Rootman

Just to make sure everyone understands completely, it's not the CELERY per-se that is "hard" to digest, it's he long strings of indigestible (that means UN-digestible) fiber along the outside of the celery stalk that may get stuck in the narrow confines of a sleeve. These strings are very tough and when eaten by a person with a normal stomach have not problem passing right through into the intestines and are pretty much passed through to the stool unchanged. When a sleever gets celery the long strands may ball up in the tiny stomach and refuse to pass through the pyloric valve into the gut. They get stuck in the stomach and may pick up other "hitch hikers" and form a bezoar ( https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Bezoar ) or a ball of indigestible matter than lodges in the stomach. Cat's get these from eating hair and they are called HAIR BALLS. Medication tablets and bits of other matter can get stuck in them as the original indigestible matter provides a "shell" for the stuff to hide in. If they get real bad they need to be removed surgically. I would thing that if the celery were chopped up finely, say in a Soup, that there would be no harm. But I err on the side of caution and choose NOT to eat it. As others have stated you can PEEL the back off the celery and just leave the tender heart portion and be OK too.

OMG! You just made me crave a food for the first time in a long time! These sound absolutely delicious! Shame on you

NO, weight fluctuations are normal. Water retention, waste retention and a trade off between fat and heavier muscle mass are some of the issues. Females are more prone to this, especially during the TOM. Just stick with a good meal plan and the scale WILL move.

PICS or it didn't happen!

He doesn't have to be physically fat to be a "fat" jerk! His head alone probably fills the bill for fat anyways,

FULL arrives very quickly and while it used to be another helping to reach it now it takes just a few bites to get full - over full can get painful real quick and last maybe 10 minutes or more, like when you used pile on that next piece of pie at Thanksgiving. Very uncomfortable.

Never though of it, but perhaps Steve? Steve the Sleeve

Wow for me too, just freakin' WOW!

Congrats Coops and I agree with the girls, that dress is da'bomb!

Thanks for the translation Alex, appears the surgery was COSMETIC surgery and not WLS in this case. There are bad doctors in EVERY country and EVERY field. On a personal note, it seems like I've met quite a few of them too. My original PCP was asked to "leave" the medical system he was in, strongly urged to "leave immediately" is what I heard, before the malpractice suits started rolling in. I had left him soon after I met him, it was obvious he was a bozo.

Off the shelf cal-cit tablets. I don't seem to have any issue swallowing, or should I say stomaching them.

SF is typically low cal but if you have problems with it like my wife (gives her diarrhea ) than just avoid it, watch your portion size and total caloric intake and you will do fine.

NO, be there for your kids future. Fat does NOT equal healthy.

Tamz, it DOES get better at 6 months out. Your capacity will increase and all the funny feelings should drop away. I too enjoyed food immensely and felt shorted when I could not partake, but I now enjoy the conversation and fellowship more than I ever did the food. I feel SO much better physically that it MORE than makes up for missing it. I also enjoy the small amount of food I eat just as much as I used to enjoy the masses. We went to Red Robin and we ordered garlic steak fries and I ate maybe two, I had a little less than half my bunless burger too and enjoyed it too. It WILL get better, especially when you pass the 6 month mark.

DELETE him! Do it! He's a jerk, and probably a FAT jerk! You DON'T need a "friend" like that. YES, it is "easier" in that it provides an (almost) foolproof way of losing weight. I suppose you should just tough it out without insulin if you're diabetic, you should just put up with chest pains and throw the nitro tablets away if you have angina. What modern medicine has to offer IS the "easy way out" when used correctly because it's far, far harder to put up with the health issues without the benefits it provides.

I have to wonder - and excuse me if this is just the straight male in me talking - why is this even an issue? You are there for surgery, fairly invasive surgery that will leave you pretty much without any sexual desire for a while, so why even worry about it? I saw a lot of people there with same sex companions, how many were actually gay or straight and just hanging with a same sex friend for support I don't know. There will be no issues with having your partner along with you and unless you want to hit the town and troll the gay bar scene there is little or nothing to worry about. Regardless, The owner of the clinic that I had my surgery in is gay and seems to be getting along fine out of the closet and seemingly proud and open about it.

As Meg states probably a good portion of us wonder "WTF did I do to myself?" after awakening from surgery and a few times over the next days / weeks / months. Then everything heals and we start losing the pounds. For some of us with food issues - and YES nearly all of us DO have food issues of one sort or another, else we wouldn't be in the shape we are in and need the sleeve - once in a great while we would like to vegetate and scarf down a bag of chips, a big juicy hamburger or a full plate of nachos. But the desire wanes and reality sets in and we realize that's what got us into this mess in the first place. YES, it would be nice to not have the restrictions once in a while but that's just foolishness talking. Without a doubt we are all generally better off without the capacity. Few, very, very few have problems and it causes health issues and so forth. They are FEW and FAR between. It's the luck of the draw and a FAR, FAR surer bet than anything Vegas or the state lottery has to offer.

Dec 6th 2010, took about 2 hours, sitting in traffic, actual clearance took 5 minutes or less..

As always YMMV, I was on anti depression and anti anxiety meds for about 10 years pre-op and was spiraling down and down and required double the dosage near the end just to get by. I elected to quit the meds and take my chances, it was hell on earth for about 2 months. After this I found I was low on testosterone - which the antidepressants were masking. So I started on testosterone replacement therapy. Since then it's been a real roller coaster ride with a lot more dips than high points. Right in the middle of this all I had the VSG surgery. I can honestly say this last month has been a doozy with a lot of things wanting to drive me deeper and deeper into depression. I am now struggling with the choice of trying to go back on them after about a year off them. My weight had ballooned rapidly while on them and I have other factors other than just "feeling good" to consider in the choice to start again or not. I personally would not count on them being reduced or eliminated and advise that you tread carefully when making the choice to go off them, stay in constant contact with your physician to monitor your behavior and mood. We all wish you the best of luck.

Congrats! Great job!

I sum it up thusly: If you're losing - you're winning - weight that is. Losing any amount of weight is better than packing it on. You probably gained the weight slowly, maybe a little more than a pound a month and like 4 years later weight about 50 pounds more, 8 years later nearly 100 or more and so on. Losing weight of any amount at any rate is the RIGHT direction to go. I've been very fortunate to have lost a lot of weight very rapidly, others very slowly. It CAN be discouraging but remember IF YOU'RE LOSING YOU'RE WINNING and you're heading in the right direction.

Yep, what TNTsplant06 said. Trust your doc.

Water borne bacteria (which public pools still have plenty of despite chlorination) and irritation are the bug-a-boos about swimming after ANY surgery. I'd say 4 to 6 weeks but check with your doc first I too am a swimmer and just this spring I was able to join our adult wellness center because I turned 50. I swim at least 3 times a week and love it! It's strange, I get bored instantaneously when walking the track, working out on a weight machine or peddling a stationary bike, this despite being surrounded by interesting looking people and a picture window looking out on a garden, but I can go for 1 1/2 hours in a pool looking at little more than the tiles on the bottom - the time just flies by! Hope you get to take the plunge soon!

Yehaw! I feel nothing but jealousy and envy toward you . It will be a while before I join you in onederland. Good work girl!

Well I take the middle ground. YES, drinking a fair amount of Water is healthy, keeps you hydrated and keeps the tummy full, BUT if you are urinating plenty and the urine is clear to JUST tinted yellow then you re getting enough. If you're running to the toilet every hour on the hour - OR MORE - the water is not doing you much good as you are simply passing it through. Conversely if your urine is dark yellow or brown and comes infrequently then you are not getting enough. You need to drink enough to prevent kidney stones from forming too. 64 OZs is a good goal but little to no harm will come to you if you drink, say, only 32 ozs in a day provided you urinate enough and aren't losing the liquid through diarrhea, vomiting or excessive sweating. YES, it's better to get a little TOO much than not enough but I think too many people put too much emphasis on it. Beware: IANAD and YMMV