educationrulz

I personally don't think malabsorption procedures are appropriate for people who are not going to be compliant with supplements - even if they might "need" the dumping to keep them straight. Someone who won't take their supplements, despite the obvious signs of malnutrition, probably won't be deterred by dumping. They'll find a way to work around it - like only eating ice cream in a comfortable setting so they can run straight to the bathroom. I think your mother-in-law and others like her would be better candidates for the VSG, plication, or (yikes!) even the band. Better for her to stall out with weight loss from overeating than to be totally malnurished.

Hey Lis. Congratulations on making it through a year relatively unscathed. Everything is relative, huh? :thumbup: Whoever said this is the easy way to lose weight is off their rocker. But, we all have our reasons for doing it so I guess we have to trust that once we make this difficult decision it's the best path for us. I hope that things continue to improve for you and that you are happy with your results. Best wishes, Mary

I agree. The C-section was worse! And I don't think my C-section was totally awful. But having that much muscle tissue cut does not mix well with getting up, sitting down, standing, walking, rolling over, moving, etc....:laugh0: The VSG surgery was only painful to me because of the hiatal hernia repair. That aspect alone was as bad as the C-section (for me anyway). But the other aspects of the sleeve surgery were minor in term of pain. Now, if anyone else here has had fibroids removed, you know that that's the mother of painful abdominal surgery. OMG! That trumps the C-section any day! I was miserable after that one. Not sure I would do that again...

Anyone have experience with Seasonale? I mean in general, not necessarily related to WLS. I'm about to start back on a low dose pill, but I'm intrigued by the idea of 4 periods a year. I would love to hear from someone who's been on it for a year or so. How are your periods? Is there alot of breakthrough bleeding and how bad is it? Did it cause you to gain weight or slow your weightloss?

I didn't pay much attention to the insurance info given to me by my surgeon's office. I figured out at the patient seminar that some of the info they gave differed from what I had been told by the nurse case manager. From then on, I only followed the guidelines of the insurance company. I did have to do the six month supervised diet, psych eval and 6 months of counseling. But once that was all verified, I was approved in about a week. UHC gives some of the quickest approvals from what I've been reading on the message boards.

I don't think any plastic surgeon worth their salt would do a reduction on someone in the middle of drastic weight loss from surgery. Why risk needing to go back and have something else done after you finish losing? My unprofessional opinion is that even if your breasts don't lose an inch, the rest of your body will be totally different proportionally after you reach goal and the placement of the breasts is dependent on your body. Believe when I say I know the pain you're going through. I made the decision to have a breast reduction back in 2004 when my neck and shoulders were hurting so bad (for the millionth time) that I couldn't turn my head or hold a phone to my ear. I scheduled a consult that day and never looked back. Now, I'm waiting to see how the girls are going to hold up post WLS. So far, they seem to be holding up well. I suspect this is because I shelled out the extra bucks to add a lift to my reduction procedure. But, time will tell. If they look REALLY bad after I reach goal, I would consider going back for another lift or implants. Crazy...I know. :thumbup: Despite how great it is to finally be losing weight for good, I still say the breast reduction was the best gift I ever gave myself. As for Medicaid, I think I've heard that they cover reductions. You could probably find this out pretty easily with a basic web search or call to a patient rep. Hopefully you'll start getting some relief as your weight loss progress.

I didn't have a drain with my sleeve surgery. I didn't notice any side effects that might have resulted from not having a drain - other than maybe a little extra abdominal swelling that went away on its own. I did have a drain with my breast reduction years ago. I didn't realize it until the drain was taken out, but it seemed to sap my strength while it was in. I suspect this was because it was pulling some of the blood from my body along with the Fluid drainage, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I just felt the need to drink more when I had it in. I think you'll find that it's the least of your worries post op. :thumbup: Stay hydrated!

Please tell us EXACTLY what kind of support you want since what's been said so far isn't adequate. Then, maybe only those people willing to provide that type of support will respond. Ultimately, we are here to support each other as best we can.

I went to Wal-Mart today to get something for my daughter, and on a whim tried on a pair of the size 18 pants in Misses. They fit! OMG! I was so excited. I've been fitting into 18Ws, but this is my first time fitting an 18 Misses. My daughter looked at me like I was nuts when I started shaking my moneymaker in the mirror - but she was laughing too.:thumbup: This may not be as big a deal to some people who can recall fitting these sizes. I have been so overweight for so long that I pretty much skipped misses clothes in my adult life. I guess I was in them in high school but of course my choices were limited because of my age. By the time I went off to college with the freedom to make my own clothing choices, I was shopping in the Women's section. This variety of clothing options that I will soon have is even more exciting because I know it will last. I won't have to go back to Women's sizes after I fall off the "diet" wagon like I did 6 years ago when I briefly made it to 18. I can't quite fathom right now that I'll be as small as a size 10 or less. I'd be happy with a 14 right now. Now I'm planning to buy my first ever sexy little black dress when I get down to size 16. :scared0:

WOW!!! That's great. Congratulations!

I took a list. Here's what I asked. http://verticalsleevetalk.com/blogs/educationrulz/702-questions-asked-surgeon-preop-appointment.html

I wish I had known how painful the hernia repair can be. I woke up from surgery feeling like there was a hot poker in my esophogus. Don't mean to scare anyone, but it's the truth. I would of course still have it done in hindsight. I mean, who wants to get a whole new tiny stomach and still have it deformed because of a hernia? But, had I known to expect the pain, I would have been more mentally prepared. This was a total bummer on my mood early on. In all my research, I knew to expect the gas pain and nausea, but I missed the painful hernia part. Luckily, it went away after a few weeks and I'm glad it was fixed. On a lighter note:wink0: I wish I had known how great it feels to be satisfied with such a small amount of food. I still have occasional moments of just wanting to "chow down", but for the most part it's very liberating.

Hang in there Susie! :thumbup: I remember feeling exactly like you :scared0:. Unfortunately for me, it took me almost 4 weeks to start feeling normal again. But, I did get there. I hope you'll be one of the 2 weekers. I'm now eating totally normal foods (except nuts - I can start those at 3 months out). I'm getting around great, buying clothes in the Misses section (YEAH!!!), and enjoying the changes in myself. I'm still figuring some things out, but it's all good. You'll be there in no time!

Sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time. It sounds like you are bouncing back each time a problem occurs. Did you have a hernia repair with your surgery? I did and it caused me to have the worst pain when I swallowed ANYTHING for the first couple of weeks. The pain slowly started to subside around the third week. This was the reason I got dehydrated - it just hurt too much to swallow. The only advice I can offer is to keep something liquid in your hands as much as humanly possible to remind you to drink. I tended to forget about it when I put the drink down. At least when holding it, I had to slowly force some liquids down. I started keeping a container of Water or gatorade sticking out of my purse at the store, in my hand while driving (or in the cupholder when necessary), and in my lap while watching tv. It used to take me forever to drink 8 ounces of water. Now, I feel like I can gulp with no problem. Time makes a big difference in the process, so it will get better. Just stick with it in terms of drinking. If you have to drink all of your Protein, then so be it. The eating part will follow.

This is the nutritional info for an 8 piece nuggets from chickfila. (?) Nutrition Facts Calories 267(1117 kJ)% Daily Value 1 Total Fat 11.4g 17% Sat. Fat 2.3g 12% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 70mg 23% Sodium 989mg 41% Total Carbs. 12g 4% Dietary Fiber 0.7g 3% Sugars 2g Protein 28.1g Calcium 26.7mg If this is one of 3 or four meals per day, you can balance it out by watching the sodium and cholesterol in the rest of your meals for the day. But, it's not like eating a whopper or big mac. I don't think we should beat ourselves up about our food choices if we are aware of what we are doing and take steps to create balance. BTW, I used CalorieKing to get these stats. It gives info on regular grocery store items and lots of fast food/restaurant options. It was a lifesaver during my low carb preop diet. I still use it every now and then and will probably need it more when my weight loss slows down. Keep up the good work and keep your head up! :001_smile:

My post op instructions didn't mention straws at all so I asked at my two week followup. The nurse said it depends on the person and it's ok to give it a try. I waited another week or so to try a straw. My first few sips were a little wierd, but I soon discovered that I drink a lot better with them. I can also drink faster without any discomfort. I soon realized that I was getting more air in when I drink without a straw as one person's doctor said. I wish I had tried it sooner and maybe I wouldn't have gotten dehydrated. I use them with almost every drink now.

I started off with the chewables like everyone else after surgery. But, I didn't like taking them and started being inconsistent with the Vitamins. ( I didn't really want to do the gummies.) So, as soon as I was cleared to swallow large pills and felt comfortable doing so, I got some regular Multivitamins. The first time I took one, it made me so nauseous that I freaked out a little. I thought I had done something to my stomach. But, it passed after about 30 mninutes and I knew I was ok. Same thing the second time I swallowed one. After that I went back to those nasty chewables. Two weeks later, I had had enough. I decided to try the regular ones again. Low and behold, I was only nauseous for a couple of minutes. The next day, I didn't feel a twinge. I am now happily swallowing all of my supplements and being very compliant with them since I don't have to chew and taste them. So, give it another go in a couple of weeks and you'll probably notice a major difference in your reaction to swallowing the Vitamin. BTW, I'm currently taking a multi, B12 (swallow this one too), and Biotin with lunch, sometimes with Breakfast. In the afternoon or evening I take a Caltrate "petitie" and another biotin. I'm trying to add a fish oil pill into the mix. Took one today, and so far so good. :w00t:

I got dehydrated post op and it's NO fun. Try different temperatures of Clear Liquids to find the one that's easiest for you to drink. For me, initially only warm/heated liquids went down well. Then I went through a phase where room temp worked well. Now, the colder the better. I think it's fairly common for early sleevers to do better with warm temps. Congrats on the surgery determined!

I forgot to take some Gas X with me. The gas pains were bad at times. For some reason, they wouldn't give me any at the hospital and I just stopped fighting it. The doc suggested gaviscon when I got home so I don't know why they wouldn't give me something in the hospital. They did give me Prevacid though.

One good thing about working in a school is that you tend to settle into a routine once the dust settles - whether you have morning hallway duty, P.E. at 9am, homeroom then transition to 1st period, morning announcements at 8am, etc... Even administrators are able to establish some sort of pattern to their day due to typical lulls in activity in the building. Once this pattern is established, you can build your eating/drinking routine around that. That's what I did anyway and it's worked out well enough for me that I can get my fluids and Proteins in during the day without thinking about it constantly. And of course it will get easier as your swelling decreases and your sleeve loosens up a bit. I can't eat much at all for Breakfast and I've decided to stop forcing the issue. I eat a tiny bit of Protein for breakfast and then an hour or so later (when the morning rush has calmed down), I have a high impact Protein shake. That keeps me from feeling weak or deprived until lunch, when I am able to eat more. It feels pretty normal now and the people I work closely with are getting used to seeing me with my little bottle of protein shake in the morning.

Thanks Stacey. It is weird to think about my 18's getting loose. I just bought those from the JCPenney outlet so I didn't pay more than $15 per pair of pants, but I'm a little worried about having my wardrobe turn over too fast. But, it's a consequence that I'll happily deal with. Moving down one more size will put me in the smallest size I've been in since about 6 years ago when I last lost a significant amount of weight. That was with the aid of diet pills and almost obsessive exercising. It's kind of strange to know that this time my weight will keep going down instead of stalling out and going back up. As for the scale thing, I agree with you about how being tied to the scale can affect your mood. Now that I've somewhat committed to not weighing myself too often, it really doesn't seem like such a big deal. It's like I"m kind of free from worrying about how much I lost because I don't plan to get on the scale anytime soon. It's definitely easier having made it through that first month. I really have no desire to get on the scale right now. I'm too excited about my new clothes to give it much thought! I'm trying to decide about buying a new suit or waiting to go down one more size. I've been applying for some new jobs lately and I might need something for an interview in the near future. I'm going to try to hold out but if an interview presents itself, I'm running to Macy's. I don't have anything really good enough right now for a big interview. I guess I need to find out how much it costs to have a suit altered and then I can go ahead and buy one and have the size adjusted later. Happy VSGing everyone!

This sounds like a really cool procedure. I was really interested in that part about removing the fat pad from inside the abdomen. Good lord I wish someone would remove my stomach fat pad! :lol0: I also thought it was cool as an option for revising VSGs - not that I've really heard of more than a couple of folks who might need their VSG revised vs the many bypass and band patients who need revisions. I'm very intrigued by the fact that it's actually "old" info and that he doesn't seem to be promoting it. I wonder what has ended up being the "catch" to this procedure that has possibly caused it to fade out.

Sheryl, I need to do better with my exercise too. It's been sporadic lately since I went back to work. I work in a school and the beginning of the year is kind of crazy for me. But, I've been easing back into my Pilates so I hope to get a routine going with that soon. A typical weekday for me is: Before breakfast - I drink about 20 ounces of Water while I'm getting dressed. Using straws has really helped me up my liquids. Breakfast - sausage link or bacon/egg/cheese from a biscuit (i eat less than half of what's there) or some left over protein source from the fridge. (I'm not a morning person so getting up and cooking food before I leave for work doesn't fit well with my morning grumpiness. I have to keep it quick and easy in the mornings.) My sleeve is pretty tight in the morning. Midmorning - Isopure RTD 1/2 bottle or a Jay Robb powder shake. This gets me 20 to 25 grams of protein in one punch and some more liquids. Before lunch - I try to drink at least 10 more ounces of something for Fluid intake. Lunch - chicken salad, tuna, chili, leftover steak/hamburger. I use the little glad mini containers to take my lunch to work. I can't eat a whole mini container of anything that I take. In terms of the chicken salad, I know it's a little less than 1/2 cup. Sorry, I don't do well with guessing ounces. I usually take a Multivitamin, Biotin, and B12 after lunch. After lunch - Another 10 ounces of water. Late afternoon - I try to squeeze in another lite meal or snack here to get some additional protein but I don't always make it. I usually do a lighter meat like shrimp or fish. Maybe like 3 ounces or so. This is when I take a Calcium citrate pill. dinner - This is usually when I can eat a more normal looking serving size. I might do half of a baked chicken breast and try to eat a few sprigs of broccoli. After dinner - my plan here is to drink 1/2 an Isopure but I usually don't make it. If I don't feel up to the Protein Drink I just take in some water or other clear liquid. I always follow the "wait thirty minutes after eating to drink" rule and almost always "wait 30 minutes after drinking to eat". I do occasionally get off program with a half a cookie or a small scoop of ice cream. Luckily I'm not lactose intolerant post op. I definitely have not found that giving in to a craving once in a while is disastrous. It's been easy for me to cut it off pretty quickly. I hope this helps.

It actually is kind of funny sometimes. My daughter probably thinks I'm nuts cuz I keep looking at those scales and don't ever buy one. :thumbup:

Hey ken, it's good to hear that things are still going well for you. You're right about how much better this makes us feel. I'm down 2 sizes and was in the mirror a little while ago dancing and grinning from ear to ear in a new outfit. I'm moving around so much better and not self-conscious about how I look all the time. I can tell that my confidence is showing to other people and they are looking at me differently because of it. It's great!