Kindle

So sorry about your brother. I lost my brother last summer and I'm still very sad . I can't imagine going through your physical stress at the same time as this emotional hit. You are very strong and an inspiration. Hope your infection clears up soon. And losing over a pound a day is great.

Lark60... What's your parent's address? I wanna go there, too!

Holy carbonation! And I was sad about having to give up beer! You made my day.

Yum!!! I'm not even sleeved but I'm having that as soon as I can get the ingredients!

Angelia, just email them and they'll send you a quote. They are very non-high pressure, so you don't have to worry about getting barraged with emails and phone calls after you contact them. I've asked Carolyn (one of their coordinators) dozens of questions over the last 3 months and have never been pressured to "set a date".

Lark60... What's your parent's address? I wanna go there, too!

I'm not telling my mom for the very reasons you don't want to. She will be extremely upset, try to talk me out of it, and be terrified and worried the whole time. I did tell my sister and although she doesn't think I should do it, she is supporting my decision. But the first thing she said was, Don't Tell Mom! I'm going to wait and tell her afterwards. I have no doubt she will still be upset and very pissed at me. And I mean REALLY pissed... I broke my back when I was 18 the day after my parents left for a two week "second honeymoon" vacation. The whole family (heck, the whole small town I lived in) agreed not to tell them till they came home. Why ruin their vacation? Well, we still hear about it 27 years later.... "Remember when you all lied to me...". But by not telling about my WLS, I will eliminate months of worry for her (I'm not getting sleeved until Jan) and a lot of pre op hassle for me.

Fat free 1/2 and 1/2 is a perfect example. My mom started buying it for my dad to put in his coffee. When I went home to visit, I used it too and noticed a slimy film on the bottom of my coffee cup. I looked at the label and saw they replaced the fat with corn Syrup solids. I convinced my mom this was way worse than a little fat, so she's back to the real stuff. No one is happier than my dad!

I'm not telling my mom for the very reasons you don't want to. She will be extremely upset, try to talk me out of it, and be terrified and worried the whole time. I did tell my sister and although she doesn't think I should do it, she is supporting my decision. But the first thing she said was, Don't Tell Mom! I'm going to wait and tell her afterwards. I have no doubt she will still be upset and very pissed at me. And I mean REALLY pissed... I broke my back when I was 18 the day after my parents left for a two week "second honeymoon" vacation. The whole family (heck, the whole small town I lived in) agreed not to tell them till they came home. Why ruin their vacation? Well, we still hear about it 27 years later.... "Remember when you all lied to me...". But by not telling about my WLS, I will eliminate months of worry for her (I'm not getting sleeved until Jan) and a lot of pre op hassle for me.

Fat free 1/2 and 1/2 is a perfect example. My mom started buying it for my dad to put in his coffee. When I went home to visit, I used it too and noticed a slimy film on the bottom of my coffee cup. I looked at the label and saw they replaced the fat with corn Syrup solids. I convinced my mom this was way worse than a little fat, so she's back to the real stuff. No one is happier than my dad!

Lark60... What's your parent's address? I wanna go there, too!

Lark60... What's your parent's address? I wanna go there, too!

Fat free 1/2 and 1/2 is a perfect example. My mom started buying it for my dad to put in his coffee. When I went home to visit, I used it too and noticed a slimy film on the bottom of my coffee cup. I looked at the label and saw they replaced the fat with corn Syrup solids. I convinced my mom this was way worse than a little fat, so she's back to the real stuff. No one is happier than my dad!

Lark60... What's your parent's address? I wanna go there, too!

Fat free 1/2 and 1/2 is a perfect example. My mom started buying it for my dad to put in his coffee. When I went home to visit, I used it too and noticed a slimy film on the bottom of my coffee cup. I looked at the label and saw they replaced the fat with corn Syrup solids. I convinced my mom this was way worse than a little fat, so she's back to the real stuff. No one is happier than my dad!

Holy carbonation! And I was sad about having to give up beer! You made my day.

Holy carbonation! And I was sad about having to give up beer! You made my day.

Probably the high fat and sodium content of most cheeses is where it gets a bad rap. For example, 1 cup of cheddar cheese has like 33 g of Protein (good) but over 500 calories and 43g of fat (bad). Some cheeses are better than others... Apparently cottage cheese, Parmesan, ricotta, feta, and Gouda are lower in fat and calories than other cheeses.
However, I did see a TV program that showed that consuming dairy products actually decreased your body's absorption of fat. Apparently dairy Calcium will emulsify with fat in your stomach and pass through your intestines without being absorbed. Of course the experiment was with a "normal" stomach, not a sleeve.
And, being from Wisconsin, I will never give up cheese!

I'm single, 45 and horny, so BRING IT ON! (Just kidding....not)

Sorry to offend, folks, but I have a small business and have to deal with people not paying their bills all the time. I listen to excuse after excuse and then see their vacation photos posted on Facebook. Makes me a little grumpy when it comes to finances. Bottom line, bad credit comes from not paying money you owe. I realize there are circumstances in everyone's "past" that made that happen. A good friend married a a guy with lousy credit who continued to spend HER money behind her back, so now she has bad credit through no fault of her own ( other than choosing to marry the bum)
I'm not saying these things because Im wealthy and dont know whats its like to struggle financially. I worked two, sometimes three jobs to put myself through college. Years ago, I lost my job and owed thousands of dollars in medical bills for a cervical fusion surgery. That was a surgery I couldnt "save" for because I was at risk of becoming paralyzed. I talked to the hospital and doctors and arranged to make small monthly payments. It took almost 6 years to pay off ( of course I started paying extra once I got a job,) but the point is, it didn't result in bad credit. I've never financed a car...I drive a 14 year old truck. I'm 45 years old and still have a roommate in order to help pay the mortgage. Believe me, I would love to live alone and have nice things, but what if I cant work for some reason, that would leave me with a lot of debt I cant afford. It's all about choices and like Cassie said, there are ways to clean up credit history and all those applications for loans is further hurting your situation. And rizabonita, you're right... "As long as you're able to pay off the loan" it's none of my business!

How about saving up for your surgery? Unless there are medical complications I'm not aware of, you don't "need" plastic surgery ASAP. Why not save up and get it when you can afford it? I am self pay for my sleeve, and I have great credit...I could put it on a credit card tomorrow, not to mention any number of loans I would qualify for. But I made the choice to not finance and have been saving for almost 2 years. I don't have any life-threatening comorbidities, so it just doesn't make sense to pay all that interest. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but financing stuff you can't afford is probably how you got bad credit in the first place.

Sorry to offend, folks, but I have a small business and have to deal with people not paying their bills all the time. I listen to excuse after excuse and then see their vacation photos posted on Facebook. Makes me a little grumpy when it comes to finances. Bottom line, bad credit comes from not paying money you owe. I realize there are circumstances in everyone's "past" that made that happen. A good friend married a a guy with lousy credit who continued to spend HER money behind her back, so now she has bad credit through no fault of her own ( other than choosing to marry the bum)
I'm not saying these things because Im wealthy and dont know whats its like to struggle financially. I worked two, sometimes three jobs to put myself through college. Years ago, I lost my job and owed thousands of dollars in medical bills for a cervical fusion surgery. That was a surgery I couldnt "save" for because I was at risk of becoming paralyzed. I talked to the hospital and doctors and arranged to make small monthly payments. It took almost 6 years to pay off ( of course I started paying extra once I got a job,) but the point is, it didn't result in bad credit. I've never financed a car...I drive a 14 year old truck. I'm 45 years old and still have a roommate in order to help pay the mortgage. Believe me, I would love to live alone and have nice things, but what if I cant work for some reason, that would leave me with a lot of debt I cant afford. It's all about choices and like Cassie said, there are ways to clean up credit history and all those applications for loans is further hurting your situation. And rizabonita, you're right... "As long as you're able to pay off the loan" it's none of my business!

My insurance doesn't cover WLS. I will end up about $7500 after surgery, meds, hotel and plane ticket ($8000 if I end up bringing someone with me to TJ). But as you can tell from the huge variation in replies, it all depends on your deductible, copays and insurance policy details.

You know, guys, I'll be honest here. I am a HUGE DRINKER! (not booze, yall!!!!) I can remember as a very young child drinking at least two glasses of Water BEFORE our food arrived if we ate out. That has always been the case. Now, I have also ALWAYS HATED water! LOL. As an adult, I always drank gallons of Diet Coke. Once I was sleeved, I actually cold turkeyed from DC a few months before not even realizing I was going to be sleeved so I had broken the habit prior. I did have the occasional diet drink or carbonated diet something but nothing like before.
Once sleeved, and having the need to get the water/fluids in I found that the Water made me nauseous and discovered Crystal Light (I know - I know - don't give me any guff about the aspartame) I now drink at least 12-15 cups of water a day always with my favorite citrus Energy CL. And I drink during, before and after meals. It doesn't phase me. I have played around with it and I don't get any hungrier if I wait or don't drink prior.
Now, in the early stages of recovery I did adhere to the policy simply because I could NOT eat/drink and needed to get my Protein in. At 3+ years out, I don't see myself not drinking with my meals. I don't actually drink much at all. Maybe a few sips because I don't eat much food either!!!!! STILL. Here is a good explanation of the Pyloric Valve and how it works with fluid:
The function of your Pyloric valve is the single most not talked about important part of understanding how and when you should eat and drink.
The Pyloric Valve is just that....It is a valve that is located at the bottom of your stomach/sleeve. This valve is in between your sleeve and the lower intestine. The basic definition of a valve is an apparatus that opens and closes.
When open this valve it is about the diameter of a dime. When closed it’s opening is closed down to the diameter of the head of a ballpoint pen.
Dense Proteins and harder to digest foods will cause the Pyloric valve to close to hold the food in your stomach for pre-digestion...... stomach acids breaking down this “Rough” food.
That’s why we are told to eat dense Proteins first.....To close the Pyloric Valve so food stays in your stomach/sleeve longer so we have a sense of satisfaction.
It takes about 30-60 minutes for the food to clear the Pyloric Valve...... Than it’s OK to drink.
That is also where the term slider food comes into play. A slider food does not close the Pyloric Valve and as the term is intended.....food slides right past an open Pyloric Valve.
There is a video that gets posted every so often that is supposed to explain food going past the Pyloric Valve. The guy uses a funnel and has apple sauce or something in it....and it shows the apple sauce dripping out the end of the funnel very slow. Than he pours water on top of the apple sauce to dilute it, illustrating drinking after eating.....and the diluted apple sauce runs through the funnel end faster. Than he concludes that this is how your pyloric valve works.
Well, it is a great video that only tells half the story.....remember it’s a valve...and he is only showing it in the open position....
So now the other half of the Pyloric Valve function..... You eat a dense Protein like chicken that causes your Pyloric Valve to close. Say for example your sleeve has a 4oz. capacity.....and you eat 4oz. of chicken.....your sleeve is full and holding all 4 oz. of chicken for pre-digestion because your Pyloric Valve is closed.
So now try and drink something....where is it gonna go? Up.....Up until it hits another valve of sorts..... the Esophageal Sphincter (valve) and above that is a flapper valve. The function of these two valves is to hold food, bile and stomach acids in your stomach and not backing up into your air way. This is a very high pressure system. Thats why when you eat to much or drink after eating a hard to digest food and your Pyloric is closed.....It hurts cause you pressurized your intake track. Vomiting would be a natural pressure release.
So you can see how learning and understanding how the Pyloric Valve works is important as it pertains to eating and drinking with a Gastric Sleeve.
So that was kinda like VSG and the Pyloric Valve 101
As you get further a long you will want to use the Pyloric Valve in other ways to keep food in your sleeve longer to stay satisfied longer.
A sleeve empties faster than a stock un altered full size stomach so sometimes it’s beneficial for you to learn what foods stay in your sleeve longer to extend satisfaction.
Dense proteins are #1 in closing the Pyloric Valve. Chicken, steak, pork, fish.....in that order seems to be the way it goes for me.
Other foods that are hard to digest and help close the Pyloric Valve are foods like:

Broccoli Stalk
Asparagus
Celery
Cucumber with Skin
Radish
Cabbage (I’m testing this right now)
Bell Pepper

So I hope you understand my 5 cent tour of the Pyloric Valve and how it effects the way we eat with a VSG and how important it is to work the Pyloric Valve to your benefit.