks), or sugar free jello/pudding eat that stuff. Make sure you are getting in your all of your clear fluids.

It's so crazy how all our tastes are different. I liked the chews, and then they started leaving this funky film in my mouth. Both the BA and Calcet bites did the same thing. At first, I loved the lemon flavor, and after about 3 days, I couldn't tolerate them anymore. I haven't tried the BA lozenges, but seriously I love the Celebrate chewables. Maybe it's because I've taken chewables for over 3 years and I'm just used to them. Or, maybe it's because I tolerate them because I only have to take 2 of them per day. I'm not sure, but with all the others, I was having to take 4-6 pills, chewables, chewies, etc etc to just the minimum of 1000mg per day, and in the losing, food restricted stage, it's recommended to consume 1200-1500mg so it's a toss up on what you'll like since we're all individual, and what one person might not tolerate, another might love. I would order samples of as much as you can. I personally didn't like any of the Bariatric fusion chewables, but I'm weird.

The generic Prilosec comes in tablets, if it's a capsule, you can open it up and mix it with applesauce to get it down. Do not crush the balls. Those little balls in there are what makes the drug long-lasting and slow-release. Remember, do not eat for a minimum of 60 minutes after taking Prilosec, and with PRevacid, I believe it's 30-60 minutes wait before eating.

I was in your exact shoes with my surgeon and his reasoning for making my goal weight 150lbs was because I am considered large frame. I have huge ankle, knee joints, seriously, my husband can not wrap his hand around my ankles, and I am extremely barrel-chested (wide ribcage). So, after much consideration, and really thinking of what I would look like at 150 vs. 125, I was content with 150lbs as my goal weight. I went below my goal weight and at my lowest, 119lb, I was too small. My bones were protruding, you could see the blue veins through the skin on my neck. I purposely gained weight to give me a maintenance weight average of 125-130lbs, and in that range I am perfectly content. Actually, I was perfectly content at 150lbs, I still had boobs, I still had some curviness to my figure. I was wearing a 7/9 and with the drop of 20-25lbs, I was wearing a size 2 jeans, and xtra small tops, so even though I didn't drop major pounds, I lost lots of inches, and sizes. I got there in a healthy manner. I didn't starve myself, or not eat certain foods. Once I hit the 150 mark, I did start adding in more calories and carbs per his instructions, and it took another 4 months to lose those 20-25lbs so I was doing my damnedest to not lose anymore weight. I also had zero issues maintaining between 125-130lbs. I personally didn't mind the bounce on the scale considering my choices in eating in moderation, and not restricting certain foods. It's just how I want to live my life post-VSG. So, I accept the bounce on the scale, if the scale bounces up to 131-132, I'm cutting the alcohol and white carbs for a few days, but I'm not really dieting, just being more mindful of what I'm eating and drinking.

Yes, and the only time I've heard about it is when the person is not following the advice of their medical team, not taking the prescribed vitamins/supplements, and overall not monitoring their intake properly. In my opinion, if she is still having problems, and being malnourished yet it wasn't addressed early on, then that is on her and her medical team. I am not saying it's her doctor's fault, or lack of care, but this should have been addressed long before her reaching 1 year post-op. I can tell you my surgeon suggested I start adding in more calories and carbs at around 4-5 months out because I had dropped weight so rapidly. I was monitored closely, not only medically, but nutritionally as well. My labs were pulled every couple of months. If she can't physically eat a lot, then something is going on mechanically with her sleeve. If she is choosing to not eat enough, or has mentally switched gears and is not feeding her body properly, that's something entirely different. I know a couple of RNY'ers that switched mentally to more anorexic behaviors. They ate minimal amounts, and simply drank their calories (via slimfast shakes, and/or ensure drinks) so their labs would not be off when they went in for follow ups. There's probably a lot more to the story that is contributing to this woman's physical condition, and I wouldn't base your decision, or let this fear consume you.

I really don't think any of this makes you a "B". There is no way I would stay with someone that not only didn't care about himself, but didn't care about our marriage. You have done amazingly well post-VSG, made so many life changes, and you have added years to your life. Unfortunately, he is not willing to do the same. My husband embraced all the changes in our diet/food choices when I had surgery. He never griped about me stripping pre-packaged food out of our diets. So, I can only imagine how you are feeling day in and day out living with someone that has zero desire to better his own life. I'm here if you ever need to vent ! ! !

Have you read any of the posts from the early out VSG, RNY patients that got pregnant early out even on bc, and those patients continued to lose weight??? I'm just asking because it seems to be the general experience of most early out weight loss surgery patients that "accidentally" get pregnant before reaching goal. There's one lady that was about 7 months out from RNY, got pregnant, gained a whopping 4lbs, and delivered a healthy, perfectly normal 6lb baby. I was amazed that the early out (before goal was achieved) patients that continued to lose weight through the pregnancy even though they had a growing baby in there.

I was allowed it on mushies.

I haven't delivered yet, but I do not foresee any issues losing pregnancy weight. In all honesty, all I'll do is go back to lower carbs, and higher protein to drop the weight. At 6 months pregnant, I've gained 18-19lbs, and my projected gain is 30-35lbs because of my starting weight with the pregnancy.

I like and have used the Celebrate Calcium Citrate 500. They're waferish, don't get stuck in my teeth, and in maintenance, I only need 2 of them. You can contact Celebrate via this link, and they will send you Samples. I told them I had VSG, and they sent me 100% free, no shipping all of their Vitamins for VSG patients. The only thing I didn't get was the Iron supplement because I use their multi chewable with iron already in it. http://www.celebratevitamins.com/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=sample

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/17214-is-your-birth-control-the-culprit/ If you would like more stories, check out the forum called "powder Room", it's for all of these types of topics. There are several listings for birth control pros and cons.