iegal

Yeah! It is beautiful on top. Celebrating your success!

Hi Angi; There is an entire thread on this web site for former lap banders to VSG. (click on link below) Recommend you repost in that forum as you will get more replies from people who have been in your shoes. From what I have read, VSG may be your answer. Best wishes in your journey. http://www.verticals...eeve-revisions/

HA HA, yes, I miss my rear end. And I miss 2 cups sizes of my girls. Worth it? YES, but sitting for a long time is pain.

We are all learning to create new habits. This is a journey and I am glad you are doing so well. Wishing you many more NSV ahead!

Yes you can do this! Congratulation and welcome to the losers bench.

Yes, you are in a learning curve. Most of us VSGs had to learn how to eat properly. Many good suggestions. Slow down. Chew everything 20 times (yes count) before you swallow. Then put down your fork or spoon for a moment. Measure everything you eat. If you are eating too much, that is not good for new sleeve. You should have a diet guide with amount you can eat per meal. If not, search internet for Cornell VSG diet or Hopkins VSG diet or a number of other good ones out there to reference. Recommend you always follows your surgeons diet plan though. Good luck Desert Flower!

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!

Hi Loseforlife; Congrats on your new sleeve! Sorry you are having difficulties adjusting...but this is a learning period. Agree with Lily - try room tempature drinks or slighly warmed decaf tea...I liked peppermint or mint best. Recommend g2 (sugarless/low calorie) gatorade to drink rather than crystal lite which will help with hydration and electrolytes, again drink at room tempature. NO gulping when you drink as this will cause pain. Those slimies were my sign that I was full...think thick clear slime like what a St. Bernard would drool out. Get a shot glass and take a several minutes to slowly swallow that 1oz every 15 minutes. If you are in extreeme pain (as if something is wrong) call your surgeons office. Good luck and let us know if this helps out or what you found works.

Congrats on the new you!

Congrats...but even in the mushy stage I never ate baby food. Yuck. Do you have a sleeve diet guide with mushy food items?

I feel your pain. At 8 months out I still remember gagging and sometimes throwing up on those big Barriatric vitamins. Echoing what Christina & NJmomof2 said. Go the easy way out, take a two Flinstone Childrens Complete (with Iron) vitamins. When I was up to eating at 6 weeks I moved over to the Gummy Vitamins sold at Costco. During weight loss, I felt those were my treat...maybe like I was cheating.

So sorry to hear about her depression, but this does happen to many of us if we do not have support. Is she a member of this forum? Is her surgeon local or out of country? If local, she needs to call, there are therapists that specialize is WLS depression and her surgeon should have a referal. She needs help and you are right to ask for help. There is no magic pill to fix her. Part of this is physical as mentioned by Lily and the other part is true sadness due to the change. Hopefully your friend knows she needs help of someone who understands the challenges of WLS. You might find more answers under a thread on this site for depression. http://www.verticals...sion-after-wls/

You are still newly sleeved. I was not able to get in my needed protien amount for almost a month. You need to stay hydrated first and foremost then worry about protien. Do you have a sleeve diet guide for what you can eat and when? If not I can email you a couple, just send me a private message and I have guidelines from Hopkins & Cornell plus a few others that are good. Recommend you follow your surgeons diet plan first though, using other surgeons as a guideline. RE: nutrition - I took Flinstone Vitamins with Iron (complete) from week 1-4 until I could handle the big girl Barriatric suppliments. This will help with your anemia. For protien, I drank clear protien since I could not stand the taste of thick protien drinks such as unjury or others. Would gag on so many types such as MuscleMilk, costco brand, Went to GNC and bought Isopure 40gm Apple Melon (think jolly green rancher) Protein in a glass bottle. Expensive, but less than what I normally spent on a meal at a fast food joint. Hated all the other flavors of Isopure. Took me all day to drink a bottle for the first month. Best wishes!

My surgeons instructions were to wait a minimum of 2 weeks.

Think LESLIEH on this site had surgery through Pacific Bariatric. Drop her a line.

The good news. You are in ketosis which means your body is burning weight at optimal performance. Continue on the way you are now and you will continue to lose weight at a rapid pace. You are going to be at goal in sooner that you think. The bad news. You might have bad breath too. Not much you can do if you have these except brush your tounge and teeth often. Maybe sip Water more often. Even my mom told me I had halatious breath during this phase. Rejoice, you have a furry tongue!

Welcome to the losers bench...you are going to make a great addition to this losing team. Looking forward to more updates and watching you shed those pounds. Prayers for a speedy recovery.

Agreed. The PreOp diet is torture. Why are you doing this to yourself? Wouldn't it be easier to just have something fun to eat again? But you know you need to shrink your liver so you can be the new you. This is so surgeon can easily access stomach and not lacerate liver. That surgery date is so very close and regardless of the suffering you are now in - this will pass soon. The goal to be the new you in inches away and this time you will win the weight loss battle. You can do this. Smiles while sipping on the hideous drinks, this is only a phase. (PS - my preop diet was liquid only for 2 weeks) Cheering for you!

Even though I am well past my surgery date, I enjoyed reading your experience and view. Here is a hug wishing you a speedy recovery and lots of weight loss! Welcome to the losers bench!

I don't know what is better to see...your genuine smile or your amazing weight loss. Way to be such a loser!

I used say over and over many things, but they all sounded like Annie..."tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow" because I was going to beat my desire to eat everything in site, tomorrow. I was going to have control over me, tomorrow. I was going to be better for myself, tomorrow. I was not going to fail this time, starting tomorrow I was going to buy that diet plan, excercise equipment to help me lose weight, tomorrow. Thank you for this thread. Now I say... I love my sleeve! and No regrets!

How exciting! See good things do happen all the time. June is close by so time to get prepared.

I am so glad you made a list of what you fear and more importantly what you hope for after surgery. Yes, there are risks but they are minimal. Rewards of this surgery is so much greater than the risks. I love my sleeve! Keep in contact please.

Wishing you the best of luck for tomorrow!

Most likely no, you are not becoming bulemic unles you want to purge food? You are learning how to eat right now and this takes both time and substantial effort on your part. You may be eating to quickly. eggs did not sit well with me at all for several months. You need to make sure you are getting in your liquids and taking a Vitamin. Focus on what you can eat, like refried Beans with cheese. Or try some different on your plan. I never ate baby foods...YUCK. Were you provided a sleeve eating guide with a list of food you can eat during the stages of recovery? I threw up for a couple of months because I either ate to quickly, did not chew well enough (count to 20 while chewing and then swallow) or ate too much because I did not measure and did not know what full was. Eating might take 20 to 30 minutes now. That is okay since you know your relationship with food is changing. Chin up, things will get better! Life will the sleeve will improve as you learn and grow. Best wishes for you!