MyGastricSleeveLife

Quite honestly, every doctor has different guidelines. The most important thing is that you listen to your own body and don't push too hard. Rest when you need to and don't overdo it. I've seen people be super active within the first 12 weeks and others who were told to only walk or who can only handle walking. Just do what you can and learn to listen to your body. It will tell you when enough is enough!

That's great!! I just have one question!!! How did you weigh 260something pounds and wear a 30/32 and I weigh 365 and wear that same size?? lol

I don't know if you've seen it before, but I've seen a picture floating around the internet in the past that shows 6 different women who are all 150 lbs, but are all different sizes from like 8-18 or something like that. It all depends on height and build. I don't know how tall you are, but I'm 5 ft 9 inches tall.

How do you get rid of that extra skin

jrsygrl - Through research I did before the sleeve, I discovered that it can take over a year for the extra skin to rebound and catch up to the weight loss. Exercise can help some. Time & patience help too. Some people opt for plastic surgery to deal with it. I became involved with a company called It Works that sells all-natural body wraps, Vitamins, supplements, and other products. I joined as a distributor so I could try to make it a business for myself too since I'm going to school full-time now and not working. I've used the body wraps on my stomach and chin area & have seen some great results. I'd be happy to send people information off this list if interested because I really love the products, but also don't want to make this a selling place because it's not meant for that. I'm honestly hoping that with these wraps and time I'll be able to be happy enough with my body to avoid other surgery. I know some people are okay with the plastic surgery route, but I really am not for me, so I'm putting my trust in these wraps, exercise, and time.

There are different introduction threads depending on which section you're in on the forum. If you just go to the main index page - http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/index.php? - you can click on the different sections and there are usually different threads in many sections to introduce yourself. One main one, under the "Tell Your Story" section is "Who are you?" which is found here - http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/28926-who-are-you/

If you look around, you can find groups for people with surgery in different months or different areas of the world. Welcome, and enjoy the journey!

Mine is http://mygastricsleevelife.blogspot.com/ - I was pretty diligent for a while, but have slacked off posting the last few months.

Just wanted to share my blog post from my year surgiversary - http://mygastricsleevelife.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-year-surgiversary.html

I'm down 92.2 lbs from my weight before my 2-week pre-op diet, lost 56.5 inches throughout my body & have gone from size 30/32W down to 16 regular. I still have about 30-40 lbs to go to reach my own personal goal, but I'm thrilled with my progress and so happy I made this decision last year!!

We have a different camera now, so my pictures don't match up completely even though they're taken in the same place in our room.

Everyone is different. I had to limit myself to about 650 calories for 2 weeks before surgery. I didn't have to do just liquid, except for the day before surgery, because I didn't have a fatty liver. However, I chose to do mostly Protein Shakes because my school schedule was crazy and it was just easier to do it with liquids for me. I lost 12.6 lbs in the 2 weeks.

My surgeon said 4-6 weeks. When I started back at the gym, I worked with a trainer & he did more "passive" abdominal stuff for a while so I didn't really strain my abdominal muscles. However, I did crunches at home at 5 weeks out & just took it easy. Everyone is different. Just try to listen to your body & not overdo it.

when I was on full liquids and pureeds, I had oatmeal or cream of wheat a lot. At that point, my doctor said not to really worry about the carbs. Actually, he still says not to really worry about carbs & just to get my Protein and fluids and overall calories in. My doc and my trainer at the gym both said if I stopped losing, I might have to increase my carbs. During my full liquid/pureed stage, I usually got 100 carbs or more a day. Now that I'm 12 weeks out, I normally get between 5 - 40 g of carbs per day, but I sometimes go higher if I have oatmeal - but that doesn't bug me since I know it's still good for me & I eat a lot less of it than I used to before surgery! Everyone is very different. I've heard of people staying under 40 g, but I've also heard of people who do 100 g or even some that do 150 g, depending on their activity level & their bodies. I try to focus more on my protein, fluids, & overall calories and don't pay too much attention to the carbs, but I am normally below 40 g now at 12 weeks out. However, being only 4 weeks out, depending on your food progression, I don't think it really matters a whole lot at this point. My food progression was slow and cream of wheat was a staple food for me for a long time!

It really depends on the person. We're all so different & lose at different rates. Generally, those who have more to lose overall lose faster, but that's not always true. I've seen people lose anywhere from 10 - 30+ pounds the first 1-3 months or so & then most slow down to 8-15 lbs per month.

Personally, my stats are in my signature. I lost 18 lbs my first month (not including my pre-op diet) and 13 lbs my second month. I still have another week and a half before my 3-month mark. I've had weeks where I've lost 4-6 lbs & other weeks where I've lost 1 lb. I've even had a few weeks where I've gone up a pound (which is more Water or something else & not real FAT gain, but still frustrating). Overall, my "average" is 3-3.5 lbs depending on if I include my 2-week pre-op loss in the calculation too or not.

I would also encourage you to take your measurements every week or every month. I've been surprised sometimes when the scale hasn't moved much that the inches have moved a bunch!

I'm 12 weeks out from surgery today & down 38 lbs from surgery (50.6 lbs in 14 weeks with pre-op) & down 32.5 inches throughout my body. I posted pictures & measurements on my blog if you want to check it out (listed in my signature).

There are good weeks and bad weeks and things do slow down as you progress to different kinds of food and see what you can tolerate and everything. However, focus on the overall progress and on your non-scale victories (like how you feel and clothes fitting differently and change in energy and such) because those will help you through the times when you're frustrated with the actual numbers!

It depends on your doctor, but yes, for most pudding and yogurt (without fruit in it) are considered part of the full liquid phase.

I take Miralax every other day to keep things moving & I'm 10 weeks out & haven't had any issues so far. Fiber supplements can work too sometimes, but they can also bulk things up for some people & make things worse. Sometimes I have forgotten the Miralax for a few days, but now that I'm on more solid foods, I have been able to decrease the Miralax some & still be okay. I still make sure I take it if I feel even the slightest bit of buildup though. If I haven't taken it in a while, sometimes it takes a day to work, but I still haven't had any major issues as long as I take it.

Wow! Thanks Lissa!! I've been using MFP for a long time & never knew there was a "strength training" thing in the Cardio section! I just wore my BodyMedia armband to find out what I burned & then added it in MFP as "walking" and updated the calories accordingly. Now I can actually enter it as strength training!! I know I wasn't the original poster, but thanks a ton!!

I've had sleep apnea for 4 years now. I tried about 15 different kinds of masks before I decided on one. Check with your DME place about trying different masks. I sleep a lot better with it. Now that I've lost some weight, I've been able to have my pressure decreased & hope to eventually get rid of it completely, but it has made a world of difference the last 4 years! I also had to bring my machine to the hospital to use & it helped there too.

Well, it's not really WHY I became fat, but I wrote a blog post last month more about why I stayed fat and how it changed my self esteem - http://mygastricsleevelife.blogspot.com/2012/06/learning-to-love-myself-again.html

Why I became fat in the first place was more because of not watching what I ate during my first pregnancy. I gained 75 lbs (and she was even born 10 weeks early!!!) - then with stress and moves across country and job changes and family deaths and so on, I turned to food and developed a food addiction. Even though I wanted to change, I let the food addiction control my life and diets and exercise and so forth went out the window when things got tough - until now!

By the way, thanks for sharing your story! It's quite amazing the things you've had to deal with & have finally been able to conquer!!

It depends on your doctor. Mine said I could swim at 2-3 weeks when my incisions weren't scabby anymore, but said to wait for anything else other than walking until 4-6 weeks out. I started going to the gym & doing weights at 5 weeks with a trainer & he just took it easy with core exercises for a while because he didn't want to hurt those muscles.

I'll be 10 weeks out on Monday & I track EVERYTHING on MyFitnessPal & haven't missed a day since my pre-op diet started 12 weeks ago. It helps me to keep tracking because I can see what I eat & make sure I get enough Protein & Fluid in each day. I like seeing how different things influence my body & tracking helps.

NSAIDs, especially ibuprofen, can cause bleeding issues & stomach ulcers if used on a regular basis for an extended period of time. Some surgeons do not have a rule against them, but mine does so I have it on my Bracelet. I specifically asked my surgeon about it & he said there are some that aren't as harsh as ibuprofen that could be prescribed if needed, but he still suggested not using any NSAIDs if they could be avoided.

If you click the link I posted above on my other post that is from my blog, I have some good articles I shared in that post that explain the reasoning behind some of the guidelines. Again, every doctor is different & some see no need for a bracelet, but it gives me peace of mind to wear it!

I'm a big advocate for medic alert bracelets. I ordered one that had "Gastric Sleeve VSG, No Blind NG Tubes, No NSAIDs" on it, but then I had a friend tell me about how they witnessed an accident where the lady's purse was thrown away from her & they couldn't find contact info, so then I bought another one that had contact info on it.

I wrote about it on my blog, which also notes some other good articles about it that explains what the things mean too - http://mygastricsleevelife.blogspot.com/2012/06/importance-of-medical-alert-id-bracelet.html - I love my new Road ID one & wear it all the time! Even if the emergency response people wouldn't insert an NG tube, an ID Bracelet helps in the hospital too. I pray I will never have to really need it, but I love the peace of mind I have wearing it just in case it is ever needed.

Everyone is different, but I haven't had a problem with it after surgery. I just don't keep my water bottle or anything near me to drink when I'm eating. It is harder if we go out to eat, but again I just don't keep a drink near me & then I don't have to worry about it.

Every surgeon is different. Mine says 800-1000 calories for the whole "losing phase" but when I was on puréeds I was at more like 600-800. It will usually take time to work up to the 800+ calories.

You're consuming too few calories. At 3 weeks, I was getting 600-800 a day. My surgeon says to aim for 800-1000 calories a day during the whole "losing phase" & I normally average between 750-950 most days now that I'm almost 9 weeks out. If you're getting too few calories, your body will hang on to everything it has & you won't lose much. Everyone is different & sometimes we have to do things to trick our bodies into continuing to lose.

As far as grazing goes, my surgeon says to only have 3 meals a day, no Snacks, & to only have Protein shakes or Water between meals. Every doctor is different though. Some say Snacks are fine, but you really don't want to get into the grazing habit.

At 3 weeks out, I was on full liquids & could easily get more calories by using cream of wheat or grits and creamy Soups. At that point, I didn't have to limit my meal times or not drink around a meal since everything was liquid. When I moved to puréeds, my surgeon said to stop drinking 30 minutes before & after a meal & to limit to only 1/2 cup of food for a meal. It really depends on what stage you're at though.

It depends on your doctor. Mine only wants 3 meals & no Snacks, but I can have Protein Drinks or Water in between meals. I'm supposed to be between 800-1100 calories a day.

Honestly - nothing. I was too worried about a leak to cheat!

BCBS has so many different plans - that even have the same names - so you need to just call & ask. My husband works for a tiny company & we have BCBS Texas (not Health Select though) & they told us there is a bariatric surgery rider that the company could add on to the policy, but his company didn't choose it, so I was self-pay. Again, there are tons of different plans even through BCBS & different companies even if someone else has Health Select, so it's best to just call them. Some plans that do cover bariatric surgery only cover the lapband or bypass & not the sleeve too, so it's best to call & see what they say is covered & what hoops you have to jump through to get approval if they do cover it.