SpaceDust

Congratulations on the weight loss so far, and welcome to VST! Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using VST

Welcome! There are a number of couples here who are taking their sleeve journey together or at staggered times, so I suspect you'll get input on that in the near future. Please jump right in into the conversational fray around here. There's plenty of great information and advice to be had from a variety of perspectives. Don't be alarmed if you run across a spat here and there. Like any big family, there can be passionate disagreements about the things we care about, but we're all there for each other when help, support, sympathy and cheers are needed. Good luck on the upcoming surgery! Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using VST

I doubt that anyone could give you a realistic answer to this except for your bariatric team or someone else who has used the same surgeon and had similar insurance requirements. It's completely dependent on the schedule of the surgeon and facility, how often you'll meet for your pre op classes, whether there are any other tests you'll need, what additional hoops your insurance requires, etc. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using VST

Dealing with excess skin would be a good topic. In particular, an overview of cosmetic surgery would be excellent. What are some of the typical types of surgeries wls patients get, price ranges, recovery time? How long should you wait before getting it (I.e., should you wait a certain amount of time after you get to maintenance)? Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using VST

Excellent options, definitely! I added chia seed to my routine about six weeks ago. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using VST

I've never had it happen to me, but a quick web search turned up all sorts of links. I used "pimples from protein powder" to start the search. Good luck.

Take the pain meds. You aren't doing yourself any favors by leaving yourself in pain. That increases your stress levels and can impact your healing.

Your stomach can't stretch to a hugely significant degree because the fundus (the really stretchy part of your stomach) is mostly removed in a normal sleeve. As it heals and "matures" your stomach may get to a capacity of 1-1.5 cups, but your previous capacity was something like 5-6 cups, with much more stretch available to cram in extra. If you are eating slider foods you can eat a lot more, though, because those don't linger in your stomach.

Laura, that rocks! Congratulations!

Mt surgeon does this so he has a heads up about any ulcers or hernia. As he said, you don't want ulcers along the staple line and knowing up front allows him to plan what to do if any exist in that area. He also does a biopsy to check for H. Pylori, and looks for/removes for biopsy any polyps he might find. I've seen others who didn't do this, or who did other procedures like xrays with a barium swallow. It might be worth asking your surgeon about it. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using VST

Congratulations! Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using VST

Congratulations! I'm looking forward to my turn with this

Best of luck to you! I can't wait to hear how good things are going!

No mandatory diet purchases for me, either. My dietician gave me a list of what sorts of things I needed and said go get things that meet the criteria on the list. They have a brand that they sell and recommend, but it's never shoved at you and other options are freely discussed and supported if they meet the needs. I'm not a fan of the Bariatric Advantage powders they sell (they gave me samples to try) so I won't go there, but there are plenty of other options available, especially if you're willing to mail order I'd suggest talking to your NUT again. There may be recommended alternatives, or at least he/she may be able to give you some guidance on what you should be looking for. Think about getting a list of what they would sell you so you know what to compare with, then go online to do some comparison shopping. You could also go to a local GNC - I know that at least some of the stores will mix up little samples for you to try if you have a few options in mind, for example. Vitamin Shoppe also carries a lot of varieties of things. There's lots of information to be found in the following food & Nutrition subforums: Vitamins & supplements Protein Drinks/Powders There are some good lists pinned at the top of the forums, and plenty of new info posted regularly.

First, keep in mind that plenty of people have this surgery and progress almost immediately to pureed foods. While you definitely want to do whatever your dietician and surgeon tell you to do to minimize complications, I'm betting that it's pretty unlikely that the bean Soup did any permanent damage. Your stomach is probably just having a hard time digesting it, and is objecting. Just get back on track, as you have, and keep checking the plan as you move forward. I consider myself to be a pretty smart cookie, but sometimes that doesn't play in my favor, so I'm keeping my binder within easy reach till I'm on normal foods, at least! Hang in there - you'll be fine!

I actually find that weighing every day (even pre-op, as I am) is a good thing *for me* - I like tracking stats, and I don't stress over smallish weight swings because I see them ALL THE TIME even when diet and exercise are pretty stable. For me, it lets me see trends over time, and gives me a heads up if I'm drifting upward consistently to keep a closer eye on what I eat and how I exercise, and maybe shake it up a bit. I'm a bit of a geek (well, okay, a whole lot of a geek) so I am happy seeing long term statistics. But Sassy's right - that's not for everyone, and if it stresses you out, it's not good for you. There are plenty of other ways to see what this is doing for you. As Sassy said, how you feel, how your clothes fit are big indicators, and often more consistent than weight loss, which tends to do a stairstep thing of loss then stall, loss then stall. If you got your measurements before you started the journey, check those periodically - I'll bet that most of the time after your body heals a bit more, you'll find that even if your weight isn't moving, your inches are still coming off. If you didn't measure before, do so now - chest, waist, hips, thighs, your calf, upper arms, neck would be good measurements to have, but even if it's waist, chest and hips you'll have a good notion of what's going on. And keep in mind, you're down 21 lbs in just over 2 weeks. That's a huge loss, and you need to celebrate that! Relax. As VSGKirk said, your body is reacting to a major trauma, and what you have gained back is likely water/swelling. It will come off as you heal, maybe even in a big whoosh. Hang in there, stick with the plan. Sounds to me like you're doing just fine!

@nervousnellie - congratulations on getting to pureed stage! I love your attitude - I hope I can match it when it's my turn! @montugue - it might be wise to start your own new thread for this, just to avoid hijacking nellie's thread. But as a thought, have you considered why you are snacking? Is your last meal too early compared to your bedtime? Is it a habit, like when you watch tv? Is it head hunger, as in I really want some carbs? Or are you actually hungry? If it's actually hunger, maybe either shift your dinner to a little later, or rework your meal schedule to include a small evening snack. Put your snacking urge to good use. Find some good protein snacks, like a little cheese or even better, something more dense like chicken. That should fill you up quickly, and give you longer-lasting satisfaction than carbs. Some people find that a small yogurt or a protein shake is enough to keep them on track without leaving them hungry. If it's habit, find something to do that keeps your hands busy and makes it too tough to eat. I use a knitting loom while I watch TV quite often, which means I'm not likely to eat chips or anything that will get grease/crumbs on my project without thinking about it, taking the time to put the project away, eating, washing hands and getting back to my project. I'd have to honestly REALLY want the chips to do that. It doesn't keep me from putting the project on my lap for a moment and grabbing a sip of iced tea or water, though! Good luck to both of you!

First off, look at the success so far - you are 7 months out, and you've lost 63 lbs, or if you average it across 7 months, you've lost 9 lbs a month! You're making progress, and I'll bet if you look at the clothes you wear now vs. what you wore at 225, you have dropped a fair number of sizes, right? Now, you're in a stall. What's your diet like? Are you getting exercise, and what kind/how much? Still getting plenty of Water?

Way to go! Now, get it in your head that you are NOT too fat to be there. You belong in that department. Own it! It's yours now!

I agree with Sassygirl. My surgeon would have had to do some crazy amounts of convincing to get me to even look briefly at RnY or DS - I had done a bunch of research before I ever started seeking surgeons. Luckily, my surgeon was right with me. As he rightly pointed out, if I really needed to, I could convert to one of the other malabsorptive surgeries later, but I couldn't go back to try a sleeve if the malabsorption issues got to me. A lot of people with type II diabetes are very successful in reducing or eliminating the diabetes symptoms with the sleeve, so while the more drastic surgeries are even more effective by the percentages, the difference in success rate wasn't enough for me to take the risks of the more drastic surgeries as my starting point.

Overall, I probably have about a 7. Some days I am a 10, and some days I think I'm about a minus 5000... okay, really about a 3. Seriously, it's normal to have ups and downs - if you're highly stressed or exhausted or ill willpower becomes more difficult to maintain. Under normal circumstances, I can keep myself on track, but there are days where I ditch going to the gym or decide that I *am* going to eat a few spoons of seriously good ice cream - but I have enough willpower to still go out and have a walk or honestly only eat about a 1/4 cup of the ice cream. Other days I pull my big girl panties up tight and tough it out. We're human. We won't be perfect. There's every chance we will make not-wise choices occasionally. The more important thing is acknowledging and owning the mistake, picking yourself up and getting back on track. Don't let guilt send you into a downward spiral. Don't let it get out of control and send you into a cheating binge. One small cheat is not a failure - it's a setback that is usually easily dealt with.