GeorgieGirl1957

Yep, dry mucus membrane, and throw in the blood thinner and a bloody nose will happen. As long as your B/P has been fine, it's probably nothing. Call your doc if it keeps happening though. Otherwise, probably not a cause for concern. gg

Yeah, I have to use the mesh fabric tape, too. Even the adhesive on a bandaid makes me rashy, with itchy weeping sores. Yep, the incisional itching is from the healing. But even knowing why doesn't make it itch less. Vit E also works, so does aloe, and lanolin. As long as you're not allergic to it. I happened to have silvadene cream on hand and my incision was a little angry looking, so I used it. My belly looked like a war zone too...blood thinner's injection sites and 5 incisions, and all the sores from the adhesives. No! I didn't take any photos. It was gross! Every now and then my granddaughter wanted to see my owies though. She was fascinated by them so I showed her the progress. I was so happy when the last one finally closed up so I could go swimming.

OMG! I am 7 weeks out and I still itch occasionally. It was fierce earlier, but better now. I put silvadene cream on the incisions. That helped the pulling/itching feeling.

You've lost a sizable chunk now. Could be those hormones..? My hores moan all the time. gg

The last time I saw a 1 in the front digit was 1979. I am 7 lbs away from Twoderville. Then, Onderland goal will be the next major milestone after 250. I didn't get this way overnight, so it will take a while to get back to a normal size and weight. But for the first time I have the belief that I WILL get there. GG

I was in room 20! Tell everyone I said hi. GeorgieGirl.

You have made a great decision that will be great for the rest of your life. It is life altering, but in such a positive way. You can eat the same stuff, eventually. So tell yourself, "eventually I can anything I want, just not everything I want, and just not NOW". I promise you, you will NOT feel deprived once you get past all the liquids. It can be an emotional roller coaster and of course it IS surgery and you will have some healing to do. But once you get past that, you will have a new lease on life. And you will likely wish you would have done it years ago. But just keep looking forward as you reclaim your life. Keep up the high Proteins during the two weeks preop, unless your doc says otherwise. And come here for support because the folks here are like a loving family. Everybody heals at a different rate, but unless your grandbaby is on the big side, 2 months old isn't too heavy to lift. Just don't bend at the waist and lift. And when the baby is sleeping, use that time to rest yourself. Babies mostly sleep the first three months, so you will get a lot of time to rest. Be sure and take it. And don't neglect your fluids. GG

PS: peel the jicama first! Don't eat the skin, it doesn't chew well. gg

Jicama is popular in the southwest. If you have a Mexican market you will likely find it there. In AZ we buy it in the produce dept. I have found if you slice it really thin using a meat slicer, you can use it as taco shells, or even load them up with humus! Jicama is crunchy. Another way I make it is to slice it into 1/2 logs and sprinkle liberally with fresh lime juice, then sprinkle with a taco seasoning or something we call Tajin. Which is a chile powder. Again, Mexican market. Another good snack is chunks of green coconut. (I know where to buy it here, but have no idea elsewhere.) It has the consistency of mango, very soft flesh, not like the brown dry coconut they sell in the grocery store. Fix it the same way, with lime juice and chile or taco mix/ powder. It's incredible. I also take salami slices, add some chevre (goat cheese) sun dried tomatoes and green olives. Roll it up like a cigar and enjoy! These are things I have eaten my whole adult life. The problem is, I ate a lot and everything else with it. I am learning to eat like a French lady now! A bite of this and a bite of that. I am enjoying all the stuff I always ate before....just less and without the breads and pastas. I am sure I will eat wheat products again someday, just not now, and not the portions I had before. GG

Sometimes I take fresh mozarella (the one packed in water) and eat a couple slices with tomato and a leaf of fresh basil, sprinkle with just a touch of balsamic vinegar. Again, if I need a vehicle for those yummy toppings, cucumber slices or thin slices of jicama does the trick nicely. Since I gave up most breads, I can't have a true caprese, but it's close enough. Occasionally I snack on a 1/4 cup of seeds or nuts, or a few slices of avocado. On rare occasions, I just eat a tblsp of Peanut Butter. That satisfies nicely. :laugh0: But that's high calorie, so only on certain days when I need the extra cals (like if I forgot to eat--which sometimes happens.) Sometimes I get tired of cottage cheese. If I want some extra flavor, I will mix in some green onion dip mix. Just for something different. Another thing that's pretty tasty as a snack or lunch...chop thin slices of turkey (lunch meat breast works well) mix with El Pato sauce, and throw on some grated cheddar. If you're craving something medium hot & spicey--it does the trick! GG

Dear WI, First, don't 'should' all over yourself! Guilt didn't work for us before...it just perpetuated the cycle of guilt-eat-guilt..Not good. Now I suspect, (if you're anything like me) that what you really are craving is the salt and the savory spice of salsa and not really the chips. Can you eat salsa with something else, like maybe cucumber slices? Or throw it on a scrambled egg? One thing that satisfies me is an egg scrambled with shredded cheddar. I nuke it and it turns into a souffle. Then I put salsa on it. I usually cannot eat the whole thing, but it gets my Protein in and satisfies my hot spicy craving at the same time. I caution against the chips however for a few reasons...yes, high carbs will stall your loss. 2.) the salt in them will help you to retain fluids and that will artificially cause wt gain. 3.) most corn was not intended for human consumption and it is extremely hard for humans to digest. (I personally cannot digest corn and have a great difficulty with corn products.) Suffice it to say that if I eat corn, it isn't pretty (even before surgery so I am certain it would be worse now.) In order for me to have a sense of normalcy with all this, I need to get creative to get my old favorites in, even if they are in smaller portions and slightly altered (like scraping the toppings off my favorite pizzeria pizza and only eating two bites of the crust--haha). It still was heaven and I never felt deprived. Be kind to yourself..inside and out! GG

Well, the fact that pizza has tomato sauce on it also gave me a little worry. Prior to surgery I was having a little stomach trouble with red sauce. But it was fine! Still taking my nexium though. Not sure that it would have gone down so well without it. I also chewed it up really well...not my usual pizza inhalation of the past. I love my sleeve! GG

Well, after 6 months of spartan dieting, (6 weeks of which is post op) I ate about 2/3 of a slice. Didn't eat all the crust but pretty much scraped it clean! :scared0: OMG!!! It was soooo good. But the best part was that I was full and satisfied with less than a full slice. In the past, I could easily munch down 1/2 pizza by myself. Sometimes, with wings and a salad. And the scale even moved this morning...down another lb. It doesn't get any better than this!!! :bored0:

I'll bet your body is trying to conserve. Take another shake later in the evening. Sometimes when you add Protein calories your body doesn't try to hoard so much. I hit my stall at 5 weeks. Lasted a week and the scale started moving again at week 6. I have now lost 32 since surgery, and 40 in the 4 months before surgery. I can't wait to hit the century mark, but really what excites me is that 9 more lbs I will cross into Twoderville for the first time in about 9 years. That really tickles me. Keep it up. Keep drinking your Fluid. Add some calories and see what happens. Funny thing, I also noticed the scale doesn't move on days that I didn't get adequate sleep the night before....weird...but it's true. GG

I was August 12th, Dr. Aceves in Mexicali (awesome surgeon, btw). In some of my prior threads, I told of how I gained lost and regained 250 twice over the last 30 years. I could always lose a lot of wt. But I couldn't keep it off once the "diets" ended. And each time regained with a 30% bonus. I knew the yoyo was killing me and I had to do something drastic. I have never, not for 5 mins regretted my decision. Best thing I ever did for myself. GG

Ditto Kiddo. I am with you in thinking this would be breeze. Watching and reading everyone's wt seemingly just melting off gives one a false sense... But, on the other hand, in many ways, it has been a breeze. I cannot cheat. I cannot overeat. Even if I want to. And, the fact that this is a permanent solution to a permanent problem gives me incredible mental strength that I cannot explain to anyone who hasn't gone through this. I have seen people hit goal in 6 months. As a heavyweight starting out, I know this isn't going to happen for me, but I know that I will get excellent results in 6 months just the same. Considering in less than 6 months I have already lost 71 (due to the 40 pre-op while waiting for my surgeon). and only 31 of that has been post op (6 weeks yesterday) I really cannot complain. I believe by Christmas I will lose another 50 which will put me down 120 and that's about the same as lighter weights getting to goal. Christmas will be 4.5 months post op. So that is a good case for celebration! I am so happy with my sleeve. I plan to work it a full year and hope to get within spitting distance of 150 lbs. When that happens, I will be down 230# from my heaviest wt (March 2010). Of course, my short term goals are much smaller as the 230 number is just too overwhelming to think about by itself. But the part that really gives me the giggles is knowing that this time I can prevent the wt from returning. Because, there's no way I will ever be able to eat the quantity of food I ate before. Never. It's just not possible. And that is sooo liberating. GG

Once again, let me congratulate you Anna, for being within spitting distance of 100# lighter! I can only imagine what that is like, and your heartfelt letter to us here is an inspiration. I remember when I first contacted you before I had my sleeve. I really appreciated the help you gave me then and your continued support here on this board. Thanks and congrats! GG

We have no lack of ignorance in this world. I am sure you had to bite great big holes in your tongue to keep from sharing a piece of your mind with the imbecile. I know I would have.

Highest Wt...March 2010 380 Pre-op Wt....Aug. 12th 340 6 wks post op weight 309 Ht.: a hair under 5'10 Total loss....71# since April. 31 lbs post op

Hey Tiff, I agree. And without the GERD symptoms after losing my preop weight, I find that I really can enjoy the nuclear stuff again. I couldn't have gotten thru full liqs and mushies without the spice rack. I'm with you there. And right now we've gone thru the HATCH green chile season. I didn't buy my usual 30# for roasting this year, only 3. But they were so good in my scrambled eggs! I too was worried that with a tiny stomach, I wouldn't be able to tolerate the capsacin from peppers, but so far so good. I think a big key is not to eat hot stuff too close to bed time and you should be ok. You wouldn't want that stuff to come up with reflux. GG

Good for you! A wise decision I think! It will be tough though to be disciplined to stay OFF the scale. I know for myself, I have gotten into the every morning habit. In the beginning when you lose a lb a day, it gets so encouraging and that motivation is addictive. Then it lets you down so badly when the lb/day stops, or worse, retreats the other direction! But we all need to remember that Water weight fluctuations and the addition of muscle all mess with the scale (and with our minds!) I have been doing the 1 down, 1 up, then 2 down, after a couple of iterations of the fluctuation. Kinda drives me nuts. I am doing great on the food intake, not eating the wrong things, getting my fluids in. But I just cannot stay off the freaking scale. I think I have this irrational fear that if I don't look I might get gain and it will get away from me and I will end up like I did before, very overweight and out of control. Anybody else feel like this? GG

Anna, OMG you are doing soooo well! I just noticed your BMI and total wt loss...you are almost at the century mark!! Sooo cool! I'm very excited for you! Looking foward to joining you there! GG

I forgot to mention that the a special advertised on bands was what took me to the WLS seminar in the first place. I didn't even listen to the whole speech from Dr. Husted (who was my original doctor). But luckily my husband paid attention. After the seminar, chatting with Dr. Husted, I learned I was not a candidate for the band and went home broken hearted. My husband started talking about the sleeve. Then I started thinking about it and was afraid I wouldn't lose enough (I am a heavy weight) and started researching the DS. But the thought of having my guts rerouted and all the food restrictions and gas, bad odors if you eat the wrong thing, diahrrea, dumping, etc...made me reconsider it. So, I finally made peace with the idea of the sleeve. Once I made up my mind, I couldn't get it done fast enough (I also had a tight window of time that I had to get it done in) and Dr. Husted was new in town and couldn't get privileges at the hospital. Because I am a private pay, his price was prohibitive too. I couldn't raise enough cash in my time frame. A friend put me in touch with Dr. Aceves in Mexicali and I ended up going to him for my surgery, for 40% of the price and he is every bit the awesome surgeon that Dr. Husted is. It was wonderful. I have had virtually no problems, I am 6 weeks out and on a regular diet now. Still losing, though not as fast as the first 4 post op weeks. GERD is gone, and I have no regrets. But it is a permanent solution to a problem that has haunted me for nearly 30 years. I just didn't want to keep the yo yo going anymore. The thing I like best is that I am always satisfied after eating. Maybe my tongue might want more, but my stomach is sated, and on just a little bit. Some things I can eat a little more of, some things less, but usual dinner is 4-6 ounces of food. I'm pretty much full on the Protein, but I also try to get some produce in as well, when I can. The only thing I had to "give up" was soda. And that was no great sacrifice as I mostly drink Water and iced tea my whole life. My once or twice a month coke was easy to walk away from. And for the first time in my life I feel like I am in control. My only regret is that it didn't exist 20 years ago. It's safe, not too painful (much less than my gall bladder surgery was 7 years ago) and PERMANENT. My permanent quality of life is the best part. GG

My surgery was delayed to due surgeon's privileges issues, so I was on a diet for 4 months. My GERD went away when I lost 30 lbs. I lost a total of 40 preop and have lost another 30 in the 6 weeks since surgery. No sign of the GERD and for a few more months I will be on Nexium. But I feel great!!! Really happy with my sleeve, and my fully functioning stomach with nothing rerouted anywhere. It's just small, which restricts the AMOUNT I can eat, but not the variety. Getting past the liquids diet is probably the toughest thing, but even that is not bad. I too live in Phoenix. Send me a PM if you want to chat privately. GG

Hey Cheri, I am closing in on twoderville so I understand your excitement about onederland!!! Congrats!!! I am so excited about being this close for the first time in 7 years. I cannot even imagine getting to onederland. It will be about 25 years for me since then. I am with you, with each pound lost my face looks better and my breasts look worse. Bat wings are already a problem, so if you find a solution, please let me know. I feel for you on your cycles...mine were always hellish when I had them, but I had a hyst 8 years ago and I have to say I am really glad to not be going thru that right now, too. Isn't it so very cool that for the first time in our lives, we have a tool that will make maintenance finally work for us! Instead of watching the regain! I am so excited. gg