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My program askes for a 6 month wait. I followed that even though I LOVE wine and have a fairly large "collection". Two reasons, alcohol can irritate the healing stomach and they worry about transerring our addiction from food to alcohol. I am now part 6 months and have had a few glasses of wine. My tastes seem to have changed some... liking the 'meatier' reds now. Had a sip of brandy, but could tell that my stomach was not happy so I stopped!

Just a question to those drinking so soon after surgery - Are any of you worried about dehydration? I'm not that much of a drinker so I can't relate to the feeling of having to have a drink but it seems pretty risky since alcohol makes you urinate more than if you just drank water or another liquid. I'm not trying to be judgmental. Just curious is all.

I am hoping never to drink alcohol again because of the calories. My colleagues are frustrated by this development but I prefer being in good health. I would much rather drink a protein shake than alcohol.

.) Money - HAVE TO SELF PAY... credit is 545 not sure if i can get a loan or not??There are several on line medical loan companies, I am sure you would qualify, your interest rate may be a little high tho. 2.) my mom has the money, to LOAN me, but she is afraid she will need it becuz she is dying of diabetes.... etc.... Do you have a history of loans/paying back with your Mom? If so, draw up papers, and be sure to pay her back as agreed. If it is going to cause her extra stress at this bad time for her, I would try to find another way. 3.) Can I still live the fun single life... having drinks / wiine with friends, smoke a few ciggies with my martinis, going to lunch dinner with clients and friends... ??You will have a period after surgery where your eating will be curtailed, you will be on liquids only. And some Dr.s flat out refuse to take you on as a patient if you smoke...it increases risk in many ways. After you get past the liquid stage, you can eat just fine with your friends, you will just eat much less. You can drink, I am not sure if the amount would be affected or not, I have not drank to excess in several years (!). The one difference, is you will not be able to drink carbonated beverages, so will have to stick to other types of drinks. And keep in mind the small part of your stomach, may get irritated more easily with the alcohol and cigarettes than it would now. 4.) When I look at some of the lap banders, I see people who have lost tons of wt. but I dont see people who are really hard bodies, is it "impossible" or too hard to get a fit / tight body ?Most of the bandsters still posting here, are works in progress, the further along everyone gets the less we see of them! They are out living life! It is not impossible to get the "hard body" look, look up Telly's profile for instance...but not all of us are young enough to pull that off regardless how much we lose!!! But when you look in the mirror now, it is not a hard body you see obviously---so if you have a little excess skin, and end up wearing a 1 piece as opposed to a bikini---is it really worse than what you have now? Many of us will end up with Tummy tucks following this, but they can do wonders!!! When I had my LASIK eye surgery 14 years again, (before it was populaur) I was NOT scared AT all, cuz the alternative was worse for me... is this the same... thing???Well as you have stated diabetes is looking down the gun barrel at you.....yes this can be life changing, some habits will have to be changed. But it is nowhere near as drastic as the life changes diabetes brings....nowhere! Not to mention all the other health issues obesity leads to as well. All LASIK saved you from was glasses---this can literally save your life! But, I know it's not, I cant do anything anymore, and I am missing out on so much in life.... free tickets to the Broncos, Avalanceh, games, ... wont go, cuz the seats are too tight... ; Free Airline Tix, - wont go cuz the seat is too tight; Camping, Hiking --- cant go with my frenz cuz I cant breathe!!! .... I have sat in the new Invesco Field seats, and know I will fit better now. I have ridden many rides across the interstate at Elitches, and I have avoided many more, being afraid I would not fit. This summer? I am riding them all! I am back to riding horses, I can walk anywhere I want without losing my breath....hell I can run when I have too!!! You are in a great city, there is lots to do---but you will enjoy it all more, and for many more years to come, if you can gain control of the weight issue, and therefore the health issues. No one can make these decisions for you, it is a decision you have to research thoroughly, and make it an educated choice. But with your family history, and the fact that the weight is controlling your life in negative ways---it sounds like it is time to make a change, whatever the change may end up being. I would recommend banding to anyone! I love the control it gives me over my life. I can live normally, and eat normally, I no longer feel frantic and starving---and I see a future for myself, watching my grandkids grow up...life is getting better and better!!! Good Luck in your decision making. Ask any questions you may have---the support here is awesome!!! Kat

I am a long time lurker here, just completed my surgery on Monday with Dr Illan. I had some time to kill this morning before my flight so I started writing about my experience. I have some time to kill in the airport so I am sharing it with you. Hopefully you find this helpful. If you have questions, I will do my best to help. The arrival into San Diego was uneventful. We wanted to be early, so we arrived on Saturday for Monday surgery. Rented a car and checked into our hotel, Holiday Inn Bayside. The hotel was fine and only 5 minutes from the airport. We wanted to make a date weekend out of the experience pre surgery. I booked tickets to a comedy show the week prior, so we went up to La Jolla, and laughed our butts off. There was a two drink minimum for everyone, since I was on liquids only, I enjoyed my 2 $4.50 bottles of Water. After a great evening, we stopped at Vons and picked up some Protein shakes, almond milk, and water. As a show of solidarity, my wife decided to do the liquid pre-op with me. She had the RNY procedure in the states about 9 months earlier. Once back to the room, we unpacked, and my wife whipped up another Protein shake for us with the blender she brought. Crashed for the night and made plans for a busy day for Sunday. I wanted to stay busy to take my mind off being hungry. We love our kitties, and when I found that there was a cat café in San Diego, there was no way to tell the wife no. coffee, and we hung out with all the kitties needing homes. If you like cats, I highly suggest you try it. It was a little different than the ones in Japan, but you got to meet different kitties, and relax with them. After that, there was a small farmers market set up just up the street. The food smell was killing me, it smelled amazing, as pretty much everything will when you are on the liquid diet. We walked through there for a bit, and then headed to our next activity. We wanted to do a tour of San Diego, but didn’t want to go the traditional route. So we settled on Gocars tours. Mexico before. Her phone beeped a few times and it was Bill Yanez, letting her know that some idiot tried running from the US police across the border. I guess he did not know how bad Mexican jail is supposed to be. So instead of a delay free crossing into Mexico, there was a slight 5-10 min delay. Once across the border, it was only 10 minutes or so when we arrived at florence Hospital. I would not describe the hospital like anything I have seen in the states. It appeared like a 3 story large clinic. The entrance part was not the most welcoming, and for a moment I questioned what I was doing, but as soon as we pulled in. Pedro's smiling face greeted us and happily started unloading our bags. Within 5 minutes we were in the room where Bill Yanez greeted me. We chatted for a little bit and I warned everyone that the IV would be the scariest part of the whole procedure for me. The hospital itself is rather small. The floor we were on only had 8 rooms and was not very large, perhaps 50 ft from one end to the other. The hospital was very clean. The room I was in had 2 hospital beds, a day bed, and a recliner. It had the nicest bathroom I have ever seen in a hospital, sporting new tile, and a rain style shower. Bill introduced us formally with Pedro, our personal concierge and guide while at the hospital during the day, and Rosa, the medical team leader from Florence Hospital. Fernando Jr. was our night concierge at the hospital. In only a few minutes more, I was signing paperwork. There were copies of most of the paperwork available in English, but the hospital only would process it on the Spanish paperwork. Rosa was incredibly sweet and caring. We swapped stories of my love of Mexican food. I had no longer finished the paperwork when Rosa handed me a gown and a set of compression stockings, and I was told to get ready. About that time, I got to meet Dr. Illan for the first time. Dr. Illan is very well dressed, extremely caring and understanding. He speaks English very well, and takes his time to understand your questions and make you feel comfortable. He took his time explaining the entire procedure to me and my wife. After our discussion, Rosa reminded me again to get dressed. They don’t waste time there. Once I was dressed, I was wheeled down to Radiology. The equipment seemed a bit dated, but functional. It was not the best decorated room there, in fact, it was in need of a major redecoration. I was only in this room for 2 visits for no more than 10 min each, so I was not that bothered by its appearance. The radiologist, whose name I do not remember, seemed a little short on time, but was friendly. His English was the only one I had a little difficulty with. After the chest xray, it was back up to the room to wait. I cannot remember if the IV was before or after the radiology department, I reminded them that I was terrified of IVs and they were able to combine the blood draws and IV in one operation. It made 2 separate terrifying events into only one to get it over with faster. They were able to stab me in one shot. Once that was over, I was able to relax for a few minutes. It wasn't much longer that they put something in my IV to make me drowsy. I hugged my wife good bye and was wheeled to the operating area. From entering the hospital to rolling to surgery was maybe an hour or so. I remember being wheeled to a wall, that had rollers on it. The wall was the height of the bed, and the rollers made it easier to transfer me through the wall from my transportation gurney to the pre op surgical room gurney. I was pretty dizzy at this point. I could have been there for 10 minutes, or 10 hours. It was probably closer to the former. I remember being wheeled into the surgical theater and seeing three large round lights above me, and being moved onto the operating room table. I remember it not being the most comfortable on my back, but I was completely zonked out at this point. The next think I remember is waking up back in my room. I remember I had an oxygen mask on that was annoying me, and my wife right there as I was waking up. I was not even fully conscious before she was encouraging me to walk. I am pretty sure I was no that pleasant to be around. I was pretty much still in a fog. I remember taking the oxygen mask off and being grumpy. When I was more clear, I was encouraged to walk by everyone. I was in pain from the gas used to inflate you for surgery, but walked little by little. First trip was only one lap around the floor, but after day 2 in the hospital, I was able to do 10 no problem. Walking gets the gas from your stomach and your intestines out. It will be a pain in the butt, but you will need to walk as much as you can. Trust me you will feel better after walking. The rest of day 1 was spent napping, walking, and recovering. Don’t plan on sleeping too much in the hospital since you will have someone coming in every hour or 2, 24hrs a day administering meds, and checking vitals on you. Take it easy, walk, and recover. The 2 days in the hospital will be boring. Pedro took my wife for some yummy Mexican food while I was resting. The hospital has blazingly fast wifi. We were able to easily stay in communication with friends and family back home via email and facebook messenger. I didn't use the wifi too much for entertainment at the hospital, but my wife reports she was able to stream videos easily. I don't really watch tv, so I am not certain what the tv options are in the hospital. There is a tv there, but we never turned it on. Honestly the afternoon after the surgery and the following evening were a blur. I do remember some pain right after surgery, but they were there with meds to help immediately. The next day was spent back and forth with chatting with my wife, resting, and more walking. Did I mention you need to walk a lot? I met Dr Flores, the attending physician that evening. He checked the incisions, and reminded me to keep walking. He was also very attentive and answered all of our questions. Mid-morning the morning after surgery, Dr Illan came to visit. He described how the size of my liver and how the pre surgery diet helped it shrink considerably. If there is anything you can do to help yourself, PLEASE follow the diet exactly. I did not cheat once. It was difficult, but after he told me how much the diet shrank my liver, it was worth it. I wanted as little chance for complications as possible. He said he can always tell when people cheat on the diet, and could tell I was being truthful when I told him how I did. Prior to the surgery I asked him to take any videos and pictures of the procedure he could. He showed me a video of the stapling, he showed me a picture of my stomach after it was removed. It was amazing to see all the blood vessels on it. The videos were funny, because you could hear light mariachi music in the background in the operating room. Dr Illan said the surgery itself only took 34 minutes to complete. After he left, the attending nurses had me take a shower. Once cleaned up, they carefully removed my bandages, sanitized the incisions, and reapplied new bandages. My wife observed so she could do that for me in the next few days. I was wheeled back down to the strange radiology department for a leak test. They had me drink a small amount of a clear liquid and shot xrays of me. Once those were clear, I was taken back to the room. About 10 minutes later, a tray of hot tea, Gatorade, and apple juice was brought in. I was so happy to drink actual liquids again. It is hard to describe the feeling you will feel when you first drink on your new stomach, you are just going to have to experience it yourself. Take your time, small sips, don’t slurp, and do anything you can to avoid gulping air. You will be tempted to take large gulps like you were used to, but those days are over. We brought 1oz cups and poured the liquid in those. About half of one of those cups was the amount of liquid I could swallow at that time. I am up to almost a whole cup now. Your stomach capacity is obviously smaller, but the swelling in your stomach further reduces it. Try to take in too much and you will be sorry. There is no reason to rush. More rest and more walking and sipping made up day 2. At this point, I was pretty sick of the hospital. It served its purpose, but I was ready to be outta there. Dr. Flores, the attending physician came back by Tue evening and cleared me to go home wed AM, as long as there were no further problems overnight. Another night of hourly checks followed, so no real restful sleep. I normally sleep on my side, and with the IV and width of the bed, it was not easy. Before I knew it, 9am was here and was up. I showered again, had the bandages changed again, and my wife had already packed. We were loaded up with 2 others from Bariatric pal and at the recovery house by 10am. Before we left, my wife gave Pedro $40 for his assistance. Either Pedro, or Fernando Jr was available 24 hrs a day. They sat in a waiting area just outside the hospital hall waiting to get us anything we wanted, or take my wife anywhere. It was very reassuring having them there. We arrived and it looked like a typical Mexican villa. They are U-shaped block of 6 apartments surrounding an atrium. The entrance is guarded by gates and cameras for security. Bariatric Pal owns all but 2 of them currently. The other two are owned by a small dress shop, and a musician who is never there. We weren’t certain exactly what to expect. We were given the choice of the holiday inn or the recovery house. Since I travel for a living and have already spent over 20 nights this year in Holiday Inns, we chose the recovery house. When we got to the house, we were pleasantly surprised. We were introduced to Juanito (aka Johnnie) who would be our daytime guide, more about Johnnie later. We were given the choice of apartment 5 or apartment 6, our ride mates got the other one. They were both very nice. They had a leather sofa, a leather recliner, dining table, full refrigerator, microwave, stove, 2 bedrooms, each with its own air conditioner and heater. The houses were recently rebuilt after flooding destroyed the old ones. There is a market just up the street that has coffee, Snacks, etc, as well as a great stand for pozole which Johnnie kept me from visiting. He said something about ruining my new stomach or something The recovery houses were furnished with satellite tv in each bedroom, very high speed internet, a local phone, and a Vonage phone you can use to call the USA for as much as you wanted for free. Your friends and family can call you on it too. It has a California number so it won't cost them more than calling CA. Next to the phones there is a list with everyone's contact number so you will never feel alone. We promptly called family and let them know that we were doing great. I was pretty tired, but also hungry at this point. We rested for a few minutes, then Johnnie was at the door to take us to lunch. The walk was maybe 4-5 blocks. He took up to the seafood restaurant, Cabanna. They had an awesome shrimp broth that had the flavor and the warmth to make my new stomach relax. My wife had a Jicama shrimp taco, and Johnnie had Jicama and apples. While getting to know Johnnie, he explained, like everyone else, that walking is good to get out the residual gas, and the shrimp broth helps more. He said just let any burps fly, holding it in to be polite is bad, he said he is used to it. He also offered sound words of wisdom. "As you recover, don't ever trust a fart". Wiser words have never been spoken. Johnnie grew up in the neighborhood, it is evident, everywhere you go with him, people are waving. You can tell he really loves what he does. He had us laughing at every moment. He is a true character, you will love him. We stopped by the grocery store on the way back from the restaurant to pick up liquids for me and food for my wife. Remember to always keep sipping liquids. Dehydration is not something I wanted to deal with. For once, I was not the one carrying the groceries, I had a medical excuse! Johnnie asked if we got our medicine package from the hospital. We had no idea what he was talking about. He was on the phone instantly, and before we got outside the grocery store, he had it arranged to meet us at the house. We got back to the recovery house, and I was finally ready for an uninterrupted rest. About 10 minutes after arriving, Bill comes by to welcome us to our new home for the next few days, we chat a bit, and then I finally get to crash into that comfortable bed that was calling my name. A good 4 hrs later I was much more refreshed and energetic. My energy levels doubled by the day. Paola, the nutritionist was there to meet with us to discuss diet following surgery. She detailed what I could and could not eat, and laid out a plan for me to follow in the next few weeks. We discussed the progression from Clear Liquids, to shakes, to purees, to soft foods to normal foods. She stressed that I needed to take our time and not try to jump ahead. She stressed that processed carbs are not our friends. I was provided with an information sheet that detailed the first stage of the diet, full liquids, with the assurance that detailed information about the second stage, purees, would be emailed to me. Once Paola left, Johnnie introduced us to Fernando, our evening guide. Fernando is a bit more soft spoken than Johnnie, but was also very friendly and helpful. When we went for our evening broth run, it was almost like playing frogger getting across traffic, but Fernando was out there in front of the traffic blocking it for us. I don’t know how to describe broth as amazing, but it tasted amazing. Little did I know, there was even better broth to come. Later that evening I was talking to Fernando who does pretty much everything around the apartments from remodeling a new recovery apartment, to cutting the grass to maintenance, to guiding us around the area. I was chatting with him and found out that he is a very talented artist. He shared some of his illustrations with me and my wife and we discussed his love of skateboarding. Fernando is Fernando Jr's dad. I crashed early while the wife watched TV. The next day, Johnnie was taking us to do some sightseeing. Had someone mentioned sightseeing 2 days prior, there was no way I would have gone. By this point, I was feeling energetic and ready to do something. He set up a minivan for a taxi and we went with our BPal neighbors in the next recovery house. We left about noon, and headed for Las Playas del Tijuana. I wasn't sure what to expect. As we neared the sea, the temperature dropped, and the fog started rolling in. We drove along the border fence, I was cool to see it from this side. We enjoyed the fog and the cool sea breeze. I liked watching the tough seagulls battle the ratty squirrels over pieces of day old donuts thrown to them near the dolphin statue. I watched one cholo squirrel snag a piece, and cross the border to keep a seagull from stealing it from him. We went down to the boardwalk, and enjoyed more of the sea breeze, and ocean spray. It was peaceful down there. When everyone was ready, we went back to the taxi, and went to Avenida Revolucion. I had been there a few years prior, and it was miserable. The vendors were pushy, rude, and some were downright mean. Johnnie entertained us with stories about how he nearly got into fights with some of them that were harassing his patients. No matter what you wanted to buy, from sombreros, magnets, fake purses, clothing, Cuban cigars, etc, Johnnie knew exactly where to go, and what you should pay. Johnnie really loves his town and his job, and it shows. He had his head on a swivel constantly watching us and keeping us close. I called him mama duck, since he reminded me of a mother duck leading her ducklings and keeping them safe. He told us to not buy any alcohol or pharmaceuticals on Revolucion since it was a tourist area and overpriced. We were fairly hungry at this time, so he suggested Caesar's hotel and restaurant. This is actually where the Caesar salad was invented. Obviously we had to get those, well, everyone but the patients did. They made it table side. I couldn't eat any, but tasted a tiny bit of the dressing, and whoa, was it ever good. My wife got grilled shrimp on hers, and our BP friends got bone marrow which looked delicious. After lunch, we stopped by his Johnnie's friend's store, which sells the same stuff as every other store there, and got us all set up with goodies at fair prices. He let us know what a good price was to pay for everything, and everyone came out with good deals. His friend that owns the shop, looks like the dad from Pawn Stars. All of the nonsurgical patients were offered free mezcal at the store too. There was a really cool store just outside his friend's store that sold coins that were hand cut into jewelry. They were very well done and gorgeous. After that excursion, the next stop was the farmacia. This is where you need to buy your Omeprazole. It was 240 capsules for about $17. I bought some more of the sub-lingual pain tablets that the hospital provided, as well as some ointment that required a doctor's visit in the states. After all the fun of the day, we headed back to the recovery house I was worn out at this point and took a short nap. Once up, Johnnie told me to get ready for the best broth ever. He had to go, but ordered it for us. He made a quick phone call, and about 15 min later a guy on a scooter brought a bowl of broth for me, a bowl of the normal chicken Soup for my wife, and a quesadilla we got for Fernando. The smell of the quesadilla made my knees weak, but the broth was wonderful too. My wife thoroughly enjoyed her soup, large chunks of chicken, and veggies looked delicious. This broth was by far the best of all the broths I had on my trip. The best part was that they brought it to you, and that the entire meal delivered was less than $10 US! Before Johnnie left, I gave him $40 and thanked him for all of his hospitality and assistance. I gave Fernando $15 and bought him dinner. The broth was so good that I ordered it the next day for lunch. That pretty much summarizes the trip, I wrote this while killing a few hours prior to departing for the airport. You can have surgery in Mexico from anyone, but the experience of Bariatric Pal was well worth the small amount extra it cost. Their constant supervision of everything, making sure we were comfortable, entertained, happy, and healthy was greatly appreciated. We made several friends on this trip. It is an experience I would strongly recommend to anyone. Everyone bent over backward to ensure that we were treated extremely well. A year ago, I would have never dreamed of having surgery in Mexico, with Bariatric Pal, I am not sure why I would want to go any other way. Thank you, Dr Illan, Bill Yanez, Stacy Eckel, Johnnie, Fernando, Pedro, Fernando Jr, and Paola for making this difficult decision one that I will look back upon fondly. As my mom put it, you guys went to Mexico for surgery, and ended up making friends and finding a party. One last minute addition, at the airport, for you that are in want of clear liquids, there is a Thai restaurant called Saffron that will sell you a cup of chicken broth for $3. It is not on the menu, you have to ask for it. It was the only place in the airport we could find broth. It wasn't nearly as good as what was in Mexico, but when its the only option, and you are hungry, you can't be too picky. Thank you for sticking with me to this point, hopefully this will ease any fears you may have. Post a message up with any questions and I will help as best as I can. If this helped to make your decision, contact Bill Yanez to set things up, and let him know I referred you. John S. Tampa, FL.

Yet wondering...if I am consuming some alcohol but staying within my calorie requirements and exercising...will that slow my weight loss? I love spinning and core exercises, tabata, etcetera but I also like a couple glasses of wine a couple times a week. I'm keeping my food carbs low, too. Just wondering about others experiences. FYI--I am almost 5 months out. Down 63 lbs--275 to 212. Eating about 1000/ day and exercising 4-5 times week with good workouts IMO.

Your body goes immediately to burning the alcohol and not fat. So the whole time you have it in your system your body is thinking of nothing else.

Nooooo!!! Don't do it!!!! I know a guy that didn't wait until his year was up before drinkng and one night he thought he was dying!!!! He went to ER and they said the alcohol had started to eat his stitches/pouch away!! That's why your on this HUGE diet a year out b/c it takes your stomach that long to heal!

today i decided to actually write down what i have been through and how i've overcomed so i can see that i really, really have overcome some hard times and being overweight and getting healthy is my next hurdle to overcome. I started supporting myself and working at 14, I was fiercly independent. Had a loving family, however, they were very strict religiously and me being the oldest of 3 girl, I was often severly punished, borderline abusive. I decided to get my own apartment with a friend of mine, had already bought my 1st car and ran away from home at 16 (actually, just left a note saying I wasn't coming back and told them where to find me if they needed me and they chose to let me stay on my own). Was very, very wild, did everything I never was allowed to do at home. Drank, slept around, experimented with drugs....Met my 1st husband at 17, married him about a year later when I was 4 mo's pregnant. Had my darling baby boy at 18 and vowed to show him so much love he wouldn't know what to do with it. Unfortunately, my husband started to abuse alcohol and crack cocaine and once I figured this out, it was too late. When he was high he would hit me, throw things at me, strangle me, do so many humiliating things that after trying to leave him for years I finally succeeded. Stayed in battered womens shelter with baby till i could find place of my own. Husband continued to stalk me and anyone I dated he would beat up or intimidate them. Starting coming to my job threatening to kill me and to kill my co-workers and company got police involved and he began to chill out. Then he started again, calling me telling me he new where I lived and was going to shoot up my house or bomb it. Finally, he went to jail. I moved home for a while, but my religious parents kicked me out of the house because I would go hang out with friends or go to the club and drink with my friends. Once they kicked me out (they kept my child, which I didn't fight at the time, because I was so tired and trampled I just wanted to worry about me for a while - which was horrible, selfish and completely unfair to my baby but I was 21 and stupid). My life became all about drinking and going clubbing all the time, left child a lot with parents. Started to get my shit together at 22 then went to prison for a year because of drug smuggling for the Jamaican mafia (don't ask!?!) an airplane with a 100 lbs of weed (stooopid choice). I had had a job and everything but my partying and care of my son was cutting into my budget and I insanely thought I could get away with doing this outrageous act! Prison was so difficult as I was in a city where I knew no one and I DESPERATELY missed my child and was so ashamed of what I had done. I had never even had a ticket and it was such a crazy time in my life. I got out of prison and got my child back, got on welfare, got section 8 housing. Soon I found a a job paying $7 hr it was very difficult because I tried to be honest at first on applications asking if I had ever been convicted of a felony. Then, I got a better job paying about $15 hr. I was able to get off welfare and get my own apartment no longer on public housing at 25. Then life came crashing down around me again. The company I was working for got shut down and I stupidly started selling crack (another great decision) then I started doing it myself! How could I do this after seeing my ex-husband and so many friends become so sad and drug addicted and lose any semblance of the person they were before? Why on earth would I do that to my child after having already went to jail and stay away from him for a year? Why would I take a risk like that? I have so, so much guilt and anguish over this and to this day I apologize to my son on the regular. My only guess is that I had not yet been diagnoed with being bi-polar and I was making crazy, crazy decisions with horrible repercussions. So, eventually I was addicted and spent a year doing crack, trying to hide it from my friends and family. It was the worst year of my life. I woke up one day and prayed to God for help, I just knew I couldn't do this to my son or myself. I quit cold turkey, and at 26 moved to new city with my child where my best friend was. She helped me greatly I love her and we are friends to this day (since high school!) Eventually, I met a man that was a few years younger then me and got into relationship with him that was full of ups and downs, hot and cold and I was so in love with him. I had dreams of marrying him one day, unfortunately, he did not love me as much as he loved his burgeoning rap career and his record label and his groupies (imagine that!) this relationship ended abruptly after a few years, worst heart break of my life, some of the worst pain I had ever felt and ate until I got fat. I then worked my up from a customer service position to doing sales for this .dotcom company. Eventually, I was making $50,000 a year - I thought this was sooo much money, and for me, it really was. I was finally able to really take care of me and my son the way I always wanted to. Fast forward to 29, met love of my life, he proposed after 3 mo's and got married 3 mo's later (now getting even fatter). At 31 I decided I wanted more of a challenge and felt I could make even more money and there was really no where to grow at my job. I applied, interviewed and was hired at another .dotcom and this has been my employer for the last 3 years. I now make around $120,000 + a year. ME, I did it, I actually made a success out of my life after all of that. I also bought my first house at 33... all this and never graduated from high school and never went to college, grew up in a poor burt loving family - beans and rice and top a ramen were normal meals. I was also sexually molested, me and my sisters were by a family friend for years when were were young, but that is another story. I was raped several times in teens and early twenties, yet, i still moved forward. Now 34, married almost 4 years (still in love), son is 15, raised a great, smart, loving, moral MAN and raising a lovely young 16 yr old step-daughter whom i adore. i'm loyal to my friends, and my husband. i'm smart, funny and will be pretty again once i lose 60 l bs. I CAN DO THIS! Oh, yeah and now I quit smoking which I have been trying to do since I was 17! Sometimes you actually have to write down and look at things in your life to learn from them, let go of them and forgive yourself. I'm so glad all of this is ANONYMOUS!

Is egg nog ok? Has anyone tried to drink this? I didnt use cream or alcohol. 1 raw egg 1 pkt Truvia 1 cup Lucerne Original Light Soymilk 1/4 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1- 2 sprinkles of cinnamon or nutmeg 300 ml total= Four 75 ml servings its not as thick as Protein drinks but i dont know why it kinda hurts (my back) as it goes down. Maybe i should add Water or something. My dietitian is supposed to call me tomorrow morning for a phone appt. so ill chill it for now and ask tomorrow. Next time ill have to try: Unsweetened plain soymilk Ice / water Use a blender. Drops of vanilla extract

I'm two years post surgery and I tolerate wine very well. A little too well. :-( I can tolerate beer but it makes me feel bloated so I don't enjoy it. Hard liquor (which is >20% alcohol for me) I can't handle. I get very sloppy very quickly. My suggestion to the original poster is to take a sip rather than a full shot at once. If you tolerate a sip or two, then do what you're going to do. But if you can't tolerate a sip, you definitely can't tolerate a full shot at once. Be careful. Good luck to you!

Hi. I'm just 5 weeks post-op. My NUT said not to have alcohol for about a year out. Just wondering if anyone with GB has tried drinking alcohol earlier than a year out, and what kind of reactions you've had. Thanks. It's the holidays and everyone's drinking at parties, and just was thinking about having a sip.

Do not drink it from the bottle. Pour it into a glass and let it sit for a while before you start drinking. Sip it slowly and see how you go. Some people handle it fine, others don't . Just make sure that the 1 beer doesn't lead to 2 then 3 then a bowl of chips, peanuts, chicken wings etc. The problem with alcohol apart from the empty calories is that it often causes us to make poor food choices as well.

I completely understand how that could happen! A direct path to the bloodstream! Imagine how silly I looked when buying flavored lube and standing in the store reading the ingredients looking for sugar. I got a few strange looks...lol. I'm super sensitive to any sugar, I used to dump before the rny because I had my gallbladder out in 08. I can't have any sugar at all even the sugar alcohols do it. Best part is now I no longer have to find excuses not to, thanks for the info!! :')

Make sure yours comes in SR, I went from 150 Extended Release twice- Daily Wellbutrin to. 100mg Slow Release 3 times daily. My depression is in submission, like an alcoholic I will never be free- but it's still GOOD, Tomkitten likes me taking them still, says I'm neater and sweeter to be around if I DO- so your frequency or strenght might change but nobody expects you to go Cold Turkey at this point of Life!

Hi everyone my surgery is scheduled for sept 20th. I haven't started the pre op diet yet but i see my surgeon on sept 4th. Per my insurance empire bc/bs i have to be one pound less than the weight i was in march. In March i was 240 now im 243. Is it possible that the insurance or surgeon will deny me. Covid has been rough stopped alcohol and marijuana and have been low carb for the last 5 weeks.

Your Doctor said you would become an Alcoholic????? Sorry but that stikes a nerve... I can understand substituting alchohol for comfort food but that doesn't make one an Alcoholic anymore that eating a cookie makes you a cookie monster!

Oh, Denise, I feel your pain. I had such a time with the UTIs for a long while. I finally had to take quite a bit of cranberry extract every single day (still do) and I think the most helpful thing was using wipes during/before sex. We change positions a lot and when we looked at things that might be causing all the UTIs, we finally thought that maybe it was worse when we were changing positions--esp. going from me on bottom (liquid goes down toward the bacteria) to me on top (bacteria + liquid go back towards urethra). So we started wiping with those sanitary wipes (like baby wipes for adults) every time we changed positions. At first it was a pain, but it really helps and now it's totally habit. It reduced the frequency of the UTIs a lot--I was on the verge of going on full-time antibiotics as well, and I didn't want to do that because of risk of getting resistant bacteria. BBK, I also have problems with BV which is what you are describing--yep, it's the pH, and guys with high sperm counts especially have relatively alkaline (high pH) semen which causes more problems for us. I used the boric acid suppositories but they didn't seem to help much. But I wanted to let you know that you don't have to take oral flagyl (metronidazole)--you can either take vaginal flagyl ointment for 7 days, or clindamyacin (Clindesse) vaginal for ONE day. So much better than weeks of not being able to drink alcohol! And do have your hubby treated with flagyl too--even though he doesn't have symptoms, he can still be passing it back to you. That does help as well. It's such a pain.

After 3 weeks could you have just one drink of alcohol or would it make you sick Sent from my LG-H811 using the BariatricPal App

How long before you can have a drink? I forgot o ask!!! Any feedback!?!

Let me rephrase this a little... Because my doctor didn't just say, "You will become an alcoholic." He was basically giving me facts, about how most of us have an addiction an it's food, that's our comfort an go to. When we can't have certain thing we try to replace them with sonething else.. Like alcohol. Statistics show that 34% of wls patients that drink to early after surgery continue to keep drinking more than they had prior to surgery, an 15% end up doing rehabilitation programs for alcohol instead of over eating. He basically was giving me facts an letting me know the statistics of what others have gone through. I have been looking for these statistics online to post link but I can't seem to find.... Sooooo idk if dr was pulling my leg or not, but to be honest I really dnt care. It's not a crime to have a drink every now an then, so I will continue. #BottomsUp

I miss alcohol too. I personally think you should wait until you've loss the wait you want to lose. Alcohol has is sugar and it'll kill your weight loss.

I'm so sorry you no longer have the friendship with your friend that you used to have......and it IS healthy to acknowledge that heredity does play a part in the fact that your friend is drinking (like her father)....is there any way that she would accept help? I assume you have been there/done that....will keep her in my prayers also......no one deserves a life of alcoholism....it really is NO different than being addicted to food....same struggles, different reason..........'maybe' if you shared your lap band info with her it would help? She will see that you, too, have a struggle of your own and are doing something about it......just a thought

Seems like my tolerance for alchohol has diminished since being banded. I had a couple of glasses of wine a few weeks ago and did not eat much. That old feeling of the room spinning and saliva buildup in my mouth came back. I was lucky, no barfing. Hope you're alright and learn your lesson. I think I've learned mine. But, you know, this alcohol thing can rear it's ugly head out of nowhere so being a person in a glass house, I won't throw stones your way

If you have c-diff one of the worst things you can do is to take immodium or something to prevent you from having bowel movements. I hope you do not have it. I have had it twice and it is nasty sh**. It can be difficult to get rid of hence the name difficile. Good luck. Flagyl is one antibiotic to treat it. It is one of those pills that dissolves very quickly and tastes pretty bad. You cannot drink any alcohol with it. I forgot and took a sip of communion wine and got sick. I am allergic to flagyl so have to take vancomycin when I get it. Vanco is avaiable in capsule form. The first time I got it, it was only available in oral suspension. Vanco is very expensive prescription. In 2005 the last time I had to take it was $1,600 for a two week supply. If the test comes back negative but the symptoms still persist, ask for a retest. I have had tests say negative and then retest shows positive.