VSGAnn2014

Yes, I love you, @@LipstickLady . xoxoxo

And I'm fond of most of you muthahs, too.

I just realized my prior post could have sounded unsympathetic. Did NOT mean for it to sound that way. I bet in a month or so you will be feeling just fine about it. Suggestion -- don't get into explaining every little thing. Just say you're doing fine, that you have to go through a lot of phases (but don't explain 'em all). And say: "Thanks for your support. You're very kind." That way, you'll train 'em to support you. And be kind to you. And if they bug you, eat at your desk anyway. Best to you!

And this is why I didn't tell any of my work friends (some of whom are very, very good friends) about my WLS. I just did not want to have to get into it day after week after month. What a good decision that was!

I took an H2 blocker (Ranitadine, 150 mg. twice a day) pre-op. That's a pretty mild Rx for gastric reflux, btw. Post-op, my bariatric surgeon prescribed a stronger PPI antacid (Protonix), which I took once a day for 4 months. Then I went back on Ranitadine, and my reflux isn't any worse than it was pre-op as long as I don't eat a lot of foods (especially late in the day) that aggravate reflux, e.g., caffeine, red wine, chocolate, tomato sauces, etc. And if you have gastric reflux you really, really, really HAVE to not eat for two hours before bedtime (when you lie down prone). This not lying down for two hours after a meal is a big deal. You can google that and learn about the preponderance of research that supports that behavior to minimize reflux. Good luck to you.

I'm nearly 21 months post-op, and my stomach still gurgles sometimes. But I don't think those on the other end of my phone calls can hear it!

Thanks, ISG -- I'd never heard that, and it hit me hard, too! How we present ourselves to the world and to ourselves is a really big deal. "Dressing ourselves" is something even small children value, not to mention teens who manifest their individuation passages through their fashion choices. Small surprise that those of us traveling the WLS path find such delight in creating our new wardrobes.

Boy, do I understand this! Getting down on the floor has been one of my best NSVs from WLS. And not only getting down there, but getting back up again. Sometimes, I swear, I just sit or lie on the floor to enjoy how easy it is to get up again. It's magnificent!

@@nprcowboy ... awesome! You both look wonderful! I know you both went through a lot. You certainly look like you've both come through it just fine. Congratulations!

And that's why we call it the internet.

By the way, do you think you're going to have WLS?

Once again, those of us who have had WLS and have lived this surgery and lost a lot of weight and who are maintaining our weight loss and have had much more WLS education than you -- both classroom education AND education gained from relearning how to eat as a WLS patient -- understand clearly that long-term success comes from changing our lifestyle. You aren't explaining something to us that we haven't already learned much better than you by merit of the fact that we are living this reality and you aren't living it yet. Second, if you actually watched that video by Dr. Weiner (which apparently you haven't, but most of us have because he's a very popular online educator / bariatric surgeon) you would have learned that he says here (as in other videos he's published online) that the sleeve (or the pouch, in the case of gastric bypass patients) does not change post-op. Once again -- change in stomach size is not a factor in weight regain. Weight regain is primarily due to patient reversion to old pre-op habits and eating choices. Finally, your initial insistence that post-WLS stomachs regrow to their initial size is physically impossible and simply does not happen. For some dumb reason, you're confounding your initial argument by assuming that we don't know that we can eat more several years down the road. Believe me, we know this. But it is not because we have grown new stomachs. I don't think anyone here requires your lectures. Frankly, those of us who have been on this journey for some time know a helluva lot more about this than you. Finally, I hope that if you go forward with WLS that you have great success with it. I certainly have.

Yes, you can eat more as time goes along, especially if you don't change your lifestyle. That's a given. But your stomach doesn't grow back. That was my point of contention with what you said initially. Good luck to you. I hope WLS works out for you if you go that route.

I can speak only for myself at 20.5 months post-op ... not so far!

You've got what's called a "stricture." You can google that term and learn a lot about it. Best to you -- most of them are fixable, by the way.

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear @@cat saaski ! Happy birthday to you!

Yoga is wonderful stuff! Congratulations to you!

@ ... what have you "checked out for yourself"? Have you reviewed x-rays of WLS patients' stomachs pre- and post-op 1, 2, 3 years down the road? Seriously -- why should you believe your doctor, but I should not believe my doctor or the ASMBS's version of WLS? Do you seriously believe that the stomach fundus (the 85% that is removed during sleeve surgery) actually re-grows itself? Seriously? That's like saying you had your gall bladder taken out and then -- whoops! -- there it is again!

How in the world does a NUT know what specific BMI all plastic surgeons allegedly favor before doing plastics on a WLS patient?! Especially since BMI doesn't take into account at all anyone's body fat percentage or their body shape. @@Daisee68 , I look forward to hearing what your plastic surgeon has to say about your NUT's advice.

Sharon, your "goal" is just a number on a page. And you can delete that number (or erase it) and type / write another number in its place. As many times as you want. More importantly, your nine-month weight lost is heroic! Congrats on losing so much -- you must feel so much better physically and mentally. When I started this journey, I just wanted to get down to a weight where I could walk without pain and leave the house without being terrified I'd run into someone I knew. My surgeon didn't give me a goal, so I plucked one from the air -- 150 pounds -- which I hadn't weighed in nearly 40 years. It was a weight below which (back in the day) I remember feeling a lot less angst about how much I weighed. It was only one pound higher than "normal weight" on the BMI charts for my height (5'5"). And I am a senior citizen (68 when I had WLS), so I thought I didn't need to be a skinny bitch anymore. Surprise, surprise, surprise! After I hit 150 pounds, my body gradually kept losing even though I kept raising my daily calories and macronutrients. It took another 8-9 months for me to lose the last 15 pounds, and here I sit maintaining easily at 135 pounds. Whodda thunk it? Not me. After 150 pounds, every time I lost another 3-5 pounds I sort of freaked out, thinking I was too skinny, going through that body dysmorphia thing that happens. But now, after sitting at this weight for nearly 5 months my body looks a lot more normal-sized to me than it did when I first arrived here. Not saying your body wants to weigh 135 pounds -- or that you want it to weigh 135 pounds or that you would feel and look your best at that weight. Our bodies are like hair styles -- everyone's most flattering look is different. I'm not even sure this blathering is helpful -- but just sharing how my own goals changed and how I adapted to those changes (so far). And in the future, I'd truly be thrilled to weigh anything between 135 and 150 pounds.

Some more thoughts ... I know someone who's had WLS who says she (somehow) made elevators "invisible." She hasn't ridden one in several years. Oh -- and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy posits that our thoughts are *just* thoughts and, of themselves, have only the power we give them by obsessing on them. Those damned hamster wheels we create and ride and ride and ride are not the smartest things we've ever created, eh? Turns out, we actually can change our minds.

Coming up on twenty years married and two years post-op. Our marriage is stronger than ever.

LOL! No, sleeved patients' stomachs do not "grow back." @ ... you've been badly educated by your surgeon's practice.

Sounds like a great science experiment. Go for it.

If you eat sugar you will crave sugar. Therefore, don't eat any sugar.