iggychic

I will PM You my personal address so you can send me my fee of 42 box tops of sugary cereal and one point three million peso's (lira are also acceptable)

Well there's 8 to 10lbs for ya....

Interesting info on soda (from a bariatric website) Avoid Bubbly beverages – Regular sodas are packed with sugar and high in calories, which can cause you to regain weight quickly, and also cause dumping syndrome if you had a gastric bypass. Diet sodas have zero calories, but ironically, they still can cause you to regain weight. Numerous studies show that diet sodas trigger certain hormonal reactions that cause the body to store more fat. In addition, if you drink a carbonated beverage – even seltzer Water – while eating, it forces food through the stomach pouch faster. That means food does not stay in your pouch as long and you lose the feeling of satiety and increase the chances that you will eat more. Finally, the gas released from the carbonated beverage may cause the food forced through the pouch to enlarge your stoma, which again would allow you to eat more at one sitting – defeating the purpose of the weight loss surgery. Stick with water, caffeine-free teas, and other non-carbonated beverages for best results.

DH bought me a cute little black dress in a size 0. I'd like to wear it LOL (and I will eventually)

Can you please tell me what it's like having the sleeve? Does it feel weird or do you feel pretty much like you did before the surgery, except the eating? My experience was different than most. I had severe complications and have some issues because of those. I am pretty close energy wise to where I was, but my lungs were damaged and I have to be very careful not to get sick for a few years (if possible). If I do I have to go on antibiotics right away to avoid further lung issues. Do you slime or get stuck like the band? I have had just one issue with slime when eating a Protein bar that didn't agree with me. It was too sweet. I'm careful about what I eat and haven't had any other issues. Do you vomit because the food doesn't agree with you or you've eaten way too much? I don't eat too much. I follow my doc's recommendations and listen to my body and have never had an issue with vomiting. Do you get pains when you eat too much? I get the hiccups No actual pain because I never go over what I was told to eat. I feel no need to push it. Are you starving or does the sleeve really curb your appetite? No, but I never was. I ate cuz I was bored or something. But even with these tiny amounts I'm never starving. Can you stretch your new stomach? This is a medically debatable question. The easy answer is really, not much. They are leaving hard muscle which does not stretch easily. Typically you have early restriction due to swelling, etc, but by the end of a year your stomach will tolerate quite a bit more than it does initially (like 8 oz or so). Personally I should have gotten a band. I had no comorbidities, do not eat to excess, and would have followed the rules to a T without risking my life to lose weight. I wish I'd have given that a try prior to taking this step.

Wow Paul, pretty impressive life changes!!!! Thank you for sharing your perspective with us.

LOL Were you going to buy it? I certainly didn't think they were fabulous heh heh

LadyJ that last (or near last) line was so valuable. You assume that people come here for help with the truth and if you're wrong, where's the harm? That's so true. This gal had a bad experience. They happen. They happen all the time. There are many of us here who have had them at centers of excellence after researching and preparing, they still happen. You don't want to believe it? Move on by then. (not you dear, the posters who have to post the crap). We have someone else here who had a horrific experience with the same doc. I'm not surprised to see that they blew two cases after reading her story. (Sleevealicious). She went through hell and got very little support from her docs. In fact for most of the bad cases you read here, doctor support was a major factor (it was in mine and the "horror" story that was posted recently). I'm so glad that is unimaginable for many, but for those who suffer, why kick them when they're down? It makes zero sense and stinks of mean girl syndrome

You'll have to just sit on the dog....

I wasn't meaning they weren't qualified people, just that doing sleeve tests isn't their only job so they have kind of a standard procedure. We've had dozens of these with our son and the instructions were the same as they were for all of my leak tests (I had a leak so I had more than I wanted LOL). In some hospitals they are not physicians and the test is evaluated later by a radiologist. For all tests I've always watched them though. I'd agree it's very interesting.

LOL Bree she's cashing in on her 15 mins.

LOL I thought everyone watched the Housewives. Phaedra (atlanta) is putting out a padunkadunk video because she's known for hers (she calls it padunkadunk and donkey bootie).

My doctor said two months and then be sure you're tracking it with your food choices. I account for every glass of wine I drink and adjust my fitness goals or eating goals appropriately. I am losing just fine but then I don't drink to get drunk, just to enjoy the wine, so that's maybe a glass or two verses tossing down a bottle (though that would help my liquid goals LOL) If your doc says one year, ask them the logic behind that. OFten it's advised because the first year is the best weight loss period so they want to help you get to goal. Booze is kind of like candy...it may taste good but we don't need it right? My physician feels that moderation is key and given I''m a lower BMI that it won't effect me meeting goal.

If you can gulp it won't hurt you It's just that 90% of us gulp and feel intense pain so we are told not to do it. My doc said drink whatever feels comfortable for you. For me it took months to be able to drink even a larger swig. For others they can do it from the start.

That's not insensative. If he worked for me you would be seeing a new boss in the office in seconds upon hearing of this. It's harassment and totally inappropriate!

The techs aren't sleeve trained and for most people they ask you drink in large gulps, as well as asking you to finish the glass of it. If you can, great, it makes the test faster but if you can't (I couldn't) then it just takes longer to do the test and they have to watch a little harder to find any leak that might be there. The heavy stream makes it easier (barium is very heavy). But either way the test will work.

Phaedra has a video coming out

No one raises a special needs child without developing a thick skin and the ability to laugh a lot Well I suppose some do but they aren't much fun to be around a lot! This weight loss thing is easy in comparison And you KNOW it! They make these cushions I see in the back of people mag when I'm traveling...they slip into your pants and give you a nice fat butt. Perhaps a pair might come in handy heh heh

Actually that's not a bad thing. It's a ratio about where you carry your weight. A larger ration between hip and waist means higher risks for certain comorbidiites and long term health issues. If however you need some hips let me fly down again and have some of mine implanted in you! This is the link, though it may bring up my personal info. (It does on my computer). If it does just go down to the calculators section and enter your own data on them all and then it will save it for you and give you a better assessment of your personal health. I found them to be real eye openers! http://www.bmi-calculator.net/personalized/ Do each assessment and read carefully. They're interesting, especially the one that tells you about how to set a goal and that maybe your goal is off because it's not taking into account a healthy fat percentage. And I do think you need to consider that excess skin hun. That's weight that is going to be harder to drop off and your goal should be set accordingly.

You just touched on a subject I was going to bring up about "normal" or "skinny" or whatever we aren't and may get a chance to become. My son has been very ill since birth. He has a rare blood disorder which has caused developmental delays due to his frequent and prolonged illnesses. He has a feeding disorder and prior to the last year I had to isolate him from other children (because they're all germ factories LOL) so he did so much better with adults than children. But now, as he gets healthier (he will grow out of his illness but the delays are still a challenge) I find I'm fine with being the skinny loud one It is who I am...was when I was fat too LOL but what I have trouble in life with is how to have a "normal" child. We have our "normals" which aren't normal...my little guy and yours, as well as weight issues. We learn to adapt to our normal and then we get thrown back into the bigger (and different) normal and ummmm well it feels not so normal! I haven't changed since I've lost weight, but then I've been thin in the last ten years so fat was not normal for me. This makes my transition easier, but honestly, I'm the same person I was fat or thin...I just wear smaller clothing. I have changed since my son was born. He is my only surviving child and I haven't done "normal". So I'm probably over protective, overly fearful, and have to talk myself out of being a helicopter mom on a regular basis. I'm also overly sensitive to his issues that remain because I'm his mom and I know he's got a soft heart that gets hurt easier than most....yet I know he has to experience that as it's part of growing up. I struggle with this stuff daily and much more so now that he's "normal" (he appears to be anyhoo and goes to a school without a special needs designation attached). It's hard to have your "normal" screwed with, even when the changes are good ones! I think you're going to do just fine and yes you may fumble a bit, but remember WE ALL DO! Just keep smiling and you'll get through it. Tell me you haven't done that with your little guy's situation more than once???? You just kinda have to have it in you darling.

Jersey mentioned supliments. They're very important early out because we aren't getting enough from our small and limited food intake. Are you taking any? And if so, it might be worth your time to get a blood test check of your nutrients to see if you're low in B or D which can sap your energy. Balancing your diet is also important (and easier said than done!). Some nuts think that keeping carbs down to nothing is great, others say don't count carbs as long as they're good carbs. Also, the liquids and Protein are important. I found I was having trouble when I wasn't getting in all of my fluids and protein so I made a real effort to up them and it made a huge diff for me. Apparently a woman can't live on wine alone (but if you soak a chicken breast in it it's fair game)