ISleevedIt

greek yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese...I don't have any specific breakfast food. I just eat what I feel like it. Like this morning I had my Protein chicken broth for breakfast.

Anything loose is great! I didn't bother with clothes for the hospital stay. I was just glad that I had a gown that wrapped all the way around and overlapped some so there was no worries about flashing anyone.

Rebeca, you will be going through Surgical Associates as I did. With my company, I had to pay $5.00 copay to the surgeon, but here is a breakdown of benefits that I received from Kaiser. It shows the billed amount and the allowed amount. Kaiser paid the allowed amount.
Virginia Hospital Center/ Hospital Inpatient (Incld Part A MC) Admit/Discharge
Billed Amt 19,939.95 Allowed Amount 11,433.29
James Mayes / surgery
Billed Amt 4,950.00 Allowed Amount 1,664.84
James Mayes / Office-other outpatient
Billed Amt 261.00 Allowed Amount 132.17
Charles Gandy / anesthesia
Billed Amt 2,125.00 Allowed Amount 1105.00
Jihad Salameh/ medicine
Billed Amt 110.00 Allowed Amt 88.08
---------------------------------------------------------------------
27,385.95 --- 14,423.37

Hope you get your approval! The waiting game is always hard.

Wow, I just recently had something like that happen and that was my thought entirely. My very best friend. The one that will come and pick you up on short notice after you get in a wreck and bail you out of jail. I went to her house and I excitedly told her that the shorts I was wearing were a size 12. And her response: "They look like they might be a large 12". I will completely forgive her because we have been friends forever and because of the aforementioned reasons. Also, most of the time she will give you her honest opinion when no one else will. However, her remark was not particularly encouraging. But then a few weeks later I told her I was down to 165 and she said "Great, that might even be less than me."

My year and a half on the forum has helped me think through a lot of things. I have shared my struggles and the struggles of many fine people about how we are perceived and communicated with by friends and acquaintances who notice our weight loss.
The following are things that have bothered us:
Didn't say anything about it, said I "lost a ton", said not to lose too much or my face would look bad, said they liked me better before, quit hanging out with me, got jealous, said I took the easy way out, and now that I'm slim they: are interested in me, talk to me, hit on me,.... why not before?
The list goes on, we get offended by just about any reaction or no reaction. On top of it all, we are even suspicious of good reactions. We are bugged by how they said it, when they said it, who was around when they said it, and why we think they said it.
The fact is that when we are bothered by people we take most of the unpleasantness into ourselves. The botherers are ordinarily oblivious to our conflict.
The other annoying fact is that people say and do stupid things because people are stupid. They only know and care to know so much and ride along on superficial comfort levels.
I will share what I learned about fighting. Idiots will try to goad you into a fight by insulting you. Because they say something bad they think they can make you react by getting involved with them in physical or verbal violence. What they don't know is that I refuse to get involved with people I don't like. Further, I don't respect idiots and don't care what they say about me or that other people hear what they say. Other idiots will lose respect for me for not fighting, intelligent people will lose respect for the idiot. Fights many times end with a wrestling match on the ground, way too intimate for me. I reserve my wrestling matches for people I love and then violence is not the objective. My violence is reserved for actual physical self defense and the defense of loved ones.
What's that got to do with it? You are in charge of your reaction. You don't have to be bothered, you don't have to retaliate. Know who and what you are, don't be brought down and manipulated.
Teach them a lesson? I charge for my teaching, (guitar), and then I don't teach people I don't like or that I think can't learn. I let fools be fools unless they truly want to learn.
If you want to live with peace inside you need thick skin. You need to let things bounce off of you, don't take them in and stew over them where they damage you. Forgive people because they are people, remembering that you, too, are people. We are all stupid in our own way even as we are beautiful in our own way. People don't know what to say to a fat person or an ex-fat person that will absolutely and in any circumstance not offend them. Mother Teresa couldn't handle such a task. We need thick skin so folks can talk to us.
The best advice I ever heard is to throw away your book of revenge.
Love love, hate hate.
Peace, my friends.

One of the reasons I decided to get WLS was because of the long list of medications I had to take. My health was getting worse and I was no longer interested in doing anything I used to like. Today I am 7 weeks out, 35 lbs lighter, and on a visit to my PCP she took me off 3 of my meds and reduced 1 more. I am going to go for blood work and then see her again in a month when we may discontinue more! I feel like I am getting back in control of my life and won't wonder how I am going to get through each and every day. Feeling excited and just wanted to share!

Yayyyyy....everything is benign! My thyroid needle biopsy came back benign. So now the only thing left is to have surgery to remove the tumor in my salivary gland. I guess the bright side of surgery is that I'll be out of work for a week which I have enough sick leave to cover the week so I still get paid....lol

Hello Sleever People!
I had my surgery January 25, 2010 with Dr. Aceves in Mexico and have never once looked back. I was on this board pretty much 24/7 pre-op and for a long time post op and one of the things that I desperately wished for more of was feedback from people that were "long term" sleevers. We seem to be few and far between and I swore I would provide regular updates... fail!!! And I apologize to any of you that, like me, wish for more of the "big picture" - no pun intended! It's true that we simply get on with life after surgery and before we know it, life has been blowing by and suddenly it's been some fantastic years gone by - you'll see, trust me!
So, the long and short of my sleeve experience has been incredible – there truly are no words to describe one of the absolute best decisions I’ve ever made for myself. I started at 254 and lost exactly 100 pounds well before the end of the year. I ate low carb and drank Protein Shakes forever it seemed. About a year and change after surgery, after maintaining a size 4/6 154# for months, I started gaining – eeekk!!! – I attributed this primarily to nursing school (which I started the same week of my vsg and have since finished and am now working in an ER – whole nuther story!) and grazing all day. Cashews are the devils work, btw!! I was scared and worried but stopped gaining after slowly putting back on 20 pounds. I’ve lost five of that since, am now in a size 8/10 and have been holding there for some time. I truly eat what I want within reason. I’m in a good place mentally and physically. I have been at this weight for over a year now.
I 100% BELIEVE THAT EXERCISE IS CRUCIAL TO YOUR SUCCESS LONG TERM!!!!! So commit to it, the sleeve, while a fantastic tool, WILL NOT solve all of your problems if you aren’t prepared to take care of yourself and having the sleeve makes it easy!! Like any “diet” or whatever, the long term is the trick; you will be able to eat A LOT more as time goes on yet nothing like before. You WILL be able to eat enough and often enough to gain weight if you are not aware. But it’s different. I would have easily gained that 100# back by now, that I know.
So, for me, to compensate for eating so-so, I bicycle competitively and long-distance; average 50 miles every other day at about 19mph. I have a group that I ride with but do it often on my own too. Burns a gajillion calories.
I guess the bottom line is that your life is going to be absolutely incredible post-op BUT, you will always have to be aware of what’s going in and out. The story about the woman who gained all her weight back cuz she would order an xl pizza and work on it all day? I can see that!! Yikes! But, you know what? Don’t buy the stupid pizza!! Easy!!
I wish you all the very best and please feel free to contact me to vent, ask questions, whatever, I’m happy to help and happy to be here for you. richcoast@yahoo.com
Carol

Congrats and I hope you have a speedy recovery!

Thank you for sharing your stories with me.
Blash, I'm glad to hear yours is benign and you can focus on getting healthy
LipstickLady, now with the sleeve, it'll help you to get healthy...you're about half way there...congrats!
Sydney Susan, I hope your liver lesions are benign. I see you're more than half way to your goal. I hope you reach your goal cancer free.
I'll check back with you all once I find out if the thyroid nodules are benign or malignant. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for three out of three to be benign (breast, salivary gland, and thyroid)..thyroid is the last one to be tested. I blame all this on turning 50!

Congrats! You're doing great!
I totally understand about the slowing down with eating. I find that I too eat too fast and take big a bite and swallow before chewing thoroughly. It's a learning curve that we'll eventually get the hang of. Either I've adjusted to the feeling of discomfort or my eating has improved.

Today I had my 2 week post op appointment with the Dr. He told me that he removed a hernia I didn't know that I had. I'm down 18.5 lbs. Starting mushy foods, tuna salad, eggs and so on. I made some deviled eggs. Chewed one and no problems

But you aren't saying goodbye to all food forever.
Sure, there's a period of liquid, purees, mushies etc but the plan is that you do go back to solid food after that. Hopefully by then, after all the effort you've put in, the weight you've lost and how well you feel, you will make better choices...
If you say "never" to things, they immediately become tempting. So just say "see you later" to food for now...
I was an overeater and food was at the centre of everything I did. Not now. 7 weeks out, I feel food is now part of my life but it's not in charge. Can't explain why I am not craving my old foods, maybe because I feel well, my health is great and I look better every day :-)))) but I don't want to jeopardize any of that.
Good luck with pre op, surgery and post op. Hope you post to let us know how you are once you are sleeved!

Welcome to the Losers Bench. Never thought you'd be happy being a loser did ya?

yep...losing it by the hand full also, but I still have a lot of hair so I'm not worried. It will grow back. I just hope it doesn't come back all white since I'm stating to get white hair....lol

I hope you feel better soon. The pain will become a distant memory as you get better each day! Good luck with it. I hope it's nothing serious.

Im actually afraid to answer a question in here becauae people dont want to hear the truth
Sweetcarol
Hmmmmm
i'm seriously kindof afraid to comment on your question
when you/anyone asks a ? they need to tell the truth, to help you - for your benefit
some people give an honest answer with no hint of being rude or stuff like that
some people might unintentionally be harsher to get their point across
you gotta remember we're all talking through a computer/monitor - we can't see peoples faces
it is too easy to misunderstand something said - and it wasn't meant to be received in a bad way
there are those "people" out there in "foodland" who kindof start "issues" and aren't that "sleeve friendly" with their answers
I think those situations are far and few between
even though i've seen similar comments like yours regarding to "being afraid of people on the board"
i think most of us are good eggs - some are just more cracked than others
give us another chance, ok????
OMG
i just realized from your profile you have lost 123 lbs!!!
holy moly girlfriend
great job!!!!
take care
continued good luck
kathy
congrats

You're all wrong. Nothing is better than the Luther- a really greasy cheeseburger sandwiched between two Krispy Kreme donuts. My wife was going to make this for a picnic but there were no takers. I told her if she wanted the homes, cars and insurance money, she would just have to hire a hitman like other wives. LOL
Sent from my iPad using VST

Peoples ain't bad, especially if they are chewing peppermint gum.

EEK! You mean you'd eat all the rest of the people I'd lock up in the donut shop with you??? Personally, I'd go for the donuts first because you'll fill up fast!

I think many of us worry about failure. I worry about failure all the time because I've yo-yoed so much. what I have been able to determine is that with my new tool (tiny tummy), it will be harder to fail. My concern comes into play after I've gotten within 15 lbs of goal because in the past that's when I start to gain it. This time, I'm determined to continue my daily walking for exercise and to continue to eat healthier. I've fallen off the wagon a couple of times these last few months but it has been easier for me to get back on it since I know I have to eat right to stay healthy which means I have to make good food choices since I have such a small tummy.
Good luck to you!

Sorry but I am impervious to pastries and donuts. Buuuuttttt.... if there was a beef tips and rice shop, I might be in trouble.