Back~To~Amy

For anyone who doesn't know, Dr. Ashmore does a free weekly group at Baylor Plano on Thursdays at 5:30 pm. If you are interested in his group and you've seen him previously, just call his office and see if you can join. He has to okay it to make sure you are a good fit. If you haven't seen him before, you can schedule an appointment and

I'm not put on FB for a couple of reasons. First, I don't put a lot of personal information on there and never have. Second, because some of those people I'm not really close to and I'm somewhat selective about who knows I had the VSG.

I'm another patient of Dr. Nick and attend Dr. Ashmore's weekly group now. Dr. Ashmore reason for 20 percent gaining their weight back isn't due to stomach stretching but due to grazing. He has said on multiple occassions it is the number one reason people aren't successful post VSG. BTW, for you Dallas girls, we started a monthly support group where we get together the first Saturday of each month for lunch. If you ate interested, send me your first name, what city you live in and your email address and I will add you to the list.

I'm trying to get mine there. :-)

Hi and welcome to VST. As TMyeres1471 pointed out, what you are going through is completely normal. Once you are off restricted diet, your mindset will change. You may still get head hunger, but it won't be what it is now or what is was preop. Also, when you eat you will be satisfied with very little. I've had a few mental hurdles with wanting to eat more than my sleeve will let me, but that is easily solved by slowing down how fast I eat. When it takes longer to eat, I feel like I'm getting more. Yeah, it's head games but it works. Hang in there! I promise it will be better once you are off restricted diet. You ate in a rough part of this journey. Remember, it is only temporary.

Welcome to VST Raulena! Best of luck to you on your journey!

Oh, and don't worry about the above. Some people have more trouble than others. The nurses termed me "super drinker" in the hospital. I could always drink quite fast and still can at 9 weeks out.

What you are experiencing is completely normal. Liquids pretty much slide right through so you can have a lot more of them than you think. Also, a lot of people tolerate warm liquids easier than cold liquids so that may be why you got a bunch more soup in. I found it easier to use soup and broth to get my liquids in than a cold liquid. Also, your question of if you were sleeved. I think most people ask themselves that question. I know I did on more than one occassion. Just wait until you start solids. You will have no doubt then that you have a little bitty tummy. Congrats on being sleeved and best of luck on your journey!

I just wanted to say that you August sleevers are impressive with your post count of 1540 and counting! Best of luck to you all!

First off, never be embarrased to ask a question here. There are all kinds of questions asked here we would put under the embarrassing question category. Now, on to your diahrrhea question. I too had it. It was temporary though...about two weeks if I remember correctly. Others have the opposite problem though. It's hard to tell what you might experience since all our bodies are different. Good luck to you on your journey!

Please, please, please don't back out! Read my post earlier today titled "I LOVE My Sleeve" and see how your life can change quickly.

Hi Linda. Welcome to VST. You've made a good decision to take charge of your life and a great decision, in my opinion, to have VSG. Best of luck to you in your journey.

Today, I am exactly 9 weeks out from surgery and I got a "present" for my anniversary. For the last couple of weeks I have been gaining and losing the same few pounds. Although I understand that is part of the process, I still don't like it. Anyway, I woke up yesterday and weighed as I do every day and the scale was done 2 pounds. Yay! This morning I woke up and again weighed and the scale was down another 2 1/2 pounds. Yippppeee!!! That makes up for stall I was in for the 2 weeks prior. Okay, but all that isn't but my "present". What is my present is that I'm at 49 total pounds lost now......1 more pound till I hit the big milestone of 50 pounds. I've been waiting to hit that milestone and now I'm on the door step to doing it. For anyone reading who may be considering having the sleeve, do it! It is one of the best decisions of my life. I started this journey at just over 300 pounds. I had high blood pressure for which I took meds and my cholesterol was on the border of needing meds. My whole body hurt all the time and just normal daily activities were a chore and literally a pain to my body. Bending over to tie my shoes or shave my legs was painful and left me breathless. I sweat at the least little exerction and stairs were hard. I felt so helpless to control my relationship with food and thus lose any weight. Food controlled my life and I was miserable. Today, just a short 9 weeks later, I am so different. My body only has occasssional pains now, I'm down to 1/2 my dose of blood pressure meds, I can tie my shoes and shave my legs with no problems and I have tons of energy these days. Food no longer controls me. Yes, I still have mental battles with it but I'm working on those and learning to quiet those noises in my head that want me to graze all day. I had tons of pain up until I was 4 weeks postop. Knowing what I know now, even that wouldn't stop me from doing it all over again if I had to. I hope everyone is rocking their sleeve and loving life!

Keep it up and you'll be there before you know it. Congrats on your success so far!

Congrats on your success so far. You've done awesome!! Once I make 50 pounds, my next goal will be to get out of the 250's then I'm not sure what. Maybe my 75 pound mark???

I lost 14 pounds on my 2 week preop diet and 35 pounds since my surgery 9 weeks ago for a total of 49 pounds. If you average my total weight loss since I started my preop diet, I'm averaging 4.45 pounds a week. If you average my weight loss since surgery, I'm avering 3.89 pounds a week.

Thanks everyone! I look forward to the day when I am off my meds. As far as stalls go, they can be mentally challenging but they do break....if you do the work. I just came out of my second stall. The first one was mentally tougher than the 2nd one. With the 2nd one, I started to let it get to me then I just decided not to and shrugged it off knowing one day I'd wake up and the scale would be my friend again. One of my biggest challenges for future stalls is going to be remembering that it is normal and that it will pass. Life is a journey and I'm learning so much about myself on mine.

Congrats and good luck today. I was so excited and so ready for my life post VSG, that I never got nervous. Check in when you feel up to it and let us know how you are doing.

I've had the same problem. I think most, if not everyone, does. I am 9 weeks out and down 49 pounds. While I know I've lost weight and inches because my scale and tape measure say so and because I'm down 2 pants and shirt sizes, I cannot see it AT ALL. When I look at me, I see the same me even in pics. I'm hoping when I do my pics next Monday (I do them every 4 weeks), that I will be able to finally see it. BTW, do they make have an optometrist who can correct weight loss eye issues?

Glad you joined us. Welcome to VST and best of luck to you on your journey!

I'm not a doctor, but I'd venture to guess it is most likely your iron level. Blood thinners given 3 months ago shouldn't be affecting you now for as little time as you had them. If you start iron and don't see an improvement you should probably see your doctor.