happy1957

I am so happy that you saw a loss and that encouraged you. In defense of your significant other. It is my opinion only, but he is there to support you, not to be the one going through this. It is unfair to throw away his Snacks and try and change his eating habits because you are trying to lose weight and control your life. It's not his decision to do this also but be beside you as support. Of course he should be unhappy and I'm sure I would be too if I were being punished because of your new rules when I had done nothing but be myself. You will find out very quickly that the only person you can control in the food world is you. You can't watch tv, go to into a store or expect people you work with to follow your new way of life,or get away from the foods you love. The world revolves around food. I think over time your eating habits will change, you'll buy less "naughty" foods etc. Once you have this surgery you don't even have the cravings or desire to have what you used to. Please remember, you are doing this for YOU, You are in control of only YOU. How would you feel if the only thing you could buy in your favorite restaurant was the one dish you hate? It wouldn't take you very long to move on to another restaurant. So don't force your decision on to the people you love. Support doesn't mean controlling what they eat, but getting encouragement to do what you have decided to do by being there when you need help physically or emotionally. Sometimes a walk outside will change your view for the day. Give the love of your life a break,as I said, after surgery.. you won't even care.

I absolutely loved your comment, "Free Lunch from Sam's" My sister and I laugh about that, we're both post op sleevers, but it seems the two times we've had opportunity, their samples have been cleaning things or stuffed peppers or something we can't touch yet. She is 4 months and I am 3 weeks post op. but I look forward to the "free lunch" .. LOL

I was sleeved on Dec 28th and have been on a stall since starting regular food on Jan 11th. I can't help but be disappointed, but from the many months I have been lurking around in here, I see that it is normal. I did everything right so far, so no reason not to see a drop soon. Good luck to all of you..

Congratulations... You look fabulous! keep up the good work, glad to hear you say how "happy" you are. You're beautiful and exude that happiness..

I suggest you talk with an accountant, but I think a cash advance and international money order would do . I don't see why you can't claim it as long as you have proof that you spent it on medical issues. I do have a question, I thought the maximum you could deposit into a Flex account was 5000.00 ?

I had liquid Percocet and took one dose the night I came home. I didn't need any other as I found that walking, walking, walking took away most of the gas pain, as well as sipping, sipping, sipping to keep your tummy full and gas moving out. I fortunately had NO surgical pain from my incisions.

Hello Peacequeen.... Glad that you're on the road to recovery. I can't say that I know where you're coming from, but when I started liquids I was instructed to use a pill cup and drink one ounce every 15 minutes. I sipped, sipped, sipped and so it was about 4 oz's an hour. It doesn't take vary long to increase it to 2 Ounces every 15 minutes and before you know, you'll be drinking as much a you want. I have never had an issue with liquids, in fact have only had two food issues that I may have caused. Rich lobster stew to early on and the skin of a slice of ham not wanting to digest. I hope you have an easy road ahead, you've been through enough.. The best of luck to you for a speedy recovery.

I was sleeved on 12/28 and have only lost 11.5 lbs :-( my age, post menopausal and thyroid issues? I worry that my sleeve progress will be slow and unfortunately unsuccessful like all the other "diets" I've been on. I have always had to fight for every lb lost . I think you're doing awesome.

I bought two mug warmers made by Mr Coffee on Amazon. They were cheap around 6.00. Had great reviews and I can honestly say they work great, really warm, almost hot, but not hot enough to cook food. My little glass salsa bowl sits perfectly on it and the 30 minute meals and my hot beverages stay warm. Good luck..

Hello belittle. You go to to this web site, http://www.tickerfactory.com/ezticker/ticker_designer.php?type=3 make your ticker and cut and paste the address into your profile , on the "signature" page under editing when you need to update it, just click on the tickerr and it should take you right to the site to edit. Hope this help! I suspect I' ll be a slower loser just because of thyroid issues and AGE! I'll be patient as long as the scale keeps going down. The best of luck to you all!

Thank you everyone for your support. I wrote this in a moment of weakness. I know better, I think! Some days this seems too easy, three weeks out and everything is going so right. I guess mentally you worry about this being your last loss. I spent a lot of time at this site just lurking around pre-surgery and have read enough that I feel very comfortable about what is happening to my body, yet am still in disbelief that I am on the losers bench. I don't feel like I've lost a single pound. My clothes feel it and people in my life are noticing, but it just doesn't feel like a :punishment: like all of my prior diet tries. Dieting felt so much more painful. Maybe because I don't have the hunger, or even the taste buds to eat right now, it just worries me that I may not lose another single lb because I don't feel the deprivation? I'll keep doing everything right and maybe I'll wake with a 7 lb weight loss too. Thanks again..

I am curious, maybe a little disappointed, but I promised myself I would NEVER write about a stall. Well technically, I'm not. This is my three week weigh in. I expected no or very little loss based on what I have read here. I started solids last Wednesday and knew I've been consuming more calories, maybe 500-800 daily. My weigh in this morning shows a 2 lb gain. Has this happened to others? I know I am a slow loser. I lost 5.5 lbs during my liquid diet and 8.5 over the next two weeks. I read where many lose upwards of 25 lbs during that time. I am patient, but I can't imagine a gain.. Has anyone else experienced this? My Dr did make me throw away my hydrochlorothiazide which is a diuretic, could this be the cause? I have consumed a lot of ham/cheese roll ups this week as a source of Protein and low calories, maybe the salt is causing Fluid retention? (TMI) Also having a constipation issue. Using benefiber without any real relieve yet. Any suggestions? . Words of encouragement anyone ?

I work in a busy Dr's office. I stand and walk most of the day. Rarely ever sit. I stayed home 10 days and went right back to full time on a busy , crazy Monday. I actually think I have felt better being back to work. Walking and standing was good medicine for me. We are all different, you're body and mind will tell you when it's time.

I had a root canal just 10 days before my sleeve, I was given antibiotics and had NO pain what so ever. If your tooth is infected, you" ll want that cleared up before surgery. Mine was abscessed. I' m three weeks post op and having a second root canal on Friday. I am taking liquid antibiotics as a prevention this time, as this tooth is not abscessed, but died because of the previous infection. This tooth has never even a filling :-( I wish you the best, hopefully you're having a reputable endodontist and not a general dentist do it?

I'm just curious.... were you self pay? I don't believe you can even get it done with a BMI lower than 35 here.. although I have read that Mexico will do it at 30.

I personally have no experience with this medication. In fact never heard of it until you posted. I work in a Dr's office and have worked in a GI group and this has never crossed my path. Here is a web site to check out adverse actions, it doesn't sound good. http://www.medicinenet.com/ursodiol-oral/article.htm. I hope you feel better real soon.

I was on a ten day liquid diet because the original diet should have been 14 days, but in order to get the surgery in under my 2011 benefits plan, I only had 10 days fromthe time of approval. I was good and never cheated once even though it was over Christmas :-) . I am a slow loser and was very happy with the 5.8 lbs that I lost. I was very focused and had already lost 11 lbs just by being "good". Looking back now, I am happy those lbs are gone, it made it easier for my surgeon who told my sister that my surgery went text book perfect and the easiest surgery she ever has done. So far my recovery has been perfect as well.

Congratulations! You are a winner. I can relate to the feeling from past dieting, but have a long way to go with my new sleeve. I find that stories such as yours are such encouragement for me, thank you for sharing. I have goosebumps for you!!!

My Dr. was familiar with the Spider since her colleague is world renowned for robotic RYN and has taught all over the world. They looked into the spider but felt it was not of any advantage to them as Dr's and that there were still too many things to be worked out. The 5 tiny little scars I have are already almost invisible and I am less than three weeks out. Fortunately prior to being a gastric surgeon my doctor was a plastic surgeon for many years. I had no bruising, no drain and five small (glued) incisions, no external stitching at all. I am too old to care.. I'm sure if I were in my 20's it may make a huge difference. :-) I do have a friend who had her's done through her belly button by another surgeon, expected one hole, but still ended up with two others for unknown reasons, so she still had 3 scars.

Glad to see you're finally home and I hope resting better. You have been through so much, I hope the positives of this are that you have lost lots of weight, you deserve it. I hope things get continually easier and your health improves so that you can feel as great as I do. well wishes coming your way!

I am 17 days post op. For me, day 4 was the day the gas pains stopped, it was my first day pain med free and I believe the 2 doses of liquid Percocet caused most of the gas . I thought I needed it the first night I was home, but remembered from this site,to walk, walk, walk. That was the best remedy.

I feel like I too really did my research, have learned tons from RYN friends and here on VST, I even changed my breakfast to a protein drink many months ago and often most lunches toward the end. Yet, I don't think you can be prepared 100%. I will have to learn a whole new way of cooking. I love to cook nice meals for my hubby, it is just the two of use. I have already learned that I don't want to eat haddock for 4 meals in a row. I think the biggest challenge for me, is revising my cooking skills. My hubby is a hard worker, not overweight and doesn't want me to change what I feed him. Big challenge there without having people over. :-) So far and of course I'm only 2.5 weeks out, everything is exactly as I suspected. No surprises, in fact, it's going scarily well.

I am pleased to announce to other Dec. sleevers that I fared very well at my first doctor and nutrition visit since surgery which was Dec. 28th. I had my first visit (2 weeks) on Wed. I am down about 8.5 lbs since surgery. So that with the 10 day pre-diet is almost 15 lbs in 3 weeks... Better than I've ever done.. no matter how hard I worked out. So from my first nutrition visit in May until Jan 11th is 25 lbs gone forever.... SIGH! I also got some very, very good news. I had to get weighed on this special scale that told them how much body fat you have and how much muscle, they were shocked!! I have the highest amount of muscle they have ever had there on a woman. So, they changed my goal weight from 127 to 141. They told me to clear the acronym BMI right out of my vocabulary. I will never fit what's considered "normal" because of my muscle mass, which also forced them to increase my daily protein to 60 - 70 grams a day instead of the 40-50 they originally told. I am a mere 5ft tall, but have worked out, off and on most of my adult life, often getting too bulky for a woman. Partly genetics!! I honestly set my personal goal at 140 because I felt I'd be too thin at 127, haven't ever weighed that since being an adult. I feel great, have had no issues stomach wise. Eat slow and can consume 3-4 oz without an issue. I am very pleased thus far and I know it'll only get better. The ride for me has been easy thus far which is very unusual for me. I am still waiting for something to go wrong, yet it all feels so right. Have a great day everyone and hope all the rest of the Dec sleevers are doing equally as well.

Have you tried sleep aids Rootman? DO you exercise? Just curious, I'm sure you've been asked all the questions. In my past life of "Dieting" , I always had to give up the low carb, high protein diets because of sleep deprivation, later on when on a low calorie diet I discovered I could not exercise in the evening or the same issues occurred. I hope this last 2 nights is a new pattern for me. I enjoyed getting my beauty rest, God knows at this age we need all the beauty we can get. :-)

I choose the Sleeve for me for various reasons and some that others have already posted . # 1- I am older, have more aches and pains and an artificial shoulder with neck issues (due to an accident) I have painful flare-ups, I do not have constant pain, but when I'm miserable, I want Advil which helps immensely. No ibuprofen at all with RYN. #2 I did not like the malabsorption piece of RYN, as I have seen many folks in the medical practices I have worked in with the difficulties of not getting the Vitamins and nutrients they need. One poor woman could not recover from a constant out break of herpes on her face. It was almost to the point she needed a mask. It was horrific. Her malnutrition state made her look like a walking skeleton. Nearly bald, lesions all over her face and sickly thin. I have also seen one patient who ate and "drank" past the RYN, who had about 250 lbs to lose, lost 100 and then gained back about 200. Still unsure how that can happen, but alcohol is highly caloric and that was her new addiction. # 3 In RYN, the portion of the stomach that is left dangling, is incapable of having any testing . Therefore if it gets ulcerous which can lead to cancer, or is diseased in any way, there is no way to test or treat it? # 4 I am also so fond of my hair and teeth. I was just in fear of the lack of vitamins and didn't want to live on a ton of replacements. I'm not saying that deficiencies won't happen with the Sleeve, but it's less likely they will be life altering. # 5 I did not want my plumbing rerouted which is a high risk for leaks, and or risk stretching my pouch like so many have both in the Lap band and RYN. Unfortunately I lost a dear friend on Jan 3rd to a leak , 3 months post op from RYN. SIgh. Overall, I had but one choice, I went to the meeting, listened to the information about all three surgeries and had the sleeve not been a choice for me because of insurance or for whatever reason. I would have died fat. Hope this helps in some way.. ULTIMATELY, IT"S YOUR DECISION AND YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT !! Good luck with your decision.