kellyw74

Great news about your mom!! CONGRATS!! My neighbor has had about 70% of her stomach removed because of cancer about 10 years ago and she is a TINY TINY woman. She eats like a bird and never gets fat!! I never even thought about this being kinda the same thing for us (minus the cancer)!! But, I guess it is! Kelly

oh, i see you are pre-op!! i was going to say how on earth do you drink that post-op!!! i don't see any harm in it. i use to drink like a fish too post-op, now i find it hard to get in the 64oz required even tho i drink all damn day!! kelly

My rules are to not drink with meals and to wait 30 minutes after meals to drink. I follow those rules and it is not hard once you get the hang of it. I started practicing a few months before surgery to make it easier. I have never drink with my meal. bit occasionally will take a sip after my bfast to take my Vitamin. Drinking too soon after eating washes the food thru quickly and can make you feel really uncomfortable becasue you don't have room for both! I pretty much drink normally now at 3 months out and have for about a month now. I can chug Water without it being an issue. So, you will be able to drink fast and large quanties again...don't worry! Kelly

I had my orientation in October sometime, met my surgeon in November, and had my surgery May 9th. I did everything by the book and followed the rules, they were really slow to book my appointments and get me thru. I was fine with it because it gave me a chance to lose a BIG chunk of my weight pre-op and really work on myself and take in what I was doing and do ALOT of research!! I also had to do extra testing and meet with my surgeon a couple extra times that most don't have to do. That took a little extra time too. It usually doesn't take that long tho. You really are in control of your destination with them. If you want to do it in 3 months, you can if you are motivated. Good luck to you!! Kelly

I could have them at 4 weeks on soft foods, but they are discouraged because they are CARBY and slider foods. I have had a few bites of mashed potatoes and baked, but I really stay away from them. Kelly

Did you have an upper endoscopy done?? If so, they should have taken a tissue sample of your stomach and tested it for the bacteria then. That is the most effective way to see if you are positive for it. I had the blood test done and it was negative. I had the tissue sample done and it was positive. WEIRD!! Kelly

I only notice the smell thing with my pee. It is usually clear, but it really stinks to me. I usually only think it stinks when I eat aspargus, but I started noticing it was stinky abut 3 weeks out. I am 13 weeks out tomorrow. I also have the teenager acne breakouts around TOM. It is really annoying as I have NEVER had this problem!! I have started getting facials latley to help manage the breakouts. Kelly

I use ground turkey in my taco filling. 93/7. I also eat dinner around 6 and go to bed around 9, so there is a lot of time inbetween eating and laying down. I just think it was the spicyness of the food and salsa. It hasn't happened since, but I haven't eaten anything like that since. Thanks. Kelly

Yes, losing your hair will happen and there isn't ANYTHING you can do to stop it. Sorry!! Taking Biotin and using fancy shampoo's are a waste of time and money! It is going to happen,but it is not noticable. You will be the only one that knows your hair is coming out. I lose about 20 hairs every morning when I wash/brush. It is gross, but I am not bald! I have a lot of hair and it is fine. I know it will stop and I am fine with it! Kelly

I was really tired for about a month after surgery. I did become anemic, so not sure if that was why or not! I went back to work after a week, but I had to go to bed by 7 every night!! LOL. It will get better, your body went thru a lot and is just trying to recover! kelly

I agree with the others, you need to get some calories in!!!! I had problems getting my calories in, in the begining and my nut suggested that I get the sugar free Carnation Instant Breakfast and mix it with milk. It is super yummy and has a LOT of Protein in it with the milk. I also did the LOW CARB Slim Fast shakes in the can. I will also tell you that Pure Protein makes ready to drink shakes in the can that are SUPURB!!! I hate Protein drinks because of the protein taste and these have none of that!! The strawberry and the Cookies and cream are the bomb!! Vitamin Shoppe has them by the case and also by the can. Go get one to try. powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury makes a chicken Soup that is yummy and has alot of protein in it. You can order some at unjury.com. They also have drinkable yogurt that is pretty good that would be good for you at this point. It is in the section by the yogurt. Hang in there, it DOES get better!! Good luck to you! Kelly

What is a duh mean? That I am dumb?

You look beautiful!! Kelly

Holly, I too am a slave to the hunger. I prayed and prayed that my hunger issues would go away postop, but they did not!! I have found that switching my PPI from Nexium to Prilosec has helped TREMENDOULSLY!!!! I am not sure if it is this or time after surgery or combination of both. I am only 3 months out, so I think it is more the PPI. I still get hungy, but not like I did the frist 2 months agfter surgery. I am starting to notice that everyday is alot better and better!! Give it some time and if it doesn't improve, see if you can try other PPI's. Differnt ones work for differnt people! Good luck! Kelly

Surgery Date: 5/9/11 Weight: 225 One Month Out: 6/9/11 Weight: 207 (loss 18lbs.) Two Months Out: 7/9/11 Weight:193 (loss 14lbs.) Three Months Out: 8/5/11 Weight:184 (loss 9lbs.) Total Loss=41lbs. Kelly

GOOD JOB!!! Kelly

I had my surgery 5/9/11, just a little over 3 months ago and have lost 41 lbs since surgery day. I lost 55lbs pre-op and have lost 96lbs overall. I have 19lbs till goal! :D :D Kelly

not much at all! someone, i think tiffikins posted a picture that showed pens or markers of those sizes to give a demonstration of what the size difference was and it is not a big deal! do a seach and look for it! Kelly

yummmm! Kelly

i think our bodies need more calories than we are putting in most of the time. when i up my calories a couple hundred a day for a few days and don't exercise for a couple days, I will drop a couple lbs. I think we overdo the calorie deficit and exercise and our bodies hold on to everything! mix it up once in a while and your body will thank you for it! Kelly

That is why I LOVE Kaiser!!! I don't have to deal with the staff, I just email my dr. and he responds within 24 hours, but usually by the end of the business day! I hate snotty office biotches!! Good for you! Kelly

I would first of all want to know are you taking a PPI? Also, are you eating too much at one time?? If you are eating too much then it is going to come back up. I know it is hard to wrap your head around, but some people can not do the required amount in the begining. They can only do a bite or two and it really takes some time to learn our full signals!! Sometimes we learn too late and then we vomit!! Eat SLOWLY!! Take a small bite of whatever and wait 2-3 minutes and then another wait and another...etc. You will know i between those 2-3 minutes if you have had enough. Don't eat and drink at the same time, even on liquids!!! That will make you too full and you will vomit!! Early out, I could not eat a lot of foods. They felt so tight in my chest and throat. It was from the swelling and some have lots of it, some have very little. Maybe you are just really swollen and sensitive. Are you drinking milk or milk products?? If so, lay off them for a couple days, maybe you have beome intolerant. Lots do and milk will make you vomit if you are! Your dr. is NUTS to just say BYPASS w/o trying to find out what is making you sick!! If he insists on doing that, I would find another dr.!! ASAP Keep us posted on how you are doing! Kelly

Well, like I said, I never have had that happen before and I have had GERD sine 2004. I use to always take Nexium, but after surgery I switched to Prilosec because I found that it helped with the hunger issues I was having. I was starving all of the time and now when I take Prilosec, I am not! I don't ever get heartburn or anything and I feel fine, but that one incident has me thinking that maybe it was just the 3 nights of eating taco meat with mild salsa??? Too much for my 3 month of sleeve maybe?? I think if it happens again, I will either ask my dr. for Protonix or go back to the Nexium. For those that take Protonix, does it help with the hunger/stomach growling thing?? That is HUGE for me and I really do not feel so hungry on the Prilosec. Thanks so much! Kelly

I had huge dobuts pre-op and my dr. assured me that I would be successful because I had been so successful in the past at losing (just couldn't keep off). I thought, "Am I going to fail at this too???" But like other's have stated, it can not, not work if you are feeding your sleeve Protein, veggies, then fruit if you have room!! I totally follow my dr.'s plan and I am here to tell you IT DOES WORK!! It is crazy how you might not see the lbs on the scale, but your pants will fall off of you that did fit last week! I am amazed at how many inches have come off of me in 3 months!! Granted, I have lost 40lbs since my surgery, but my inches lost are much more visable!! So, don't always go by what that scale says to measure yourself. Make sure to take measurements so you know where you started!! I didn't and wish now that I had! You WILL be amazed at how fast your waist shrinks!! Good luck to you!! KElly

I did not have any "real" pain from the surgery itself, but did have ALOT of gas for about 3-4 days post-op. I didn't take any pain meds after leaving the hospital at all. I was very tired for about 3 weeks. I became severly anemic and once I got that under control and started taking lots of iron and was able to really "eat" it helped! The surgery itself is not painful. It is the moving your muscles around in your belly that hurts. It almost felt as if I had done 3,000 crunches, but trust me, it is all worth it! Kelly