deedee

Great job Kelly! I threw up the stuff they had me drink for the leak test and it set me back like a half a day. I'm glad you're home and feeling better. Walking really seemed to help for the gas relief. Good luck!

I also eat spinach salads, which I started about 8 weeks out (once cleared for regular foods). Just last week I ate them 4 out of 5 days for lunch. I mix them with grilled chicken, shredded cheese, and sugar free teriyaki sauce (sometimes shredded carrots if I have them).

Congratulations Sarita!!! I'm glad you're doing so well.

Congratulations Bill, your time is almost here! This is a great place to share your excitement, fears, last minute nerves, etc., others may have posted about them before, but we've never heard from you, so they're new to us:-). Good luck on the final countdown!!!

You should definitely up your water intake (if you have the runs, you might be dehydrated) and call your surgeon and/or doctor. The flu is going around, at least where I live. Just last week I had a colleague out with the flu and another one out with pneumonia. Better safe than sorry. I hope you feel better soon!

Welcome Dana! I wish you well on your journey and can't wait to hear about all of your experiences. Your time will be here before you know it.

Chancie, That's GREAT about the size AND it's still a loss, so great job! Last Monday was actually the lowest weight of the whole last week, I kept going up and down, but this morning I weighed in at 158.5!!! I am finally out of the 160's. The lowest I've ever weighed since 7th grade was 158, which was my sophomore year in high school (when I pretty much starved myself). I'm really hoping by next week to weigh under 158 and then I will be the lightest I've been basically in my entire teenage/adult life.

Wow Haley, that is amazing, CONGRATULATIONS!

Susan, I completely understand you. I think this is part of the reason I didn't tell my adult tap group. It was the first time I just kind of fit in and wasn't the biggest dancer, it felt neat to be "normal" even though when I started I still had around 35-40 lbs. to lose, even that felt normal to me...more manageable than in the past when people would talk about losing weight and they were meaning between 15-20 lbs. and mine was closer to 70-80 lbs.

I just responded to someone trying to decide which wls to get, and while I think this is a very personal decision, I thought I'd share that response here. It was a good way for me to remember and reflect on my thought process. Hello there, I completely understand where you are coming from with weighing your options here. Ultimately I went with the sleeve because from everything I read about the band I KNEW it wouldn't fit my lifestyle. Yes, I understood that this surgery provided a tool, not magic :-) and we must work it, but I wanted a tool that would be as maintenance free as possible. I read lapbandtalk.com quite a bit and also asked my surgeon (well my husband did) about fills and unfills and finding that "sweet" spot. The surgeon basically said that the majority of people would be at a good restriction with the band by their 4th-6th fill. When my husband asked what about the others and the percentage who are not, the surgeon stated that in his experience some people (about 20 % of his patients) take 8 + months to find the right restriction. Like everyone else, I wanted this weight gone yesterday, and didn't want to find myself in the camp still not at a proper restriction a year out. The reason we were questioning the surgeon re: band fill/maintenance was because both my husband and myself had similar fears as you. We were concerned with the permanent removal of so much of my stomach with the sleeve, although by that point I wasn't too concerned, but he was. I'd seen written many times on message boards...I want this weight loss to be permanent, so I want a permanent tool and that made sense to me. I read about many people, who had stomach cancer, living just fine with smaller stomachs for decades and that coupled with my own "laziness" and worry about never getting the proper restriction had me switch directions towards the sleeve. Another thing that pushed me were the stories I read of people needing to have the band removed due to erosion and scarring, nothing they could even control. I did not like that possibility at all! Now on to the sleeve. IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS I HAVE EVER MADE! As you know I am a little over 4 months out. I am down 62 pounds since the day of surgery and 78 pounds since beginning my pre-op diet (modified Atkins) on July 6 (so 5 months ago). I am definitely eating regular foods and in the last 2 months have not had any trouble getting anything down, sometimes I "slime" or choke from eating/drinking too fast, but I can drink water pretty quickly now without choking. Unfortunately the last month I've let some "bad" foods slip back in and started snacking quite a bit, which has lead to a slow down in my weight loss and caused some mini-stalls. But a couple of days ago I recommitted myself to getting to goal and this morning I was finally down another 1/2 pound. I know that I am not the fastest loser, but I'm happy with the success I've had so far. Below you will find some of the things I attribute my success to besides this great tool: *Consistent exercise: I do Jazzercise 4 days per week, tap dance once per week, and the first 3 months walked 2-3 times per week (hurt my foot last month and haven't made it to the doctor...it comes and goes, but I'm afraid the doctor will make me stop exercising for a while, I'd rather just limp 2-3 days per week). *Only drink water for the most part (and protein shakes when I can make myself) *Visit the message boards and post when I can...this really helps me stay accountable, although the last couple of weeks even that didn't seem like enough *Attended all of my post-op appointments...another accountability thing *Desire to get pregnant...my surgeon said that once I was at a healthy weight for a couple of months that I could start trying; I actually have some other woman issues that might hinder this process and want to begin trying as soon as possible to see if I will need more help *Allowing myself to eat anything I want, but in moderation...I added carbs back in pretty early and am trying to lose the rest of my weight the way I plan to maintain, so I feel as "normal" as possible Sorry about the book, but I wanted to give you as clear of picture as possible regarding my decision making and thought processes. For all that I stated above, I think the band might be a good surgery for some, but I just decided it wasn't best for me. Please let me know if you have any further questions or just want to chat. I wish you luck with your decision! What a great way to start the new year. Dee Dee

Judy, I didn't even weigh myself for the first 9 days (the surgeon made me promise not to get on the scale for two weeks, but I couldn't do it), so not sure when I lost in my first 2 weeks, could have all been the first week?? I do know that at two weeks out I had a stall that lasted 13 days. It started in my second week, instead of third like a lot of people, but lucky me lasted through my third week so I could feel "normal" like everyone else:-) I'm just trying to say, that you might be in the middle of your "week three" stall that most seem to go through. Many people have theorized that the stall is caused by starting the mushy/soft food stage and it seems you are in that eating phase now. BUT as long as you're following the plan, the weight will come off. Good luck and vent away, that's how many of us get through them.

WooHoo Susan!!! That is such terrific news! You are doing an awesome job. Congratulations on all of the great things going on for you!

Do you know, I probably should have asked that before responding:-)? We might be talking about two different things, but here's a link to what I had. Rcarter, is this it? On-Q PainBuster- Post-op Pain Relief System (U.S)

SoCal, I'm just over 4 months out and my cholesterol (LDL) has also risen, it is 130. My PCP, who ordered the labs and called to go over them, was not too concerned, and my surgeon two weeks ago at a follow-up appointment made mention of it and after questioning me told me to reduce my cheese and nut intake. I have a family history of high cholesterol even amongst my normal weight relatives...my grandfather was never overweight and jogged everyday and they still couldn't get his levels normal without medication. I just found it interesting that before surgery my levels were fine and I know I ate so much more fatty foods. Good luck!

I think 30 pounds in 40 days is EXCELLENT. I know we are not supposed to compare ourselves, but I just went back to check my weight loss in the first 40 days and I was down 25 pounds during that time. I think that 700 calories is fine (I stopped tracking my calories, only protein so I'm not sure where I fall), but if you are really concerned maybe you should run it by your nutritionist.

I had the pain ball and it was horrible for me. I still have skin discoloration (and blotches). I left mine in for the 5 days (I think) and each day I got worse and worse (depressed) until I took it out. I started feeling better about 30 minutes after it came out, but it sounds like you had a worse reaction to it so it might take longer. Maybe you need to insist on an appointment with your surgeon if you don't start to see an improvement. Good luck!

I'm no expert and might be way off base, hopefully someone else will jump in, but I don't think that is true. From what I understand, if you lose weight really fast and are not getting in the required protein, you're body will lose muscle and not just fat, which of course is bad. In my personal experience, I am able to lift more and carry it further, but that is probably due to exercise. Now, I am not consistently lifting the weight you are, so maybe it makes a difference. It wouldn't hurt to run the comment by your surgeon and/or ask your coworker for more information. Good luck!

Welcome and good luck with your decision. Others have pretty much already hit on the reasons I chose VSG over RNY. I did toy with the idea of getting RNY because my insurance would have covered it, but in the end I stuck with the sleeve decision and self paid (thanks to God that I was in a position to do this). The biggest reason for me was "I wanted to be as normal as possible." I was 29, now 30, and knew that I had a lot of living left to do. I didn't want to have to worry about what types of pills I could/couldn't take or what nutrients I wasn't absorbing. BUT that was just me. I was considered a "light weight" and had read plenty to know that I could get my weight off with this surgery. I don't think there is any one surgery that is the best choice for everyone, good luck!

Welcome to VST! I am so very happy for your upcoming surgery. It has definitely changed my life and can't wait to follow you on your journey.

Not yet. I convinced a friend to do it with me and we are going the week after Christmas. They have all their nutrition info posted, so I plan to stay as low carb/fat (my cholesterol was a little high last month) as I can. I will definitely post my thoughts after.

I've been curious about meal prep kitchens for a while now and wondered if anyone on here has any experience with them? I really want to cut down a bit on the eating out that my husband and I do. I am very conscious about making good food choices when we do it, but you never know all of the ingredients. I was thinking this might be a happy medium??? Here's a link to one in my area Let's Dish! - The healthy, fun, fast way to provide great meals for the whole family!. Any experiences?

My heart goes out to you. You are doing EVERYTHING you should be AND are a terrific mother! It's a great idea to get him into counseling. This is the age group I've worked with for the last 8 years and over that time I've heard similar stories, even from coworkers with their own children. I'm thinking of one teacher particularly and after her son got the proper help he soared through high school and became that happy-go-lucky, pleasant kid again, but it was a hard couple of years (but she also didn't have a wonderful John in her life). Good luck and vent away!