wannalise

Deep breath! Nezzie you are just 5 days out from having 80% of a vital organ removed. This will sound crazy, but don't even THINK about weight loss right now. That is not your job just yet. Your job is to heal. Thats it. Focus on being hydrated first, your body can go without the total amount of nutrients for short periods of time, your body can not go without hydration. I found myself in a similar situation where I would throw up (the very little amount of things I could get in) and would then be very careful, well I learned the hard way that dehydration not only comes after vomiting, but can also cause more vomiting. So.....my point is you will have plenty of days to work and worry and lose that weight, but not yet. Just take care of yourself, be patient with your progress and don't compare it to others, and you will feel better soon. Anna

You are a rockstar! I am really excited for you and can't even imagine what being a size six could possibly feel like. Thank you for your support and encouragement through this whole thing, you are an excellent example to me of combining exercise and healthy eating to have an overall healthful life! You really are one of my heroes! Anna

You are well on your way. Your surgery will be here soon and it sounds like you have an excellent outlook and support system in place. There will be times where you feel like no one understands what you are experiencing, but guess what? We will. Post anytime, this is an excellent forum for support. Welcome aboard! Anna

Okay so I posted a lengthy number the other day, just am so excited to be in a place I have NEVER been before. Thanks again to all of you who support and encourage me! I am getting married next year and though I hope to be down another 60-70lbs my friend and I went and tried on wedding dresses! I didn't need a plus sized dress. So here I am, crazy face, but cute dress!!! Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery (VSG) Forum - wannalise's Album: On My Way! - Picture Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery (VSG) Forum - wannalise's Album: On My Way! - Picture Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery (VSG) Forum - wannalise's Album: On My Way! - Picture (Tiff I am becoming a picture whore too!)

Angie, It has been waaaaaaay to long, but I am happy to hear that you are enjoying your nights! You have done an amazing job, your body will let go of those last pounds, but don't compare your speed to those who had way higher BMI's it will never be the same (that being said, my weight loss is slowing down and it is frustrating!) You are a beauty and deserve all the best. Good for you for continuing to fight the good fight and I am so glad to hear there is a new fella in your life. You deserve to be treated well. Take care! Anna

Yes, it is very doable to get financing, shop around. My fave option and the one I ultimately went with was medchoice. I know that surgery loans also does financing. Some surgeons have their own financing programs in place, and many of the loan providers require that the surgeon you are going with is one of their providers. Good luck! Anna

Thank you for your friendship, support, and guidance. I really do love and appreciate you! My friends all know about "you know Tiffany from online" I am so grateful and happy to have you as a friend.

I love it Carrie! Though the "grown up" gifts may need to be given creatively for the first little while!!!!

Ask him about the scale, some of us do better having it, some do better spacing our weigh ins out! That you even ask and want to be sensitive to him will mean the world to him.

I had to chill about calories and protein for a while to. I was super dehydrated and had to drink orange drink from McDonalds and I felt super guilty, but believe me your goal at this point is just to get hydrated, you will have plenty of time to track all the other fun stuff, honest!

How weird I am watching that episode on tivo right now. (Okay this will sound awful, but I thought the husband was a bit of a d-bag.) Not very insightful or helpful to the topic, but just interesting that I watched it and wanted to vent and here was the option! Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. Anna

My reasoning was having a fully functional stomach. I can eat a piece of birthday cake and not get sick. I feel like for MY needs this was the way to go. You have to find the surgery that works best for your personal needs. You can find horror and success stories online for each of the surgeries, but this was the choice for me. Anna

I didn't feel sick but really dragged and was a little foggy for a while, if you can afford to take the time off I would do it, but I had to go back to work pretty quickly and I was able to do it, but then came home and napped my little heart out. Anna

The sleeping thing got me too! The only time I needed pain medication after I got home was in the middle of the night when I woke up laying on my stomach. It really does get a little better every day. Honest! Anna

Spicy is my love affair too. For the first four months the foods I adored where incredibly spicy to me, not just once they hit my stomach but even in my mouth. I don't understand the phenomenon of peoples tastes changing, but as time progresses the spicier I can enjoy! Anna

I never had the actual typical reflux feelings either, but when I started taking a PPI my "false hunger" went away, I was also told that the first little while due to the nerve damage we have post op, as well as the residual gherlin in our system we stay hungry for a while. And the sucky reality is some always have hunger. I hope you aren't one in that boat, but it is a possiblity. Anna

I made my bummy hurt after that phase (yes you are welcome for the imagery) I had to start throwing the flavorless benefiber into my Protein shakes. The mushy phase was not my friend either. I used to work in nursing homes and constipation is the rule not the exception two of the big reasons are decreased hydration and that people are not as ambulatory as they used to be. Walk and drink and things will move! Anna

Totally normal. My advice that I had to learn the hard way is two things: 1. Don't compare yourself to ANYONE! I used to compulsively look at Daisy and Tiffykins tickers over time and be annoyed that my pace wasn't as quickly as theirs. 2. Be nice to yourself. Be patient to yourself. If someone you loved had the surgery you had and was having the experiences you are having how would you treat them? You deserve the same kindnesses and patience. Go you!!!! Anna

You are such a great support, there will really be no better gift. The best things I got upon my return home was my boyfriend (who does not live with me and who works a lot) giving me his time. Even if it was just laying by me and talking to me and being willing to be my beck and call boy. He kept telling me just how brave he thought I was. My Mom also came and stayed with me and while she shows love through feeding people usually she was here, she did my laundry, she got me gatorade, at night she layed by me and watched our favorite shows. I had my roommate hide my scale before I got home and after a few days after surgery when I couldn't even swallow a satisfying drink of Water my mom called me into the kitchen and had the scale and said, why don't you just see, cuz the rest of us can see it, I was already down 17 lbs. And my last favorite gift...a bag of sonic ice. You are getting a great start by being on his team. Give him a hug for us and welcome him into this weird little club! Anna

You rockstar! A single digit. A single digit, not a plus size. How amazing!!!!! I am so excited for you. Lock this one tight in your memory, that must feel amazing! I am so impressed. Anna

One thing in your post stood out to me, that desire to pace and inablitity to settle yourself down. I had a weird reaction to the anasthesia and I think all the anti nausea meds (and of course the holy cow what have I done!) I called my GP and got a scrip for an anti anxiety. I only had to take it twice, but it really did help me. Don't feel bad about complaining, I think sometimes people want to present the positive so badly that they forget to mention that you have 80-90% of a major organ removed and you feel like crap. And you should that is a lot of trauma to a body. I intially read others posts about how they woke up from surgery, ran marathons, and cured cancer. That was NOT my experience, but all those crap days have paid off into lots of great ones!

Sounds super gross, but if you are willing to use a netti pot or other nasal rinse it really works. I had a sinus infection last year that would not die. Mucinex is awesome and helped some as did the mountains of antibiotics but to feel some relief the nasty shooting of snot out of my nose was the thing that helped me. It isn't weird to me though that if you were intubated that you may continue to have irritation at your throat. I am unsure about this one, but I wonder if as your stomach is healing if your tummy has extra mucous in it as a way to protect itself. If you don't feel better soon the doc is always the best route, probably better than a bunch of us online. Hope you feel well soon. Anna

This is a little after the fact so may not be of help to you, but I was told by my surgeon anytime you slime or vomit or have anything traumatic happen to your stomach or esphogus that you need to leave it alone for 12 hours. Stay hydrated, but don't focus on eating. Stomach irritation needs to be left alone. You may want to play around with which of the PPI's you are using. I have read some people having to switch these up as well. Good luck, this is difficult enough to get through without not feeling well. Take care and I would be interested to hear what your outcome is. Anna

I am six months out and still do 60-70g Protein daily and 600-800 calories daily. The days I don't track and then backtrack to see what I have actually done end up with lots of "just having a bite" of things and can result in a couple hundred calories, which when you eating so little can add up quickly! Sounds like according to most of our surgeons guidelines you are right on track. Also the less you weigh the less you burn in a day so sometimes being aware of what you are burning will help you get an idea of how much you should be eating. Right now w/out exercise I burn 2100 calories daily I eat about 700 calories daily That leaves me with a deficit of 1400 calories a day. It takes 3500 calories to burn one pound so at my current rate I will lose 2.8 lbs weekly averaging 11.2lbs monthly. I have to keep myself pretty aware, because I gained weight because I really chose not to pay attention to myself in these areas (even started to wear clothes that if I gained or lost weight I would not notice.) Best of luck! Anna