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Akafij

Gastric Sleeve Patients
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Everything posted by Akafij

  1. So excited... I finally broke my 10 week stall!!! I've been at 196 for forever. Last week I weighed in at 195.6 and today I'm at 193.7! Thank God. I was getting pretty frustrated. Here's the interesting thing, the last 2 weeks have been filled with treats. Not every day, but I'd say 6of the last 14 days have had a dessert. Do you think that means I need to up my calories a bit? Certainly not with pie!
  2. I'm very glad that I came back and read this thread. Add me to the slow losers group. I lost 25 lbs almost immediately after surgery, but only about 5 lbs since. My first stall lasted 3 weeks, then I lost 5 pounds and stalled again for about 5 weeks. I think that stall might be broken now, but not positive since I don't weigh myself more than once per week. I don't track my food every day but when I do I'm usually at around 900 calories and about 60 g of protein. I am struggling with exercise, although I'm not at all sedentary and I struggle with water. I'm trying not to be frustrated. I started with a lower bmi because I'm a revision (band to sleeve) so I only have about 50 lbs left to goal. No new wardrobe yet, but the clothes I have fit comfortably now and that's a good thing. I'm just going to keep trying and I know that it will eventually come off.
  3. Akafij

    Thanksgiving Challenge

    I'll try! HW 268 CW 198 Thanksgiving. 185
  4. Akafij

    Insurance

    When I had lap band surgery in 2009, I had no pre op insurance requirements for approval except a referral from my doctor. I still had to go through all the pre op testing but don't know what of that was insurance requirement and what was my doctor's requirement
  5. That happened to me last week right before TOM. I managed to eat an entire donut, took me all day, but I'm no quitter.
  6. Good morning! Today is my one month surgiversary. My pre-op weight ( one week before surgery) was 224 and I'm bouncing between 201 and 202 right now. Feeling great, tolerating most foods except protein drinks so I switched to a protein bar instead. I've been logging my food the past few days and I'm getting my 60 grams of protein and eating between 700-900 calories per day. Still haven't started any formal exercise yet, but our house just went on the market so there is an incredible amount of cleaning, scrubbing and packing going on. The only thing I'm struggling with is staying regular. I seem to bounce back and forth between constipated and the complete opposite. I'm taking stool softeners and just haven't found a balance yet.
  7. Had my 3 week check up yesterday. I've lost 22 pounds since my pre op appointment and I'm very close to onederland! I'm cleared to eat a bigger variety with nothing crunchy, nothing spicy, and nothing that has to be cut with a knife. Went to costco yesterday and found some frozen tilapia in pesto sauce, very yummy! I'm supposed to continue with one protein drink per day but I just can't get them down anymore so I'm trying to get all of my protein without them. Got some protein bars, maybe that will help.
  8. Do your due diligence. I also loved my band and lost 100 pounds in 2 years. The band then slipped and I gained back 60 pounds and had to have the band removed. I revised to a gastric sleeve.
  9. Hi all. I was a band to sleeve revision on the 19th. The first week was rough, not a lot of pain, but I was sent home with oxygen and was soooo tired. I also had a drain and that was nasty. 1 week post op I had the drain removed and started feeling normal again. I was also allowed soft foods. I'm doing well, getting all of my protein in but still struggling with my water. I've lost 13 pounds, not much but I'm ok with that. I did have a couple of cheats, 1/2 a cupcake and another time a crust of bread. No stomach problems with either but the cupcake about put me in a diabetic coma! Won't do that again.
  10. Akafij

    Sleeved!

    My revision was yesterday. I feel pretty good with very little pain. Not hungry at all just concentrating on drinking so I can go home. My doctor did say that I had a lot of scarring but said he was able to do the sleeve pretty easily. Now on to recovery!
  11. Akafij

    August Sleevers Check In

    I'm 10 days out now and starting to feel really good. The pain is mostly an ache and has been much better since I got my drain removed on Wednesday. I got moved to soft foods so I can eat pudding with protein powder added, cottage cheese, egg whites, retried beans and yogurt. Still on protein drinks as well. I haven't been very hungry, but when I eat I can eat 3 oz with no problem. Still need to work on my water intake, but that's a lifelong battle.
  12. Akafij

    August Sleevers Check In

    Yes!! I'm dizzy too. I'm hoping it's just a lack of calories. My doc told me I could drink some Gatorade and that has helped. I also had some cream of chicken soup yesterday and that helped quite a bit as well. You might try diluted apple juice as well. Blood sugar might be low.
  13. Akafij

    August Sleevers Check In

    Yesterday I had a great day. Went to church then to visit my MIL at the hospital. Took a nap and felt great all day. This morning i feel terrible. Dizzy, nauseous, sore. I'm tired of sitting and hungry. Grumble!
  14. Akafij

    Sleeved!

    Day 5 and I'm struggling. No pain at all and no problems drinking but I'm very dizzy and lethargic. Trying some Gatorade per my doc but it's only helping a little. Any suggestions?
  15. Akafij

    August Sleevers Check In

    Band revision to sleeve on the 19 th. I'm very tired but the pain is very minimal. I'm on oxygen that has more to with living at altitude. As far as going under, my preop nurse gave me something to take the edge off and the next thing I remember it was 6:30 and my family was in my room.
  16. Akafij

    Sleeved!

    Thanks all. It's day 3 and I really am feeling pretty good. Just trying to work on my water and protein shake. I hurt when I go to stand up or sit down once I'm up or down I have virtually no pain.
  17. My nurse was a band to bypass patient and she described what she calls band brain. She says from about week 2 to 8 you really have to relearn what full feels like because with the band full was almost a painful sensation and if we eat until we get that sensation with the sleeve, we have already eaten too much. I think my strategy is going to be to measure everything out for the first several months.
  18. Akafij

    Introduction

    I only had to do 48 hours of clear liquids
  19. Here's my saga. I posted this elsewhere in the forums and was kind of surprised at the negative response, so let me say, this is just my story. I'm not bashing the band, I'm very thankful for the success I had with it. I'm not bitter or angry, it just didn't work for me long term. I had a Realize band placed in February of 2009. My starting weight was 268. The band was fantastic and I lost weight steadily, with the exception of a few months when I realized how easy Cookies were to eat. In December of 2010, I hit the 100 pounds lost mark, I also found out I was pregnant that same week. At about 4 weeks pregnant I had a really nasty 3 day stomach flu. A few days after recovering from that, I started throwing up again. I could keep food down for a few hours, but it was all coming back up. I lost another 15 pounds in 2 weeks. I thought it was just severe morning sickness, even though in 5 previous pregnancies I'd never had morning sickness. I saw my Ob who told me to immediately get my band unfilled and if I was still throwing up the next day he'd have to admit me into the hospital. I got a complete unfill and immediately felt better, but with no restriction and absolutely no mental/physical/spiritual preparedness for no restriction, my love affair with all things bread and pastry renewed like we were never apart. I gained 40 pounds in the first 4 months of my pregnancy. I managed to gain back a little control, but ended up gaining about 60 pounds before I had my daughter in August of 2011. The weight gain took a great emotional toll on me, but I just knew that 6 weeks postpartum I'd get a fill and be right back on track... You know where this is going, right? In October of 2011 I got my band refilled. Pre-pregnancy, my fill level was at 7.2cc in an 11 cc band. We filled it to 3.5 cc and 3 weeks later filled it to 5 cc. I had very little restriction and it just didn't seem right. I'd also started getting heartburn. I went back a few weeks later and we filled it to 5.5. That lasted 24 hours, I had to go back in for an unfill and we went down to 5.2 so I could get Water down. I still didn't have much restriction, but I did have terrible heartburn and vomiting in the middle of the night. I lived with this for a few months until I couldn't stand it and went back in and had .5 cc removed. This made the heartburn manageable with daily meds and tums always at hand, but there was no restriction. I could eat all the bread, Pasta, rice that I wanted. I knew I had a slip, but didn't have insurance to cover bariatrics, so I lived with it. I tried eating less, exercise, weight watchers, even a juice fast but I've gained 20 more pounds on top of the baby weight. Fast forward to now and I finally have insurance to cover bariatrics. I went in a few weeks ago and had my upper GI. It showed a slip above the band, virtually my entire stomach is above the band, which is why there is no restriction felt, but the band was so tight that flow into the rest of my digestive tract was severely restricted. Food just sat there for a really long time, and the results of that we're just kind of gross. We unfilled the band completely to see if the slip would fix itself, although, we all knew what that result would be. The pregnancy hadn't caused the slip, the stomach flu had and 9 months of an empty band hadn't helped it unslip. I got that confirmation this week. My band is still slipped and the restriction is still severe even empty. I'm frustrated, but quite relieved that there has been a real issue this whole time and it wasn't just me. We're now going through the process of getting insurance approval to revise to a sleeve and I couldn't be happier.
  20. Akafij

    TX - Houston

    Hi all, I'm going to be sleeved on Tuesday in Denver, but my husband just got a job in Houston and we will be relocating there by October 1. Would love to meet other people and also need to find a doc for post op care.
  21. Band to sleeve revision date is Tuesday, August 19. I can't believe how quickly this went. I had my initial appointment to ask for an upper gi in mid June. Two upper GIs, an EGD, blood work, psych eval and PCP clearance all done within 6 weeks. My doc submitted to my insurance on Thursday, they approved today and I'm on the schedule for next week. Amazing! Pre-op appointments on Wednesday. Here we go!
  22. Just FYI. The doc submitted to Medicaid last Friday and had approval by Tuesday. Im scheduled for Tuesday at 9am.
  23. Akafij

    Got my date!

    I'm feeling nervous! Completely paranoid that I won't get it done with one surgery, I'm also getting over a cold and praying that I'm done with coughing by Tuesday. I'm on clear liquids today and tomorrow and fighting with my head right now. I was banded February of 2009 and slipped December of 2010
  24. Akafij

    Pre opt diet starts today

    Well I shouldn't complain. My pre op diet starts tomorrow, I only have to do 2 days of clear liquids and I am dreading it.

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