karenb4729

I love the chilled fruit soups that most cruises offer! At 3 weeks I was on my way to recovery - I felt ok but tired. I think you will be fine but I maybe would order rooms service and try to stay aways from the buffet an restaurants. It would be lovely to recover lounging on the deck of a cruise ship. Just be sure to bring your protein powder with you.

Peanut butter was on my pureed list - that was starting the 3rd week following surgery. I had 1/2 a container of the Jiff to Go pack an about an hour after eating it I got really sick. Haven't tried it again but I do feel like I found a cure for constipation! LOL

She just lost 52lbs in 10 weeks after having the sleeve. Here is the article http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2012/07/06/lisa-lampanelli-reveals-dramatic-weight-loss-on-bethenny/ Glad to see a celebrity talk about the surgery.

Check out her interview with Dr Drew on CNN.

Keep some payaya enzyme around to help with those times - it helps "unblock the plumbing" according to my Dr. It really does settle your stomach if you have something that is just lying there.

I guess it depends on the size. My meds all had to be changed to capsules and I have to open them up and put them in SF pudding. Can't wait until I can swallow them again.

I did PB and got horribly sick - haven't gone back to try it again. I also didn't do too well on hummus - it kind of kicked in my acid reflux. Lucky to those of you that can do PB. Those little "Jiff On The Go" look great to take to work for a quick protein snack.

Haha - I had this too. At my first post-op visit I asked my Dr because I felt like I had an elbow or knee rolling around in my belly. It did go away!

I love Florence!! The best Gnocchi I ever had was in florence at the following restaurant: Ristorante Giglio Rosso Via Panzani 35r, 50123 Florence, Italy Their 4 cheese Gnocchi so light and airy and just simply wonderful. The other restaurant that was wonderful was one in the same square at the Santa Croce church - Lasgna was melt in your mouth. Enjoy your trip! I hope to get back there in the next year or so!

I like having a NUT because she gives me suggestions and encouragement for dealing with stalls and making sure I get in all my nutrition. I have always enjoyed the menus and recipes too. Since your insurance will pay for it I would take advantage of it.

It does get easier and those small sips do become much bigger. I'm 6 weeks out and am taking in the regular size sips I took before surgery - about 2 to 3oz at a time. Once in a while I will need to burp afterwards but mostly its all good. I think it was at 4 weeks that I began drinking normally.

OK - I'm going to have to try crab! Its the time of the year when my husband and his best buddy go crabbing every weekend. We get Dungeness around here. I wasn't sure how it would sit with me but now that I know someone who has tried it I am going to try it too!

I'm in Seattle and my hospital billed $30,000 to the insurance and the insurance contrated rate and what they paid is $14000. My Dr billed at $6700 and the contrated rate/paid amount was $1700. I had a $2500 deductible but most was covered by my Medical Reimbursment acount that my employer contributed too - in fact I received a $1000 credit for having weight loss surgery. All told, for all the different tests etc my only out of pocket for all of this was $400. Not too bad. In fact, I am impressed with my insurance coverage and my employer because it was really all a breeze. I have United Healthcare.

I think a card is all you need. Medical ID bracelets are really important for those that have a condition that requires a medic to know immediately - i.e. diabetes, siezures, MS - all of which could be the reason why you are unresponsive. In our case, well frankly while my surgeon does not want NSAIDS (alieve, naproxen, etc) it wouldn't kill you if you had them. And, it would be highly unlikely that a medic would be inserting a NG tube into you before you even got to the hospital. That being said, its probably a good idea to keep a card in your wallet with all you emergency contact information along with health information. At least that's my take on it all.

I do my atigal in SF pudding. My prilosec I just open and swallow the little beads with water - there is no flavor to them. I think this is the part that I dislike the most about the surgery.

I was sleeved June 4th and have lost 33lbs but havent' lost anything for a week and a half and this week even gained a lb but I think that was due to sodium intake the night before. It definately a journey and not a race. This surgery helps you in that you feel full on very little food but it doesn't make the weight fall off unless you work at it by watching the food you do put in and by continuing to exercise.... eventually it will fall off, I'm convinced of that1

I live in Lynnwood fairly near the clinic. I attended the seminar at the clinic where I made the decision to get the sleeve but that clinic wasn't covered under my insurance and Dr Billings became a client in my office so it was a conflict of interest. I love my sugeon but I know that Dr Billings is great too.

Here is a really interesting article about hairloss and high protein... http://www.livestron...-and-hair-loss/ Here is another good article http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/effluviums?page=

Whether you drink Protein drinks or not will depend on how much protein you are able to get in. During the healing stage my Doc requires 80g of protein. So, I drink two shakes in a day for 70g and then I'm getting around 25g from food. After the healing stage is over the normal protein requirements for a woman is around 60g a day. If you focus on protein first than you should be able to get it from your food. I'm only 6 weeks out and the most food I can handle is about 2oz. Right now tuna is my "go to" food because 2.5oz contains 16g of protein. Good luck with your journey!

I know Dr Billings pretty well. I did go with another surgeon for my VSG but I'm glad to hear that you had a successful surgery!! I take it you live up near the boarder?

Yep head hunger is a big part of everything. My husband and I went out on Friday for Chinese - it was my first time out since surgery. I had egg flower Soup which tasted fantastic and then we ordered a tofu dish. I had about a 1.5oz portion and was full but boy, it tasted so good that I wanted more... I am 6 weeks out tomorrow and I do get hungry. But the difference in my real hunger is that when I eat my 2 oz portion I'm full and it goes away.

Tara - the first couple of weeks are the worst for heatburn according to my Doc. Its because the stomach is swollen and will send the excess acid up. I had GERD before surgery and so doubled my dose of prilosec with one in the morning and one in the evening and I still had to do Tums when it was really bad. I'm weeks out now and feel so much better... well except for this darn stall I'm in. Mz_Elle - in the beginning its hard to drink because the stomach is swollen and can accomodate only so much. Once the swelling goes down, around 3 to 4 weeks you should be able to get much more liquid in as it will just flow through your stomach. My sips now are the regular size sips I took before surgery and I can usually get in 16oz in an hour - but I'm a slow drinker. I always get my 11oz protein drink in around 30 to 40 minutes. It would take a lot of dense food overeating over time to stretch the sleeve and even then it will never ever stretch to the size it was before surgery. Its still all about making good food choices.

I have the same feeling as you - air in my stomach. I sleep with my mouth open which is why I need the full face mask. Still working on figuring out a solution since I am almost 6 weeks out and still have that issue. My pressure is only 6 so I hope I can get off the machine soon!

It sounds like you ate something that didn't agree with you. I had that happen the 2nd day I was on pureed. Now, I'm 5 weeks out, still on pureed because my Dr requires 6 weeks of it, and I had a great dinner tonight with a cup of egg flower soup, some ma po tofu (eating only the tofu) and a bite or two of egg foo yung. Don't worry it will get better and next thing you know you will be complaining about the constipation that seems to happen to most of us!

My husband and I are getting ready to go to Chinese for dinner. Will have egg flower soup and a taste of his egg foo yung. Plus if they have a good tofu dish will probably order that too.