Tiffykins

I'm sooooooo sorry to hear that you are struggling. I know it's beyond difficult to remain positive when you feel so horrible. The fluids might help, and so could good anti-nausea meds like Zofran or Phenegran. Both of those worked really great for me. I couldn't tolerate the Protein drinks either, and staying hydrated was difficult enough. I did break down and drink regular Gatorade and Powerade because all the sugar free stuff was repulsive and I needed the electrolytes and sugar. Please know we're all hoping your recovery makes a 180 and you're feeling better soon.

You are absolutely gorgeous (before and after) ! ! ! I'm so jealous of your skin ! ! !

They are titanium, medical grade staples. The stomach tissue scars over the staples and they are there forever. You can have xrays, ct scans, MRIs without issue. I have 2 titanium screws in my left knee as well, and they've been there for over 18 years without issue. They are non-ferrous and will not set off metal detectors.

I feel ya ! ! ! I have a love/hate relationship with fitting rooms. . . Many congrats on your success ! ! !

You'll do fabulous, and life without all the crap co-morbidities will be amazing for you and your family ! ! ! Many cheers to you for taking such a huge step toward future health. Dr. Kim ROCKS, I've had several friends go to him for their sleeve, and they all report fabulous experiences. . . I miss Texas so much! ! ! Best wishes Tex ! ! !

I had a gas bubble trapped for a couple of weeks, but it kind of sounds like what you are experiencing is "referred shoulder pain". The diaphragm doesn't feel pain so when there is swelling in the abdominal area, or major bloating from gas, that pain radiates up into the shoulders or into the back. A lot of band patients experience, I had it with my gallbladder episodes, and some find relief by applying low heat from a heating pad across their abdomen. Propping should help too to alleviate the gravity weight from your belly. I hope it passes soon ! ! ! That pain was the most uncomfortable, gnawing pain I've ever experienced.

Yep, my instructions as well. Once we're on regular food, the kernels would pass through just as they did pre-op.

I told my son everything. He's kind of one of those gross, everything about the body intrigues him, kids. So, when it came time to revise to VSG, I allowed him to watch a youtube.com video on the procedure. At first, I showed him the "cartoon" animated video and then asked if he wanted to see the real surgery. Of course, being the gross 10 year old boy he is, he was game to watch the gory surgery. He thought it was awesome. I think it really depends on each child's maturity level. My son and I are extremely close so it made things easier to explain to him. I did tell him I was doing it to lose weight, but only because we have family members and friends that had the band and RNY performed so he was already familiar with weight loss surgery in general.

My husband and I have been 3 times in the last year. We still order the one of the 3 course meals for 2(bread/veggies with cheese, all the meats with funky broth, and then the white/milk chocolate) and just cook what we can't eat and bring it home. For me, it's about the experience. We never get out of there in less than 2 hours. We actually went for my birthday in December, and we did the smallest "Tour of France" night out. They had 3 levels, and we chose the smallest one that included duck because neither of us had ever experienced duck. There wasn't any food leftover with this option except the mushrooms (neither of us eat mushrooms), and several chunks of the dessert was left behind, but all the meat was eaten. We share entree portions at a lot of chain restaurants, and no one ever questions us. Unless it specifies on the menu "no sharing" like at buffets then I highly doubt it'd be a problem.

I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooo stinkin' proud of you on so many levels ! ! ! Congrats

I was totally content at 150lbs which is what my surgeon said was best. I feel there are parts of me that are too thin, and it's just weird now. It's a mental thing, and I know that I'll have to deal with the final outcome.

I've had BOTH. Go with the sleeve. There are so many revisions being performed now it's just not worth having to go through 2 surgeries. I'm 2 years out from my band to VSG revision, and it's the best thing I ever did by getting that band out. I've also added you as a friend on here so if you'd like some scientific information, research articles and more information that is not just based on personal stories, check out my blog.

Not only would I do it again, I would easily, without hesitation endure every single struggle, down day, tough obstacle to live the life I have today ! ! !

I don't think your restriction is much different than mine honestly. For some reason, fruit just fills me up super fast. I don't get it at all. This morning for breakfast, I ate a toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich, minus the crust. I literally crave pb&j sandwiches right now. It takes me about 40 minutes to get that down, but I can eat it. I use seriously 3Tbsp of peanut butter, and 2Tbsp of strawberry jelly. So there is a lot of food lube going on there with the pb and jelly, but I can still eat it. I still can't eat an entire chicken breast from restaurants unless I mix bread or lettuce with tons of dressing with it, but I can eat 2 standard sized fried chicken tenders as long as I have some gravy or barbecue sauce. I honestly only cheat this much because of the pregnancy. I have to get in a minimum of 1700-1800 calories, and everyone here knows I hate to drink calories. Plus, I honestly do not have enough time, nor the desire to eat 6-8 times a day to hit my goals. My ob is okay with me hitting only 40-50gr of Protein, but I have to hit 100gr of carbs per day, if I fall short on protein too many days in a row, he makes me shoot for 100gr of protein and the 100gr of carbs which is very tasking considering how limited my capacity really is when I'm not cheating. For the most part, I eat like my naturally thin girlfriends, but I do leave a lot more of the carbs alone vs. what they are eating. But, no one ever questions my eating or lack thereof when out and about. The only difference is that I eat considerably slower than they do, and I don't really drink through my meals like they do. I might take a few sips, but they all get refills and I still have 3/4 of a glass at the end of our lunch dates.

Bread used to cause discomfort. But, from what I've read, transit time, and once the sleeve matures fully, different foods react differently for some people. I know a few long termers that still can not tolerate bread, but can eat hoards of fruit. I can barely eat 1/2 apple or 6-8 strawberries without getting a full feeling. It's totally weird for me to have foods react differently than what they did for so long. Some of the breads still swell up like biscuits cause immediate discomfort, pancakes are a total no go, pancakes cause immediate cramping. I still can't eat an entire chicken breast which is super weird. And, a soft taco, I have to pull of the rounded part of the tortilla, but I can 10-12 tortilla chips with Beans, cheese, sour cream, ground meat. Totally weird to have such a varied capacity for certain foods. Last night for dinner, I was craving Arby's beef and cheddar sandwich. I took the top bun, it's where the cheese is slathered on, and a few strips of the roast beef with 3-4 packets of Arby's sauce, and was satisfied, I wasn't really full, but felt satisfied. I still try to undereat my sleeve because I really hate that "stuffed/full" feeling now. Plus, with the baby, and a super short torso, overeating causes reflux and discomfort. I'm all belly, and Sprout is pushing up into my abdominal cavity already. I'm totally dreading eating later in pregnancy. I honestly feel I'm doomed to be eating super soft solids and even puree foods to help prevent discomfort in the later months.

I can completely relate. Most breads have become slider foods for me. The only bread that doesn't seem to work well are pancakes, biscuits and Subway bread. Plus, if I add any bready type item to my meal, I can fit in more food in one sitting. Kind of like at a steak house, if I take 2 bites of bread with my steak dinner, it seems that I have more space. BUT, if I only eat the steak, I still max out at about 4-5oz by volume. It's insane, and I hate it. Bagel thins had to be removed from the house because I could eat those far too easily.

There's a couple of members on here and on obesityhelp.com that are looking at revisions due to the same issue. One lady had to revise due to complications with her plication, but it was a forced revision, she had no other alternative. Best wishes on your revision. I hope the others chime in soon for you ! ! ! Keep us updated on your progrees! ! !

It's very typical, and it's actually called "losing in stair-steps" which means your body will lose then drop weight, then hold steady for several days to a couple of weeks, and then drop XX amount of pounds. It happens a lot, and it is not out of the ordinary. One thing you can do is take measurements of your body and when the scale is slow, remeasure to see if you are losing inches. A stall is not a true stall until you have ZERO pounds or inches over a minimum of 14 days. You do need to be patient, and if you want to experiment with your food intake, change things up, but monitor what you are eating, and drinking to see what methods give you the best results. And, as much you are going to hate to hear this, with only 75lbs to lose, your weight loss pound wise is not going to be the same as someone with 150lbs to lose. It's just not possible. BUT, here is the big operative word here, you have already lost 29% of your excess body weight. If I remember correctly, you're about 6-8weeks out, and I think those stats are pretty awesome.

Stretch marks are scars, the skin has been damaged, and stretched beyond repair. Depending on age, genetics and ethnicity you may not ever get them to fade. My stretch marks are super pale at this point. They'll never disappear, they can fade, but nothing is going to remove them short of surgically removing the actual skin. I've had zero luck with fading creams, oils or anything else that can be applied topically.

Many congrats ! ! ! You look phenomenal, and best wishes on TTC!

You look at the amount you have to lose to get to goal, and the amount you've lost to date. Fullhandsfullheart had 100lbs to lose, she's lost 70lbs in 5.5 months. Divide the pounds lost by the pounds to goal multiplied by 100 = Percentage of excess weight loss (70 / 100) x 100= 70% EWL My numbers are (145/120) x 100 = 120.8% of my excess weight loss Also, the key to finding out your Percentage of excess weight is to 1) choose a goal based on your age, your build/frame/ and your weight NEED not GREED. My surgeon to this very day has it in my chart that it is his medical opinion that I am "underweight" at 5'2" and weighing 120-125lbs. He based this determination on my frame, I have huge knees, elbow and ankle bones along with a large barrel chest (wide rib cage). I may look petite and "tiny", but believe me, I can see the veins in my ankles, arms, necks knees all through my skin because the skin is stretched over the large bones. He measured my elbow and knee with this weird looking caliper type tool, and then reviewed a bone scan I had performed when they were evaluating my son's growth patterns and they need a parental scan to compare as well.

I just wanna be your cheerleader for a minute, and maybe add a different perspective so bare with me! ! ! You have lost 70% of your excess weight in LESS THAN 6 months, do you know how phenomenal that really is??? By every statistics out there, you are an extraordinary WLS patient success, and you are not even 12 months post-op ! ! ! The number of pounds might seem slow, or that you are a slow loser, but by every definition of success with the sleeve, you are well on your way to 100% excess weight lost to never be found again ! ! !

I got a sample of the capsules, and they went down fine. BUT, I also have zero issue swallowing pills. The only reason I have stayed on the chewable is because I tolerate them well, and they include Iron. Just have your iron monitored since those that you posted do not have iron included. Vitamin D is a tricky one since there is a Vit D3 that will contribute to low D numbers and it often goes unchecked. Vitalady.com (Michelle) has a kickas$ dry Vitamin D that has been proven time and time to work 4 times faster than any prescribed Vitamin D out there. Hope those numbers get up soon for you. Deficiencies are no fun at all! ! !

Thanks so much ! ! ! Best wishes with your sleeve, you'll love it.

I didn't read the other replies so I apologize if this is a repeat. Your tongue is fuzzy because of the liquid diet and ketosis, and a tongue scraper will help. Get on an acid reducer ASAP. I didn't have reflux pre-VSG either, but it happens a lot. Gaviscon is a safe OTC medication to use for instant relief. Tums/Rolaids can actually make it worse.