BlackBerryJuice

Hahaha, oh lord. My mother had an even more pessimistic view, I guess, as she said I would be killed, dismembered, and disposed of in a dumpster behind the hospital, so she wasn't expecting to get my body back.

Wow, how rude!

That sucks! But the antibiotics should help, especially if you got an injection. It should subside enough for the pain to go away in 2 days or so.

Tipped Ernesto $5 on the way from San Diego and $10 on the way back.

By the way, isn't it funny how people expect you to lose weight and effortlessly keep it off forever if you do it "the old-fashioned way," yet if you tell them you are gonna have WLS, you start hearing all this doom-and-gloom about how "you'll gain it all right back!"?

Couple of weeks after my surgery, a friend's mom literally verbally lashed out at me at a dinner at their house. I simply mentioned I had weightloss surgery done in Mexico, and she was extremely rude with comments such as "One of my friends had weightloss surgery and she DIED within a year! DIED!!!" I don't remember the other ones, but that's the one that stuck with me as extremely inappropriate. It was literally a barrage of insults. I didn't have to respond to any of it as she stormed out of the room. TBH, I think she has a drinking problem and she was super-cranky that day, so I suspect she wasn't all there mentally. But still, how outrageously rude! P.S. Saw her about a month ago, having lost >60 lbs - not a WORD about how I look, btw.

Yeah, I only eat multigrain bread, as well. I've never been much of a bread person, and almost never ate white bread, anyway, so it's not a huge source of temptation for me. It takes me more than a month to go through a loaf of toast bread.

Yeah, I wasn't really thinking of the people who weigh 180. I definitely feel better at my current weight of 135-140, I can run/walk faster, I get tired less quickly, and clothes fit much better - but it's not a HUGE difference. When I weighed 180, I felt ok overall. Now, when I was pushing 210, I felt like crap - out of breath anytime I walked up a serious hill, feet hurting, back hurting, not able to fit into any dress pants or anything else nice. All of us have a certain weight threshold above which we REALLY start to notice the difference the extra weight makes in our lives and reduces our quality of life.

Couple of ideas. 1) Put a magazine over the display - that way you have something distracting to do AND you are not focusing on counting minutes 2) Walk while watching TV 3) Go outside! It's a lot easier to walk when you actually have a purpose. I walk to the mall, to get coffee, and I even do things on purpose to get me to walk more, such as buy my groceries in small amounts several times a week rather than all at once - that way, I'm walking to the grocery store and back almost every day. If you commute, start getting on/off the bus/train one or two stops before your destination or departure point. If you drive, park the car a few blocks away from your house and work. 4) Last but not least, sign up for a walk. There are tons of run/walk events out there, some start as low as 2.5 km. That's what I do to get myself to run regularly - sign up for a race. Also, it gets easier and easier the more you do it and the more weight you lose. I've always hated running, and despised hills, but now I actually kinda look forward to running x-country (can't believe I just typed this...wow lol). It's not as exhausting when you weigh less.

I agree with you. I can see how some people may think being slim is not worth the effort, and may not be inclined to actually do anything about being overweight or obese. But I have a REAAAAAALLLY hard time believing that if someone came to one of these people's homes and said "Here, take this pill for free, and you'll lose all you excess weight on the spot," these people would say "Absolutely not."

You can take an antacid for immediate symptom relief if it's bothering you a lot. I've definitely done it a few times as I only have reflux for short periods of time, maybe 1-2x a month. But if you have consistent reflux, you should really be taking a PPI to manage these symptoms. The issue is that antacids neutralize acid, which relieves the symptoms right away BUT then your cells produce even more acid because the pH in your stomach has risen. But the PPI actually blocks acid production, so you don't get that rebound influx of acid.

I didn't need it, although I've heard if you have a very large stomach, some mild support is helpful to relieve the pressure on the wounds from gravity. But in that case I think pantyhose/Spanx or just yoga pants would be enough. I personally only had any sort of noticeable pain for the first 2-3 days, when you are lying in bed, anyway, so I don't think there's much use spending $ on a compression garment.

Couple of things I can think of. The main reason acid reflux happens is because the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) - the ring of muscle right at the end of your esophagus and the top of your stomach - is not functioning properly. Normally, it's closed tight at all times except for when you are swallowing something. If there's any sort of problem with it, e.g. the nerves in it or some of the muscle itself were damaged during the surgery (which often happens to a small extent), it will have trouble closing or staying closed. So, reason 1: surgical damage to the sphincter. Reason #2: imagine that you ate too much for your newly small stomach - the food will push both ways, and the upward pressure on the LES may cause it to open to some extent, pushing some acid back up into your esophagus. A reason I hear often on here is that the stomach is overproducing acid for the first little while because your cells don't "know" that there's a lot less stomach left. I don't know if I believe it that much. It would have to be an issue of quantity of acid rather then strength - stomach acid is about as caustic as it gets. The reason for that is that your stomach normally produces up to 4 liters (a gallon!) of Fluid a day, and your GI system reabsorbs/flushes it just fine. So I don't really understand why you would suddenly have a problem reabsorbing these secretions in your small and large intestines and having it go back up.

Every day, even though I'm basically maintaining at this stage.

OMG, I hate that "taking the easy way out" comment! No one's ever said that to me, thankfully, but just thinking about it gets me all riled up. I mean, how ABSURD. Imagine this exchange. - I live 20 miles away from work, so I drive every day - YOU ARE TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT! YOU SHOULD BE WALKING! - I enjoy meat, so every once in a while I go to the supermarket and buy a nice, juicy steak - YOU ARE TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT! YOU SHOULD GO BUY A CALF AND RAISE IT, THEN BUTCHER IT YOURSELF! I mean, the sheer IDIOCY of these comments....just think about it!

Ha, I remember that. I don't even think I could eat half when I first started having eggs 3 weeks out! More like 1/3. Now I can eat 2, but that's it.

Yeah, I think the only real rule out there is "don't eat junk food all day," really. I eat as many carbs as I want and I've had great results. But I think one other issue with bread is that in the first few months, it's one of the foods most likely to cause you discomfort. But I'm having an open-faced sandwich as I'm typing this, and it's not causing me any problems at all.

???? I'm not sure why. I mean, ANY surgery would technically put you at a risk of renal failure, but I don't understand the logic of VSG causing it, but lap-band not. I mean, I guess maybe with the VSG you are a bit more likely to be dehydrated (which can cause transient, reversible renal failure), but honestly, what are the odds of that happening and NOT being caught at the hospital - or even just by you on your own? I wouldn't worry about it. Your odds of getting renal failure due to diabetes from being obese are MUCH higher.

The only time I felt nauseous was the very first time I walked after the surgery - just an hour or two after I got out of the post-op recovery room. I walked about 30 feet and then I was like, WOAH! But that was the only time.

I just found a brand new, tags-still-attached blazer I got from Express a year or two ago. It's in pristine condition and a testament to how having a massive closet can actually be counter-productive and lead you to forget about all the awesome stuff you bought! I decided to post it here for a few days before listing it on Ebay. It's a light grey color, size 12. The price tag is for $138 - give me an offer. Shipping will be $10-20 depending on where you live and how fast you want it.