Pookeyism

That sounds right. I might be a 14 at onderland but since all of my weight is in my tummy and across my ab and arms I am not sure. As is I can pull a 14 up until it meets my tummy bulk - and that ends that. Not thighs, hips or but - tummy. Damn! lol...

I went home with it and it was a little annoying but overall I am glad I did - I had the opportunity to have a conversation with a nurse who has had the surgery and she says - unofficially no study or anything - that she thinks people are in less pain if they have the drain and take care of it. Her educated guess was it drains (duh, lol) and eliminates alot of pressure. Just be very sure to take care of it - and remember the bulb is drained and then left partially "squeezed" then capped again - it creates the negative pressure to help the drain work.

Following up? Hope all is well - my Hubby gets things "stuck" sometimes and we were warned that it can trigger a situation that evein if it is too small to obstruct breathing if it came up a bit and went back down it could get into your airway - or you could produce mucus that could drain into the lungs - and in extreme cases it has been known to cause Fluid build up in the lungs and can be fatal. It is a horrible feeling - never had it myself but hubby has several times. Scares me to death!

I did not have the nausea you spoke of, but it sounds bad (like I needed to say that) - hope all will be well. I did feel very bed for several days, but I think mine was due to dehyration from crying and such (my mom passed away on my 1 week post op). I am recovering but I can say I am pretty sure it has slowed my recovery some. Good luck and God bless!

Yeah, but what about the cute bunny? *back in my corner, lol*

To PDX and Sleeve4me, Ditto on encouragement, I did not see PDX's post at first - posted from my phone and it does odd things...

You do not have to site a study based on stomach surgery related directly to bariatric WLS. There are ample texts that site the anatomy of the stomach and the physiology behind what is taken for proper maintenence of a 6-7 inch incision running through what used to be your stomach. Alot of soilders, cancer patients, ulcer patients, gall bladder septicemia and the like have histories of having to remove small and large parts of their stomachs. They had to go through relearning their stomachs, proper healing, etc. Curious if I had been on a vein that there had been agreement if you owuld have requested citation. Google is a great resource although you will have to take a bit and really explore. Medical journals are good also but again you cant just google "bariatric studies". There is alot of information I reference that I read a few years ago as a friend went through a gall bladder going gangrenous and she lost a large portion of her stomach. It wasn't online and sorry I do not have the texts with me. I am not going to apologize for coming off high and mighty, as I didn't mean to. My post was not aimed at any one, and it does state facts. If I can't post more thatn an occasional "that's great, woot woot" - then I will eventually tire of this. I need people who will step up and tell me whats-for, and not worry about hurting my feelings. Yes - the whoot, whoots are very important too! In return I try to do the same. I have never been the person who worries about anyone who would tell someone in a social forum to "STOP IT". I am not PC, I am in my corner, and everyone else has a corner too - and we come into the middle and play. We are here for support and encouragement and I feel I have done well by my posts. If not, you may block me - there is a feature in our controls to do so. To diffuse the situation I offer happy bunny jumps:

PS - I forgot. I have a massage therapist that used to say "save coconut oil for your massages".I wonder if it is to use as little as possible and still get the benefits?

Okay - my friend I spoke of earlier says it might be possible, but it seems extreme. THEN I remembered a friend that if i recall correctly put coconut oil in a whip cream dispenser (the kind that takes the nirous oxide tubes) so it would whip it and she used less - but I don't know if it was associated with weigh loss or gain. He did mention that you would have to be using a large amount of oil - perhaps in an attempt to distribute it well? Coconut oil is about 40 caories a teaspoon, so to gain 3 lbs from the oil if you gained every calorie you added to your skin (but you wouldn't) you would need about 5.5 cups of coconut oil. If you figured in the amount you do not absorb, which I do not know how much it is, I forgot to ask, then you are looking at 11 cups of oil for say, 50% absorption. But you would not process it like if you had ate it, and your body in return burns a small amount of calories to process things transdermally. That's all I have so far - but keep us informed on what you think it is.

I haven't read all of the posts - and again if someone has mentioned this my apologies. Eating foods too soon can have another serious issue - ulcers. True many ulcers are from viral causes, but you can get an ulcer from a piece of foodstuff caught in the line of your staples, it erodes and you have an ulcer, or perhaos an infection, and even a leak - you don't have to burst your seams to develop a leak...

You cannot be turned away from most ERs, but here in Houston there are private care ER's that usually take most insurance - they are more attentive in general. We keep our medical info with one just down the road, and it came in uber handy when my husband had an emergency. I am not advocating it, but you can get an IV set up through a mdeical supply and IV yourself. You are only administering a basal Fluid (I think I said that right) so gravity or light pressure will work. Start emailing your conversations with your doctor, and be very specific that the email is intended to be addressed by the surgeon and all other parties that may be involved in evaluating your question. Be sure to mention accountability for your health and that you do not seek opinion, you anticipate results. Do not ask if you need to be seen, tell them to arrage whatever tests are standard to assure no leaks, no damage to your esophagus during surgery, etc... Good luck, god bless!

I am a size 18-16 and my last weigh in I was about 222-221 lbs. I am 5'10". My sister is 185 lbs, 5' 7" and is a size 10. We are similar in build and muscle - except I have more muscle bulk than she does. But since she has finally gained some weight it is all in her legs and butt (and yet amazingly proportionate, grrr, lol) - I have to rely on muscle for definition in my legs and butt, as all of my weight is in my stomach and arms. I am curious to see how I turn out...

Transdermal products are (i think) broken down into smaller compounds than what the oil in coconut is. Many transdermal products also have chemicals that make the skin and capilaries more capable of absorbing the chemicals in the patch. I forwarded the question to a friend of my Hubby who is currently working on transdermal applications for several types of conditions. If he looks up long enough to give me an answer I will pass it on. I can't say when that will be - he has forgot to go on vacation before whe he is working the way he is right now, lol.

Here are some facts: You no longer have a normal stomach. It has been elongated into a sleeve that ends in a small pouch. It changes how your body needs you to treat it and food. There are alot of sleevers that are not doing what the should, but doing what they can or "this works for me" - and yet it probably isn't working as well as they think it is. You can do alot of damage and not realize it for quite awhile. One of the basic rules for not drinking before or after is that Water is pushed forward and created more gastric fluxuations and ripples when introduced with food. You can push undigested food out of your stomach into your intestines before it is ready. It was not such an issue when you had a full stomach and had a place for the food to digest as the water and liquids created by digestion passed. You probabaly can have a small amount of water - sipped in small amounts and anticipated with small bites - but only if the sip is incorporated into the bite, to moisten your bite as you chew it. no one can give a definite answer to this question because no one is observing exactly what is going on with each individual person. There are volumous textbooks dedicated to the function of the digestive system, and our doctors are not that type of specialist, they are surgeons so their approvals of things are often slipsided and sometimes misinformed. One thing I plan on doing as I go into eating again is sticking to the mantra "protien first" and incorporating papaya extract into my meal for the evening. It has compounds that are very good for digestion - I give it to my flemish giant rabbits, too!

Coconut oil cannot be absorbed into the body to be expended or retained as calories. It can be absorbed, however. Coconut is one of the oils that naturally have Vitamin E - one of the Vitamins that can be both absorbed and used by the body after being absorbed. It also has antibacterial and antiviral properties. The skin can absorb and apply many things, but I have looked and cannot find concrete medical evidence that your body could absorb enough to affect your weight loss. I have forwarded your question to someone who will be able to give us an answer, but don't know whe he will get my message.

yay! I hope you can get a huge group to go! I will be at the one in Austin. It isn't until December but it gives me a chance to be fully recovered, and alot more weight off my knee. PICTURES!!! Take pictures! You tube has some also footage too.

I made my doctor insert a drain. His arguement was he rarely ever has leaks. My arguement was I wanted to be sure, and put in the drain. Something else about the drain. I drained the first day about 3 bulbs worth of liguid, about 2 the next few days, and at least 1 a day after that. That is Fluid tha I would have had to pass another way, and would have been that much more bloated. If you get the drain, opt for purple colored jellos and clears so that if you do leak, you can see it in the drain. The liquids draining will be deep red, then lighter red.

If you can afford the cost of the health insurance you could save that and do a self pay. You wouldn't have to delay your surgery nearly as long either. Do you have 401 savings? You can often take a medical loan from your savings.

Yes. In my opinion you should seek attention immediately. Do not allow anyone else to attempt anything near a heimlich on you again.

I had my surgery on the 4th, and my Mom passed away on the 11th. I had to fly to Va from Tx to take care of everything and returned on the 20th. I have spent alot of time crying and pushing myself to take care of everything. The stress had been signifigant and I am recovering but I cannot see myself returning to work this week. Predominant symptoms include excessive soreness if I sit upright for very long, extreme fatigue that pops up out of nowhere (to the point that I almost and sometimes do fall asleep). I get disoriented and lightheaded to the point that my Hubby has pointed out I should not drive, and I agree. I have a 'final' doctors appointment on Tuesday where I have already been advised I will be released, since "nothing went wrong" with the surgery, and these complications are associated with my Mom's death. WTF? How can they determine that? I was told if I needed more time I needed to take it to my PCP and ask. I was told they would not do it because if they delay my release it looks like they did something in error. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? It sounds to me like I was told I am on my own because they will not admit I could be having complications.

Are you experiencing pain or fever? I am almost 3 weeks out and have had to regress back to much thinner foods too. I did have an episode with a Soup having more sugars than I anticipated, be careful with your sugars (not carbs, sugars).

My offer is sincere. It is open to everyone. Knowing you are doing all you can and it still may not change an outcome is a difficult place to be. Are you local to a support group that meets in person? I am sorry about your therapist. I did not see a therapist until a few years ago. I may be a little different from some in that my weight was also driven my metabolic issues. The same thing that helped me stay large (I had an appetite too!) was a metabolic disorder. My sister had the same thing but instead of a damper on her furnace it burned white-hot to the point of doing damage sometimes. I would be at the gym and taking my martial arts classes and maintaining massive amounts of muscle to just be a size whatever (it varied so much) and my little sister would be on 4800 calories a day to maintain a size 0. It followed on like that till I was about 19, when I had about 6-7 years that I maintained a size 14. I got back up to a 16 when I was about 27, which I would miscarraige that year and then my weight skyrocketed and I began to suffer real health problems for the first time ever - sports injuries aside. By the time I was 30 I was as heavy as I have ever been, and diagnosed with diabetes in 2007. Since I have been on a very slow downward pattern again. I was at 272 when I finally decided one last "go" and shortly thereafter decided I needed to admit I needed help. I was attending therapy at this point but amped it up and changed from a "food" therapist to a therapist that focuses on cognative therapy - helping me think for myself. It has done so much good. There were walls in my journey. I crossed a big personal hurdle when I admitted to myself that no matter how fit I had been when I was younger despite my size, that it had left its mark. The miscairrage and weight gain and diabetes and being so large I could not fit in an airline seat without an extender, that between my Husband and I we couldn't share a hammock with a 550 weight limit - it left issues. Doing what I can to fight the good fight - and again only 2+ weeks post op. I have no guarantee I will succeed, either. Strong energy to all who needs it.

Really liked your post, so much to digest when it comes to this information (no pun intended - well, lol).

The rolls you speak of and the processed cheese spreads that you pour over processed preserved pastas are two really good examples of the foods I am referring to that need to be avoided alltogether. Not just by us, actually, but by everyone. They make you crave more, similar foods. I avoid foods like this in my house at all. The hunger, real or not, is a hard thing to deal with. Stick to your guns. Keep more things to do with your hands than eat, and keep good foods readily available to cook. Work on getting the head hunger under control. Seek counseling from a reputable therapist, understand your cravings, recognize your triggers - stresses, people, places, situations. Write down how you wil handle them - and follow it. Make it your bible. I don't have all the answers and I don't claim to. My post was inspired by my want to just give us all some blunt food for thought, to get my thoughts out on paper, so to speak. Don't think I judge and don't give a damn if I do - this is about us all and about you individually. Shed the caring about what other people may be judging and care about doing all you can to get as much out of this as you can. God bless. Take care.

I would like to address where you discuss each diet, and the diets being a tool, and the tool working for awhile, etc. I am compelled to ask, if this is how you are seeing the surgery, what else have you done to work through your feelings of the other diets failing, and resigning this surgery to "another tool"? This is not just a diet, and that was all those others were - you were taking part in a billion dollar industry that if they worked, you would not have them promoting the diets, you would would have them promotong their "maintenance" programs. This weight loss surgery is not a cure all, it is a step that you take, that you should take only after exhaustive steps to understand your habits, where they come from and how to handle them when you encounter them again after the surgery. Develop strategies, in advance, of how you will handle situations. Write it down, make it your food bible. Keep your "faith". Let me know if I can assist you somehow - I don't know if I can, but I will give it a hella try. I am in no different position than anyone here - but I spent almost 10 years trying to decide if surgery was right, and when I began to near a point about 4 years ago that I realized if I did ever get the surgery I would need to address alot of things, I began to ask myself why wait. It has been beneficial, but I still have so far to go. I think some are taking this topic as judgemental, but it is not. The only judgement passed was on myself, and the acknowledgement that I wanted to get my thoughts out.