mamasez

I was sleeved by Dr Nick on Oct 17, 2011. All went well and the care I have received has been top notch. Good luck to you!

"When people show you who they are, believe them the FIRST time." Maya Angelou. I have been in similar situations and when I look back carefully, I can easily see that those "friends" who have said and/or done nasty things have always shown me who they really were beforehand and I overlooked it. It could have been in the way they talked behind someone else's back, made previous negative comments about others (on FB or elsewhere), been rude to others unneccesarily or been mean to me before.... something that I should've seen as a sign of who they really are. But until they hurt me big time or repeatedly, I would let it slide bc I want to be a loving, forgiving person. Then I finally got it. I put love out there, but when you show me you are an unhealthy hateful person, it's bye-bye time. I have learned that people will dish out the behavior YOU tolerate. Don't fume for too long, bc that is negative energy. Just decide you don't tolerate that kind of behavior, realize she showed you (and others by blasting on FB) who she IS and walk toward healthy people who are supportive and even if they don't understand the WLS, support you, and know you are wise enough to make your own decisions.

I will turn the age that rhymes with "nifty" in June. I homeschool our 11 year old Aspie which is not what I thought I'd be doing, but it's all good. I moved out from my parents' house at 16 and went wild, then went back to school and became an opera singer. Did that for several years and married my sweetie who joined the Navy when he was 30. We've been married 21 yrs. We have lived in London, San Fransisco bay area, Maryland and Virginia before returning to Texas when hubby got out of the service. After opera life (which allowed me to travel a lot), I went into Marketing and worked full time til my son was born. I then had my own small business teaching music and movement to pre-schoolers for several years but got burned out, especially physically. Now, we have a crazy bloodhound named Murray. Our parents require a lot of help these days and it is a priviledge to help them where we can. My son and I do tons of field trips and outings. We also love movies, bicycling and swimming. I have yo-yo'd weight wise all my life and it has taken its toll in more ways than one. I was sleeved 10-17-11 and have lost 62 lbs including the 10 dropped pre-op. I love, love, love the support on VST and check in almost every day. My restrictiin has recently decreased and appetite has increased but I am trying to undereat my sleeve. Some dsays are better than others, as we all know. My question for next poster is: if you could shrink to only two inches tall for 24 hours and could "fit" anywhere, where would you go and why?

I will turn the age that rhymes with "nifty" in June. I homeschool our 11 year old Aspie which is not what I thought I'd be doing, but it's all good. I moved out from my parents' house at 16 and went wild, then went back to school and became an opera singer. Did that for several years and married my sweetie who joined the Navy when he was 30. We've been married 21 yrs. We have lived in London, San Fransisco bay area, Maryland and Virginia before returning to Texas when hubby got out of the service. After opera life (which allowed me to travel a lot), I went into Marketing and worked full time til my son was born. I then had my own small business teaching music and movement to pre-schoolers for several years but got burned out, especially physically. Now, we have a crazy bloodhound named Murray. Our parents require a lot of help these days and it is a priviledge to help them where we can. My son and I do tons of field trips and outings. We also love movies, bicycling and swimming. I have yo-yo'd weight wise all my life and it has taken its toll in more ways than one. I was sleeved 10-17-11 and have lost 62 lbs including the 10 dropped pre-op. I love, love, love the support on VST and check in almost every day. My restrictiin has recently decreased and appetite has increased but I am trying to undereat my sleeve. Some dsays are better than others, as we all know. My question for next poster is: if you could shrink to only two inches tall for 24 hours and could "fit" anywhere, where would you go and why?

Plano in the house!

Thank you, Sharon. Very helpful, indeed. I really appreciate you taking the time to share this info. Leah

Glad u r home. I am praying for u. Hang tough!

Over the counter Tylenol adult blast liquid. Cherry flavor. CVS has a generic for it too. Works like a charm.

I have trouble with pills. Here's my iron tips... 1. Try "Natrol" liquid iron. I got it at The Vitamin Shoope. It tastes bad but thats better than feeling sick. 2. Try "Hema-Plex". I got it at Whole Foods. It has 85 mg of iron so I chop it in half, grind it up with a pestle and mortar and mix it in applesauce. 3. Try gummy multis with iron. 4. Take pills WITH food and take them in the evening vice earlier in the day. Good luck. Leah

Getting my vitamins in is a etruggle, but I am making it happen b/c it is very important to my health. I get nauseated from them too so I take gummies, liquid calcium, liquid iron so there are fewer pills. When I have the cramps, I use liquid tylenol. Taking pills early in the day is out of the question. I do better with them at night, after my sleeve is more "warmed up." And I always take my pills with food. These are the things helping me thus far. I am always keeping my eye out for tips from others. Taking pills has been and remains a big pain since I got sleeved. That and my inability to tolerate whey protein, but that's anoother story.

Oh yeah.... the horrid period ninja has attacked me too. My periods have always been bad but now they are bad to the bone. I have had three since surgery and they are intense. I get dizzy, tired, and cramps from the beyond. Not fun. My weightloss slows to a crawl for almost 2 weeks while my visitor is here. Blech.

Here's my lunk. Friend me! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/mamasez

Me too... I live MFP! I'm mamasez. C ya there!

Praying for both of you! Leah

I force myself to go outside for a very brisk walk for 30 minutes at least 5 days per week. I never look forward to it but I am always proud of myself afterward and it is helping with my weight loss. I live in TX so our weather allows me to do this on most days. I have trouble with my feet and ankles so I wrap them prior to walking, which is a pain but worth it to minimize injury risk. At 49 years old, I am "over" the motivation to work out that existed in my youth. But I know I just have to woman-up and do it. New info says a 30 min.walk per day not only helps your physical health but also lowers risk of Alzheimers. We have a Wii fit and I do a few of the games (I walk during the jogging one) and play around with some others, but the daily walk helps my psyche as well.

Plano, TX here! Sleeved Oct 17, 2011 by Nick Nicholson at Baylor Plano. I'm down 57 lbs! Leah

Sunshine: I am 2.5 months out. I noticed, on days I do not consume extra Protein by drinking Isopure Zero Carb Protein drinks (a ready to drink product that is not creamy - since surgery I cannot tolerate whey in a creamy shake type drink) I feel TONS more hungry. The drinks come in two sizes: an 8 oz. that has 15 g of protein and a 20 oz that has 40 g protein. I try to get in as much dense protein as I can to quell the hunger but using the Ispoure Zero Carb helps add protein when I can't fit in additional food. It also seems to help keep my enegy level up which helps me get longer, more brisk walks in. Good luck. I hope this helps.

I ditto the recliner and melatonin. Hang in there! It DOES get better!

You are truly an inspiration. Congrats on your stellar success and thanks for encouraging all of us onward and downward!

All I can say is been there, done that and it WILL get better! I am not that far ahead of you. I was sleeved on 10/17. I had ALL the same feelings & symptoms you are experiencing. It feels like it will be this way.forever, but I promise it won't. We spent alot of time eating and we enjoyed eating. It is jatural that you are thinking about food, but that will subside. The first two weeks I felt hungry and as literally dreaming about food. Others told me that would calm down after the first few weeks and they were right. You had major surgery. Your house will have to wait. Keep telling yourself that this part of it is temporary, because that is true. In a few weeks you will be cleaning like a whirlwind. You need to "borrow" this time from your kids but you will be able to play with them and tend to them so much better and with more ease soon, thanks to the weight loss you will experience. As far as your surgeon goes, don't let his God complex stop you from being who you are. My pain level was pretty bad in the first couple of weeks. I felt like a loser (pun!) Because most posts I read were from people going "it felt luke perioe cramps" and here I was hurting so bad, feeling so hungry, not able to cook, clean or homeschool my son for the first bit of my post op journey. I had to have faith that the issues would pwss and it would all pay off, now at two short months out and 49 lbs. lighter, I am reaping the rewards of my sleeve. As I dug deeper and read more posts here, I realized that the problems I was having in the beginning were not uncommon at all. I totally understand how you are feeling and it sucks that.some of us have a hard time in the beginning. But I promise the hunger thing gets way better, the pain will get better each dqy (I slept in a recliner for three weeks and became BFFs with my heating pad) and this will all pay off for you. i'm glad you posted. You have every right to vent. Hang in there and welcome to the losers bn

All I can say is been there, done that and it WILL get better! I am not that far ahead of you. I was sleeved on 10/17. I had ALL the same feelings & symptoms you are experiencing. It feels like it will be this way.forever, but I promise it won't. We spent alot of time eating and we enjoyed eating. It is jatural that you are thinking about food, but that will subside. The first two weeks I felt hungry and as literally dreaming about food. Others told me that would calm down after the first few weeks and they were right. You had major surgery. Your house will have to wait. Keep telling yourself that this part of it is temporary, because that is true. In a few weeks you will be cleaning like a whirlwind. You need to "borrow" this time from your kids but you will be able to play with them and tend to them so much better and with more ease soon, thanks to the weight loss you will experience. As far as your surgeon goes, don't let his God complex stop you from being who you are. My pain level was pretty bad in the first couple of weeks. I felt like a loser (pun!) Because most posts I read were from people going "it felt luke perioe cramps" and here I was hurting so bad, feeling so hungry, not able to cook, clean or homeschool my son for the first bit of my post op journey. I had to have faith that the issues would pwss and it would all pay off, now at two short months out and 49 lbs. lighter, I am reaping the rewards of my sleeve. As I dug deeper and read more posts here, I realized that the problems I was having in the beginning were not uncommon at all. I totally understand how you are feeling and it sucks that.some of us have a hard time in the beginning. But I promise the hunger thing gets way better, the pain will get better each dqy (I slept in a recliner for three weeks and became BFFs with my heating pad) and this will all pay off for you. i'm glad you posted. You have every right to vent. Hang in there and welcome to the losers bench!

You are doing great! Congrats and keep on truckin!

I have had that issue too. I am 6 weeks out. I added Prilosec OTC to my two Omeprazole (one Prilosec at bedtime) each day and started feeling lots better. It took a few days before the Prilosec kicked in though.

I have been having the same issues with my pills. Recently switched from Centrum Chewable to Adult Gummies from Costco. Those are better tolerated by my sleeve. I have also started cutting a couple of my pills into small segments and swallowing them with yogurt. That has helped too.

Thank you so much Lissa and Sharon for the helpful replies. Now that I know that Prilosec (on top of the Famotidine) helps you, Sharon, and Tums helps you, Lissa, I am going to pick up some of both! I was hoping it would be fine to take somethiing on top of the Famotidine (which I take twice a day already as well), so knowing that taking Prilosec has helped you, Sharon, I am sure it won't kill me! Not that I tho't it would but.... Anyway, another question: Are the "foamies" where you feel acid rumbling / building up into your throat? I have read about people on this board experiencing "foamies" but haven't had it defined as of yet. If that IS what it is, I DEFINITELY have the foamies, especially if/when I take pills earlier in the day! I will start watching the clock more closely to time my gut feelings. I also get hungry sooner after exercising (which I am happy to say, I have been walking 30 minutes per day, at least 5 days per week since the middle of week three post-op and it kicked my weight loss into a higher gear). I am down 41 lbs in total. 10 pre-op and 31 post op since sleeved on 10/17. So exciting! I have been using the MyFitnessPal.com app on my phone daily and it is a great tool. I am shooting for 50 to 60 g of protein a day and trying to keep the carbs low-ish. You are on there, aren't you, Lissa? I love being able to keep track of everything there. I finally think I am OVER utilizing the pen and paper routine to track, but must admit, I do miss not being able to see a whole week or more at a glance. I had created an Excel spreadsheet of everything I ate and drank and tracked cals, protein and carbs plus fluid intake and exercise for the first 4 weeks. But using MyFitnessPal is just SO much easier and less time consuming that I know I'll be more likely to continue tracking for the long term with it, whereas with paper, I always quit eventually because of time constraints. Lissa, I looked at a bunch of protein bars at The Vitamin Shoppe but they all had 35 or more carbs per bar and that worries me a bit. I am trying NOT to be paranoid about carbs but I do want to do this right and I DON'T want to screw up my losing streak, IYKWIM! I get to come of of soft foods as of Tuesday and am glad to be moving on to the "permanent" stage of eating on this journey. I just have to figure out what to purchase and fix so I won't get burned out on all the soft foods I've been eating (mostly eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, ground up chili with beans, refried beans and the like). I am SO ready for a REAL bite of REAL chicken (not ground down in food processor til it looks like baby food!' Thanks for your help. Hope your Thanksgiving weekend is relaxing! Leah p.s. Sharon - love your new picture on the board. It's lovely!