iggychic

NJ, a dear fiend of mine went into the hospital a few days ago. She was put into a coma purposefully two days ago and today they are taking her off all life support so that she can die in peace. She had bypass surgery two years ago. She will die thin, but was one of the unlucky people for whom kidney failure was a result of her surgery. She was always a beautiful woman. I'm not a huge fan of the sleeve either as I am suffering life long problems due to having another rare (seems like rare is getting more common) complication. But the sleeve is much safer than the bypass. Worst case, if you stay healthy after having the sleeve and can't meet your goals, than have it moved forward to the bypass, but start at the easier procedure and see how it goes. There are so many people here who have lost so much more than you have to lose, so the sleeve could be your best option, but don't take the very last resort first. You have a lifetime to make a second decision. I wish my dear friend still had that option.

How you doin? I was 08/23 and then second surgery early October (don't remember the date LOL) so I fall under both months SW 188 CW 130 So that's 58 if I can still do math? I have 20 to go to goal but am losing slowly now, but still going so no biggie.

I don't often rip someone a new one...but you tempt me dear. Obviously you are leak free so far, dang lucky given you don't seem to worry about them at all! It's a slip up to break a diet pre surgery, it's a suicide attempt to do so after the surgery and if you don't understand that you shouldn't have had the surgery. I had a leak, not from being stupid (ok I wasn't...we'll leave the medical folks out of that) it's a death threat. Do you understand? that freaking burger could KILL you! And worse you might live through the hell that is the treatment for a leak! Literally I never understood the kind of torture that a medical professional could administer in the name of curing you. My ribs were spread while I was awake! Garden hoses shoved into my chest while awake. Knitting needle sized tubes stuffed down my back while awake. PAIN and SUFFERING and I'm one tough chick! Don't wonder and don't be so unconcerned as to call it "flubbing". Another big F word might make sense, but understand, you are trying to kill yourself and you don't take it seriously. Measure, weigh and stick to the damn rules at lest for the first two months, then if you want to flub up, what the hell, it's your body, but don't come here and throw such horrible choices in the faces of people who take this seriously. OK there....tough love, but really....think for gods sake. And that was me being "nice" about it.

well there is always the option i took...i married the boss but that is rather time consuming as well....

BREAKING NEWS......deh deh deh deh (news noises)......NEIGHBOR STABBED AND KILLED BY RECENT WLS PATIENT!!!! PATIENT INSISTS IT WAS ON DOCTORS ORDERS......NEIGHBOR FOUND WITH A FORK STUCK IN THEIR CHEST.... LOL You can cut just about anything with a fork if you want to You just have to buy good forks!

Really, cuz I could cut an apple with a fork if I so desired...and yet at six months I'm just cleared for it. Either you had a really bad doctor or you're leaving some information out of the equation. Bread swells in your stomach, and yes it's easily cut with a fork, as is cake, Pasta, rice, etc. All are dangerous during the first six weeks because you are likely able to eat more than your swollen stomach can handle. That and shreds of meat in a suture line are a recipe for disaster. Just because you can, does not mean you should. Eating a small burger three weeks out is asking to be put back in the hospital. Following the "fork" guidelines is just as dangerous. If that is a doctors diet guidelines while healing...you need a new doctor!

Why is that your life? I go out with friends, I eat and drink with friends, maybe not as much as I used to, but I don't miss anything in life because of the restriction. I mean if you're in week one...that's a different story, but even then I could order Soup in a restaurant (french onion was a fav). Honey I have life long complications from this stupid surgery and I don't have the mind set you're wandering in. You HAVE to shake that off and if that means counseling then go and find some so that you can enjoy your life and your weight loss. There's no reason to be where you are mentally!

Really? OK I'll let laura's post stand and not say what she said but only with the addition of "are you nuts?"

Yoghurt and soup fall in the heavy liquid categories. While you've been on clear/s or thin liquids, you haven't actually reached the solid stage yet. Solids are things like unpureed vegetables or meats. Trust me, you will feel differently when it's a chunk of chicken.

I'm with Zazous...and I love sweet music But that said, I'm also trying to supliment my calories so I have a piece or two daily and it does not bother me. That said, if I have more than a couple of pieces it makes me feel ill. Early out I tried a Protein bar and had the same reaction as you did to the chocolate. It takes our body time to get comfortable with some foods, and sometimes it never does. I'm glad I can have a taste of chocolate but that if I overdo (lol 3 bites) I feel badly. It's good regulation for that whole portion control thingie

I am copying this from another site because I don't have time to pull the data up individually but check the facts, it's not hard to find quickly how bad IDS Protein supplements are... Not all protein has the same value to your body. The amino acid profile is the reason for this. Proteins are made of amino acids. There are 20 different ones in the human body. Of the twenty, 9 of them must be consumed to meet your daily needs. These 9 amino acids are called Essential (EAA) or Indispensable. The 9 EAAs are needed in certain proportions. A protein scoring system called Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Scoring (or PDCAAS) was developed to show which products contain all the EAA and in the correct proportions. It is supported by the FDA, the World Health Organization, and perhaps most importantly, the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences. The highest possible score is 100. -- Collagen Protein gets a 0 (the lowest possible score) -- Whey Protein Isolate gets 100 (the highest possible score) Some proteins such as COLLAGEN or HYDROLYZED COLLAGEN protein are missing one of the EAAs entirely. So the PDCAAS for collagen is zero. Collagen is often the main ingredient in protein supplements that come in a liquid form, and they usually have lower PDCAAS scores. Here are some collagen products that have lower PDCAAS scores: New Whey and Profect1: These products appear to have a PDCAAS score of 5 or 6 out of 100. Lab analyses of several samples suggest that about 94% of their protein, by weight, is from collagen. Proteinex2: The Proteinex OTC products appear to get protein only from hydrolyzed collagen, so their PDCAAS score is 0 or virtually 0. Pro-Stat 64 / Pro-Stat 1013: These products appear to have a PDCAAS score of about 37 out of 100. The BEST products to purchase are products made from whey protein ISOLATE (not concentrate) and soy protein ISOLATE.

They are not a protein your body can assimilate in the way it needs to for healthy weight loss. You might as well chew on your dog's nails and call that a protein shot....it's a total waste and you are kidding yourself if you add it into your protein goals for the day.

Her facts were a bit off but what was said is true. People do eat around their tools and people do gain weight back, but not to the extent that she said of course. But those people likely didn't deal with their food issues and didn't make the changes necessary to their lives to be successful. This is just a tool and if some silly witch with an MD under her black hat is going to make you gain two pounds than it's time for your to assess where you are in that journey right? I mean that in a nice way, believe me....you're rocking your sleeve so far, but don't let some silly idiot push you back down a long dark road. Use her as a valuable lesson about why you feel you've gained weight since you saw her. What did you do? Did a cookie help? Probably not right? And yes change doctors, but TELL THE MANAGEMENT WHY!!!!! Arrogant idiots can only be dealt with if you share your negative experiences with her boss. She may not like WLS...heck I don't either in many cases, but as a medical professional, with a patient sitting in front of you who's already had the surgery, what the hell good are you doing telling them they made a bad choice? It's just stupid at an amazing level of stupid Don't tell them that you reacted with food....just share the facts and do so in writing so that they can use this as a training tool. It may not help her, but it could help another doc not stick his/her foot in their mouth in the future and might just manage to get her to keep her thoughts to herself when the next poor patient sits in front of her. But don't let her win dear! You have to make the right choices to prove her wrong Success is hard to argue with.

Sue and Sassy, Thank you again for the kind thoughts. It is what it is...when life tosses me lemons I make a nice gin and tonic and move forward I'm not happy about the situation, but it can't really be changed so the only way to deal with it is to charge forward in whatever direction possible to fix it. I am seeing experts and we are waiting until I am out of the weight loss phase to make final determinations. Likely we won't make any drastic moves until I hit my one year mark from the second surgery, so early October as long as I don't loose too much weight prior to that. (I'm about 20lbs to goal, though they may raise it up a bit given the issues). I didn't lose my stomach, which was nice And I didn't die. So I'm two steps ahead of where we thought I was going! Maybe a year from now I can be helpful in sharing the relative tastes...or is that feelings....of Protein shakes going in the belly button I bet the yucky ones aren't that bad if you don't put them in your mouth LOL

I wouldn't drink it in the first six weeks...that's dangerous, but I was allowed carbonation at four months. I was a big bubbly Water drinker...in fact never drank anything else but I gave it up for the surgery and honestly, it's full of crap so I haven't minded not drinking it since. I do drink champagne and find that it isn't hard on me. I find soda though to be harder as the bubble are bigger and bother me too much (I've only had a few sips since surgery). Sometimes it sounds good so I take a taste, but I seem to have lost the taste for it (too sweet even if it's diet and too many bubbles). That's probably not a bad thing. I love champagne and have it maybe every other week or so now. I enjoy it. I think if you can limit your treat to being a treat it won't be all bad. Carbonation will NOT stretch your stomach unless you are in the healing phase where it could cause issues with your suture line. I am facing a future feeding tube because my stomach is too small. Believe me my doc would have told me to drink a six pack of soda a day if it would actually cause a stomach to stretch Don't listen to old wives tales.

I had a very sick baby and had to do some things that people find very controversial. At ten months of age a VERY GOOD doctor told me to give him six oz of diet soda daily and he'd never be back in the hospital for dehydration again. He was right, it was amazing. And from that point on until to day (he's 7) there are people who feel they must share with me their views seeing a child drink soda (not to mention when it was in a baby bottle watered down). Believe me, I knew that soda wasn't in the plans for my baby, but life threw me a curve and there we were. The pain it saved him from was immense! He'd been in the hospital over a dozen times for dehydration prior to seeing that wonderful doctor. He eats cheetos and m&m's now whenever he wants them. I have been stopped by so many people, fat and thin, who want to tell me that I"m taking him down a path to a future life of obesity because I'm such a bad mom. They of course don't know he won't eat more than 3 or 4...he has no natural hunger drive so for him it's just the taste and then he's done and for me, I need to get any calories down him I can. Fat people know surgery is available. But there are many reasons that they might not have or want it. Having someone wave their views in their faces isn't going to help any and likely it will cause hurt. Every idiot who had to speak up to me has been in the wrong. I am bitter about every stupid one of them....I wish they had to deal with what we did, though honestly....no I don't because I don't want another child to suffer as mine has, but I'd like to teach people a valuable lesson about judgement. You think they're fat enough for the surgery so you'll tell them about it???? Judgement. If they want to know they'll ask. If not, be quiet, be kind.

I think you got some good answers here but I'd just like to add...why won't you ever be drinking or having caffeene and why do you think you'll be on a diet for your lifetime? I didn't have the sleeve because I wanted to live the diet lifestyle and I don't. I enjoy wine regularly and a cup of coffee each day (which is all I ever have had). I eat more protein than I used to, but that's the only real change I have. I can eat so little that it's pretty much impossible to gain weight even if that "little" includes things like french fries or ice cream. I can only eat about 4 fries anyhoo Since the surgery I do find that sugars are harder to consume and I keep those very low, not because my "diet" requires it, but because they don't sit well on my tummy. That's not a bad thing I'm six months out and while I regret having had this surgery due to the complications, it would not be fair for me to say that I didn't lose weight and that I have absolutely no hunger drive. I have to really think about eating because if I miss a meal I can't make it up as I used to. The loss of hunger thing is different for all of us but I know many people six months to a year out who still have no real hunger issues. Head hunger? Sure that's a demon many fight with, but real hunger...it's just not there, even when it should be.

I was a good candidate for the band and wish I'd have done that verses the sleeve. While they do have band complications, they are rarely life threatening which isn't the case with the sleeve. I didn't want the port and foreign object in my body and thought that filling etc would be a pain...and instead I will now end up with a port because my stomach is too small to allow me proper nutrition. Ironic huh? Failed successes? Is that possible LOL Even I will say I have lost weight with the sleeve, so in the weight loss dept, no failure there, but I do regret having done this to myself. There's no going back unfortunately as there is with the band.

I am much like Sue, I tell anyone who asks what my real secret is. I don't think it's fair to leave out the surgery portion of the secret, but then Im a million percent honest out of fear of screwing up if I lie LOL I originally was not going to tell people at all, even my closest friends, but I thank god that I did because they would have been really hurt to find out the hard way, while I was doing the helicoptor transfer to the hospital or something. Their support when things went horribly wrong was beyond amazing and I'm not sure if they'd have felt so good about providing that support if I'd have kept the secret. I'm almost six months out now and I still tell many people, but occasionally if it's not someone I know well or maybe someone I see very rarely I just say "it was about time to lose the baby weight" (My son is 7). And laugh it off. If I'm pressed on my secret though I tell the truth. I don't care if someone is judgemental at all, they have a right to their opinion, but again, I also don't want to live in a web of fibs and omissions...in the long run that's just too hard to do IMO. As to the stupid "join the gym" comments LOL Darling I would have said just what you wrote here. 100% open and honest is so much easier of a come back to that kind of response than anything else can be. I deeply regret my surgery and wish I'd have joined a gym so when I get a response like that I agree it would have been a better option. It's not for everyone though and it's totally fair to bat back with a "Do you think I didn't try that approach" when it's tossed at you. I will say, that like Sue, with almost all of the weight gone it's hard for people to argue my surgery was not a successful weight loss program so those comments rarely come my way. Success is hard to combat

If you don't read the complication threads you likely won't read that people have regrets. I had serious complications that almost killed me. I am left with a stomach so small we're talking about adding a feeding tube so I can take in enough calories to live. Yes I have major regrets. Stupidest thing I've ever done in my life. I know another woman who is facing a rare complication that is forcing her to gain weight or die. Seriously, she will die without gaining weight again. Another who has long term heart damage because of the surgery. Lots of regrets out there. IF you are having this surgery you need to be sure you understand that the risks are very high. The numbers are low but the risks are not simple little issues like an extra week in bed. They are life threatening in almost every case.