Kindle

LOL. You're right! I know for me medical bills got me in the hole. But I'll be back again. I'm paying things off slowly but surely.

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.

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!

The comments from other people is exactly why I never told anyone except my husband. I had the surgery and home before any one knew. The only ones who knows now are my two daughters and probably their husbands. And they were told a day after I was home I like it this way. No one is asking any questions and no one is watching me lose weight. If I had to do it over I would do exactly the same way.

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!

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!

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!

You should NEVER tolerate disrespect or anger from anyone. No matter how much you weigh. I watch my non-single friends deal with that sh** and I just can't understand why anyone would put up with it. Don't stay together just for your son. Kids always know when there is tension, disrespect, regret, and anger between parents. Much better to raise him separated than together in a negative environment.

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

FIrst: Congratulations!
Second: I have never seen any reason to invest time and effort to maintain a relationship that doesn't give you what you need. Life is far too short and we have far more important and rewarding things to spend our time and energy on. In your position, I think that I would step way back, at least for now. I think that you are right to continue to treat her with respect. Perhaps someday, she will realize what has happened and acknowledge it. At that time, you may or may not feel that rekindling the friendship is worth it.
Best of luck. I'm sorry that this friend has not turned out to be such a good friend after all.

Here is a list I have started with web sites that give out free samples on request. Please post any other places that give out free sample and i'll add them to the list.

Just contact them with your name and address and let them know why you want a free sample. They are very nice and support us surgery people.

Please like, follow, and rate if this has helped you. I am updating this all the time and adding new sites. Thank you.

Thanks to the people that have added to this list:

- SuNMooNStaRS816
- Tink12/26
- Saffikeagan
- Veruca Salt
- Sylvynn

Here is the list:

Protein
- vanilla mix and a cookie and cream mix)

- Quest bar (My favorite Protein bar). If they are out of free samples you can wait a few weeks and they will have some. Also if you buy a mixed sample box you can use CODE: mixbar for a discount.

- Protein shakes

- banana, strawberry, chocolate, Vanilla and Orange) Phone number 1-877-974-2537

- Protein Bars (they sent me 2 bars)

- Fiber 1 Protein Bar

- Water

- Vitamins
- liquid vitamins

- Bariatricadvantage.com --- Sample pack of vitamins

- Bariatricfusion.com --- Sample of Vitamin

- Bbvitamins.com --- Vitamin samples


Other Offers/Discounts

- GNC.com --- They will give you a $5 code for your next online or phone order. (all GNC product is returnable with in 30 days if you dont like it)

- Chefjays.com --- Will send you a $7.50 coupon to try some of their products

- Kindsnacks.com --- 10% off first time order with code KINDLYL10

- Isatoritech.com --- Buy one get one free smart bar

- Purefit.com --- $14.95 for a 7 bar sample box and a coupon for money off your next order

- Boost.com --- Two $1 off coupons for Boost Protein drinks and bars

- Gotein.com/sampls_pack.html --- Sample pack for $3





Water Flavorings

- Makeitmio.com --- Will send you free sample of Mio

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

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

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

Lolliq12, I'm so sorry you had to go through this. It's too bad you were stuck with such an inept nursing staff. As for having a drain put in during surgery, that is surgeon's preference. On the con side, from what I've read, the drain seems the most painful (at least uncomfortable) part of post-op, and it is a potential source of infection. The pros are it's an extra "alarm" for early leaks and in your case, internal bleeding. A friend just had VSG surgery at the University if Utah and she had a drain for like 10 days. She didn't have any problems, its just their SOP. I specifically chose a surgeon who does use a drain although he only leaves it in for 3 days post-op.

OK, now that we have the dots figured out, what is the green bar in the upper right section of our profile? Mine says 8 neutral, but others have a higher number and either something like "good" or "excellent". What am I, Switzerland?!?

I live in sports bras but unfortunately as the sisters have gotten bigger (from weight gain) a lot of sports bras don't provide enough support. I guess the manufacturers don't expect "big girls" to be playing sports. Anyways, the one good thing is that any one sports bra usually functions through a range of sizes so as my boobs shrink after surgery (hopefully) I won't have to buy new bras for each size. Once I'm stabilized I'm really hoping to fit into something pretty instead of functional!

All I will say in reply to this is that bariatric surgery will never be the easy way out!!!
I had so many ideas of how things would be post op when I was pre op and none of my thoughts were correct.
You will never know the struggle after having a bariatric procedure until you have been through it.
You haven't had the surgery so you have never struggled or failed or gotten off track.
Until, you go through the surgery and make no mistakes and follow the plan to a T for the rest of your life you have no room to judge or put anyone else down.

Here are the options for gastric bypass revisions...
http://www.bariatric-surgery-source.com/gastric-bypass-revision.html
Keke, are you sure your friend didn't have the duodenal switch? Doing a gastric sleeve is one component of that procedure. It doesn't make sense to go from a restrictive + malabsorptive procedure (gastric bypass) to only a restrictive procedure (gastric sleeve) if the former failed.

I've not and will not tell my PCP....I figure asking forgiveness is easier than asking permission. lol this is my life and body....I don't want to live another decade without this tool....and end up sick and another 10 years wasted. What I want to know is how many here who've gone to MX have had a problem like an infection... seems to me most complications are from US surgeons. IDK what ya'll think?

BTW, I found a neat way to help me "kill time" until my surgery and still make me feel like I'm moving forward. Each month I give myself a new life change goal. I started taking a daily Multivitamin. Then I weaned off caffeine. Then I started drinking at least 64oz. of Water everyday. I will eventually add in eating slower and chewing every bite until its mush and not eating anything after 8pm, walk a little more each day, etc. so by the time I have the surgery, all these things will already be "old habits"

My research has turned up the same info as Arts. For example, sleeve complications are higher than band complications in the short term (can't remember the exact stats). But in the longer term, the complications of sleeve go way down compared to the band. Basically, if its going to go wrong with the sleeve it goes wrong within the first couple months. (As long as you stick with your long term diet and Vitamin supplementation) I would talk to your surgeon about their specific complication stats because little variations in techniques make a difference in leak/stricture rates (I.e. bougie size, oversewing, pre and post op diet plan, etc.)

BTW, I found a neat way to help me "kill time" until my surgery and still make me feel like I'm moving forward. Each month I give myself a new life change goal. I started taking a daily Multivitamin. Then I weaned off caffeine. Then I started drinking at least 64oz. of Water everyday. I will eventually add in eating slower and chewing every bite until its mush and not eating anything after 8pm, walk a little more each day, etc. so by the time I have the surgery, all these things will already be "old habits"

Thanks and you too!