SMO

Saw the doc today for my slightly late 6 week appointment. She was happy with my weight loss. I have lost 22% of my excess weight. She told me she wants me to be up to 30% at 3 months. Seems like a lot of weight to lose in four short weeks.

Thanks for the pep talk! I wanted to shout at her to stop harshing my buzz!

I experienced that the first few days post op. It went away.

I got them too for about 11 days. The first day after surgery, I got them just laying there doing nothing. Then I had them only when I drank liquid, then they tapered off until eventually, I did not get them anymore.

20 pounds in 4 weeks. That is nearly a pound a day. How is that not awesome?

In terms of percentages, I have lost 21% of my excess weight in 7 weeks. That is awesome. I may not lose 100 pounds in 5 months, but as long as I keep losing, I am a happy girl. My calculations use my surgery weight of 241 minus my goal of 130 for a total excess weight of 111 pounds. I have lost 24 pounds since surgery so, 24 divided by 111 is 21%.

I had surgery with a temporary cap on. I had discovered a cracked tooth when having my teeth cleaned prior to surgery. They had put a temporary cap on but I did not get the permanent until after surgery. There was no discussion of it by my surgeon.

I am at about 7.5 weeks and can eat exactly the same amounts. Anywhere from 1 to 3 oz (depending on the food) and I am full. Sometimes I take that one bite too many and then I am uncomfortable for a few minutes. I can eat about 2 oz of most meat, 3 oz of cottage cheese. I have very little restriction as to liquids. I can drink 8 oz of Water or Protein drink in 15 minutes.

What in the world did they band?

I totally agree with you, Dana. I just cannot eat the bread right now so I have to just stick with the toppings until I can.

I was craving the taste of pizza so I had the deli slice me four wafer thin slices of pepperoni. I also got some fresh mozzarella. I put the pepperoni on a paper plate between papertowels andnuked it for about 15 seconds. That crisped it up and got rid of a bunch of grease. Then I melted some cheese on it and put a bit of tomato sauce on top. Pepperoni pizza. Cured the craving with no crust.

Well said.

Oops. Caught. I am a girl. Someday I am going to get on this site on something other than my iPhone and post a picture and stuff.

Laura, you always brighten my day. I don't care if the topic is tacos or attention seeking whores. You crack me up.

Those TB tacos are mostly air. A tablespoon of "meat" and a sprinkle of cheese. I want a real California taco. The kind they put the shredded beef in and then fry, then pry open and put lettuce, cheese and tomatoes in. But I cannot eat lettuce yet. So I wait. I do not think I could eat a soft taco made with a flour tortilla. I tried a bit of one and it did not agree with my tummy at all. I ate a crispy corn chip and it was clear that I will have to avoid them. They went down too easy. But I think a real crispy shredded beef taco is definitely in my future. With hot sauce.

Cheese is a huge part of my diet at 7 weeks and it is not hurting my loss. It is good protein and much easier to digest than meat protein for me. I also eat a few pretzel sticks with it. My NUT has those on my diet from week 3. I hate yogurt and have not eaten so much as a teaspoon. Everyone else seems to love it so I know how you feel with the cottage cheese. I doubt you can overeat at this point. If the doctor has told you to eat whatever you tolerate at this point, you probably ought to go with it.

I went on the machine in 2009. I was in bad shape. I had not really slept for months. I slept sitting up in the bath tub. And of course, I also fell asleep during the day anywhere I sat still for a few minutes. I had headaches every day. I snored loud enough to wake the dead. My poor husband did not sleep either. I went for a sleep study and the doctor told me that I stopped breathing every 15 seconds. My machine saved my sanity, if not my life. 8 days after surgery, my machine started waking me up. It was blowing air with so much force, my throat was dry. I was not breathing through my mouth. I reset the machine several nights in a row with the same result. I finally had my husband watch me sleep without it. I did not jerk myself awake and did not wake up to headaches. No problems with fatigue or any other symptoms. So I am off the machine for about 5 weeks now.

Are you sure it isn't your tonsils? Maybe something got irritated by the intubation.

No drain or staples for me either. All of my incisions were glued shut. One had one dissolving stitch in it. When I had my gallbladder out I had staples. It wasn't the end if the world, they just leave additional scarring.

That is so fantastic! Congrats. I had the surgery so I could avoid diabetes. I am 46 days out and I haven't had an A1c yet, but a couple of weeks ago, my glucose was 106 two hours after breakfast so I think I am going to be fine.

I get light headed and dizzy fairly frequently. It is more frequent when I eat less than 20 carbs a day. I think it is blood sugar issues for me.

I took Ambien on a flight from New York to London. It is a 6 hour flight. I took it as soon as I strapped myself in. The flight attendant woke me up to fill out my landing card. I remember doing that and the next thing I remember is "waking up" at Paddington Station, standing at a ticket machine. I went through immigration and took the train into London (my first trip to London) and have no memory of it at all. It really is a blessing to me sleep-wise, but that amnesia s/!t scares me.

First I heard of the liver biopsy was when I signed my consent in pre-op. I asked, too and was told my doctor does it in every case. I figured the risk of complication from the biopsy was probably lower than the risk from having my stomach cut out so I signed. I am sure the results were back at my 3 week appointment but he didn't mention it and I forgot to ask. I am sure if there was something to tell, he would have mentioned it.

You have lost an average of 4 to 5 pounds a week. That is awesome! I am at the same point -- 45 days out -- and I have lost 24 pounds since surgery. That has not been consistent loss. I lost 18 pounds the first 15 days and then a long stall. Most people I have talked to said they lost in lurches after the first week or two. My average is 3.5 pounds a week. If I continue with that, I could lose 90 pounds in six months. If I don't, I am happy with whatever I lose.

Did you ever find an answer as to why your WBC and RBC were elevated? Were you dehydrated?