iegal

Welcome new Southern California VSG Support Group members! What can you do here? Introduce yourself to us Contact another local VST member who maybe has the same surgeon (search under surgeons) Attend an open meeting & bring your spouse or friend (contact Sleeve 4 me) to get specifics Please feel free to send me a message if you have any questions or just want to reach out to say HI Our next meeting in Rancho Cucamonga is in November 2013 - 1st Saturday at 10AM. We would love to hear your story beyond the words posted on this site. We are a diverse group with men, women, pre-op, veterans, private insurance, Kaiser, self payers ... so you will fit right in. Most of all, we are here to encourage each other.

Hope this helps you out on your VSG journey. Remember to follow your own surgeons plan as each surgeon has different methods. These are just so you can see what others are saying about how to reach goal. Me? Generally I tried to stay above 60 gm of Protein and below 30 gm of carbs. This is what worked for me and may not be right for you. Hope you like! Bariatric diet guidelines.pdf bariatric nutrition guide-sleeve gastrectomy.pdf diet guide vsg.pdf dietary_guidelines_sleeve_gastrectomy.pdf nutrition_sleeve from hopkins.pdf sleeve-gastrectomy-diet from northwest.pdf Sleeve Cookbook.pdf

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/dozens-injured-during-weight-loss-surgery-in-mexico

Hi; Fellow road warrior here. I was traveling 6 working days after surgery, but I was very tired. Understand your energy level will not be the same, so don't expect to work a full day with clients and then go back to the room to set up next day appt or paperwork. You will need to rest and recover. Most important factor of recovery is not to get dehyrated. I would always stop and pick up a G2 or sugar free electrolyte drink that I could sip on in my coffee mug throughout the day & in my meetings. I scheduled a lot of sit downs. Okay to order a drnk, like tea and explain you are eating lighter or something else. Gets you out faster and back to room You can pick up muscle milk at a lot of convience stores, in a pinch I would order a sugar free vanilla latte from SB with 10 grams of protien and under 150 calories. The key is good planning. I am confident you can do this with preparation and by sticking to goals. I love my sleeve - no regrets.

Several of us are meeting this upcoming Saturday @ 10AM in Rancho Cucamonga. Yes, bring a friend - doesn't matter if pre-op, post op, or friend - come along. For details please contact sleeve 4 me. That is SLEEVE (space) 4 (space) me Hope to see you there. iegal

Exercise regularly. Failure in this department and my weight shows it. ARGH, I have seen the enemy and it is me.

Decaf Mint tea to calm the tummy Poweraide Zero to keep up your body in balance (WalMart, Target, etc) liquid Power Protein (24 per carton - I liked the chocolate) from costco (if you are a member) with 30 grams of protien per box Isopure 40 gram protein from a Vitamin store like GNC (these do not taste great but they were not thick so I could choke them down) A shot glass (set a timer and ensure you are emptying that shot glass every 15 minutes) Drink liquids at room tempurature or luke warm. Cold drinks made my stomach cramp. Best wishes and keep us in the loop. PS - there is an entire subject on this topic in this forum, be sure to get more tips from there.

You can gain back weight, that is a fact. Surgeon is altering size of your stomach and not doing brain surgery. If you decide after surgery to eat junk, hello weight gain. Even a person with thier jaw wired can gain weight by sucking down unlimited malt shakes and smoothies. So - saying this I want to encourage you that you ARE going to keep off the weight. Choose to make permanent changes BEFORE surgery. The sleeve is only a tool allowing you to lose the weight. I am at 3 1/2 years out. I am still right around surgeons goal. Sure I have bad days were I choose to eat junk. But one day does not determine permanant gain. I choose to make the sleevie wonder work. Be a loser forever. I love my sleeve and have no regrets.

Hey Miss Diva, so good to see you back on site. You are a rock star! My hunger has returned at about 1.5 years. I crave different things than before VSG surgery. Yes, this is truly a head game but I do "feel" hunger. Now I want sweets. Prior to surgery I could pass up chocolate, pasteries & other surgary foods without an issue. Now, I live for ice cream and previous. Know what to do, how to do it, now just need to take the steps to get back into the sleeve diet. Gallbladder sugery was done on this Thursday & I am about 5lbs above surgeons goal. GULP. I am more concerned about staying healthy than a number on a scale. But of course my skinny clothes are now tight too. A shout out to all my fellow vertrans - even at three years out I know I can still be a loser! .

Hello Life 2 celebrate. Wow - 30lbs already. Amazing. We are here to cheer you on to success and support you in the valleys of slow loss. iegal

A note from an "old timer" who rarely posts here anymore. I miss the old days before points where old timers could state truth as truth, if you didn't like it, you had to only present facts against facts. Don't miss the posters who would advertise for thier surgeon with thin lies. Argh, the misinformation became too much for me. Sleeved is Sept 2010. Read Oregon Daisy - a shout out to her, Coops, Miss Diva & Tiffykins posts like a bible. Would read them once, twice, a million times until I could almost quote them. I can't begin to express as nicely as Happy Camper how much wonderful direction these vets have had in my life. Hopefully I have in return encouraged a few newbies too - mostly I PM'd. Still have several of Tiffykins posts saved in PDF which are reread when I wonder why extra lbs are on my mid section. We are friends on Facebook. Diva had a bad experience and moved on. Like most of us, life continues and the sleeve is no longer new friend but an old friend who we know without much conversation needed. Any success I have achieved is due to VST veterans. Hugs to all my new and old vet friends. I love my sleeve and have no regrets - iegal

You might want to tell us your insurance so people can advise on thier experience with X insurance company.

Congrats on the weight loss thus far. VSG is only a tool of restriction after a year. So you need to see what works now for you and stick with it. You can try shaking things up. Have a protien shake for Breakfast. Track what you are eating as far as carbs, protien, Fiber & how much Water. Go back to basics. If you are in range of all of above, start walking 30 minutes a day. Then shake it up and increase by pushing some weights. You are in this for the long haul and can continue to lose weight. Maybe not a 3 lbs a week, but even 1lb a week is 26pounds in 6 months, right? Think of it, by 4th of July you can be at under goal weight. Know you can do this. Keep moving & keep motivated. I love my sleeve & have no regrets.

Contact "Sleeve 4 me" She was sleeved 3 years ago with Kaiser and still speaks at Options graduation classes Great rescource

Have you tried thier spicy egg white salad? Delicious. when on solids I ate this almost every day for Breakfast. Still eat it for breakfast a couple of times a week. Just have fun. There is a lot of great stuff to explore.

I had dry heaves for the first day, but did not experience any pain. After 24 hours the heaves stopped. Talk to your medical staff to see if they feel this is a cause of worry. Congrats...each day gets better, slowly.

How can one measure happiness or measure ongoing happiness? Making good choices in life. Major step taken 3 years ago yesterday by self paying for VSG surgery as an outpatient in US (after being denied by insurance) and had over 80% of my stomach removed. Sleeve gave me a great tool to battle my obesity. So at three years out, I can assure you I made a good or dare I state fabulous choice. Today weighed in at 6 pounds below surgeons goal still well in range of healthy BMI. Yes, I am healthy & take my suppliments & follow up with surgeon annually while still attending a bi-monthly support group here in SoCal While I can babble on about the benefits of my choice, let me assure you I have no regrets & LOVE MY SLEEVE Thank you to each of my fellow vetrans who encourage, support and have imparted valuable information. You have made me a victor.

Scarless VSG surgery in Southern CA was $18K. I had too low of BMI for insurance to pay. HA HA, I was medically obese but just not obese enough. My surgery was an outpatient procedure. I had no drain, no staples at incision site, no morphine needed, no catheder like so many others report after surgery. Yikes for those of you who I read about where you are hospitalized for days. Included preop diet foods, 3 months of Dr followup appt. Included free weekly support groups including ongoing nutritional, psych and other general help for life. Excluded preop testing such as EKG, Upper GI and bloodwork. Normal insurance pays for my follow up visits at 6 months and 1 year. No regrets, worth every penny spent!

My support group called me the "secret keeper" My own mother didn't know for months (she lives less than a mile away from me), my dad for almost 2 years and some family still doesn't know at three years out. NO one knew about my surgery minus my significant other and two trusted dear friends. Obvisouly by my no picture icon, I am still private except on this site minus my local support group which I still attend. VSG surgery decision was deeply personal, this was my battle to save me from me. Already knowing what others would say like "you aren't fat" was not what I needed to hear. My resolve was firm. I had seen a private physcologist and knew what what require beyond the physical change ahead. Didn't need other input nor did I want it. My surgeon was supurb, my metomorphisis ahead was in my control. In conclusion - we all travel this journey differently. Some view this is a private battle, like I did. Others want troops surrounding them. Both view are right. Don't be ashamed of which way you fight the battle of the bulge. Hugs - I love my sleeve and have no regrets.

Big hello; This is my first post on this forum after lurking for quite a while. Just wanted to say I have lost 5 pounds in three weeks following plan. Great start for me and I am close to half way there, maybe even want to pursue losing back down to my lowest weight. Although the scale has stalled this week - I feel better, less bloated and have found some encouragement. Being on track is a wonderful feeling! Hugs. I love my sleeve and have no regrets.

Thansk for sharing!

Set an alarm on your phone several times a day to remind yourself. If you don't eat or drink you will end up back in the hospital. Take care of yourself and set new patterns of a healthy was to eat (drink) Good luck!

Be honest with your surgeon. Drink a lot of Water up until the time they told you to stop. This will be your surgeons call. So - what happened?

Hi Ladies; Please contact me. I was sleeved by Dr. Q in 2010. My two friends in law by Dr. B in March & April 2011. We are still at goal and have nothing but good things to say. But I am willing to talk to you live if you want. Good luck - iegal

Have you tried clear protien like Isopure? Those thick shakes were impossible for me. But found I could tolerate 40gm Applemelon Isopure that I got at GNC. They are expensive, (so buy one or two initially) to see how you do. Remember, you are not eating for taste but for hydration and Protein only. When I was trying to find what worked for me I spent hundreds of wasted dollars, so be wiser than me. Also - I hear a lot of people like to 30 gm PureProtein found at costco or Sams. Good luck! I love my sleeve and have no regrets.