PdxMan

I scheduled mine two weeks in advance with Dr Umbach in Las Vegas. Cheap airfare to Vegas (baby!), cheap hotel room (Golden Nugget - $45/night) and $10,400 for the procedure at a Bariatric Center of Excellence. Get to stay in the US and a great surgeon who has performed 1,000s of Bariatric procedures. And it's Vegas(BABY!) No brainier for me.

Where are you having your procedure? It was very easy for me. Called and scheduled a couple weeks prior to surgery. No hoops to jump through at all. There are a few folks on here who did have coverage but opted for self pay to avoid the hoops.

Don't do a low carb diet post sleeve. I was fatigued, told my NUT and she advised me to increase my carbs. I did so and my energy came back and I was fine. So many sleevers believe you have to do low carb to lose weight, but I believe that is old thinking ... pre-sleeve thinking. When you move more, as a lot of us do post sleeve, you need carbs. It has worked for me and I am at goal.

I'm guessing bonbon hasn't been sleeved yet, as she is only 2/3rds of the way through her 6 month class for insurance approval.

Hello!

Hmmm doesn't appear to be working for me today ... IE9, Firefox nor Chrome ...

Well, for starters, don't lie down! It's the old joke, "Doc, my arm hurts when I do *this*. Well ... don't do *that* with your arm anymore!!" j/k But seriously, I have read here where most people early out cannot lie down. My wife made a little embankment of pillows that I laid and slept in. I know a lot of people live in a recliner chair for the first week. So, not uncommon and totally normal. Did you have a hiatal hernia repair, too? I did and I know the pain in the chest is probably going to be a little more pronounced because of this. I also know a lot of people also use Gas-X. Right now, your stomach is all swollen and it is not in its *normal* position. This is going to cause stomach fluids to ride a little higher and gets more pronounced when lying down. When the swelling goes down, your stomach will settle ... in position and being uncomfortable. First couple weeks are the hardest, but you will get through it.

I'm 11 months out and I eat the same way I did after day one. I think it is a good method and has been working for me. I take a bite and put my utensil down. Chew well and swallow. I assess how that felt. If all feels good, I go for another bite. If it doesn't feel good, and I have only had one or two bites, I wait. If it was a new food I have never tried post-sleeve, perhaps I am not ready for that and move on to something else, but if it is a familiar food, then I wait and give my stomach some more time to settle. If after taking another bite, I don't feel well, I am done with that meal. How long does it take? Sometimes quite awhile. Last night having Rotisserie chicken and fried potatoes was about 45 minutes for about 3 oz of chicken and 6 oz of potatoes. First one to start eating and last one to finish. No big deal. It was tasty. Had ice cream with berries about an hour later. That was about a 10 minute snack with about half a cup. I have to admit, though, I did not put my spoon down while eating the ice cream. I KNOW my tummy can handle that!! I know I go slow and I am OK with that. So ... how long should it take? It depends ... it takes as long as it takes. Don't push it. What's the point?

Oh, I knew what you meant, but the problem is, and as Bloneej points out, people are going to interpret this differently and I sure don't want someone to read the statement and think this is all they have to do to get skinny. As you continue to participate in the forum, you will see what I mean. I have to take breaks from the forum every once in a while because I get so frustrated by people stating they are not losing weight, but are also not following the rules explicitly. They truly think that the sleeve is going to take care of everything. The sleeve is not going to teach you how to eat properly. It is only going to help you eat less at a meal. What you choose to eat at that meal is still up to you. If you have joined MyFitnessPal, take a look at the diaries of your fellow sleevers ...

I think I was a little more swollen then the average bear as I was at least a month out before I could take what I would call a drink, not a sip. 11 months post-op, I still do not take drinks like I used to do and, of course, the amount I can drink is drastically reduced. I used to be able to drink two 8 oz glasses of water without blinking an eye. Now, I can drink about 1/3 of a glass and I am done. I have to take two drinks to get that 1/3 in.

And your with them because ... I dropped my PCP because he was clueless about WLS. It wasn't that he was non-supportive, but any question I asked him regarding nutrition or hormones, he would answer, "I don't know ... with your WLS, it changes everything ... I'm not a bariatric surgeon" OK ... perhaps that is the issue with your PCP. They don't know anything about it and don't want to take the time to learn. Time to move on.

Just be sure to chew it real well. Take small bites and wait before you take another. Assess how it makes you feel and decide from there. You are not going to get the 'normal' full signal, so only have a couple pieces and stop.

Nice to see you on the other side, Candyman. Let us know if you have any questions. Feel free to send me a message if you have any other questions you don't want to post publicly. Happy to help.

Just got back from Vegas (Baby!) . As Katyb pointed out, there are a couple Walgreens on the strip, so you can pick up a Muscle Milk. I ate a lot of Soups and salads for dinners and lunch. How far out are you? Just be sure you're cleared for alchohol before you indulge and know your limits. I'm not a drinker, so I do not know, but I understand it hits you faster and leaves you faster with the sleeve, but I don't know. Where are you staying at? First thing I did was to hit Trader Joes and pick up a case of Water, Protein drinks, beef Jerky and other supplies. Set yourself up for success and have a great time!

Self-pay in the Portland, OR area is $35,000 as of May, 2011. I don't know if this has changed since, but I could not do that, needless to say. I did not want to go to Mexico, so I opted for Dr Umbach in Las Vegas (Baby!) for $10,400. Worked out great and I would recommend him. I don't know why there are vast differences, but I do know they whole healthcare/insurance gambit in these United States is corrupt. Barriatric cost and coverage is but a symptom.

I agree with CowGirlJane. Your body can't maintain that rate of loss. Stalls are a necessary part of the journey and should not discourage you. My weight is tracked in my signature which you can see if you view this post through a web page.

On days I exercise, about 120. Day before a race, about 200. On a day off, about 60.

Yeah, I lived on watermelon post-op. Great source of water and wonderful flavor. I say go for it, but be sure to chew it well.

As soon as I was off of pain meds. 4 days. Not a big deal.

Yowsers! Congrats and sleep when you can!

I've learned to time my bites and drinks. Last Saturday night, the wife and I went out for dinner. I had a race the following morning, so I was looking to "carb up". We split a Shrimp Scampi with cream sauce on linguini. Oh, there were also these little rolls. I ate one. I take a bite, put the fork down and chew the life out of it. Swallow and wait a minute. Take a drink ... wait a minute ... repeat. I was able to pretty much eat my half doing this. My wife actually didn't finish hers, either, but she also had a side salad. Basically, we had a whole (our size) portion to take home. The next day, ran my race (won my age/division ... yea!) and came home a couple hours later. I was hungry, so I pulled out the leftovers. Again the portion was the size of what I ate the previous night. Since I wasn't trying to "carb up" at this point, I did not drink with my lunch. I was only able to eat half of that portion. So, the night before, drinking with eating I was able to eat twice the amount of the same meal the following day ... and I didn't have one of those rolls at lunch, either ... So, yeah, I can definately eat more when drinking.

Check this out. Lots of great things to get started.

A Google search revealed this. I think it depends on your activity level and the food you normally eat. Talk to your NUT about the activity level you are currently maintaining and whether casein supplementation makes sense for you. I choose to supplement with whey knowing that I will be getting casein from natural sources, so I do not supplement casein, but your needs may be different.

I have not had that problem, but I have read many threads where people share the same issues. Try using the search functionality in the upper right corner on a web page. From what I remember, people suggest usings a ppi (acid reducer). Also, be sure that you are chewing your food REALLY well. More than you did pre-op. And, of course, take smaller bites.

Lots of posts on this topic. Use the search functionality to read a bunch of thoughts. Here is where I recorded mine.