jhope

I apologize, I was merely offering pointers and advice from somebody that knows many doctors in the area. Best of luck in your endeavors!! Have a great day.

Let's make sure we're all on the same page here. First off, when they perform your surgery, they pump a lot of CO2 into your chest cavity to inflate it a bit to give them working room. After they are done, they try to squeeze out as much as they can, but there is no way they can get it all. As you are mostly in an upright position, the remaining gas begins to collect inside your chest cavity and move up into your shoulders. This is the cause of that discomfort. Has nothing to do with belching or tooting. This gas will absorb into your skin and be removed by your bloodstream. Walking increases bloodflow, so it increases the removal of said gas.
Intestinal gas is always benefited by walking as jumbling around your intestines helps move it along. Being your newly sleeved stomach is also a little out of alignment, it takes some time and eating to get everything worked out. Trapped air will escape, too, even if you haven't had anything to eat/drink.

Had my surgery on mon the 23rd
God I wasn't prepared for the pain

Congrats Amy!!! My surgery is 4/16 Monday and I am excited. I never thought this could happen for me. I have been on my pre op diet for too weeks and I have started losing because it is an high protein diet. Truthfully, I am starving. LOL But can't wait to have my surgery.

OK, just me, but my little brother got chubby when he was 12, and by mid 13 he lost it. I was haranging on him about all his sugar ussage, and he hollered at me as only an adolesent does, "It aint about sugar, it's sh_ting that makes you fat or not, if you aint Sh_ting, you aint loosing" So maybe on his sage advice, you could use more fiber action....Just me...

Had surgery yesterday. My surgeon had pushed me back a bit cause his bypass patient had issues, so the wait gave me time to have a crying spell while talking I my kids an husband in the pre-op room.;(
Once they took me back the worst thing prior was the belly shot! Hurt like hell and stung bad for a bit after too.
In the OR the doctor said "ok you're gonna get your sleepy time drugs now", I remember laughing and saying "how long will it taaaaaaaa...." haha that was it!
In recovery room it took me a while to open my eyes. I could hear but hard a hard time coming too. I couldn't focus cause I was very dizzy and a little nasueas. I asked for my husband and ice chips and the ice chips made me want to vomit, but I didn't. It was just any liquid for the first few hours had that effect. Ice was way easier tHan even the smallest sip of Water as The pain from water is almost unbearable.
They aren't kidding when they say you'll have a hard time clearing out the gas inside you from surgery! Omg the pain was equal to contractions from childbirth! (ive had 4, so am aware).
Of course the more u walk the more u burp. But i learned a few tricks. One is to be sure u have a pillow or towel folded into your tummy as u walk and burp because u will get hiccup burps and they hurt really bad. The pressure on the tummy holding it in place helpa a lot!
The best trick tho was my husband would pull me up in bed to a sitting position an rub in circles my upper back and man I burped up a storm.
Then when walking he would rub with both hand on both sides of my spine from middle to lower and those burps were the deep ones. They hurt but u must get them out. The more you burp the easier it is to drink a little water.
The night was rough with everyone coming in and taking blood and vitals and having to disconnect I'vs and all to pee. Once they give you the iv full of Vitamins you'll pee a lot!! It's a lot of pressure so don't hold it!
sleep reclined! But sitting up in the recliner was too much pressure for my tummy so I stayed in the bed and reclined to almost sitting up position.
You must walk every two hours! You'll feel better each time you do. And the burping will be easier. Walk slow and rest often but do it!
The next morning I was more able to drink a little bit of water evey so often. You must use the breathing apparatus they give you. Do ten breaths in evey hour then hold your stomach and cough! You have to do this to avoid getting liquid in your lungs. It feels good too and yes after u do it you can burp again!!!
I had my upper GI this morning. The stuff u have to drink is gross but it really is tolerable and at least the sooner u get the GI to look for leaks the sooner you can leave.
So a few hours after I did that I was released. Be sure you get a pain med at least 30min before you leave. They gave me a liquid hydrocodone so I will have an easier ride home.
Once home don't forget to use your breather! It is very helpful.
That's it for now... I guess time will tell the rest for me!

Whoa...I think she intended that to be a joke...the smilies and whatnot gives it away.
It is not funny to lose someone like that. My first fiance wrapped herself around a tree when we were 21, 2x over the limit...don't get upset over peoples humor. It isn't intended to be bad.

You know as well as any of us, u cant go there. There aint nowhere in retardville you want to be sabotaged. You need to jump out of that fat food frying pan now. Alchoholics dont go to bars and we dont go to rits peanut butter jars! Get out this instant....Just felt like you needed that! HaHa...but Im not kidding. You need to leave the dead zone and not look for a fast fix, but get out of the movies sitting house, and get walking and get your cook books out and see what whould taste great, feel like a carb delight, but not be. Like a squash Soup with bacon, taste real carby but its not. Orange squash, calaflower cooked to the bone, put in processor with cheese and yummy. Your enemy is doing things that require you to sit. Just me....

I will be six months out tomorrow and I have not lost any weight since the very beginning of January. I have upped my workouts including doing 2 intensive boot camps a week plus walking 2..5-3 miles 3 times a week. Usually when I do my walk I run part of the way too. I started out before surgery at 241 and lost 8 in the pre-op diet. I am now stuck at 184.4. For one day I went down to 182.8 but really have only been there that one day. Other than that I have been bouncing around the 184 mark. I am 5'3" and have set a modest goal to get to 140 which is the very top of my bmi range. I went back to drinking shakes last week in an attempt to kick things into gear. I am mostly tracking my food and doing my best to do Protein first - not much, if any additional snacking. I have been pretty good about getting at least 64 oz of water/calorie free drinks (mainly diet snapple tea). My typical day is this:
Breakfast - 1/2 cup egg mates, 1/4 cup shredded cheese, 1 or 2 turkey sausages 29 g protein
mid- morning - Protein shake (made w/ water) 23 g protein
lunch - Wendy's small chili w/cheese
snack (if hungry) - either protein shake or 1 or 2 mini babybel light cheeses
dinner - lean protein such as chicken breast, pork chop or steak & veggies
Has anyone else plateaued in this way and still continued to lose weight? I feel like I am staying pretty much in the lines and am getting really discouraged. I have PCOS and am wondering if that would make a difference. I have my 6 month followup in 2 weeks but don't anticipate much help from my surgeon as she had told me up front that if I got to 190 I'd be a success. Can anyone give me some ideas of what to do?
Thank you!
Katie

Well I've been type two diabetic for about five years and Im about one month out from surgery and the doctor who released me from the hospital said to drop my 5mg glyboride(1time a day) and my 1000mg metformin(2 times a day) and just take my Lantus 25 units a day. Leaving the hospital my readings were 190. Well my readings were 190 so I continued with the glyboride and metformin on my own. Even with the small amount I eat do I ever see it under 100. My 30day average is 148. Before surgery it was about 210 average with a1c of 10. I got this surgery primarilly for the diabetes and Im a little depressed that I may be in that percentage that it does not go into remission. Any one else out there in the same boat? Does it take longer to take affect? Ive heard so many great stories about people dropping all there meds when they left the hospital. Oh please diabetes GO AWAY!

I'm sure there's a thread about protein on here somewhere, but hopefully you guys have some ideas,)

Hey, everything everyone else said, and ....I have been reading about coconut oil, that it can take a stalled low carb diet, and make it pick back up again.. wallmart sells it, and both forms of it. The cooking kind, called Lu Anna, by the oils, and in the vitimen dept. It is a two chain oil, that is supposed to help fat burn for energy insted of sugar.

My first cycle after surgery was awful! I thought I was going to bleed to death or die from the pain first. it has however went back to normal now and I am 5 months out. I'm hoping my recent gallbladder surgery doesn't send it crazy again. Hope it's better for you next month. :0)

I remember riding in the passenger seat and hugging my legs when i was thin.......I am really looking forward to being able to do that again.....

I've set the group so that only approved members can read or post on the forum, by the way. I chose Dr. Almanza because he seems to have many successful, happy patients and because, paying for this surgery out of my own pocket, the clinic is what I can afford. But it seems that whenever Dr. Almanza is mentioned, people want to jump in with criticisms of the clinic because it's small and not a real hospital. I want a safe place where those who are ACTUALLY his patients can discuss the pros and cons of their experiences honestly and opening without a lot of extra noise and controversy

I created this group to be a private place where those of us who have chosen Dr. Almanza can support one another and share tips and experiences. I am scheduled for my VSG on March 27 and I'm happy to finally be doing this for myself :smile1: Welcome!

I am looking forward to walking into any store in the mall and finding my size on the rack, no more shopping at one big girl store... I want to be able to wipe my butt well without breaking a sweat and feeling like a contourtionist... I can't wait to share jeans with my daughter... I hope I can give my CPAP machine away soon... and getting my MILF status back

I don't like canned/boxed broth and was wondering if anyone could give me a good recipe for homemade broth. I want to stock my freezer before my surgery!

Mine were ACTUALLY and FINALLY hitting goal!! I'd been fighting for that for so long... and that one itsy bitsy other thing, fitting my once big booty into a size 0 Jeans.. LOL Yeah, never thought THAT would happen.

I am scheduled with Dr Almanza 1/27. I'll be flying into SAN late on the 26th. any recommendations for hotel? inexpensive but clean.. ? I'd love to hear about your experience with the surgery!

I am staying at the Hamton in on the 29... Not sure how it is but 103.00 advanced booking for king size bed in room... That was the cheapest that I saw for that hotel. I was refered there by a friend who went there. You never know we may even meet cause I have my surgery booked for the 30 of Jan!

Please tell me about your experience. I am flying in on March 4 and surgery is on the 5 with Dr. almanza
thanks

I have always wondered about this topic. I am 5'4" tall and I started out on this journey weighing 234 and was a solid size 20. XL tops. I am down to 169 now and I wear a 14 in most things but they are baggy. The size 12's however are tooooo tight. I have one pair of 12's that fit me. So I have resolved to wear a belt and just have my pants bag in the butt. I dont understand how so many people my weight and height can wear 10's and 12's. I cant. I do wear a lot of medium shirts now and some larges. My goal weight is 135 and I dont know what size that will be for me personally. I dont think it will be as small as some of the others that are my height and weight. I have a small waist but bigger hips and thighs. My arms are also kinda big so that makes finding shirts with sleeves harder to fit the smaller sizes. I abandoned long sleeve button downs a long time ago because of my fat upper arms. Teehhee. I will be glad to wear them again. My goal is to be 135 or under and wear small/medium tops and a solid size 6 in jeans, maybe some 4's.
Back in the day in college (late 80's) I wore a size 6 or 5/7 in juniors. I was about 130-135 pounds then. But that was before the kids and I didnt have the child bearing hips then. I think that all makes a difference in what size I can wear now. I have weighed 170 before, many times actually, and I was a solid size 12 then, but not this time. I can hardly get in a 12 and I have gone under 170. I guess its just a learning process! Only time will tell!

Amanda you and I are very similar.
5'10" started 303 size 22/24. Current 237 pants size 18 shirt, 2XL (busty) - would like to be 170. The stats say I should weigh like 145 just not sure that is realistic.
Good luck all!

Ow, you can do this. I weigh 164, am 5'6' and I am in a size 8 right now. I love it, still want to lose about 30 lbs and tone up everything! Yes, we can do it!