IcanMakeit

I'm in Sonoma County.

Welcome @petaloshea. This is truly an amazing forum. I have learned so much from all of the people who contribute here, and I have found that most here are very kind. I really appreciate that. I look forward to hearing about your progress. I understand that band to sleeve revisions present challenges.

This thread has been mostly inactive for a while, but I would like to hear about the progress of the class of May 2014. Please check in and give an update on how you are doing. My own progress has been surprised me. I reached my surgeon's goal (135) at just shy of seven months post-op. I have noticed that I am hungrier than I was a couple of months ago, and stay full for a shorter period of time. I have no food intolerances. Has anyone else noticed similar changes? My honeymoon phase over may be over. If so, that's ok. I believe that I will be able to continue to follow the program anyway. Although I reached my surgeon's goal, I know that I still have five to ten more lbs to lose before I am at my healthiest weight.

I hope you felt as great as you looked! Get it girl.

Congratulations on maintaining your new lifestyle for 3 years. It sounds like you are really enjoying it. It makes me so happy to read about the long term life improvements people have experienced. That is what I am hoping for -- a long term life improvement.

What a horror show you've been living through. I hate to make hasty assumptions, but it seems like your surgeon is not very competent. Insurance notwithstanding, you need another professional opinion. Please contact your PCP and tell him/her everything you have been through. Make sure it is all documented. Your PCP might be hesitant to step on your surgeon's toes, but make him/her understand that you feel your life is threatened. I think that would get your PCP involved. Doctors don't like to look bad in front of their colleagues. With more scrutiny, your surgeon might start thinking more thoroughly and creatively about your issues. I'm really wishing you the best.

I don't drink during meals. I was told to wait 30 minutes after drinking to eat and to wait 30 minutes after eating to drink. I have actually found that I can eat comfortably within 10 to 15 minutes of drinking. But I need at least 45 minutes after eating to be able to drink.

Last night I attended my company's holiday dinner party. I remembered this thread and noticed that some of the thin women ate very little and very slowly, pretty much like I am learning to do. These are people who have never had a weight issue. Although it's rude to pay too much attention to other people's eating habits, I think I should watch and learn from my thin friends.

I am not comfortable with personal comments from strangers or acquaintances, even if they are meant to be complimentary. So when people compliment me on my weight loss, I just say thank you and then talk about how much better my health is or change the subject altogether.

You are one of the people I looked up to and learned from when I arrived at this site. Your friend should have read some of your posts and responses before saying something she obviously knows nothing about. She was probably speaking from ignorance rather than malice, but I don't blame you for being upset by it. You say the doctor is not a bad guy, but I think he sounds like a jerk. In one totally unnecessary comment he damaged your feelings of accomplishment and hope. Who does that?

I confess to having logged in just to update my stats. I don't understand the people who don't record their successes that way. You only know how great they're doing from reading their posts. Maybe they just aren't prideful types.

I made my surgeon's goal this week. I'm currently at 135. I am so excited I want to stop strangers on the street and tell them. I had set my Holiday Challenge goal a few pounds higher than my ultimate goal because I was afraid of failure. No more of that -- I would like to revise my challenge goal to 133. I might not make it because of my recent weight loss, but I'm going to work for it!

I've already consulted with a plastic surgeon. Her advice was to wait until my weight has been stable for 3 months.

Wow. You're a superhero! I'm glad you're ok.

I don't know if all of the sessions follow the same pattern, but mine was easy and calm. I did not get the feeling that the psychiatrist was trying to "trip me up." She asked a lot of questions about my life, my relationship to food, my goals and my expectations. Then she sent in a report to the insurance company clearing me for surgery. No problem, even though everyone knows I'm pretty kooky.

I am enjoying wearing dresses with waistlines. Even though "What Not to Wear" did not advise it, at my higher weight I tended toward tent shaped dresses. They fit my bust and belly. Now my dresses are fitted and I look so much more polished and professional.

I'm going to wear it to my son's birthday dinner tomorrow night. But you just gave me an idea. I have a lunch date with a former coworker next week. She would definitely get a kick out of it. BTW, I was afraid to buy the sweater because they only had small and medium available. I haven't purchased anything in size medium since junior high. But the medium fits.

Some people are so self-involved and jealous, they never learned how to be a friend. I pity them, but I'm happy that you have such a wonderful husband and things are looking so positive for you. You don't need those petty witches with a b.

I weighed in yesterday morning at one pound from my surgeon's goal. Reaching goal has been my raison d'être for the past year. Now that I'm nearly there, I am reflecting on the lessons learned and planning for the next year's phase. I know that my initial goal weight was an arbitrary number and fully intend to continue in weight loss mode until my middle section has a lot less fat. But even if I can't lose anymore, I am so happy with my results so far. My diabetes is completely resolved (unfortunately not before I developed glaucoma, as I had confirmed yesterday morning). My blood pressure has been mostly stable. And wonder of wonders, I rediscovered how much I love walking, hiking and bike riding outdoors. Before weight loss, I found it difficult to walk a block. I have so enjoyed coming to BariatricPal each day since I discovered it pre-surgery. I have learned so much about what works for most people and what doesn't work for almost anybody. This is a good thing because otherwise I might continue to believe that my old way of doing things was mostly ok. Well guess what? The old way had me weighing in the mid 200's. So the chief thing that I have learned in the past year is that I need to pay attention to the experience of others and apply that knowledge to the maintenance phase. This is a big lesson for me, because I tend to be stubborn.

I'm late finding this thread. What a horror show you have been through. I hope and believe that things will turn around soon. I too had h pylori discovered during my sleeve surgery. They said it did not show up during my pre-op EGD. The surgeon prescribed a very aggressive course of antibiotics, which I was told to crush and take along with all my other crushed meds. The antibiotics made me so nauseous that I couldn't keep anything down. After a week of failing to get in an appreciable amount of medication or nutrition, and becoming severely dehydrated, I ended up delaying the treatment of the h pylori until after my stomach had recovered. I don't know if your case is similar to mine, but you might ask your doctor if you could just concentrate on healing now and treat the h pylori later.

I am having the same problem. I can reply (so far), but I can't start a thread or use the contact us. This has been going since early this morning. I asked another user to report it for me.

I love chocolate and I know it's possibly dangerous, but for the last couple of months I have been having two pieces of Hershey's Mildly Sweet sugar free dark chocolate for one of my daily Snacks. The two piecies total only about 60 calories and don't seem to affect my weight loss. I'm not looking to give it up. So far, I have been able to eat only my planned allotment. If I find myself making exuses as to why it's ok to have more than my one serving, I'll re-think things. But so far, I am enjoying the chocolate.

I'm sorry you're dealing with all of this, but I also am inspired by your unwillingness to be "a good girl" and just let it happen. Taking care of yourself is your chief responsibility. Letting people dump all over you, or try to sabotage your success, is not being nice, it's being a doormat. The good thing about divorce is that it's a new beginning. You are on your way to a new life. Make it fabulous.

See, this is one of the reasons I am a little nostalgic about old fashioned standards of decorum. I may be showing my age, but personal comments (even those meant to be complimentary), directed at strangers or acquaintances, are rude. I fudge on this a little, and I do compliment coworkers by saying their new hairstyle, outfit, etc., looks great. But I avoid saying anything that means "you look so much better without that horrid extra weight" and I wish others would do the same.

I value civility very highly and would be the last person anyone would expect to advocate throwing a tantrum. However in your case I think it may be warranted. But just to stay in character, may I suggest a three-step process. Step one, when you're feeling strong and calm, call one of the offenders and ask for their help to spread the word that from now on, comments about your eating habits will not be tolerated because they are detrimental to your efforts. Step two, at the next family gathering, the first time someone breaks the rule, calmly state that the subject is not open for discussion and either change the subject or walk away. Step three, when someone again breaks the rule, forget about decorum -- let fly.