Macy6

My full liquid list includes:
1 C unsweetened soy milk or lactaid (6g protein)
1 C skim milk or 1% milk (8g P)
1C blended or strained low fat cream of chicken Soup made with skim milk (8g protein)
1 C low fat unsweetened Kefir (14g P)
1 C skim milk with 1 packed of Beneprotein (14g P)
1 C skim milk with 3 TBSP of non fat powdered milk (17g P)
1 C approved Protein drink
1C skim milk with 1 scoop Protein powder
Did you know if you add 3 TBSP of non fat powdered milk to ANY liquid that it boosts your protein by about 9g? So A cup of chicken broth might only have 1-3g of P but you mix that in and you have 10-12g of Protein and something savory vs sweet. The powdered milk will make the item cloudy, or creamy looking but it should have little effect on the flavor of the Soup.< /p>

My full liquid list includes:
1 C unsweetened soy milk or lactaid (6g protein)
1 C skim milk or 1% milk (8g P)
1C blended or strained low fat cream of chicken Soup made with skim milk (8g protein)
1 C low fat unsweetened Kefir (14g P)
1 C skim milk with 1 packed of Beneprotein (14g P)
1 C skim milk with 3 TBSP of non fat powdered milk (17g P)
1 C approved Protein drink
1C skim milk with 1 scoop Protein powder
Did you know if you add 3 TBSP of non fat powdered milk to ANY liquid that it boosts your protein by about 9g? So A cup of chicken broth might only have 1-3g of P but you mix that in and you have 10-12g of Protein and something savory vs sweet. The powdered milk will make the item cloudy, or creamy looking but it should have little effect on the flavor of the Soup.< /p>

What a difference a year makes. The before picture was from July last year, the after last week.

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/forum/48-gastric-sleeve-surgery-vsg-complications-support-group/
Here is the complications forum. It gives you a good perspective of all things bad and no good. It is a real risk, but it is so important to be well educated and informed. As far as check ups, I would guess it is dependent on your surgeon, and what they do. My surgeon has regular check ups. I know for sure 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 2 months. I am fairly certain there is a 4 month and 6 month too, at least with the nutritionist. This forum can be an incredible tool to learn about what can be an incredible tool in your weight loss journey. Some journeys are short, others long. I will have been on an 8 month journey when I have my surgery on the 27th. I have read many books, participated in many forums and posts. I have gone to monthly support groups and kept in regular contact with my primary physician and patient navigator. With all the hours I have put into it, I know that I am only in the first chapter of knowing everything there is to know about the sleeve.

My surgeon sets different goals for different patients. I know one person who needed to loose around 50# while I had a 5# loss requirement. I personally believe there are a number of reasons, I think my surgeon wants us as close to or less than 50 BMI (mainly because my loss put me at 49 BMI) I also think that depending on the patient and the "vibe" the surgeon gets from the patient, maybe based on age or health history, that it is also to test the patient to see how committed they are. The person I know who had to loose 50# is pretty young and has a questionable past medical history and comes off pretty immature while I walked in very educated and had pages of questions and I have a pretty clean medical history. I have theories of course :-)

Funny, One search of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery produced this article.
http://asmbs.org/201...hed-procedures/
Third sentence in.... "is as safe or safer than laparoscopic gastric bypass or gastric banding"
Don't get me wrong, I am an advocate for what one feels will work for them. I know someone who has been quite successful with little to no complications with the gastric band, I know a few people who are the same with gastric bypass. My mother had a very early version of gastric banding and it nearly killed her when it closed up and they had to flight for life her 250 miles away to a specialist because our town, at the time, didn't have surgeons who dealt with that kind of issue. That was probably 10 years ago, and around 12 years post op from the original surgery, but I am fairly certain she would have adamantly been opposed to the idea of me getting lap band because of her experience. On the other hand I know someone who is quite large who had the sleeve done in January as a first step in the DS. He had a tremendous amont of complications, but he was also around 500-600#. He had a type of resistant bacterial infection that nearly killed him, and 7 months later is still in the process of wound healing. His surgeons have already said he is going to have to get the sleeve to work, because if they risk another surgery it could kill him. He has lost nearly 200# and as far as the sleeve goes is doing well.

I have seen a huge variety in time frames... 15-30 min before 30-90min after. The biggest thing to remember is the longer that food hangs out and the more your body works to digest it, without the added Water, the longer you will feel full and the less food you will eat.

Good husband! Sooooo sorry it happened! I had my gallbladder out and have had a form of dumping from that, but never to that extreme. Hopefully it never EVER happens again! On the other hand you paint a very vivid and somewhat comical picture.

I just wanted to share that I have a blog and Facebook page about my journey. I'm looking for more "sleeved" friends. If you're interested...


My Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Fat-Public-Secrets/144321055619485
My Blog
http://myfatpublicsecrets.wordpress.com

I've been a Psych RN for 37 years. I work for Orlando Health. I probably would have had my surgery at one of my company's hospitals, but I was denied by Health Choice, (our insurance company) so I'm going to Mexico for the VSG as a self-pay. I've got 10 days before my surgery and I'm really excited. It will be interesting compare the quality of care in Mexico vs. Orlando Health's "Patient First" policy. From what I've heard, I think I'm going to be pleasantly surprised. My Surgeon is Guillermo Alvarez, MD in Piedras Negras, MX>

For my psych evaluation, the doctor really wanted to make sure that I was a) doing this for myself and no one was coercing me; I understood the seriousness of the surgery; and c) that I had mental capacity to deal with the pre and post op programs and diets.

I must be committed to this as I am staying up late in order to get my liquids In! Almost there for today!

Lol! Now you will be up 3 times for the bathroom!

Can't believe I'm the same person!!!

Me! Approved for surgery today! My Birthday.

Oh lets see....
sleep Study
Follow up sleep Study
Labs
Upper GI
Psych x 3 (1 for testing, 1 for approval and a secondary approval within 3 months of surgery)
Exercise Physiologist
Nutritionist (once, and again before surgery)
EKG
Minimum of 1 support group, have attended 5 out of 6
Two appts with surgeon, once to see if I was a good candidate and I will have another pre op.
There is another pre op class that is required (surgery date, pending approval, August 29)
They go so quickly. I really enjoyed the process. It was hard and yet very worth it.

Wow, I have an issue with this. I can't believe she is brushing off your gallbladder. When I ended up in the hospital with my gallbladder and it was removed my surgeon said my surgery lasted longer than normal because it was hard and days away from gangrene I was lucky I got it out when I did. How frustrating

Hi everyone! My name is Alex and I'm 17 years old I've struggled with my weight my whole life and I'm really looking forward to starting fresh on my weightloss journey. My circumstances are a little strange, though. I know that I'm going to be sleeved before the last 2 weeks of August (my surgeon is going on vacation then) but I don't know the exact date yet. I need to be up and ready for school to start at the end of August because it's my senior year and I have a very tedious course load. Along with that, I've spent the past 5 months in extreme pain because of a lipoma and infection on my abdomen, so the doctors are speeding up the process. Not only am I getting sleeved, I'm getting my appendix taken out because it's on the wrong side. Strange, I know My whole summer is being spent anticipating this surgery- I'm excited, nervous, and most importantly, ready to be healthy

A couple things from my Nutritionist....
Add 2 TBSP of Non Fat DRY Milk to any Soup and it adds 6g of Protein right off the bat. It won't effect the taste that much, it will just make it appear creamier.
Here are a couple recipes she gives us....
Serving Size is 1/2C: Everything strained the first two weeks
I Can of low fat or fat free cream of chicken soup
1 C skim-1% Milk
A dash of Chipotle sauce from a can of chipotle peppers
1 TBSP Protein powder
Makes 4 servings that have 9g/Fat, 8g/Protein, 19g/ Carbs, 140/Calories
Cream of chicken Soup: Same as above minus the Chipotle and she makes note that with the Protein Powder it will increase the Protein content
Italian broth
4ounces chicken broth (or veggie or beef)
1/2 tsp grated Romano cheese
Dash of Black pepper
1 TBSP protein powder
1g/fat, 9g/protein, 1g/Carb, 25/Cal
High Protein Soup
1/3 C non fat dry milk powder
1 tsp Chicken or beef bouillon
2 TBSP protein powder
1 C hot Water
Just some ideas....

Paperwork faxed today, surgery date of Aug 27th. Wanted the 13th but my Dr is on vacation for two weeks, at least he will be well rested!

Paperwork faxed today, surgery date of Aug 27th. Wanted the 13th but my Dr is on vacation for two weeks, at least he will be well rested!

I have not had surgery, but struggle with compliments. I am a baker, and a cook and tend to be on the creative side so I tend to be complimented frequently in those areas. My response is generally a "oh uh hmmm yeah" followed by a spastic look down, up and to the side and a fast get away. I have a friend who told me, you need to realize when people compliment you, they do it because they like something about you, or what you did. It isn't meant to make you uncomfortable, it isn't them being snotty or hurtful. She also said I know you are used to being rejected and hurt, and the idea of a compliment is foreign but you need to own up to that compliment and outright say "Thank you" that is it. Then you need to realize that you deserve the compliment, and you need to be proud of it.
We all have our demons, and have all been rejected and hurt in one way or another. When someone gives you a compliment, just say thank you, and mean it. Maybe try to envision what they are seeing, or complimenting on and understand why they would compliment you. You deserve the compliment, otherwise they wouldn't give it to you.

I feel like the donkey with the carrot hung right in front of my face. Friday the office said as soon as the PA signs off on my stuff they will fax it. Monday she said it still wasn't done, but soon. Tuesday is surgery day and nothing yet today. They said they will call when they fax it so I'm trying to be patient, but it seems to be weighing on my mind every moment of the day. It's just one more hurdle, I've made it 6 months I know I can hang in there a bit longer. The anticipation is killing me. ----I'm hoping to laugh at this post a year from now---

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Stuck-Ring
The "Dental Floss Method" Is what they did in the ER.

It was nasty stuff and I burped for hours after, I luckily had my results immediately. Good thoughts your way.