Youngun

Thanks so much everyone! You've helped me so much! It's crazy how everyone is give different advice! My doc said at least 8 weeks (I had to check with him because of the varying numbers here! I didn't want to just choose the shortest amount of time!). I'm so glad I found this forum you guys are great help! There's so much knowledge here!

This is for all the people who thought being overweight was their fault. And for you parents: Your kids likely have the same problem you do, and it's not your fault. Unfortunately, until the food industry takes out harmful chemicals from the food supply and stops making slider foods, and the healthcare industry starts focusing on the PHYSIOLOGICAL causes of obesity rather than diet & exercise, people will be big and our children will be big and likely have to go through VSG like we did. There's no shame in it. Unfortunately our world today is not a healthy one. I actually had a food science professor tell our class that the food industry came out with HFCS, artificial sweeteners and slider foods because they wanted to make people have a larger capacity for food. Why? The food companies grew in line with population growth which isn't the financial goal for companies on the stock market and certainly not a way to be successful, so they had to figure out ways to increase consumption so that profits could align with other public companies. Really sad. Anyways, with no further adieu: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/opinion/sunday/kristof-warnings-from-a-flabby-mouse.html?ref=opinion&_r=3&

We don't have AMC's around here anymore. Cineplex kind of took over movies in Canada. We have frozen yogurt, nachos and cheese, New York fries and pizza pizza on top of the usual theatre food... I think the best thing for post-VSG would be the frozen yogurt, but I think I'll just sneak in a Protein shake or some other, more healthy snack. I do drool a little every time I go by New York fries though :S wish I never got hooked on their veggie deluxe before surgery! It's so delish but so fatty and starchy

Ok! Good to know! I will be bringing a Protein shake to the movies then and abstaining from the popcorn! So far I've been really good at following the rules (although sometimes I find it hard to get all my protein in because my appetite is just too small ), so I don't want to fall off the wagon now! Seeing the weight come off is soooo worth the sacrifice!!! Thanks so much for your advice! I do take it to heart and I like to err on the side of caution! Unfortunately popcorn was not in my nutrition booklet! And MinaT - holy calories! I can't believe it!!! Everyone says popcorn is such a low calorie snack! I used to have Nooo problem downing a medium to myself :S Eegads!

Thanks so much NurseGrace and laura-ven - I trust your advice! Maybe this time I will just mooch a few pieces from my movie buddy instead of getting my own... Ill go super slow and make sure it's ok! Best of luck with your vsg!

I am 5 weeks post-OP - will be 6 weeks when I go to the movies next week. My question is what about popcorn? I know it goes against the Protein first rule, but I'd love to have some movie theatre popcorn next week (hooray for the fact that ill save money since I wont even be able to finish a small!). What about the one hard/sharp part in the middle (not sure what its called?) is that a danger or can I just chew really well? Also! So far 2 people have noticed my weight loss I've never been able to lose weight before so the comments/compliments are a new thing to me and feel so great!! Thanks for any advice!

I agree with everything nurse grace and new sarah have said! Drinking this soon out is indeed a bad idea for all the reasons already stated. I don't believe anyone here has bullied you or been negative - just expressing their genuine and valid concerns for your health! I, like nurse grace, don't understand why you posted this after the fact. I think it would have been more constructive and useful to you if you posted asking the question before you already started drinking. I genuinely hope this does not cause a leak for you. Just a question... If you lost 20 pounds and now no longer care that much about losing more, what are your stats? SW? GW? I'm not judging really just curious! Best of luck and try to keep away from the drink - especially if you're losing quickly - for the reason newsarah said! You're liver is in overdrive at the moment! And probably already damaged from being overweight. Oh and when working out - not sure if you know this since you seem to have been given limited post-op directions - try to keep away from any exercises that work your abs! That can negatively affect the healing of your incisions (which went through your abdominal muscles).

I forgot! I also confess that I'm sad that I no longer crave or enjoy pizza. I do miss eating an entire medium pizza with 3 dipping sauces in one sitting. That being said I'm MORE glad that I'm losing inches and wouldn't trade my sleeve for anything!

-I confess I haven't weighed myself in 3 weeks and I don't even have a scale. I'm scared of weighing myself because I fear I'm not progressing as fast as I should -I confess I crave the W burger from Wendy's (which they have conveniently discontinued for me) -I confess I can't control myself if salt and vinegar chips are available (luckily I live alone and just don't buy them, but weekends at my dad's are tough) -I confess I find it difficult to get Protein and fluids in -I confess when I ate two pieces of sushi, I wished I could have done my usual all-you-can-eat sushi binge -I confess surgery has confirmed I do have psychological issues with food

Oh wow! I thought my goal was small! I'm 5'4 and my goal is 125. I think for 5'9 140 is perfectly reasonable!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has kept quiet! I had a frank discussion with my mom about the surgery again and she said I'd be throwing away my degree (almost done my masters degree - wont be affected by the surgery) because ill have the same complications as 3/4 of her friends had when they had RNY's. She said if I went for surgery that she'd take my car out of her name (I can't get affordable insurance) which would make me unable to drive to school (I live 30 mins away) and this unable to finish my degree... I don't understand :S she wants me to finish my degree but will stop me from finishing if I do something to better my health! Urgh... And she recently told me that she doesn't know why I don't tell her things :S hahaha! Little does she know I already had the surgery and recovered fine! I'm so surprised at how little support there is for wls. On the bright side, I told my family doc and she said I was "an incredible young lady" and that she's proud I spent my money on my health. I was very pleased at her reaction!

Congratulations!! What's your goal weight?! Perfect timing for a wedding - you'll look gorgeous in your dress!

Hey! I'm 25, sleeved on 12-18-2012! I got sick afterwards but it was strep throat with some flu symptoms (but no flu)... I was scared to death I had a leak but my doc reassured me I didn't! So far I've lost 15 pounds since the day before my surgery slow but sure... I'm excited to just keep on losing!

Who did you tell about your surgery and why? How did you explain your recovery/eating to those you didn't tell? Ill start... I'm 25 started out 31-ish BMI 5'4" close to 195 starting weight, 185 by surgery time. Now 175 Sleeved on December 18 2012 I told my best friend. That's it. I went alone. She was very concerned (more concerned than judge-y, but I think it's hard for a 5'5" 115 pound waif not to judge). I gave her my just-in-case letters. She couldn't afford the flight to Mexico. I didn't tell my parents or any family members. My parents wouldn't have approved (mentioned it to my mom who forbade it, and with a much stricter father I didn't even mention it to him). Some family members would have been understanding, but they've been known to tattle on me when they were concerned about something, so I didn't want to risk it! During my recovery (holidays at home) I told everyone I had been in a horseback riding accident where the horse crushed me and they had to repair some internal organs (mainly the stomach - hence the diet restrictions). Why did I keep it a secret? Aside from the fact that my parents would have murdered me, I also won't tell strangers because people have an easy-way-out mentality when it comes to wls, and I want the credit for my weight loss! I don't want people to have the attitude that I got surgery and a year later I was a lot skinner (fingers crossed!)... People don't understand that it's not like that. Especially thin people who have never had weight problems which bothers me because they obviously don't understand what we go through. As a completely unrelated tangent: I have an MSc and plan on getting a PhD on obesity work and I'd love for it to make a difference in the perceptions of the general population about the PHYSIOLOGICAL causes of obesity. I find too much media (biggest loser, dr. Phil, dr. Oz, etc) focus on the PSYCHOLOGICAL... "It's all in your head" kinda perception. Which is why 98% of those people gain their weight back and those who don't gain back need to maintain abnormally active lifestyles with uncomfortably limited portions because they treated their symptoms (the fat) not the cause (the physiological problem; hormones, etc).

Since our healthcare is government-funded I feel like doctors take shortcuts to get you in and out quickly. I drove myself into the emergency department at 2:30am this morning because I couldn't handle this pain in my throat any longer although I had many other (quite severe) symptoms: -sore throat -nausea (haven't kept any Protein shakes down since Wednesday) -fever -chills -abdominal bloating -dehydration -muscle soreness all over shoulders and neck I was sleeved on December 18, so I'm still in the leakage danger zone :S It was hard to communicate all of this to the triage nurse and doctor, but I think I got it all across. I also did tell them about my surgery and the doctor was astonished... Said I was barely in the obese range with my starting bmi and that I seem too thin to be getting wls and I'd never be approved here. I just wanted to tell him to shove it! I can't go back now! Anyways... I stayed on IV fluids until 6 am when a new doctor came in and gave me an antibiotic prescription (for my throat) while I was half asleep and didn't give me a chance to ask questions or anything! What about all my flu-like symptoms? What about my surgery? Ugh They did do abdominal x-rays but what could they see with that? They can't see Fluid with an x-ray machine... I believe I need an ultrasound or something! Anyways are there any Canadians on here? Anyone have tips for communicating with Canadian doctors? I'm thinking of going to a different hospital tonight and be more direct "I think I have a leak from my vsg surgery..." Thoughts?

Hey I had the same thing even though I was drinking a ton! I went to the er and they put me on an IV and I felt 10x better. I still have all the flu symptoms though that they didn't treat (fever, chills, nausea). I'm scared I have a leak... I told my doctor that it felt like I had Water in my abdominal cavity. He took x-rays (without a barium drink) and said I was fine, but im not sure what he can see in an x-ray... Sounds like an ultrasound thing to me :S. I'm at home resting now. How do I convince my doctor to take the possibility of a leak more seriously?

Thanks so much every body! I am drinking a Protein shake as I type! It's tough but I really have to get it in me sometime today! I agree I don't think ill be losing as quickly as most people do because of my BMI. I hope losing weight helps my BP! Has anyone else found wls helped their hypertension? When I was 22 and 160-ish I was 155/125 and rejected for life insurance! But whenever I went to my doc it was much lower 130/90, so she told me to lose weight before I start treatment. I wonder if getting down to 125 or 130 will help... My mom and my grandmother both have hypertension along with all my aunts on my moms side :S I feel like it's more of a genetics and salt thing?

I had my surgery done by Cabrera/Garcia through medical tourism co. Everything went great! I really liked the doctors and my recovery has been great so far 3 weeks postop). Th e only advice is give here is to know what you're going to do to help your recovery - don't rely on them to tell you what to do - the nurses hardly speak any English, so you've gotta figure stuff out on your own (lots of walking!!!). And if you have any issues you need to get the nurse to help you out! It was great though! Great value for the money so far!

I won't be mucking much till end of January. Ill mainly be walking horses to and from their fields while I recover (the people I live with know about the surgery and my restrictions). I'm afraid ill have a hard time staying off the horses though, but ill try my best!

I'm younger and lighter and still have hypertension and fatty liver and joint pain! I was sleeved on dec 18 2012! I think you are making the right decision! Originally I wanted the band, and my surgeon was fine with that, but all the issues with fills and refills and stuff like that made me rethink it (especially being a self pay!) Boy am I ever glad I did! My cousin got the Lapband at a pretty high starting weight (I don't know exactly, but probably close to 300), she lost 30 pounds post OP because of the diet, but has maintained since (like a year later), she vomits all the time and can't tolerate healthy foods like veggies and Protein, she gets really sick, so she eats sweets a lot of the time which is why she's not losing. I hate throwing up, so I'm sooooo happy I got the sleeve! I never push it too far (in my opinion. I drink half of what I think I can and I wait ten minutes and I'm usually full enough... In fact I don't really ever feel hungry! The joy of losing grehlin with your stomach! Unfortunately most bodies recover it after a year or so which I'm not excited for! I love not being hungry! Anyways! Good for you!

Just wanted to add pictures (I hope they worked!) the white shirt pics are the day before surgery and the other two are 2 weeks post! Seems to me like more than ten pounds, which is why I'm so encouraged so far!

I was always in denial about my weight unfortunately and all my friends were too which didn't help! I had always been a *little* bigger/heavier than everybody else my age (I'm 25 now). But because it was only a little I never worried about it. I stayed below 165 throughout my undergrad (although I went in at 130!). It also didn't help that I've always been the smallest in my family - most of my cousins were 200-400. It wasn't until I gained almost 30 pounds in my first year of grad school resulting in stretch marks on my belly that I realized I was farther gone than I'd wanted to be! I've never been able to lose weight (even after a 4-month long summer veggie/protein kick where I ran 7-10km a day 5-6 days a week, rode horses, worked a physically demanding job and did resistance training.. I was 165 at the beginning of the summer and 165 at the end). Anyways! When I gained what I call my "grad school belly" I started eating healthier to slow the gain and exercised more, but I know I'd need more help than that! I booked a self pay surgery as fast as I could from the day I discovered my stretch marks. I was sleeved about a month later on December 18 2012! I weighed in 2 weeks later and was down 10.2 pounds from my pre-OP of 185.6 pounds and feeling so much better about how I looked! I was surprised at how much I lost in my face (my face fat is my least favourite!). I'm trying not to jump on the scale too much for fear of discouragement so I'm weighing in every 2 weeks. I'm a little sick (sore throat) and nauseous today which is my first hiccup since 2 days post OP... I really can't keep anything down so I'm not getting Protein and feeling really tired! My goal weight is 130 although I'd love to get down to 125. I'm 5'4. For exercise, I start work at the horse farm where I now live tomorrow! Mucking stalls is great for the core, although ill be taking it easy because I'm still in recovery! I will also be riding their horses which is great cardio. I predict ill be doing both mucking (1.5 hours/day) and riding (1-2 hours/day) about 4-7 days a week averaging 5. I also have a very energetic dog I need to keep busy with walks! I'm most excited to fit into my jeans! (I never bought fat clothes - just wore track pants all the time!) ... I'm getting close to fitting into my 31 inch jeans... And then I want them to be baggy! I'm also excited to look good on a horse again! I used to be the average rider and now I'm a "bigger" rider and that bothers me. And I'm excited to run again! I've been so unfit since the start of the summer I couldn't run 1km let alone my usual 7-10! I'm so glad I found this resource! I have found some great tips about getting enough protein (which I'm having troubles with... In fact I'm having troubles drinking enough period. I am only taking in 160-300 calories a day of rote in shakes and it's not enough I don't think!) I'm excited to be able to eat solid foods! I think my first day ill be going out for one sushi roll! No more all you can eat for me! Oh! And I don't have a date that I want to reach my goal, because it's a lot of pressure and I really have no idea what to expect (I'm even leery of reaching my goal ever; since I've never lost weight before!) what do you guys think? Within a year for 45-50 more pounds sound realistic? I'm hoping to be down 30 total by springtime! I can't believe there's a possibility of me being down to 150 - let alone 130!!!! I just can't wait! Sorry for the novel! Ps I was self pay in Mexico!

I sort of felt the same way. I only told one friend (a stick thin friend) about getting the surgery and she told me I wasn't big enough yet - I should wait. But I thought to myself why should I wait? Why should I wait till my blood pressure is trough the roof and highly medicated? why should I wait for wear and tear on my bones and joints? Why should I go on feeling tired and hungry ALL THE TIME! So at a BMI of 31 I decided to do it. One of the ladies in the hospital came in and chatted with me and said she was surprised at how small I was, but good for me for taking action! She wasn't that big either - I think her BMI was a 37 because she already had the lapband but was getting it revised to a sleeve.

I Just had my surgery on the 18th!!! It's going to be great!! The first day and night are really rough, but don't let yourself get down! I feel pretty much like my old self now! Just a little bloated! Can't wait to hear your experiences! I had my surgery in Mexico - if anyone needs reassurance I found it fabulous and I went to the cheapest hopital in mexico!

I just had the VSG two days ago! I'm still recuperating. I feel free already though! It's weird - I've alway felt hungry... all the time! But now I don't at all! I thought the Clear liquids diet would be hard for me, but it really hasn't been! Anyways! There were a few straws that broke the camels back. I'm starting out from a little bit of a lower weight than most (186), but I am 25 and everyone in my family has experience an incredible weight explosion at 25 and I'm partway through that. I recently gained 30 pounds in 1 month and I thought this is the beginning... soon I will end up over 300 like all my cousins. I'm not one to give in however, I worked out 3 times a week at the gym, I ride horses several times a week, I play football and baseball with my father and my dog keeps me busy with long walks and runs! I thought if this is my activity level and I just keep gaining and gaining then I need to do something about it BEFORE it gets out of control! I also have hypertension (have since 22) and high cholesterol. Doctor told me I need to lose weight - I just keep gaining though - I don't even feel like it's in my control! The more I try to lose the more I gain! My friends and family all think I'm crazy, but I KNOW I can't get down to my goal weight of 125 without WLS, maybe I could get close if I constantly starved myself and hired a personal trainer seven days a week, but I hate feeling hungry and personal training is expensive!!! The real last straw where I started to look into it was when I started weeing stretchmarks on my stomach which will never change, and I don't want other parts of me to change that I can't change back. The thing I've been noticing since I booked the surgery is that I shuffle to get out of a chair now - my belly is too big to let me lean forward and stand up - it makes me feel fat or pregnant. I can't wait to start this journey! I feel great and very optimistic already!