Tiffykins

Yep, way old information. But, the VSG has been around for around 20 years as the first stage for patients weighing over 450lbs then they'll get the second stage RNY or DS malabsorptive component added. Before they started doing DS more and more, they were performing BPD but a lot of patients were dying, and severe complications were found with BPD. For the patients who were choosing RNY, the "sleeve" was made differently, and with bigger bougies, around a size 60fr instead of the standard 32-40fr.

Believing that you are worthy of a hot guy regardless of your pant size is the best starting point. I can't say that I understand (I hate saying I understand when I've never experienced it) because I always dated really attractive men. I just didn't date ugly men. It wasn't something I was willing to do.. Now, I will say that I'm pretty demanding in the relationship department so along with good looks, they must be gainfully employed, have no more than 2 children from a previous relationship, and must have their own residence, vehicle and checking account. I don't consider that too high of standards, but others do. I think my husband is pretty hot, others told me when I was fat "I'm not sure how you managed to land such a hot piece of ass, and why he is interested in you considering you're 6 years older with a child???" YES, friends would actually say that to me. My reply was pretty crass and very untrue but I just said "well he thinks I give good h*@d" That shut them up pretty quickly. So, my biggest advice is to really learn, or start believing that you DESERVE nothing less than EVERYTHING you want in a partner. Be it, great looks, financially stable, well-rounded, comical, laid back, high strung, whatever it is, you deserve it all. Don't get me wrong, my husband is far from perfect, he has a couple of character traits that irk me to no end, but at the end of the day, he is the perfect match for me. Well, except for the fact he's a very Conservative Democrat (if that's even possible) and a Southern Republican. Far too often, I see ALL women settling, and it just irks me to no end. So, start believing that you are worthy of more than society tells you that you deserve. I had a friend email me this to me years ago when I was struggling with a douchebag of a boyfriend, and we had hit a place in our relationship where I was no longer willing to tolerate some of his issues. I go back and read it occasionally just as a reminder: Sorry for all the page break arrow thingies, it's just how it's formatted and I'm too lazy to fix it! ! !

Here's my standard reply: Ehhhh I've been drinking soda for well over 18 months with zero change to my sleeve capacity. I drink caffeine free sodas most of the time, usually gingerale or Fanta soda. Sometimes I drink diet sometimes I don't. Early out it causes discomfort because of the residual swelling, but I can drink soda just like I can with Water. Soda does leach the Calcium from our bones so make sure you're taking your calcium citrate. Some report the sweet cravings with soda, but I don't get them. liquids in, liquids out, just like with water, tea, coffee, whatever other liquids we drink. It's not like soda sits in there brewing for hours on end blowing out our sleeves. This theory is the most absurd thing I've ever heard and my surgeon just kind of laughed that people really believe that soda sits in there brewing up, blowing up the sleeve. Liquids go in, hit the pylorus, empty out. I sometimes burp, sometimes I don't, but believe it or not, water makes me burp too I also know tons of RNY patients that drink soda without issue. But, I'm not advocating going off your surgeon's plan, but I'm not a believer that soda has all this phenomenal power over our sleeves. And here are several other topics with different opinions and experiences: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/19277-still-craving-carbonation/page__p__162484__hl__beer__fromsearch__1#entry162484 http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/23083-diet-soda-carbonated-water-question/page__p__194908__hl__soda__fromsearch__1#entry194908 http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/15947-the-diet-coke-debate/page__p__135030__hl__alcohol__fromsearch__1#entry135030

Good to hear. . . Oh and I started adding organic ground flax seed to the few baked goods I would make (from packages) for my husband. I add it to my salad dressing and any casseroles that I make. Flax seed has many benefits and since heart disease(along with cholesterol, high triglycerides, strokes) runs so rampantly in my husband's family, I started sneaking it into his foods. Then, just started to add it to our family meals as well. I figured along with the heart benefits, his colon would thank me one day for giving him those extras via the flax seed.

There were many reasons for me choosing WLS in the first place, and the biggest drive force was for me to be able to conceive, have a healthy pregnancy, and deliver a healthy baby without the complications of obesity during pregnancy. I've been waiting 3 long weeks to share this news with all of you, and am happy to report I AM PREGNANT ! ! ! After 14 long, exhausting, and emotionally draining months, I'm finally pregnant. I am considered high risk for several reasons, and VSG does throw me into that category along with other medical issues I have which are NOT related to VSG at all. I have an idiopathic clotting disorder and the cause, reason is still unknown. We do know that I am missing certain Protein factors in my platelets, but other than that, they can not pinpoint the cause or even give it a name hence the "idiopathic". We know the treatment is similar to that of Von Willebrand's disease, but all of my work ups have been negative for VW factor. It's kind of crazy, and I have a feeling I will be having more lab work due to the disorder and pregnancy. I have that "mother's intuition" that we are pulling for Team Blue, and if all goes well, I will have a repeat c-section and tubal ligation since I will be 35 yrs old a month after the baby is delivered. My husband is elated, overjoyed, and of course stressed. He's become the food police all over again, and worries that I am not eating enough. BUT, per the recommendations, I am getting enough calories/protein/carbs currently. They expect me to gain 25-30lbs during the pregnancy, and I kind of snickered at that thought process, but I am not saying it won't happen. I've never read any WLS patient gaining that much post-WLS except band patients. So, we'll see how the weight gain goes. Thus far, I am experiencing sore boobs, crazy food cravings for anything spicy, and fatigue. I have experienced zero morning sickness and for that I am very grateful. I've been cleared to continue my Celebrate multi, b12, and Calcium. The formulation of these Vitamins actually exceed the values of any prenatal on the market, and my labs looked stellar except for my platelets were low normal (which is normal for me). Today was my first ultrasound appointment. I knew the day we conceived "Little Sprout", and had the due date spot on. Everything was perfect, strong, steady heartbeat at 150bpm, everything looked good internally. I'm being referred to a civilian high-risk ob/gyn team and my pregnancy will be co-managed between them and the base provider. All this means is that I'll have double appointments that most pregnant women have to go through. Sorry for the quality. The base equipment is a bit dated, but we were able to hear the heartbeat, and of course I cried. My husband was able to attend, and he just stood there staring at the screen kind of in awe. It was truly the most joyous event I've experienced. Thank you for all of your continued support and encouragement. I would ask that you keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. This is going to be a long process, and Sprout is due November 5th. This place is kind of like my 2nd home so I'm sure I'll be posting more updates as the months progress. . Oh and I don't have much of a belly bump at all yet. I'm bloating, but my clothes are fitting the same, and I have not gained any weight to date. I'm not any hungrier than I was before pregnancy, just insane cravings for random foods I would not have eaten. It'll be interesting to see how I look this pregnancy. I was around 200lbs when I was pregnant with my son 13 yrs ago, and gained 37lbs so I was just huge and round. This time I'm interested to see how my body changes, and hopefully I'll get the cute baby bump that I see on everyone else.

I'm not very nice when these situations pop up. And, after the first few 100 comments, I just started saying "well, jealousy is like a bad cold; I hope you get well soon." Grant it, the comments I received were extremely harsh. I was called a "bobble head" doll, a lollipop girl, and various other names that really made me second guess getting skinny. But, for the love of everything holy, I'm only 5'1"-5'2" tall and was weighing 125-130lbs, really not skinny when you think of my stats. I was shunned more and more by my obese/overweight friends, and was told that I had turned my back on the BBW/size acceptance world by choosing surgery. I chose health, and longevity instead of being fat. They just couldn't see that side of it. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was going on, and why I was now tossed out of the "group". These were 7+ year friendships, we cried, ate, drank, partied, mourned losses together, and while I was the only one getting healthy and apparently too skinny, I never changed my personality or core character traits. They all hated me, and were downright "mean". I have an extremely thick skin, and these comments hurt me to the core. I don't have any advice or really any suggestions to make it better. All I know is that I have to live the very best life that I can with or without their support. I can not live my life to accommodate their needs or wants.

I've always read that temps over 130degrees ruin the protein. I know a lot of people who use it in coffee and other warm drinks, and eggface's blog has several recipes that include protein powders, but I've never ventured into the baking with protein world. Mainly because I can't bake to save my life. I can cook, but baking stumps me every time!

The Mayo Clinic statement claims that it's the 500 calories a day and not the HCG that makes people lose weight. Personally, I don't understand the want to put more stuff in your body post-op. Our bodies are tortured enough, and then to throw more hormones, more pills for it to break down, in my opinion, is no different than crash dieting. I'm not saying this to just you, but a lot of people who want to lose weight even more rapidly than the VSG and proper eating habits gives them always want the quick fix and faster results. Sadly, if these things really worked for the long haul, we wouldn't have had 85% of our stomachs removed.

Yep, normal. Textures really bothered me for several months. It does get better, I promise. I started using slightly higher fat content in meat instead of the 97% lean just because the extra fat (4% isn't going to kill me if I bought 93% lean or even 90% lean) made the meat easier to digest. Same goes for chicken. Instead of chicken breast, chicken thighs worked better early out. Ground turkey is repulsive and I used it to cut fat, but when I really looked at the nutrition facts, I wasn't overly impressed with the difference in the numbers vs. ground beef.

YAY YAY glad to hear that helped. I did the same thing early when eating and even sipping early out was impossible. I was on heavy duty (3 different types of antibiotics) around 7 weeks post-op, and I had to take them 2-3 times a day. I did the same thing of pop the pill, swallowing just enough water to get the pill down then eating. Glad you are feeling better ! ! !

Ohhhhhhhhhhh I had no idea. I had dumping type symptoms, but come to find out it was the dang gallbladder going out on me LOL. I was over 6 months out, and had made it to goal when the symptoms started. I didn't eat sugar or sweets, it was all super rich, fatty foods. Not huge amounts, but guacamole or heavy, rich sauces like a lobster sauce over meat one night since me into fits and I thought "OH lord, what is this??" I just thought it was from adding new foods into my daily menu since I was trying to get into maintenance. Low and behold, the old gallbladder was full of stones, and icky sludge. I just wanted to share the link with everyone so they could read what others had gone through especially those further out like the original poster.

Nope. Not ever, not once, would I consider the malabsorptive procedures. Not only because I'm a successful sleeve patient, but because I'm healthy, and happy. I do not have to worry about major vitamin regimens, I don't have to worry about medication restrictions, and I don't have to worry about all of the complications that come with those 2 procedures.

Here's another topic with really great information and others who have the same symptoms; http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/22734-reactive-hypoglycemia/

There is a lady on obesityhelp.com who is in your same position, but I can not for the life of me remember her screen name. I'll see if I can't dig up her most recent post as she just posted a week or so ago, and I'll message you her topic over there. She physically can not have RNY, but has Barrett's. The concern with Barrett's and VSG is that in the event the Barrett's were to progress, there isn't a lot of tissue left to reconstruct your esophagus. HOWEVER, if your reflux can be controlled with meds, and you do enough research that you feel comfortable having the sleeve, then I would choose the sleeve. I would not by any means have RNY even if that meant I had to stay fat. RNY would more than likely cure your reflux, but then again, it might not. This is just what I would do if I were in your situation, I would consult an oncologist who specializes in stomach/esophageal/GI cancers and get their opinion. You've already got Barrett's, will RNY effect the absorption of vital medications in the event the Barrett's progresses???

Dumping is really rare with the sleeve even though some report it. Considering only 30% of RNY'ers dump, the % is even lower for VSG'ers. However, I developed lactose intolerance and your symptoms sound more like lactose issue rather than dumping. I was able to eat cheese and yogurt, but milk would do me in every time. Reactive hypoglycemia can also be common with the sleeve especially further out, when you have heavy fat or sugar foods after months of not consuming those foods. The lactose intolerance lasted for about a year for me post-op, and I still couldn't drink a lot of milk, but at least I could have some. Around the 3rd month of my pregnancy, it's back in full swing.

From the American Red Cross site: Some organizations that collect blood have different regulations/eligibility requirements. The main concern would be your red blood cell count at the time of donation and if you left the country for surgery.

At over 2 years out, there's so many thing, events, joyous occasions that have transpired. . . The most important is right here ! ! ! Miss Tatum Adysen AND, a big ole' baby bump along with a healthy, uncomplicated, thriving pregnancy ! ! !

I would mix all the ingredients after they were measured, divide out my portion and then count the protein, carbs, calories that way. Or, you can do it separately, but for me, that made it more difficult for my little brain.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AWESOME ! ! ! I remember the day when I weighed in less than John, and he's a whopping 11 inches taller, but I didn't care one single bit! ! !

It's common to stall at this point, and nothing anyone says, or no matter how many times it's mentioned does it make things better. But, one thing to remember is that we didn't get fat overnight, it's not going to fall off overnight. If that were the case, we'd all be at goal within the first month, and what would that really teach us about our eating habits/behaviors, and can you imagine what our skin and body would look like. Also, when the scale isn't moving, you are more than likely losing inches. So, while the scale isn't moving, your clothes might fit differently. If you are losing inches, you're losing fat. So, if you haven't, take measurements and then remeasure in 2-3 weeks. I think you'll be surprised just how many inches you lose in that time period. And, when people have big pre-op losses, typically they see a stall sooner. I don't know why, but that's the trend. My recommendation; breathe, keep following your post-op guideline and Celebrate your current success.

Protein has very little to do with hair loss after any type of surgery. I lost hair after my gallbladder removal, and I was below goal, and eating normal foods. This link explains it, and the study to prove this is attached. http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/4347455/Hair-Loss-in-Weight-Loss-Surgery-Patients/ There are plenty of patients who got in most if not all (plus some) of their protein from early out where I didn't get in protein until I was over 6 weeks out, and those people lost more hair than I did and for a longer period of time. I never took Biotin or any other special hair/nail/skin supplement. Zinc is important as is taking the recommended daily value of a complete, adult Multivitamin. Plus, a large decrease in fat intake seems to be a culprit as well. I never and still refuse to eat low fat or fat free foods. Our bodies need fat when we low carb/high protein. Plus, when they remove the fat, they load it up with salt/sugar and other carbs. I know some take the Omega 3s and Krill oils to help with fat intake or good "fat" numbers. But, I never did that either. It's the natural shedding process of our hair, and then throw in the trauma of surgery, major caloric changes, hormone changes etc etc after surgery. It'll grow back.

4 meals a day with each meal consisting of 15gr of Protein per meal. I added greek yogurt to chicken/tuna/egg salad to boost protein grams. 2-3oz of chicken/tuna would give me 20-25gr of protein, throw in greek yogurt that would give me a couple more grams. 1 large egg, 7-8gr of protein plus 2 laughing cow cheese wedges - 14-16gr of protein 3oz of ground meat with some sort of sauce and cheese 14-16gr of protein I just ate meat, cheese and eggs with greek yogurt to boost counts.

Nope, scientifically, there is no proof it works. http://www.obesityaction.org/magazine/ywm22/wlsandhairloss.php I lost half of my hair by volume. The shedding lasted from 3.5-6.5 months post-VSG. It all grew back. The only change is that pre-op, I had semi-curly, super wavy hair. It grew back in stick straight.

Here's the 2 I had bookmarked for reference.

I would contact ourobourous (check out the O member screen names up at the top of the forum). . . I think I remember him posting about low T at some point. There's a few guys that have discussed it in their forum that's just for the guys. Hopefully, they'll chime in soon.