PdxMan

Man ... do I get any appreciation? ?

I would call your surgeon and let them know. They can direct you to the next right move.

Yes, it does go away completely. I had a repair and it did hurt to swallow for about 10 days post op. It will get better.

10 days after surgery or 10 days after you take the CAPS LOCK OFF. Whichever comes first.

Hate to be a downer here, but I really believe those who don't lose a noticable amount of hair have genetics working in their favor. Why do I say this? Because I tried it all. I was exercising like crazy, taking Biotin daily, getting in excess of recommended Protein and liquids. I took all my Vitamins and then some. (Fish oil, for instance) I was getting around 1,800 calories in daily, too. What WAS happening was I was losing fat. It is MY belief that it is the hormones stored within the fat flooding the system that causes the increase in hair loss. I say increase because we naturally lose hair every day, regardless of diet. I started losing at 6 months out and it subsided around the 9 month mark. At 1 year out, you would have never known I went through it. Do a site search on hair loss. This is probably the 3rd most common question/concern here. There are hundreds of posts about it.

I was in the same boat at 5 weeks out. I was taking a 2-3 hour naps pretty much every day. Saturdays could see me taking two naps. This was just not reasonable. I contacted my NUT because it was so bad. She said I needed to increase my good carbs. I was still in the light puree stage, so I increased the vegetables in my Soups. 2 days later it was like I was a new person. I had energy and didn't need a nap anymore. I had truly turned the corner. For those who think increasing carbs will slow your weight loss, think of this ... Having the energy allowed me to start an exercise routine which my fat just started melting off of me. If you don't have the energy to move, how much exercise are you going to get?

Sorry ... trying to track all of this and I just want to make sure I get this straight. Are you disappointed you got pregnant less than 2 months post-op and that has thrown off you weight loss? Are you disappointed you lost 115 pounds? You do realize you are going to "lose" a bunch of "weight" when the baby is born ... right? Did you get sleeved to lose weight or lose fat? Do you consider the baby to be your fat? Do you really think that losing weight while pregnant is a good thing? I would be proud of myself for not losing during pregnancy. From what I understand, the Drs don't want you getting pregos for several months post-op. The body has enough of a hard time supporting the sleever with the drastic reduction of calories, so to take on a pregnancy so early is really tough. Disappointed you haven't lost weight since February ...? Really? To be honest, I'm rather proud of you. Good job nourishing your baby. Also, the pouch test is really for bypass folk as their pouch is made of the fundus which is still a stretchy part of the stomach. When it gets stretched out, the pouch test routine helps to get it back to size. This does not relate to sleevers. We pretty much do the pouch test thingy on a daily basis with our restriction. Are you planning on breast feeding? Be careful going on a "diet" so soon after giving birth. You are going to be sleep deprived for a while, so be careful not to be nutritionally depleted, too.

You can take just about anything and puree it by adding some form of liquid and tossing it in a blender, but my favorite choice was Soups. I made smoked ham and lentil, chicken vegetable and turkey chili. I used a hand immersion blender to puree it up. As time progressed and my stomach healed, I pureed it less and less. I pureed baked chicken with gravy and mashed potatoes once, too, but I could only get about 2 bites in. I don't know if I'd be pureeing nachos just yet, but you can puree most everything ...

Have y'all seen THIS sub-forum on here?

We have a few 3+ year members and a couple right around 4+. I'm only coming up on 2 years in a couple months, but I can't imagine my eating habits changing any over the next x years, as it relates to your question. The thing you have to remember is that the sleeve is a tool that helps me eat more like *regular*, non-obese folk. These people do put their utencils down in between bites, and now, I do, too. They do not inhale their food like it is a race or the last meal they are ever going to eat. That is how I ate before, but I do not do that now, nor do I want to go back to that style of eating anyway. That is why I got sleeved. So, yes, I eat slower than I did pre-op and I love it that way. I put my utencil down between bites and actually have conversations without food in my mouth. As far as the whole drinking while eating thing ... you do get used to not drinking while you eat. It becomes natural. If I need to increase my calorie intake, I do drink with a meal so my stomach clears out faster and I can eat more. But it is an exception. I prefer not to do it as I have the *full* sensation longer, which is what I wanted anyway. 6 months out is when I could eat anything and everything. I can eat more now than I could at 6 months, but I would say that I eat about the same as I did when I was about 9 months out. So many folks worry that they are going to miss their way of eating. I couldn't wait to get rid of mine ...

HERE is a thread with some thoughts on salads.

Doing the right thing, there. Good shoes are expensive sometimes, but the old addage, you get what you pay for, has never been so true when it applies to shoes. They can make such a HUGE difference in so many things that you do.

I DID lose the weight on my own prior to surgery. I just couldn't maintain that diet lifestyle. I DID lose the weight on my own after the surgery. I worked my @$$ off and ate the right foods. The sleeve helps me maintain that lifestyle. If you or anyone thinks VSG is an easy ticket to weight loss, I have bad news for you ... Only regret is not doing it sooner.

One day ... Yes. Just not today ... Or tomorrow.

Yup, sounds about right to me. Just imagine what your stomach looks like right now. It is none too happy being all swollen. Anything passing through is going to be gurgly.

Premier makes awesome packaged RTD protein drinks and I often have a package of crackers in the glove box for when my carbs are running low. Don't overthink it. It really is quite easy to adapt. You have to remember ... *normal* people do this all the time.

This is a popular topic this morning. HERE is a post I recently made.

I just posted THIS, so I am just going to link to it.

2 months out, you should be fine. But, of course, since it concerns you, you should contact your PCP.

Great videos. Take note on the first video at around the 2:12 mark. That thing at the top is the liver. Shrinking this is the main purpose of the pre-op diet. If you are on your pre-op diet, take note of this. What size liver do you want your surgeon to be working with? How much do you want to cheat on your pre-op diet?

Oye ... the daily weigher ... first off ... ditch the scale. As you have seen from your post, you are a little obsessive about it. Question for you. Are you wanting to lose weight or lose fat? What does your scale measure, weight, or fat? It is commonly accepted that 1 pound = 3,500 calories. Eat 3,500 calories more than you burn, you gain a pound, burn 3,500 calories more than you eat , you lose a pound. How many calories are you consuming now? Are you in a deficit or overage? You just underwent surgery where you had an IV and 85% of your stomach ripped out of you. How much Fluid are you going to retain, how swollen is your stomach and how long is it going to take for all this to return to "normal"? Bottom line ... you have no idea. It's not going to happen overnight. Your expectations are far misaligned from reality. What you have to know is that this is not a sprint. We all wanted to wake up a week after surgery and be skinny, but that is not going to happen. If you were to chart your weight daily over the next year, it is NOT going to be a straight line sloping from start to finish. It is going to be a roller coaster going down, leveling and even going up at times. This is just how it is, and it is a good thing. Here is my suggestions: Weigh yourself once a month. You will always see your weight drop, so you stay encouraged. Otherwise, you will go insane. If you don't believe me, read the 3,234 posts on this EXACT topic posted on this forum last month (no, you are not alone in this experience) Remember the calories/weight thing I mentioned above. If you always remember this, you will know that even though the scale may not change, you are losing fat (and muscle). The weight may not change, but that could be for 1 of about 563 reasons for that. Don't justify cheating on your guidelines because of what the scale says. As I have pointed out, the scale lies. It is not measuring fat. Measure yourself. All over. You would be amazed to see these numbers shrink when the scale's numbers don't Rightsize your expectations for this journey Read #1 again. Don't give into the temptation to weigh yourself daily. Good luck and keep us posted!

You sound like you are a serious pronator and need to be properly fitted at a shoe store that can do this. I would suggest a running store, even though you may not use them for running. What you are looking for is the proper support for your level of pronation.

You learn what you need to eat and get into a groove as to when to eat it. As long as you are conscience of your constraints, i.e. needing to perform at a second's notice, you'll be fine. As a somewhat competive runner, I was able to keep my body fueled just fine. I was able to run 6 miles daily and up to 18 miles through the hills on the weekends. It took some training to get my nurtition just right, but once you figure it out, you'll be fine. There are lots of us sleeve athletes on here, so just keep reading and asking questions.

NICE! That's 12,921 per day. Wow!

Don't stop, just slow down. Wait 3 or 4 minutes in between bites. Imagine taking one of those hollow swimming pool noodles, but now swelling the foamy part to twice the size. Twist it around a bit, too. This is how your stomach has reacted to the latest trauma. Yes, liquids can pass through, but it is going against swollen tissues and may have to push against this swollen tissue to get on through. The suture line is going to be irritated and just not happy with you at all. You just have to take things easy.