peppercma

I am 38 yrs old, 8mo post op and just found out that I'm pregnant. How in world am I going to eat all the food I'm supposed to? The food guide says 6-11 servings of grains per day!! I think my sleeve in kinda on the small side so I still can't eat much at one sitting so I eat about every 2-3 hours. To get all the grains I'm supposed to I'd have to eat it at every "meal", which means I wouldn't have room for any thing else. Is it OK to sacrifice the grains so that I can get everything else in? I'll be able to do all the others, but only if I sacrifice the grains. Thanks

Not so good this week, just down 0.4lbs since last week. But, my goal is losing 1.5lbs per week & I've lost 3.4lbs over the past 2 weeks, so I'm right on track. Yipee!! Starting ~ 225.2.....Current ~ 221.8.....Goal ~ 215.....Lost ~ 3.4.....To Go ~ 6.8

Yeah!! Down 3# this week. I'm not officially at one week until tomorrow morning, but I was super happy this morning and just had to share! Starting ~ 225.....Current ~ 222.....Goal ~ 215.....Lost ~ 3.....Still to go ~ 7

I don't know about the FSA card would work for surgery in Mexico, but just using ours in our local area has been a total @#$%^&*()_!!!!! We won't be using that plan ever again. The insurance company sends us our EOB, then about 2 months later we get a letter from them saying they need a copy of the EOB to show that it was right to be paid out of the account. If we didn't get it to them in time they froze the account. This happened about 4 times this past year. I hope it works well for you. Good luck!!

I stopped taking the pain meds when I got home, 4 days after the surgery. I had no pain until about a week or two later and it was near the big incision. It was just a soreness that went away after about a week.

I, too, have 3 kids...ages 8, 4 and (at the time of surgery) 1month. My surgery was on a Friday and we came home from TJ on Tuesday. I think that you probably won't have too many problems considering their ages, unless of course the 3 year old are the "more loving" type who like to be in mommy's lap a lot. Even in that case they are are big enough to climb up to you and just keep a pillow between you and them for some cushion against the incisions. I think they are also big enough to understand that mommy has a boo-boo and they need to be gentle.

Hey All, I've gotten tired of snacking on cottage cheese, cheese sticks, greek yogurt, and canned roast beef. So I decided to try and actually cook something a bit more hearty. It made 6 portions that have been put into small storage containers for easy grab, heat and eat Snacks. 1# ground beef (93% lean) 1/2 C ricotta cheese (simply kraft reduced fat) 3oz mozzarella, shredded (part skim) 1 C pizza sauce (ragu homestyle) salt, pepper, garlic salt, italian seasoning to taste Fry the beef and drain off any fat, and return to pan. Add the cheeses and pizza sauce, stir until melted. Add the seasonings to your taste preference. A 1/2 C serving has about 29gms of Protein. I didn't calculate any of the other stuff, so if you want that part you'll have to do the legwork. Using spaghetti sauce would work well, too, I just didn't have any of it on hand.

I missed my Christmas goal, so I was a bit more conservative this time. Hopefully I'll do better this time around... Current weight - 225 Valentine goal - 215 Pounds to go - 10

I'm 3 months out and have been eating fresh fruit since about a month out and salads since about 2 month out. They both cause great amounts of "rumblies in my tummy". Grapes actually make me burp, but everything else just seems to make the tummy very vocal. I never had this problem pre-surgery, so why is it happening now? And will it go away? Even some sliders make this happen also, like the greek yogurt. Thanks for any input y'all have.

As the original poster of this thread I am starting to regret asking for any opinions. I was really hoping this would be a "state your facts and get on with your life" kinda thing. But, this is really starting to sound like a bunch of kids fighting over who's right and who's wrong. Everyone has their own opinion and their own way of stating that opinion. Also, I believe that every one here is an adult and should starting acting like it. You will never get the other person to change how they think/feel about this topic. Maybe it's time to just let this thread die and everyone go on about their business

My husband came with me, and I would have been a total mess without him. He was more of a morale booster, than a keep me safe kinda thing. If he hadn't of been there I don't think I would have gotten up to walk around as early as I did, nor would I have taken the ice chips as often. That first day after surgery I just felt kinda crappy and he was there to encourage me and make me feel better. I honestly can't imagine how anyone goes thru it alone.

I wasn't given any driving restrictions that I remember. My surgery was on a Friday, we flew home on Tuesday and I was driving around town on Wednesday...so I guess that was 5 days. Honestly, I felt well enough on Monday and Tuesday that I could have driven then.

My surgery was done July 29th, so I'm almost 2 months out. I've lost a little over 30# and am very grateful for it, but I do miss the experience of eating. It isn't enjoyable to eat anymore. There is so much thought involved in every bite right now...small bites, chew slowly, chew 30 times, swallow, wait a minute to let it all settle, repeat and wait for "that feeling" to signal that your done. So, my opinion is to wait until after Thanksgiving. Use that as your food funeral and savor every bite and every different item you eat. Enjoy the experience and then get down to business with the sleeve.

I was sleeved by Dr. Kelly on July 29th. Here are my answers to your questions... What hurt - about an hour after surgery I had extremely bad gas pains for about 5 minutes. The drain tube was uncomfortable, but not painful. You will have 5 incision sites, one low between your breasts, the other 4 are about 3" lower going across your stomach...1) under right breast "ish" 2) under left breast "ish" 3) left of the left breast (I believe this is where the stomach was pulled out) 4) sort of near your left "side" (this is where the drain tube is placed). If you really want a photo you can PM me and I'll try to send one to you. Functioning again - my surgery was at 3:30pm and I was in and out of it until morning (except during that 5 minutes of gas pain). I was good to go the next morning, just tired. Barring any complications you will be just fine when head home. Walking - I was walking 6 blocks to and from the hotel the day I was released from the hospital (surgery on Fri, released Sun). Really long walks I'd say about a week, just because of being tired. In hospital - hooked up to the IV and the drain tube. Saturday afternoon they started to not be concerned if I was off the IV for a while after walking the halls. No catheter (yippee!) If you want a bit more "in depth" you can check out my blog (link below). It's a bit behind, but I do have it thru my return home.

I would suggest actually speaking with the Dr's that you are trying to decide between. Having a conversation with Dr. Kelly sealed the deal for me.

My weight loss is going well, at least for me. My highest weight was 282, the day of surgery (July 29) I was 269, today I am 252. I know there's lots of ladies who've lost a whole lot more than I have in a month, but I'm happy with where I'm at. I just remember where I was, so where I am will be great, no matter where that is. As for the hair...I haven't been loosing it in clumps like some folks say they have, but I think that I have been loosing some. My hair is short, so it's harder for me to tell when I lose it since I don't have these long strings of hair anymore. But I do think that I've lost some. It just seems thinner than before. I think I'm going to up my Biotin from once a day to three times. I just pray there is no wig in my future!

I used Dr. Kelly also. Tylenol is the only choice. The paperwork we had to sign said the following... "To protect your new stomach from ulcers you must never take the following medications: Aspirin, Motrin, Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Relafen or other similar drugs."

I'm using Vit E oil. You can get it at Wal-Mart. Just put a dab on your fingertip and rub it into each incision. Don't reapply unless you wash the previous application off first, a build up of the oil could give you a skin infection. I just put it on after a shower each day. Some say it doesn't work, some say it does. My mom used it on a large cut I had as a kid. Now, roughly 26 years later, there is no "scar coloring" to it. It needed to be stitched closed, but we couldn't afford it so I do still have the mark from the cut. I believe that had it been stitched I would have nothing on my leg to indicate such a bad cut.

Just remember what you saw on the screen when you did your leak test. You took a drink of that nastiness and down it went. Into the tummy, then the tummy squeezes here and there to push it along and out it goes into the intestines. Each swallow seemed to take less than a minute for the whole process. It can't stretch the tummy if it isn't there long enough to make a difference.

I had my surgery on a Friday and flew home on Tuesday. We flew from San Diego to Atlanta with a layover in Dallas, so we spent most of our day in airplanes. I had no problems at all. My husband was with me so I didn't have to worry about carrying the bag, but the little I did have to was not a problem. I didn't take any precautionary pain meds before the flight and everything was fine. Just a bit sore in the tummy area, but that's to be expected. Walking thru the airports was not a problem either, and the Atlanta airport is big.

I don't know what kind of protein you're using, but you may want to try Syntrax Nectar's. Based on how you like it to taste, it can be mixed with as little as 2oz of water (I use 6oz) and you get either 23 or 25 grams of protein (I can't remember which and I'm too lazy to go look ). I bought a sample pack from bariatric pantry for less than $14 and got 10 different flavors. So far I like the twisted cherry and roadside lemonade. I didn't care for the fuzzy navel one, and I was really looking forward to it since that was one of my favorite mixed drinks in my younger days.

Up to 2 weeks before surgery I had to do the "slim fast" type diet. A Protein shake for Breakfast & lunch, salad with a protein in it for dinner, and a Protein Shake in the evening if needed for hunger. Three days before surgery I went on the all liquid part. This is copied from my paper... PRE-SURGERY DIET You will need to follow this simple diet for 3 days before your surgery. Some patients with higher BMI’s will be asked to follow a different diet for 2 weeks prior to surgery. This is necessary to help shrink the liver and make the surgery easier to perform. Please do not eat anything on your day of arrival, you will need to fast at least 10hrs before surgery. Allowed foods (3 day pre surgery diet) All kinds of liquids Water, tea, lemon water (take at least 3.5 litters a day) Water, tea, fruit juice drinks, natural fruit beverages, chicken stock, vegetables, cream Soups, skim milk, yogurt, jelly (gelatine desserts). Same liquids plus pureed foods a day (a first stage of Gerber sized, strained). Mashed fruits, vegetables, cereals (oatmeal, rice, potato, noodles, mixed). Please avoid and/or limit salt intake. It will keep the swelling down after surgery. Do not smoke at least one week before your surgery and don’t take aspirin. Hope this helps.

From my experiences, the pain was caused by taking too big of a drink, too big of a bite and not waiting long enough between bites/drinks. The baby spoon is the way to go though, that's for sure. Go slower with your intake and listen/feel what your new tummy is saying. It helps me to take a bite, put the spoon down, sit back in the chair and wait a minute or two for the next bite. The farther out from surgery you are, the less you'll have to do that. My hubby worries every time I take a minute to "rest" that I'm going to throw up And, since you're not that far out from surgery, I'd say go back to liquids for a few days and give your tummy more of a chance to heal and let the swelling go down.

It's great that you're up to posting!! All I did after surgery was sleep. No reading, almost no TV, just sleep. I can't speak for the hunger b/c I didn't have a problem with that. But, gas pains...walk!!!