jiggyjen1982@yahoo.com

Hi there! I had surgery at Stringfellow Memorial Hospital with Dr. Clifford Black of Anniston General Surgery Center in Calhoun Co' date=' AL. I do not reccomend Stringfellow. Dr. Black and his staff are awesome, though.[/quote']

I had my surgery at Stringfellow also! Dr. Black did my surgery as well! What problems did you have with Stringfellow?

Wow!!!! You look great!!

Hang in there bud!! Thinking about you & saying a prayer for you!

So glad you are on your way to a full recovery!! Keep on, keeping on!

I'll give you more! I am almost 4 weeks out and have only lost 6 pounds so it could be a lot worse.

It is so discouraging. Are you a low weight? If so, that could be why you are loosing slower.

A BIG HELLO to all of my April SLEEVERS!!! I hope all of you are doing well! I am 7 wks out & have lost 28 lbs. I was expecting more by this point. I am struggling somewhat with my eating habits. I want to snack, which is a big no, no! Got to get it under control! Going to the beach in July & I REALLY want to loose 15 more lbs by then! Wish me luck!

Prayers goin up for you!! Hope the doctors get something figured out soon. Thinking about you! Hugs!!!

Awesomeness!!!!!

Thanks guys for all the input!! You all are awesome!!

I miss eating salads soooo much! When is it okay to try lettuce?

Almost every time I eat, I belch food up. Sorry!! I know that is gross, but am I eating to much or is there something wrong? I am 4 & 1/2 wks post op. I have never thrown up, but have belched food up a lot. It's not a lot of food when it happens, & burping ( I mean some LOUD burping) proceeds afterwards. Has anyone else experienced this? I had a hernia repair when I had my sleeve surgery. Before surgery it was nothing uncommon for me to belch food ALL the time. I was hoping after my surgery & the hernia repair that it would be a thing of the past. I just don't want there to be something wrong with my sleeve.

*have

It's been 95 days since my surgery' date=' or 13 and a half weeks, or three months and three days. I have now lost 53 pounds, from an alltime high of 289 down to 236 as of this morning. I come around these boards but I haven't been posting much because I've been in kind of a little observation pod myself, testing out food, working the sleeve, and something else: pouting because my weight is in the 230's and not the 130's.

Usually when I come here I read people saying they're completely pissed about the same thing. So I wanted to put my spice into the pot here and tell you that even though it seems like it's coming off really slowly, and even though day to day you could measure your loss in eye droppersful the fact is it's pretty likely that when you get to three months, you will be somewhere around a fifty to sixty pound loss.

If the loss is faster than that, it's usually because you had more to lose to begin with. If it's slower than that it won't be slower by much. Maybe it will be 45 and not 55. That could be because you had less weight to lose to begin with, or you have some other condition that's comorbid, like diabetes or hypothyroid. It's all good, you're getting better.

If you are reading about somebody who lost seventy or eighty pounds in two months, they are losing the same *percentage* of weight you have to lose. And the prediction by bariatric surgeons for how much you will lose over a certain amount of time is pretty much uniform: *Most* of it will be gone at one year. Not in four months. Not in six months. One year.

I want to tell you why this is a good thing. First of all, if you are eating the starvation calories you would need to eat to lose one hundred pounds in six months your metabolism would be shredded by the time it was over. The minute you stopped and tried to "maintain" you'd really be in trouble -- you might have to stay at six hundred for a year after that, and keep slowly adding calories, and be stuck for the rest of your life eating eight or nine hundred "maintenance" . Besides being trapped at a much lower metabolism, your nutrition would have to suck over time if you had to live that way forever.

Also, when you lose slower, your skin has time to bounce back. Extremely fast weight loss means your outer layer looks like a stretched out sock. But extend that loss over time, over the space of a year -- you end up with taut, glowy stuff that's better than any fashion makeover. You might not ever get the skin of your childhood but the real sag and pucker will be minimized as much as it can be. You might have completely given up on bikini dreams at this point, but...consider the arms. Consider sleeveless. Consider the one piece. Patience can pay off.

I am not a calorie counter. I am not a lowcarber. My BMI was just under 40 when I went down to Mexico so I would say I'm an "average" candidate for this procedure. I've eaten taco bell, gone out for wine, gone on vacation, eaten Pasta and pizza and chips. What I've noticed when I do stuff like this though is that my body starts asking me for chicken and vegetables.

And the other thing I've noticed is that *no matter what* I do, the pounds are still coming off.

When I got back from vacation last month, I was starting to worry. When I left on May 19, I weighed 249. I hung out with my relatives and ate seafood and had wine spritzers, went out to eat every day and lived the life of riley for two weeks. When I got back I weighed 247. I thought I was slowing my loss and I probably was, a little but...maybe not as much as I thought.

So the month of June passes and my decision is not to freak out, not to go lowcarb, and to eat normally, work out a little while I push the Protein and the Water. I went out with my friends and had a couple glasses of wine with them but I'm worrying. Now I'm not losing that twenty to thirty pounds a month, that ten pounds a week. Now it seems like *nothing* is happening. June 15, suddenly it's 245. I'm still thinking maybe I need to lowcarb...maybe I need to push my calories down from 1200 to under a thousand. Maybe I need to do something.

But I don't. I walked a couple miles outside til it got too hot out, and I swam in the pool twice. Ate like I didn't care.

Now it's 236. In six weeks I lost eleven pounds. And I really did nothing at all but live normally. I did not scour the internet for lowcarb recipes, I did not get on some punishing regime to tweak my abs. I didn't do anything but eat and live.

So I just want to say that you *can* make this into a clean, disciplined Jillian Michaels experience, where you only eat cottage cheese and you run on the treadmill for an hour every day. You can force your calories down to five hundred and brutalize those pounds off of you in record time -- you can do that, it's possible and you have medical supervision.

Or you can NOT do it. It's coming off either way.[/quote']

Best post I gave saw in a while!!! Finally, someone that had the same perspective as me!!!!!

There is no greater risk for an ulcer with VSG as we had with our previous stomachs. It's not going to sit in your stomach brewing like it would if you had a pouch. Also' date=' it's really the fact that overuse of NSAIDs destroy the prostaglandin in the stomach lining with can cause an ulcer to form.

I've been taking NSAIDS as needed since being around 6 weeks out. I'm over 2.5 years out, and just delivered a baby 30 October 2011, due to rare genetic issue, I have to take prednisone, 60mg for a solid 30+ days, and received 3 boluses of steroids during delivery then 3 daily doses IV while hospitalized while recovering from a csection. I have had zero issues due to my NSAID. While some surgeon say NO, it's because they lump us all in with Band and Bypass patients. There's hundreds of surgeons that authorize NSAID usage on an "as needed" basis. I always take them with food, and never use more than one dose per day. When I came home from the csection, I was prescribed 800mg (2nd time being prescribed this drug since surgery), and took it as needed for pain and discomfort instead of narcotics since I was breastfeeding, and well, me being doped up trying to care for a newborn would have not been an ideal situation.

There's no medication restrictions with VSG. From the pioneers of VSG as a stand alone procedure, with the most patients with the longer term stats and documented cases:

http://www.lapsf.com/vertical-gastrectomy-weight-loss-surgery.php

Important advantages about the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy:

[*']Estimated weight loss >80%

[*]Resolution of diabetes >90%

[*]Resolution of obstructive sleep apnea >95%

[*]Resolution of hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol and triglycerides) >80%

[*]Resolution of hypertension >80%

[*]The portion of the stomach that produces the hormone that stimulates hunger (Ghrelin) is removed.

[*]The stomach is dramatically reduced in volume yet also functions normally.

[*]No dumping syndrome because the pylorus is preserved.

[*]Minimizes the potential for ulcer, so the use anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, Motrin, Aleve and ibuprofen are not problematic (great procedure for those with arthritis, joint pain or Migraine headaches).

[*]No intestinal bypass and therefore little or no chance of nutritional and Vitamin deficiencies

[*]Most patients with BMI between 30-50kg/M2 achieve their goal weight within 12 months following surgery.

[*]Safer alternative for high body weight (>400 pounds) or medically high-risk patients than the gastric bypass or duodenal switch.

[*]No foreign body or implanted devices.

[*]Can be performed laparoscopically in virtually all patients.

[*]99% leave the hospital within one day.

Flippin awesome post!!

Milk of magnesia is my best friend!

Hope this helps' date=' this list tells you how much Protein are in various food items:

Shortcut: An ounce of meat or fish has approximately 7 grams of Protein.< /p>

Beef

Hamburger patty, 4 oz – 28 grams protein

Steak, 6 oz – 42 grams

Most cuts of beef – 7 grams of protein per ounce

chicken

chicken breast, 3.5 oz - 30 grams protein

Chicken thigh – 10 grams (for average size)

Drumstick – 11 grams

Wing – 6 grams

Chicken meat, cooked, 4 oz – 35 grams

Fish

Most fish fillets or steaks are about 22 grams of protein for 3 ½ oz (100 grams) of cooked fish, or 6 grams per ounce

tuna, 6 oz can - 40 grams of protein

Pork

Pork chop, average - 22 grams protein

Pork loin or tenderloin, 4 oz – 29 grams

Ham, 3 oz serving – 19 grams

Ground pork, 1 oz raw – 5 grams; 3 oz cooked – 22 grams

Bacon, 1 slice – 3 grams

Canadian-style bacon (back bacon), slice – 5 – 6 grams

eggs and Dairy

Egg, large - 6 grams protein

Milk, 1 cup - 8 grams

Cottage cheese, ½ cup - 15 grams

Yogurt, 1 cup – usually 8-12 grams, check label

Soft cheeses (Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert) – 6 grams per oz

Medium cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss) – 7 or 8 grams per oz

Hard cheeses (Parmesan) – 10 grams per oz

Tofu, ½ cup 20 grams protein

Tofu, 1 oz, 2.3 grams

Soy milk, 1 cup - 6 -10 grams

Most Beans (black, pinto, lentils, etc) about 7-10 grams protein per half cup of cooked Beans

Soy beans, ½ cup cooked – 14 grams protein

Split peas, ½ cup cooked – 8 grams

Nuts and Seeds

Peanut Butter, 2 Tablespoons - 8 grams protein

Almonds, ¼ cup – 8 grams

Peanuts, ¼ cup – 9 grams

Cashews, ¼ cup – 5 grams

Pecans, ¼ cup – 2.5 grams

Sunflower seeds, ¼ cup – 6 grams

pumpkin seeds, ¼ cup – 8 grams

Flax seeds – ¼ cup – 8 grams

[/quote']

Thanks so much for posting! Helps a ton!!!

I actually live in Trussville so no not far away at all.

Sent from my iPhone using VST

Do u know where Altoona is(close to Gadsden) ? That is where I live. I live aprox 1 hr from Trussville! who done your surgery?

I live just north of Bham and I was sleeved in January! Good luck to you....it's life changing!

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I bet we don't live far from each other!!

Mobile girl here! My date is May 10' date=' 2012. Tomorrow is my last day to eat regular food for the next 8 weeks. Monday starts full liquids for 7 days; then clear for 3 days.[/quote']

Good luck!!!!

April Sleevers' date=' how are everyone's incisions healing? I am 4/3 and my biggest one is still not healed. I believe the super glue stuff fell off too early and let it gape open, which is making it take longer. The rest are all healed.[/quote']

The Incision horizontal, above my belly button is not completely healed. Half of it is healed, but the other half isn't. I went to the dr & he said that it was NOT infected & that it would heal, but was gonna take a little while bc of it being right in the crease of my belly. Will be so glad when it heals!!!

I was sleeved on 4/11...since surgery I've been sleeping on my recliner sofa...can't sleep on my back or my side :0(...I used to love sleeping on my stomach

Me too!! I will be soooo glad when I can sleep on my stomach again!!

Hi everyone I'm from Huntsville Alabama I'm going to Mexico with Dr Aceves to get sleeved June 2nd can't wait !!!!

Good luck!!! I live about an hr away from Huntsville!

Congrats to everyone!!!! Hope everything is going good for everyone! I think things are slower than what I was expecting. I was sleeved on the 3rd & have lost 18.3 lbs. I am thankful for every pound, but it seems to be coming off slow.

Thanks guys!! I hope I can just be given antibiotics. I'm not running a fever, so hopefully it's not that bad yet.

I am a little over 3 weeks post op. My incision that is right above my belly button( the one that is horizontal, not the long vertical one). Half of it will Not heal! It is still open & is getting infected. It will not heal. I have an appointment Friday with my surgeon... To see what he thinks. Anyone else had this to happen??