Go Kart Mozart

I never had heartburn before surgery, but now 25 months out I'm resigned to the fact that I'll probably be living with it forever. I take Nexium every 2-3 days, and it takes care of it. If I don't take it, though, I'm in absolute misery.

Also, don't worry about constantly eating too much. It's a little trial and error at first, but once you get used to it, you can literally look at a meal and know exactly where your "sweet spot" is going to be.

I'm 2+ years out now, and restriction for me feels no different than before I was sleeved. It feels like I'm full if I eat a certain amount, just like I used to (of course, with a lot more food back then). I don't get pain or nausea.

I'm sorry. My surgery was almost delayed, and that was tough. I can't even imagine what an actual cancellation feels like.

More than any of the good things that have come out of my surgery, I take great pride in the fact that now I've inspired three people to have weight loss surgery based on my success (the most recent had hers on Monday). Two of them had VSG (I talked both out of lap-band), and one had bypass. I hope that they inspire others to do the same. It truly feels great to have that kind of impact on the lives of others.

I'm now 25 months out from surgery, but ever since I had it I've had something similar to burps that come out of my stomach, but they're not burps - it's more like air escaping from my stomach through my mouth. It happens 3-4 times a day, and I can generally control it. My boyfriend describes it as "it sounds like you're giving birth to aliens through your mouth." It doesn't bother me at all (it's kind of funny), just wondering if I'm alone in this.

I was wrong on death rate, best leak fix, and most common location of leak.

17/20. Some interesting stuff.

Oesophagus is the correct UK spelling, but point taken.

I used to live fairly close to there (an hour away I'd guess?) and might have visited if they had it when I did. I always hate ordering off of the regular menu, because I eat a small amount and invariably the waiter or waitress will ask if the meal is ok/something's wrong. Drives me up a wall.

cheese doesn't bother me at all, but milk might send me running to the bathroom a couple of hours later, but if I want to have a milk based drink (say, iced coffee with milk from Wawa) I will. I never had that problem before. Sadly, I absolutely can *not* drink milkshakes at all - they make me nauseous almost immediately. I'd like to be able to have them on a special occassion (say 2-3 times a year), but I can live with it.

I enjoy reading the pre-op forum sometimes. It's funny how we tend to obsess about our "last" meals (Lord knows I was among them), but honestly I'm now 16 months out from surgery and I ate everything I wanted to yesterday and didn't feel left out at all. Don't stress about it.

I avoided alcohol for about 6 weeks post surgery, but have drank like I did pre-op ever since. I'm a bit of a drinker (and don't apologize for it), and despite drinking I'm basically at goal. I will say that it took a while to get back to my old tolerance, but once I got past six months or so it wasn't an issue. I'm glad for those who don't drink, but moralizing teetotalers need not try to sway me.

I wish I had known that I would be dry heaving for 48 hours after surgery (though that's probably uncommon), and how hard it would be to go a month without solid food.

Morris Washington? I used him when he was at Central Jersey Bariatrics.

Having the confidence to begin dating for the first time since 2006 or so.

I'm about 5 or so pounds away from "overweight" and I can't wait to join the club.

At 16 months out, this still happens to me quite a bit. I've just grown used to it.

I was out at a dinner buffet with my boyfriend last week, and he had three full plates while I only had a portion of one. I was absolutely shocked to think that I used to be able to eat that much (and probably a lot more). It made me ill to think about it, actually.

I'm exactly 15 months out today - still losing weight, though only 2-3 pounds per month these days.

I always assumed popcorn would be difficult to eat, but it turns out I could literally eat it continuously without having to stop. A big slider for me - I have to stick to the 100 calorie bags when I have it.

The surgery is never far from my mind, because it springs to mind the moment I look in a mirror, but I think I began to feel the "new normal" about 2-3 months after surgery, though I couldn't pinpoint an exact moment. I'm only ten months out (not a year like you asked), but I'm beyond really needing this place for advice very often. I do enjoy the community aspect of it, and like to answer questions if the situation is right.

I wouldn't suggest anyone follow my lead, but I still drink with meals (and have been drinking carbonated beverages since 4-5 months post-op) and haven't had an issues with either. Weight loss has been great still, too.

I'm a bad example - I haven't tracked anything outside of the first 3-4 weeks post-op. Hasn't really hindered my weight loss, so I'm ok with it.

My doctor/insurance didn't require a certain amount of weight loss or nutrition classes, but if you gained weight from any one pre-op appointment to the next, you'd be cancelled. As such, I didn't really lose a lot of weight beforehand (15 lbs. in two months), just enough to not be kicked out.