elfnow

Ok aspirin is different from Motrin, though... She didn't ask about aspirin.

Fierce, I'd call the doc's office. NSAIDs like Motrin can cause gastric bleeding or exacerbate ulcers - but four months might make a difference! Definitely ask your doc and see. Even if you're cleared for a dose or two, don't overdo it!!

Ree, I know your grandma may feel hurt - but she might also be a little relieved to not have the stress of your sister's troubles. And that's OK! It also sounds like your sister is still quite young (20?) and believe it or not, her brain is still growing! She's flinging herself into theatrical dramatics and that's just her thing .... You can choose to not buy a ticket to the show! She will learn ... Or she won't... But definitely don't take on your grandma's emotions too! Your grandma is a grown-up girl and can handle her own emotions. Plus she's been around long enough maybe she saw a few other family members go through phases like this. Enjoy your life in her absence, welcome her back when she comes back, enjoy your life in her presence.... Teach your daughter that sometimes it's better to love someone from a distance. *hugs* sooner or later, people will stop begging her to be in their lives, and she'll have to face the fact that it's her, not them.

You need to plan well to not get pregnant for at least a year post-sleeve. Ketosis/fat-burning triggers your body to reject a pregnancy (in the wild, it would mean a famine and that's no time to be having a baby!) after a year, however, you'll likely find yourself quite fertile!! Keep in touch with the dietician and ask about extra calories during pregnancy and breastfeeding... They will help you!! For breastfeeding, for instance, you need lots of Water and just enough carbs to keep you out of ketosis. Also talk with your OBGYN and discuss your desire for sleeve surgery; ask how many patients they've worked with who have had WLS before pregnancy. You might be surprised to find that your OB has lots of experience!! Best luck!!!

In other countries (particularly Scandinavian countries) treatment for depression/bipolar/schizophrenia includes the WHOLE family... And often the doctors will prescribe medicine to OTHER family members as well as the patient. My ex-h used to be very bent-out-of-shape about small things and when he was stressed he'd make these ridiculous RULES about the world (which would be immediately broken since the rest of the world didn't get his memo promptly)... At one point He and I both had prescriptions for Buspar ... And he cautioned me to not "swipe any" of HIS. I was like dude, if YOU take your meds then *I* won't have to!! My mother used to be awful about my weight, through college she would berate me for being pregnant and not telling her (HUH??) and as an adult now, 20 years later, I realize she was screaming about her own past, and it had NOTHING to do with ME!! At one point when I was planning my wedding she got SO awful about my weight that I "broke up" with her. I didn't speak to her for about 6 months. It saddened me because I really wanted that mother-daughter bonding over weddings like you see on TV but it was also a really low-stress period! I didn't have to worry about what mood she'd be in when she called, etc. She shaped up (no pun intended) and got nicer and wrote me a letter apologizing and saying she missed me, and that was a big step for her. I maintain that a person can choose their family, and that "blood" means very little. It's hard with a person you really want to care for who just sends hate back your way... But it's as poisonous a relationship as a bad boyfriend/lover/spouse!! Make a pledge to give that person some space, walk away for a while, and enjoy a few stress-free days without hearing their venom.... There are so many much nicer people in the world!!!

Look at it this way: 8 oz weight is roughly equivalent to 8oz volume (8oz vol = 8oz weight in water!). What happens is 8oz weight can take up more space if it's not densely packed! It sounds like some of the food in the dinner acted like a liquid and slid down easily, and that's not something you want. Do you have some little "pinch" bowls or ingredient prep bowls ... Or even a measuring cup? You can divide out 4 oz (a half cup) easily enough!

I am 10 days post-op!! So far, I wish I had known... 1) Head-hunger is an ugly beast. Things LOOK good. They LOOK like they will TASTE good. I have to remind myself that's because marketing agents spend thousands of hours on pictures of food HOPING FOR JUST THAT. It's how I got this size in the first place. "AHA I see what u did there," I have to think. 2) Yes you CAN go to a restaurant - order French onion Soup "no bread or cheese". I thought I'd be a total outcast all the time, but French onion Soup helps me feel like I'm a normal person having lunch. And I can feel proud of leaving 70% of it behind. 3) I'd get my sense of smell back with not using my CPAP, and those Protein shakes are awful. My body smells awful. My partner smells AWFUL too! Yuck!! Why does he smell that way?! And smelling food is physically painful. Everything smells weird. I don't want my sense of smell back! Ignorance was bliss!! 4) my mouth would forever taste like the north end of a pig going south. It's nasty. I admit to never being very good about brushing my teeth regularly but now it's twice a day because my mouth is so slimy and gross. SO GROSS!! 5) I would feel judged by others, especially in my workout group, for "cheating" by having surgery. I have lost 35 lbs (maybe more) since starting the pre-op diet (24 days ago) and I feel like I'm constantly making excuses for my success, or minimizing it when one of my class teammates is all "gee I wish *I* could lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks!!" Sure, I COULD sit on my ass and drink clear fluids and get barely 400 calories in a day and lose weight, but I AM EXERCISING!! I deserve some credit!! 5b) Also that I would feel guilty for losing so much weight so fast while my not-interested-in-surgery partner struggles with diet and exercise, after I used to go on about how hard it is. Damnit it is still hard, why am I minimizing my own efforts?!? 6) my kid likes my Protein Shakes better than I do and swipes them. Also SF Jello comes in 3-oz cups and I can't even finish one, but thankfully my kid is always here to help! LOL. 7) that my heart would do REALLY WEIRD THINGS in the 36-48 hours post-op. I have had a ton of surgeries before, but never an upper abdominal one (mostly sinuses!) and I thought this wouldn't be different. It was. My heart was thumping hard, my blood pressure was ridiculously high, and they even gave me a nitro patch at some point. I mean it was kinda scary! It's idled down since but 12 hours post-surg I was like "what the **** did I just do". 8) only being permitted ice chips or non-red sf popsicles for 24 hours (and then tortured with that upper GI radiology study)... Honestly I was so damn thirsty I drank the contrast dye with no issues!! And then, get this, arguing with my night nurse because my "1 oz" of ice chips had melted into 1/3 oz of Water and he got on me for trying to sip it. Maybe I was on a lot of drugs but that was one of the DUMBEST arguments I have EVER had, bar none. I hope I don't lose friends... But I don't think I will. Most of the friends who wish they could lose weight are well under the BMI cutoff of 35.

Ooh that's a good idea! I'll do it that way!

Oh my gosh!! Debi that's awful!! I have a .pdf I can send you with lots of good info! If you PM me your email I'll send it along!!

This app is ok for tracking weight lost post-surgery, but I wish it would accept earlier dates!! I lost 20 lbs on liver-reduction, and dang it, I want credit for that because it was hell!!

IzzyBelle - WOW!! I didn't realize that there were "rules" about how fast someone should lose weight especially on a liquid diet! I probably would have gone a little "crazy" too, and indignant to boot! And then I would have beat myself up for not writing down exactly every kilo-calorie I ever ate and keeping track to the thousandth of a k-cal, etc! And of course that would set me up for complete failure and I'd be right back at the start... You know what? I bet you are doing just fine! I am sure there's an average, you know? From 1% to 30% and right smack in the middle is "10-15%" but just a hair off the middle is 8-9% and that's where you are! I bet it's like little kids' growth charts - being smaller or bigger than "average" doesn't mean diddly squat if the kid is happy and healthy, right? So I bet you're doing great! And you're doing it right, and you're happy and (trying to be) healthy and the weight will follow. Hang in there! *hugs*

Hang in there!! The liver reduction part is really awful, but you can do it!! Less than a week to go!

I am uninsured and self-pay, it was $14,500 for surgeon, anesthesia, hospital, and Blis coverage. The radiologist is separate and then all the miscellany of the procedure - protein shakes forever etc... But absolutely worth every penny.

I'm just looking for sympathy/ suggestions - I'm 10 days postop and I was hoping my toddler's barf-bug wouldn't get me... But today I feel all manner of rotten! Starting to get diarrhea (that's how it started with my partner) and now just WORRIED!! I've got plenty of scopolamine Patches - I had stopped bothering with them and the other anti-nausea meds - but I've got one on now... When my little one got sick I called my surgeon and he said to hydrate as much as possible and come straight in if I start throwing up - so I kinda have a plan.... My partner bought a bunch of ginger ale and saltines for our kid and his GI bug... So now the house is full of relief I can't have. Just feeling a bit sorry for myself! Any encouragement is good!

Hi!! I'm in Richmond VA and had my surgery 2/10! I'm also having some trouble with seeing food and wishing I could have it... I'm still nursing my daughter, and am working out in early mornings (really light on the core stuff for now)... The weight loss is good so far... But man does food look tasty sometimes... --Em