weho

Good for you girl! Keep it!

Oh, you look so cute!!! I was always envious of women who carried their pregnancy in the belly region vs. all over which is how I carried my pregnacy weight Your arms don't look flabby to me. You are so petite! Good luck on the final stretch of your pregnancy, how exciting.

Wow, this thread is really inspirational! My surgery date was 5/17/11. To date I've lost 36 lbs. That includes the 4.5 lbs lost the week before surgery. My weight loss isn't stellar but I am very happy with every pound gone. I love not feeling like a slave to my appetite/ hunger. I hope that doesn't go away

My doctor says keep it under 10 grams sugar. There is NO WAY that I would drink something with 40 grams of sugar! Be careful girl, we can get dumping syndrome too. That large amount of sugar in a semi-starvation state can cause some serious issues...be careful!

Lol, catching fire on the table...haven't heard that one! Yes, there are risks. There are risks with anything as we all know...driving to work, getting a tooth pulled, etc. But as you said, having faith that all will go well and having confidence in your surgeon will help put the odds in your favor, or at least that's what I believe. I could be wrong on this so maybe someone who has lost 50 lbs could come by and help with this, but 50 lbs doesn't seem like enough weight to cause you to have loose skin. I know it depends on how you carry it, and your age also...but I wouldn't think that would be an issue for you. I guess there are people on here that have uneven areas of weight loss and get lipo to even everything out. I've only lost 36 lbs and already notice that I will eventually need a breast lift /augmentation, but I was contemplating that 5 years ago when I was much lighter. The weight gain and now loss has just made it worse. Good luck to you! I came off my blood pressure meds a week after surgery!

Sorry you had to go through this! I think that your doctor should have listened to you and addressed this as needed. I am an ultrasound tech and have scanned more than a few pt's who came in before surgery for "abd pain" aka: to confirm known gallstones so the gallbladder could be addressed at the time of surgery. I will add to 2bskinny's advice and insist on an ultrasound to confirm gallstones. If your doctor is resistant, mention right upper quadrant pain and that should "buy" you an ultrasound. Sorry that you are having such bad throat pain! It sounds like you have been through a lot recently. Wishing you the best!

Lyndsey, Just curious, were you taking gallbladder pills after your surgery? I have to take them for 5 months...just wondering if they really are effective in preventing gallstones from forming. So sorry to hear that you are suffering with gallstones, I've heard they can be very painful. But it's so good that you were diagnosed so now you can be "fixed" Good luck to you!

You have come so far and done so well! Congrats!

Water can't replace electrolytes...try some propel. That is what my dietician recommended. I hope that you are feeling better soon! This heat is so draining!

Girl, I was scared silly about not waking up from surgery also. I can not tell you how elated I was when I "came to" after surgery. In my mind it was just a split second from the time I went to sleep to the time I woke up. It was a nice little nap. I was given some "happy juice" before my surgery to calm my nerves...but I was still crying like a baby on the way to the OR. In recovery, the first words out of my mouth was "Thank you Jesus!" I'm so glad I made the decision to have this surgery. I feel blessed. I will say a prayer for you...I remember what a wreck I was the week before surgery. I think that is why recovery for me was a breeze. I was just happy to be alive and complication free! Please keep me updated!

Liquid diets and eating small amounts of food right after surgery can cause bile in the gallbladder to become stagnant creating a good environment for sludge and stones to form. A high fat diet can also put you at an increased risk of developing gallstones, which is why a lot of people considering wls have already had their gallbladder taken out. I am taking ursidiol for 4 months to help prevent that from happening. Hope this helps a little.

Coffeetx, stay focused grasshopper. Don't let that scale get you down! Focus on the positives...eating healthier, feeling better, you're awsome new skinny stomach. Just keep doing your research regarding nutrition and reading these boards and the weight will come off in good time!

Heather and lilredraider, you are both doing awesome! Dr. Barker is a hottie? I've heard is name all over the place but had no idea he was good looking too! Heather, I know what you mean about wanting to "help" someone change their mind...I have a friend at church who wants the lap band. I really can't reason with her, she just keeps justifying why she wants the band over the sleeve. I hate to see her go through with it but maybe she will be one of the lucky ones.

Well, my math is a little off but you know what I mean

I totally know what you mean about the husband and the "foot in the mouth" thing. The evening that I came home from the hospital I was sitting out on the patio with an 8 oz glass of Water and feeling very overwhelmed at the thought of trying to drink it all before bed time. My husband came out and sat with me and said, "wow, the enormity of what you have done just hit me." It took every bit of strength not to cry (in front of him), but I did cry. It sounds like you are doing good, and I promise it gets better with every day. I am so happy with my decision and my husband recently admitted that he is also. You're right, do what you can to get through the first couple of weeks. When you start eating real food you will start to feel much better. Take care and good luck!

Just want to introduce myself. I had my surgery at Methodist Dallas on 5/17 with Dr. Castro. I did not have any problems and have been healing nicely. I too am so glad that I made the decision to have this surgery. Take care!

Hey Heather, I had my surgery on 5/17 with Dr. Castro at Methodist also. I think that Dr. Castro and Dr. Kennedy used to be in the same group. Glad to hear that you are doing well! I feel so blessed that I have not had any problems from surgery also and am healing very quickly. I did have just a little nausea the first couple of days after surgery, but none since. The pain was very tolerable. I don't have any regrets...I'm losing weight and don't feel like I am dieting at all. I remember the pain on the left side...I think that is pretty common from reading these boards. Take care!

Your hormones are probably going a little crazy right now, not to mention the recent anesthesia. It will get better! Remind your husband how much you will be saving on future grocery bills and get what you need. Fluids and yogurt go down much easier than dense food so don't worry about that. I had a "no chuncks, no chewing rule" for the first two weeks after surgery. If It couldn't go through a strainer I couldn't eat it. I ate yogurt with fruit but always fished the fruit out. Follow your doctors orders, you don't want to hurt your new tummy. There are a lot of people on here that use the ff, sf syrups. I stay away from the artificial sweetners though personally. Watch your sugar with the ice cream this early out...my doc said keep it all under 10 grams sugar, 10 grams fat per serving. Good luck to you! You are allowed a few breakdowns

After week 6 for me. I buy the 96/4 ground beef at Walmart and grill about 4 pattys out of a 1 lb package. Each half patty (the most that I can eat) is about 12 grams protein, 75 calories, and 2 grams of fat. I pair it with sliced tomatoes and pickles to help it go down a little better.

Very interesting. I remember learning about the omentum in anatomy and physiology but I've never heard that theory!

Even during the massive heat wave this sounds and looks great!! Have you run the nutritional info on it? I seem to have a sleeve of steel so the spice in this should not bother me one bit. Thanks so much for sharing Chef Neil. I like the soyrizo idea too. I've seen it at Walmart but have not tried it yet.

I too made the rounds to my favorite restaurants before my liquid diet. My "last" meal though was a "double barrel baked potato" from Soulman's BBQ and an order of stuffed Jalapenos from Church's Chicken. My lord I can't beleive I ate all of that! Good luck with your upcoming pre-op diet. That was the most difficult time in this whole journey for me. Post op just seemed so much easier to deal with because I had very little hunger.

I'm so envious of you...I can't get past w1d1 of the c25k program due to foot pain. 21 minutes is AWESOME!!! A half marathon?!?! WOW!

Yogurt goes down easy; when you begin to eat dense protein it will be much different. That overwhelming feeling will go away soon. It took me about 3 weeks to feel "normal" again. It will be second nature to you before too long. Drinking should be much easier by 4 weeks out. I have been able to gulp fluids since 5 weeks out. I know it seems like a full time job right now but I promise it does get easier. I am still a stickler about getting my fluids and protein in but know I am a much healthier person now in doing so; it's worth every bit of energy! I love my sleeve!

I also used Dr. Castro at Methodist. He was great. His staff is very courteous and professional; especially Mary in dealing with insurance approval. He is a great surgeon with an awesome reputation at Methodist which is where I work. The hospital stay was alright...I just wanted to get home. I have not had any complications or "side effects" from the sleeve. It is the best thing that I have done for myself and family.