Tiffykins

My tastes changed pretty significantly post-op. I, too, hated sweet stuff. I couldn't really handle anything sweetened with aspartame, Splenda in small amounts was okay. Everyone is so different, but I know a lot of us found that stuff we loved pre-op, we couldn't tolerate for awhile post-op. NtvTxn - as for the unflavored, that just means there is no additionally flavor added to the mix. It doesn't mean it's tasteless. I found the unflavored (unjury, and one other brand) to smell and taste more "proteiny" and that is one thing I really could not deal with.

Hi Lauren, and welcome to VST. Congrats on taking the first steps to a healthier and happy life. It is scary to have surgery, but don't feel like you are alone. I was really mad at myself for getting so fat, but I tried for years on my own too lose it and keep it off. Good luck with your classes, and keep us posted with your progress. We're all here for you.

Congrats on an uneventful surgery, and yay for a great experience ! ! ! Keep us posted on your progress.

Nothing pathetic about that at all ! ! ! I think it's pretty awesome.

Congrats on breaking that stall ! ! !

Here's the Ticker Tutorial: http://verticalsleevetalk.com/vertical-sleeve-talk-forum-assistance-suggestions/267-vst-tickerfactory-ticker-tutorial-pictures.html The easiest way for me to explain is: Go to USER CP at the top of the forum Edit Signature Open another web tab or window, go to www.tickerfactory.com choose your ticker, pick a pin, then once the ticker is made, copy the BB Code, come back here, paste it into your signature, then hit "SAVE SIGNATURE". After you get it in your signature, to update it, all you have to do is click on your ticker in any of your posts, it'll open in a new window, type in your PIN, and update your weight numbers. It will automatically update it on any forum that you have it listed on. I have mine on 3 different forums, and by doing it this way, they all update with the same information at the same time.

You're a math whiz, I look up the conversions, grab a calculator and just confused myself. I really suck with calculations. You won't be able to hold that much for awhile. Like through the liquid stage, you'll get more in because liquids go right through the stomach. But once you move to mushies and even soft solids, you'll realize you can take a few tiny bites of anything with a consistency. I'm 8 months out, and can eat about 8 ounces of mushy food if I don't eat anything dense like chicken or steak. I can't eat more than 4 ounces of dense meat then I eat a few bites of veggies or salad and I'm stuffed.

36 is very good. Great leak stats Methylene blue is a dye From Wikipedia on methylene blue dye: Some of the best surgeons don't do leak tests post-op. As for the cc's, I'm clueless on how to convert cc's to ounces. In the beginning due to swelling, you'll more than like only be able to sip liquids very slowly. I had to sip slowly the first week with 2ounces of liquids every 15 minutes.

YAY Bambi, I'm super stoked for you. By now, you're probably already recovering so many apologies for being so late on this one. You're in my thoughts ! ! !

I never do anything on the stovetop. I buy those crock pot liners (found near the ziploc baggies and foil). With the stovetop, I feel like you have to stir, stir, stir, stir, stir to prevent sticking and uneven warming/marrying of the ingredients. Just my opinion. I'll try to look up simmer times for stovetop. Alrighty, here ya go: 2lb of beef chili meat 2lb of ground beef (I use 98% lean) or 2lb venison 2 -3 12 oz cans of Plain Tomato Sauce 2-3 small cans of Plain Tomato Paste 2 (for the sauce and paste, I would start with 2 to begin with, and then add based on what consistency you want paste will thicken, sauce will dilute) 1 large onion chopped ( prefer yellow or vidalia onions) 2 cans of Rotel Drained(diced tomatoes and green chilis) 1 12 oz can of beer (preferably dark or an ale) 1/4 cup of Worchestershire sauce 3 tbsp of Dijon mustard These are all the spices that I use. My chili never comes out the exact same every time because I do everything to taste, but I'll give you some estimated measurements, then you can add or substract to your liking. 1/4 cup of Chili powder 1 tbsp of crushed red pepper 3 tbsp of Garlic powder ( I probably use 5 tablespoons of Garlic powder ) Coarse ground Black pepper to taste 2 tsp of Ground white pepper 1/4 cup of Paprika 1 large can of Light (dark are icky in my opinion) Kidney Beans, RINSED THOROUGHLY AND DRAINED. Whew that's a lot of stuff. If using venison, brown the venison in seperate pan with 2 tbsp of butter or margarine (I only use Brummel and Brown). Because it's typically very lean, this helps get a good consistency on the venison without it getting "tough or chewy". If using all beef, heat 3-4tbsp of olive oil in skillet, then had onion reduce heat and cook onions until transparent stirring occasionally to ensure that they are not sticking. Add beef (both varieties, if you are using ground venison add it already browned once the chili meat is close to being browned). Drain dripping, and return meat mixture back to skillet, add HALF of the spices listed above to the meat mixture, reduce temperature to med-low, and add beer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes uncovered watching carefully to ensure that the mixture does not dry out. Beer evaporates if cooked too high or too long. After simmering, add meat mixture undrained, to stock pot, then add all sauces and paste, diced tomatoes and chilis, Worchestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, remaining beer, stir thoroughly and cook on medium heat for 1 hour stirring often to ensure thorough mixing of ingredients, and not sticking to bottom of stock pot. Add remaining Dry Spices reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-4 hours. Taste and stir occasionally. When tasting, add various ingredients slowly to taste, chili powder if not "chili" flavored enough, red pepper if not spicy enough (if it gets too spicy, you can actually had a small amount of Ketchup to cut the spice), garlic powder if it seems too "tomatoey", and you can add more salt and pepper to taste. Use caution on the salt because I've found that if I tasted it at hour 3 and it needed salt, I sometimes add too much, then had to dilute out the chili with sauce. It seems to get heavier on the salt flavor once everything really mixes well together. During the last hour of simmering add can of kidney beans stirring thoroughly. Now if you decide to use your crockpot, it needs to be a big one. LOL Get you a box of slow cooker liner. You prepare the meat the same way in the skillet. With the crockpot, you add the wet ingredients, and remaining spices into the crockpot, stir, and then add meat mixture to crockpot, stir, set it on low and allow it cook for 4 hour. During the last hour of cooking, add your beans. You should only have to stir the mixture once per hour in the crockpot. Some people use hot sauce for spice, like Cholula or other variations of very thin hot sauce, not salsa or picante. I am not a fan of this type of hot sauce at all that's why I use crushed red pepper. Some people also like to use Red pepper flakes. I've used them a couple of times, and it seems like the next day, the leftovers got spicier. So, I quit adding them because my husband is not a fan of super spicy food. Me, on the other hand, prefer " light your hiney on fire hot " food. For the chicken chili recipe I've used a few times, I'll actually have to go dig out the recipe card in the "catch all" drawer in my kitchen. It's almost 1am here, so I'll probably find it and post it tomorrow. You may want to give the recipe a "trial" run, you can half the ingredients to make a smaller portion, and then try it out with family/friends. Get opinions, and try out some variation. EDIT TO ADD: Using either the stovetop method once you everything in the pot, and simmering - COVER PAN, once added to crock pot, cover with lid. This will keep the top layer from getting a funky film on the top.

For me it wasn't about getting the weight off, it is about being able to maintain my loss. I was great at losing, unfortunately I was better at gaining every pound I lost and then some. I battled being fat (over 200 pound at 5'2") for the last 14 years. I finally realized that if I was going to enjoy the rest of 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's, maybe 90's, that I had to quit beating my body up with every diet known to man and failing miserably. I had to do something that would change my entire relationship with food, reduce the portions I could consume, and help me keep the weight off. I wish I would of been able to do this years ago, and not been fat 19 to 33 years of age. I was a happy person, but now I am joyful, and beyond ecstatic with the life I am truly living.

There is no company (Allergan or Realize) to manufacture a product for the sleeve. There aren't commercials for the RNY or DS procedure either. The makers of the bands have to advertise to get people into the surgeons. With the VSG, DS, RNY, it's just a surgical procedure, no product going home with you. There aren't as many VSG surgeons as there are band surgeons therefore there isn't a lot of information out there for patients to even hear more about the other procedures offered. Plus, the sleeve is such a low-maintenance procedure (no fills, unfills, follow up appointments, long term complications). Unlike the band that is a big money maker for some surgeons. That's my only 2 guesses. There are a lot of public blogs out there found through google search, and tons of youtube.com videos available as well. But, no one would know to look for those really unless they had already "heard" about the VSG. I wish they could figure out a way to more information out to the public about all of their surgical choices.

Welcome to VST, and it's wonderful to hear that you'll be getting your surgery covered. That's always wonderful news ! ! ! Keep us posted on your progress, and when you get your surgery date scheduled.

Hi and welcome to VST. Congrats on getting your surgery date. Here's a couple of threads with patient's experience and information on the facility and surgeon. http://verticalsleevetalk.com/vertical-sleeve-gastrectomy-vsg-surgeons-hospitals/1334-dr-mario-alberto-almanza-reyes.html http://verticalsleevetalk.com/tell-your-story/3274-my-surgery-experience-love-my-sleeve.html http://verticalsleevetalk.com/tell-your-story/2613-major-complications-emmanuel-medical-center.html http://verticalsleevetalk.com/vertical-sleeve-gastrectomy-vsg-surgeons-hospitals/410-dr-mario-almanza.html There's several Dr. Almanza's patients on here that will chime in with their experiences as well. Best wishes and keep us posted on your progress ! ! !

That sounds great and everyone knows how much I love my crock pot LOL. I am not a corn fan and do not eat it, what else can I substitute for the corn? Oh yeah, and John doesn't like Salsa (like Pace or really even restaraunt style salsa), so do you think I substitute Ortega Taco sauce (it's kind of like Taco Bell Medium sauce) or even Enchilada sauce.

I make a lot of variations on chili so I'm gonna ask you what you like then I'll share my chili recipes that I use on a pretty regular basis. Do you like a soupy chili (more runny), or do you like a thicker consistency chili? Do you want to use beef, chicken, beef and pork together or venison? Do you like tomatoes (chunks or diced) and possibly other aromatics like onions/celery/chiles? How much are you going to have to make? Do you want to include a bean (kidney, black, pinto or a ranch style barbque bean)? Do you want to go in with spicy, medium or mild? Do you like or want to have a "sweet" chili (I've had chili from up North, and found it was sweet (usually from brown sugar), I'm from Texas so we like it hearty, thick and medium spiciness? Will you be preparing it on the stovetop (big stock pot), or using a slow cooker/crockpot?

1. My insurance covers either procedure as long as I'm approved for wls. 2. At only 27 I am concerned that lapband is not permanent enough since I would have to rely on a foreign body lasting inside me for hopefully 60+ years. - Even the manufacturers and FDA knows that the band will not last a lifetime. It's only listed for 10 years, I'll try to find the specific links for you. 3. The sleeve is totally permanent (scary). In my humble opinion, the band is not reversible. It can be removed, or unfilled, but once that thing is suture around your stomach, your anatomy is forever changed. 4. One of my biggest factors is that I plan on having more kids and I'm worried that the sleeve will not be compatible with pregnancy. There are successful pregnancy patients on Obesityhelp that have had the VSG, and have delivered healthy babies. Once you hit goal, your surgeon will help you determine when you can TTC. 5. I am a huge puke-a-phobe (this is a concern with both surgeries). Puking with the band is horrific and so uncomfortable. Puking with the sleeve isn't the same, it's like this creeper piece of food coming my esophagus, and I spit it out. That hasn't happened in months because I've learned how to eat with my sleeve. With the band, things get stuck and you never know when or what is going to cause you to puke. It's especially an unpleasant experience when eating in public and you have to rush to the bathroom because on that particular day, mashed potatoes didn't go down, and then you can't eat anything else because the stomach tissue swells. 6. I am totally ok with eating tiny portions, but the lapband seems way more restrictive on the kinds of food you can eat. With the band, some days I could stuff, and the next Water wouldn't go down right. meat always had to be slathered in a condiment or gravy of some sorts because my band didn't like meat, and it didn't matter how it was cooked or prepared. I could not eat any bread products with the band that was total trainwreck with my band. With my sleeve, I can have about 1/2 of a fajita size tortilla with cheese on it, or the inside of a super light yeast roll. I'm not a sandwich person so I don't eat sandwich bread. I do enjoy pita bread, but it's about 1/4 of a pita pocket with cream cheese and deli meat sometimes. Some other information about the band vs. sleeve. With my band once I lost restriction (the initial swelling with the band surgery), I never felt full, I was always hungry, but couldn't eat things some days so I ate slider foods which is completely counterproductive, but I had to eat. I had a flipped port, and could only get 2 fills post op, and then in February, my surgeon could not access my port. I was miserable, and in constant pain with band because the flipped port caused the tubing to actually tug on my stomach which in turn damaged my stomach. You won't get restriction with band until you get enough fills, and that could take months. Not to mention the unfills you may have to endure to find the "sweet spot". It's a lot of maintenance. With the sleeve, it's instant restriction, plus with ghrelin hormone out of the equation, the ravenous hunger is gone. I'm 8 months out and still have zero hunger. I still have to remind myself to eat. The risks with the sleeve are more common immediately following surgery such as leaks. But, with the band, the list of complications is long and can occur fairly early out, or a couple of years post-op flipped ports, esophageal dialation, stretched pouches, erosion, slippage, and those are the most common. Some have asked me why did I have the band. It was approved by my insurance, my mom has a band since Nov 2007 (and now she pukes 2-4 times weekly), I really thought I would be one of the lucky ones (so not the case), I needed surgical intervention, and I was so against RNY. I knew all the complications, but honestly thought I could be successful. Luckily, when I decided to revise, I found out that a military base close to us did indeed perform the VSG. I left my civilian band surgeon and transferred all my stuff to a military surgeon. My insurance (Tricare Prime) approved my revision immediately. I am not the type of person to really regret anything I've done in my life. I don't regret my decision to get the band. It taught me a lot about myself, and I did pick up some good habits with it. I do wish that I would not had of complications, and I wish I would of known that the VSG was approved at our neighboring base. But, I see a civilian PCM, so I get kicked to civilians for all of my referrals. Just my ramble. I hope that helps.

First step is to get a denial letter starting the reasons for the denial. So, your surgeon would still have to submit the paperwork for approval and then get a denial response letter from the insurance company. Also, getting a letter of support from your primary doctor, and any other doctors you may see for related co-morbidities. Also, documented attempted and failed weight loss attempts such as diets/exercising, and why you need surgery that will get you to healthy weight, and a surgery that will help you maintain your weightloss. I'm with you on the RNY being scary. I was having no part of that one considering how many RNY patients seek a revision in 5-8 years or so because of regain. Then you can appeal the decision. Here is a list of sample appeal letters with recent research and published studies discussing that VSG is a successful procedure as a stand-alone surgery. This is a lot of information, but you have to get the denial letter before you can appeal the decision. One of the factors to consider with RNY or lapband is that you can not take NSAIDS (alleve or ibuprofen) with either of those surgeries. But, you can take them with the sleeve. So, if you need to take NSAIDS make sure to have that included in your letter. This is a lot of info, but all the published studies, and ASMBS statement that the sleeve is a successful stand-alone procedure. http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/information/wlsjourney/insurance+trouble.php http://verticalsleevetalk.com/insurance-financing/1496-my-appeal-draft-w-references.html#post14133 http://vsgappeal.blogspot.com/2009/06/appeal-letter.html http://verticalsleevetalk.com/pre-operation-vertical-sleeve-surgery-vsg-questions-answers/1751-unapproved-sleeve-ready-cry-2.html#post17480 http://thediaryofafatwoman.blogspot.com/2008/11/deny-deny-deny.html

If you don't mind shoot me a Private message, and in the subject line just type "how to appeal insurance decision". I will go grab you some links, and get you sample letters, and information. It may take me a couple of days to get all the information together. So, if I have a PM in my inbox, I will be able to gather everything, and send one message rather than trying to find this thread again to reply to. I know BCBS is one of the more difficult to get approval from (just based on what I've read here and on other WLS forums) but it's not always impossible.

Hi jray, and welcome to VST. I had the band and revised to the sleeve. I have absolutely zero regrets with my sleeve. With the band I lived with chronic pain for about 6 months, and the band ended up damaged my stomach tissue. So, believe I really have zero regrets with the sleeve. I'll keep you in my thoughts for your upcoming surgery, and keep us posted on how you are doing.

Did you do you liquid pre-op diet? If you're still on clears or even full liquids, you aren't producing a lot of material to move. Since you aren't consuming a lot of solid food, you aren't going to have a BM this soon out. Are you having cramping, or a sense of urgency to go, but unable to produce a BM? I'm unsure about prune juice that early out. I wasn't allowed anything other than diluted grape or apple juice. 2oz of Water to 2oz of juice. Walking more can help get your bowels moving as well. I hope this helps.

I have to add a lot of variety to my menu because I got so burned out on so many foods during my recovery. I have had to get pretty creative in the kitchen, and what I found that helped me the most was hitting up recipe sites for ideas. I am literally addicted to recipe sites. I have 3 recipe apps on my Iphone, I hit them up on the web, I have been making a new recipe at least 3 -4 times a week. Luckily, the husband and kiddo are not picky because some of the stuff I've made is definitely out of our "norm". I still have some days that I absolutely hate eating because I'm still not feeling any hunger. So, I feel like I'm force feeding myself which is the complete opposite of my pre-op lifestyle. If you like to cook, I recommend these recipe sites because they are really great, and the reviews are very helpful with substitution options to make the recipes more healthy. www.allrecipes.com www.bigoven.com www.recipezaar.com Those are my top three sites that I frequent daily. Sometimes I'll hit up food Network - Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas and Chef Recipe Videos : Food Network if I want something a little extravagant/elegant. That's the only solution I've found helpful. It does take more effort now that it did before, and it does get frustrating. I hope you are able to find something that will help you.

I had to look up through Google exactly what all Dim Sum included. If you're on the soft stage, could you order some of the Soups? I see a lot of seafood so maybe you could order a soft, white fish menu option. It looks pretty interesting, and kind of reminds of a Cantonese/Chinese version of a Tapas Restaraunt. It's a bunch of different small portions. Have fun and let us know how it goes.

Keeping you in my thoughts ! ! !