Spatters3

I'm 5'5", started VSG journey at 344 Feb.'12, am now 260. Was wearing 28-30W or 4X, now wearing 3X but everything is baggy (hate spending money for naught).

Yes I would do it again. Usually I make utterly wrong "big life" decisions but getting the VSG was a correct choice. The only problem is that I haven't had a chance to really enjoy it because just a few months after my surgery I was diagnosed with uterine carcinsarcoma. I've been spending all (and I mean ALL) my energy getting through the hyterectomy, chemo, and radiation. I'm hoping some time this coming February I can start really enjoying my weight loss and maybe even start exercising.

Iggychic: I love you sweety. You are phenomenal.

It has only been a couple of weeks and your stomach was traumatized. If you are getting in enough fluids and Protein (via Protein Shakes? ) then just count your blessings :-) You will eventually be able to eat more than a spoonful. No problem.

I used to make all of my & my children's clothes. Necessity is the mother of invention Being a tailor is an old and honorable profession. Even the Apostle Paul was a tent maker !

I had mine at Georgetown Bariatric Center in Georgetown, KY and Dr. Weiss performed the surgery (he also operates in Lexington at Central Baptist). Very talented surgeon, no complications, it is a Center of Excellance too.

I would ask for an upper GI to be done and to be shown the pictures. After my VSG I couldn't even keep Water down, I was puking blood. The doctor had me drink some horrible floor-wax tasting stuff and took a video x-ray of my stomach. Totally cool :-) It was enough to reassure him and me that I was perfectly fine and I was just reacting to the stupid morphine.

Prior to being able to get that done, please be careful with your stomach! Don't eat a lot just because you can. Your sleeve may actually still be "traumatized" and numb and you're just not feeling the restriction or discomfort.

Also, maybe you misunderstood the doctor and he only removed the band and will be doing the VSG at a later date? Yeah, I know, that's a little far fetched.

I was forbidden from participating in our office weight-loss challenge because I "cheated" by having the VSG.

I just shook my head and said, "riiiight".

swallowing gum is bad ? Sounds like an old wive's tale to me. Maybe lapbands can't handle it but there is no physical reason why my sleeve would have an issue with a little lump of totally digestable gum.

OP: if you feel the need to snack start using Protein as your go-to snack food (pepperoni even). You will eat less calories and stay full longer.

bad food ? hmm... nope, everything I eat is really good :-) And, thank you God!, because of my sleeve I can only eat small portions of all this good food !

I should eat more Protein though and less carbs.

How do you fix it? The hard way: live your life being miserable until you're really old and just don't care what anyone thinks of your appearance (this is me). The better way: find a therapist and work with them.

I certainly wouldn't postpone getting sleeved until I was "fixed" though :-)

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain

I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end

I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend

But I always thought that I'd see you again

Won't you look down upon me, Jesus

You've got to help me make a stand

You've just got to see me through another day

My body's aching and my time is at hand

And I won't make it any other way"

James Taylor "Fire and Rain"

sorry... the song just popped into my head. I have seen a lot of evil and have lived through more bad situations than most people can even imagine and still.... I have hope. Not in other people, because I know we are basically bad, but in God who loves us so much that he doesn't blast us off the face of the planet for being hateful, ungrateful children.

I thank him now for always being faithful to me in spite of me, and I can't wait to thank him face to face for loving me so much that he suffered and died and then conquered death so that we could be together forever.

There is so much I don't understand but of this I am sure: Jesus is.

I have 2 titanium knees and the right one has very long shafts going up into my thigh and down into my shin. Alas, they only add about a pound - titanium is a very light and strong metal.

"A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred blows into a fool." Proverbs 17:10

and

"Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him." Proverbs 26:4

(gosh, Proverbs certainly talks about being foolish a LOT)

woo hoo ! Just wonderful !

yeah... at 2 weeks out I just couldn't STAND any kind of Protein drink. I started eating pureed foods a week earlier than I should have (at about 2.5 weeks post-op) and it felt soooo good and tasted great! I started with refried Beans and melted cheddar cheese. eggs were, and still are, a little hard for me to tolerate, but cream of chicken Soup or cottage cheese or yogurt was just fine. Just take it easy, eat slowly and wait to see how your stomach reacts.

It is important to get that Protein in and it is possible using pureed foods.

O.T.R.: love your new picture. You look so happy! :-)

@mis: germen quoted cindimca4's comment about hispanics; she wasn't responding to your original post.

That being said, what a horrible experience you had! You poor thing! I am so glad you're doing ok now.

Interesting viewpoint. As an obese woman I have also been judged (lazy, obviously abused as a child, self-hater,etc.) and not considered "professional" enough for promotion. It doesn't matter if we're young, old, fat, thin, ugly, pretty.... other people are going to be cruel and petty. Not all, but always some.

So yes, I agree with you - being a fat woman is/was the best thing for my personal growth. It has shaped who I am and has given me, hopefully, empathy for all of my fellow humans.

@neil: I liked your post

@pdx: I liked your post too

@easye: if you can't tolerate ice cream, have you tried frozen yogurt?

I tend to be a "question authority" kind of person and although I am now old enough to know better, still, when someone tells me I can't do something I'll be danged, I just feel compulsed to do it. In some cases that has been to my benefit; in some cases, not so beneficial (i.e. speed limits). So, when the bariatric surgeon & nutritionist gave me guidelines about when to move past the liquid phase, I pushed it forward a week (no problems, felt great) and so on for each stage. And by golly, I have had zero problems or issues and feel that my VSG was a complete success and is doing exactly what I wanted it to do - I didn't expect it to cure my issues with food but just to limit the amount of food I could consume.

Maybe that's the message we need to tell the newly sleeved and the gonna be sleeved: it only limits the amount of food you can eat at one time. Period.

disclaimer so I don't get roasted alive: these are my opinions and my experiences

You'll do great Shawn! I pray you have a short recovery and that you breeze through your weight loss journey :--)

RJ: I have found that my attitude towards myself colors how I perceive other people's treatment or reaction to me. Why not try applying some different scenarios like.... the girl who took your blood had just had a terrible fight with her boyfriend and she was trying her best to not break down crying in front of you ... and .... the man in the cafeteria actually thought you reminded him of his long lost Aunt whom he really loved .

I know, I'm a nut. I would rather live in a world where most people are basically kind and so these are the stories I tell myself. Now, that being said, if I am in a foul mood or feeling low EVERYONE is out to get me, they're all jerks, and their mama's got smelly feet.

Hang in there, feel better.

If he's not willing or able to change then you either have to stay and be miserable or make him move out so you can get on with your life. Have you told him this?

I have been obese since I was 6 months old (my grandmother thought I was too tiny and decided to fatten me up) - the fat just never went away. Oh, I have lost thousands of pounds and they always came back plus more. I was always strong and active - not organized sports but loved hiking and biking and dancing (rock & roll !) - but always obese. Then I had children and got super morbidly obese and I couldn't lose weight anymore and my knees wore out and now I am a cyborg (titanium knees, plates & screws in my foot). Cool, but not really.

So, how do I picture myself at 150 lbs (that is my pulled-out-of-thin-air goal) ? I just don't. I know I will look like an empty used brown paper bag (the joke is "you had better tie a string on her when the wind blows") but that's ok because I'm old and nobody who would care is ever going to see me naked

I really don't know how I am going to be and I haven't had a lot of time to ponder it (got diagnosed with uterine cancer a few months ago and am busy with chemo & radiation right now) but I am pretty sure I will handle it just fine.

Maybe I will go hiking and biking and dancing again !

um... no. Take her to a GI doctor or the ER at a different hospital as soon as you are able. Write down everything that has happened so far (copy and paste your own postings into a Word doc and print it out) and take it with you to show the doctor. This sounds like a medical emergency and not just her sleeve "acting up".

too cool :-)