waterlover

i think the first 15 or so pounds are excess Water. so just think you are losing REAL fat now. and that's okay that it's taking a while.

you should write a list down of what you are looking for in a doctor, even price. this is what i'm doing while i'm searching for a doctor. one of the most important things for me is aftercare. yes every doctor can make a horrible mistake, no matter how nice or experienced they are, if you have surgery and end up with some part of your body perforated or an artery slit, is the place where you had surgery or even the place where you are recovering after equipped to save your life? do they have an ICU? blood available? round the clock care with machines checking your vitals often enough to notice a drop in blood pressure if you are going into shock from blood loss? i'm really picky, i need to have all of that available in case i'm one of the 1% who gets a dreadful accident or complication.

wow! you look awesome, and so much younger than you did in the first picture. i don't know where people get the idea that losing weight will age you!

you are doing an EXCELLENT job!! obviously this nurse thinks her 'scare tactics' are some sort of positive influence. she needs to take some communication classes on being supportive instead of trying put the fear into people about losing weight. she's wrong about your future. don't let her get to you.

As a person who is presently working in the medical field of a "socialized health care" country, I think you are misinformed and insulting.

that's good to know. it's my biggest fear as it seems to be one of the more scary complications, the leaks that appear weeks later... as to what people have had to go through to get them healed.

thanks, great to see lots of high Protein foods that aren't meat. i don't eat a lot of meat now, and would like to cut down my consumption even more after surgery. am starting to look at the most nutrient dense foods now so when i do start to eat solids i will know a lot more about what to shop for. i can't post links yet but nutritiondata(dot)self(dot)com has a great breakdown on Proteins types, and also every Vitamin and mineral in each food as well as the regular carb/protein/fat percentages. you can also make your own 'recipes' (which means i just add the amount of everything i plan to eat in the meal) and they will calculate your whole meal servings in all aspects of nutritional value. once i'm done the surgery and off mushies and on to normal foods i will probably keep track of what i eat every day on a blog here. it's fun to fiddle around with all the different foods, finding great combos to help you get your essential Vitamins and minerals as well as proteins and fat/carb/fibers in a balanced fashion. and supplement as well for things you simply cannot consume with your new smaller size stomach. ps. i also really love their amino acid complete protein charts for food combining for those who don't want to eat meat.

i would go back to the point of where you felt terrific, even if it still makes you sick, like thenewme said, you need your protein and wter. don't force yourself to try something you might not be ready for. give yourself some more time to heal. it must be really hard to have to wait, but probably well worth it in the end. good luck

i wonder if it makes any difference to our healing process with how we behave before surgery. say being able to eat normally till 24 hours preop vs. eating low carb for a week vs. fluids only for a week.

shelly, i'm sorry, your post was right before mine so it probably looked like i meant you, i didn't. i thought it was a good post.

it's not the whole country, it's the doctor to blame. there are great talented doctors in every country, and perhaps they stay in their home country because it's their home! some of these statements are a bit xenophobic and offensive towards mexico.

how long does it take till you are 'out of the woods' for a leak then? when the scar tissue grows over?

have you tried "allen carr's easyway"? i'm listening to the cds right now, you can buy the book too. i've known several people that quit using it. it kind of brainwashes you into thinking like a non smoker and talks you out of wanting to smoke. it's pretty good. you don't have to quit until you finish the programme either lol.

my Iron pills the doctor prescribed are 300mg and they KILL my stomach, i buy liquid iron and that's not to bad but like 100x the price of the pills for the amount i have to drink vs what i get in the pills. i don't drink coffee, juices or milk, don't eat cheese but i do like yogurt/kefir, going to buy some greek yogurt. will buy some chicken breasts and fish fillets. mmmm.. thanks for the warning about seeds (like strawberries) i didn't consider things like that. going to try to start these things now so i don't go into more shock than i will already be in. lol. don't know if it will make a difference but makes me feel better knowing i'm 'preparing'. i'm such a control freak.

I haven't booked an appt yet. I assume when I do it will take a few weeks to get the surgery date. So I'm looking at surgery in March perhaps. I was just wondering if I could get some good advice about what kinds of things I could do to make myself healthier the three months prior to surgery. I am going to start walking more on my treadmill and really try hard to get more Iron as I'm anemic (but I can't stomach iron pills very well so I hardly take them). I also have really bad issues with my stomach, I've had peptic ulcers in the past and if I take an ibuprofen or the prescription iron pills I end up bloated and burping and generally feeling horrible. I need to baby my stomach, so I'm thinking of really trying to eat more yogurt and got a probiotic (with cranberry extract to strengthen my bladder) to help with GERD. Any other ideas? I know Protein is so important after surgery and I think about my eating habits right now which consist mostly of white carbs. Should I start supplementing with Protein shakes now to promote healing? I'm into herbs and Vitamins. Any suggestions on cleanses, supplements or activities would be appreciated. Something that maybe you might have thought you should have done before surgery, or what you did after. Even certain exercises would help! I smoke too, and have to quit. Argh! This is probably the hardest challenge I will have as I HAVE to quit, I know that it is irritating my stomach as well as the ibuprofen etc (I get erosion in my stomach lining all the time it's awful, and I am a bit afraid of what it will be like after surgery with less stomach). Also mental preparation tips would be great too. Right now I'm learning to not take huge gulps of Water and sipping instead so I don't make mistakes after surgery because I really didn't know what a 'sip' was before I came here. I'm a guzzler!

can you prevent muscle loss during the first few months? like with a higher amount of protein?

do 'tums' and 'rolaids' count for calcium?

Are the "bariatric" brands formulated differently? For easy absorption or certain vitamins that you might need?

Wasn't the gastric sleeve the first step of a DS traditionally? So if you get the sleeve and find it's not enough for you, then you could do the DS later? Is the DS less invasive, with less complications than an RNY?

I too am planning to go to Mexico for my surgery, I did not consider Almanza, but did consider Kelly. I think I have made my decision (a completely different doctor), but choose what you feel is right. I did a lot of google searches with the doctor's name then "complication", "infection", "leak", etc as additional keywords. Then I read the info and judged whether or not it was true or fake. Mostly just by looking at the poster if it was on a forum, and seeing if they had a blog about their journey, or how involved they were with the site (pictures, tickers, posts about other things besides complaints, etc). Good Luck!

wow. really blows my mind how little you can eat after the sleeve. compared to what i am used to eating now, it's exciting. i've always wanted to have that kind of control. my stomach has it's own brain though, thank god it's getting a lobotomy. not looking forward to the coldness. i am so cold right now. my Iron is low though so i swear that has something to do with it. cold feet especially. and a chill in my shoulders.

my sister in law almost died from a ruptured gallbladder. she was sooo sick. i don't know if it's the size or amount of the stones that can get caught up in the tract. i don't believe in the whole lemon/olive oil flush thing that is popular on a lot of the holistic sites. although i don't know anyone personally who tried it and did or didn't get results. i think i can feel it sometimes because i get a weird pain once and a while on my right side. who wants to have a VSG then six months later a cholecystectomy? if WLS for sure can muck your gallbladder up maybe it's better to get it removed.

i was diagnosed with a medium size stone and i don't THINK it's giving me any real problems, maybe i have an 'attack' a couple times a year, nothing that a cup of boiled flax seed didn't get rid of. i was supposed to get it taken out but i didn't go to the surgeon consultation. something inside me tells me i want to keep my gallbladder. i don't know if this is a good decision, i just have an issue taking it out. i wonder if it will get worse after i have my surgery and weight loss. i know the doctor i chose to do VSG does take it out if it's a problem. what a hard decision. more research i guess...

i noticed some of you guys talking about going to restaurants. do you order a meal? or just a soup? eat food off other people's plates? going out to eat, they give you HUGE plates of food. i guess you can just take the leftovers home then?

you look incredible! i snuck a peak at your gallery. lol. nice pic of dr. aceves, he reminds me of my dad, probably one of the reasons i chose him. don't know if that's good or bad hehe.