BlessedBeyondMeasure2012

Yes my friends, it called ketosis. Not only do you have a bad tastes, I promise you have bad breath as well. You may have nicer people surrounding you than I did (not really, my husband gently told me to brush my teeth LOL!) but I promise the bad breath is there too. It is from not eating carbs. I stayed in ketosis with bad breath and really stinky pee until I went on full liquids and could eat Soups with some carbs. I have tried to stay less than 20 gms of carbs most day but usually it is closer to 30 gms a day since surgery and I haven't had any more trouble with it. I don't know if my body finally just caught up or what but the bad taste, bad breath and stinky pee are no longer with me. It will get better, just give it time!

It's the dreaded 3 week stall. I had a stall at 10 days out that lasted for 2 1/2 weeks and I had another stall a few weeks after that. Since then some weeks I lose faster than others. It will come off, you just have to get adjusted. Stalls happen, it sucks, but they do. It seems like when the scale stalls for me, my clothes start getting looser and people start noticing my drop in weight. I dropped a pant size in my first stall, and have dropped two more since but both when the scale really had slowed down moving. Measure yourself and see your body changing in inches not just in the numbers on the scale.

Toradol is a great drug. It can burn when given IV if not pushed slow enough or if not diluted enough. Given IM it feels like a baseball some how got injected into your butt and left there. It works great for pain. It worked better for me than the Demerol and Morphine did and didn't make me nauseated like the other two did. You can take it by mouth for no longer than 5 days at a time and it can be given IV for 3-5 days as long as your kidney functions are monitored after 24 hours or so of every 6 hour dosing. Taken by mouth you do have to be careful of the effects it can have on your stomach but as long as it is not taken for a prolonged period of time you should be fine. (Sorry, I am in the medical field and have ordered it for lots of my patients. I have a new respect for it as well after getting it after surgery.)

Yes my friends, it called ketosis. Not only do you have a bad tastes, I promise you have bad breath as well. You may have nicer people surrounding you than I did (not really, my husband gently told me to brush my teeth LOL!) but I promise the bad breath is there too. It is from not eating carbs. I stayed in ketosis with bad breath and really stinky pee until I went on full liquids and could eat Soups with some carbs. I have tried to stay less than 20 gms of carbs most day but usually it is closer to 30 gms a day since surgery and I haven't had any more trouble with it. I don't know if my body finally just caught up or what but the bad taste, bad breath and stinky pee are no longer with me. It will get better, just give it time!

Yes my friends, it called ketosis. Not only do you have a bad tastes, I promise you have bad breath as well. You may have nicer people surrounding you than I did (not really, my husband gently told me to brush my teeth LOL!) but I promise the bad breath is there too. It is from not eating carbs. I stayed in ketosis with bad breath and really stinky pee until I went on full liquids and could eat Soups with some carbs. I have tried to stay less than 20 gms of carbs most day but usually it is closer to 30 gms a day since surgery and I haven't had any more trouble with it. I don't know if my body finally just caught up or what but the bad taste, bad breath and stinky pee are no longer with me. It will get better, just give it time!

Woo hoo!!! Today is my one year surgery-versary and I don't think I could be any happier! I am down 141 pounds total and around 106 or so from my surgery one year ago today. This has been one of the best decisions of my life and I would do it all over again tomorrow if I needed to. My surgery was such a success that my sister followed suit and had a sleeve done in November of this last year. She is doing great as well. It is REALLY STRANGE to me for someone to call me "skinny". I've had many people tell me that I've lost enough and really should stop losing but I am technically still obese and I refuse to stay obese! I still have a little ways to go and I know this is going to take more work to get off but it will be so worth it! To any newbies out there, work your sleeve and it will work for you. Do what you are supposed to and it will do what it is supposed to! The first picture here was sometime November or December 2012, the second one was about 2 weeks ago. It's the most recent that I have The second set of pics is just of me in that dress, cause I thought it was pretty flattering!! (I acatually got told that I have amazing calves when I was wearing my heels in this dress and I can say that was an absolute first!!)

I have a Vegetti and I love it! I love to spiralize zucchini, toss it in a little olive oil with salt, black pepper, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Sautee for just a couple of minutes and it is great as a side dish or topped with other yummies! Its super easy to use. I got it at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $15 I think

I have a Vegetti and I love it! I love to spiralize zucchini, toss it in a little olive oil with salt, black pepper, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Sautee for just a couple of minutes and it is great as a side dish or topped with other yummies! Its super easy to use. I got it at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $15 I think

It's called a Veggitti. I am intrigued also. Be careful though, the Veggitti plus the *free* mincer came to $32 with shipping and handling, that's crazy for a tool listed as costing $14.99! I also found it on Amazon with free shipping for $14.92. Big difference . Has anyone used this thingy?

Thanks guys! I have seen the spaghetti squash and aim to try that, as well. I really liked the idea of the curly Zoodles, too! Or, maybe I just think it's cute... Lol Trading a food addiction for a healthy cooking appliances addiction maybe?

LynRN,
It amazes me how truly ignorant the medical field is about weight. I always hated going to the doctor. They always jumped to conclusions based on weight. It is sad to hear what is going on in medical classes. We are so sensitive as a society to so many issues and disabilities yet weight is certainly not one of them. I'm sorry you have to be subjected to that. I personally think your going to be the BEST NP because you won't be ignorant!!!!!! Way to go on changing your future!!!!!

So, I am an RN and studying to be a Family Nurse Practitioner. In my Health Promotion class, we were discussing obesity and weight loss surgery. Many of my classmates, all RNs and soon to be primary care providers, had negative opinions of WLS. They all knew someone or took care of someone that had WLS and gained all the weight back or had complications or eating disorders or whatever, which may be true. But I was completely taken aback by the negative attitudes, and frankly, ignorance and misinformation about WLS that still prevails, even among healthcare professionals. My position was that, for the right patients ( those that are mentally prepared and willing to do the work), WLS should be viewed as a viable option in the treatment of obesity. BTW, they don't know that I had VSG.
So, a little about me. I am a 32 year old wife and mommy of 3 and 5 year old little boys. I am 5'2 and at my highest, I weighed 276 lbs. That is a BMI of over 50. I am just shy of 4 months out and am down to 208. While I still have a ways to go, I am already smaller than I have been in nearly a decade. I had no real comorbidities to speak of, but I know it was just a matter of time. I am a black woman with a horrible family history of diabetes, heart disease and renal failure. My own mother has been ill for most of my life. She was diagnosed with Lupus in her 30s. Soon to follow were hip and knee replacements, renal failure (she's had TWO kidney transplants), diabetes, hypertension and TWO heart attacks. And most of this was before age 50. And guess what, while she is overweight, she was never the size that I was. My grandmother also died from complications of diabetes at age 57. My mother's youngest brother is also a brittle diabetic and on dialysis awaiting a SECOND kidney transplant and he's not yet 50. I was heading in the same direction and decided I needed to do something drastic to change my fate. So excuse me for taking "the easy way out" to save my own life and health, to spare my kids the fear of "waiting for the other shoe to drop" that I experienced growing up with a mom that was constantly in and out of the hospital.
Also, I wanted to lose weight before I become an NP. I just don't know how effective I could be at advising patients to lose weight or exercise or eat right when I was so heavy. So, I decided to help myself before I try to help someone else.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. Rant Over!

So, it sounds like they are recommending this for medical reasons - you have lost alot of weight and the extra belly skin is causing health problems and perhaps interfering with exercise etc? That is the main reason I have heard of doing this before losing all the weight... referred to as "staging" or doing it in phases. Most of us are told to be at a stable goal weight for at least a little while but it is very individual.
Have you had a consult with a plastic surgeon? They are normally free and really the best place to get your questions answered.
I had plastics, but it was much more extensive than a panni so i can't really give advice on what to expect with the panni. I will say that skin removed from the belly area has a bigger impact than one might think as it is tied into your lymphatic system etc and healing takes awhile. Your plastic surgeon should be able to lay out the plan for recovery too.
good luck!

This forum, a Magic Bullet, and when I wore that out , a Nutri Bullet. Also, my local YMCA for swimming 3x a week, and my local dog park with the nice walking trails. Last but not least , my hubby for being so supportive and helpful !

My most indispensable thing has been my iPhone. Without it, I am not sure what I would have done. All I know for sure is , my phone is my lifeline for my fitbit, my fitness pal meal tracker, and get-2-goal ( weight tracker) and of course this forum . It's been absolutely invaluable to me.

My computer and this forum...can't imagine what it would have been like without it.

Myfitnesspal to record my intake ...love this site, my bullet to make shakes..quick and easy...food scale, weight scale that is accurate, Vitamins, Calcium , B12, Iron capsules.

Immediately after surgery it was my phone - I set a timer to chime every 5 minutes...that was my reminder to sip and tracked my Protein and Water intake on my phone.
Now - it's my Magic Bullet to make my shakes and my FitBit.

My food scale. I measure everything.

My fitbit. It keeps me moving even on lazy days. Gotta get those 10k steps in!

I had a Fleur De Lis Tummy Tuck last Tuesday, and I have to say this last week was one of the most difficult of my life. I am no baby when it comes to pain. My discomfort was manageable. It was the fact that I didn't feel in control of my body and had to rely on others, hard to do when you are a hard headed independent woman like me. Oxycodone and morphine suppositories made me feel awful. Between feeling blazing hot then freezing cold to not wanting to eat, move or be able to have a poop, to horrible hallucinogenic dreams I had enough of the narcotics pretty damn fast. i have had surgeries before, but this one really was the hardest. Emotional support was so so important for this one. I am not a clingy person, but good grief, this time around I could not get enough hugs or encouragement. My compression garment will be burnt at the stake as soon as five weeks are up! Today is day number 8 and I am starting to feel like my old self. Today I happened to get on the scale to see if Id lost any of the ten pounds plus of Water weight, and I am pleased to say I weight 125 which is my goal weight. yay me!

Wt is 181.6 lbs!

Excellent and amazing work! Congrats!

You look awesome! Congrats on a successful first year!

WOW! You look AMAZING! So cute! Great job!

Woohoooo!! Congrats! I'm a newbie.. 3 weeks post op