mnbsleeve

Buchannon!!! Wow! What a transformation! You look great!!! You were a good looking kid (I could be your mom, no offense ) before the weight and now you are even more so!!! You have a wonderful face and kind eyes aand your are looking GREAT!!! Good work! Congratulations!!!!!! Go rock that body!!!

Sounds like you've been through quite the journey and you look GREAT! Looks like you are feeling pretty good too! I love the pics! That last one with your arms up is awesome! :-) Congratulations on everything you have accomplished. Enjoy the new you!

Diva! You look FANTASTIC!!! I know you credit your lipo but girl, you've put in some serious exercise and hard work to build that great behind of yours LOL I think "your lipos," as you describe them, look so good on you because you really formed an awesome foundation underneath. You go!!!!! Strut that stuff!!!! You look beautiful!

You look beautiful Newgirl! Congratulations!

Thanks a bunch guys! Sounds like I am going to have to try it and see. I never had problems with heart burn before surgery. It was very rare. I've done great on the PPI; never had hearburn nor feel uncomfortable after meals. But I'm going to go ahead and do every other day to start as per surgeon and see what happens. Sounds like worst case scenario I go back on but no other complications. I'm doing really well and didn't want to make any waves LOL. Thanks again to all!!!!

Just wondering when/if others started to wean off of their PPI's? My surgeon said at about month six. I am there now but a little fearful to stop taking them. I'm wondering what others have experienced.

CONGRATULATIONS PURDY!!!! Please keep us posted with some maintenance tips! Enjoy the new you!!! You have earned it kiddo!!!!

Hi Lissa, don't know if this will help but I thought I would throw it in. I discovered a lactose intolerance and from the start had trouble even with the shakes. So cheeses, milk, yogurt... you name it, equaled "trouble." Sometimes eggs too. Interestingly enough, this has changed!!!! I was able to tolerate some cheeses first, then yogurt and now even milk! I'm not sure why this is, why it can change. My guess would be digestive enzymes getting back to normal. Hope you feel better soon kiddo!!!!!

I had similar pain, particularly about 4 weeks out after a sneeze! I was doing better and started up again. I also had a hard time bending down. I think you may just be having muscle pain where the incision was made. My surgeon at the time said I may have pulled the tissue a little but nothing serious. I think most of us also feel one particular incision more than others. I've heard people say that it's the bigger incision through where the stomach was removed. I know it was true for me. The incision to one side was the most "painful." Most of the others I could not really feel. So again, I suspect it's where more muscle tissue was cut. Having said all this, I am a big believer in checking things out with the doctor. It may give you peace of mind hearing from him/her. Congrats on your surgery and best wishes for a super speedy recovery!!!!!!

I had no drain and, like others, no sutures, just superglue! Also, I had no real incisions to speak of. I just have 4 little holes and one 1/4 inch or less incision. I had bigger scars from my gall bladder removal a few years back! and I thought they were small LOL It blows me away what can be done today in terms of technology for medical purposes. My surgery took about one hour.

Congratulations Kristy!!! You look incredible!!! I would not recognize you as the same person. You've really rocked this sleeve girl!!!!

I lost a lot of hair! and it started pretty much right away. However, I am just six months out and I noticed it has stopped falling out. That is, I have just a bit of hair in the shower when I shampo my hair, like pre-surgery, which is normal. Hair no longer falls out in my brush or just around me like it used to. I also have about 1/4 inch of regrowth all over my head. So all in all, it was not bad at all and totally worth it! :-) I use hair extentions on combs that look really natural to help my hair look fuller. I don't necesarilly use them daily though. They're super easy to put in. I just add a couple if I want some length or fullness.

Woo hoo Julie!!!! You go girl!!! I can imagine how great it must have felt to put on your daughter's belt! and on the second hole!!!! I would have loved to have seen your face in that moment! I love this NSV!

Fantastic CT Fats!!! Congratulations. Keep up the good work!!!!

What a great post Raine! Thank you!!!!!!!!

Good job Lissa!!!! What a difference in just three months!!!!! Yes, pictures show us so much!!!! I've learned that. Way better than the scale! Keep up the good work!!!!!

LOVE IT!!! A big congratulations to you Cludgie!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS PASQUINI!!!!! You're a rock star... no really, you look like a rock star! Well done!!!!!!!

Thanks for this thread Meg! I am coming up on my 6 month check up so I will pay attention. I checked out my vitamines and indeed no B1! Like you, I don't consume flour or other grains - mostly because I low carb and stay away from gluten. I will definitely follow up with this. Thanks again for your post!

AWESOME!!!!!

What a great post Coops, and a great NSV! This is the best one can hope for: to use this tool not just to loose the weight but to truly change destructive habits in the process. I really loved reading that is is really possible. Congratulations!!!! You're an inspiration!!!!!

Big thumbs up to y ou Geri! What a great feelings! Congrats!

I'm almost at 6 months and still feeling quite a bit of restriction. Like ToBeThin and Feed Your Eye above, much for me depends on the food I eat. Dense Protein = not much more than 1/4 C ; yogurt I can eat about 1/2 C ... but not much more. The other thing I am experiencing is that the less food I eat, the less I want to eat. So for example, if I get busy and skip lunch accidentally or just grab a piece of cheese, dinner is even less appealing and I can bearely get 1/4 C in, even if I try "slider foods" like a carb. I'd say play close attention to the slider foods you mentioned. Perhaps there are particular foods that are more of slider for you specifically. Consider writing things down very accurately for at least a while, to get a good sense of what and how much is actually going down. I'm like you. 1200 calories are too high for me to loose significantly. That's why I love the sleeve. Hopefully the grab and go foods people have suggested will keep the calories low for you and help.

I was instructed to wait one month (4 weeks) after surgery before taking biotin. I was actually given biotin, CoQ10 and Flaxseed oil - as a "hair" boosting trio. I still lost a lot of hair but at almost 6 months out, I've noticed the loss has really slowed down. I also have about 1/4 inch regroth all over! My hair stylist noticed first!!! In the meantime, I use some really cute hair extensions! LOL Seriously, they look great! :--) Loosing my hair is still soooooo worth it!!!!!

My NUT recommended Chewable Cal-Snack by Country Life. They have a vanilla / orange flavor. They are a bit chalky too but not as much. They contain both carbonate and citrate as well as magnesium and vitamine D - which is what I believe helps aborption. Sorting through all this has been super challenging for me. It really helps to find out what others are taking and how they handle certain things. I started with the liquid vitamines because I could not tolerate the chewables (made me very nauseous) but after a few months, my taste changed and I could not stand the liquid but could tolerate the chewables!!! Geez! We go through so many changes in the healing process I guess. I think we need to go with the flow and just be prepared to re-discover ourselves! ... in soooo many ways! :-)