IowaAndy

I took a friend to the airport on Tuesday morning and he will be gone for a month so he told me to take home some of the things that would not keep until he returned. I brought home the milk, eggs and a bag of lettuce salad mix. I know that my diet plan does not call for lettuce at this point. I am a little over 3 months out from my lapband to sleeve surgery. I have been craving lettuce for quite some time and love a good chef salad. I put a little lettuce in a bowl, cut up some sliced turkey, cut up a hard boiled egg, a little shredded cheese and then added a little dressing. I was eating and chewing very well and things seemed to be going great. Then it hit me like a rock....I started to get that feeling in your stomach like one time when I thought that I could finish what was on my plate and did. That is the only time that I have had to vomit since having my sleeve. I sat down in the chair and sat very still thinking that the discomfort would go away. After about 30 minutes of much discomfort I knew that it had to come up. This was only the second time that I have vomited since my sleeve. I know that I took the chance on eating something on my diet that was not called for until a later date post op. This has taught me another important lesson that I should eat what I am supposed to according to my diet and things like this would not happen to me. Just wanted to share as I see a lot of others who have posted and are eating things that I am not supposed to have until 5-6 months post op. This just shows that there is a great difference in the diets given by the doctors that perform WLS>

Let me just add that it tasted 1000% better going down than coming up. I may not be able to eat ranch dressing for quite some time.

I was 56 when I had a revision from the lapband to the sleeve last Dec. I wish that I could have done this years ago and enjoyed more of my life. It is like getting a second chance to do all of the things that I was never able or felt like I could do. I say go for it and enjoy your life and your children. I had my surgery in Tijuana with Dr F Garcia as my insurance would not cover the surgery here in the US and it would have cost me over $40,000. I paid for the surgery myself and the band to sleeve was $6,000. If you are just having the sleeve there is would be more around $5,000. Check with your insurance and see if they pay and what the requirements are to qualify.

My diet says no bread for about 6 months. I assume that this is toast. I have had a few crackers but no bread.

I am not sure but I think a resleeve is when your first sleeve fails and they go back and redo it. I could be wrong on this but I have spoken to a couple people who the sleeve did not work the first time. I would ask them what size bouge they would use to create your sleeve? You may want to check with your previous surgeon to see what he did or have his records sent to the doctor that you choose to do your surgery. I had the lapband to the sleeve with Dr Garcia and was more than happy with him, his staff and Mi hospital. Please let me know if this is a redo of your sleeve or if you are infact going from the lapband to the sleeve. This will help us all give you suggestions.

Great advice on the not drinking before or after eating an actual meal of food. As for the getting all of your protein in before noon I have never heard of that one. I have heard that your body is only able to absorb a certain amount of protein at one time so if you consume all of your protein in less than 4 hours I would not think that the body is using it effectively. Besides I could not consume that much protein from breakfast to noon unless I stuffed myself or drank protein shakes non-stop. I would be interested in hearing if anyone else out there has been told to consume all of their protein before noon. Sounds a little off to me.

Sounds like you are doing fantastic with your walking and the pain control. The walking will help so much with the gas but you did not mention anything about shoulder pain. I know that lingered for me for a month or more but eventually went away. You said that you were going for your upper GI soon. The worst part for me were the leak tests. That crap was the nastiest stuff that I have ever swallowed. Also the morning before they pulled my drain I had to drink some dyed blue water as my final leak test and that was nasty also but at least it was a small amount. Hope everything progresses for you and that you are out and home soon and sleeping in your own bed. I know that is like winning the lottery. Best wishes.

Congratulations. I had a revision of lapband to sleeve on Dec 11 with Dr Garcia in Tijuana. I am currently down 38 pounds and still losing slowly. Some of this is my fault as I continue to find ways of talking myself out of going to the gym. I am getting some exercise as I take my dog out for a nice long walk daily when weather permits. I just need to start back to the gym so that my weight drops a little faster. I know that the rest will not just fall off over night but I have made a committment to this and want to follow through and reach my goal. For those who have set a goal and can not seem to reach it do not be so hard on yourselves. Maybe if you are at a weight close and have been there for 3 months or more your body is trying to tell you something. I know we all have an idea of what we want to weigh but lets face it........if we have lost 50, 80, 100 or more we are still better off than we were before we had the surgery and much healthier. Congratulations to all of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My surgery was also late in the day and I did not get back to my room until around 7pm. they did not get me up to start walking until the next morning and I had no problems at all. I had very little pain and never took any of the pain pills they gave me after I was released. I did have some acid which they did give me meds for and I took them for about 2 weeks. I am glad that your surgery went well and hope that your next days are good and you are able to start moving and get back home.

White coat syndrome is when you go to the doctor your blood pressure goes up as you get nervous. Now that I have more info I am stumped and will have to think about this one.

I am so happy that you journey begins tomorrow. I also went to Tijuana, Mexico alone for my surgery in Dec 2011. I also did not take much with me but then I did not need any makeup although maybe somedays I could use some....... I know that you will have a great experience. You do not say where you are going or who your surgeon is but I hope that your surgery and stay are a good one. Please keep us posted and keep the faith. I know that all will be fine and you will be home before you know it.

Well no that is a little strange. Are you comsuning more salty food or eating more salt on your foods. What are you drinking for fluids????? I would check the sodium content in the foods that you are eating as it does not seem that your pressure should increase. I do not trust the machines at Walmart as they are not very reliable. Have you ever had white coat syndrome????

I also had my surgery on Dec 11, 2011. I am currently down 38 pounds. A lot of my weight loss was right after surgery and I have slowed. I have not been getting to the gym lately and that is my own fault as I have been talking myself out of it for any reason. I need to make up my mind that I get there at least 5 days a week. I have been getting out and walking with my dog but I get a more intense workout at the gym. I too have been having a little chocolate every now and then but I have not come close to bread. I have had some crackers and noodles but not in any great quantity. I think that I am going to go back on the liquid for a week and then start again with regular foods but only those that I should be eating and make sure I get all the protein and water. Some days when I do not keep track I think that I fall short so I think that a food diary daily is a good tool for all to use. I hope that you get back on track. I know that I had a stall earlier for about 3 weeks and then bang I started to lose again.

I would talk to your doctor about the Effexor XR and see what he has to say. I know that at one point I was taking Welbutrin XR and was changed to a different medication. Also in the first days after your surgery you can use jello to take your pills with as this helps to open up the sleeve. I would stay away from yogart and pudding in the first week. It all depends on your doctor but I would ask them what they suggest.

I think that this has occurred to some degree for many years. The last job in the medical field that I applied for in the past couple of months required you to pass a drug screen and also a nicotine test. If you test positive for the nicotine you have not option but you can reapply in 6 months. What will they ask of you next????????????

Wow!!!!!!!!......congratulations on your BIG weight loss and success. I know that you must feel frustrated. I was looking at your post and I am just curious as to how many carbs you eat. I know that carbs are my big downfall and maybe if you cut back on your carbs and focused more on protein, veggies and fruits that you might be able to maintain. I know that carbs are going to be my greatest problem once I reach my goal which I have a ways to go. Keep up the battle and keep us posted. Maybe try and substitute a protein shake for the meal that you eat the most carbs and see if that will get the scale to move in the downward direction.

So sorry to hear about all of your difficulties after your surgery. I thank my lucky stars that my surgery went well and I did not have any problems other than a little acid reflux. I hope and pray that you improve each day and that you are able to get in more and more fluids. I can completely understand that you feel down and out as I know that I would be going crazy wondering what I had done to myself. Keep taking those small sips every few minutes and see if you can get that fluid in. If not I would suggest that you call your doctor back and that they admit you and start you on an IV as you will become dehydrated rapidly if you do not get fluids. I shall be keeping you in my thoughts. Please keep us posted as to your progress.

You can take your old meds. It if comes in a capsule form do not take the contents out of the capsule. Some meds can be crushed and other not as they have a time released coating. If you have questions about your meds and if they can be cut or crushed I would talk to your doctor or a pharmacist.

I am so glad that all of your surgery went well and that you had a great experience except for the nurses. I am surprised that you came home so soon. I had my surgery with Dr Garcia in Tijuana at Mi Hospital. I had my surgery on a Monday and I was released from the hospital after lunch on Wednesday. I stayed in the hotel Wednesday and Thursday night to make sure that I was not having any problems. I then flew home on Friday with no problems. I just think that I would stay a couple of days after being released as if you have problems many will show up soon after surgery. I know that my surgery included all of the days that I stayed at the hotel and I did not have to pay extra. I would rather be there and have a problem then to come home so soon and be so far away from my surgeon.

I was out getting new glasses the other day and I had to wait 2 hours for them to be ready. Instead of driving 20 miles back home I decided that I would just grab something for lunch. I have been very hungry for pizza and there is a Cici's close by. I decided that this would be the place. I went in and had just a little lettuce with some dressing. I told them that I could not eat the crust and it seemed a waster to scrape the toppings off and throw the crust away. They said they could make me a crustless pizza. They took a round pan and put down some pizza sauce. They asked me what toppings I wanted and I chose sausage, mushrooms, onions, black loives and cheese. It was the best and I am sure that this can be made at home in any oven proof bowl or pain. It was about 8 inches across the pan and I could come nowhere close to eating the entire thing. I brought it home and had it for another meal the next day. Pretty good for $4.99

Good luck on your surgery, recovery and your weight loss. Tomorrow is the beginning of your "New Life"

First I am wondering after reading these post why you are all vomiting and it sounds like some of you are vomiting quite often. I have vomited only once and that was because I thought that I could eat the rest of a meal that I had put on a plate instead of stopping when my stomach said "ENOUGH". I have not done that again as I do not like to vomit. I did a lot of vomiting with my lapband and that is one of the reasons that I had it removed and had the sleeve. I think that if you are vomiting weekly then you need to examine what you are eating and your eating habits. I know after reading posts on other topics I see people pusing the envelope and eating foods that I think are way too early for the amount of time that they are post op. That is just me but I stick to the diet plan that my surgeon gave me after surgery. There are things on that which it says that I can eat that I have some trouble with so why push my luck with things that are listed for me to eat further out. I guess that each person is different but I think that if you are vomiting on a weekly basis or more then you have a problem.

I am a little more than 3 months out and I am staying away from steak for at least 6 months. There are plenty of other meats that I can eat in the meantime. I think that it is just too hard for the stomach to digest. My diet says to wait until further out than I am currently. I have some slight problem with hamburger if it is too dry so do not want to get that sick feeling.

I will agree with PDXman that you will never feel "normal" if you are thinking that you will feel like you did before the surgery. Hopefully you will find a new feeling that will be 100% better than your best day when you were heavy. As I have found with my weight loss so far.....my back does not bother me like it used to, I no longer have pain in my knees and hips after walking, I can not go to the gym and use the treadmill, the bike and lift weights without almost dying, I have dropped several sized in clothing, people comment on how good I look, I sleep so much better, I can climb stairs, I can once again fit into a booth at a restuarant, I no long need the extension when flying on an airplane......oh and there is so much more. I am so thankful for all of the blessing that I have been enjoying since my surgery on Dec 11, 2011 and I look forward to enjoying my new life as I continue to lose weight and reach my goal. Slow and steady wins the race and you will find your "normal"

If you take some water and a slice of lemon it gives it a taste that you can adjust just by squeezing the slice into the water a little more.