Oregondaisy

Thanks Elizabeth. Surgery is scary. LP surgery was not that scary for me, but this one is. For one thing, I will be completely alone down there, and another, it's a little freaky to think they are removing a lot of your stomach and there is no turning back from that.

I think the internet has opened up a whole new world to find people. Even when I was thin in H.S. I was always afraid to approach guys. They approached me or we didn't talk. My last two relationships were guys I met on dating sites. It's nice because you can weed them out through emails fairly quickly to find out if they are jerks. The guy I mentioned it a post above last June and I are still together. He is a great guy and we are really happy. There is no way we would have met if it were not from match.com. He is a homebody and so am I . We would never have "just run into each other" anywhere. I suggest everyone put up a profile and start having fun looking through profiles in your jammies with no make up. On the other singles thread, there are 3 of us who are still with our bf's that we met online.

Great Post! People are afraid of the sleeve because they think they might regret it and there is no going back once they remove all that extra stomach. It does scare me when I think I might not be able to eat the size of portion I want, but then I remember it's the size of portion that I need. Any other size portion makes me break out in big rolls of fat.

Thanks for the warning on the cold room. I had just asked my daughter which robe I should take. I have a cotton one that is like bedsheet material. I think I will take the fleece one. It's not that heavy, but I get cold easily. I am so glad to hear those tumors were benign. I so wish all of us had been there at the same time. I am glad we are going through this fairly close together though. You are both teaching me a lot of what to expect. Lucky for me, the plane ride back will not be all that long. but I do have to change planes and take a tiny plane back to the town I am flying in and out from. Can we put any protein powder in the tomato soup? I am really worried about my hair falling out again. It's still so thin from LB surgery.

Do you guys think I should get the spinal instead of the general? I have had both in the past. I had general with LB surgery, but my dr. gave me a patch to put behind my ear the night before which he said would control nausea. I had a spinal with a C section and it came up too high and I could not tell if I was breathing . the whole thing was very freaky and I would be afraid to get another spinal. do they do epidurals with these surgeries? I am glad to hear you are both coming along great and I can't wait for all the continued up dates.

I am glad to hear that it didn't sound very painful for you Elizabeth. I so wish I could have had my surgery at the same time as you and Susan! I will be anxious to hear how you're feeling over the next couple of weeks, since I have no idea how much time I will need off work. Please keep us all posted!

I only took the papaya tablets if food was stuck and nothing was going down. I usually walked around wtih my hands in the air, stretching upward to try to make the food pass first, before chewing up the tablets. This worked sometimes. By stretching upwards, it opens the area where the food is stuck. If it didn't work, I chewed 3-5 tablets and waited for the food to disolve. I never use them anymore. I have learned to chew well and nothing ever gets stuck anymore.

Susan, It's so good to hear you're on the other side of this surgery. I am on pins and needles too wondering about your liver. The band is out and you're on the road to recovery! Yay! Yay for Dr. A and Yay for sleeve surgeries! We will all be such happy people once we are all losing and living with the sleeve!

I can't wait. I went out to pizza with my dad daughter and SIL last night I am banded and I was able to eat an entire salad, 3 pieces of pizza and one slice of sour dough bread. That is just wrong. How can they call this restriction? The band is pretty worthless until it's so tight you can's swallow your own spit. If I were to get a fill, I would go back to throwing up in my sleep. No thanks. Sleeve here I come!

Hey I have a question that might sound like a dumb question. I have looked at pictures of sleeve stomachs but the part I don't get is the end of the stomach. I guess I need to keep looking at pictures. The stomach ends and the intestines begin. What is between the two? Can someone direct me to a good picture. The one I saw showed the staple line with the part of the stomach that is removed, but I don't quite get what is at the end of that or the bottom. thanks in advance.

If you are getting stuck often, you are taking too big of bites and not chewing enough. We are supposed to take bites the size of a pencil eraser. then chew it up until there is nothing left to chew. If you are doing that and still getting food stuck, your fill is too tight. Being too tight is dangerous as well as throwing up often is what causes the band to slip. when I used to use the papaya, I chewed up 3-5 of them. Sometimes it would make the food come back up, but sometimes it would disolve what is stuck. I haven't had to use them in over a year though because I learned to chew my food well.

Read the thread "how the band works. Fills and Refills (something like that) by Wendall Edwards in the section in the forums called fills. That explains a lot. I would not get a fill if you are getting food stuck regularly. That will just make the situation worse. Choking and vomiting are not a good thing and are not good for the band long term. vomitting is what causes the band to slip.

I will be celebrating my dad's 90th birthday and my daugters's 28th on the 1st, but I will be thinking of you, celebrating the beginning of a whole new life for you!

I am having mine taken out by Dr. Aceves. I can't wait. I am really afraid that even though I am not having problems at the moment, it's just a matter of time until I do. I am gaining weight too, because my band is pretty much empty to avoid the reflux I was having. Dr. Aceves is a wonderful doctor and I am sure you can use one of their credit options they have available to get that out before it does more damage to your stomach.

Where do you get a liquid multi Vitamin? I am kind of worried as I take a lot of supplements for a bladder problem. I did dump all the capsules into Water one time, just to find out if it was nasty to take them that way. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I am hoping with the sleeve, it won't be as hard at it is banded to take stuff. I take a lot of stuff.

If you have a really tight fill , it's hard to eat bread. That takes several fills though. I have always been able to eat bread. I usually don't eat it, but it's hard to pass up when I am out to dinner and they pass out that bread basket.

Hopefully, I will lose well during the post op diet. I hope I am not in too much pain at the port site. I haven't even told work about the band, let alone revision. Plus I get really moody if I can't exercise. I liked that someone said they lost their sweet tooth when they got the sleeve. That would be a dream come true!

It usually takes at least 3 fills to get good restriction. Doctors don't like to give to big of a fill all at once when you are first banded. It can cause problems,

yes, I am interested in finding out whatever you found you liked or could at least tolerate. It's the clear stage I am worried about. I know when I am on full liquids, it won't be a problem because I love the Peanut butter/chocolate Whey Gourmet.

Elizabeth and Susan, When you get around to the clear stage, can you let me know what you find and liked to be the best? I am wondering if I should just order some Unjury unflavored.

Slow down, eat slowly and chew your food until it's liquid in your mouth. You won't know if you need another fill until you learn to eat like a bandster.

lpglarry, read the complications section of the band on this board. You should become aware of the possible complications with the band before you make a decision.

I can't wait to hear the answers!

I doubt if you could hurt your band from coughing but you could always call your doctor and ask that. It's common not to have restriction to continue until you're near goal. Have you read the thread in the fills section? I think it's called how the band works, fills and refills. It's by Wendall Edwards. It should be easy to find. It's a sticky in the fill section of this board.

Actually, I think Alex is working on that. You could send him a pm though.