PdxMan

Did you try searching the site using keyword: acronyms? Many threads, but here is one.

There is a whole sub-forum here dedicated to VSG and pregnancy. CHECK IT OUT HERE

Hey, I see you are online. Remember to relax and breathe. Tell Dr Umbach a fellow he did two years ago is doing fantastic and, "Thanks!" See you on the other side.

I know you met with Dr Umbach awhile ago ... I would be surprised to hear that he suggested that if there wasn't a good reason Sorry, you couldn't get me to re-arrange my intestines for anything. Umbach repaired my hiatal hernia and I haven't had reflux issues since, but we are all different. Good luck tomorrow.

I assume you have a typo on your sleeve date and meant to put 07/10/13 and you are not sleeved, yet. 6 weeks is the minimum recommended by my Dr, but you have to be sure all of your incisions are completely scared over. Not healed ... scared over ... sealed completely ... no scabs ... nothing. So, you would be looking just before Labor Day before getting in the pool.

For awhile there, there were posts in the powder Room talking about issues relating to women's boobs post-op. In a majority of these threads, there were several inappropriate comments made from several male participants. I'm sure I was guilty of crossing the line on this. I believe the anonymous nature of internet forums make some people entitled to post whatever they want without repercussion. On the other side of the coin, a lot of people are WAAAAAAY too over sensitive to people's posts, me included. I think it is a good thing, though, to have separate areas. If you want the opinion of both genders, there are several forums where you can make your post. Just because someone is oversensitive doesn't mean they need to be subjected to childish replies to an issue they may be struggling with. If you are of the opposite gender and there is an thread you want to share on, create a new thread in one of these general forums addressing it.

I'm almost two years out and that is about where I am at now ... Like Mokee asks ... what do you think you should be able to eat? Stop eating the bad stuff and stick to the good and you'll be fine. Is your bloodwork off?

Hey all. Just wanted to come check out how all you all are doing on running. Looks like everyone is doing great. Congrats! I got cleared by my physical therapist to start back into training two weeks ago and I was finally able to "run" yesterday. I had been doing this run/walk/scoot thing getting my spine accustomed to the rigors of running. I think I might actually be able to "run" again, which makes me quite happy. When I first started PT, he said he doubted I would ever be able to run again after having a laminectomy. Never tell me never. So, one thing you have to know about GPS devices, is over time and distance, errors creep in. Signals bounce off trees and buildings and it is going to skew your results. I have a top of the line Forerunner and it has had me running through buildings and in the middle of a river, before. Over a period of an hour and a distance over 6 miles, you gotta know even more errors are going to creep in. Another thing is the race itself. I only do *certified* races now. Well ... prior to my surgery and now, hopefully, going forward. Races that are not certified WILL be off on their distances. Pretty much guaranteed. It should be noted somewhere on their website, but if it isn't contact the race coordinator to find out. It is costly to have your race certified so a lot of races don't bother as for the most part, they are just fun, community fund-raising events and the participants know that.

Hmmm ... are you a success or failure ... I can't speak for you, but I know I am neither ... I am human. An imperfect one, at that. I am an alcoholic who has found others who have found a solution to their issues with alcohol abuse. It is a 12 step program you may have heard of. If not, Google 12 step alcohol. There are many meetings in cities around the world every hour of the day. I found shame in admitting it at first, but after some time, similar to being sleeved, I have found that I can be of service to those in need, trying to reach out to others. I would love to discuss this further with you, if you are so inclined, but I cannot do this for you. No one here can tell you why you abuse alcohol just like no one here can tell you why you were obese. But I, and many others in your own city, can tell you what my issues were and how I found a solution which may work for you, if you are willing. You may or may not be an alcoholic. Only you get to decide. I've known more than one person who could suck down a bottle of vodka, but wasn't an alcoholic. But I do know, for myself, I stepped over the line when I lost my power of choice in the matter. Feel free to PM me, though, I think you may have already before ... right? The only shame is not doing anything about it.

Did your Dr know of your VSG? I assume you told them, so they know and would prescribe the correct medication given your surgical history. Assuming you shared this information with them, you should take the prescription as directed. I have had two spinal surgeries in the past 6 months. I took my meds as directed. No problems.

10 pounds lost forever, here. Never going to see them, again. Yay!

It was 6 months before I could say things felt "easier" going down. But you have to know that it is a combination of my stomach's tolerance of foods AND me changing my eating habits. Meaning, I chew more, take smaller bites and put my utensil down in between bites. Today, at almost 2 years out I can have issues if I don't follow any one of those 3 things. Bottom line for me was learning NOT to inhale my food anymore. It is a hard habit to break. I love food and I love eating. Sleeve hasn't changed that, but it is helping me form new habits.

If you first search for Kat1, by selecting Members for the context to find her, then select to get all of her content, I think you will find your answer. Here is a link to all of her content.

I am also a member of a 12 step program dealing with substance abuse and we have a tongue-in-cheek saying: "If I could drink like a normal person, I'd drink a lot!" So, if I could eat like a normal person, I'D EAT A LOT!!

I just came back on to post on this as someone alerted me to this thread and thought I should share my experience with this very thing. At one year post op, I started having minor numbness in my big toe on my right foot. Didn't think anything of it. It quickly progressed and soon, I was having difficulty bringing my foot around. Fell over a couple times walking down the street. I went to the Dr and was also diagnosed with foot drop. So, I began with physical therapy and saw an orthopedic Dr after breaking my right big toe when I couldn't bring my foot around and came down right on it. I was then given an MRI of my spine and referred to a neurosurgeon. Sure enough, I had a ruptured disk between L4/L5. The first step was to get an epidural which they were hoping would give me 3 months of relief. WOW! A day later, I had no symptoms of foot drop at all. I was totally back to *normal*. They were hoping for 3 months of relief, but after 3 days, it was back. But this wasn't a bad thing, actually. It was a means to get an exact diagnosis that the cause of my issues was due to a pinched nerve at that location. Remedy? Microdiscectomy. All things considered, it wasn't too bad. I was out of work for a week while I was on pain meds and then worked from home for the next 3 weeks. One side affect was the disk being compressed, due to the rupture, that I soon started having numbness in my left foot. Instead of disk material doing the pinching, it was the vertebrae itself, so this next surgery was a Laminectomy. Recovery was easier by far for this one. That was 3 months ago and the numbness in both feet is still present, but is FAR reduced. It is now to a point of where I could live with it. I am still in physical therapy, though, with the promise that it will continue to get better. Why did this happen? WLS? No ... I asked them about that. He just looked at me waiting for the punch line. He said it was degenerative and most likely linked to the years of being morbidly obese, since I couldn't think of any trauma. So, my suggestion would be to get to an orthopedist or neurosurgeon who can order an MRI. If it is a ruptured disk, this will not heal itself and surgery is your only option.

Yup, sorry for hijacking thread. Looks like it is time for me to take another break from VST. Gotta do that every once in a while. It just gets so thick in here, sometimes.

Ohhh ... looks like a nerve was struck. Don't you hate it when the band-aid is pulled off? Are you ladies going to sit here and seriously say there isn't man-bashing here at VST? Seriously? Ms. Antiband, I am not speaking directly at you, I am speaking in general. Seriously, ladies. Open you eyes. Do you need me to pull out the list of threads for you? *EDIT* You can start with this BS, not helpful, snide post right here: You talk about bull, Laura, you're standing in it.

I assume you are in the Vegas area ... correct? As my name suggests, I am from Portland, OR, so, no, I have not attended any of his support meetings. I flew in on Thursday and went to the nutrition seminar. Had surgery on Friday morning (probably why office is closed today ... surgery day). Monday morning had a follow up appt where he removed pain pump and flew back to Portland around noon. I believe his cash price for outpatient is still the same, $10,400, which is what I paid. I have full access to the team and did call the NUT a few times post. I also did call Dr Umbach a couple times before I flew down when I had a list of questions. Answered all my questions, no problems. The physical aspects of my recovery were great. He repaired a hiatal hernia I didn't even know I had. I had researched the procedure well and knew the first month was going to be tough ... and it is. You go stir crazy not being able to chew any real food with texture. Not following the guidelines is met with instant regret as progressing too soon can be painful. Psychologically adjusting, for me, was the biggest challenge. I suggest you may want to make some appointments with a therapist post-op, even if you don't think you need it. I was surprised at how I mourned the inability to gorge on food. I knew that pity party would be coming, and it did. Doesn't make it easy, but my expectations were right-sized and I was able to turn that pity party into determination.

Hey, wasn't putting a perverse twist on anything. I was basically re-stating what you said in this post: There is just an awful lot of man bashing that goes on here at VST and it gets really old. The posts that contain this behavior take no time to try to look at the whole picture. As the person making the decision to make a change in our lives, we make this whole process all about us and chastise anyone around us who doesn't jump on our, "Yea for ME!" bandwagon. We have taken far more time to process this whole thing in our heads but the others around us haven't. We don't give them the time or volume of information we have had, yet, we expect them to be caught up with us. Some spouses can do this, but others need more time and information. I know we want to be supportive of our fellow sleevers, but man-bashing is just such a common past-time here whether it is warranted or not.

Ah, great. You found a REAL MAN that you can manipulate and makes a lot of money. Wow. Nice job. Congratulations ... uh ... really. I'm sure you do love him.

Hmmm ... sounds like it is about time for a MEN ARE SUCH ASSES!! thread. I think it has been about 8 hours since the last one was posted. After all, it IS all about US, right? Laura, will you do the honors?

Yes, I would totally recommend Umbach. He is not the warm, fuzzy kind of Dr, though, if that is the type you are needing. He will answer every question you have thoroughly, but is not going to sit you down and go through everything step by step. His NUT is always available and he even gave me his personal cell # to call him at any time with any concern. I liked the option of doing this outpatient because I am not a fan of hospitals. Too many sick people there and I wasn't sick. I stayed at the Golden Nugget and everything went great. I am 21 months post and still have excellent restriction. PM me with any more questions or more detail.

You can't go the low carb route and exercise with any decent level of intensity or duration. I know there is this thought that in order to lose weight, you have to do low carb. That may have been true pre-sleeve, but for me, it never holds water. You need energy to exercise. Carbs provide that. With that energy, you can work out stronger, longer and really burn the fat. It worked for me and many others who have discovered that dieting with a sleeve with exercise just doesn't work.

I guess I haven't seen the posts where people aren't sharing because of shame. Could you point me to some of them? Thanks.

There is a ton of stuff out in the GoogleVerse ... I found THIS from LiveStrong.