Tiffykins

We were on vacation in West Virginia for Thanksgiving. We just got home last night around 1 in the morning. I should be able to hit up the spin class tomorrow around 11.

With my leak repair surgery on June 5th, I had 3 abscesses found on July 13th. So, about 6 weeks post-op is when they were discovered. I had some discomfort, and a sense of urgency to urinate on July 9th. I had a f/u appointment with my surgeon that day so they ran a urinalysis, and it was positive for bacteria infection. I was given Levaquin, and increase my Fluid intake. By Sunday, I was in excruciating pain. My abdomen was disstended, and I could barely get out of bed. I never had a fever. Probably because I was the antibiotic for the bladder infection. My surgeon explained that sometimes during the leak repair small particles of bacteria can be left behind. They flushed my abdominal cavity for over an hour to prevent any further infection. I was also on 2 different types of antibiotics post-op from the leak repair. My body was just so worn out, and my immune system could not fight off any more infection. I was hospitalized for 7 days. Had 2 drains placed, was on iv antibiotics, and heavy fluids. I went home on 3 antibiotics initially for a week then dropped down to 2 for another 2 weeks. The drains stayed in for 2-3 weeks. I had zero symptoms before the urinary issues started. I never threw up, I was never febrile, and had no pain. The surgeon ordered a CT scan to rule out another leak, and that is when the abscesses were found.

We're super close to AL here in Florida. I think it takes us about an hour to get to Mobile.

Hey Katrina, I'm this little group as well ! ! ! Welcome to the forum, and good luck at your upcoming appointment.

I just wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a happy, safe and blessed Thanksgiving holiday. We are heading to West Virginia to visit John's family for a week. Because of how isolated in the mountains of WV we'll be, I won't have internet or phone service. I should be able to get phone service sporadically when we head into "town". I'm very thankful to have the opportunity call all of you friends, and very grateful to have you all in my life.

When I tried logging into the chat room tonight, I keep getting a "database error" message. Is this temporary, has anyone else experienced this problem? Here's a copy of the message I get that pops into the Chat Window. The rest of the page is normal, and shows me logged in. I've tried opening it in a New Tab, and New Window with the same result.

I have 3 on my back. One horizontial, tribal piece at the top of my back under my collar, a large Phoenix (bird) on my right shoulder blade, and small, horizontial tribal piece in the small of my back. I've lost 102 pounds, and none of them have changed. I was only worried about the one in the small of my back, but it hasn't changed at all.

I can't say that I really "crave" sweet things. I had a couple of miniature/fun size Snickers and Twix bars over the Halloween weekend. But, for the most part, I pass on Desserts, or other sweets. I'm 5.5 months out, and still have no real appetite. I find that I want salty, crunchy stuff instead of sweets more than anything else. I was extremely sensitive to sweets after surgery. Anything with aspartame or splenda, made my stomach turn, and tastebuds were furious with me when I tried stuff that was sweet. I rarely eat more than 3 "meals" per day. Those meals consist of no more than 3-5oz of food per meal. I eat anything and everything that I want. I make better choices now because of the sleeve. It makes it much easier to deal with what I'm going to end up eating. I stay full for a minimum of 2-3 hours after I eat. Now, if I drink a bunch of Water after a meal then I find that I could eat again sooner. I only wait 30 minutes to drink after eating. If I waited like an hour to drink, I would be full longer. If I were you, knowing that sweets had such a stronghold on me, I would start cutting them out NOW. Don't wait until you have surgery because it will be more of a mental battle rather than physical during the post-op diet. If you can stop eating something sweet after every meal now, I truly believe you will find it much easier to deal with it after surgery. Make a goal for yourself. Maybe, between now and surgery time, or until you have to start the pre-op diet, you will not have sweets except once a day. Give yourself something, but stop the overindulging now.

I feel the same way about telling people about my surgery and amazing results. I don't mind sharing, and have had nothing but positive. I've even found a couple of people ask me who I went to, and how the entire process went. You're doing so great, and so many wonderful things are to come to you in the future ! ! !

YAY, it really is a great feeling ! ! !

The only one I can recall is for the Zumba class. Here's the link to the video. There's lots of Zumba videos on youtube.com http://verticalsleevetalk.com/12520-post5.html

Congrats and welcome to the "loser's bench". Hope your recovery continues to go smoothly, just keep sipping and walking. Keep us posted on your progress.

Just wanted to share that if you are obesityhelp.com, there are a lot of VSG'ers that are pregnant, or have already had babies on the pregnancy board over there. I had the same concern, but felt reassured after reading how many patients who chose VSG had successful, healthy pregnancies, and lost their pregnancy weight faster than the band patients. Also, the complications that some of the band patients had during pregnancy were down right scary. Plus, my surgeon told me to wait just 12 months before we could try to conceive. It was the time period with the band. My band went nutso on me when I had my period, I can't imagine what would happen if I had been pregnant with that dreaded thing in my body. Also, one big misconception of the band that is rarely discussing, is that your anatomy is changed forever even with just a band placement. The band is not reversible (sure it can be removed, but at what cost?), it has the slowest, lowest weight loss results, and the maintenance is a nightmare for the majority of patients. I'm a band to sleeve revision, and while I do not regret my band surgery, if I would of known the sleeve was available here, and that our insurance would cover it, I would of never had that band placed. Unfortunately for me, the band damaged my stomach severely in just 8 months, and believe me I followed all the rules, and still gained weight, lost restriction, and all the horrible things you hear about do really happen quite often.

I just wanted to add to what Lee wrote by stating that partial and/or full gastrectomies have been performed for decades upon decades for patients that suffer from stomach cancer, or major ulcers. There are plenty of personal stories out there on the web about people who have had their entire stomachs removed, and they live long, and healthy lives. And, Lee, you'll get to that healthy BMI. The sleeve is an amazing tool, and I'm so grateful that I was able to revise and get that dreaded band out of my body ! ! !

Glad you are doing well. Keep sipping, and have a safe trip home.

Hi, and welcome to the forum. Congrats on your upcoming surgery date. I wish you the very best, and hope you keep us updated on your progress.

Great job, you are so brave ! ! ! My weight loss has slowed to a crawl as well. I'm hoping this next week is better for both of us.

I'm not sure, but heavy marinara or Pasta sauce gives me the same results. It's the weirdest thing because I can eat jalepenos, heavy garlic, but give me ketchup, pasta sauce, or orange juice, and I'm hurting quite a bit.

Thanks Susan, and extend my gratitude to Ken for fixing chat for us.

Hi Megan, and congrats on making the decision to change your life for the better with this wonderful surgery. As for the vegetarian diet, I have a dear friend who is vegan, and she suggested using tempeh, and seitan for Protein instead of meat. I never did get around to trying any of the recipes, but I posted a thread on here that I can forward to you with a lot of different recipes that you'll be able to use once you get to the mushy and soft solid diet. If you have head hunger issues, I highly suggest that you seek out a therapist or counselor that is experienced in food addictions, and diet management. None of the surgeries will cure your head hunger completely. Will the sleeve help control your actual hunger? Yes, but if you just want to eat to eat then you will not be as successful as you could be. The sleeve does indeed help with portion control because if you overeat, you will regret it. You will feel discomfort, sometimes pain, and vomiting can occur if you constantly overdue it. I am very rarely hungry. With that said, I have to actually have a reminder on my IPhone go off so I can remember to eat. I ate about 3/4 of a beef eggroll with soy sauce around 3pm this afternoon, here it is 7:45pm, and I have zero appetite. But, I know that I need to eat something for dinner. Food is simply fuel for my body now. I was a volume eater, and could eat A LOT. Now, I simply eat because I have to, and not because I'm bored, or stressed. No one can answer the question " can I stick with this?" for you, that has to be your decision. The sleeve is nothing more than a tool to help you succeed. You have to be willing to sacrifice a little in the beginning, and know that the weight will come off if you're willing to follow your surgeon's post op diet, and overhaul your entire relationship with food. For me, I truly do not feel like I'm on a diet constantly. I eat less than my 11 yr old son (who is lean, petite, and muscular), but the best part of it is that I am satisfied with very little portions now. I eat anything and everything that I choose. I wish you the very best in your journey, and you'll be a success. You just have to put your "best foot forward", and get mentally, emotionally, and physically prepared for this life-changing event.