Lissa

yes, please get it checked out. Always better to be safe than sorry! I hope it's nothing.

Yep, you'll be able to gulp drinks again. I do it when I take pills and I'm about 4 months post-op. Not drinking with meals, yeah, it stinks, but that one's for life, just like taking Vitamins daily. You'll be fine! Once you adjust to it, you won't even think about it. You will just naturally skip the drinks while you're eating.

Some people do have pain at the main incision site. Because of all the activity that happens there (biggest instruments in, stomach removed through that hole), that incision is often the last to heal and it sometimes hurts. Mine also had a drain in it that took extra time to heal, and it sometimes ached, although it wasn't really "pain". Good luck with your journey!!

Stacey, Lots of foods that sound yucky now will taste pretty good after the liquid pre and post-op diets. I actually ate some potted meat with scrambled eggs just for a flavor change post-op. I also drank lots of chicken and beef broth and ran both Wendy's chili and Dinty Moore beef stew through my magic bullet. Good luck with your journey!!

Shelle, Try Walgreens or CVS for your Vitamins. They often have B1G1 sales. I take: Centrum Chewables for Women, 1 per day (was 2 until I was back on solids post-op) bought at Walmart; 1 sublingual B12 per day 5,000 mcg, bought at Walgreens, 2 Tums chewables morning, 2 Tums chewables at night, 750 calcium. I use Tums instead of Calcium pills because I'm on Coumadin and my pulmonologist wants me on the Tums. I also started taking Biotin at 2 months out. It's a B-complex Vitamin that helps with hair regrowth since many WLS patients lose a good bit of hair starting around the 3rd month. Mine's thinning, but not as badly as I'd feared. I'm on a tight budget like you, and I'm betting my monthly vitamins come in under $30. I took it from my food budget since I'm not eating or cooking anywhere near as much as before surgery. Good luck!!

Shelle, You really should check out the blog The World According to Egg Face. She's got TONS of recipes that are WLS friendly, especially stuff that can be eaten by early post-ops and Protein shakes. Her Ricotta Bake is to die for and I loved it on mushies. Actually, I still love it now! She makes a bunch of different dipping sauces and has some great ideas for how to get veggies into our diets. My personal favorite is that she uses cucumbers instead of crackers. And, Michelle (Egg Face) is 5 years post RNY and has been maintaining for several years, so she definitely gives it to you straight on her blog. Good luck and let us know if you come up with other recipes. You're welcome for the tartar and cocktail sauce recipes, but I learned them when I worked as a waitress years ago, so can't take credit for the original idea!

Oh, (((jasleeve))), I So know how you're feeling right now. My DH and I just broke up and have ended communication; my sister is not where I can talk to her right now; my brother sucks eggs at having a sibling rleationship; and my kids are grown with their own lives. I was feeling pretty down last night myself. This morning, however, I got up, made some decaf coffee, took myself for a ride on the exercise bike to get my endorphins going, and spent some time both here and re-reading my blog. After a while, I did some hard-core cleaning and called a few relatives who live in other states and I felt so much better! I have a theory about my psyche and that is this: If I let myself feel sad and lonely, I'll be sad and lonely. Therefore, I don't allow myself to feel sad and lonely. If I do end up there for some reason, I find something to do that makes me feel useful. Then I feel better. Maybe I'm lucky that my pep talks work for me, because otherwise I'd be curled up in a ball somewhere in a rubber room! LOL I hope your day got better and, please, don't be afraid to reach out to your friends and family. I know they don't always give us the response we need, but at least it keeps us connected. Good luck to all of us!!!

I gotta agree with Kathy on this one. I doubt I would use the same surgeon for the band to sleeve revision unless I thought he was a stellar surgeon. I'd be worried that he wouldn't tell me the full story about any slippage or erosion from the band. Is your doc at a center of excellence? Does he have rave reviews from VSG patients? Are you comfortable letting him dig around in your gut a second time? Good luck!

carbgrl, I can't imagine why the weight loss rate would be any different because you previously had the band. I would think the complication rate might be higher for someone having a band to sleeve revision, but the end result as far as weight loss should be the same. Good luck!!

Abiluv, I'm waiting anxiously to hear from you as well. I hope it turns out to be something simple!

I'm way past two weeks out, but I don't remember any discomfort at 2 weeks out. Well, I did have some, but only if I drank too much at one time. Are you having actual pain, or just generally not feeling up to par? This IS an adjustment for us mentally and physically. Since being sleeved, I've found places that are tender now that never were before. I had my doc look at a couple of them and he told me they are my fibroids, which are losing their "protective" layer of fat! LOL Good luck!!

Thanks for the list!! I haven't used any of them, but might in the future!

It's called a food funeral as others have said. I did it too, but don't take that as encouragement to continue. What's sad is that I have found I can eat anywhere and anything I could eat before, just not in the quantities I used to eat. You are NOT giving up food forever. You'll be on a liquids, full liquid, mushies diet until your surgeon feels your stomach has healed, then you can eat whatever you want after that. Your sleeve won't hold as much, but that's how we got to the point that we needed surgery to beat the weight. At 4 months out, I don't miss anything I used to eat, because I allow myself to eat what I want to eat. My only guidelines I follow are to get my Protein and Water into my body. Once those are in, if I have room, I can have something else. Guess what, I don't want lots of junk. I just want to eat veggies usually. I've lost 70 pounds so far, and I'm still losing, still seeing changes in my body day by day. I think my plan works for me... and your plan will work for you. Hopefully, we'll all end up at our goal weight, laughing, smiling and enjoying our new lives!! Good luck on your journey!!

That's great!! Making it to a goal is a HUGE NSV!!!

To paraphrase Egg Face, the key to eating meat after surgery is moisture. I bought some salad dressing and use a small dollop of it to dip my meat in if it's on the dry side. I've also used pureed veggies as a dipping sauce for chicken and deli meat. For shrimp and fish I make my own cocktail and tartar sauce, mostly because the commercial ones have too much sugar for my post-op tastebuds. cocktail sauce: ketchup, horseradish chopped, a drop or two of hot sauce, lemon (if you like), mix. . tartar sauce: mayo, horseradish, chopped pickle/olive/pickle relish to taste. Put sauce in a little container in the fridge and use for a few days. Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant knows how to make these sauces. They are really simple. I really like imitation crab meat these days, along with rotisserie chicken from the supermarket deli. Both are easy to chew and fill me up quickly. 2 or 3 oz of either is about all I can eat at a time. Good luck! Don't be afraid to try new meats, just remember to chew well and give your sleeve a few minutes after that first bite to make sure the sleeve tolerates the food well.

I'm happy dancing for you!! Congrats!

Awesome!! What a great present, and you gave it to yourself!!!

Sounds like you had a great time!! How did the prime rib sit? The reason I ask is that I didn't try steak until about 3 months out because I was afraid it would be hard to digest. It definitely kept me full that day as well!

As I've said before, I refuse to think of food as good or bad. It's either Protein or it's not protein. That said, the whole goal of being sleeved, for me, is to eat like a normal weight person would eat. I'm not going to beat myself up because I had 1 cookie or a piece of pie. However, I do try to make sure I have my protein goal for the day met before I have sweets or other sliders. I also make myself accountable for everything I eat by using My Fitness Pal to log everything I eat. It amazes me how hard it is for me to eat sweets/carbs when I know I have to log it for the world to see! My food diary is public for just this reason! Don't beat yourself up for one day of bad eating, just dust yourself off and get back on plan. And, try allowing yourself a treat here and there, just like normal weight people do. You aren't on a diet, this is a life change. You're not going to go back to your old ways of eating, ever. The sleeve will always restrict the volume of food we can eat. Our goal during the losing stage is to learn how to eat to live. IMO, if we tell ourselves that we can't have a certain food until we reach goal, it sets us up for that food to remain a problem when we reach goal. Even though I still have a lot of weight to lose, I gave myself permission to have anything I want on Thanksgiving and will do the same today, on Christmas. I also keep my Water and protein goals in mind on those days. But, if some food I love is on the menu, I'm going to have a few bites. I adore pecan pie, so I'll have a small piece of it at some point today, without guilt. The difference now is that I will only have a piece of the pecan pie. I won't also have a piece of pumpkin pie and apple pie, both of which are just okay to me. I will savor every bite and really enjoy the taste of the pecans.

Merry Christmas to everyone here!! I am truly grateful that I found this community. The support I've found here is amazing! Here's looking forward to a better year for us all in 2012!!!

Water isn't necessarily better, but it is easier to say water than "sugar free non-caffeinated beverage" all the time. I count my decaf coffee or decaf tea as "water" every day. I also count water into which I have added moo drops. I also counted broth when I was still drinking lots of it. The reason broth is good, IMO, is that it gives you a little Protein. Does that make sense? Lissa

I see a big difference already, especially at your sides. Before your arms were kind of resting on the sides of your boobs, and you are definitely losing weight right there! As a matter of fact, I see it all the way down your sides and in the way your shirt lays in front, so you must be losing in the front as well! You're doing great so far!

make sure you're getting in enough Water and Protein, or that you're trying like heck. Water is much more important than protein at 3-4 days out. You won't starve to death, but you could get dehydrated and end up in the hospital. And, YES, the pain meds can make you dizzy and light-headed. IF it continues and you're doing all of the above, call your doctor just to make sure everything is okay.

Cake, You're ahead of the game if you go ahead and have the surgery now. Waiting for COPD or pulmonary embolism, or any other crazy problem is not a smart move. If you doctor says yes, then go for it! I was basically immobile before surgery and I'm walking and riding the exercise bike to help tone me up and lose weight. I've lost 70 pounds in under 4 months. Your results will vary from mine, though. I started at 352 before the pre-op diet. Good luck and let us know how your surgery goes!

If you're on solid foods, Denny's has some really good options. The waitress at mine lets me order from the senior or kids menus, which is nice. I love their senior tilapia dinner. I think it's one veggie and the fish is grilled, yummy. Since you're only 20 days out, you might like some Soup better. Their chicken noodle is good and mine also had chili as an option the last time I was there. I couldn't eat a whole bowl of soup at under a month post op. The other thing I do there is to order eggs scrambled with cheese with a little salsa on the said. I doubt you'd be able to finish an order of scrambled eggs at this point. Oh, and the super bird sandwich with no bread (I just take the bread off) tastes pretty good. Have a great evening with the girls!!