Smoggy

Well I hope you like it Mom_24! Yes I'm doing really well- Thanks!

FANTASTIC news- welcome to the losers bench! xx

WOW! A vacation with only 3lb gained, heaps of cool family get-togethers and an admirer at the end of it. Way to go!

Welcome Aaron, this place is full of great supportive people. Hooray for July 17th! There is a July sleevers thread with some great supportive folks aboard so do join us, and Patrick has started a July sleevers fb group too!

Oh that made me laugh Cheers Wheetsin

I totally agree Lissa, I think Jonathan is right. I have heaps of male gay friends and the pressure to have "The body beautiful" in a lot of areas of the gay community is HUGE. Everyone wants to look like a Herb Ritts photograph, and the amount of money my friends spend on grooming alone is astronomical. I think the aesthetic visual 'norms' applied regarding beauty are way more stringent than in the straight community. I feel for you Jonathan! xox

Laura and Victoria, I am excited for you! The first day won't be the best day but grin and bear it, and every day gets better super-fast after that. I will be thinking of everyone sleeved today and sending healing thoughts out into the ether.Best of luck! xox Keep us posted!

I am on full liquids and yesterday i dreamed up a Tzatziki-inspired yogurt drink (I'm sick of the sweet stuff). I added a scoop of unflavoured Protein powder to a small pot of Fage 0%, a few mint leaves, a chunk of de-skinned cucumber, a tespoon of garlic paste, squeeze of lemon and a little bit of Water to thin it out. It was 30g of protein and SO good. The flavours completely masked the Protein Powder taste and so it went down a treat- my new go-to drink! Fage is also great with a little splenda sweetener,and vanilla essence.

It is really interesting to me how different the recommendations are from different people. Thanks!

A very firm tummy pillow to press against the tum whilst getting up and down just saved me, earplugs, eye mask, wet wipes.

Thanks for the suggestion! Folks, a lassi is a pureed yoghurt-based drink comon in India, it can be sweetened with fruit or salted and spiced and herbs added.It is often used as a palate refresher with spicy curries. Tzatziki is a Greek salad made with chopped or grated cucumber, mint, Greek yoghurt and sometimes lemon. You could use lemon here too but I love lime. Cooks helper garlic is a product that is basically liquefied garlic (with a bit of sunflower oil) and a smooth garlic paste is a good replacement. Anyway I kind of mixed the Greek and Indian components together to get a savoury garlicky minty cucumbery drink. It is pretty darn YUM.

I wonder which choccy the bear chose first? This is cracking me up Patrick.

I am finding all the sweet shakes a bit much on full liquids so I made a tzatziki inspired lassi shake which is pretty good and has 30g Protein. This is going down MUCH easier... 1 small tub of Fage 0% yogurt (10g protein) 1 scoop GNC whey unflavoured Protein powder (20g protein) A teaspoon of Lea and Perrins cook's helper add-in garlic paste Mint leaves Quarter of a cucumber- deskinned. Thin slightly with Water. A squeeze of lime. Salt to taste. Puree in blender.

OKAY- now you're showing off....(LOL) and do be careful of breaking into that Aladdin song (Just kidding)

Victoria, Phillygirl and Chromerose, you will be FINE! I am a week out, it has been smooth sailing, and so far haven't had a moment of regret. You'll be on the losers bench SOON! I'll be holding you all in my thoughts. Best of luck, you'll do fabulously. xox

Thanks for that- VERY interesting. I will have to think of ways to up my protein with the very narrow range of shakes etc here.

Update! July sleevers surgery dates July 1 2 Smoggy, Patrick Curl, Faganberry, sleevertobe, ChristineS NY, ladyarwenrose, emptynesterpam, Milca, Pattyhdz, Bigdogkc, BeatrizS1974, khernandez72, Nettle, justme360, deetaylor, kia, 4myfamily, 3 Nabird77 (Gena) , StarshineMama, letsdothis!!!, Christylove, z3djinn, gingersnap70, dar1983, 4 5 tonileebre, 6 Mishy, Beth-n-e, 7 mizzliz83,Sweetsusie, joyfuljoy,LzL1958, 8 9 Shangefan, Gisele3264, ~Donna~, mel2643, Argnewcan, Twhite, jason, vsgchichi, NuStyle, 10 lacie1221, tjloser, KSDallas, bmooney364, lizzybeth, LauraTarry, aranda510, k8tie1, mary101678, 11 Mimismom, thinmomsoon, biggiesmallz, DelongH, lowe1961, SkinnySmurf, soontobe1/2ofmyself, JenniJune, stephyfly, JenniJune, canidothis?, Love1296, Tameka, Island Girl, 12 wyattgsmommy, GI283, Paulson1304, Danielle Beadle, phillygirl8133,vhoke1, 13 LizEac, juliewantstbthin, 14 lorijo67, 15 Mrslittle (Sharnae), 16 Amyl219, laragarza, Marty McSkinnystein, geno5150, lovelyladynhouston, 17 misschris, purplekt, lynnz, RainyGirl, evelynvsg, 18 aleach0003, momoffive, prisytomboy, ButterflyAngel, cindyintenn, juicyr3d, Rafter Jones, Sparky79 19 Minnie Me, Sleeva, Mommy2three, 20 fbelle29, MsE, ko22, 21 22 23 PhoenixFire, Texarkolina, Mamaof8, StrangelyNormal, dixienms, 24 kimbernada, Red597, skowronski777,Red597, mickey1, Trcyprkr70, thin soon, milkD, 25 Tinker, kilzanich, Butterfly7, Jlewis229, justchristy123, 26 Jrabbit81, 27 Ymabme, Vegassleeve, 28 29 30 newmrsL, Born 2BFree, JaciBear, slim lady, smartypants,KikivonMoonshine, 31 Lovemeifyoucan, Carey, PLEASE ADD/ CHANGE YOURSELF AT WILL

Walked to the local supermarket today, and went to visit my cat at the vet.It involved a fair amount of walking and tonight I'm going to walk around the neighbourhood. It is 45 degrees celsius outside (113 deg F)which doesn't help. Not managing to get much more liquid in me than a litre a day though, but I try. I think I'm doing not bad with protein though. Today I had a carton of muscle milk for breakfast (15g protein), a bowl of warm butternut and sweet potato soup with a scoop of unflavoured protein mixed in for lunch (20g protein) and late this afternoon a can of pure protein shake (35g protein). I am only really enjoying the soup to be honest, the shakes are kind of "meh". I have some crystal light lemonade that a friend found me and I've had about 2 cups of that too and that is my lot. I may try to drink some herbal tea before bedtime, but I feel so full of liquid that I'm gurgling! I'm a little tired today, but not too bad, my side is sore today which is a bit of an annoyance as I'm trying to stop the liquid brufen pain meds they have me on and I can't cut them so much today. I sneezed today which was OOOUUUUCH!

I'm also a July 2nd sleever, I was told to wait until my two week follow-up to get cleared for any exercise other than walking, so be careful! I've been walking around our neighbourhood, small 10 minute walks at a time.

My surgeon does not favour high protein ( one of his recommendations for soft food is pasta which is NEVER going to happen) - I am on full liquids at the moment, and have not been given any recommendations of percentages of carbs and protein to aim for- what has everyone else been recommended? I'd love to know. Thanks.

Hi vhoke1, my hospital stay was two days.boy was it good to be home! I'm one week out today!

Hi Nustyle- I tried to quote your question but I keep being redirected to the LilySlim site! Ack! I am doing great. My smallest incision is a bit weepy, I am a little tired at various times during the day (I just go and nap) and I need help sitting up from lying flat, but otherwise feel good, no nausea, no major pain, no upchucking or anything. I'm in ridiculously rude health actually. I'm sure everything will go smoothly for you too - xx

I've had sinus problems since I was a child until a couple of years ago I discovered a neti-pot.It is a little teapot-like vessel that you put warm water into, with a little pure salt, and then you pour it into one nostril (over a basin of course) while your head is upside down. I swear my sunuses were clean as a whistle after that. For a while I used it every day, but nowadays as soon as I feel a little stuffy I use it twice a day for a few days. Works like a charm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsZeILCedRw