Rootman

I still wonder "who the hecks underwear are these" when I pull a pair out of the drawer or drier. They are so much smaller then the circus tents I used to wear.

Always worked for me, been eating this since on mushies, can only eat 1/2 can though.

Iron and Calcium negate each other so separate them by a few hours. Also a PPI (Omiprozole or Nexium etc.) need to be taken separate from calcium as well. I take ompiprozole at Breakfast, calcium at lunch and iron at dinner. Perhaps not the best but it keeps them from interfering.

The typical Medical Tourism cost covers the surgery, the stay in the country where the surgery takes place, meds while you are there and typically transportation to and from the airport, for instance San Diego airport from Tijuana. They may also have phone follow up care or a further discount on cosmetic procedures for 1 year, say a tummy tuck if needed. There is a supplemental insurance to cover complications available at extra cost. Transportation and any hotel before or after is your cost. It's not for everyone. I was desperate and had a bit of money left over from my Mom's estate. I was also having a hell of a time medically and wanted something done immediately. I had backed myself in a corner with all kinds of health issues. Now at 9 months out I have lost 160+ pounds, BP and blood sugar are great, neurological problems are gone, resting heart rate is on the 50s (down from the 90s), heck even my DENTIST noticed a difference, my decades long issue with gum problems have all but cleared up. I have insurance and decided not to fart around with their waiting game. I moments ago spoke to a gal here at my work, she saw my phenomenal success after 3 months post-op and decided to do it herself. She is at 6+ months of waiting on insurance approval and just learned today that our carrier just canceled her pre-approval out of the blue and NO ONE knows why. It's a bleeding shame but insurance is such a racket and your health is NOT their highest priority, making money is.

I do the same for my King Size catalogs when they come too! NO MORE XXXL!

It's come and gone for me. I simply eat saltine crackers and the taming of the small amount of PHYSICAL hunger I have seems to allow me to get past the HEAD hunger. I alot myself 12 crackers a day, 144 calories and they soak up the extra acid and take the edge off. Some evenings I add a slice of cheese.

Great responses, I am glad to know that I'm not alone and others are having the same "issue" as I do. Right now I'm wondering if I'll be able to eat enough to maintain, especially with the exercise routine I've gotten in to. Some days I feel guilty about the amount I've eaten and find out when I record it all at myfitnesspal.com it's only 1500 calories, and I burned up 1000+ of them swimming for 90 minutes. Will I have to cut back on th exercise or simply consume more calories? Oh, what a problem !!!

Arf! I did this for the first time EVER last month. I thought I'd NEVER be able to do it. 50 YO man jumping on a trampoline! My own: The cheap vinyl molded lawn chairs that everyone sells no longer look like death traps ready to collapse on first sit, and the arms don't "grip" to your rear end when getting out of them either!

Not after a few months, scar tissue + staples is actually stronger than the stomach material itself.

You go girl! We're all looking forward to joining you in "average" town!

I can see their concerns, a sleeve might cause your GERD to get WORSE as a LOT of sleevers have excessive acid at least for a while. The VSG DOES remove a good portion of the pump material but what pumps are left and the resultant smaller capacity can often lead to too much acid for the small area to hold and it spills over into the esophagus. I wonder too if they're worried about having enough material to possibly do a fundoplication ( https://secure.wikim..._fundoplication ) should one be necessary, the sleeve would eliminate a lot of the stomach material with which to do this. Stick with it, you'll know the answers soon enough and hopefully they include your WLS. I too had / have a have a hiatal hernia as well as a Schatzki ring ( https://secure.wikim...i/Schatzki_ring ). I was worried about getting the surgery. Fortunately neither proved serious enough to keep me from the VSG. The VSG even HELPED with the Shatzki ring in the fact that I now cannot eat enough to get hung up in the ring and therefore have not had ANY symptoms since the surgery and weight loss. We all wish you well and hope to hear a good report and news soon.

WriterGirl, so sad to hear this. What are the options for treatment, or have you gotten this far? Certainly a PPI if you already aren't on one. For those that don't know Barrett's esophagus a per-cancerous condition of the lower esophagus caused by constant exposure to stomach acid: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Barrett%27s_Esophagus

I have to admit, I have never liked alcohol, I just think it tastes nasty. I've been reading about the benefits of a daily dose of red wine and decided to try it. I've finally got my cholesterol under control (thanks to the diet change after the sleeve) but what scares me is the family history. I had two grand parents die of heart attacks at young ages (early 60's) and the other two died of cancer so I've got a double whammy from BOTH sides. Not knowing a thing about wine I went to a local wine shop and got what they recommended, a cheap box of a dry red wine. The quick sip he gave me at the store seemed OK but the 3 or 4 ozs of the stuff I've been taking is enough to gag a maggot. I REALLY hate the taste and cringe when I take the stuff every evening. My co-worker suggested I try a sweet dessert wine. From what I've read the "dry" wines - one's that have most all the natural sugar consumed by yeast and turned into alcohol - is supposed to be the best. Of course there are a million opinions online and most do not agree. Does anyone have any good knowledge they can share? Is a sweet wine just as good as a dry one?

Congrats! Keep up the good work!

Keep up the good work Chris! Ain't it strange to feel all the muscles you NEVER had before? I'm feeling shapes , bones, muscles and tendons that were just not there before - at least you couldn't see or feel them under the mounds of fat. It's great!

WooHoo! Keep it up girl, or rather keep it OFF!

Sorry if I offend but I find that Christians are one of the most close minded people in the world - and I AM one! I was reminded of this verse before I had my WLS: Mark 9:43 "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:" While being obese it certainly is not prohibiting us from eternal life it IS keeping us from living a longer healthier life and certainly from enjoying the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us. So if being obese is severely hindering you from a happy, active, responsible, healthy life then CUT IT OFF! Literally!

Me neither, I keep the same diet and sometimes even go NEGATIVE on the net calories.

Ahaa! I found it, it goes by a few names and one of them is SILs: http://www.covidien....port/pages.aspx Better double check with your doc to make sure that's what they are meaning, maybe he just means you'll get high class "star" treatment

Maybe this is "stoopid", but it makes me wonder. So, you've been sleeved, lost the weight and WOOT! Reached your goal at last. My question is this; is there any emotional "fallout" after you've reached goal? Pre-sleeve there wasn't a day nor hour that went by that I wished I wasn't fat. The health problems, the physical problems, the way i looked - you name it - all reminded me of what a fat cow I was. Post-sleeve and 160+ pounds later I am a few months away from my goal. I still daily think about my previous state and am anxious about reaching goal. I run in to people daily commenting about how good I look and asking how I did it. All reminders of where I was and where I am heading. I know I will make it but what about afterward? I mean, what do you think about? There will FINALLY be nothing to nag the hell out of me about being fat or remind me that I'm "not quite there yet" What DO skinny people think about?

Woot! Cute chick alert!

WooHoo! Congrats! Keep it comin' off!

Yeah, seems like I would always have the smallest attendant on the planet pushing my fat a$$ down the hall in a chair or gurney too. It must be a cinch for them now. Yeah, mine used to be as big as a tent and I still had a breeze in the back! It was embarrassing having to wait while they fetched the "special" gowns for me. I always hated this, I had a stress test last sumer, they had to put the cuff on my forearm because they couldn't find the jumbo cuff - and I KNOW it doesn't work right there. Makes me wonder if the entire test was even remotely correct using it there. Great NSV's - keep 'em comin'!

Yes, although I think it was named something like Spider or something. It is just an updated surgical tool that uses one incision in the abdomen that all the tools enter - the cutter, the camera, the gas jet, the lights and manipulator, instead of 4 or 5 incisions they just use the one and the tools spread out from this central incision to inside the body - like the legs of a spider. Like everything I would assume they charge more because it's new and "better".

Only like EVERY DAY! I guess it's natural for most of us, for some of use we've struggled with weight for DECADES and the fact that it might be OVER for us is hard to accept. The fact is that you CAN FAIL too - but I would think it would really take an effort to bypass the pouches limits, whereas before it just happens naturally. I HOPE this is my FINAL and COMPLETE lifelong solution.