Scully

Family history of high blood pressure, heart attack, and Type II diabetes;

Chronic major depression - which doubles heart disease;

Realization that I needed a physical tool to assist me with the emotional overeating issues.

We are all on our own journeys. Be patient with yourself. Expecting a baby can be a significant stress (even if highly desired)! You've recognized that you want to change and reached out for support. What a great start.

Bring those emotional eating tools to bear and cut yourself a little slack, lol.

Every anti-depressant impacts each person differently. Just because the side effects doesn't list weight gain, it could still happen despite best efforts. Be patient - it takes 4-8 weeks for each medicine to prove (or not prove) itself.

One of the reasons I had the VSG was to help control the impact of psych medicines on my weight and general health. It's working!

Kudos! Do be sure to mind your body and don't overdue it. :-) I did that one day and the next I was very week. Learn from your new tummy.

Ensure chocolate - high Protein (25 g)

My doc said liquid/crushed/dissolvable and whole only if it doesn't come in the aforementioned forms. About 2 weeks before surgery, I asked Walgreens to call my docs and get as many as possible in dissolvable format. All but one, and it was a liquid. :-)

I plan to use them for 30 days and then switch back to pills (smaller than m&m's, of course).

I had a single incision at my belly button.

1. Meditate

2. Call/text my sis

3. Freezing cold Decaf iced tea

Congratulations!!!

I want to share an idea that I had that was very well received by my caregivers.

I wrote thank you notes for the doctors, the anesthesiologist, and the nurses and gave them out BEFORE the surgery. As I saw each one before going under, I gave them the homemade cards.

Each card thanked them in advance for their care, their help in improving my health, and their assistance in helping me through the big change. The anesthesiologist teared up. He had never received such a thing and was so grateful. It felt so good to make a connection with the whole "team" and see ourselves as being in it together!

This was not sucking up or striving for special care - but it sincerely shared my feelings of appreciation. I saw my cards in pockets and at the nurses station so I know it made a difference.

Best wishes! Love your positive attitude.

Not sure I'm the expert, but I take two mini bites and then wait. And then if that works, I try another mini bite...and so on. It seems to help keep me from overindulging too much.

Check out a posting I made "Super Small Amounts of food? " - everyone was so helpful and responsive!

I saw this thread and just had to ask. Has anyone had the same reaction to the Celebrate Vitamins? I am 1 week post op and my NUT just recommended I start my Vitamin regimen with Celebrate Vitamins. Well I just took 2 multi and couldn't get to the bathroom fast enough to throw up. It was awful!

The ones I took were samples I received from the company. They don't taste great and I can see myself wanting to gag every time I try to take them. I really don't want to spend all that money on a 30 day supply if they are going to make me sick every time I take them...

I don't know what to do?!?!?

I am having the same trouble with the Celebrate Multi-Vitamin chewables. They make me gag - in food, before food, after food, chewed quickly, sucked as candy, dissolved. Ech. I am getting so frustrated. My doctor insists on chewable or liquid FOR LIFE. I see him in a couple of weeks and I'm going to beg for mercy and see if he'll let me take the celebrate dissolvable capsule at 8 weeks.

I am 4 weeks out from surgery, and I can only take in very small amounts of food - like 1/2 of a yogurt; or 1/2 scrambled egg.

Anybody else experience this? Just need somebody to relate to - my dietician says it most likely is just swelling...

I look like Gillian Anderson from "The X-Files"; her character was named Scully. I am a girl.

I feel you! I was also battling to decide for a while. Here is my experience and I hope it helps:

I am a little over 3 weeks post-op and I'm realizing that there is one thing people on this forum (with all due respect) won't admit. It's simple but many of us don't want to say that we have an excessive psychological connection with food, and that fixing that relationship may be much better that cutting 85% of our stomach out.

This surgery isn't as simple as everyone says here (when I was reading this forum pre-op) and there are many things that there isn't much information about here too (like the painful drainer and annoying pimples under your incisions, etc...) You follow people as they decide and then see them commenting, "Yay, I'm sleeved and I don't feel much pain" and you think, "Wow, that's encouraging!" But that's not to blame anyone here. We're all on pain medication after and some people have complications and some don't. I had surgery the same day as 3 other people and they were eating 3 bowls of broth, drinking 2 bottles of Water and having 2 popsicles the first day (some ordered even more stuff) and I was vomiting for 4 days, so you may be one of those who have no trouble -- I hope so!

I've had to take a hard look at my life after surgery (nothing like before surgery) and realize that I became overweight because of certain things that happened when I was 17 that isolated me and made me turn to food for comfort. I now also realize that if I can psychologically resolve those issues or understand them better, that doing so alone will empower me to rid myself of the self abuse I engage in using food. This surgery will help you eat better, true. I've lost 20 lbs in a month (counting my 2 week pre-op diet) and yes, I'm in a stall now and I messed up eating solids way too early... But one of my regrets, aside from a minor complication I had and I might have to live with heartburn and medication for it for the rest of my life, is that if I would have dealt with my psychological issues (the root of the problem) not only would I have probably lost the weight without WLS but getting to goal and staying there would have allowed me to gain much self respect (the opposite of what caused my problem) -- self abuse. I would have probably been in much better health (especially since, like me pre-op, you don't have any, thank God) and I probably wouldn't be living on supplements either.

I encourage you to think about the root of the problem. I've always been very strong mentally (accomplishing things people who are much older are nowhere near), so that makes me wish I would have used a mental approach to tackle my messed up relationship with food first vs. an evasive/permanent surgical approach. Maybe I would have reached a resolution mentally and wouldn't have needed to mutilate my digestive system to help myself.

I'm sorry if this sounds too depressing or discouraging but I am being brutally honest.

I agree. I spent many months in therapy working on my emotional eating prior to even considering surgery. I came to the realization that I needed physical support and negative reinforcement to get the job done. I need to feel the pain of eating too much with my tiny tummy. I need to address the feelings that arise when I don't have my comfort food. This change is hard -- emotionally. I admit that I had a complication-free surgery and recovery so far is difficult but doable. With my new tool in place, I continue to work with my therapist on food.

I wish you the best in deciding what is right for you and your family - physically and emotionally.

The past two days have been birthday celebrations at the office. The executives were chowing down on mini-cheesecakes, Cookies, cake...you get the idea. I partied with ice Water. And you know what? I didn't crave the food, I didn't feel left out, and I didn't feel like everyone was watching me.

Woo hoo for emotional victories!

Congrats on your achievement!

I was cleared for full liquid after 7 days home.

I met my first goal today - under 200 pounds! DH and I have picked out some non-food rewards for these little victories (scale and non-scale), and it sure helps get through those tough moments.

wooooo hoooo!

I had a hard time initially (and even now!) determining what was stomach pain, what was hunger, and what was gas. I eventually settled on walking, walking, walking, and chewing ice, and sipping, sipping, sipping. In a few days things settled down considerably.

Still learning how to best serve my new tummy!

Congratulations!

Henry Ford said "If you think you can do a thing or you think you can't do a thing, you are right".

Best wishes!