Josephine

It depends on what I'm eating. I can't eat much meat, but things like veggies/crackers/cheese/chips/soup/yogurt/cottage cheese I can eat much more of. The only thing that bothers my tummy is pure milk chocolate. With the band I couldn't eat a lot of stuff cause it hurt, irritated the walls of my stomach, or blocked or got stuck in the hole, but with the sleeve, I can eat anything. best to just use your fork to pick out pieces of meat to eat and then after that eat a couple bites of the rest and you'll be done. I don't chew well enough. Sometimes I still inhale my food lol. I have never thrown up since I got the sleeve. :thumbup1: I threw up all the time with the band and it wasn't even tightened much! No, if you eat too much you will feel uncomfortable for about ten minutes, but no stuck crap to deal with. :thumbup:

Holy crap. You were beautiful big, but now you are simply stunning! :thumbup1:

I'm band to sleeve, 15 weeks out and 77 lbs down! It's a miracle!

You're supposed to quit 3 months before surgery for optimal results, so I guess.. better put the pack away now. He will be able to tell if you're still smoking from your oxygen rate of absorption, and some surgeons.. most.. will cancel the surgery if that number is not above 95.

I think the biggest thing is to quit stressing. I was counting every morsel that went into my mouth and kept hitting stalls. When I went on vacation, ate just a bit of whatever was served, quit writing everything down, let myself be happy, and kept telling myself that I LOVE ME and this is finally gonna work - the weight started MELTING off. In fact, it's going so fast now, I'm starting to get a bit scared. I've lost 42lbs of the 77 lbs in just the last 6 weeks since I've been on vacation. It works if you stop stressing and just LET it work. =) Your only job is to start telling yourself over and over that THIS IS GOING TO WORK, that you are BEAUTIFUL, that you LOVE yourself, and that you need to be HAPPY, THIN, STRONG, and HEALTHY in order to survive. I do this mental re-programming about 5 times a day, and the weight is just falling off. :thumbup1:

Yes you need to wait 12 - 18 months before getting pregnant to make sure you're able to get in the necessary nutrition the baby will require.

I preferred not to alter my intestines if I didn't have to, because THAT is what leads to 99% of RNY complications.

If your liver is very fatty it can actually break open. The surgeon said she actually saw it break open as it was gently removed and then heal itself in front of her eyes. It was a very scary time, and the surgeon was very worried for a time for the patient. She had to stay longer in the hospital and was out of work for 8 weeks healing and the surgeon said it was because she didn't follow her preop diet as ordered. It's a very serious situation.

Yes, order only a drink and an appetizer and tell them you're on a diet and watching your weight. If they're friends, they're probably used to you dieting. They will be chowing down and not caring what you aren't eating.

The only way I got by was to combine my Water and protein. I got the twisted cherry Syntrax nectar and mixed it with lemonaide packets and water and drank thru a straw. You can't smell it that way and the lamonaide really helps to make it taste better. You can do it!

Depending on how much you can eat, I believe that 1 prenatal, 2 calcium, and 1 b12 should be enough for us sleevers. Then your labs will point out any deficiencies that need to be addressed (iron, vitD, etc)

You'll be tired like that for a couple weeks. Your body is burning a lot of fuel to heal you after the traumatic event it feels it's experienced. That's also why we drop so much weight the first 2 weeks (18lbs for me)

I'm 15 weeks out and have lost 70lbs. I believe at 12 weeks I was down about 60. It's a great ride! :001_smile:

They are not sure why it wouldn't come out. I'll have to lose weight so they can get a better look at it, and I had the two best surgeons in The Netherlands working on me. I think that the fat is pressing against it and it's laying against a nerve and that's what's causing all the pain. Hopefully as I lose weight it will stop and I won't have to go thru another surgery, but if it's what's causing all the pain, I will go thru it again to get it out. I don't think it's a coincidence that I was healthy as a horse and then got the band and started having so much pain in my body.

The best thing that worked for me getting rid of all of the gas was to walk walk walk. I walked every night til it went away.

Vitamins are VITAL to WLS patients or anyone on a diet of less than 1800 calories a day. There's no way to get in the nutrients we need on what we eat. Everyone should be taking a Multivitamin every morning with Breakfast and then AT LEAST 500mg Calcium citrate twice a day in addition to the calcium that we get from cheese and milk and yogurt. It doesn't hurt to add in a B12 supplement too. Sleevers especially, because of the acid reducers we take. Any excess B vitamins will be flushed out of your system and not absorbed, so you don't have to worry about getting too much. Don't take calcium with anything else, because the Iron and calcium fight for absorption. I wouldn't take extra Vitamin D, K, or iron unless your labs show a deficiency of them, because too much of those vitamins can cause problems.

The only thing that helped me was to drink drink drink. If you cannot drink enough, try mixing in some grape crystal lite. I can drink about 3 liters a day of that if I work at it. The dry mouth is probably a sign of early dehydration. Unless your pee is clear, you're not drinking enough.

You look very cute. I was gonna say A or D. I think the look is adorable on you. How does it look when you don't feel like doing it tho? Is it very hard to manage? I've left mine long and grown it out on purpose but now that hair is falling out by the handfulls, I'm a bit worried. It looks thicker if I put curling gel in it when it's wet tho. Unfortunately after I wash and brush it after that, even MORE hair falls out. :lol0:

The wrong kinds of carbs can cause a stall in your weightloss. If you are still having trouble eating make sure you get 500 calories from Protein shakes, milk, buttermilk, string cheese.. anything you can get down. Since our bodies are mostly Water, all of our vital organs and systems require water to function. If you are not getting in enough liquids, your body will start to steal it anyway it can to keep your organs functioning. That means it's not using water to flush the fat out of your system and you hit a stall. Water and protein is VITAL to your healing and weightloss during this time. I had so much trouble getting both in during the first month and my LIFESAVER was the Syntrax Nectars. I just mixed in 6 scoops of the twisted cherry one with 2 packages of lemonaide koolaide mix and filled up the gallon jug and shook it up. That was 138 grams of protein and I made myself drink it over a 2 day period. 69 grams per day, plus a bit of cheese or yogurt that I'd force down. I think that helped me get in my protein and water and helped my body heal very well and produced a nice weightloss.

A couple things.. I am a band to sleeve conversion. The band ate thru my stomach, the port attached to my body (and can't be removed) and the band has ruined my life. I am a highly educated woman that cannot even work due to daily pain. I have to take lyrica and oxycontin just to try to get thru the day because of the pain the band has brought to my body. It's insane how my life went from perfect to a nightmare because of the lapband and my body attacking it. I love my sleeve and only pray that after I lose weight, they will be able to see exactly how the port is attached to my body and can possibly remove it and relieve me of the daily torment I live in because of it. I have had no problems with the sleeve.. no complaints whatsoever. It has saved my life and I've lost 70lbs in 14 weeks!!! =) It sounds like to me that the man that died did have the sleeve BUT also had the switch which is what causes nasty diarrhea if you eat too much fat and can also cause malnourishmentbecause it is a bypass surgery. I have NEVER heard of someone with just the sleeve having those issues or dying. It sounds like they only know part of the story. I honestly feel that the sleeve is the best weightloss surgery available to us at this time due to it's low risk of complications with comparable weightloss to the RNY. In fact, I've lost more than some RNYers that had surgery at the same time as I did.. probably because since I don't have the malabsorption, I know EXACTLY what nourishment is going into my body and can better control my exact caloric intake than someone with RNY. I firmly believe that the band is a terrible device. Our bodies are not designed to have a piece of plastic in them and for many people it causes a lot of problems. I had the lapband with a group of 7 girls and 1 guy. 9 of us in total and all but one of us has been revised, reversed, or replaced with our lapbands. I think that speaks VOLUMES.

I'm glad you decided not to eat it. For one reason: You are healing and you don't want to do anything to comprimise your staple line. You can have a couple french fries in a few more weeks. Rooting for ya girl!!

I hate to waste food too, but I like to think of it like it's just as wasteful on my hips as it is in the trash. And the idea to freeze leftovers in 3 oz containers and label them is a great one. I do that often after I serve the plates. I just freeze the rest and can warm them up the next week or two.

I'm hungrier around period time too. I generally eat 700-800 calories a day in the first 2 weeks of the month and 900-1000 in the last 2 weeks around the time of my period. The sleeve doesn't stop the hormonal issues, but it does control your intake so you still cannot eat a ton of food.

I do free weights/cardio at the same time 5 days a week. On the off days I just go for a bikeride or a stroll thru the park. :lol0:

At this stage try to up yourself to about 500 calories and you might drop a couple more pounds instead of hitting that dreaded week 3/4 stall.