piper

Ikea

I thought ulcers were caused by bacterial infection and not coffee, spicy foods or stress. I am drinking coffee withou incident.

Say thank you n walk away. IMO People that comment on your weight are rude. Bugs the crap out of me. There should be a campaign to educate folks to just quit harping on weight. Why not say, "you look nice today, love the dress" "your are glowing today" ....endless possibilities. When my children were small one of them was chubby at around ten. She is very athletic n fit now, at 19 . Anyhow, when we would visit my inlaws the harping would begin. "don't eat that, it will make you fat" asking me, "whys she fat"? I finally told them to stop focusing on the shell and tell her she is a lovely young woman, focus on the positive and all her countless wonderful characteristics. I feared the harping would compromise her self image and lay foundation for eating disorder. No one heard a word I said. I think commenting on weight loss is just as intrusive. There are so many other meaningful characteristics to comment on.

I can handle white wine with plenty of ice however, it can give me heartburn that evening if I have more than one cup.

Greek salad

Bariatric formula vits make me feel ill. Flintstones seem to work. Perhaps the bariatric ones the doc sold me will work later on, I am 5 weeks out.

My kids are a lot older so they knew what was happening because is was discussed around the house. However, I do not think I would encumber kids three and eight with information other than "mommy's had surgery and she is recovering".

My sister was opposed. I had the surgery three weeks ago and I am still getting the cold shoulder. Although I understand the opposition comes from genuine concern for your health and well being, it is unfortunate when folks cross a boundary into the land of being unsympathetic and judgemental.

amazon and ebay

optifalst soup or chicken broth.

I didn't look at the screen and I wish I had. So, today I went and got a copy of my swallow test from the radiologist. I was also worried about stretching with liquids and possibly hurting the staple line. I am three weeks post op, H20, protein shakes and yogurt are going down without any problems. Oh, the stress or worrying about every little thing! I am looking forward to not thinking each moment about the fact that I have been sleeved and just going about my business. I hope that day will come before too long. Thank you for asking this question, it was helpful.

Are fiber supplements counterindicated for sleevers because they expand in one's belly?

Could you have reflux? I am taking Omniperazole from Costco and it has really helped. I wonder if sleeping on a wedge may help as well to elevate your head. Lastly, perhaps not eating or drinking one hour prior to going to bed to give your tummy time to empty before laying down?

I was sleeved 5/31 and I too have pain on right side. I feel it when I walk, sit up , yell or tunrn over in bed. It has been improving little by little. I think it is muscular. I have three scars. My belly is still swollen but it has only been four days.

I cancelled the surgery in april due to nerves. I don't regret that I cancelled. I had become so worked up and was not up to the challenge in that frame of mind. I needed more time to get in bed with the idea. I did have the surgery last Thursday. I am four days post op. Things have gone very well. Once I had asked all the questions I could ask on the forum I decided to look inward and get off the Internet. Although this forum is a very supportive environment, i found the ups and downs of various postings were taking me on a roller coaster ride and I needed to find some inner peace. I just recently got back on to help with my recovery. Be kind and patient with yourself.

Finally took the plunge. Recovery is going well. I have been home for two nights. Just trying to stay hydrated and rest. I have been having chest pain, hiccups and painful burping so I backed off a bit on the protein which I had begun today. I was trying to get in an ounce or so but it's just too soon. Now I am having some peppermint tea to calm my tummy down a bit. I need to get up and walk periodically or liquids get stuck, guess its all par for the course at this point. I hope to be feeling better soon. I do feel thankful for the support of the members of this forum.

Thank you. You are following the yellow brick road of logic that brought me to the option of wls in the first place; in hopes of feeling healthier, more active, better about traveling with my hubby, less antisocial, more comfy around folks, less self conscious, less back pain from herniated disc etc... I am letting fear of the unknown take over. It is so hard not to be in control, take a leap of faith, trust and believe in a positive outcome. I have a lot of respect for folks that have had this elective surgery. You look lovely and more importantly, happy. As I said, I enjoy your blog and have found it inspiring. I have declined to travel with my hubby many times over the years due to my weight, dumb, I know...I hope to accompany him to Rome in september. However, before I considered wls I told him I would not be able to go. So silly to allow 80 pounds to stand in the way, silly not to have the fortitude to adhere to a diet on my own. At 44, I'd like to think this surgery can help with these weight related self confidence issues. I hope I can cope with the post sleeve life of three bites and your pushing food around your plate trying to appear as though you are eating. Guess I will have to be more conversational. Thank you very much.

Clever double entendre. Happy things are going well. I do enjoy your blog page. I am anxious today and not sure i can follow thru with surgery on the 19TH. In spite of constant research and inquiries, I feel unsure about what post sleeve life will be like. Could be control issue.....the unknown, perhaps reading about some folks that don't stop feeling queasy, or never eating a normal portions again, or regain, or reflux, or getting smashed and slurring words from one cup of wine, or becoming chronically fatigued or vitamin deficient? Maybe from reading a post this am from a gal who is 5 days out and beside herself with reget wondering what she has done to her body. Perhaps reading about the struggles of maintenance of people that need to be militant about exercising 5 days a week and about every bite they eat, that will never be me, might as well be honest. With a bmi of 35, I am on the cusp in terms of being eligible. Wish I felt better. So tired of feeling ambivilant and fearful. I have failed to lose the 80 on my own. I can lose a little but then fall off the wagon and regain in an instant. How did I get into this predicament?, feels like there is no favorable solution. Perhaps my head is not on straight right now.

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When I lost 55 pounds on optifast I felt this way about the attention I was receiving, especially at my daughter's school. I had felt very marginalized prior to losing. This said...I recognize that a percentage of this was of my own making. I had, to a certain extent, isolated myself by being socially unavailable. When I lost weight I felt better about myself and consequently reached out to others more often. I walked with the other mommies around my neighborhood, became active with the pta, became "room parent" to my daughter class, attended school events and birthday parties etc...Then, over the next two years I regained the optifast weight and once again retreated to a reclusive place, withdrew school involvement, stopped walking the other folks etc...

My sister had a really great experience with Dr. Alvarez. One advantage to Alvarez is that he can usually schedule a patient just two or three weeks from being approved and he has performed so many sleeves, so many. However, that was six years ago. Since then, surgeons in the states are catching onto the cash to be had in this arena and obtaining "self pay" prices from the various providers like radiology and the hosp, the kind of haggling that the insurance company does. This way they can quote the patient an all inclusive package price. One surgeon I looked into, because of his stellar reputation, had not set this up. I was expected to call all the providers myself to obtain pricing, which to me meant I would need to haggle to obtain something a bit closer to what ins. would be paying as opposed to the outrageous prices they quote otherwise. I decided I did not want to be haggling, like I am buying a used Oldsmobile. Anyhow, I think a lot of surgeons are competing for the business including setting up special provisions for the out-of-towners. I would at least look into the highly regarded medical centers, like U of Michigan or Mayo so that she may obtain follow up care stateside. Just a thought.

You deserve to brag. Congratulations!

Wishes, thank you for the comprehensive response. Sounds as though sleeved life is really agreeing with you. With regards to the medical industry. Correct me if I am wrong, I think the pharm industry is pouring money into weight loss research, although the FDA pipeline is very slow, thanks to negative outcomes like with phen-phen and redux. Anyhow, there is so much cash to be had for any company that can create an effective treatment for obesity. I heard a story on NPR about the latest in the FDA pipeline, Q-nexa. However, in clinical trials the weight loss was quite slow. How about introducing nano-bots that would enter the bloodstream and attack the ghrelin? Joking aside, I think the industry is working on a med to reduce ghrelin or perhaps receptors for the hormone. Hope it works out. As the earlier poster stated, going to the doc to ask for weight loss help has always meant, at least for me, listening to a lesson about exercise and portions. I have left the office so discouraged soooo many times, disheartening. However, guess the docs really had nothing else to offer up.

Hey, btw, how are things going with the sleeve? How long ago were u sleeved? Has the adjustment gone well? How has adjusting to so little food been? Have you engaged socially yet? How did that go? Have you had a glass of vino yet? Did your body respond differently than previously? I am scheduled for next week and I am wigging out a bit (understatement). I worry about the weirdest stuff too. Where will my thoughts go, the thoughts that spend so much time thinking about food? How will I fill that time? How will I stay engaged at social or family events that ,as always, revolve around cooking, eating and appreciating copious amounts of food? Will I be able to hit a wine/ tapas joint with my hubby? Will I be hammered after one glass of vino, dancing on the table with lamp shade on head? Will I still be able to cook for my large family, or will this become even a greater chore than it is presently, actually, not sure that is possible.

I think the regain stats look promising. I was looking at a cluster of studies yesterday that included folks five years out. I also think that for me struggling with regain is an evevidibility I simply must accept. However, without surgery I may go from 240 to oh....perhaps 190, if I really sacrifice and never cheat(?). Then (40 pound from goal) I can begin my battle with regain, without the restriction of the sleeve....by that point I will be worn out by the diet and ever so easily discouraged by any regain....I know the drill all too well. So, I do think the durability, the sheer tenacity of the sleeve will be instrumental in maintaining at goal. It seems to me there are many on this forum that maintain within 5-10 of their goal.