crosswind

Thanks kelly! No, no fever, no pain, just bloating, discomfort, pressure. I'm doing the ppi again and since that's really the only thing that's changed, maybe I just need to give it a few more days. Guess the doc really wasn't kidding about those things...

Sorry to say that none of those BF calculators are accurate. They might give you an idea but I've seen a lot of them that were really way off. You need a real measuring device.

My doc was extremely lenient in recommending waiting until two months out. I've seen people posting here who were told six months, a year, or NEVER. He also said to try to avoid alcohol. It's not good for weight loss and rotten for your liver, which, if you're very overweight, it probably not in the greatest of shape anyway. I went on vacation at exactly two months and had a couple bottles of white over a couple weeks, and it all went down fine, HOWEVER it took me much longer to recover because I got tipsy a lot faster. Also hydration becomes an issue when you're timing your fluids and working on getting *them* down too. Doc also recommended that if you're going to drink, take an extra ppi a couple hours beforehand to handle stomach irritation. I think basically as soon as your stomach is healed, you CAN do it. But stay hydrated, watch the calories, know your limits, and take an extra ppi. After a couple runins with too much alcohol and not enough Water, I order white wine spritzers with HALF non-carbonated water. Tastes fantastic and minimizes all the other types of damage.

it's been three months for me. Doc did recommend ppis for *at least* three months and after the past week I figured I probably needed them for longer than that. You could be right though. I could just be trying to do too much too soon. it's still hard to gauge how much I should really be eating at one sitting. I've had a couple bad moments -- one was when I tried to eat more of a taco bell grilled stuffed burrito -- 800 calories a piece for one of these things and I couldn't get even an eighth of that thing in me: I woke up in the middle of the night and realized I still had not digested it because I could literallly feel it sitting there. Once a couple nights ago I woke up choking on a little bit of something that had decided to do an encore from my stomach. Could be I'm just eating too much at one sitting and not paying attention to chewing and swallowing. Maybe. But usually if that happens I only pay for a couple hours as a opposed to a week.

Glad ya think so tnt!

What I understand "slider" foods to be are foods that fit into the sleeve easily because they are soft and not porous and lack Fiber, so that would be anything with a lot of fat and little nutritional value -- like -- ice cream, pudding, Cookies, and last but not least cold pack processed cheese "food" in the container that I ate almost all over during a day the other day before I realized what was happening. Slider foods go down fast and easy with very little complaint from the stomach but they contain way too many calories to be something you should really be eating. These vary from person to person. For example an above poster mentioned popcorn -- not a problem for me, I couldn't eat popcorn without a tummy problem before I got sleeve, I haven't even bothered to try to get them in me now. However I've found lighter chips and Snacks to be a problem -- like pirates booty which I can eat a LOT of because there's just really not much to the stuff besides carbs and flavoring. I wouldn't call pizza a slider food because that crust can get stuck, expand in your esophagus, and shut down the crazy pretty fast. But you might not have any such luck with a malted milkshake.

I think you're doing fine. 56 pounds in three months is really amazing especially if you take a look around at what others are reporting. Fifty six pounds works out to just under five pounds a week, which is double or triple what most fitness/weight loss/thin people who were never fat before anyway recommend as a "safe" amount of loss. I've lost about 52 pounds, from a start weight of 289 to right now at a weight of roughly 237. I'm tall and I still have a lot of muscle, I think ( and so do you -- most people who are carrying a lot of weight are naturally muscular) so I average about 1200. Sometimes I go over, sometimes I am under, but I think that's about the average. Sometimes I think I should go on a "diet" and really push that scale needle so I can be skinnier faster, but the thing is, I already did all that before. I dieted, starved, counted, did thousands of situps and decided my walk or my workout was more important than like, work or relationships because I just *had* to get thin. At the rate you're going, it is probably going to take a full year to get where you're going. At a rate where you counted calories and pushed them down to under a thousand, or eight hundred or six hundred, you would get thinner faster. You would get to goal faster. It's true. But there is another truth which is that no matter what you do, at the end of the year you will probably be a hundred or more pounds thinner than you are right now. You can use the time to really push yourself dietwise -- you absolutely can do that and I know a lot of people are doing it. I'm not doing that. I'm tempted to, but since I know my stomach will be the size of a donut hole for the rest of my life, I'm really trying to focus more on loving myself, healing from my surgery and not being so crazy while trying to eat for health and exercising without obsessing. People who are getting outrageously fast results are working for them. People who are getting slow but sure, average results are working on something else. It's all your thang here and it's up to you.

I've been having problems this past week. My tummy is just bloated and feels overfull almost all the time, even when I wake up. I haven't changed anything -- although I stopped taking my omeprazole for a couple of days, got the Troubles and went back on them. I don't think I'm overeating particularly. Drinking enough, no alcohol, no caffeine. I'm thinking maybe I ate something Mr Cranky REALLY didn't like. I'm not worried about a stricture because I'm keeping stuff down -- but for example just a few minutes ago I took a sip of Lifewater and felt *almost* as if I was going to vomit but didn't. It's like there's a lot less room in there suddenly. I am suddenly able to eat much less and nothing goes down very well when I eat it. I feel like I've just eaten a ten course meal almost all the time. Suggestions? Gas? More ppi? Back to liquids?

. Thanks Maddie. You look f**king amazing, by the way.

I admit I've been in kind of a terrible mood lately. Mostly it's my divorce kicking my ass. I'll be in a decent mood, envisioning how I am going to restart my life on the terrible scorched earth coordinates wherein nothing intersects with nowhere; and then the ex will call. Lately? The ex wants to instruct me and give his impeccable expertise on the pursuit of happiness. For example: you need to learn to be satisfied with the little things, like the sunshine and the trees and the flowers, he'll say. I could tell you why that infuriates me, but i think you can imagine the whole backstory yourself. After this happens, I will hang up and fly into a rage that lasts several days. I was in the middle of one of these when I realized it had been THREE MONTHS since I flew down to Mexicali Mexico to get my stomach cut out. So I went to the pool to burn off some poison and get a weigh-in. Result? 237. Down 51 pounds. Not only that, when I came here to share the news I saw all the new progress and anniversary picks here and I just want to say: THANK YOU!!!! Once I saw all you guys and your progress my mood improved an awful lot. I'm averaging about 1200 calories and losing 1.5-2 pounds a week, and doing a little exercise -- say three times a week I'll walk for an hour and swim. I had to buy all new clothes for summer since I had nothing and I am now a SIXTEEN, which is not an eight I know, but it's all so much better than it used to be even though I rarely pay attention since I'm in a post-divorce rage an awful lot of the time. I remember at the beginning of this thinking that three months is an incredibly long time. It was too long to wait to lose fifty one pounds. I was right. It is too long, and if I had a better alternative I would take it. It takes so long for the scars to heal and your stomach to start to forgive you. It takes so long to figure out how to eat again and get your energy back. It takes a long time to lose weight, especially if you have a lot to lose. It's like emptying an olympic swimming pool with a teaspoon. But here's the real benefit to all of this. It never stops coming off. Little by little, week by week, day by day, that scale just keeps giving up more and more territory. I wasn't really excited about doing this in beginning because I was sooooo fat and it was just going to take ninety years it seemed to me to get anywhere close to where I wanted to be. I just knew I had to do something and nothing I had tried before in 46 years had worked. But now I'm starting to get a little excited. I have a sleeveless tank top. I am wearing a size sixteen swimming suit. I am probably going to be under 200 before the end of the year, Christmas when I go home to see all my relatives. Can't wait. No really.

Yep. That's what I think, Lucill. A Side Effect, if you will. On the other hand, estrogen is what gives us our dewy complexions, so we probably all have cheeks like ninth graders at the moment.

Ohhhh....I don't wanna go to the Uterus Doctor. I'll bet she tells me that it's completely normal. That's what they *always* say unless you're up for having it cut out or burnt up or whatever they do. Thanks for all your reports. I was worried I was the only one.

Thanks all and thanks Swizzly -- no, I'm fine, I'm just on the rag. If you can call that fine -- this is usually my least favorite five days of every month, now booked for a longer engagement. I'm one of those women who can't wait til she doesn't have to deal with this anymore...

I know I should probably get this checked if it continues, but I *hate* the ob/gyn and would rather be put in a Russian gulag than go through an exam so I've been sort of watching this bemusedly. Wonder what y'all think. I was having TOM when I got my surgery eleven weeks ago. It was heavy as usual but it stopped, then it came again, stopped again, all regular and rosy. Started again on schedule a little over two weeks ago and I've been on the rag *ever since*. Do you think this is the estrogen factor from losing almost fifty pounds? Is it maybe the massive steroid injection I got four days ago? Anything similar happen to you? Usually my gyn will tell me that all manner of complete strangeness is completely normal, so I lose interest in hanging on the phone talking about my period. But this is a tad outside the lines, even for me. You?

Yeah: I think it's TOTALLY true that the pre-op diet determines how fast you lose in the beginning. Your body can only take off so much before it starts to rebel. That can happen before or after surgery and the rest is...restriction. Now I'm at about a 4 pound a week average but that will probably go down since I only lost four pounds in the last three weeks. I don't know if I mentioned this before but the last time I lost a lot of weight I got *very* weird about it at the end. I was down to about 165 and couldn't leave the house without my diet food scale. I would eat Peanut Butter out of a measuring spoon. I was *obsessed* with this and so terrified of regaining it turned into a sort of complex. I really couldn't think about much else and started to believe things like I couldn't hold down a job and stay at 158, since it took up ALL my attention an energy. I just can't let myself get like that again, there's no point in losing weight if all you're going to do when you're thin is obsess about getting fat. The point is to be FREE of it. Slow, steady, easy this time.

. Hello fellow sleevers! It's Day 76,almost eleven weeks since my surgery and I have lost about 45 pounds. I went on vacation, had a few white wine spritzers, went out to eat sort of, well, all the time, and it was great. I came home two pounds lighter, so even with *extreme* inattention to any sort of caloric or nutritional rule ( except, of course, Protein first) the scale went down, not up. But for the most part, I've been in a serious stall for about two weeks. It makes sense. My calories are up. I am healing and getting used to real food, logical portions, and nourishing myself in general. Two weeks of happy time made me come home absolutely exhausted. I haven't really upped the exercise but I've still stuck to a schedule of swimming for an hour three times a week. My size eighteens are getting looser and my waist and hips are down an inch. Also, right after the vacation came a dental surgery which necessitated a short course of steroids. I was really pissed to find out about this because you know there is no way your body will part with an ounce of anything when you're on steroids. Then I got an allergic reaction to another medication and had to take Benedryl -- another weight gainer. So for about three weeks it's been pretty darn slow. But not at a standstill, and in the meantime my body is changing and growing a waist. I can't believe the jeans I'm wearing fit. Actually I can't believe the jeans I'm wearing *didn't* fit at one point. These things would not even go halfway up my thighs only a few short weeks ago. These were the *fattest* jeans I owned at one point and I'm just...amazed, then, at how fat I was. If I am fat *now*...good god, what did I look like? I took some reference pictures right before the surgery and then right after. I took another set last night but I'm not ready to put them up. I'm still fat, as I said...but holy mackerel, what a difference 45 pounds makes. My calories are up to about 1200. I keep thinking I should cut back a little bit but I feel good and I'm still losing. My goal when I decided to get surgery was to refuse to obsess, to eat normally to the best of my ability, eat what I want. and to enjoy my life instead of letting food and weight issues hold me back. . So. Almost eleven weeks, 45 pounds gone and still? Not dead.

. I know, I'm not really "working" anything. This is easy. What's weird is watching *everybody else* and thinking good lord, where are you putting all that?

I'm in a nice hotel and on vacation. I've been going out to eat for every meal and living it up a little, but the sleeve is still working and I'm not overeating at all. A little demonstration of how this works: Breakfast: Ordered: cheese and mushroom omelet and an english muffin: Ate four bites of omelet and one bite of english muffin Water Walk around museum, someone orders fried clam strips, I have one. More water, Sobe LIfewater. When we get back to the room I have a Protein wafer bar. More water. Two ounces of cheese and four crackers. Dinner: Hot tea Ordered: Outrageous appetizer, specialty small plate entree, flourless chocolate cake. Ate: One bite of appetizer 1/2 small entree 1 bite of flourless chocolate cake back at the hotel, somebody orders nachos, I have a little more of that later, maybe six loaded chips. So I got through the day fine, had fun, ate what was there, and probably ate about 900 calories. I'm not sick, my stomach doesn't feel overstuffed, I had plenty of energy. Can you believe anyone could be served a piece of flourless chocolate cake and eat ONE bite?

So from this post I got interested in Bench, which is a UK brand, we don't have them here. I looked on their online store and they only had ONE pair of womens jeans -- is that the pair? Or do you wear men's combats?

. I love hearing all these celebratory aspirations. As for the tummy tuck, well, it's not for me but I bet you'll look great when it's done. My belly got bad when I had my first child. I was upset about it for years and then one day I just sort of gave up on it. Other things to worry about, other things to spend money on. I wish there was a way to fix it entirely without the misery.

Dot laser is the newest laser resurfacing gizmo that stimulates collagen for six months after treatment. I don't look too bad but I see a little jowly/pouchiness that might not snap back. Vaser lipo is lipo that has skin tightening benefits also. A little cheaper than a tummy tuck, less downtime, no cutting. I've seen a lot of b and a's for tummy tucks and the whole process looks gruesome. Recovery seems like torture. My friend got one in Brazil and had her mother take care of her because she could not straighten out her body , had to sleep sitting up, could not wash, you take care of drains for weeks. Gah. I've had enough "down time."

After I get back from the East Coast, I have an appointment with a prosthodontist who is going to fix some cosmetic tooth issues I never bothered to take care of because I sort of didn't care. Nothing major, just something that kind of nagged at me. Also, four days after that, I'm going to get a dot laser rejuvenation to stimulate the collagen so my face doesn't hang on the ground when I'm at goal. As far as other nips and tucks...I don't know. If my belly is really bad I'll do a pass of vaser lipo. Those are mine, what are yours?

I hate Isopure too, but there's another product called New whey liquid Protein that will give you 46 grams in 4 ounces. It tastes the same as Isopure. It SUCKS. But if you suck it down like medicine, it might get your energy up. Other strategies --protein in applesauce, protein in yogurt and I'm not sure if you know this, but Jello actually has some protein in it. But honestly -- a week out your energy is going to be for shit anyway. I didn't feel reasonably coherent for three or four.

You would not believe how addicted I was to soda before my surgery. I really didn't know if I could do without it, but when someone tells you that your stomach might explode if you drink something, it's extremely motivating. The first thing I did was cut out caffeine. They told me to quit because it was a stomach irritant and the caffeine withdrawals were sometimes worse for people than the rest of their early recovery, so I stopped it. No decaf either -- that's sometimes got as much caffeine in it as regular coffee or tea, depending on how you make it, and it can irritate the stomach you're about to get, so there's no point decaffing when you want to be off totally. So get white soda and drink it for four to five days. Drink it until you realize you really aren't addicted to soda, you miss the caffeine. When I went into the hospital I was still drinking soda, but I had cut out caffeine. After surgery it was an easy transition from carbonated drinks since they don't offer them in the hospital and you're so freaked out by your new stomach in the beginning you're afraid to put anything in there AT ALL. This is the longest I've gone without soda in probably 30 years.

I'm glad to hear you're not dead, and also relieved for myself and probably hundreds of Dr. A patients who hang out here. But I hope in the next few days you contact the doc and tell him what happened. He might have some additional insights for you and,,,I dunno, if I were him I'd want to hear about it. You know, you might be the first person who ever crash tested the sleeve. Good to know you're okay. Thanks for coming back with the story, I was sort of worried about this all day yesterday.