Shae

I read a post somewhere on here where someone else has a big bruise on their hip. Maybe it's from the way they moved you after surgery or something. Glad it's not your kidneys and also glad to hear that you are moving. Shae

My first thought is kidneys. I'm not a doctor or even in the medical field though so I can only draw on pre-surgical experience. I had a kidney infection a few years ago and the only symptom was pain in my back on the right side. With you not getting in all your Water, you may not be flushing out all the "stuff" in your kidneys. Sip, Sip, Sip as often as you can. For the first few days I had to carry water everywhere refusing to put it down. Every time I thought about it I would take a sip. I would definately get in touch with your doctor on this though. Movement will help too. I get "stove up" when I don't move enough. Even if you have low energy, make yourself get up and walk around the house a few times. It adds up, gets your blood pumping and makes you feel better quicker. This is the crazy part... exercising gives you more energy (seems to me it would use it up) and I have felt this. I hope this helps. Shae

Wow! I went to my post-op followup yesterday and my doctor gave me the all clear too. You said everthing that is going through my head. Uncanny! I decided after talking with my husband that I will try one "new" food every three days or so to make sure I tolerate it and stay on the loosers bench. Now the question is what do I want to try first? Thank you for posting this. Shae

Have you tried adding unflavored Protein powder to your milk? If you add some sugar free Jello powder to it you can make all kinds of flavors and still get in your protein. (Just remember that unflavored does not equal tasteless but it is pretty close depending on what you put it in.) I love skim milk but have developed an intollerance for it :nonod: Shae

LOL! I attributed it to a lack of teeth cleaning substances going into my mouth. Everything you have to chew (aside from candy and that sort of stuff) scrapes your teeth. It is actually beneficial to chew stuff like raw veggies or dense meats or crunchy things. I believe that during the pre-op liquids and one mushy meal a day and during the clears, full liquids, and mushy/puree stages, there simply is not anything to clean your teeth. Shae

I thought this was a good thing... Isn't Ketosis when you burn fat rather than carbs as energy? Or am I using the wrong word? I asked my doc today about Ketosis and he said I don't have to cut out all carbs but that if I did, it would accelerate my weight loss. Shae

I was awake when they wheeled me into the OR and had to get onto that skinny little table. I had a nurse on the side of me who was a life saver. She told me to look at her and nothing else. I did and she told me exactly what to do and how to do it. She saw that I was kinda panicky because the only IV they could start on me was a pediatric IV that was barely in my vein. They started to strap my arm onto the table and I told her I was severely claustrophobic and was starting to panic. Again she focused me on her and told me everything that was about to happen just before it did. They slowly pushed the "Mai Tai" concoction into the IV (burned a lot). then she said they were going to put a mask on me. My adrenaline kicked in obliterating the effects of the medicine and she assured me that I would be out within seconds. She told me to blow out all my air then breathe in as deep as I could as quickly as possible once they put the mask on me. She counted to three, I let it all out, the mask came, I did the deep breath panic type of inhale and that is the last thing I remember. The next thing I knew, I was being told to blow out as hard as I could and something was being removed from my mouth (I guess the breathing tube). The next thing I remember was holding my husband's hand (actually he was holding mine) and him telling me that everything went great. Shae

Could it possibly be the type of food you are eating? I have not experienced anything like this but I do know that if you eat something that your body does not like, it will get rid of it one way or another whether you are sleeved or not. Also, could you be constipated? If there is simply no room, then it has to come out somehow. You may have a blockage somewhere in your intestine. Maybe you could schedule a consult with another doctor in your area and see what they have to say. Most insurance will pay for a second opinion. If I were you, I would not rest until I had answers. Please keep us updated. I wish I knew more or could help in some way. I feel bad for you and really hope you get better. Shae

I just ordered both books. A perk is that while reading these books, I won't feel the need to eat or munch on something! Thank you for hte suggestions. Shae

Please don't apologize! They were tears of finally understanding me and why I do things that are unhealthy. They were good tears. I am so grateful to you. Shae

I was the same way (was? still am!). I am a beef person and use to joke that no cow was safe around me because I would gnaw on it! The first 8 days were torture (at least in my head) because I could not chew anything. Even my teeth would feel fuzzy and I had to brush them every few hours. Then I went to soft / mushy stuff and it felt like I was going to get through it finally. I'm mostly on all soft now supplementing with Protein shakes. Soft foods at least allow you to chew on something. I have two more weeks then I am going to try "regular" foods. Hang in there. It will get better. My theory is that if I can be pregnant for 9 months (twice) and if I can get through diapers (twice), then I can do ANYTHING! :Banane55: Shae

Efery doctor has a different opinion about when to eat (drink) what. It seems as though it will be up to you to discern what is best for you. I, too, am a protein-aholic. I thought I would have severe problems after the surgery because my NUT told me basically the same thing. However, on day two in the late evening, my doctor ordered a Boost splash that had 8 grams of protein in it. Once I was home, I started protein shakes on day 4. Your body will tell you if you cannot tolerate it by getting rid of it. My philosophy was to read as much as possible about the recommended time frames for each stage as well as what people actually did. You will be surprised at the range of information you will find. That is why I say you will figure out what is right for you, not the NUT.

"I'm pretty aware of how much I can and cannot eat now and simply stop--there will be more food available later if I need it." I don't know your name and the "Quote" thingy didn't work right but this was such a simple sentence, yet it has PROFOUND meaning for me. I grew up poor, really poor. There were times where I went to bed hungry and only got to eat at school. We fished on the weekend but if they were not biting, we didn't eat. We didn't qualify for assistance because my parents had a shrimp boat. Didn't matter that it was sunk in the canal behind our house. When we did have food in the house, there was no wasting. If it was on your plate, you ate it no matter how full you were. This went on from as early as I can remember until I was about eight years old and my Mom got her Nursing degree. By then, the "eat it all no matter what" mentality was stuck. In my adult life, I have never been in this situation. My parents instilled in me a solid work ethic and a strong desire for a higher education so that I would never be in that situation. However, the thought never crossed my mind that "there will be more food available later if I need it". I am in tears now (trying to hide it from my co-workers) because this makes perfect sense to me. There is a ton of food in my house so I will never go hungry. Why would I continue to worry that there won't be any?? Now the question is how to turn it off? How do you change the way you have thought about food for your entire life?

I am feeling the same way as you Chris (I was sleeved 10/19/11). I feel like I am being deprived of food. I was supposed to be on clears for 7 days, liquids for 7 days, and mushies for three weeks. I made it to day 4 on clears and felt like I was starving (in my head not physically) so I decided to move on to full liquids. That did the trick for about 4 days so I moved on to mushies on day 10. Here I am 10 days later and I find myself "topping off" as often as I can because of the head hunger. I fight with myself, I drink Water or a Protein shake, I occupy myself, but none of these things work. I am only 20 days out from surgery and already considering solid foods. I know this is bad and potentially dangerous so I have not seriously considered it yet. I am just saying what I feel. Sometimes I think that I will never succeed in beating this addiction. In the past, I have "beaten my addiction", or so I thought. I learned that I simply transferred my addiction to something else and ultimately, I transferred it to food. I agree with your alcoholic analogy. I was able to stop other things because I simply don't touch them but you can't just stop eating. I would take any advice on how to conquer my food addiction so that I do not sabotage my sleeve. Heck, I would love advice on how to transfer the addiction to something healthy like exercising or volunteering or anything. Just a thought... Can a person have their tastebuds removed? LOL! That would do the trick!

I have experienced this as well. Mine seems to be different from the experiences of the other posters to this discussion. I can have everything but milk. I don't get gassy, I get (Here comes the TMI...) explosive diarreha. It is really urgent too. Not fun. Prior to surgery, I could and often did drink up to a half gallon of skim milk a day because I really don't care for Water. Now, a single 1/2 cup is all it takes to trigger the intollerance. At least I know what to do if I get stopped up, huh? Sorry about the TMI...

I wish I knew who posted this so I could give credit to them because this is not my original idea but it is a good one. Try drinking with a spoon. Take a teaspoon (not a measuring spoon, just your regular smaller spoon) of any liquid every 5 minutes or so. The low calorie gatorade or Zero Water are good. Warm (not hot) tea works for some people. Also, I know this sounds like the same old same old but you have to move around. Not fast or for long periods but walk around the living room or out into the yard or back and forth through the house, etc. Do it as often as you can. It is amazing how quickly you feel better when you get moving.

Thank you for clarifying! I just could not figure it out for some reason.

My surgery went well but the hospital stay left alot to be desired. I, like many of us have no veins. I was black and blue on both arms and had some really cocky guys come in and dig and dig to try and get an IV started even though I told everyone that Anisthesia would have to use an ultrasound to get one started. I am 19 days post-op and still have bruises. I look like an addict or something. Luckily it's cooler so I can wear long sleeves. On the second day in the hospital, they said I had low potassium levels. The IV was disconnected because it was not in my vein. But they left it in for some stupid reason. I told the nurse this and she checked it with the saline stuff. It burned but went in. So she started the drip with set my arm on fire and put me in tears. I had to actually tell her to remove it. DA!! I still have a half dollar sized lump on my wrist. Then, she got even more brilliant. She came in with a horse pill that was 1 inch long, 2/3 of an inch wide and 1/4 inch thick. I am on day two less than 24 hours after the surgery and only allowed water. She broke the pill in half and made me swallow it. I choked and gagged and it came out onto the floor so she had to go get another one. Same thing. I managed to get the third one down. I hurt so bad that I had to ask for my liquid meds. She kept coming in every half hour trying to get me to take the second half and 3 hours later I was able to get it down. Then came the drain removal. I'm thinking that it may be a bit uncomfortable but I have a pretty high tollerance for pain so I'll be ok. Wrong! The lady said that removing it quick was the best way to do it because it causes the least amount of pain. OMG! she clipped the stitches and told me to take a deep breath. She said she would count to three and then pull. On two, she ripped it out. I screamed. Never felt anything like it in my life and I have two kids! It felt as though it whipped through and hit every organ along the way including my, um, female parts inside. I was in pain from it for hours. Finally, I got to go home. Once I got home, I took one dose of the pain meds that night and have not needed any more. One dose of tylenol the next night and none since. I'm so glad the hospital stay is over. I would go through it all again though. If I did, I would certainly not let anyone near me without the ultrasound and tell the lady to go slow with the drain removal.

I'm in. SW: 230 GW: 210 Goal: 20 lbs I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!! Shae

Have you tried Viactive? It's 500 mg of Calcuim plus vitamin D. Best part is they are softchews that are delicious. Chocolate is my favorite. They also have caramel.

As of today, I am 19 days post-op. So far, I have ahd two NSV's. 1.) This may be TMI but... sex feels so much better because my husband can get closer to me. I can breathe with his weight on me rather than having to gasp for air. 2.) Cleaning out my closet. I took out everything that was too big for me and ended up with 10 (TEN) stuffed Walmart bags. I took them to the resale place to try and recuperate some of that money for new ones! I went from a tight 24W to a slightly snug 20W. I have lost 28 lbs total, only 10 since surgery but that is an average of 1/2 pound a day post-op.

I can't wait to get there. Your pictures are inspiring. I was in a tight 24W and now I am down to a slightly snug 20W. I cleaned out my closed of everything that was too big for me yesterday.... I took 10 STUFFED Walmart bags full of clothes to the local resale shop (I am required to wear business casual at work so I have to recouperate some of that money). I was amazed that clothes I was able to wear 2 weeks ago were falling off of me!! WoooHooo! BTW, I understand the concept of an NSV but what do the initials stand for?

Is there an MTF in your area? If so, call to see if they have a bariatric department. If they say no then ask for general surgery to see if they have any bariatric surgeons. This is how I had to go about it here at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS. They don't have a bariatric department but they have bariatric surgeons. The MTF can do the sleeve without needing Tricare approval. I have Tricare Prime and got sleeved 10/19/11 at Keesler.

I'm Shae and I was sleeved 10/19/2011.

Remember that everything happens for a reason. It took me five years to finally get sleeved. Throughout that time, I got close about five times only to have things fall through. Finally, I got information that allowed me to have my surgery done at a Military Treatment Facility (my husband is retired after 20 years in the Marine Corps.) and paid $0.00 for everything. Do your best to have the sleeve done but please realize that if it doesn't happen, it may be because something better is on it's way. You didn't mention insurance but more and more insurance companies are beginning to cover the sleeve. Be careful with the MEdical credit cards. Some of them charge outrageous interest rates (last time I checked CareCredit was at 11.9%) and you can end up in financial trouble. Especially if you make a late payment and they jump the interest rate to 25% or more. Some ideas I have for raising money are yard sales, babysitting, house cleaning, shopping for someone, baking Cookies or whatnot to sell at the farmers market, offering tutoring services at the local school, ... you get the idea. It's slow going but it would serve to get you moving a little which is hard when you don't have energy and you would be earning money that you don't have to pay back. It's hard to keep getting turned down or to have things seemingly worked out only to have it fall through. But you can get through it with the knowledge that it is for a reason and even though you don't know the reason, it has to be good.