Madam Reverie

If you can get soup in.. get it down your neck, girl!

Depends how you view this person, whether its your first date and whether you would like to be upfront or not? If not, just say you're nervous and it wrecks your appetite!

He's 24 and a total knob. Glad you're back on your home turf for the operation. You take all the time you need up there to heal and get things together. Nothing like having your crew around you. As for he posh shower gel? Hell, you have at it! If that's as bad as it gets, you're going to be just fine! When I split from my ex fiance, I think i blew a cool £1,000 on 'making me feel better' stuff! Barclaycard, MAC and House of Fraser were very happy, I can tell you! x

OMG did someone just say 'Maccy D's'?! <salivates so much she drowns in her own sputum and sails off into a reverie of saturated fat heaven>

I paid £9950 all in. That's for everything - tests, nutritionist, psychologist (although I wasn't referred), surgery, residential stay and follow up care for one year afterwards. This includes as many counseling sessions with the psyche and nutritionist as is required, even in-extremis surgery, should it be required. On balance, I think its good value as I am near my home and feel well cared for. I went with the Spire hospital group.

Darlin', when you've done weeks of nothing but yoghurt and Protein drinks, you will sell your kidney or the rights to your first unborn child for a mouthful of pizza.. In fact.. a mouthful of anything that has some taste to it. One piece of pizza is not going stop the world from spinning on its axis...

Yep. I'm a self-payer.

Nathalie, I am so very very sorry. It is never easy to find those things out - it is particularly painful when you're informed that it has been going on for some time and you are the last to know. (I had a similar thing). May I ask how old your boyfriend is? Do you know what you're going to do now? Stay and fight for it? Go back to Manchester? If it is any consolation - you found out now. Right before an AMAZING transformation is going to take place in your life. As painful as it is right now, give it 10 months and this will seem like a dim and distant memory and whilst he's inspecting his shoes, realising what a total idiot (I could think of many more choice words to use here, but would probably get banned if I did) he is; you'll be spreading your magnificent wings and truly flying... You're absolutely right to focus on you and continue to do so. This Jackass doesn't deserve you and is fundamentally a coward. Plain and simple - a coward. If he wasn't happy, he should have had the balls to call it - not, as he appears to have been doing - coveting the attentions of someone else to give him an 'out'. You, on the other hand, are facing your greatest fear which is no mean feat and with such courage. And you WILL conquer it. Eyes on the prize, baby-girl. Eyes on the prize... I know this is an awful time for you, but whatever you choose to do, we all want the best for you and will be here whenever you need us. Hang on in there, honey. Nirvana is just around the corner xxx

Omeprazole. I love it so much, I think I may attempt to become a pharmaceutical rep for the company who makes it....

And so you should feel happy! You look fabulous. Well done you :)x

I think you need to be praying NOT to have H Pylori. The treatment is no picnic.... How's about we aspire for a conclusive diagnosis as to why you feel so worn out all the time, get that sorted and then you're free to choose whether or not you want to be sleeved and by whom. Also, you may want to be a bit careful about waving academic research journals in front of Doctors. As I found out, they tend to get a bit 'bristly' if you go in FULLY armed! lol Go get 'em, tiger x

I think this is largely fan related (and nerves)... Have a hot shower and a hot cup of tea.... get those juices moving and you'll be great. If you're still worried when you get there, tell them to have a look down your throat and in your ears. They'll soon be able to tell if something is up! Best of luck for your surgery x

H Pylori is either symptomatic or more commonly a-symptomatic. Half the world has it, but don't know it. The only reason I was picked up, was because I was one of the unfortunate few who was symptomatic.. and let me tell you.. it aint pretty. If you're worried about it, you could drop it casually into the conversation the next meeting you have with the GP... 'I heard of people who tested positive for HPylori after the surgery and then had to ingest a whole horrid cocktail of chemicals on their damaged stomachs. Do you test for that prior to surgery? Because I don't fancy having to do the treatment afterwards...' See what they say... That aside, try not to panic. Although there are linkages in the academic research, there is no way, given your medical history, symptoms and medications, that a doctor will overlook these factors when presented with them in consideration of your VSG. Particularly if you have an established Iron deficiency. I, too, had my gallbladder out in 2005. I recovered swimmingly from that and to be honest, if I were suffering symptoms from it, I wouldn't have known. Primarily, because my PCOS which was left undiagnosed until 2007, was royally kicking my butt both with my energy levels, hair loss on my scalp and too much growth on my body. Hair loss can be caused by a number of things, but fundamentally and with regards to this surgery, the loss of it is largely thought to be down to the shock of the surgery and low Protein levels. Although many people on here have had sufficient protein, hair loss has still occurred. Sadly, I think it's just one of those things we have to anticipate, try not to worry about and deal with if and when it happens. Try not to sweat it too much at this stage. Get your eggs in order with the quack first and foremost - ideally getting a diagnosis on why it is you feel like you've been run over by a bus every day and then take it from there. Better to go into the surgery match-fit, than go in already depleted of your levels. Best of luck for November. Let us know how you get on x

In the UK, it's 40 minimum standard and down to 35 with co-morbidities.

Hell no! If you can get the fluids in, you do that! At 5 days, I couldn't get much in and had to rely on other ingestion methods. Be very thankful you can get it in - it really is a blessing and won't cause you any harm, as it'll pass straight through you. Keep doing what you're doing, I'd say

That's cracking and you look fabulous. Well done you x

Mine went in via IV after the surgery. All is well

I'm 13 days out and I feel exactly the same as you. This is tough.. We're just going to hang on in there until we reach our own 'nirvana's'. We can do it. We're made of stronger stuff x

I just ate a mini shortbread biscuit. Or a cookie as you lot like to call them. It was delicious!

Like Redbean, mine are very slight and just above my waistband and below my sternum. Clearly our surgeons went to the same school! I'm sorry for your troubles, bean. It doesn't look good, but as you say, there are worse things which could have happened. Wishing you a speedy recovery x

I can eat half a normal sized can of soup in one go.. and at a fair pace, too. I am 13 days out. I think the ability to scoff comes in fits and starts. You'll be cool

What in the hell is that? Where are your stitches? Why is it an open gaping wound? I would be less than impressed with that. Were you operated on in the States?

If it's light and clear, you're all good in the hood.

Glad you've got the all clear from the doctor. Better to be safe than sorry. You take care x

Not wanting to add to the controversy, although the view on overuse of anti-biotics is absolutely valid; In light of the subject having had bariatric surgery, there are pretty compelling reasons as to why the H Pylori infection should be eliminated with antibiotics. This information has just been obtained from the Medical Library of a very well respected University that I have online access to: Reasons to treat H Pylori: Source: Marshall, B. J., Windsor, H. M. and Kimura, K. (2010) Helicobacter pylori, in Practical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (eds N. J. Talley, K. R. DeVault and D. E. Fleischer), Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK. doi: 10.1002/9781444327311.ch44 Table 44.2 Non - gastric conditions associated with H. pylori. Studies/reports Diseases Substantial evidence from several studies Iron defi ciency Proven association; possible clinical relevance when nutrition poor [33] Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) Several reports but prospective data are weak [33] Atherosclerotic heart disease Correlation between H. pylori infection and atherosclerosis and cerebral infarction reported [33] Chronic urticaria Systematic review concluded that bacterial eradication correlated with remission [34] Several anecdotal reports and small clinical series Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in cirrhotic patients HE was more frequently observed in patients with H. pylori infection than those without [35] Bronchiectasis High incidence of H. pylori seropositivity was reported in the patients [36] Alzheimer disease Correlation was reported [33] Guillain – Barr é syndrome High H. pylori prevalence was reported among the patients [33] Isolated anecdotal reports Ocular rosacea Improvement after eradication was reported [37] Blepharitis High H. pylori prevalence was reported among the patients [38] Type B insulin resistant diabetes mellitus A case report [39] Acute anterior uveitis and spondyloarthropathies Relationship with these diseases was reported [40]