BlackBerryJuice

I am losing a bit more than I'm used to, but it's not too dramatic. Hopefully it stays this way. From what I've seen on here, people seem to lose for 3-6 months, and if I keep losing at this rate, I don't think it'll get to a point where it'd be obvious until like a year later. I just hope it doesn't grow in funny and different from the rest of my hair - I was born with thick black hair, and then it all fell out around 1 year old and got replaced with fine blonde hair, so the potential for some weird color/texture change is definitely there.... I've never had surgery until the VSG, so I have nothing to compare it to. But I don't remember losing hair when I was severely bulimic and doing 2-3 hours of cardio a day as a teenager - when I WAS actually severely malnourished.

OK, I didn't even think it was possible, but I somehow have some sort of infection in my scar - the rightmost one that's one of the smaller incisions. I noticed about 2 days ago that that scar was a little raised, whereas all my other ones are sunken in. It also seemed a bit redder, but didn't bother me otherwise. Then I was in the bathtub yesterday and realized there was pus coming out of it!:001_tt2: I just drained it - there wasn't too much, probably 1/2 a teaspoon at the most. I don't have any other issues there - no pain, hardness, redness around it, heat sensation, and it looks/feels like it's just the very top of my skin. Given that, I'm just gonna sit on it for a few days unless it suddenly gets worse. Has this happened to anyone? I'm thinking maybe I irritated it with my jeans' waistband and the blister got infected, or maybe there's a tiny bit of suture stuck there that's irritating it? I didn't notice any suture bits in there, but who knows.

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal Avilda .................270.............196..............184............12 (12-9-10 191 down 5) Back on track!!! BlackBerryJuice...........208...........155...........155..............0 (Dec. 19th goal - reached a week early!!!!) Brendasgonnalose 335......244.............235............9 ( 12-2-10 241 down 3) Chilo1.............216...................169..............154................15 (down to 165- so set myself another goal 160) Dansha...........220..................220...............195................25;) DJackson........246.................236...............220................16 Filosophia Scandinavia...205...205.............187...............17 (Will be sleeved on the 30th November) Fit ..................290.................250.8..............235.8............15 GayleSBennett ....232.................201................189...............11 Good Luck everyone! =) Juliarh............303.6.................236.6..............225................11.6 Kgremmy........225..................221..............199................22 (being sleeved 12/14/10) Labrys............238..................208.................193...............15 Laylasmojo......242.................200.6.............185.............15.6 LilMissDiva........247...............237.............226.8..........10.2 Lisalu..............210..................137..............130.................7 livelovelaugh....236..................216................196...............20 Maddie............257.................167................147................20 merieri............240..................206...............190................16 Mini-Me...........203...................126..............125.............1.0 Mommy2Girls....275..................256.............240...............16 mp8btpc.........199...................160...............145...............15 pattimomof3NJ.....203.4..........175.3............170...............5.3 to go! (start NY on an even number!) Pumpkin97....220...................150...............143...............7 (this is my goal for Jan 1 2011) Sleeve 4 me ...204...................170..............164...............6 Stacy160.........258..................174...............148...............16 StaySea........299...................299.................275.............24 twoboysandagirl..226..........212................199..............13(being sleeved 12/6) Yay, I reached my Dec. 19th goal (155) this morning! Went shopping yesterday and bought a nice size 8 skirt - I can zip it up, but need to lose about 5 more lbs for it to fit perfectly. I think I'll be able to wear it when I'm back from my holidays on Jan 5th!

I don't know what's with this protein myth...I mean, yes, you have to get a reasonable amount in, but LOTS of people (e.g. practically every vegetarian and vegan) eat only 40-50 grams a day and their hair doesn't fall out. It has to do with the surgery trauma. When you go through a major physical or emotional stress, your hair may arrest in growth and then fall out all around the same time (telogen effluvium). No amount of protein is going to do anything because the arrest happens within days of surgery. Of course, if you are eating like 100 calories and 5 grams of protein a day for months on end, then your new replacement hair actually won't grow in, but if your original hair is gonna fall out, it's gonna fall out whether you eat 20 or 100 grams of protein a day.

I have diet pop a few times a week. Doesn't bother me at all.

Man, my bootcamp pass expired today, so this morning was the last time my boyfriend and I could go....Friday night, I asked him to wake me up in case I wasn't up in time, and of course, I wake up today and realize it's already 30 mins past start time! The bastard didn't wake me up! Claimed he "forgot the time." Considering how many times he stated that he didn't wanna go the day before, I strongly suspect it was NOT a coincidence. I guess we're gonna head to the community gym tomorrow. I couldn't push myself as hard on my own as I do in bootcamp, but I guess I can do some jogging/sprinting and heavy weightlifting, which is different from what I've been doing for the past 5 weeks or so. ARGH!

I agree with this. I think it's also important to make sure you're 100% mentally ready and it's YOUR decision because the surgery may not work out as well as you hope it will. I doubt you'll regret this surgery assuming everything goes well. But imagine that you have bad luck and end up with a leak or infection and have to endure several months at the hospital. You have to make sure you are ready for this risk and if someone else made the decision for you, as a negative post-op experience could mean the demise of your relationship with that person, as you would undoubtedly feel a lot of resentment towards them.

Shows you how shallow people are. You are trying to get sleeved because of health and quality of life issues, and they already have everything you want, but are convinced they won't be happy until they look like these sacks of bones you see in fashion magazines.

Same here. Re: reversibility, I read that in 6 months, the newly folded stomach will fuse onto itself, so you can't really reverse it at that point. I think that if you are seriously expecting to regret your surgery in the first 6 months, you probably aren't ready to have the surgery, period. The only real upside to it I can think of is that since there is no cutting out and sewing things back together, there probably isn't such a thing as a leak with plication. That said, so few people get leaks if they go to a reputable surgeon and follow post-op instructions, I don't know if this is a major issue. I've seen people bring up the issue of stomach cancer with plication and how it could go undiagnosed for a while if it were in the part that was plicated. I understand the concern, but I don't think it's an actual problem. Stomach cancer is not very common in North America - hence why our doctors don't screen everyone for it - and the biggest risk factor is long-standing H. pylori infection (not very common in North America, either). It's easy to test for H. pylori, so I imagine this testing would be done right before the operation, and infection of the plicated part post-op doesn't seem like a real possibility. All that said, I'm open-minded about plication - I definitely don't think it's more dangerous than the sleeve - but I just don't know if there's any real benefit to it compared to the sleeve, and given how new and poorly researched it is, I'd rather go with the tried and tested.

I love your husband's (then-boyfriend's) reaction to your uncle!

The lowermost incision will be at your bellybutton, so any underwear should be fine...unless you like to pull yours up all the way to your bra, haha.

I was eating grapes like 6 weeks out, no problem....seedless, of course. I think they are fine, but try to clarify with your surgeon first.

Same here. I was a huge emotional eater pre-surgery, but now it's almost non-existent. Yesterday I was extremely stressed out, to the point where I punched a wall out frustration and now my hand's all bruised, and MAN did I suddenly get the old pre-op urge to binge....but while it was there, it was nowhere near as strong as it was before the surgery. I made a point of not eating anything until that went away, because I didn't want my brain to conclude that I was giving into that urge and revive the old patterns. Got through it fine. A Xanax would've been awesome, but I didn't have any, so I just played some computer games instead, lol.

I think the sleep issues you're referring to are due to the anesthesia. They are over in a week or so after surgery.

I only had problems with milk (not other dairy) and only right after the surgery. I don't remember when they went away, but I'd say after a month/month and a half? That said, I'm not a huge milk drinker, I just have milk in my Protein shakes (1-2 x a week, I prefer bars) and a small amount in my tea, which probably isn't enough to cause discomfort, anyway. ETA: in regards to your other question, my boyfriend and I go out to eat almost every day. I save the leftovers for Breakfast and lunch the next day - sometimes for as long as 5-6 days, depending on what it is. In fact, I'm currently eating some ravioli in meat sauce that I took home from a restaurant on Tuesday!

Haha! Yeah, it's a fine balance between eating too much and too little pre-workout....I've been on both ends, from almost vomiting to collapsing because of low blood sugar (all pre-sleeve, actually!). As far as protein shakes, if you are doing whey, they are best right after your workout, anyway - it's a fast-digesting protein and your muscles need protein most right after a workout.

VS is so overrated....I can't find anything that fits me, either, and my boobs aren't that saggy...they are probably the same as in someone who's never been overweight, but breastfed a kid. I just shop at Winners (the Canadian equivalent of Marshalls), and when I visit the States, I check out the lingerie department in big department stores like Macy's and JCPenney. They carry lots of brands, so there's always something nice that fits well. After you try on enough brands, you know which brands aren't made for you, e.g. Calvin Klein in my case - zero support and D-cup is hard to come by.

I bring salads home all the time. But I don't keep them longer than 1 day, they get gross afterwards.

Well, there are Americans being shot or kidnapped in America every day, so I'm gonna say you're safe. 100 million Mexicans go about their life with work, school, and chores every day and they do just fine. Just don't get involved in any drug deals....

Yeah, I'm also more concerned about size and I'm also one of those people who looks lighter than what they weigh. My original goal was size 8 in bottoms (pants, specifically - I have a huge @$$ and thighs). Right now I'm a comfortable 10. We'll see, maybe I can even fit into a 6 in some brand. Thinking back to my teenage years, I haven't been a size 8 since going through puberty, so it's hard for me to imagine what size 6 would be like on my frame. As long as it doesn't translate into bones protruding out of my boobs....I don't have much left to lose on my upper body!

Zone bars are my favorite kind. I like the dark chocolate flavors. These bars are not low-carb, though. Myoplex Lite are not bad, either, my favorite flavor is peanut butter. You have to read the labels on these things, a lot of them don't actually have that much protein for the amount of calories you are getting - you'd be better off with beef or turkey jerky in some cases. And a lot of the low carb ones have a ton of fat. I've seen some bars with 35 g of fat!