NewKristen

I will be praying for all of you guys tonight and tomorrow, too. I will be praying that you have peace, and your surgery goes well. I will also be praying that the doctors and medical staff have wisdom!

I am happy to report that at 7 weeks, I have never "sharted". However, that is because in couldn't poop to save my life with out tons of Fiber, stool softeners and occasionally milk of magnesia. Let me just tell you that once, I was so backed up...I took the maximum amount of MOM and still did not poop for 48 more hours. I would like you all to know that I have pooped twice in 3 days without taking anything. ))

So awesome! You look amazing! And so happy!

Goodness! I hate stuff like that. I wouldn't worry tonight. Just call the dr. In the morning and see what he says. Watch for redness and increased irritation in the meantime.

I am still so haunted tonight by his passing. I am sure others feel mixed up, too. He was on my mind a lot today. I go from feeling sad for him, to feeling blessed I am still here, to feeling sick as to what his family is going through.

I am glad you are on your road to recovery. God bless you. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.

My name is Kristen...and I am totally a food addict. It took me forever to figure that out. I eat because I love, love, love food. I am not an emotional eater. I am not eating to hide myself. I just love food so much, and I experience "high's" from food consumption, just as a drug addict would. I also work in software development. I work from home for a company on the east coast as a SQA engineer...and I also have a photography business. I am 39 years old, and as long as I could remember I have struggled with my weight. For me there wasn't a moment where I became fat, like having a baby or something...no, I have just always struggled with my weight. I have yo-yo'd with diets and weight gain all of my adult life. So last May, my mom had a heart attack. She has always been successful managing her weight, and it happened to her. So I knew it was time to change. I started my VSG journey in October of 2012. I was sleeved on 1/28. For the most part, I have had very little complications. Immediately after surgery, my hearts started having a lot of PVC's (irregular heart beats), so I got the whole cardio package in the hospital. I have always had PVC's, but I guess they didn't occur in the surgery, and started pretty crazy in recovery. I am still working at getting released from the cardiologist, but I am thankful that they are taking it so seriously. I was sleeved in Topeka, KS! Recovery has been pretty good since then. I am down 42 lbs at 4 weeks out. However, that includes my pre-op diet. I am married with two children. My kids are 18 & 20. Daughter is 20 and getting married in the fall. She is a junior in college and studying to become a HS English teacher. Son is 18, and a freshman in college, not sure what he wants to do. My husband is the best person I have ever met in my life. We have been married over 21 years, so if you do the math - we got married at 18. Ran off and eloped 3 days before he left for basic in USAF! Pre-op, I truly had a lot of self confidence. At one of my dr's visits, my Dr. was talking about my daughter;s wedding and she said something like "You are going to look so much better then!". My reply was "I look pretty dang good now!" I am not really that conceited, but I do hate the idea that people think they were hideous when they were overweight. But then again, my husband tells m everyday how beautiful I am...so he would never allow me to feel ugly. He has been so supportive of me getting the sleeve, too...frequently telling me how proud of me he is. My husband and I coach a competitive fastpitch 18U team in NE KS. We love our players and their families. This is our 5th year. Both of us have a tremendous heart for children/teens. We have invested much of our life into the youth ministry. My personality, I am always upbeat and happy. It is a choice I make everyday. I used to be pretty negative. Then I realized I was the one with the problem, not the rest of the world. So now I choose happiness. I choose laughter and often times silliness. Life is way too short to be miserable. I have already offended a couple on here with my sense of humor, I suspect that I probably will offend someone else. So I apologize in advance and will try to be on my best behavior. I stress "try". The last few weeks of my life have been really hard, so my theories on happiness have been challenged hardcore. One of our softball players was in a car accident and broke her neck. Because of her circumstances, my husband and I think of this young lady as our own. She frequently stays with us, and we pick up a large portion of her softball expenses. When it was time for college recruiting, we took her on all of her college visits....so watching her go through what she did...I truly felt like it was my own kid. While she was in the hospital, my son received some devestating news. His football career is over. He was recruited by over 100 schools his junior and senior years in HS. Several D1's were in that mix. He took an illegal hit to his right knee in a game in his senior year...3 surgeries later it is somewhat fixed. Test results on his left knee shows a 4th surgery is in the future, so as a family we made the decision that football was finished. Knees are something you need a lot longer that a college football career. My daughter pitched in college and made the decision to retire after her sophmore season, because of health issues...that was hard...but she at least got to play in college and experience that. My son signed for a college, but never stepped on the field. Then after all of this...we are dealing with the impending/looming sequestration. If congress doesn't agree on something by Friday, my husband will soon lose his job. He has been an air traffic controller for 21 years, and he will lose his livlihood. There will not be any other ATC jobs if this happens. The tower he works at is scheduled to close as part of the Dept. of Transp. cuts. In all of this, we will make it. We are blessed...am hoping for things to chill out a bit, though. This is who I am...I look forward to getting to know some good support friends on here. God bless, Kristen

They look awesome!

This is such a shock. Praying for his family! News like this does make you stop and count your blessings and love the people around you.

My husband did all the cooking during my 6 weeks post-op. I know. I am spoiled. Ha ha. But I did cook some this last week, right after my 6 weeks was up. We typically split the cooking with each of us doing it 3-4 times a week. I will say cooking after 6 weeks wasn't hard. Granted I could have some regular food then. But I still was making stuff for them that I couldn't have,and it wasn't hard at all.

Hypocrisy? Yeah, ok. Maybe. My friend started one of those "wrap" businesses that help people lose weight and "tone". She told people that she lost all of her weight through the wraps to sell them. She was quite successful. She also lied. She could have easily sold them and marketed them without the outright "lie" that she lost all of we weight through those wraps. Not telling friends and family because you are afraid of judgement, that is not a lie. That is omission in my opinion. Using the weight loss you achieved through this tool called sleeve" to make insecure women but your products...that is a lie. If having a strong opinion about that makes me judgmental. I can live with that.

What I don't understand about this thread is why both sides of the debate get so sensitive about it. Some of the people who are open about it, get so judgmental about those who aren't. If you can be open about it, then be blessed that you have a support system that allows this...or you have reached a point in your life where you don't care what anyone else thinks. On the other hand, if you have made the decision to not tell anyone, then stop being so defensive. Who care what anyone says or thinks about you deciding to keep it private. No one walks in your shoes. I personally am very open with anyone who asks me. I am not offended when people notice my weight loss and ask me how I am doing it! It makes me feel great, and I want to share it with them. I had a friend who lied - out right lied - about what she is doing to lose weight after she had the sleeve. It wasn't because she doesn't want to tell anyone, it is because she is using her weight loss to make money! That anyway you look at it...is so wrong. I am blessed with a great support system all the way around me. If the people in my life weren't supportive.,,I would be all about moving on without them. So stope being judgmental, defensive, angry...life is so short. Choose to care about relevance.

You mean 3/4? How long is your liquid diet? Mine was a total of 3 weeks. My doctor wouldn't lift it for anyone, it said so in her packet so I didn't even ask. I wish you better luck though.

Praying for you right now. Hope this night is pain free and restful!

Doesn't chocolate count for the liquid diet, as long as you let it melt before you swallow it? I feel ripped off. The only thing I have ate that wasn't on plan was a yogurt covered pretzel (little bitty) and a waffle fry. I then went into a 3 week stall. So screw all of you that are cheating and losing weight!

Your stomach might give a tiny bit with the sleeve, but it won't stretch. The part of the stomach they make the sleeve with isn't stretchy like the part of the stomach they use for gastric bypass. You will get better at eating with the sleeve with a little time, which makes it seem like it stretched.