hope@50plus

Tiffykins, You are so much younger than I, yet so much wiser. I enjoy reading and learning from your posts. I just printed out your "guidelines for success". BTW, my husband is retired military and I had the best doctors do my sleeve here at Lackland. I am so happy for you and your pregnancy. Congratulations.

Congratulations, Tiffy. I will pray for you. (One military wife to another!!!)

I take Nexium. However, if I get heartburn and I need quick relief, I drink a cup of skim milk.

Last weekend I ordered a Vita Mix from qvc. Does anyone use one? If so, do you have any recipes that you good post?

I ordered a Vita Mix from qvc-my new best and dangerous friend!!! Anyway, does anyone else have one and if so what are your favorite recipes? My problem is I need to get more protein in. I was hoping the Vita Mix would help and help me eat more heathy. I am a teacher and I am waiting until the weekend to take it out of the box!! Thanks in advance for any recipe suggestions!!!

I had my sleeve on Dec. 6th. Most people who see me say I look great and the first thing they notice is that I am missing a couple of chins-LOL! Anyway, since my surgery, I have been "investigating" skin care and make up. I am 56 and I do not want to "age" because of my surgery. I know I will never be able to get plastic surgery (military will not pay) and I do not want to get a second mortgage-HA-HA. I am trying Philosophy Miracle Worker. It seems to be a good choice. Anyone else out there using it?? I ordered some bare minerals (the starter kit). Any opinions on that? I have dry skin, and according to the website, it works just fine for that. Any opinions or suggestions would be appreciated.

How do you get enough (60-70 grams) Protein in a day without drinking Protein shakes. I have been drinking a lot of skim milk and I hope that is helping. I eat eggs, cottage cheese, greek yogurt etc., but I still feel It is not enough. My hair has not started falling out (surgery was dec. 6th), but I think it will start. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

I had my surgery on Dec. 6th. I was not sure I would be able to eat my favorite food again, steak. The other night we went to Texas Roadhouse. I ordered the 6 ounce filet medium rare. I ate half of the steak along with a few bites of salad and bake potato. I had no problem AND the most important part was that I ENJOYED IT!!! I stopped eating when I was starting to feel full. I think I am getting the hang of this new life.

I have been able to eat regular food since my 1 month post op appointment-Jan 6th. The doctors and the nutritionist (military base-Tricare) just told me to take it easy. They said that the key is very small bites, eat slowly, and chew, chew, chew! Actually the medium rare steak was so tender it went down very easy. chicken is harder for me. My husband makes it in the crock pot (breasts) and it takes a lot of chewing! I told my husband to buy and throw in a thigh with his chicken breasts-he likes white meat. I think the dark meat may be less dry and easier to chew. Anyway, since I know I can eat my favorite "regular" foods in smaller amounts, I have NO REGRETS. I am definitely a HAPPY CAMPER!!!

I have to take a lot of meds. Today I crushed one of them and tried to eat it in applesauce-yuck. Any suggestions?

I was told at my orientation meeting that, for sleeves, you could drink right up until you eat. Then you could start to drink 30 minutes after eating.

Brown Cow! I get it at Wal Mart and HEB (Texas). Tastes more like the "regular yogurt". I think I will try the Go Lean Kashi mix in-sounds yummy!!

I am definitely going to Walgreens tomorrow. I gag every time I take a chewable (flintstone, Centrum, etc)

I was sleeved on Dec. 6th. I have lost 14 pounds!! Today I will be starting my "blended, pureed" phase of eating!!

Wow! Congratulations! I was sleeved two weeks ago today and I was also pushing my pain button and sleeping most of the time the first day.

I have found several places to order this product. Does anyone have a preference on best place to order? Thanks!

I have lost 10 pounds since my surgery. It is surreal.- (sleeved-on dec.6th)

I had my surgery one week ago today. (sleeved dec. 6th) I had some yogurt for breakfast. about a half hour later-watery stools. This is the 3rd time this has happened after having dairy. Since I have never had this problem before-am I becoming lactose intolerant?

I created a weight loss ticker using tickerfactory.com. I am not sure how to access it when I want to reply or start a new topic. Could someone explain this step by step:blink:

I was told by my doctors that when you get a vsg there is no dumping syndrome"> Hi All, I've been having an issue in the last month with what I suspect is dumping syndrome. I had VSG in August 2009, so I've lost all the weight and am below goal. That part is fine. I suspect this dumping issue started as the result of eating too much sugar after dinner. Last night and the night before, I ate what we call an Artisan Cheese plate. It's little tiny bits of different cheese (like an inch by an inch sizes) with a little fig jam and honeycomb (like a one inch sq. size of comb) with some water crackers. Not a lot of food at all, but man within an hour of eating I was getting not only the sugar rush, but rapid heart palpitations, adrenaline rush, sweating and shaky. At first I thought hypoglycemia, but that wasn't it, just same symptoms. When it happened a second time (yeah, after eating the same thing - I know, I know) I figured out it was dumping syndrome, or food moving too fast into the small intestines. I do NOT want a repeat performance. Now, in the past year I've certainly eaten dessert, sometimes frozen yogurt, if at dinner somewhere out, shared a dessert, and nothing happened. I've had this dumping scenario occur about 4X in the last month. It started with eating some soft butter brickle after dinner one night, but it was more like a feeling of just feeling awful, with no specific symptoms. Then it happened when I ate some Halloween candy (too many Butterfingers), but I figured it was just a sugar rush. But after eating the honey, I got the full on dump. Here's the weird thing: I ate this same Artisan Cheese plate at a restaurant at lunch time and had NO ISSUES, just at night does it come up. How do I AVOID having this issue in the future? And is it just a too much sugar problem? Please, hope someone has been through this door before and can help me with this. Thanks! </FONT></FONT></FONT>

I was sleeved on 12/6. I was told that when you are dehydrated, you may throw up. I had the "dry heaves" in hospital because I was not drinking enough Water. When I came home on the 8th, I was given liquid vicodin. Before taking it I sip some water slowly. Then I sip the vicodin slowly. After that I take Zofran for nausea -it melts in the mouth. Then I rest until it the pain subsides.

Today I received my surgery date from my doctor-Dec. 6. At first he told me to start my pre-op diet tomorrow-Thanksgiving-then I talked him into Friday-lol. My surgery will be at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio-(military) I am so excited. Bad news-my daughter had lap band surgery in July 09. She lost 80 pounds and weighs 110. Well she has not been feeling well the last few weeks. You guessed it-her band slipped and she needs a whole new procedure. She was self-paid back in 09; still does not have insurance. I am looking for a way to help her finance it. At the same time, I am trying to talk her into the sleeve-doctor told her that since she lost so much weight with band, he does not think sleeve is good idea. Any way, if anyone has a place I can get a loan for her surgery, let me know. If I help pay for it, then I will insist on sleeve.

I have not gotten my date yet, but it will probably be in December. I am nervous. I worry that I will still crave food the same way before the surgery. I hate the way I feel and look now. My cardiologist is very happy that I want to do this. I do want to live longer and be healthy, but I know this is permanent. I can't get the band due to a blood disorder, but after reading this forum, I don't think I would want to. My daughter has the band and she lost 80 pounds, but eating is hard for her. I am hoping that won't be the case for me. I am happy I can come here and read everyone's stories. I just want to know if anyone had regrets. Thanks. :thumbup1: