PdxMan

I went to Dr Umbach in Las Vegas. It was $10,400 and he works out of a Center of Excellence. I, and others using him, have had a great experience. I wouldn't do Mexico, but that is my personal preference.

Well ... you'll be enjoying those hot dogs again!! Don't forget to have some Milk of Magenesia handy. You'll be wanting that in about 5 days. Regardless of the hot dogs. Seriously. Pick some up.

Joyus, it does take some time to find your groove again, and when you do, you will discover it is a different groove then you were used to. But that is a good thing because it is the groove that is going to help you lose weight. As MommyMar says, avoid the scale, at least for the first month. It is meaningless. Really. It will be hard, but your expectations can never match up to reality. Just know that it will happen for you. It was about 6 weeks post-op before I felt *normal*. It will happen for you. Sorry, you're not that unique that you will be the only person who feels like h3ll forever. Just keep doing what you are supposed to be doing and know that it does get better.

Lissa is absolutely correct. I believe, if you look closer, your paperwork will say 40 fr, not 40 in, which stands for 40 French Bougie. Bougie is the device they put into your stomach as a guide for the size of your sleeve when they sew it. Do a search on this site for bougie ... you will get a ton of hits and explanations.

What to bring to the hospital ... click here.

Congrats PhillyGirl. May I suggest eating something easy going ... remember ... what goes in, must come out and that will most likely be post surgery, so ... I ate nothing the day before. Water and tea only. I wanted clean and clear sailing, if you know what I mean ...

Yup, I was the same way. The shakes I loved pre-op were TERRIBLE post op. Just too sweet. Your tastes change ... That is why I always tell people to NOT overbuy pre-op because what you love before, you will hate after. I gave away $50 of Protein powder ... oh well ... I tried others and settled on Premier Protein Shakes from costco. They taste wonderful still 1 year post op. Have at least one everyday.

Have you had an open and frank conversation with him about how you feel? This could stem from many things. If it is about the weight loss, perhaps he feels threatened that you are on a new, exciting journey, yet he flounders in feelings of being left behind. Perhaps he has some urilogical disorder which has gone undiagnosed. When was his last physical or trip to the urologist? It could be a multitude of things and an open, frank talk needs to be the starting point. As a guy, I can tell you the quickest way to shut me up during one of these is to judge or threaten me, so, it will take a lot of listening for the first go around. You don't need to solve the problem during this first go-around. It's just like a brain-storming session getting everything out there.

I have never heard of that, but if you have coagulation issues, I could see where that may be a possibility.

Why do you think this occurred? Some of my guesses: Too much food Food option difficult to digest, sleeve not ready for it yet Not chewed enough Are you taking PPIs or antacids? I think this can possible cause some harm if it is not *required*. Think about this ... your stomach needs acids to break down the food to get to that pasty consistency to pass smoothly through the pyloric valve and into the intestines where absorption takes place. If the acid has been reduced from PPIs or over-neutralized from antacids, you may not have enough acids to break the food down enough. It passes into the intestines and doesn't feel too good because it is not quite the pasty texture it needs. Anyhew, I am not an expert and that is just my conjecture. Another question ... if it is not feeling right, do you feel you have to push it?

Well, just like a swimming pool, there is going to be trace bacteria in the Water. If you have open sores, that is an easy entry point for that bacteria. So, you have to decide ... are your scars healed up well enough that soaking in water won't allow bacteria to easily enter my body? If they are, then go for it. If they are not, then wait until they are. How can you tell if they are healed enough? The skin should at least be a nice tone of pink, with no red, across the entire scar.

Short answer ... Yes, it was difficult to sever that relationship, but it was something that I knew I had to do. I was irritable, grumpy and not at all possible to maintain a happy attitude. food is no longer my comfort companion, so I have to deal with things head-on. Everything changed for me, post-op. I mean everything. Too deep to go into on a forum posting, for sure. As far as temperment, I had to consciencously make decisions NOT to bite my wife's head off because the toilet paper was hung the wrong direction. Your body gets flooded by hormones stored in your fat. It is a roller coaster, for sure. But the good news is everything balances out. For me, it was about 6 weeks before I felt totally *normal* and I adapted to my new lifestyle. It is not easy, for sure. If you think the surgery is a magic bullet, it isn't. There is a lot of work to be done to do it right. You may have to face some skeletons in the closet and examine your relationship with food and your environment.

Indeed! Let me tell you, that cabbage could power a small city. i make it in the fall and can it in mason jars, so it has been stewing for 10 months now. But it is soooo good.

My lunch is ground turkey meat with german cabbage, zucchini, yellow squash & dinosaur kale. About 1 cup all together. It will take me about an hour to eat it all.

If you're OK with them seeing Mommy look like "Death warmed over", then I would say no problem. My wife took pictures of me post op and I am all kinds of different shades of green and yellow. Scared me to see them. But it passed after a couple hours after I walked and got around.

I would guess you have not caused a leak. This is your body's way of telling you that you are not ready to advance to that level, yet. Whenever you re-introduce any food, it is important to take one bite and assess how it feels before you go for a second bite. You just had 85% of your stomach removed. The stomach is the mechanical part of digestion. It may not be ready to process tuna just yet. It will ... just not today.

I used 1%

What is your recipe?

Yes, I was at Goodwill every couple months exchanging my clothes. Only way to go.

You know, I have to pity people who would do such an act. Their lives are so miserable they must do some act like that to try to elevate themselves. I am happy that you were able to confront this moment and I hope you realize this was her issue, not yours. For whatever reason she was threatened by you ... your intelligence, your relationship with members of the family, your faith ... something ... This is how bullies behave, whether they're 8 or 80.

I wouldn't say I was furry ... as a matter of fact, I kinda like it. I think my wife does, too. It's not long and curly or gross ... it is just more ... I'm going to post some photos of me now that I am a year out here on a thread, so you'll see what I mean.

I just gotta share. I just came back from the Drs office. I walk up the stairs to the third floor. As I get to the second floor, a nice looking 20 something girl comes through the door in front of me also going up to the third floor. She stops, turns and looks me up and down. She smiles at me and says, "I like your shirt." It is a shirt I got from a 5K race I did on the 4th. Nothing special. I smiled and said "Thanks". Again ... NEVER would have happened last year.

So, this may also happen to the women, but I don't know. My torso is soooo much hairier than it was before. I was never what I would call a *hairy* guy, but rather had just the right amount. Now, being down 120 pounds, it just seems so much denser and darker. I was at the dermatologist a couple weeks ago and asked him about it. He said it is because the overall surface area has shrunk. I haven't gained any hair, it just the hairs are much closer to each other now giving that appearance. That makes sense ... Anybody else experiencing this?

I have always been a gentlemen opening doors for women at the mall, office buildings ... wherever. Before, most women would just walk through with a few of them saying, "Thanks". Now, most of the time they look me in the eye, say, "Hello", or "Thank you", or "You are so sweet". Even walking down the street in downtown I have women making eye contact with me and initiating a "Hello" as I walk past them. I can't say that EVER happened to me when I was 300+ pounds. I, too, am a happily married man who only has eyes for my wife, but it is nice getting the attention.

Boy, this is me exactly. Word for word. One year out yesterday. I am at goal and nothing is off limits. Doesn't sit right ... OK ... try it again later. Couldn't eat bread until 6 months out. Lettuce, 4 months out. meat, 7 months out. I tried each of these earlier, but they gave me issues. Pretty much every food had its own "re-introduction" date. I waited, tried them again and each food has come back into the fold. Just because an item doesn't work for you when you try it, doesn't mean that it will never work for you. It just takes time.