TheGamer

They stretch it to where it should be, whatever that will be for you. No liquid diet. In fact, once they were done with opening up my esophagus, I had solid food for the first time in a month and it didn't hurt.

When I first broke the news to my family that I was doing this, while not outright against it, they were worried about me doing it. I found that by educating them, they came around. Now that I'm several months out and I've lost about 100 pounds, they know that this was the best thing I could do. Being scared is normal. This is a big deal. Normal people live life with an intact stomach, not go around paying someone to cut out 85% of it. Nobody makes this decision without exhausting every other option. Are there risks? Yes. But the truth is that we run risks either way. By staying (in my case) more than 200 pounds overweight, there was no way I was going to live long. Now, I'm healthier and the people in my life will probably have me around for a lot longer than they would have. Only you can decide if this is the right thing to do, but know that a little bit of uncertainty is entirely normal.

It comes and goes, honestly. My stomach is definitely more sensitive than it was before surgery, where I ATE ALL THE THINGS! Now, my eating habits are pretty pedestrian. I keep to a diet that's based on deli meat, dairy like cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese, greens and the occasional bit of fruit. I'll deviate from that occasionally, but really my diet's pretty plain these days. Since it's just me, with nobody to eat my leftovers, I don't really care to cook because it'd go to waste by the time I could get around to eating it. I eat what agrees with me and don't really worry about it. It's kind of a nice change from inhaling everything in sight.

Actually if you add unflavored protein to sugar free hot chocolate, it *is* hot chocolate I lived off that for a long time until I could tolerate more foods. I would take two packets of SF hot cocoa and two scoops of unflavored powder and get a drink that had about 150 calories and 20g protein. For more calories and protein, make it with milk instead of water.

Once they fix your stricture, you'll have no regrets It's extremely simple to fix. I suffered with one for several weeks, and it was no picnic. They'll do an EGD and while they're in there, they'll just stretch it out a bit. Problem solved. You'll be awake in a couple hours, pain free, and eating delicious food!

As your nose piercing should go through cartilage, there shouldn't be any change in the gauge of your nose piercing, which was probably done at an 18 or so. Without more information about the type of jewelry you're wearing (ring, l-bend, corkscrew, etc.) it's hard to say. I have my eyebrow, nose, and lip done and haven't noticed any changes at all.

It's pretty standard, as far as I can tell. I don't think I've ever seen someone note they did not have to have one. We're all dragging around issues about our weight, our weight loss, and other things that can impact your quality of life after surgery. It's good to know what you're getting in to.

No, if you get acid coming up you'll recognize it instantly. It's about as vile a thing as you can have in your esophagus/throat, and if you inhale it, you're in for one of the worst experiences. It's generally bright yellow and burns like hell.

I weigh myself every day, give or take. I don't really care if the numbers go up or down, I just find it interesting how from one day to the next I can gain 3 pounds eating 800 calories a day. Frickin' body is /boggle...

Since I have nobody to eat the leftovers of what I cook, it's Wendy's chili all the way. For two bucks and some change I get like 2-3 meals. It works!

You do realize that these "insensitive assholes" are pointing out something that your surgeon should have made clear to you in the beginning? Five weeks post op isn't the time to get pregnant. While it does happen (if you dig, I'm sure you'll find the posts), it's something that requires extra medical attention because you're eating (and I'm being generous) 800 calories a day? While they may not have been as happy as you'd have liked, they are bringing a very real concern to you, which is that for your safety and the safety of the child you want so much, you might want to proceed cautiously.

I went through something similar and it turned out that I had a stricture, where the opening between the esophagus and what's left of the stomach connect. It was too small and so food wasn't going down comfortably. My surgeon opened it up during an EGD and problem was solved. While a little discomfort might be normal, severe pain is not.

So true! You wouldn't think that ONE little bite could make such a big difference in being comfortable or miserable

I have never really felt any restriction with thin liquids, like water or tea. I might feel a little discomfort if I take a few big swallows, but what I consider to be normal drinking has never been an issue for me.

If you do a search for "Week 3 stall" you will see that most (probably all) of us had a similar stall at a similar time. Your body is adjusting, so just be patient and it will pass. You'll go back to losing regularly. Stalls are a part of the process, and while nobody likes to stop losing, take it in stride that you're probably losing inches, just not pounds.

I don't have an issue with going out to eat. My friends actually laugh about how little I can eat and there's usually the obligatory joke about how I make everyone look like pigs now because I box up 3/4 of anything I order. I allow myself to enjoy the food because I don't go all out very often, maybe once a month, if that. I still make my choices within reasonable guidelines, like opting for grilled meat, no carb sides, and skipping desert. I end up with food that I can eat for another 2 or 3 meals that tastes good and that I didn't have to put any effort in to making.

My experience was so different... I was up front about things, as well as what I had learned from it and what I had done to deal with any major issues regarding my weight or past experiences. I'm probably in the minority on this, but I want to know if I was really ready to deal with what was coming. All in all, though, things went fine. The only thing my psych actually remarked on was the fact that I am constantly fidgeting and never hold still. He asked me if I'd ever been tested or treated for ADD. I told him things were more enjoyable when things are shiny and interesting.

Yup, make sure you're not on any pain meds or blood thinners. Artists appreciate clients who aren't bleeding over everything. While your wrist will get smaller, the wrist is one of the least fatty areas on the body and would be least prone to distortion of any work you had done.

Well in Old Yeller the dog dies. I'm figuring as old as the book/movie is, spoilers are okay at this point. Though it still makes me wonder who was so screwed up that they thought making Old Yeller dog food was a good idea. I still /boggle every time I see that at the store.

As far as I can tell, because of the Recent Topics side bar, nobody seems to pay much attention to the topic stuff anyway XD But yes, it would be nice to talk to people who are in the same position I am. It's different trying to talk about challenges with people who have an easily accessible support network.

Check out the shake recipe thread. There are some really good ones there! My favorite pre-op shake was to take a basic vanilla shake and make it with blueberry tea ice cubes and chilled blueberry tea. I'd add in about 1/2c of frozen blueberries. It looked like a smurf in a blender, but it was tasty!

The one thing I try to keep in mind, even as I lose my hair (and boy am I losing it now!) is that I would have gladly given up all my hair to lose as much weight as I have. I may not like it now, but it will come back. The weight can stay gone forever, though

The less sugar I consume, the more my body reacts negatively to high amounts of it. It's the reason that I can have a bite or two of dessert, but eating a full sleeve filling portion is right out of the question. It's a pretty normal response, but it's also very easy to become reconditioned to high amounts of sugar, so it's good to be wary.

Logically look at the reasons your relationship failed the first time, imo. Ask yourself the hard questions - is this a healthy thing to pursue? What will you do/how will you take it if the relationship doesn't work a second time? Are you okay if he's not as serious about things as you are? Granted, I tend to approach my relationships with a heavy dose of logic and analysis, but that's my nature. Emotional happy fluffy feeling stuff is nice, but it often stops people from looking at things that may be a serious issue. If you can step back and look at it objectively and not really find serious red flags, go for it. Enjoy it, be happy, and take each day as it comes.

I went from being someone who drank water pre-op to someone who can't stand it now. My sleeve just doesn't like it, even if it's room temp. My preference is now for warm, flavored liquids.