Tiffykins

I take the GNC Solotron chewable with bioavailable Iron twice daily. They are fabulous, and not expensive. I get a 45 day supply for 15 bucks. I hated Flintstones, and the adult gummyvites I tried did not have iron. As far as b12, I do take a sublingual B12 once daily that I pick up from Wal-Mart. It's advised heavily if you are on a PPI such as Nexium, Prilosec, or Protonix that you need to take calcium citrate, not calcium carbonate. I get my liquid Calcium citrate from vitacost.com. I've tried a few flavors, none of them are fabulous, but I'd rather drink 1oz of calcium citrate than chew up or swallow 3-6 capsules/chewables to get in my calcium. Also, with Calcium citrate, I know there is a rule about taking it with other Vitamins and supplements, but do not recall the specifics. I take mine at night with nothing else to avoid any issues. My calcium citrate has Vitamin D and magnesium as well for best absorption.

I don't necessarily have any cravings because I eat whatever I want. I haven't eaten anything that gives me any ill side effects either. I don't overeat, drink large amounts while eating, and do not eat things that I know will make me uncomfortable (like really thick biscuits). I just know that food tastes normal again. I still have to remind myself to eat because I still have zero hunger. My entire relationship with food has changed. I don't stand in front of the snack bowl, or fridge pondering on what I can put in my mouth. I have absolutely zero regrets. I don't miss food. On Thanksgiving, I had a fleeting moment of "buyer's remorse", but it soon faded when I realized that I was completely satisfied, and if I really wanted to, I could have some leftovers a few hours later. I don't know if I ever truly mourned the loss of food, but I did mourn that I lost the solid comforter I had in my life. Food was comfort, during my recovery, my husband was deployed, now that part sucked. I wanted to be held, and loved, and wanted to feel safe and warm, food would of done that in the past, but I wasn't able to eat much.

I tried salad at about 3.5 months post-op, and it didn't work well. My surgeon released me for raw veggies at 3 months. One of the things about coleslaw/cabbage is that it seemed slow to digest, and move out of my stomach. I burped up cabbage for a couple of hours after I ate it, and then even several hours later I would still burped up a few tiny pieces. I had the same issue with pickles until just recently.

My opinion on the matter is if it's so stressing, and so bothersome then why even bother reading it? It's like self-inflicting, self-destructive behavior, and I'm pretty positive that's just as unhealthy as the people who post lies, or "make-up" stories to get attention. I take everything posted on an internet forum with a grain of salt. If I did my own research, and am happy, content, and pleased with my experience, then there would be zero ill-effects from people posting craptastic threads. It's the internet, we're all adults, and should be able to ignore posts, disregard any drama, and move forward in our lives. I've never understood getting so bent out of shape over something posted on this or any other forum. If someone has a bad experience, and they post it, there is no reason to attempt to discredit their experience anymore than you (in the general sense) would want your great experience discredited.

YAY Frank, I'm so glad you are home and recovering. Keep us posted on the urinary issues. I think several of us had issues in that department. I lost my sense of urgency to go for awhile, but once my fluid intake increased, everything returned to normal.

I went through the same thing for a long. I just didn't care for food, but knew that I had to eat. I just had to force myself to eat. I set a reminder on my cell phone every 4 hours to eat during my awake hours. It helped to remind me that I needed to eat. Some foods just didn't appeal to me. Plus, my sense of smell was heightened, and certain smells made me nauseated. It does get better with time.

I did not have acid reflux before, but have it now if I do not take my prilosec. I take 20mg of Prilosec once daily, 1 hour before ingesting any food. Every sleeve patient I know is on some PPI for acid reflux initially. I am almost 7 months out, and can technically start trying to wean myself off the Prilosec, but I probably won't start until I have a follow up mid-January. I don't know if it will make it worse, but I've never read where it improves acid reflux.

Coffee is a diuretic, so early on staying hydrated is essential. I have coffee occasionally, and I still have **gasp** (because I know others will be negative about this) some sweet tea when we go out to dinner. I drink right up until the point right before the first bite of food crosses my lips. I'll sometimes even get a to-go cup, and take my sweet tea with me. I have had sweet tea about 4 times in 6 months. I carry splenda with me because some restaraunts do not have it available.

Glad you are feeling better, but my surgeon and many other advise that you are at most risk for the first 6-8 weeks while the staple line heals. Just wanted to give you a head's up. There is also a lady on OH that had a leak 3 months out that went undiagnosed for 4 months. Leaks happen, and they are extremely dangerous. That is why I am so concerned when people progress their diet too quickly, or overeat (causing vomiting early out)early on because that can all weaken the staple line. Small food particles of food can get stuck in the staple line, and cause an infection and lead to a leak. It happens, yes the risk is minimal, but it does happen.

Thought I would hop in chat early tonight, and see how everyone is doing. . . I'l have the window open if anyone would like to chat.

meats were pretty difficult for me to tolerate, but I did find that I could boil a chicken breast in just Water, then shred it up, and pureed it in my mini food processor with a little miracle whip. It was kind of like chicken salad. I essentially could chew it up in my mouth, and get it fairly runny below swallowing. In my opinion, during the mushy stage it is still essential to chew very well. Digestion begins in the mouth, and chewing even mushy food will help your "baby" tummy that's still ultimately confused, traumatized, and healing to digest the food with minimal discomfort.

I used them with my band surgery, tried to use them with my revision, but they were too sweettart'ish for me to tolerate. There is some controversy on the quality of Protein that these are comprised of. It's mainly a collagen protein and not whey or soy which is supposed to the premium protein choices. Some people are adamantly against them, some say at least you are getting in some form of protein. When I did use them with my band surgery, I only could tolerate the fruit punch New Whey flavor. I tried using them with my revision, but even diluted down with gatorade or sugar-free popsicles mushed up, they were just way too sweet.

Thank you for sharing your story. My best wishes to you in your continued recovery.

I've been researching some Texas surgeons as well because my husband may get orders to Lackland AFB. I refuse to the bariatric program at Lackland due to poor reviews. My top choice is Dr. Nick, 2nd choice is Dr. Kim (in Colleyville), and Dr. Audencio Alanis (in Houston). Dr. Nick, and Dr. Kim have amazing reputations, and both have low complication stats. Also, just from the patient's testimonies on this board (along with testimonies on OH) of Dr. Nick wins hands down as my first choice. My family lives in the D/FW area so this would be a win/win for me. I'm already post-op, but I need a great follow-up surgeon, and haven't found a surgeon near Lackland that would take me on as patient for follow-up care if needed, nor did I find any of the local bariatric surgeons that would accept our Tricare Prime insurance. I have to change my insurance over to Tricare Standard so I can see any surgeon of my choosing.

I always find it interesting how people across the country ring in the New Year. For as long as I can remember, my family always celebrated New Year's day at my yellow (she had blonde hair, and my other granny was red granny because she was a redhead) granny's house with plenty of finger foods, and it was required to eat black-eyed peas for good luck. We also put money on our front porch on NYE (a dollar, a quarter) to bring prosperity to our household. It never worked, we were poor in money, but rich in family love. I still carry these traditions out with my husband and son. We rarely go out on NYE, but have been considering it this year. As for John's family, they eat cabbage rolls. I decided this year to incorporate these into our New Year's day menu. I'm not terribly excited to try them, but I know it's important to John. My best friend in Virginia enjoys black-eyed peas and I believe collard greens on New Year's day. Black-eyed peas for good luck, and greens for a prosperous new year. So, my question to you all is, what are your traditions on ringing in the New Year?

Yeppers, same exact area. Just to give you a heads up, you probably have scar tissue/adhesions around that area (I had tons), and that was a very tender/sore spot for me for a couple of months post-op. The sleeve vs. band is like oil vs. Water. I truly love life with the sleeve. Instant restriction, complete satiety after small portions, and the ability to eat just anything you want. I still avoid bread with the exception of a partial crescent roll occasionally. I was in a pain level of 6-8 daily. I couldn't bend over my washing machine, and sometimes my husband and I could not be intimate because the pain was so intense. Best wishes for Wednesday.

Hey Craig, and welcome to VST. Hope you are doing well during this phase, and best wishes for continued success. Keep us posted on your progress ! ! !

You're only 2 weeks out so I can't really help you with the diet progression because I was on clears for over 2 weeks, and then full liquids for a week or so. I progressed my diet very slowly. Gas in stomach feels like a trapped feeling behind my sternum, and I rarely have this issue any longer. I did have it in the beginning (3-4 weeks post-op). My stomach never really had spasms either so I'm not sure what they feel like. If mushies hurt, go back to full liquids. Your stomach may still be swollen and irritated from the trauma of the surgery. If it doesn't subside, contact your surgeon or get to your surgeon to rule out any issues such as a stricture. My sleeve "feels" a bit tighter right before my period because I retain Water like the Hoover Dam.

Hi and welcome to the forum Bernadette. You'll love the sleeve, I had the same issues with port pain/flipped and moved around in my abdomen. Best wishes, and keep us posted.

Congrats on getting your surgery, and glad to hear that you are feeling better. Keep sipping and walking, rest when you feel tired, and keep us posted on your progress.

Thank you bunches. I'm 6.5 months post-op. My revision was done on June 3rd, 2009.

Well, today I decided to step on the scale after 10 days of losing .2 or gaining .5, and today I've lost 3 pounds. How did I do it? I honestly have no idea. Maybe a well balanced diet and not beating myself up over food is helping. I have a mere 3 lbs to goal, and I've decided to just eat what I want, when I want, I'm not going to change my current course. I'm happy with my relationship with food, I'm grateful for my results, and even moreso I'm very thankful for all the support and encouragement. So, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, and see if I can keep my current goal of 150. If I slip below it by 5-6 pounds, I won't be disappointed, but I really need to maintain 145-150. I admit I'm glad the stall is over, it didn't last long, but it was irritating.

I am a band to sleeve revision patient. The band damaged my stomach tissue severely. 2 days post op with the revision, a leak was found on my final leak test. Rushed to surgery to repair it. My lungs would not recover and I was in ICU on a ventilator for 4.5 -5 days. Once they woke me up and I was able to get out of ICU, I was set up with the pic line, and sent home 2 days later with a home health nurse coming in every other day to change dressings. I had 2 jp drains. This went on for over 3 weeks. Once I recovered from that episode, I was doing well, but July 13th, I was hospitalized for 7 days, for Fluid pockets/abscesses in my abdomen and dehydration. I had 2 different pigtail drains placed to shrink/drain the fluid pockets, and they stayed in place for over 3 weeks. I was prescribed heavy antibiotics (3), and Zofran for nausea. I was finally released for normal activity the end of August/first part of September. They believe that during the leak repair, a few microscopic pieces of bacteria may of been left behind during the flushing process of my abdomen which led to the abscesses forming in the first place.

I have a little bit of darker skin on a small portion of both of my thighs. From what I've heard from several super morbidly obese patients that suffered from severed discoloration, the best "cure" is to exfoliate with a real lemon sugar scrub (you can make it yourself). It can dry the skin so make sure you moisturize as well. Some people say that they have to do it every day for several weeks before they saw results. Depending on the severity, you may see results faster. 1 cup of water 1-2 cups of sugar (it will depend on how grainy you want it) 1 cup of lemon juice 1/4 cup of extra virgin light olive oil I exfoliate with a bath and bodyworks sugar scrub twice a week.

Thank you all so very much. It's going to be a big shock when I actually return home to TX in March. I know I'll catch flack. Some of y'all know my mom has a band. She has the normal band issues with vomitting, pb'ing, sliming constantly and just thinks it's "normal". Anyways, a lot of her comments come from me now weighing about 30lbs less than she does. I've always been bigger than her so she quit asking me when I dropped down below her by about 10 pounds. I really appreciate all of y'alls support, and kind words.