Tarain

I have heard that when you first start eating solid foods you should take just a few bites at first to see how your tummy reacts to the food. Everyone reacts differently to the solid stage and I have read where some had to prolong their mushie stage 1 or more weeks because they couldn't tolerate solids yet. Also, I know for me, I get sick if I eat too fast or more than I should. Are you eating slowly and are you measuring your food? I hope you are able to tolerate solids soon! Good luck to you!

I hope you are recovering well! I went to Dr. Kelly on 3/1/11. You are in good hands! My sleeve is working wonderfully for me. I was the first surgery he did on my day and I have to admit I was so grateful for that! I would have drove myself crazy waiting for my turn! I can't wait to hear how you are doing! These first few days can be rough but you will feel much better soon! Take care!

If I remember correctly, the VSG takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. When I had my surgery I also had my gallbladder removed and my surgery lasted 90 minutes.

I went alone and was fine. I didn't take any checked baggage, everything I needed fit in my carry-on's and I stayed for 10 days. You really will not need to take much with you and you wont want to pack around a bunch of luggage so I would recommend you pack very lightly. My coordinator took care of everything I needed while I was there. Not sure who your doctor or coordinator is. Maybe you could contact others who went to the same doctor to get a better idea of how their experience was. Good luck on your surgery!

Hey Groove, I bought the giant pills accidently and have put off taking them until now. I know I need to be more vigilant in taking my vitamins because I have not taken them since surgery, which was on 3/1/11. I took them today by breaking them in half. They did go down, but not as easy as I would like. So I plan on crushing them and adding them to my drink or some yogurt or maybe breaking them into more than 2 pieces. Give it a try, I think it would be better than taking the carbonate.

Looks like you're doing great. Your start weight was 100 pounds less than me and you have lost more than me! My start weight was 353, I am at 7 weeks PostOp and have lost 35 pounds so far. I'm a little jealous! Really, you are doing quite well considering you aren't even weighing or measuring your food. Congrats! The only thing I would be concerned about is your Protein intake. From looking at your food, it does look like it is lower than it should be, unless you are adding Protein powder to your drinks. You should probably have at least 60g protein per day and from the daily intake you provided, I think it is less than 40 (just an estimate). Like Kelly mentioned, you might want to enter your food into one of the nutritional trackers periodically to make sure you are meeting your requirements. Protein is a very important part of your diet now.

I was a self pay and honestly, spending the money for the surgery never bothered me. I have struggled for so long and failed at weight loss so many times, I felt like this was my lost hope. I knew that I would be dead within 10 more years at my weight. To me it was spend the money and gain a life or keep the money, continue to live a miserable life, and die at an early age. I decided to give life a shot and that to me is worth any amount of money. Stop worrying about the money for now. Whatever you can spend that money on now, you can spend it on later. Put your life and your health first. If you have been waiting for 4 years, you have waited long enough!

I just passed the 7 week mark. I am much heavier than you and a little taller, but i will share my info so you can compare with a variety. I think it's going to be hard predicting the size you will be in 6 more weeks, but good luck! I agree with Becca, be prepared for some alterations just in case. My PreOp weight was 353 I am 5'6" At 7 weeks I have lost 35 pounds.

There are many others on here that know much more about this than me, but I remember reading in a different post that after surgery your tummy is quite swollen. As it heals the swelling reduces, therefore you may feel less restriction than early on.

Looks really good! Thanks for sharing!

I think a lot of people have problems with their gallbladder afterwards. One reason is due to the quick weight loss, as others have mentioned. Another possible reason is because many are on very low fat diets after surgery. I have read where some are told to stay below 5g fat per day. When I was on a diet program before my surgery, I was told by a dietitian that you should consume a minimum of 20g of healthy fat each day for healthy gallbladder function, otherwise you may experience gallbladder problems. Still, from what I have read, it seems the quick weight loss is the main culprit. I already knew my gallbladder was bad and had it removed during the VSG surgery. So glad I did to! Evidently my gallstones were quite impressive. When I woke up from surgery so many people asked me if I was told about my gallbladder. The stones were HUGE; all of them were larger than avocado seeds. My doctor had to crush most of the stones and cut my incision wider because they were too large to pull out.

Once I am healed up how much Protein do you think I will need each day to keep muscle and not lose too much weight? I like to work out and will the rest of my life and don't want to get frail looking. I was told to get a minimum of 60g of protein and to shoot for 70g. It took me 5 weeks post op to be able to get in more than 60g. Second question: My daughter works for a company who makes protein drinks. Looks like pretty good stuff. Only 1 gram of sugar but 21 grams of carbs. Does that sound right? That sounds pretty high in carbs to me. I would look for something lower in carbs because many of us are told to keep the carbs low during weight loss. Last question, for today, I have read a lot of stories about bad gas pain right after surgery lasting for quite awhile. From my research it looks like that type of bad situation is rare and most people walk off mild gas shortly after surgery. Is this true for most of you? Gas pain was horrible for me right after surgery. Walking did seem to help it but the pain was pretty strong for a few days. After that, I still had some gas pains off and on, but it was manageable. Good luck to you!

That has to be one of the most scary things about being self pay. I worried about this before my surgery as well. In reality, it is a surgery and you could have a complication with even the most skilled doctor. The bright side is that the chances of complications with a VSG is relatively low compared to other surgeries, which really helped me cope with the worries. Also, if your doctor has a good amount of experience with this surgery, your risk of complications will be greatly reduced. I also agree with the other replies when it comes to your insurance coverage. Question your carrier until you understand everything clearly. Good luck!

I have read that many people end up having their gall bladders removed after they get the VSG. I knew mine was already in bad shape so I had my Dr remove it when I had my VSG surgery. That really sucks that you have to start over like this. I hope all goes well for you. Good luck!

The fruit punch is the only one I tried. What I liked about it was that it didn't have a "powdery" taste to it like some of the dry brands. What I didn't like is that the fruit punch tasted kind of flat and I had to use a lot to get a good flavor, and really, I don;t need a lot of flavor; 1 stick of the powdered kind is plenty for a liter bottle for my taste. I wonder if it is just this flavor that is like this since the other poster didn't care for the fruit punch either. It is worth a try if you're having a hard time with plain Water.

My doctor recommended 2-4 weeks off work depending how I felt. I had my gall bladder removed at the same time and stayed quite sore for the first 4 weeks but I did go back to work a couple days a week after 2 weeks. My job allows me to sit most of the time so it wasn't too bad. Most likely the more physical the job, the more time off you will need. Still your doctor will be able to tell you for sure.

Mandems Mom, I can appreciate that you're not wanting to bash anyone and I also believe that your post is from your honest opinion, unlike Beachbum's. However, I don't understand how you can "confirm" any information that you are only getting through word of mouth from Sandy. I think it is pretty clear there is some tension between the coordinators now, so I personally would not claim to be able to "confirm" anything that is simply word of mouth from someone who is desparately competing for business from other coordinators and promoting other Doctors on top of that. If that was all I needed to "confirm" something, then I can confirm that Doctor Kelly charges the exact same fee from all of the coordinators. The coordinators then add whatever extra fee the want when they give you the final total. That is why often times you will be quoted different prices from different coordinators for the same exact procedure. For example, I was quoted 5300 from one person and 5700 from another. Also, something I was told by another coordinator was that Dr Kelly stopped working in INT hospital because there were so many problems with infections within that hospital, so I guess I can "confirm" that bit of information as well. Also, I was never swayed by Dr Kelly to go to a different coordinator. Did he personally try to get you to go with one over the other or is this just another bit of information Sandy shared with you? My point here is that all though you may believe your information is correct, you only have "word of mouth" from someone who may have personal reasons to not be completely honest. Whatever I was told by the coordinators I was in contact with, I took with a grain of salt. I don't consider this information as a confirmation of anything. If you want to confirm something, contact Dr Kelly himself or contact the hospitals, don't go by "gossip". I honesty don't mean for this to sound like I am bashing you because I think you were sincere in your post, it just sounds like you are trying to turn gossip into fact, which I think is wrong.

I too thought it was very suspicious that this person posted this topic just 30 minutes after joining the site. Looks like they joined specifically to place this post. Seems like the person who posted this has ulterior motives for this post. To state that a Dr "no longer has privileges" at other hospitals based solely on "word of mouth" and no physical proof as to if it is true is rather underhanded. Also strange that the post starts off with praising Dr Kelly and then ends with bad remarks toward Dr Kelly. So pretty much, if you're going to Dr Kelly you should absolutely go to Sandy, but just in case you don't, please don't forget that Sandy represents other Doctors. Was that the correct message you were trying to put forward? Also odd that the remarks are quite personal towards Trish. For example, "typical mexican" and "Ishy Trishy". Honestly, I believe that Sandy, the coordinator has a part in this, which is quite sad. Anyone who has been sleeved by Dr Kelly knows this is complete BS. And anyone that has met Trish will know this is BS. I don't believe that Trish forced anyone to go shopping while they were ill and weak. She certainly never forced me to go anywhere! She offered to take me anywhere I wanted to go to, if and when I felt like it, and if I didn't feel like it she offered to pick up anything I needed.

The puree stage for me was anything that could be blended or pureed to the consistency of mashed potatoes. My Dr wanted the first half of the puree stage to consist of thin pureed foods and the last half of the stage to progress to a thick puree. I could blend a can of Soup, tuna or chicken salad, or chili; pretty much anything that can be blended to a soft consistency. There are many on here who were much more creative than me during this stage. You might try to do a search for more suggestions. Maybe even google "pureed food after VSG"

I wasn't told to stay below a certain number of carbs but the common goal for many is either 30 or 40. I personally try to stay below 40 although there are times I go a little above. As for ketosis, from what I learned when I went on MediFast last year, you can have up to 90g of carbs and still remain in a mild state of ketosis. While on MediFast the plan encourages you to eat between 80 - 90g of carbs a day to remain in the "mild state of ketosis".

Lisa, First of all I think it is terrible the way your husband is treating you because of the surgery. My husband is not the most supportive person, but it would rip my heart out if he acted the way your husband is acting. My husband was against the surgery at first also, mainly because previous diets always failed for me and he wasn't willing to spend the money for the surgery because he didn't believe it would work for me since diets never worked. He even refused to discuss it with me in the beginning. I guess he figured that would be the end of it, but it wasn't the end for me. I saw this surgery as my last chance to live a normal life and I wasn't going to wait any longer. I arranged everything on my own. Once everything was arranged, I informed him what I was doing and that was that pretty much. He wasn't happy but it was already arranged, nothing could be changed by then. During the following 2 weeks he was slowly coming around and by the time I left he accepted what I was doing. I can't imagine coming home to a person that was just waiting for something to happen so they can rub it in your face. I really hope you have some good support coming from other outlets. As for your questions, I was sleeved 1 week before (3/1/11) you so I will answer as best I can. I personally do not sip my liquids anymore but I believe it is different for everyone. I have read where some have had surgery before me and still sip. If it something that concerns you, you might want to discuss with your doctor. As for the mashed potatoes, I would say that is likely normal. After surgery our tastes and tummy's have changed quite a bit. There will be things you can't tolerate that others can. People always say to wait a few weeks and try it again when it comes to food you're unable to eat it after surgery. If you are unable to tolerate all soft or mushy foods, then it might be a problem. If it is only mashed potatoes I wouldn't worry about it. Lastly, I am guessing the indigestion is also normal. Once again, it is different for everyone. Some will have it and some wont. For me, I have problems with burping or the feeling my food/water are coming up when I eat or drink too much at a time or if I eat or drink too fast. Try to notice similarities to what is causing the indigestion. Pay close attention to how fast or how much you are eating or drinking. Also make sure you are not drinking and eating at the same time or drinking and eating too close togethere. Finally, congrats on what you have acheived so far! You should feel very proud. I know that it is hard to feel proud when your husband is acting the way he is, but don't let his negativity get to you; that's what he wants! I don't know what would cause a spouse to act this way unless it is some sort of insecurity within them. I hope he is able to change and becomes more supportive to you. If not, try your best to find other forms of support!

I usually get the best deals from Orbitz, but I also see which airline is cheaper on Orbitz and then checkout the website of the cheapest airline itself. By doing this, I got the best first class price directly through Contenental Airlines website flying from Texas to San Diego. I don't travel first class normally, but I wanted to be stressfree and comfortable on my VSG trip so I splurged. Sometimes it will be cheaper to purchase directly through the airline rather than a site such as Orbitz.

I had to make myself throw up a few times also. I sometimes eat too fast, which can cause me to over eat. The feeling is very uncomfortable. For me, the food feels like it is in my throat waiting to come up. I do my best to let it pass because I don't want to throw up but I will start sweating and kinda burping it up. I feel like I will likely throw up anyway, but it is taking too long so I try to get it over with rather than prolong the miserable feeling.

I agree with iegal. You will go through so many changes now that the surgery is over. For me, every week was a big difference compared to the previous. Everything is kinda "out of whack" right now, but it should get a lot better over time. Just be patient.

I think you're doing great. I am at 5 weeks and have only lost 30 pounds and I am pretty sure I weigh more than you ( I was 353 on surgery date). There are a lot of people who had surgery after me and weighed less than me and have still managed to lose more weight than me! It is kind of a bummer, believe me, I know that! But we just have to look at it as our own personal journey and it's going to be unique. Also keep in mind that there are just as many people who are probably losing slower than you. Just be thankful you are losing weight and try not to compare your loss to others.