Stacy160

Wow, I'm surprised you weren't given any more specific guidelines than that. For me, I had two weeks of liquids, two weeks of purees, two weeks of mushies, then back to regular foods. Right off the bat I was supposed to get 70 grams of Protein a day, and the only way to do that right out of surgery is with Protein drinks. I had a variety.... chocolate, vanilla, a couple of nectar brands, and some Isopure. Counting all of that toward my Water intake, it wasn't too hard to hit 70 grams and get my water in, although calories typically were only about 300-400 or so. Nearly always in the evening, dinner was creamed Soup of some kind (strained if necessary), and my favorite was tomato. With a little dollop of plain Greek yogurt in it, it was HEAVEN after all the sweet proteiny stuff. Purees are pretty much soft solids and mushy stuff blenderized to thickish liquid consistency. Mushies would be soft meats such as moist fish, chicken or tuna salad, ricotta cheese, refried Beans (mixed with milk, can also be used in puree stage)... jeez, it's been so long now, I can't remember everything! I have to say, I was so dying for something solid by the end of the liquid stage, a couple days early I had a slice of American cheese that I'd let dissolve piece by piece on my tongue, and I had a bit of potato soup on day 13.

Research, research, and research some more, and you'll probably see why I personally have come to the conclusion that the band should be banned. I honestly would have no surgery at all rather than have someone put one of those things in me, with the unbelievably high complication and revision rate.

Yes... right after surgery you may not feel like eating or drinking anything, and you may have to make yourself do it--this goes away as the swelling goes down. You don't have to worry about malnutrition with the sleeve, especially if you take your Vitamins and minerals afterward (we absorb all our nutrients, but generally don't eat enough to get everything we need---then again, the general public doesn't get it from what they eat either). The complication risk is so low compared to what you will have to deal with in the future, that being any of the following: High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Hardening of the Arteries, sleep Apnea, Osteoarthritis, Diabetes, premature death, I'm sure I'm missing some big ones here. It is a big choice to make, but you're virtually guaranteed big problems down the road if you don't get the weight off one way or another. For those of us who have chosen to go ahead and have the surgery, most of us have tried time and time again over years and haven't been able to lose it or keep it off permanently. Even including people who had complications like a leak or stricture, I have never once seen a single person who wasn't happy with their surgery in the end. But you have to be really ready for it, at that point where you KNOW it's what you need to do and you WANT to do it, and have yourself prepared for how the first few days and weeks are going to be... just make sure that you're really comfortable with the decision before going for it, and you won't regret it.

I shrunk around, and the girls themselves are definitely saggier and more loose, but oddly, they still take a D-cup. I can squash them into a C, but then they're either wanting to bulge out the sides or wrinkling up all funny in the cup.

Oh, that sucks. I agree that you should see someone else... maybe someone who's not only a little more competent with the sleeve, but a little more informed? I mean, he thinks the DS is safer, with all the extra cutting, sewing, re-routing, and malnutrition?? Wow. Sounds like he's resistant to change and afraid of anything affecting his "status" as such a great surgeon. Here's something else to keep in mind: He'll get paid quite a bit more for doing RNY or a DS than he will with a sleeve, which is really very simple.

Implants would be fine, and most people don't have any issue with nursing after getting them. I'd hold off on the tummy tuck though. Your skin is already stretched out and thinner then it would normally be. If they tighten that all up and then you get pregnant, it'll be stretched even thinner and you'll have stretch marks from hell and still have loose skin again (although probably not as much as after losing weight). You don't want to pay for that just to end up with it all again after having kids...better to wait and get great results and be the mom that all the other moms are jealous of.

:lol: I can't wait to see that!! I've seen loads of RNYers gain all their weight back, too. That pouch just stretches and stretches, plus the ghrelin is still being fully produced, making them hungry and driving them to eat even when they're not (we're all familiar with that bit of fun, aren't we?). Lots of people make it work long-term, don't get me wrong--and I'd take it over a band any day--but lots and lots also can't maintain for crap. I really, truly believe the sleeve is THE way to go for anyone who's not really SMO, and for a few of them the DS might be more appropriate (but we've seen people lose 200+ lbs with the sleeve only!), but all the nutritional and digestive problems would still scare the crap outta me.

How awesome, congratulations!! If you thought VSG was a wild ride, wait 'til you see what parenthood brings you. Enjoy your pregnancy, it's such a special time!

It TOTALLY makes sense... I knew in my head that this would work, but while I was still in my 'familiar zone' of weights that I'd been over the last few years (from my highest at 258 to the lowest at 206), it was all "been there, done that". It was hard to really feel and believe that I'd keep going past that after so many failures, and I even had a little bit of anxiety as I started approaching the 200 mark. But when it passed and I saw 198 on the scale...WOOOOO!! That's when I really, really started to feel like YES, this is really gonna happen. It took getting into what by then was new territory before it seemed real. You're right though...you WILL get there and Celebrate getting into the 100s!

Our bodies HAVE fuel... it's the fat, which we want to burn, which is why we have surgery in the first place! "Starvation Mode" is a myth unless a person already has no fat to burn for fuel...then the body will cannibalize itself. But as long as you've got fat to burn, which is the body's first choice, you're fine. No, you won't be getting enough nutrients from food, which is why you'll be taking multivitamins, calcium, and possibly some other supplements.

Boy, those DS people. They love to come to the VSG board and spam it with their nastiness, too.... I'm sure there are some decent ones, but 90% of the ones I've encountered are just plain irrational, misinformed, and downright nasty. I've seriously wondered, and I'm not being facetious, if their nutritional deficiencies cause personality changes, because they seem to be the only group with such a widespread freak-thing going on.

Offhand I don't remember the exact number, but my BMI was just barely under 40 the day of surgery. The first month I lost 15 lbs, and another 10 the second, for a total of 25 the first two months. If you're comparing, you have to look at percentages, not number of pounds... someone starting at 250 and drops 50 lbs has a 20% loss, but someone starting at 400 and drops 80 lbs still has a 20% loss.

When I was running a lot in the summer (waaaaaaayyy back in the good ol' days... ), my favorite thing to have was Greek yogurt. I knew I was getting fuel, it didn't make me feel full, and just sat in there so nice and comfortably with no issues at all. Plain, with a little vanilla extract and Splenda. I'm planning on getting on the treadmill a little later today and I don't have Greek, but I do have Kroger Carbmasters (which, if you're not familiar with it, is like any typical "diet" yogurt, thinner and not real substantial, but good) so I think I'll see how I feel with that.

Thing is, at this stage, so early out from surgery, when you have that kind of thing you'll still see the weight coming off on the scale, simply because you're still so swollen than your restriction is ridiculous and you can't eat enough to bring the weight loss to a halt anyway. WATCH YOURSELF that you do not get in the mind-set of "Oh cool, I can still have these things and lose the weight!" because there WILL come a time when you WON'T. That swelling will go down, all your old habits will be back, and suddenly you're not losing weight anymore because the sleeve can't do the work for you if you're putting things in it that slide right through and let you keep eating. You must, must, must use this time to full advantage and keep on doing it the right way until you're at goal, if you want to make it there... that's coming from someone who's been at the same weight for four months and is only 12 lbs. away from her original goal. Trust me, do not go down that road.

Sounds a lot like when I used to wake up choking and unable to breathe from aspirating stomach acid. Yay, reflux! Thank God that's been totally gone since surgery. NOT fun.

I was self-pay and didn't have any kind of "program fee", but I see a lot of people asking/complaining about them (rightly so), and I think they're a big load of crap... just a way to bring in some extra money.

I feel like I need to kind of flush myself out... starting tomorrow, I plan to do at least a day of nothing but water (and vitamins), maybe two, then liquids for a few days. I just have that old familiar "icky" feeling and feel like I need to get clean again. Shockingly, after eating like total crap for the last couple of weeks, my weight on the scale dropped to it's lowest yet a couple of nights ago. Can't figure that one out at all, but I'm gonna take and run with it!

I haven't tried it myself, but I've seen people just rave about it (maybe here, but I think probably over at the OH vsg forum)... gotta admit, I'm intrigued!

I've never tried a VS bra on in my entire life... even when I was thin I felt like an ox in that store. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Carol Wior front closure lace bra though. I saw her on QVC for several years and thought it looked like a good one, but never ordered because they're regularly something like $28... then it occurred to me to see if I could find them on eBay, and I did.... I've bought many over the last 7-8 years for around $7. http://cgi.ebay.com/NWT-Carol-Wior-White-Lace-Hook-Front-Closeure-Bra-42DDD-/190484534991?pt=US_CSA_WC_Intimates&hash=item2c59c356cf That looks like the only one on there right now. They run true to size, they're comfortable, they give the girls a nice shape, put them where they belong, and most importantly, KEEP them there... there's no pulling and tugging to rotate everything back up where it's supposed to be through the day. The only other style of hers I've tried is the zip-front sports bra, which works well but runs a little on the small size. But this one here, that's my all-time favorite bra.

If I could have done it on my own, I wouldn't have needed the sleeve in the first place... 20+ years of trying and failing finally made me see that. I only wish I could have had it done years ago.

The skin's gonna do what the skin's gonna do, no matter now fast or slow you lose the fat underneath it, so you might as well take advantage while things are still in the "easy" weight loss stage, because trust me, that will NOT last forever.

It's completely different than childbirth, but still way less on the pain scale. My abs were very sore for 3-4 days, and I had brief sharp pain (maybe 5-6/10) when changing positions from lying to sitting for the first few days, but that's it. There were pain meds in my IV at the hospital, but I never had to take anything after I went home on day 2. Everyone's different though, as far as pain tolerance goes.... what feels like a mosquito bite to one person might feel like being impaled to another. If you've had 4 kids though, you should sail right through this.

It can happen if they make the incision around the areola... that's the best cosmetic result (hides the scar better) but you do run that risk. When it's healed though, the scar will be small (no bigger than an inch) and still hidden either under the lower curve of the breast or in the armpit, so it typically wouldn't be seen, so if loss of sensation is a concern for you, one of those approaches may be best for you. They've started doing the transumbilical approach since I worked in plastic surgery sooo long ago, so I can't say anything about that one with any kind of knowledge.

A prior tummy tuck will not affect your VSG or your weight loss in any way, other than that you won't have that fat to lose on top of everything else. If you're lucky, it'll be a good thing and you won't have as much loose skin there afterwards as you might otherwise have had!

I didn't have any nausea and very little pain, but I was still glad that my family left shortly after I got to my room, only because it was almost impossible for me to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time anyway. I wouldn't have wanted visitors after that, I don't think.