JackieOMonroe

I am taking the tiniest sips imaginable and it hurts! I'm having such a hard time getting fluids in and I'm a week out of surgery. Each time I take a sip, I have pain in my chest right below my rib cage and straight through to my back. It feels like it's probably gas pain, but I'm not positive. It makes taking my daily meds and Vitamins an all day event and it sucks. Is this normal? I'm terrified that this is some kind of sign of a leak. I've tried room temperature, refrigerated, and warm liquids. I've tried Water, Gatorade G2, apple juice, drinkable yogurt, DanActive, veggie broth, tomato Soup, and Oh Yeah (which is like Muscle Milk). Popsicles hurt too, but not as much. I'm at my wit's end. I don't know how I'm supposed to get anything in when each sip hurts. It's like extreme aversion therapy. By the time I'm finally healed, I won't be able to look at liquids again. Can you guys tell me how you were doing a week out from surgery and if what I have going on is abnormal?

I was sleeved less than a month ago so this isn't yet a concern for me, but have any of you who were sleeved further out experienced any hair loss? I'm wondering because I haven't come across any black sleevers who mentioned anything in the hair loss threads that I've seen.

There's a time limit on long you have to edit a post, so I've made a second edition of our master list so that we can continue to add June Sleevers as needed. Please disregard the old list. Thanks! ***JEWELS OF JUNE*** JUNE 1 nraeh prairiedawn soon to be skinny kwikwits Good Goose DaniellaRN biglittleb Juney JUNE 2 SCW2011 AmandaG. JUNE 3 JUNE 4 JUNE 5 JUNE 6 GreginMI Day Dreamer mnbsleeve Neanie in Texas Always singing Valentina sleevetina Adri JUNE 7 Meandmylittledog mjs6172 LeslieT slimsinger Hubie emsnewlife JUNE 8 Yorkie Fan MsNewBooty pyt1908 JUNE 9 A New Me wannabskinee JUNE 10 Bevgonnadothis Crabadams72 Special K AnnSpeaks Brightstar JUNE 11 mina JUNE 12 JUNE 13 ejsmith TonyaG Hopeful24 Patti Sue JUNE 14 JackieOMonroe gonnagetthere FlawedMan MrsPositive MoreThanAPrettyFace JUNE 15 Aarik moongirl JUNE 16 anonynurse imawhodat JUNE 17 Jax AmandaDulaney JUNE 18 donniej Dannymac Alejandra1975 JUNE 19 JUNE 20 mac LissaD Lovely Lo VSGDestiny NewSkinnyChick30 Douceur72 kpbrighton mybutterflies JUNE 21 ASBgirl purplepeace79 jcollins510 Sylvia21967 SleeveGirl-TX JUNE 22 RebaC Cassie805 JUNE 23 Penpen kekerene Deerpark2010 juzmejnee JUNE 24 exoticheart MissJo88 JUNE 25 lyndynojoJUNE 26 LaurenKoreaJUNE 27 bleelawry shordee0751 Terry in Loxahatchee StephieLynn Jinjin sungbyrd loris JUNE 28 coffeetx 2girliemama JUNE 29 DivaDee84 JUNE 30 ChubbyBritneySpears Rainydayz MenagerieNik YellowRose

There are many many MANY surgeons listed in the drop-down for the surgery information section on our profiles, but my surgeon isn't listed. He's done the sleeve surgery for a handful of us here on VST, although he is primarily known for his lap-band work. Is there any way to have him added? He's Dr. Ariel Ortiz with Obesity Control Center in Tijuana. Here's a link to his information on the OCC website. http://obesitycontrolcenter.com/surgeons/surgical-team/ariel-ortiz/

Ahh. Thanks for the fast reply, Alex!

I'm a performer (singer and wannabe actress), but my weight killed my confidence so I pretty much stopped going to auditions. About 5 years ago, I had professional headshots taken that were the final nail in my theatre coffin. They are, without a doubt, the worst pictures I've ever intentionally posed for. That includes drunken Vegas pictures, sweaty end-of-the-day at Disneyland pictures, everything. THE WORST. On Saturday, I had new headshots taken by a friend who isn't a professional. The new pictures aren't the same quality as the pro pics, but they're still worlds better. I have my sleeve to thank for making me feel and look better. If you're still on the fence about this surgery, I hope this gives you the kick in the pants that you need. Okay, here goes. One old headshot, and then one new headshot. Don't laugh. Old headshot New headshot

Thanks Lorraine!

My husband and I are both sleeved and we spend a TON of money on greek yogurt. My fridge is always full of cups of Chobani and Fage. About a week ago I discovered that you can make yogurt at home, so last night I did! And it turned out PERFECT. You don't need any special equipment or machines. I used our dutch oven, but any heavy bottomed pot will do. The directions look long, but it pretty much makes itself once you've warmed up the milk. It is the definition of something that a lazy non-cook can make. I got the recipe from this website. http://www.happysimpleliving.com/2011/03/06/make-your-own-homemade-greek-yogurt/ STUFF YOU NEED: 1/2 gallon of dairy milk (I used 2%, but you can use milk with any fat content. Pasteurized milk works perfectly, just be sure it's not ultra pasteurized.) 2.5 tablespoons of plain yogurt with live active cultures (This is your starter. It can be regular or greek yogurt and it can have any fat content. I used 0% Yoplait plain greek yogurt because it was the cheapest I could find with live active cultures.) Candy thermometer or cooking thermometer Cheesecloth (or a clean t-shirt, or pillowcase, or muslin) Heavy bottomed pot to heat the milk in (Or crock pot, or double boiler, or dutch oven, or even your microwave. Not even kidding) Towel Colander/strainer Oven MAKING THE YOGURT: Turn on the light in your oven. This will make it just the right temperature for yogurt magic to happen. Put 2 tablespoons of milk into a bowl and mix in 2.5 tablespoons of your starter yogurt. Set it aside. Pour the rest of the milk into your pot and heat to 180-185 degrees fahrenheit. Stir constantly while heating to prevent your milk from scalding. Once milk reaches temperature, pour it into a glass or ceramic (not metal) dish and allow it to cool uncovered to 105-110 degrees. This step is why I used my dutch oven. It's enameled, so I didn't need to transfer the milk into another dish. It was perfect for incubating my yogurt. When your milk is at temperature, thoroughly stir in the starter that you set aside earlier. Put the lid on your dish, wrap it well in a towel, and stick it in your oven. Leave it in the oven with the oven light on for 8-12 hours. After 8 hours, stick a spoon in and check your yogurt. It will probably be set (mine was). There will be yellowish liquid on top, but that's just whey Protein. You can stir it in if you like thin yogurt or pour it off. At this point, you're done. Chill it in the fridge, and use it in any way that you you always enjoy yogurt. I love thick yogurt, so I'm going to do a couple of extra steps. TURNING IT INTO GREEK-STYLE YOGURT: Refrigerate your yogurt for at least 2 hours. I didn't stir in or pour off the whey, I just stuck the whole pot in the fridge and let it chill overnight. Line your colander with 4 sheets of damp cheesecloth and set it into a bowl. The bowl will collect the whey that strains off the yogurt. Pour the chilled yogurt into your colander, cover with saran wrap or leave uncovered, and place it in your fridge to strain. Every hour or two, check on the consistency of your yogurt and pour off the whey that has collected in your bowl. Throw the whey away (hehe, whey away), use it to make bread, or even feed it to your dog (apparently they LOVE it). Once you're happy with the texture of the yogurt, dump it out of the cheesecloth and into a container with a tight lid (break out the good tupperware). Consume within 6 days. Save 3 tablespoons of your homemade yogurt to be the starter cultures for your next batch of yogurt. I strained mine to a texture between Yoplait regular and Chobani greek, but I strained a little of it into yogurt cheese which was amazing. It had a silkiness that reminded me of Fage, but it was a bit thicker. Remember, the more you strain it, the less yogurt you'll have. A half gallon of milk makes about 32oz of thick greek yogurt. The flavor is more mild and less tangy than any plain yogurt I've ever had. I sweetened my first cup with a little Splenda and it was fantastic. If it stands up to that processed fake sugar, then I can't wait to try it with honey or agave nectar. COSTS: Milk - $3.59 Starter yogurt - $0.99 (on sale) I had all of the other things that I needed in my kitchen already. I made about 36oz of yogurt. Best part! Cost per serving: Homemade - $0.77 per 6oz serving Chobani - $1.59 per 6oz serving Fage - $1.89 per 7oz serving

That could be a good way to save some money also. I may try that! Thanks for the suggestion.

The nutritional information will vary based on the milk used (2% in my case). The values will be similar to commercial yogurt made with the same type of milk you use. When I was researching this project, the general consensus was that there's not a huge difference in the nutritional value of yogurt and the milk it's made from. As far as strained, greek-style yogurt - densely packing it in that way increases your Protein per serving, but without greatly increasing your calories. This article is FABULOUS at explaining the difference between regular and strained yogurt, and the nutrition that you can expect from each: http://health.usnews...-more-healthful A 6oz serving of 2% plain homemade yogurt will have roughly 120-130 calories and 9-15 grams of protein, depending on how well strained it is. Straining will also lower the carb count and the increased protein keeps you fuller longer. Great question! I hope this helps!

Thank you!

I've decided to pursue my LIFE again. I've been a hermit for years because I've just felt so badly about myself. I'm working on getting over that, and auditioning is one of the first steps. Thank you for your sweet words.

Thanks guys!

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone. I feel like a new person.

LOL!! Thank you so much! I'm going to cry because this comment is so nice!

You're a fox and your family is beautiful! I maintain by not denying reasonable cravings, but I eat a very controlled amount. I also count up my calories at the end of the day and if I'm very short of my calorie goal range (which I'm usually not), I eat something calorie dense but healthy like a Clif Builder bar.

You look amazing! I'm a tall girl too, but not as tall as you are. I hope I grow an inch! lol

Hahaha thank you, everyone! It's really weird. In my head I look like both of those pictures, but they look so different from each other that it's hard for me to believe that they're both me. I appreciate that none of you are laughing at that first picture. I've never shown those first headshots to anyone. They were a total waste of money because I hated them so much. And that one was the best one of the set!