mctaverne

I am a STL sleever who had my operation with Dr. Minkin at Des Peres almost a full year ago. Have to say i have been struggling. I lost 75 pounds without a bit of trouble, but have stalled since then. Glad to see so many people doing so well. Thought I would check in on the forum and see if it might spur me to get it in gear.

One of the main reasons you aren't supposed to drink and eat at the same time, is what is called 'flushing.' It only took one time for me, and I stopped doing it. It is amazing how fast your food can go through you. I also was a huge drinker during dinner, but as I said, it only takes one time for the food to flush out, and I didn't drink again. You can take small sips, if necessary, but that is it.

I am almost 9 months out and feel great! One huge thing I would recommend is counseling. I have not kept up with this part of my program and find myself emotionally eating just like I did pre-sleeve. I was 310 at my highest and am now at 235. I look at pictures of myself right before, and when I look at them now, I can't believe I let myself get that big. Never again! Good luck to all the guys out there. I know the women like to talk about the fun of shopping for new clothes for their new bodies, but I have to say I like it too.

I am nearly 9 months out, and like others have said, the only thing I regret is the fact that I can't enjoy food like I did before. I can eat so little that when I find something I really like, I can only eat a little of it. It gets really frustrating. But in the long run, this was the best decision I've ever made. I feel better than I ever had before. I've had plateaus that get frustrating, and I catch myself cheating the sleeve by eating multiple times a day, but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing.

One of the things that I have found while doing my research is that if you eat too few calories and don't do much exercise, your body can go into starvation mode, and your weight loss will slow to a stop. One of the best ways I have found to make sure that you are moving enough is to invest in a Bodybugg or something like it that calculates how many calories you burn. The problem is that if you aren't moving, your metabolism will slow to a stop and that's not good. Keep up the great work!

I too am just a few days further out than you. The pureed state is not as hard as it seems. I have found some great veggie Soups that I stick in the blender to puree it up. Campbells has a Southwest Potato Soup that is great. When you puree something like this, that has a lot of flavor, it doesn't feel like you are eating baby food. I have read posts where people go out and buy baby food during this stage, just say no! I don't need food that bad. Yogurt is also a great thing you get to add. I have always loved yogurt, and it is soooo much better than those Protein shakes. Enjoy this stage, you are almost ready to get into the real food stage. I hit one step from that yesterday. I got to add thinly sliced deli meats and crackers. I will tell you that from my experience, it is almost harder than the pureed stage. This is where the real work starts because you really have to watch how much you eat. You really can't eat near as much as you think. I had 1 1/2 slices of deli meat and 6 club crackers and was absolutely stuffed! Keep up the great work. You are doing great!

Thanks for posting the article. I've always heard about nutrient deficiencies in Bypass patients but didn't think I had much to worry about with the sleeve. Problem is, it looks like it is just as easy to get too much of some vitamins. Sounds like it is a delicate dance. Wish there was a way to personally test your blood for nutrients. That way it would be easier to keep track of.

Thank you so much for this post. I am less than a week out from my surgery and have a horribly painful ear infection in both ears. It's nice to see that some of the problems I was having "pre" infection haziness was actually my body trying to fight the infection. I am going through a lot of the same emotional roller coaster that you were. That's why this forum is so great. Just when you think you are unique, you do a search and other people are having the same problems.

I have RightChoice in Missouri. I am semi lucky in the fact that my company is self insured, so all of my appeals eventually went to the higher-ups within my company. What almost cost me the procedure, though, was the fact that I have NEVER done Jenny Craig, WW, etc. The only "measure of failure" I had was to approach my PCP and have her write a letter stating that she had been my PCP for over 10 years and that we had discussed WL on numbers of times. Insurance even initially balked at that because they wanted documented discussions of weight and, lucky me (not), my PCP had recently converted over to a completely electronic filing system and only had her "important" notes going back more than 2 years. I just kept documenting and researching and killing my insurance company with paper, and it eventually worked. I guess what I am saying is that from start to finish it was well over a year of fighting with them, but I am SO glad I did. This is not a sprint, so I feel like all of the work to get the procedure has made my determination to make it work even stronger. Keep up the fight if you are still fighting, and if you want copies of the letters I sent, I am more than happy to send them to you. Every little bit helps.

I just had my surgery this past Thursday. This is my first full day home. As with what everyone else said, we are all different. I had HORRIBLE gas pains at the beginning. No matter how bad you feel, WALK. I thought they were crazy, but they were right. Walking does wonders. I didn't/haven't had any nausea, but one of the other patients I was with had a terrible time with it. In fact, she stayed in the hospital an additional day. It is good to remember about the liquids. I have been focusing on the Protein today, but I see I need to focus more on liquids instead. Thanks for all the good information.

I have had the same problem and Gatorade has helped immensely. Make sure you are getting enough fluids in. They aren't kidding when they say 64 oz. minimum.

Now my doc was much easier. I only have to be on this for 3 days. It's interesting how each doctor is different.

My procedure is the 15th, and my doctor has told me that 10 days should be enough recovery before I head back to work. I have a compete sit down job, so I'm sure that makes a difference. I'm glad to hear about the exercise pre-surgery helps recovery. I've been working myself as hard as I can knowing that after surgery, I'm going to need to keep it up.

This is correct. I had this come up in my approval process as well. The FDA does not approve procedures.

Just to let you know, my insurance company wanted me to be able to show that the "tried weight loss before and failed," as well. However, since I had never done Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers or anything like that, I had to show that my primary care physician, and I had talked about weight loss off and on for the past 5 years. What made it even worse was the fact that my PCP just recently archived all of her records due to the electronic records, and she did not include the past 5 years worth of charts that would have shown that we talked about it. I was able to convince them through testimony from co-workers of mine that I had been working on my weight, and it had fluctuated greatly over the past 5 years. I don't want to discourage you, but I also don't want you getting your hopes up, like I did, and think the 6 month physician weight loss program will be the end.

Sounds good. I plan on using part of it in my own appeal letter. One thing that my insurance company indicated, is that if your PCP recommended you for surgery, you might have her/him write a letter to that effect. Every little thing helps.