Rootman

They were 1/2 siblings, same sire different dame. She had some sort of brain issue, she went blind and was going deaf and she was inconsolable, she would cry all day till I got home, be OK for a few hours next to me then start in crying. The doc said it didn't seem like pain just psychological issues with her world collapsing in around her as her senses went, she might of also been having some sort of seizures as well, what we used to call petite mall in humans, she would go silent and stay still for a few minutes at a time then go back to crying. He had tumors, started in his chest, a BIG one appeared in his rump and was invading his colon, the doc said that he more than likely had more inside him as well. He was starting to have pain. With BOTH of them being raised together they were inseparable, we were looking at multiple thousands of dollars just to find out what was wrong with each of them and with both the prognosis was not good so we made the heart breaking decision to put them to sleep. I am tearing up just typing this out. Both were sweet, he was a goofy affectionate friendly doggie that loved everyone. She had more of the typical doxie temperament, not good with children and a bit nervous all the time. We made quite a foursome, Duke, Duchess and my wife and I. I miss them terribly and am not sure if I can handle the possibility of having to say goodbye to another dog, this is the fourth pup we've lost, it's just so heart breaking.

As far as I can determine Mirilax is not a true laxative per se. I think it is just a super hygoscopic plastic that adsorbs Water to make the stools softer. I think it was classified as a laxative as part as the manufacturers desire to sell it as a perscribed medicane at a higher price while it was under patent and soon as it came off of patent it was made an OTC medication. Be that as it may ot appears that there is no harm at all in taking it on a daily basis for extended periods, you don't appear to grow resistant to it the way you might to traditional laxatives. I've been using it for years, constipation has been troubling me for decades.

Yes, pay attention to this as it can get quite painful. I have used Miralax for years, constipation has been my companion for most of my adult life. If you're on soft foods or can do a pudding or yogurt then try chia seeds as well, the combo of the two have given me the best releif I have EVER had.

I just took a look at your before pic and your profile pic, cute dog too. We had 2 doxies for about 8 years, 1/2 siblings, same sire different dame. We had to put them BOTH down this past summer, it was heart breaking. I always loved the color of yours, ours were chocolate dapple.

I don't want to worry you but I am 2 years out and depression - which I've had probably all my adult life - seems more severe than ever. I WAS on an SSRI and anti anxiety meds but had to get off them as I was completely worthless and gaining weight at a rapid rate while on them. I can't say of it is the added stress of the times, age or a combination of those and the changed diet but it is definatly worse than it was before, I am healthier physically but not as healthy mentally. I am trying a few things to alieviate that without having to go back on meds but so far I haven't found anything that works.

Cute! Had you not told us I would of guessed that the second ppicture was taken 5 years ago or more - definatly look younger in it!

Same here. I think the protein shales make it worse.

I concur, at 4 weeks you are pretty much past the time when most complications would occour, rest easy you are on the downhill side of the journey.

My question would be; Where will you be at in two years time? The same? MORE obese? Or do you think that there is a chance that you can manage your weight and get it low enough that you might aleviate the medical issues that you cutrrently have. If you're a typical person in teh first world, like an American, then chances are you will be fatter and more unhealthy in a few years. If you feel that this will be the outcome in your situation are you willing to face it? If not what steps are you willing to do to avaoid it? I like many, some would say MOST, Americans were spiraling out of control, steadily gaining wieght and piling on more and more comorbidities. I would hazard a guess that for evey ONE person that takes control of their health and weight by diet and excersize ther are perhaps 3 more headed in the opposite direction and getting fatter and unhealthier. Which do you desire to be? WLS is a drastic step, one that works wondes for a vast majority of people. It has done so for me as well. I was at least 375 pounds, probably closer to 400 pounds, had WLS and am now about 200 pounds. ALL my health issues have disappeared. My BP, blood sugar, resting heart rate and colesterol are now excellant. I am more active than I have EVER been before in my adult life. The choice is your, and yours alone. There IS a risk, but there is also a risk in your current path. Only you can make that choice. You appear to be just over the edge of what most would consider the level at which you would "qualify" for WLS. Your answers to the above questions are what you need to conside. Where do you want to be in a few years? Fatter and unhealthier or thinner and healthier.

Cute chick alert! Good job!

I eat a lot of this stuff. While many will argue they have too much stuff in them (too much salt, too many carbs etc.) I find that they are superb for portion control. I eat these and then make sure I eat little else, no piece of bread on the side, no seconds etc. We also shop around and get the ones with the smallest portions and lowest calories and sugar.

So a lot has happened in the nearly 2 years since my operation, I've lost 170+ pounds, changed my life, got my health back and changed so much I hardly recognize myself. So I find that I date nearly EVERYTHING from my operation date. My mom passed away, when? I remember it was about a year BEFORE my operation. It was her estate that got me the money to pay for my WLS. Our plant manager is resigning, how long has he been here? Well I remember talking to him briefly about how all 3 BP meds I tried were just making me absolutely nauseous minutes after I took them - and that was like the straw that broke the camels back before my WLS - so he's been here at least 2 years. So I started swimming again, since I don't know when. How long have I been swimming at the pool? Well I started 6 months post WLS, so about 1.5 years. I guess for me this IMMENSE milestone is the cornerstone of my new life and a new may of measuring time.

I do NOT miss being unable to clean myself properly after doing #2, just could not reach that far at my fattest. I DO like shopping at stores and finding a LOT of clothes that fit. In fact a few times I could not find anything that was SMALL enough, was shopping for a jogging suit and everything started at in the LARGE, which was hanging off me.

Yeah, I was in the same boat, Love / Hate relationship. I somehow found it comforting being on and when I stopped using it found it harder to fall asleep, although I seem to sleep better overall without it.

i had a CPAP for years prior to my WLS. After about 6 months I could not keep my mask sealed, my face was simply too thin and I still had to get the XL size as any smaller would not cover my mouth. I had to use a full face mask the nasal masks simply would NOT work for me. So I just stopped using it. The wife woke up a lot at first and says I am not gasping and sputtering the way I used to, and not snoring much either, just an occasional buzz rather than the raspy snoring I used to do. I probably should have gone in for another sleep study but I found the whole thing pretty uncomfortable the first time around. I am an insomniac anyway, put me in foreign bed and I hardly sleep a wink. The doc was rude and the tech acted like he was doing me a favor by even showing up. I would have to pony up for ALL the cost too as I have a high $5000 deductible insurance. So I've not used it for about 1 1/2 years and I'm still here.

Works

So we visited our favorite Italian restaurant, the portions are huge and we either split an entree or each eat 1/3 to 1/2 an entree and take the rest home. This time we decided to split one as we were going somewhere else afterwards and didn't want to leave the left overs in the car for a few hours. When the bill arrived there was a $3.50 "split fee" on the bill. They didn't even split the meal, the brought it on a single plate and didn't even bring an extra plate for me, I ended up eating off a bread plate. We ordered a $13 entree, one beverage (the wife drinks water) and a dessert, the bill came to $23, which I think is about right for a mediocre family restaurant. I decided not to leave a tip as the $3.50 "split fee" would have to do. Is this the new norm in the USA? Has anyone else experienced this? I doubt we will ever return, we've been going to this place since it opened and feel they are just getting unreasonable. So if I dine alone am I going to be charged a "singles fee"? Did it really make that much of a difference that another person was sitting there and we shared an entree? Am I being unreasonable?

Sorry this is far longer than I thought it would be. Maybe the illustration will help others visualize hte operation even if no one knows the answer to my question. So I've been here almost 2 years now, I think I have a pretty good grasp on how the VSG is done but one thing escapes me: How do the sheared off stomach tissues heal together? So picture this, take a regular white sock, say for arguments sake it's PINK on the inside and WHITE on the outside. Cut a small hole in the toe. This is your stomach, the cuff is your esophagus, the hole in the toe is where it is joined to the intestines at the pyloric valve. The heel (which should be to the RIGHT as you look at it to be anatomically correct) is the pendulous, the part that is cut off. So during the operation a bougie, a long thin soft rod like thing is stuck down your throat and just barely into the intestinal tract (the hole in the toe). Let's say this is just a piece of clear tubing about as big around as a Sharpie marker. The surgeon uses an alligator looking stapler that has a sliding razor blade in it and clamps it across diagonally from below the hole in the toe to the lower area of the cuff - which cuts off the heel of the sock. The bougie ( clear tube ) is there to prevent the surgeon from accidentally cutting the stomach too small or possibly cutting the esophagus ( cuff) or pyloric exit ( hole in the toe ) off completely. The stapler is NOT snugged up against the bougie ( clear tube) but the doc just uses it to prevent cutting too much and to allow him to flop the stomach around and keep it taught. he pulls a trigger on the alligator cutting / stapling tool bites down and the blade slide UP the alligators mouth cutting both the near AND far sides of the stomach tissue ( sock ) while pressing hundreds of tiny little staples right through BOTH parts of the sock cleanly. Just like a staple in the corner of two pieces of paper only about 20 times smaller and in 3 rows side by side. He may have to reload his alligator like tool because the part he is cutting off is longer than the alligators mouth. He again lines the tool up where the first cut let off and pulls the trigger again, this time it cuts the pendulous ( heel ) right off. He now has a stomach ( sock ) without a heel that has a cut edge and is held together with tiny little staples. The stomach tissue is about as thick as two pieces of salami laying on top of each other. The cut off part ( heel ) is floating there freely all sealed up in a pouch as this alligator has TWO rows of teeth and the razor blade runs down the middle. He grabs it with his tools and pulls it out of the largest of the few holes he punctured in your belly. Now for the part that I don't understand. Remember we said the sock is PINK on the inside and WHITE on the outside. Well her is this sleeved stomach with the heel cut off and the edge of the tissue being held together by a row of staples PINK SIDE TO PINK SIDE. that is UNCUT tissue. Now your stomach or most any other tissue does not normally stick to or heal together and form scar tissue when stuck together, so HOW and WHY do the inside surfaces of the stomach heal together? Is it the hundreds of tiny pin prick sized holes of the staples? Is it just the raw EDGES (not surfaces) of the tissue being held in close proximity that will produce scar tissue joining the edges and seal the the stomach? Inquiring minds want to know.

Your story echoes many of ours, just different names and places. Puberty is not an uncommon trigger for weight gain, many of us where rail thin till the big P and then BAM! It hits us, middle age widens us even more and before you know it we are morbidly obese. Most all of us here have a success story that we can share, there are a very few who have failures. You have to weigh the risk VS reward. We all wish you the very best as you start your new adventure in weight loss.

Seems I forgot the "argument rule", I'm MALE and therefore everything I say is inherently WRONG

Wish you well, let us know how it goes.

I think you are looking at the stomach cancer thing all wrong, technically speaking you are LESS apt to have stomach cancer with a sleeve because the part that is being removed (pendulus) is the part that typically becomes cancerous. regardless IF you get stomach cancer - and this operation in NO way even remotely leads to that - the possible surgery will STILL be the same should it be required, stomach removal. You're in the same boat, removing a sleeved stomach is just the same as removing a whole one, albeit a little easier for the surgeon but the results would still be the same. Again, there is no indications at all that this operation will cause, lead to or be a precursor to stomach cancer. The benefits far outweigh the downsides as MANY co-morbidities may be eliminated thereby causing LESS health risk then keeping a "whole" stomach and remaining obese.

I felt like crap for about 2 months post-op, no energy or stamina at all. After that it really started to ramp up. You're probably in ketosis right now ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis ) and while in the worst of it you will no feel well at all. I WOULD be concerned about the reliance on pain meds, to need them so far post-op is a bit of a concern. Please bring th issue up with your doc at your next appointment or see him immediately if the pain persists or gets worse, especially if the incisions get red or more swollen or a fever persists.

Well, I can see that I stepped right into it didn't I. When I say to a woman YOU HAVE A PRETTY FACE, it MEANS that she has a pretty face. I typically have no other meaning other than the fact that I know I CANNOT venture past that, doing so may jeopardize my job, my marriage and my legal standing. Why not just take it for what it was, a compliment. Yes ladies, we ARE that shallow.

I'll take a stab at answering, although I risk your wrath and the wrath of the mods in doing so. Men are animals, we think with the organ between our legs more than with the organ between our ears. That being said, there is a LOT of legality and negative social pressure in complimenting someone AT ALL. The men are complimenting you on the one or two things they probably CAN compliment you on without getting in trouble and losing their jobs or getting slapped in the face. Please don't read anymore into their complements then there really is - a comment on how attractive you are without getting into improper behavior. Which would you rather have them do, refer to you as the "lady with the pretty face", or the "lady with the great knockers"? Or the "lady with the incredible round a$$". At least they ARE noticing. If them noticing AT ALL offends you then please say something to THEM, not us. Stop the problem tight where it starts. If that fails then take the issue up with your companies HR department. Again, at the risk of encoring wrath I will go out on a limb and say that if your profile pic is ANYTHING like what you really look like then you have an incredibly pretty face, one that a lot of women would die for. Again, just take it for what it is - a man saying as much as he CAN say without getting into too much trouble, and from what we can see here by your profile pic it is justified. Please address any legal inquiries to my lawyers at Dewey, Cheatum and Howe, Cabridge MA.