JackieOMonroe

Here's what it was for me: Food - Banders seem to have more foods that they can't tolerate than sleevers. I can eat pretty much anything. Complications - I noticed a high rate of slipping, internal scar tissue, port issues, and fill issues with the band. Permanent - I don't think the band is a "forever" thing. I didn't want to have another surgery 10 years down the road. So many banders have revision surgery. Success - While I couldn't find a ton of information for the long term success of sleevers, I did find a lot of stories about the long term failure of banders. I did nearly decide to have plication surgery just because I was afraid of the idea of removing so much of my stomach, but ultimately this surgery seemed to be the best option for me.

I mixed tuna with mustard when I was on softs, and I used a slice of american cheese and made a little tuna "taco".

Add me to the list of people with a dramatic change in their taste buds. Everything tastes different to me now. For instance, sometimes things that taste normal to everyone else will taste spoiled to me.

EDIT: Oops! My fatigue didn't just start out of the blue. I agree with Tif 2.0 that B-12 might be the culprit. I feel AWFUL if I forget to take B-12.

My doctor didn't advise me to eat dill pickles, but they've always been a go-to snack for me when I'm trying to lose weight because they're only about 10 calories, they're crunchy, and they're salty. Perfect for me.

One of my best friends is named Todd. This is cracking me up.

DOS: 5'8.5" - 214 lbs - size 14-16 Today: 5'8.5" - 148.5 - size 8 My body shape is evenly proportioned. Hips and bust measurements are the same within a half inch, waist is 8-8.5 inches smaller. I don't have large hips or large boobs.

It may not feel like it now, but the anger and regret will largely pass. I was angry with myself for at least 4 months after being sleeved. I had a really rough recovery too and I seemed like I would never feel normal again. By the 5th or 6th month, I felt more or less like myself and now I feel completely normal. My experience was atypical, so it's likely that you're going to feel better MUCH sooner than I did. There's nothing that you can do to change the decision that you made, so try to look for things to feel positive about. Make note of the good days. I started a personal and private blog just for me on Blogger. If you can get the crappy feelings out of your head and focus them someplace, it makes it easier not to dwell on them.

that is insane! great job!

I want to share the one pot meal I'm making for tonight! This post is great. Dutch Oven Pot Roast 2 lbs chuck roast 2 onions, halved 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 bag baby carrots 2 cans diced tomato 2 sprigs fresh rosemary 4 sprigs fresh thyme 2 bay leaves 1/2 cup beef stock 1/2 cup red wine 2 tbsp olive oil salt pepper Salt and pepper the meat, then brown it on all sides in the dutch oven with the olive oil. Once browned, add all of the other ingredients to the dutch oven (liquids first). Turn stove down to low and braise for 3-3.5 hours until the meat is falling apart. Baste it with the braising liquid every half hour or so. Salt and pepper to taste. I serve this to my husband over garlic mashed potatoes, but they're not necessary if you'd rather avoid the starch.

Mine is Little Sleevie Wonder. My husband laughs at me when I talk about him. lol

It's just Fluid retention and it's happened to a lot of us. Nothing to be concerned about if you remember to just be logical about it. Unless you decided that purees meant 24 hour milkshakes, there's no way that you are taking in enough calories to gain fat. No panicking!

My go to lunch is a slice of havarti with a slice of deli turkey on top, sweet hot mustard on that, and then rolled into a cigar shape for eating. I also make tuna salad with mustard instead of mayo and have that on crackers. I HATE cucumbers, but I'm going to try to get over it so that I can use them as a cracker substitute. I like veggies dipped in hummus, scrambled egg with any veggie or cheese added and salsa on top, oven baked salmon or tilapia, homemade turkey meatballs, cottage cheese and fruit, cottage cheese with pepper, baked paprika chicken, grilled cheese with any filling combination (havarti, provolone, cheddar, pesto, tomato, apple, etc), soup (the pourable cartons from Henry's/Sprouts or the containers from Fresh & Easy are my favorites), greek salad, homemade mini pizza... I'll keep adding as I think of more.

Is that not dumping? It just happened to me today and I thought it was just dumping syndrome. Now I'm worried. It's happened to me a couple of times since being sleeved and I always seem to be able to trace it back to something extremely sugary.

5 including the incision for my drain.

I told my PCP about my surgery and where I had it after the fact. He took it really well and actually praised my decision. I was shocked. lol

Your family sounds great. It does get better. Hang in there.

Wow!!

Congratulations!

You are adorable. Congratulations! You can really see how far you've come.

My doctor told me that Tylenol is fine, but ibuprofen is a no-no.

Great news! Congratulations!

I think I got lucky then. My protein intake sucked because I couldn't tolerate supplements and I couldn't eat enough food to get my numbers up to where they should be. If I'd known my protein intake could have caused me to lose my hair, I might have started grazing throughout the day or something. lol

I'm at goal now and I never lost any hair.

I probably won't be much help, but I wish you luck. Have you tried getting Protein from food? I'm not sure where you are on your eating plan, but if you can handle softs it's not a bad idea to start there. I was in the same predicament and I spent a ton of money on different Protein drinks and bars and every single thing made me very sick. Eventually, I just ate as much greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, and eventually tuna as I could. I also blended Peanut Butter, almond milk, and banana together to make my own Protein Drink that I could handle. I didn't get in the amount of protein that I was supposed to, but I did the best I could considering how little the sleeve allows you to eat. By the way, if you like sardines (and I know most people don't) they have a ton of protein and are super small so they don't take up much space. Here's a link that might help. http://www.howmuchprotein.com/foods/