nursing38

I totally get the leg crossing. I havent been able to do that for 20 years. last week I sat down on my bed to put my shoes and socks on and automatically crossed my legs to do it and I could. I was able to do both of them and put on the shoes and tie them. I was so thrilled that I pushed myself harder during exercise. Even if the scale is not always making me happy these small things are.
Also I bought a pair of size 18 capris that I am able to get up to my hips. hoping by the end of the month I will be wearing them. I was a size 26 in march.

I use the premier protien from costco on work days for convience. But still dont like the texture and taste as much as I like the GNC wheybolic. I like the strawberry, Cookies and cream and the chocolate. Also u can order sugar free syrups(torani/de vinci) to add and change the taste. I tried the gnc fruit punch but it was not my thing. A friend of mine prefers the premier drinks. There are so many choices. Also recently started using the Isopure natural which has no flavor. I bought it from Amazon. I love it. I mix it with Water, spinach, frozen berries, splenda and ice and it is yummy. I also add chia or flax powder. you are just going to have to taste test because everyone is different. even on different days of the month my taste differ, go figure. GNC does let you take things back as I have used that service. The guys there were great on recommendations. I tried the Bariatric Advantage protien flavors to add to water but did not like them. Another friend is using them and likes them so it worked out.

I wasn't allowed varnish on my fingernails, but having it on my toe nails was fine, especially as I had to wear the compression socks anyway! Go for that pedicure, I say!!

That's a rotten experience but one day you are going to wet yourself laughing about him... And he will never ever be able to.
Next time tip a drink over his man titties and tell him you are soooo disappointed at what you see, but you have a few male friends who like wet t-shirt contests and you'll pass his name on. Then leave. Don't subject yourself to that abuse. The bloke doesn't deserve air time - he's an oxygen thief. !

I agree with karen, I am so looking forward to a pair of hot jeans and knee high hooker boots. I coudnt even wear ankle boots until last month(fat cankles). But I am starting to get definition in my legs.I would love to be in a single digit clothes but I can not even remember them as I have been overweight since grade school. I am looking forward to that whole new world. being healthy will just be icing on the cake.

emily bites wonton cupcakes- a ton come in a pack for $2.50 & you can freeze them. Lasagna, taco, cheeseburger, french dip, buffalo chicken, you can make whatever stuff you have in the fridge with them, top with cheese and bake til crispy. Love those little things.
Mini turkey burgers. Add unsweetened applesauce and a little dry lipton onion Soup mix, cook small patties on a pancake skillet, open a can or cut up some fresh mushrooms & cook on skillet with a lil worchesterchire sauce. Top on burgers. Another favorite.
Split pea Soup with ham, chili with chicken or any meat can be frozen-chicken stock can stretch it but I strain all my Soups to get more food bite and less juice.
Eggs- eat them every day. Breakfast foods are cheaper than lunch/dinner.
Lunchmeat- I love cracked pepper turkey breast from the deli. It's like $3.50 for 1/2 a lb & it can last me a whole week of lunch just eating it by itself. Add a .25 string cheese and microwave and you got gourmet .
Spaghetti sauce is another good one to stretch. I make it different every time. Onions, minced celery, carrots, zucchini, squash, spinach, mushrooms, ground turkey, ground beef, jarred Ragu, homemade sauce, all fair game except for noodles. I usually make mine very meaty. The sauce can also be used with some italian seasoned ricotta or cottage cheese in the bottom of a wonton cupcake, then sauce, then mozz cheese, sooo good!

Like many overweight folks, I've had plenty of ailments that have kept me down. Besides my weight, I had no issues until I turned 30 (6 years ago)! Then, I went downhill from there: acid reflux, asthma, bad gallbladder, pleurisy, chronic Migraines, herniated disk with sciatic pinch that resulted in permanent loss of feeling in my right foot, s-l-o-w healing after WLS, a stroke last month, then most recently unexplained vision loss.
But, you know what I say to all those ailments now?? "F you! You hit like a girl. You will NOT keep me down because I am determined to live a happy, healthy life in SPITE of all those things trying to stop me."
I know I'm very blessed that (with the exception of the stroke) none of my ailments are life threatening. And, the stroke was very minor... I didn't even know it happened. An MRI to investigate my vision loss showed the stroke. (Incidentally, the stroke and vision loss are unrelated as the MRI showed the stroke actually occurred 2-3 weeks prior to the loss of vision). But, it had been a daily struggle not to let those ailments overpower my willpower. So, I have had enough of them ruling my life!
I've started running.... and not just in the movie theater to get the best seat in the house. I'm training for a 5k. I'm very much a novice (can only go one mile alternating wogging and walking.... and it takes 20 minutes). But, I'm moving and that's what counts! And, I will not get discouraged if I'm the slowest one there. I'm doing this for me and no one else there! I've always wanted to be a runner. When I close my eyes and picture myself at goal, I'm running every morning and keeping active with my everyday life. Then, I realized I didn't have to wait for goal to do that! (ah-ha moment!!). :-D
~Jenn

love cheese crisps, been making them forever.
made some yesterday to use a dipper for hummus (since i can't have bread/crackers). so yum yum
also nice with Soup and spinach/artichoke dip

DOWN 126 pounds and absolutely loving life!
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It just goes to show you how everyone is different. I don't find the BSN
Choc. Coconut to be thick at all. I like it a lot. If you mix it with Water, it wouldn't be thick. Maybe it needs to stand after you have mixed it to
let the bubbles go down.
There are a lot of people who really like Jay Rob. I am going to try it this weekend. I am going out of town where there will be a Vitamin Shoppe.
Keep your reviews coming! We all need this great information!

Not one regret! I'd do it again in a heartbeat, and wish I didn't wait as long as I did.

YAY! So glad you are over this difficulty!
Don't worry about a lighter me.. You told your experience honestly. ALL companies have times when things happen and they are not able to put their best foot forward. Most of the reviews I've read about ALM have been positive, yours was not. It is what it is. Nobody is perfect hopefully this was just a fluke... but reviews don't mean a thing if people who have negative reviews aren't up front about their experience! Hopefully ALM will be able to use your reveiw in order to tweak the way they are operating in order to prevent other patients from going through what you did.
I'm SO glad you're feeling great now.

Im sorry you are going through this, that is not good of them at all.
As to the dont go to Mexico for surgery, you are an idiot. I was banded by Dr.A Ortiz 4.5 years ago and was sleeved by Dr.Aceves March 22/13. Both experiences I was treated amazing and the follow up was great. With Dr.Aceves I have emailed a few questions since surgery and had them reply promptly and had exceptional care at the hospital. I actually went to Dr.Aceves because of the 3 day hospital stay so I wouldnt be sent to a hotel.
I do hope the rest of your recovery is smooth sailing.

Doesn't ALM have a coordinator in Mexico that should be checking on you? Eduardo I think is who they use. I used a different company, but I had Christy checking on my by phone from the States, and Daniel was my coordinator in Mexico who checked on me daily and made sure I got everywhere I needed to be. But I haven't read where you have made mention of a coordinator right there in Mexico taking care of you. OP, please check in with us and let us know how you are doing. I've been thinking about you all night.
ALSO, for everyone asking about sutures/wound care. My coordinator told me ahead of time to expect to care for my own wounds while in the hotel and to bring or purchase in Mexico some bandaids/bandages/tape/peroxide. While at MiDoctor the nurses and doctors cared for my wounds and upon discharge, the doctor explained how to care for my wounds. I was told to only keep the wound where he just pulled the drain from covered for a few days until it stopped oozing. I was also instructed NOT to cover the other incisions after my shower the next morning (that would be the third day) and just wear a loose clean cotton shirt while at the hotel. I was instructed to simply take a warm shower daily and wash all my wounds with soap and Water and make sure they all dry well after the shower and to use a clean towel each day. I was told I can put a dab of peroxide if I wanted but that it wasn't really necessary. I was told specifically NOT to use antibiotic ointment because they wanted the wounds to be dry and the ointment would be wet. My guess is that it all depends on what stage of healing and how they closed the incisions. I was an extremely fast healer and my incisions (except where he pulled out the drain of course) were all healed by the time I left the hospital.. perhaps if they were not yet healed, he would have given me different instructions though.
I did not have staples, I had dissolvable internal sutures and then the outside was glued. A few of the dissolvable sutures poked out and I tugged gently and just pulled them out. I didn't feel any popping.. though when it poked though I felt a little pricking sensation.

I would be spreading the word not to use this place again, to many other options, bad customer service should not be tolerated for a medical procedure. Shame on them

TES, I would agree I was sleeved in Mexico and Dr. Aceves sent me everything before surgery and answered all my questions. Every person no matter where they have surgery needs to understand what they are getting into before surgery. I do know that I have given the same teaching to 2 people at the same time and they both walked away with different things. Those with regrets seem to be the ones who are either having complications they didn't expect or were not mentally ready for the changes to thier lives. People seem to forget this is a major surgery and anatomy altering one at that. You may not be at the hospital long but you still need to take it seriously in the effect it will have on your life.

He he... I read from my Android phone a lot during the day' date=' but I also spend a lot of time reading from my desktop or laptop. Either way, I try to read entire threads, but I certainly agree that not seeing the signatures is a loss of info and sometimes some much-needed context (for example, it seems to me that the regretters who don't have complications are most often in the first two months post surgery, which I've gleaned from reading signatures and looking at profiles). It certainly makes a difference in how I react to and absorb a post to understand where someone is in the process, and maybe a bit about how much pre and post surgery they've had.
I also think that the perception of increase in the number of regrets is that a'] a large number of the regretters post a LOT and b] a fairly large number of them are in those early phases where they're perhaps dealing with head hunger and don't realize it, or for whatever reason they didn't really understand the restrictions they'd be under, regardless of how much it was told to them. A number of people have frankly said if you'd asked them the first few weeks or months they'd have told you they regretted it, but now are really glad they did it.
And yes, I do think a number of people who jump into this quickly without doing a lot of research and contemplation STILL think it's a magic bullet. Those are the ones that really bother me, honestly. I'm not sure I get how you could have been reading this site for months and NOT know you'll have to be on liquids for a while, and no, you can't cheat without risking complications. No, you can't eat ice cream every meal, even if it is only 3 oz. at a time, and expect to lose 50 lbs. in the first two months.
Sorry, this us a pet peeve of mine so I needed to rant for a moment. I'm back to being calm and cheerful again. Carry on!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using VST

I can only speak for myself but, I am very happy with my VGS!! No regrets now at 11 months and 112# off. However, I did have complications the first 2 months and wondered whether I had done the right thing. Never true regret. Never posted any regrets, either.
I am Kim and yes, I am a recovering compulsive overeater. I have gone to OA, so I know that there tools to use to get thru food cravings and abnormal feelings toward food. Also, I lost 96# of my 200 I needed to lose on my own while I researched the VSG and waited for insurance approval. Also had to save money for it. So, I guess I've never looked at it as a quick fix/magic cure for obesity. I'm just so darned happy to have my health back, look amazing, feel great!! I have a very busy social life, too. Plus, I still see a therapist to talk to about my WLS journey, the same therapist who gave me his blessing pre-op. I feel sorry for those who have regrets. If there is anyone out there who needs a WLS friend to talk to private message me.

Yes, I think that you can be underprepared or uninformed even if your surgeon has a great pre- and post-op program. A great example is that I read a poster tell someone that you shouldn't have Protein during the first couple of weeks post-op because your body can't process it at that point. I posted that actually my surgeon stresses how important protein is during those first couple of weeks, to help you heal--he also says that not enough protein during the first 2 weeks is one of the major causes of Hair loss later on. I said it nicely and said maybe our surgeons just have different approaches. But I wanted the OP to have the correct info. Then I happened to see that the person who said that about protein not being a good idea the first couple of weeks post-op had the same surgeon that I do!!! I felt like they (surgeon, handouts, RDs, PAs) told me so many times how important the protein was. It was in the book we were given, which I literally read through 3x while I was waiting around on pre-op testing day. Then I read it again after surgery, went over it in post-op appts, and we went thru it page by page on pre-op day in a group setting. Plus the RD stressed it so much in my pre-op and post-op appts. I am not criticizing the person who made this comment, but it is just an illustration of how even when people are given the same tools, they may have different impressions. It reminds me of people saying their surgeon didn't tell them what to eat/drink on full liquids. Really? I mean, if I weren't given a meal plan for something that important, I would have chosen a different surgeon (we received ours before surgery). The post-op care is just as important as the actual surgery. I'm actually really glad my insurance required 6 months of pre-op medical and nutritional appts, too. That really helped prepare me.

I've been noticing it too. Of course I expect that someone who has serious complications might regret the surgery, but I've been seeing it from those who regret it because they aren't losing fast enough, miss eating, hate that they don't enjoy food anymore, feel hungry all the time, think they can eat too much, hate chewing their food, etc... Most of the regrets I'm seeing lately seem to stem from folks not psychologically dealing with being sleeved.

I regret it every day! I regret being more healthy and fitting into smaller clothes! I regret the fact that my neck is now visible. I regret that it's easier to walk and I regret that I added ten to fifteen years to my life. . . Man food is WAY more important then all that! I'm so ungrateful!

I dunno Laura, I think it has to do mostly with the mental and physical aspects of going through all this. One of the things that I notice that might contribute to the regret thing is that a lot is that people aren't prepared for the surgery. Typically you see them complaining about the pre-op diet, or they don't like the taste of Protein Shakes etc. They want to start eating a week or so right after surgery. To me that's a clue to me, that they aren't taking the whole thing as serious as they need to and those seemed to be the ones that voice the most regret. I also see a lot of people in pain and can't eat or drink, and I wonder about that too? Maybe I'm one of the mutants that got lucky. I've never had any "symptoms" like that. I followed my Drs orders exactly (well except for that whole eating enough thing) and I got my butt in shape pre-op (well as good as I could) and I never looked back. Never had a problem drinking or eating much of anything. I'm not 100% happy losing a pound a week, but it is going down not up and a year ago I couldn't say that. My soon-to-be ex still doesn't get how I was able to get sleeved on a Tuesday, go back to work on a Monday and hit the gym the same week, then two weeks post op, fly from NC to NM with my staples still in and not once have a problem. You just got to suck it up and deal, and maybe that's what we are seeing a lack of... I dunno...

I have been noticing this trend too. As a pre-sleever i have to admit i have been staying off the forum more than usual because i keep reading regrets. I am in this and keeping my mind positive and dont want to be scared out of doing it. I am thinking that some people have a lack of education going into it and afterwards as well. I couldn't imagine doing this without the support of the bariatric team for the weeks/months before surgery, and i would be so scared afterwards if i had not a clue what to post op. I myself have educated my self as much as possible before making a final decision and i am ready to go for it! I am sick of fighting this life long battle and looking forward to the new me. I go to pre-op support groups and hear the good, bad and ugly from both post sleevers and post RNY-ers. I am happy with my decision to have VSG and look at it as the most positive decision i have made in my adult life.

Just a thought, but maybe VSG has become the trend and people are leaping without doing enough looking? Or perhaps the food addiction part isn't truly being addressed preop? Maybe expecting a magical cure all?
I'm not saying this is the case, but it's "food for thought."

Ok...I wanted to do yoga and I was afraid of being too big for yoga, although I was flexible. Notice: I did not say I could balance well for a big girl.
I went to the yoga instructor and asked BEFORE class if I was too big to participate in her class. If she felt I was, "tel me and don't spare my feelings. I don't want to waste my time or yours thinking I can be in this class without ridicule."
She smiled and told me I would be fine. She would assist me with any modifications needed.
Best thing ever. Really! She walked around the room and gave direction and would occasionally stop next to me and show me a modification to the pose, all without interrupting the class. YAY!! She has 80 people per class, and turns others away when at capacity.
For the extra reassurance, I would have the friend speak to the instructor before hand and just let them know they are interested. I think it allows the instructor to feel free to offer modifications without embarrassment or prejudice to either one of them.
I now go once per week and love it!
Hope this helps!