marfar7

I've taken Levothryroxine for about 10 yrs now. Had lapband in 2009 and lost 104 lbs. Revision to the sleeve 10 mths ago. 10 lbs from goal of 140. Not one change in dosage. I get it tested about once a yr (more often since I've been sleeved, however - but thats only cuz I switched dr's) and it never changes. Thought once I lost weight, I'd be able to lower the dose. But what do I care about the dose? It's already a small pill. It's not like they come smaller when u lower the dose... Good luck!

Gave hubby a "special treat" (thats what we call it) on day 5 cuz I wasn't quite feeling up to it. DId the whole thing maybe at about 2 weeks. Guess I coulda done it earlier but I had a rough recovery and I wasn't gunna push it (no pun intended, really!) Good luck! My dr didn't have any rules on sex either. It was just "known" that we'd wait till we were up to it

I had to wait 8 wks for raw veggies/fruit. The 1st day I could, I did. Went to Red Robin for my fav: Avo Cobbo salad (lettuce, tomato, bacon, grilled chicken, hard egg, avocado and blue cheese crumbles. I was able to eat about 1/6th of it. I'm now able to eat 1/4 to 1/3 of it 10 mths out. Luv my salad and its what I missed the most when I couldn't have it. I believe I even had dreams about eating salad when I couldn't... Good luck

I was on full liquids from the start. Not sure I wpulda survived on clears very long. The only things they served me my 2 days in the hospital was 4 Protein shakes a day (about 4 oz each) and Water. I was on full liquids for 4 weeks. Longest 4 wks of my life. If I never c another cup of split pea soup, it'll be too soon... Good luck to 7.

I ate alot of tomato soup and split pea. And drinkable yogurt, puddings, Jello, Protein shakes....4 long weeks of full liquids. I was ready to eat my arm by the time I could eat actual food. If I could blended up my arm and drink it from a straw, I woulda! Good luck and congrats!

Not sure if I woulda gone ahead with wls if someone told me I'd have to give up coffee (well, probly but I wouldn't have been happy). I was offered coffee after I passed my leak test the day after surgery in the hospital. It didn't sound good so I didn't have 1 for about 4 weeks. Then I just woke up and said "Today is the day"! I drink 1-2 cups (to be perfectly honest, they're more mugs than cups) a day splashed with a little sf creamer or sf coffee syrup and milk. I only drink good coffee (grind my Beans as I go) and my family says I'm the "coffee snob" of the family. U couldn't pay me to drink Folgers. As for alcohol, I do drink a glass of red wine most nites. Started that about 3 mths post op. I don't remember there being rule about alcohol, as in when. Just remember to log in those calories (and don't drink too much cuz that will lead to mindless eating - been there). And I've taken a sip or 2 of hubbys soda about once a month when we go out to eat. I miss it when I eat pizza, but thats about it. My dr told me that carbonation might stretch my sleeve so that scares me enuf to keep me away. And I'm not a big fan of letting the bubbles die and then drinking it (as some suggest). Yuck. Whats the point? Good luck to u!

There's this guy who lost like 200 lbs (without wls) who swore by shopping at the .99 Cent Store. Did ALL of his grocery shopping there. Was on a budget and found healthy foods there. While I occasionally shop there, couldn't imagine doing all of my shopping there. He really should become a spokesman for the .99 Cent Store

I'm now 10 mths out and have recently noticed the ability to eat more at night only. Before 7pm, I can still keep it under control. When I'm lying in bed, watching tv is when I snack and I can eat ALOT now. Still managing to maintain, but would like to lose another 10 lbs. Gotta do something soon...

I believe that I said "There's a big controversy over whether sleevers actually dump or not. My dr says no. But the first couple months after I was eating normal food again, I could not eat ice cream without breaking out ina sweat, having major stomach cramps and diarrhea. Thought I'd pass out from dehydration that first hour. Now, I'm good with 4 bites or less." If u look at wls websites, ull see there's a controversy. I BELIEVE in dumping, personally. Why I told the story about ice cream. My dr is the one that said that sleevers don't dump, not me. I believe that it does happen. Not sure the science behind dumping in a purely restrictive procedure, but I've had it so I know it happens. Just wanted to make sure everyone knew I wasn't arguing with dumping

Back about 15 yrs ago when I took Darvocet for period cramps, I always had vivid nightmares. Called them "Darvocet Dreams". Think they come with pain meds. Hard time remembering back to my sleeve revision (10 mths ago) but I think I did have a few nightmares following surgery. Good luck!

I know exactly what u mean. After going from 250 to 150, my bra size has only gone from 44DD to 40D. Not much of a change (seeing as my jeans have gone from 22 to an 8). I still wear an XL on top. Dresses fit me so awkwardly. I luv them and always try them on but don't have very many that are actually flattering. It looks so stupid being top heavy. I look like a marshmallow being held up by 2 toothpicks. Not sure (besides major cosmetic surgery) how to balance my body out. Guess it's my Swedish genes (thanks gramma Olga!) Hubby seems to enjoy me being top heavy tho! So glad someone enjoys it cuz I dont. Still can't buy the cute little bras. Victoria Secret doesn't usually carry sizes larger than a 38 in the stores. Still gotta buy the old lady "over the shoulder boulder holders" Oh well. Guess we can't have everything...

I'm not understanding why everyone has to hide it. I dated about 4 yrs ago (after losing 75 lbs from my 2009 band) and told every single man I ever had a meal with (saw no reason for just coffee dates). It was something I was proud of. And I never heard a bad remark, only encouragement (and one guy asked me if I could take it out - chubby chaser for sure) and positivity. When I became intimate with my now husband of 2 1/2 yrs, he poked and played with my port, calling my band my "contraption" and asked if it hurt. It does get bigger as u lose weight (it's out now, sleeve revision 10 mths ago - but I still have scar tissue) and it starts to look like an alien. Not sure how ur gunna tackle that one if he doesn't yet know. I'm open about my wls's and have never received a negative comment about it. Some people have questions, some people could care less. I have 5 scars (they did my revision with the same scars I had from band) and there's no way anyone would believe they were from my appendix. At least any rational person. Just not sure why everyone feels they have to hide it from everyone. I understand the scrutiny u may feel, people watching u eat, but to me thats extra incentive to eat smart. ood luck with ur relationship.

Exactly. I didn't hafta do anyting to bring food back up with my band - just bend over and up it came. Now, if I eat too much/too fast, it takes much work, sweat, and dissapointment trying to get it out. I've vomited maybe 3x in the past 10 mths becuz it's so much harder. I think I may miss this a little (sounds crazy, I know) but I knew that if I ate 1 bite too much, I could get it back out quickly. Now it's almost impossible. Just hafta ride it out. Good luck!

I had buyers remorse the first couple week after surgery (10 mths ago) too. Got my hunger back on day 10 and was on liquids for 4 weeks. Coulda eaten my arm. Plus my recovery was a bit rough. I'd come on here to find people who just had surgery who were running a marathon. Seemed like no one was in as much discomfort as I was. liquid Vicodin was my buddy for the first 12 days. At 4 weeks, I was feeling good again and don't regret my decision at all. While I haven't lost all my weight (10 lbs to goal. I was a band revision so started at 174, not as much to lose), I've been easily maintaining. Every morning when I weigh myself (yes, I'm an everydayer) I expect to gain a couple lbs. It's always the same. The sleeve must be working. If I worked a little harder, I could take off the last 10 lbs. I'm just enjoying not working and not gaining. The pain and hunger will subside soon and I promise u will enjoy life with ur sleeve. Hardly anyone regrets it after 6 mths or so. Good luck to u!

I know this sounds crazy but I like buffets...I get to choose 1 bite of numerous different things. What I don't like about them is I don't get to bring home a to go box. I have tried my bariatric card (the only time it's ever been rejected) at Hometown Buffet and they politely said no. So I hafta pay $11 for about $1 worth of food. But hubby makes up for what I don't eat. He's a low carber so he enjoys getting all the meat and veggies he wants. Last month, we visited a Soup Plantation. They gave me the $4 kids price. Still didn't eat $4 worth of food but it was nice to not pay full price. At buffets, they frown upon u just taking a couple nibbles off ur hubbys plate! At Hometown, I usually get: Baked chicken, cornbread stuffing, broccoli, mashed pots, 1 butterfly shrimp, roast beef, and maybe a small salad. I take a bite or 2 of everything and it doesn't look like I've even touched my food. Enjoy ur Mothers Day. At 5 weeks, however, not sure how I'd feel about it. I was still on soft foods (of which the buffet has lots of, btw). I wouldn't try to tackle a salad or ribs! Good luck! Oh and I usually sneak a few Cookies in a napkin in my purse. Figure since I'm not getting $11 worth of food, I'm gunna take dessert at least! Embarrasses hubby...oh well...

I agree, sounds like u just overate/ate too fast rather than dumping. There's a big controversy over whether sleevers actually dump or not. My dr says no. But the first couple months after I was eating normal food again, I could not eat ice cream without breaking out ina sweat, having major stomach cramps and diarrhea. Thought I'd pass out from dehydration that first hour. Now, I'm good with 4 bites or less. Dumping usually happens (rarely with a sleever compared to a bypasser) with too much sugar or too much fat at once. Not a normal meal, but just too much of it. U ate too much and u vomited. Live and learn. Good luck!

Had my band in 2009. Loved it the first 3 yrs. Till it slipped. I was about 14 lbs from goal when it slipped (frequent vomiting will eventually do detriment to ur band). Spent almost a yr trying to fix it conservatively (unfills/fills/tweaking) until it finally herniated and had to come out. I went thru the same thought: Taking 85% of my stomach out forever? Why yes, please. I want to be thin, FOREVER don't I? I don't want weightloss to be temporary. And sometimes it takes doing something drastic for drastic changes in ur life. It's what it took me. No diet ever worked. It took altering my anatomy to do that. I gained 30 lbs during that yr of it being slipped. I'm now 9 mths out from my sleeve revision and now have 10 lbs to goal. It's coming off pretty slowly now, in fact for 5 mths I easily maintained. Had to review my intake and decide I wanted to eventually get to goal, not just dream about it. My bmi is now normal so if I never lost another lb, I'd still be happy. Good luck to u! U can do this!

Loved ur bowling alley story. Hubby and I are bowlers and it's actually where he proposed to me almost 3 yrs ago. I accidently took his turn and we were tied. He took that as his cue (knew it was coming at some point as we had just picked up my ring at the jewelers a few days before) and got down on one knee, right there at the score keeping board! Everyone clapped and the desk announced "She said yes!" over the loudspeaker. Been married for 2 1/2 yrs now. Rarely bowl anymore. Just got boring to us I guess... Loved ur story! Congrats!

Ur team shoulda provided u with detailed instructions on what to eat for every step. For me, I went home on a full liquid diet (Protein shakes, cream Soups, broth, sf pudding, sf Jello, yogurt, sf popsicles) for 4 longggg weeks. I was ready to eat my arm after 4 weeks. My hunger didn't return till day 10 so the first week was rather easy. My bottle of liquid Vicodin was my best friend for the 1st week! Good luck!

So, I belong to a lapband facebook group (there's quite a few on there that are revisions). The leader of the board asked me to tell my wls story today, that maybe it would help someone. I wrote a novel. About how I used to bend over and out it would come, without even trying to vomit - I would. I wrote my starting weight, my current weight, my goal weight. About 6 paragraphs worth of details about both my lapband and my sleeve journeys. Left for a few hours and came back to many comments. From friends who had no idea that I ever even had wls. I accidently posted it to my main fb page. Wow. So many people were so interested in it I decided not to delete it, but also commented that I didn;t mean to post it there. So many questions, comments. Most of my real friends know about my journey but now EVERYONE knows. Even my current weight! Guess I should check to where I'm posting next time! Oh well. Whats done is done...

I started dating 3 yrs after my husband of 19 yrs passed away and 9 mths post op lapband and down about 75 lbs. I met my share of "chubby chasers" - one who even asked me if I could have my "device" removed so I'd quit losing weight. I told those whom I had a meal with, not necessarily just coffee. Since I had moved 3,000 miles away (from VA to OR) to start over, I didn't know a soul so I went online. Spent $240 on a yr of Eharmony - didn't meet 1 person. Spent $135 for 6 mths of Match.com - had 2 lunch dates. Plenty of Fish was FREE and I had about 20 dates - and met my now husband. Like I said, it took losing about 75 lbs (down to about 175) before I had the confidence to start dating again. U need confidence to date - especially when u haven't done it since age 18! Good luck and have fun! Like I said, I was open about my experience with wls. Never heard an unkind comment. Most of the guys were impressed with my loss and very encouraging. It's up to u tho what u want to share...

Ordered off the kids menu with my bariatric card for the 3rd time this past month (before I wanted to take a box home so I never even considered ordering off the kids menu, plus they don't offer many healthy faires). 1st time was at a Mexican restaurant and the cheese quesadilla looked good. It was $3 so I thought I'd get a tiny little 1 serving portion. Wrong. It was the size of the plate (a big plate) + a little plate of Beans and rice. Ended up eating less than 1/5 of it and taking it home. Btw, quesadillas don't do well reheated the next day... 2nd time was at Red Robin. I usually order the Avo Cobbo salad. Noticed that they do a "kids size" in this same salad. I was excited. It might've been 1/2 cup less food. Less than half the price, however...so that was good...2 days later, I got so sick of eating my leftover salad that the wilty part gets tossed... The other day we took my sister to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. I was in the mood for wings, but even their "snack" size (6 wings) was too big and too pricey. I noticed they had a kids wings. I got 5 wings and a pile of fries. Ate 2 wings and about 6 fries. Went to reheat my wings that nite in the oven (to get that char on my extra sauce I put on it, the micro won't do that) and I fell asleep. 90 mins later, my husband commented that something was on fire. It was my wings. So those leftovers are a bust... My point being: The kids portions are barely smaller than the adult versions. A normal size (Remember, I said NORMAL sized) kid wouldn't be able to eat all that. But an obese one sure would. When I was 7, I boasted that I could eat 5 Taco Bell tacos. I was proud of that. My parents saw nothing wrong with it. When I was 12, I used to eat 3 king sized (when king sized bars had just come out) Snickers bars between lunch and dinner. And when I was 18, I would go thru the drive thru and order 2 meals (including 2 drinks, cuz I wanted the window person to think I was ordering for a 2nd person). No wonder I wore a size 18 wedding dress... However, it's still nice to be able to bring home a box and to save money. Wish they would do a smaller version of everything on the menu for the kids menu. usually it's stuff like chicken nuggets, burgers, and grilled cheese. Lately tho I've been noticing improvements on the kid menu (like grilled chicken, turkey sandwiches, smaller salads) which is great. I'm just now seeing the beauty of that little bariatric card my dr gave to me...

2 1/2 yrs ago, I faced my 2nd wedding (my first husband died after 20 yrs of marriage). I also had no desire to plan (nor the money) a big fancy wedding, and he and I both did that the first time. Plus I was 46 - a little old for the fancy white dress and bridesmaids. Living in So Or at the time, it was about an 8 hr trip to Tahoe, so we planned on an early Dec visit to Tahoe - just us. Las Vegas just seemed tacky to us. As did the courthouse. My mom and her husband gave us a Mexican cruise for our honeymoon (along with them, of course!) so we had to be in So Ca the day we were planning on getting married. So, change of plans. My in laws lived about 45 mins from the port so we got married at the local park. There was 10 people there, including us. We all went out to Marie Calenders for lunch afterwards. We wanted a little Christianity in the vows but didn't belong to any church. So we hired a local pastor (still our fb friend to this day). It was a beautiful (albeit about 5 mins long) wedding. I wore a pink dress and hubby wore a black suit with a pink tie. My best friend couldn't make it. That woulda made it perfect. Small wedding are wonderful. And u can save the money for something u want in ur marriage (like a house down or something). Good luck and congrats!

The only tests I have done are bi yearly Vitamin levels. I also see my pcp, as I moved out of the state of my surgeon and don't think it's necessary to get a new bariatric surgeon when all I need is blood work twice a year. Good luck!

My drs office gave me a "bariatric restauran" card, asking the server to allow me the kids/smaller portion meal cuz I had bariatric surgery and can't eat much. I had it refused once at Hometown Buffet (where I'd like to pay childs prices cuz I eat about $1 worth of food) so I didn't even try it again till a few weeks ago. I always make sure and scope out the kids menu first (sometimes it's just chicken nuggets, burgers, and pizza) and see if there's anything on there I want. Cpl weeks ago we went to a Mexican place for dinner. I ordered the kids quesadilla and it was HUGE. no wonder kids today are fat... Yesterday I went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. Ordered the kids wings. gave me 4 wing pieces and fries. Brought 3 of em home (no fries as they don't reheat well) and it was perfect. The server had to run it past the manager tho. I've only been denied once. And as long as there's something on the kids menu, I will order it. I enjoy bringing home a box but I still do that with the kids menu. Wish there were some salads on the kids menu!!! Ask ur drs office for a bariatric card. U might be able to download one online also. Google it. Good luck!