Rootman

I've had to have it done 3 times, not due to stomach strictures but to a schatzki ring, that is a narrowing of the esophogus. For me it never was a permanant fix and I had issues with it till just prior to my pre-op diet. Now that I am eating less, chewing more and not eating as fast I suspect that I still have it but the it is no longer an issue. Before, if I ate too fast - and I ALWAYS ate too fast - it would feel as though I was choking and I would sometimes "vomit" up what I'd just eaten. Not true vomit as it never made it into my stomach, it just got caught right at the bottom of the esophogus. Anyway, it is quick simple and painless. They SHOULD give you something to make you loopy and make you drink some slime that numbs your throat.

Congrats! Keep it up. BTW: I thought your pic was Whitney (RIP). Very hot.

What Amanda said - it may be stomach acid. Ask the doc about an acid reducer - a PPI. While it's tru that the majority of the stomach with the acid pumps is cut away, the few that are left can over run a swollen small sleeve space quite quickly and lead to an acidic feeling that we are programed to interpret as hunger. A PPI can help this. You may also be able to ween off them as the sleeve stops swelling and settles down. And as the others said - all things in moderation, if you're still losing then you are on the right track. I personally had to eat saltine crackers to ease the acid at times. I still eat a snack of them almost every day. We all wish you well.

All I can speak for is the guys and YES the ratio of testosterone per pound increases so it's just like getting a "booster shot". I had to start T shots a few years ago and had to cut waaayyy back on my dosage, becasue as I lost a lot of weight the T level went through the roof. I understand that estrogen is also stored in fat so as it's burned the ladies also get a "boost" in sex drive too. Go get 'em tigress!

I can't help but to think that the passport agency is motivated by $$$ instead of your ease of passage. So what if you cut your long hair and show up wqith a buzz cut? It just seems like a large expense for such little return, obviously they have to deal with people who gain / lose weight all the time. What if you have cancer and lose a ton of wieght and want to take a trip on your "bucket list" , do they really want you to haul your sick body somewhere and update your passport? I think that I PERSONALLY would pass. Just blow your cheeks out if the look at your picture in a puzzled way :smile1:

Just another note, my wife says I do not waddle any more when I walk - so YES losing the weight helps your posture, gait and balance so it seems there WOULD be a re-learning period, especially when the weight comes off so fast.

Whoa girl! Man what adifference in the pics! It does NOT look like the same person. Congrats - keep up the good work!

I hope I'm not one of them you consider condesending I try to be supportive but once in a while I post a comment that may be different from the rest. Sorry if it's me.

Since the new front end to this site has been used I've had a LOT of problems with it. I use Firefox 10.1 to access the site and accross all 4 of the PCs I use I have the same problems - as well as my Android tablet. Firefox refuses to allow the spell check to work - while this mayseem to be a browser issue I sincerely beleive that it's a site issue. I suspect that the text input dialogs are somehow tagged wrong and they come accross as a type of dialog box which will not allow spell check to work, I know this is a common issue with some sites for SUBJECT type dialog boxes, that is the SUBJECT dialog box (like the Topic Title dialog in these posts) does not allow spell check but the actual MESSAGE dialog should. I also see a lot of issues with posts refreshing, like editing a post and the site refusing to refresh the page so I can review the newely edits post. On my Android pad it quite often refuses to allow me to enter text as the keyboard won't pop up, while on a few other boards it works just fine. It's like it doesn't recognize that's it's in a text dialog box. I suspect that it's the same issue as with the above problem with Firefox. Also the pages load glacially slow and sometimes won't render completely. Is there still an Android app in the works?

Welcome and congrats on your new life! I too ran accross the (a more American way of saying it) "Don't 'fix' what the good lord gave ya"" attitude. I find this ignorant and repulsive that they drag religeon and ethics into a simple health situation. A well known American doctor who has a syndicated TV show puts it htis way (I'm paraprhasing); "If it were cancer that is slowly killing you you'd get it cut out to save your life? So why not WLS to save your life, it's the same thing". Very, very few people live a life of obesity without dreadful and completely avoidable health consequences. For a majority of the world food is cheap, plentiful and served in WAY too large a portions. Eating IS necessary but we fail to control ourselves and pack the pounds on and ruin our health accordingly. We all wish you the best in your new life to come.

Wow, I've experieced exatly the opposite. I am far more balanced now then I have been my whole adult life. I was amazed yet this morning how I can put my pants on while standing up, I used to have to sit or I'd topple over. Maybe you're right and the sudden weight loss has thrown off your coordination, you were so used to applying forces in a certain way to counteract a certain high weight that you are now over compensating.

How about a 12? I, like many was worried that it just wouln't work for me. Nowat 14 months out and closing in on 175 pounds down the success is far greater than I could of hoped or imagined. ALL of my health issues have cleared up, I have more energy, feel better and look far better than I have ever been my entire adult life.

Yeah biy, it surely sucks. i went 3 weeks on the liquid diet. I went to San Deago a day early for my surgery in MX and sat around the hotel for a day. Seems like every freaking commercial on TV was for some delicious food. I nearly caved about the 4th or 5th time of seeing a 5 cheese and 3 pork pizza commercial by a local shop on TV. Man I wanted it so bad - but I persevered and you can too. Stick with it. It may actually help you recover as the liver might not be as fatty and your gut not loaded with all kinds of junk, I wish you luck!

I'm a guy in the same boat. I got down to 203 a few months ago, the holidays hit and I bounced back up to 2010 and now am back down to 203 FINALLY. I am trying hard to get below 200. It sure IS frustrating.

I was 6'2" at one point in my life. When i was measured at my doctors in late 2010 I was 5'11.5". I just measured myself and and now back to 6' .75" so I got back .75". The doc says it's mostly from spinal decompression. As Pookey said the extra fat puts a lot of stress on your back and gives you crappy posture. The rest of the hiegth is more than likely permanatly gone due to aging and damage due to years of carrying the extra weight.

I went from a (tight) size 13 ring to a size 10 - which is now loose again a few months later I almost lost my wedding band after it just dropped off my finger while I was standing there. My shoes are loose too. I went from a size 52 pants that were nearly cutting me in two they were so tight to a loose size 36. I wear a medium shirt when I can ones that have long enough sleeves, and I have to wear long sleeves 90% of the time as I am always cold now. If I can't get the sleeves long enough I go with a large top and they're terribly baggy. Amazingly for the first time EVER when I got my eyes examined they actually IMROVED by 2 powers, the eye doctor was really surprised by that and attributed it to undiagnosed diabetes that I no longer had. The sleeve has been the BEST thing EVER in my life.

I was in the same boat, except I already had the money. I was really falling apart and had a LOT of health issues and was getting worse. I decided to go for MX self pay despite the fact I have insurance. In the 6 months or so that it would of taken to get approval I had already lost 100 pounds or more and most of my health issues had been resolved. It worked out best for me but you have to decide how desprit you are to get sleeved. YOU and only YOU have to make this decision.

Well, I have to admit that especially since I've been excersizing so much lately I am facinated by all the swoops and curves I now have. I LOVE sitting in the shower and flexing my calf muscles and seeing the swoop and bulge and the split down the back. Don't get me wrong, I look nothing like a body builder it's just that I have NEVER had so much definition EVER. I was always just straght and tubular shaped even when thin.

Ahem, present and accounted for ma'm.

I think that has something to do with it, but the change was so profound and so sudden. Pre-op I was a typical fat sweaty guy, post-op by just a few weeks I was cold ALL the time. I wear fleece bottoms, undershirt and pants and henley top to bed over a heated mattress pad and under a bunch of covers - and oh yeah - WOOL socks. A sweater is my full time "costume" at work. We've postulated elsewhere on the board here that removal of a majority of the portion of the stomach that produces ghrelin has something to do with it. As well as reduced caloric intake. It is a polar (pun intended) opposite for me now.

I HAVE insurance and was morbidly obese, pre-diabetic and high blood pressure. I was in the emergency room twice in 2010 and had to walk with a cane for a while due to leg weakness. I also had to have physical therapy for nerve problems. EVERYTHING hinged on my great weight. If I lost weight all my problems would ease up. I could apply for insurance, wait it out and jump through hopps for 6-10 months OR I could go to Mexico and do self pay and have it done in less than 30 days. I don't know if I could of made it waiting another 6-10 months, I was certainly FEELING like I was going to die. Getting up and going potty made me short of breath. I was emoitionally, if not physically DYING. I went, had it done and lost over 100 pounds before I even would of gotten a surgery date had I waited on insurance. I was lucky, I had the money.

I was MX self pay and the only person I told was my wife. She didn't have a passport and getting it required us to get both certified copies of her birth certificate AND our marriage license. She also has, um, "issues" with hipanics, as in she is frightened of them. So I left her at home and went on the journey myself. I did OK but it would of been nice to have someone to carry my bag on the way back. I purposley did not tell anyone else becasue I didn't want to get a lecture or stupid remarks - like I did when I fessed up afterwards. You'll more than likely meet up with someone down there, I did. We hung around together for a few days and kept each other company.

I experienced the same thing and it literally took months to clear up and at 14 months isn't entirely gone either. I got (still get somewhat) a frothy spit. It was, as you say, real bad at first and I was constantly hocking up loogies. Perhaps carry a cup with a cap on it like people who chew tobacco do? I still get a lot of buubles in my spit for some reason too. I chase them around my mouth with my tongue. Weird, eh? It sounds like you are really in a tough place as you certainly aren't doing it on purpose.

I'd advise to at least wait till you're out of the recovery room Seriously, whenever you're ready and as Karen points out take it easy and be sure not to put too much pressure on yourself. Perhaps lady on top?

I agree with Helen above. Nothing is forbiden, my tastes and appetite are just changed. I basically eat WHAT I want. I have read that you SHOULD steer clear of cellery and coconut becasue of the Fiber that may ball up in the small sleeve space, and others have chimed in and said they eat it regularly - so who knows. Out of all the choices the only thing I choose NOT to eat much of is bread, becasue it's so filling and high cal and as a carb burns up fast and provides little in the long term. I'd rather get some longer lasting Protein. Being about 14 months out I am surprised at how much I CAN eat, I thought I'd SUFFER forever eating just spoonfuls of a stuff for a meal. I don't do ANY protein shots or diet shakes any more. I eat a regular SENSIBLE portion now, and what is a SENSIBLE portion and what is typically served are two entirly different things. At a restaurant I share an entree with the wife and sometimes even after eating a portion each we can get 1 or 2 MORE meals out of ONE entree - portions are THAT out of control. No wonder we're a bunch of lard a$$es. It works for me and thousands of others. But you make your OWN choice because you HAVE to have the drive and desire to make a change in order for it to work. let someone talk you in to it and you may just be heading for failure. Keep investigating and asking questions and make up your own mind. I was one of those who went to Mexico for surgery. I even have insurance and elected to NOT be forced to jump through hoops and wiat them out for approval. I had the money so made the appointment and did the deed in less than a month start to finish. Again, it works for me. IANAL, IANAD,