Arts137

Just keep on keeping on!!! You'll see a LOT of discussion of the "3 week stall"

Yeppers, programs and surgeons are often very different. There are many roads to Rome.

NOPE, you are fine, fine, superfine...

I was federal BC/BS and got the approval within 2 weeks...

Great question. First some have gas discomfort, some don't. I had VERY LITTLE discomfort of any kind, gas or otherwise! OK, think of the body... The "gas" is NOT in the GI tract, so burping or farting does nothing to resolve (though the doctors and nurses will be happy with burps and farts, since it means your GI tract is working OK after surgery). (full disclosure -- there could be VERY MINIMAL gas added to the stomach during the sleeve procedure, but not much. SO, what is this "gas"? When they do surgery, they "blow up" your abdominal cavity like a baloon so that the surgical team can work around in there. They do take the gas out, but some is left. This excess gass will be reabsorbed into the body and blood and expelled over a few days. Walking is the best medicine, and you will be walking from the very first day!

Your GI tract is a marvel... If "0" is liquidy-loose and "5" is uncomfortably rock hard, then "Normal" is anything between "1" and "4". You are good!

1. We love you. 2. We are not going to beat you up. I hope we each realize that "there but for the grace of God go I" OK, I (intellectually) knew that the Sleeve was not magical. But emotionally I just wanted the sleeve to work automatically. Maybe it would be a switch that would turn off my hunger. Maybe the operation would automatically make be want only the 'nutritious' food and change my taste buds so that I'd hate "slider" foods. Maybe the sleeve would end my work and life stress. Maybe the sleeve would vacuum the carpets... (um, sorry) Nope. For me it is a tool and nothing magical at all. I CAN eat around the sleeve. I can eat a lot more than I thought I could and I also have a stomach of steel. Aside from one episode of nausea and vomiting, I have had NO problems. I think I could eat a box of carpet tacks. I have had good loss. I am coming up to 7 months out and am down 100# from my heaviest weight and 45# down from surgery. I have been in a frustrating stall for over a month, sigh, but I press on... But I have a fat brain (named, as many folks here know, "Skippy"). Skippy wants me to eat. ALL the time. I can only deal with Skippy by having a daily eating plan. I know what I will eat and when I will eat and that's it. I just never change from the plan -- not because it's fun or because I don't WANT to -- but because Skippy is freaking insane and is FULL of wonderful snack ideas... Also, from reading here and other research, I have come to believe that I am a Carb Addict. Period. One day I had a bananna... and was STARVING the rest of the day. One day I had a small (tiny) rice pudding cup... and was starving for the rest of the day. This made no sense. BUT I have found that IF I can stay on a very strict low carb eating plan (NO sugars and NO starches and NO processed carbs) for 3 or 4 very difficult days it does get easier. And after about a week, I really don't mind the temptations of TV, work parties, and home; and I no longer have terrible and painful cravings. 3 or 4 TOUGH days to pay for a much easier time later, with Skippy being quiet in the background rather than continuously whispering in my ear. PS, I have given up longing to be normal... I never was and I refuse to "long" to be fat any more. I struggle every day with eating slowly, I drink coffe, my NUT is not happy, but it's the only drug I've got left. PS, I drink it black -- took a month to transition to black coffee but I did, I drink no soda, diet or otherwise, no beer, nothing bubbly I do not smoke (thank God) I limit my alcohol to special occasions, I get my Water in I get my Protein in I write everything down I take the Vitamins required PS, we love you, and this book helped me: http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307474259

Why to make the dead horse run faster, of course!

Yeah Nola. And I am a baker. For years I made all the bread in the house. Cakes, English Muffins, Bagels - you name it. And I still bake, but I don't eat any... And I really don't feel that I am suffering! Go figure!

McButter has good ideas!!!

Oh Simply Wonderful. Now have a buncha grown up fun!!!

YES! Don't be ashamed of your fear. Study and learn. There can be complications, but as you will see they are rare: http://www.thinnertimes.com/weight-loss-surgery/vertical-sleeve-gastrectomy/vertical-sleeve-gastrectomy-risks-and-complications.html A mortality rate of 2/1,000 for major surgery is not too shabby! Do you have a family history or a personal history of blood clots? Is your starting BMI over 50.0? If not, it is likely that they will not agressively treat you for potential clots... But DO discuss with your medical team!

My little friend. You have done well, now "life" intervenes. Please check the research page and review the "carbs and cocaine"... I wonder if you (like me) have a problem with carbs -- if I eat ANY carbs I am famished for days!!!

Congratulations and I sure agree, it IS mental. My fat brain Skippy does not always agree, but so far so good.

:-)... Love you Queenie

My program prescribed Optifast. But don't worry, your program will give you specific instructions!

Naolmi, what kind? Do you have private disability insurance? Are you talking about California's temporary disability program or Social Securities permanent disability program??

I've lost 100#, but I have 100# more to go. So does that mean I am an asshole, qualified to take the asshole exam, or that I just HAVE an asshole???

Great, MNM. Keep plugging along!

One episode won't damage anything, but what have you learned and what will you do different? pizza is available everywhere and all the time. How will the "fat brain" try to get you to pizza out NEXT time???

Please let us know how you processed these ideas and what you have decided to do. Trust me, there is NO right or wrong. This is YOUR life and we will support your decisions! (though we may be brutally candid sometimes) (supportive, but candid)

Ask about: Complications General success rate (from surgery) % of excess fat / weight lost Pre-op requirements NUT and medical support before and after...

Watch for Butterthebean's posts!!!

SO... I accused Skippy of making calls and NOW I see that they were to Trippy!!!

Photo... It's a long time out, and that means that you can make it easier on yourself by practicing new behaviors now. Trust me... folks to go "cold turkey" on the last day are chosing a more difficult pate!