SKCUNNINGHAM

I wore a weight support belt around my stomach for the first two weeks - 24 hours a day (except when I showered). It made it easier to move around and easier to sleep. With the weight support belt, a heating pad, and pillows propped around my stomach, i could sleep on the side they didn't pull the stomach through. I didn't sleep with the heating pad, just used it before sleep.

Try Isopure PLUS. It is fruit flavored, either grape frost or punch. The flavors remind me of crystal lite flavors. Each 8 ounce bottle has 15 grams of Protein. So if you drink 32 oz of it during the day, you get your 60 grams of protein. I ordered mine from Amazon and it was shipped directly to my house (in the middle of nowhere). ISOPURE PLUS is different from the ISOPURE regular product - I can't stand how the regular tastes, but like the PLUS. If you aren't getting in protein, you are going to feel weak. Try to get some in.

There is a woman who is a mentor to a lot of people on this forum - her screen name is Tiffykins. She has lost and maintained her weight, and is now about mid-way into her pregnancy. She has done a lot of research on pregnancy and VSG,. She would be a great resource for you to correspond with. You could find her and send her a private message, if she doesn't happen to see your post.

Queenmab - here is what I did in the last seven months. I did not do a lot of exercise the first six weeks. At six weeks, I started walking at work. (Huge building – large halls – organized walkers) and using my elliptical. At about 4-5 months, I started doing Zumba class once a week. I haven’t any exercise for the last 6 weeks because I have had a cast on my right foot and ankle. I just got out of it into an ankle stabilizer, so it’s back to walking and the elliptical – but no Zumba for a while. I will start physical therapy on my ankle in another two weeks and will find out when I can start back to Zumba. I am going to start working out with light weights and doing floor exercises (lunges, squats and ab exercises) and am looking to add a spinning class or two a week. From the standpoint of eating – I started out barely able to get 40 grams of Protein in a day. By about 3 weeks into sold foods, I was able to get my 60 grams of protein a day. (if I'm remembering right) I counted total calories, grams of protein, grams of carbs, grams of fat and ounces of fluids. I was tried to keep the carbs low – usually ranged from 30 – 60 grams per day – but wasn’t as adamant about the carbs as some on the forum. But my carbs primarily came from veggies, a few fruits, cottage cheese, yogurt, and the prepared Protein shakes. I do not eat white carbs – bread, Pasta, potatoes, crackers (except melba toast or flatbread) or cereals. I measured (still do!) my food – my food scale and measuring cup are my best friend. I kept my calories to around 500 from 6 weeks to about 5 months – then went to about 600. At 6 months I raised it again, and now eat between 600 and 800. I try to get between 60 – 80 grams of protein per day.. For Breakfast, I eat a protein smoothie made in my magic bullet, or drink a Protein shake. Once in a while to vary the monotony I will eat cottage cheese and fruit and may add a little extra protein into the mix. If I make a shake it is with nectar Protein powder – I like the fuzzy navel flavor – which I mix with part of a frozen bananna and frozen strawberries, or the chocolate flavor mixed with a low cal yogurt. For a snack – I might have 2 laughing cow wedges on melba toast, or a baby bell light cheese or an Activia light yogurt. For lunch – I make tuna salad out of the foil packages of tuna, mixed with 2 T of dill relish and 2 T of lite miracle whip. Or I have 3 ounces of chicken breast or 3 ounces of salmon (again from the foil pouch). I will usually eat a veggie at lunch – either cherry tomatoes, green Beans, sugar snap peas, carrots or cucumbers. For a snack – I will have one of the cheese Snacks from above, or another helping of veggies. Now that I’m eating 80 grams of protein, I might have 15 grams of protein from beef Jerky as a snack. For dinner – it’s usually 3 ounces of some kind of protein (the choices listed above) or beef or pork or grilled fish or grilled chicken. Sometimes I make an omelet with one egg, 2T of cheese, some sautéed mushrooms, and 1 ounce of protein. I have another serving of veggies with dinner – I love steam squashed or steamed asparagus or fresh sliced tomatoes. Sometimes for lunch or dinner, I go to a Chinese food restaurant or a Mexican food restaurant. If I eat Chinese food – it is chicken and veggies, beef and veggies, or shrimp and veggies. I get 2 to 3 meals from the meal. If I eat Mexican – it is chicken fajitas – no rice, no beans, no tortillas. Again – 2 to 3 meals from the meal. I also eat the fresh salsa like gazpacho – about ¼ - 1/3 cup. That restaurant also does steamed zucchini as a veggie – and I eat some of it. If I want a treat in the evening, I have a low cal sugar free pudding or a low cal fudgesicle. I don’t eat sugary or really fatty (fried) foods. I haven't eaten a real "sweet" since the surgery. I think my Calcium chews (like caramels) are a wonderful "treat" when I have them in the morning. I drink between 60 ounces and 100 ounces of Fluid per day. I don’t drink carbonated beverages or caffeinated beverages. I have sipped a little bit (2 mouthfuls) of alcohol 3 times during the seven months. It goes straight to my head. I don’t plan on having a real drink until I am at goal. M2G - Here is a picture of me at Christmas. I met with my doctor about January 10th, and started my pre surgery diet on February 9th. My surgery was on February 22nd. The second picture is of me on March 1st - while I was still home recuperating from the surgery.

What you are experiencing is normal. Your sleeve is working like is should. You will get multiple meals out of your "meals" now. If you push it and eat a bite or two (or spoon or two) too much, your sleeve will communicate its dispeasure to you. Welcome to the world of the sleeve!

Had my surgery 7 months ago this morning. I have lost 92 pounds to this point. I am down over 100 pounds from my all time top weight in September of 2010. I started out in size 24 Women's and now I am in size 12 petites. Don't know what size I will be when I get to goal. I am attaching a picture they snapped of me at my office yesterday. They insist I need a new picture for my ID badge.

I don't drink them - never did. I don't drink caffeine. If you are tired, you might be running low on B12. Or, if you are on blood pressure meds, you may need to take less. Check your blood pressure and see if it is running too low. Both the B12 and BP situation came up with me, and both made me feel just exhausted. Now that my B12 levels are good, and I back off of most of the BP meds per my doctor's orders, I have all the energy I need.

Ask if it is possible for them to give you the drug they give people before having an endoscopy. You are awake, relaxed and ameniable to following commands (like :"swallow") - but when you wake up, you have NO MEMORY of anything. I have had two endoscopies in my life and had that drug both times. I was intubated and swallowed some sort of camera /probe. I don't remember anything.

I know how you feel - they day I went for my psych evaluation, I had just found out my sister-in-law (who I love like a sister and was one of my best friends for 30+ years) was going to die. When the doc asked me questions about my mental attitude, I told her I was incredibly sad and why - and there were definatley tears. That doc passed me - I will be celebrating my 7 months sleeve-versary tomorrow. Good Luck to you.

tuna salad (tuna, pickle relish and lite miracle whip), salmon patties (eat the soft insides, not the crust). taco meet with queso, cottage cheese with salsa, pureed hot and hour soup (until it was in small chunks), chicken salad, chicken chooped fine mixed wth salsa, roast beef cut really fine mixed with gravy.

I brought home hot and sour soup from my favorite chinese restarant - and blended it until pureed. It was great!

I have been having so much fun looking at clothes, at fashion magazines, at fashion programs, and trying on clothes. The times in my life I have been thin before, I was at a different point in my life, a different age, and needed different clothes than I do now. I'm trying to figure out what I want to look like now that my choices are wide open again. No longer is "it fits OK" going to be good enough for me. I can buy clothes pretty much anywhere. Now I just have to decide what I want to wear. I kind of would get in a rut - would pick one look I enjoyed and stick with it. In 1975 - 1977 -in college - I lived in blue jeans, peasant tops, and wore earth shoes. I had little sense of fashion - as long as the jeans were clean with no holes, and I had on good smelling perfume, pretty earrings and cute briefs - I thought everything was great. In 1987, when I was a size 8 - I wore tailored suts, silk blouses and 3" heels to work everyday - and loved it. Wore that "uniform" for years - no matter what size I grew to be. In 2001 - when I became a size 8 (again), my heels had dropped (bad ankle, foot surgery) - but was still doing suits for work. The wern't as conservative as previously - but still the same look. I got the opportunity to work from my home office for four years - and traveled occasionally. When I was home - I wore blue jeans, Chuck's on my feet, and an assortment of "life is good" T shirts. Now, the world has changed. My office is professional business casual . On Friday's, blue jeans are OK - I still need to look professional. I am looking through all my stored smaller clothes - keeping some and getting rid of others (even though they fit). I have bought some basics as I shrunk (got to have black pants for work and blue jeans that fit). I have bought some of the Travelers line of clothes at Chico's. They are of fabric that you can wad up into a suitcase then just shake out when you get to your destination - and some of them look really professional. So - bottom line - yes my fahion sense is changing - and I am having a heck of a good time trying to figure out what I want.

Prior to my surgery, I couldn't get down on the floor without using support, nor could I get back up again without using one or more pieces of furniture to lever myself back up. I avoided doing things that required me to get on the floor. Yesterday at work, I was facilitating a meeting. Think of two big flip charts on easels, several multi-colored markers, and flip charts (filled out) sticking on the walls. Towards the end of the meeting, we needed to score each item on each flip chart. I had stuck them to the walls so they went almost down to the floor. Without thinking, as we were recording the scores on the items on the lower flip charts, I dropped to my knees to be able to reach the lower ones. I had a marker in one hand and a piece of paper in the other, and just knelt. I moved (walked on my knees) that way for a few feet, recording the scores. Then I rose back up to my feet. I did rest my hand on the easel so I wouldn't knock it over as I rose back up - but I didn't use it for support. I didn't even think about it when I did it. A friend who has been very supportive through this whole process pointed it out to me when we were back in my office. Yea! I have mobility back!

There is a product available over the counter in all pharmacies. It is located where the laxatives are. It is a salty granular product - quite inexpensive. If you can't find it, ask one of the pharmacy employees. You mix it with water and drink it. It is awful and you will not enjoy the experience at all. Believe me, if you drink it at six in the evening, it will start working. I would plan on staying in the bathroom for a while. After you finally quit going, give yourself an enema. (also available where the laxatives are). The combo of the two will clean you out. This is the process I went through when I had a hysterectomy years ago, and I repeated the process prior to my sleeve. (My choice, not my doc's).

You look great! You should consider doing some modeling in some fashion shows or some such - the way your standing looks like you are at the end of the runway. All your work has paid off - enjoy the benifits.

Although I had my surgery in February - I hosted my husband's three day family reunion not long after my surgery. I cooked, baked cakes, bought bakery goods, etc - and served food throughout the three days. I had decided before the surgery what I could eat and when, and just set my mind to it - with little or no problems. I sat at the table with the family - ate my meals - and talked up a storm with folks I hadn't seen in a year. Everyone knew I had gone through the surgery, and eveyone was supportive. Looking back on the reunion - it was a lot of fun and I have great memories of it - and I don't remember any feelings of deprivation. Once, years ago, I was on the modi-fast diet. For nine months, I mixed powdered Protein mix into smoothies (no calories added except the protein powder) and ate nothing but smoothies and broth. I went through Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations with the family. My sister and law and I cooked the whole shebang for both celebrations. She was suffering from really bad inflammatory bowel syndrome at the time - and all she was eating was mashed potatoes. She had her potatoes, and I had my smoothie and my broth. We had a great time during those holidays. It really came home to both of us that the celebration of the holiday with the family is about so much more than just eating a great meal. It is about family and friends, and sharing accomplishments, and catching up on what people are doing. Both holidays have much deeper meaning than just a gift exhange and a calorie festival. The important thing is making up your mind before hand, and making a plan. Then - you just do it. It got to the point that it really didn't bother me. Good luck with your surgery. If you do go through the holidays on the pre-op diet or just after surgery - my thoughts and prayers will be with you.

Two things were making me tired at about the period you are: 1) I needed to back off on BP meds - my BP was running about 90 / 55. I went to the doc and got to cut the meds in half. 2) I was anemic and had to start supplementing Iron. You probably need to go to your doc and get checked out.

To help me learn to know how much I was eating - I got myself a simple digital food scale (from Bed Bath and Beyond - many places have them). It has a button to push to turn it on, and a flat place to put the food. If you set a dish on top of the flat place before you push the button, it registers as zero with the dish on top, so you can put the food directly in the bowl. I would measure an ounce of meat, then sit down and eat. If I finished the ounce, I would get another ounce, and so on. I started out being able to eat one, then two - now three before I get full. I find out for the type of Protein I'm eating what the protein and calorie count is and convert that to the size portion I consume. I record everything I eat - still - and track my calories consumed, liquids ounces drunk, and the grams of protein, carb and fat. I also use measuring cups to measure some foods (cottage cheese, etc). I use 1/4 c, 1/3 c. and 1/2 c. I also bought a book that has all sorts of food listings (calories, Proteins and carbs). I have it setting next to my food journal. Also - you can find the nutrional value of almost anything by going to your browser and typing in the name of the food followed by nutriion. (for example: pork tenderloin nutrition). This will pull up all sorts of listings that provide the information. You will probably find one or two you like, and will go straight to them the next time. It is really important to get as much liquid in as possible. You should sip continuously throughout the day - except for while you are eating and the 30 minutes after you eat food. It is very easy for sleeve patients to get dehydrated, and that causes all sorts of problems. Walking and cardio is probably better for you during your early losing period than weight lifting.

Congratulations! What an outstanding discovery! As far as I know, on me, the light is purely theoretical. I hope it will be making an appearance sometime before year-end. About your size 9/10 pants - with current sizes (I swear they are bigger than they used to be) - they may be equivalent to a size 4. Anyway - what a nice thing to happen.

Quel - what are you eating and drinking? Are you keeping track of your Protein, carbs and liquids? Are you exercising? It's hard to give you ideas on what to do differently if you don't let us know those things. About being constipated - the first thing you need to do is to make sure you are drinking sufficient fluids. You need to be drinking at least 60 ounces of Fluid per day (I try to get in 80). Nothing moves through your system well if you don't keep it hydrated. Second, I don't know how much Fiber you are eating. Myself - I don't eat high fiber foods except some veggies - so I take fiber supplements. I put one or two benefiber packets in my morning smoothie or in other drinks sometime during the day. You can take 3 a day with no problem. They are tastless, and even mix in Water or crystal lite with no problem. Third - I need to utilize a stool softener to keep things moving along (again I think its because I don't eat high fiber high fat foods). I use Mylanta (again in my smoothie or a drink) most days (probably 5 out of 7 days). I also take about a tablespoon of flax oil every day. Mylanta isn't a laxative - it won't cause damage long-term. Doctors recommend it all the time for WLS patients. My bathroom habits aren't like the were pre-surgery - but it makes sense they are not. Less going in, less going out. But with the fluids, fiber, Mylanta and flax oil I have achieved a regular, painless schedule. If you decide to try this, it will take a few days for your system to kick in and achieve whatever your new normal will be. Good Luck!

I have some of this issues that you are talking about - but haven't gotten to the point of eating the wrong things to any large degree.As you can see by my ticker - I have had good results in the almost 7 months - but this is only 7 months compared to the rest of my life. I feel the pressures and want to respond in the same old ways. food has always been my emotional crutch, and I need help to address underlying issues. I am going to seek professional help - I would recommend you do too. You can hurt yourself physically if you don't get yourself in control. You don't want a leak. Please take your of yourself

If it is the smell of the Protein that is getting to you - try these. Try mixing protein powder into the 60 calorie puddings, or into cottage cheese with applesauce, or into Jello, or into homemade popsicles. If the smell is bothering you, rub something that has a smell you like under your nose - vanilla flavoring, lemon flavoring, etc. Or, if you like the smell / taste of coffee get some very strong, aromatic coffee Beans and put them in a little jar with a tight smelling lid. Loosen the lid, stick your nose into the jar of coffee - inhale deeply, take a bite of the protein mixed into something you like the taste of. If that's not working - get some vicks vapor-rub. Put some Vicks Vapor-Rub under your nose and inside your nostrils, or put it on cotton and place it in your nostrils. Eat the least upsetting protein you can get in your system while you are only smelling the Vicks. Police officers use Vicks to go into houses with dead/decaying bodies. If it can block that smell, it should be able to block the smell of the protein. If you are amenable to being hypnotized, a hypnotist could make not notice the smell and not react to it. It should be simple to do and be done in a single session - if you are able to be hypnotized. These may seem strange to you - but I would do da*n near anything to not have a feeding tube put in. Good Luck.

Random thoughts about what the sleeve has given me . . . In the last 6 1/2 months I have gotten rid of sleep apnea, high cholesterol and elevated triglycerides. I am off of 75% of my blood pressure medications. My joints don't ache like they used to. I sleep better than I have in years. In addition, I am able to do Zumba classes and enjoy them. I can ride a bike again. I am more active at home and find doing things around the house and property much easier. I can get down on the floor with my grandkids and not have help to get back up off of the floor. I am not ashamed to have a picture taken with family members or work associates. When I meet people for the first time, I am not worried that being morbidly obese will negatively impact the first impression I make. I am looking forward to traveling with my family next month rather than dreading the ordeal of traveling while being morbidly obese. I WON'T HAVE TO GET THE DA*N SEATBELT EXTENDER ON THE PLANE. I weigh less than my husband (by 50 pounds now!) I am smaller by far than his ex wife (yea!). My wedding rings fit again! I can go into any women's shop and find clothes that fit. When I go into one, I don't feel like a freak from the circus that has wandered in.

The following is what I would do in your situation. This is my opinion and in no way is meant to pass judgement on your situation. I would sit down with my husband and make out a budget for all of the things that are broken and need repaired, and an ongoing household budget assuming you get your foster son. Include a savings amount to build - rebuild your surgery fund. I personally would spend the money to get things fixed before I spent money on surgery if I was self-pay. I would talk to the foster agency to see what hoops you have to jump through to get approved and how long it is going to take before he can be living with you. I would make sure having surgery wouldn't impact your ability to foster (approval or feeling good enough to foster a child) I would talk to the surgeon and see if I could postpone surgery for a few (3-4) months - or until your surgery fund is built back-up. You could start / continue a sensible pre-op diet and get used to cooking for / having a child in the house prior to jumping into surgery. You could be losing weight while you get used to having a child, and re-building the fund. Sounds like you, your husband and your mom have big hearts. Best of luck to you.

I am so happy for you! Tears of joy are leaking from my eyes. Babies are wonderful and they are all God-given gifts - no matter how they join the family. I look forward to pictures of the little darling.