SkinnyDown

No answers to this yet? I love to voice, and would love to host a discussion group online. I'm a longterm member of Second Life, and would be willing and able to host in that virtual world, a voice discussion group. I already run open mics twice a week in that virtual world. Something to think about. If there are any other SL members here, contact me, we can meet up in world! Or if anyone is interested or has other ideas of starting a voice discussion group, speak up!

Congratulations! It feels great, I know! The same happened to me. I was off all my diabetes meds (Glucophage, Glipizide, Lantus and Humalog) by the time I left the hospital a week after surgery. My blood sugars remain stable and range from 90 -115 now. Feels good getting rid of all those medications, and I had to do minimum 4 injections daily.

The biggest thing that I look for, and am attracted to is confidence. If a man lacks it, two things are going to happen. 1. I'm probably not going to be that interested 2. If I still happen to like the person, I'll take charge, as I am a naturally dominant woman. That's just who I am. I love Alpha males. Not the chest beaters, those guys are really beta males trying to convince you they are Alphas. A true Alpha male (imo) is a man who knows how to create his own space. He is in control of himself, and his emotions. He is never desperate or needy. He is not the guy going around from table to table at a club looking for a woman. An Alpha male is the guy sitting alone, comfortable in his own skin, enjoying himself...he always draws the women to him. He is neither controlling or overly dominant, because he has total control of himself. He is not insecure or jealous either. Now that's exactly what I want. That kind of man, I feel safe with. Which for me, is very high on my list of needs, where a mate is concerned. The smell thing....maybe I'm different, more animalistic, or primal, but I don't mind a little musk on my men. I like to be able to smell their natural body odor. I do not mean rank. But I don't need a soapy smelling apple/pomegranate in bed. You mask your true scent, and that's what makes me want a man more...his true scent. Very good questions @@OKCPirate Uh oh, sorry I thought these questions were geared towards women, looks like I'm in the wrong room. Carry on with your discussion.

Well one thing I keep telling myself when I know I am not getting enough nutrition into me, is that I'm not going to waste away any time soon. I'm pretty sure I could sustain for quite some time. LOL I had a hard liquids day. I have to be more diligent in getting those liquids in. I am still about 10 oz. shy daily. I'm taking in about half the Protein I should be. I just keep working on it. I have no hunger, or nothing in me that triggers the need to eat anymore. I'm amazed at how this has changed my life already. No hunger. Do you know how cool that is? LOL I don't know how long this will last, I'd be happy if it were the rest of my life. I eat only because I am reminded I have to.

@@danne3 I think all those feelings and more are normal. You'll go through a whole slew of emotions and feelings through the process. I guess I'm just trying to say you are not alone. Talking helps. Being on the other side of it, now, I wish I would have been more at peace, than stressed. I think it would have helped my healing more.

There are low and no carb breads out there. Julian Bakery comes to mind. http://www.julianbakery.com/

I was feeling so bad at first too. It took me about 2 weeks to really start to feel like I might actually survive. Hang in there, it's going to get better. I still can only get in about half my Protein, and luckily nearly all the liquids I'm supposed to. I haven't had real hunger though either, so I can't imagine if someone is hungry and just not able to eat. I've dealt with much more nausea than I care to even mention. Keep hydrated, that's most important. Everything else will happen in it's time.

Still waiting. I'm guessing it's not 2 weeks and 2 days out from surgery. LOL I feel I have a long way to feel whatever feels GREAT again, hell, even good! I'm holding my own, but I still feel pretty fragile, to me. Great question, @RuxieGirl

I'm sorry to hear this. I know what a hassle this is from past surgeries. This is not a fun process to go through. Stay strong, and remember this too shall pass. I know that's hard right now, being in the middle of it. I developed an infection to one of my port sites during my stay at the hospital. I am still draining. dressing changes twice a day. Positive thoughts sent your way!

Thanks for the responses! I think I should do a weekly weigh in at home based on all I have read. Just out of curiosity of course, I got back on the scale today, and I'm down 2 more lbs!!!! My Dr. told me I'd be losing a lb or more a day, I guess he wasn't kidding. I'm just staring at the scale in disbelief. But I can't deny not only the numbers, but how loose clothes are getting already on my body. The best test is the underwear test, for me. If they are sagging, you know you're losing. LOL Thanks again for all the responses!

I'm curious if people are using their own scales for their weigh-ins, or if they are only going by what the scale says at the clinic when you have "official" weigh-ins? My scale says the same thing it does at the Dr.'s office. I've checked it a few times. If that is the case, I just lost another 9 lbs! that's 19 lbs in two weeks. I'm not always going to have the Dr. office to weigh me. I guess I'm just going to start using my own scale. What do you do?

I think it's very normal, in fact it should be part of the experience in some form or other, as a tool to keep you from eating too much. My sense of hunger left the moment I woke up from surgery. I'm two weeks post-op and I haven't felt hunger since the surgery. It's the oddest thing for me, and I have to remind myself to eat. Nothing triggers my hunger either. I can smell food, be around it. See alllllll the things in the store I used to NEED. No longer. I also am very sensitive now to sweet tasting things. For instance, I used to put 8 packets of splenda in my tea cup, yes I know that's a lot, but that's how much I required before, to feel it was sufficiently sweet. I put two packets in same cup now and it's plenty sweet. Amazing what this surgery can do. My Surgeon basically said he disconnected me from the hormone Ghrelin which was making me hungry. I feel this lack of hunger thing is helping me out that much more. But it sure feels odd to be like this.

@@Djmohr Thanks so much for your words. Yes, it's excellent news, I agree. I am glad I made the right choice by stopping the rest of my diabetes meds on my own. I was given an honorary degree by my Surgeon for that move, yesterday. But he did caution me, if my sugars go up, I need to consult someone with a real degree, about resuming any meds. LOL!

Good luck with everything! We'll see you on the other side.

@ Great news, about getting back in the pool. Have fun!

I quite enjoy the box broths. There are many different flavors to choose from too. Don't forget french onion soup can be strained too. That's pretty tasty stuff. I can attest to the fact that sugary stuff just isn't doing it for me either, post surgery. I have cut down even my sweetener intake at least half (If I used 4 packets, I'm now using two or even one). Everything "sweet" tastes so sickeningly sweet to me now. Weird. GOOD, (because I was a sugar-aholic), but weird. I know that has to be horrible to have both things going at same time, but Djmohr is right, you've made it through the worst day already. Soon you really won't care, and just do what you have to do.

Great job! Very impressive work you've done already. I don't know what the huge delay could be @LousPeachy. I mean we do have fax machines, right? lol Sometimes I just don't understand the slowness of the process. Keep positive!

You guys are so sweet! Thanks! Let's all keep up the good work!

Well it was a little early, by a few days, but the good news is, I am doing much better than I thought. What a relief, talking to my Surgeon, getting reassured, and getting my questions answered! He made me feel a million times better. I lost 10 lbs since I've been home, last Wednesday. My infection is doing great, he took me off the antibiotics which should alleviate my nausea and diarrhea. THANK GOODNESS!!! He prescribed Activia daily for me. To get my colon back in working order after these harsh antibiotics. I was glad to find no sugar added varieties. My blood sugars have been so good, he took me off ALL my Diabetes meds. I stopped them myself at home, because my numbers were getting so low. No more Metformin, Glipizide, Humalog or Lantus! In his own words: " Your diabetes just left the building." I can hardly believe it myself. I had my Lasix reduced from 80 mg daily to 20mg daily. I had my metoprolol dosage cut in half I was cleared to start pureed diet when I feel comfortable in the next few days, and start my vitamins/supplements, which I purchased today at the pharmacy. All in all, it looks like I am seriously on the mend. I was so glad to get my questions answered, and I feel a world of better now. I have some peace of mind, he told me I was almost out of the woods as far as leaks, and generally the only thing now that would hurt me is a trip to a buffet. LOL I gotta' say....food is the last thing I want. I'm just not interested in it. I eat because I have to, not because I am hungry all the time. Huge change for me. Well...I just wanted to share this with you. Because I was kinda' worried beyond reason, and had to share all the very good news. I'm 12 lbs away from being in the 200's! I can't wait! Hope restored!

Oh thank goodness for you kind people! I wonder if I don't do myself in with all the stress too. Still having these chest pains but I'm going to lie down and relax a bit and see if that doesn't help. I ate some cream Soup, that was comforting, and drank some Water. Everything seemed to be ok with that. Maybe I'm just stressed out. I don't do so well on my own, when I am sick, and my sister left today she was here the last 4 days helping me out, but had to go home. I do see my Surgeon tomorrow, so I can find out all the answers I need. Including how to know when I really need to just go to ER. I've had diarrhea since the day I got home, as I am on antibiotics, (port site infection) and every shake I drink goes right through me, after I'm done drinking it, and I've not made it to the bathroom in time a few times already! It is that immediate. My surgeon was aware, and his nurse said he'd call back if he needed to on Friday....he never did, so here I am low blood sugar, no food staying with me....beside myself. According to my scale... I have lost 9 lbs though in the last 5 days. I'll see what the official scale says tomorrow. I am so sorry, @@crystalefinley that your support has to go back to work too. Especially with a baby that needs to be taken care of. My heart goes out to you. We'll get through this, together, all of us! Prayers and well wishes for all. <3

I'm worried from the moment my feet touch the floor everyday. I was doing ok....I still am having multiple issues, but I felt a bit more under control, and see the surgeon tomorrow morning again. I however woke up from a nap and did that hiccupy burp thing and my chest L side started hurting again, like it did when I was trying to get rid of all that gas right after surgery. It's been at least 4 days since that pain subsided...does it come back? Is something else wrong? I'm afraid I'll drive myself nuts with this stuff. Then there is the whole...when is blood sugar too low? I start showing signs of low blood sugar anywhere below 100. I've woken up with 85's the past 4 days and it only gets up to 115 Now I know that's normal. I should be happy, but I guess I'm so used to high blood sugar, I'm freaking out that it's too low. I stopped taking all my diabetes meds at this point, until I see my Surgeon, tomorrow. Any help, ideas, thoughts? I guess mostly I'm afraid. Afraid of screwing up, or just keeling over because I don't know what I'm doing, or looking for the right signs that something is really wrong.

Single

I don't know if that's possible, but at this point I'd believe ANYTHING! I am dealing with an infection of port site right now, not fun. But that started while I was still in the hospital. It seems to be doing ok, so far, I see the Surgeon again on Monday, we'll see what he has to say. My advice would be, to mark the edges of the redness with a pen, and see if redness grows beyond the borders with time. Also, check if you have a fever, any other symptoms. I'd call their hotline number or emergency number at your Bariatric center, just for peace of mind. Good luck with everything! Keep us posted.

@@Tracy6035 Congratulations! Welcome to the other side. I am trying to get a shake in me right now. It's hard, I am getting in the Water they require, but the shakes are another story. I just keep trying. I had surgery on May 20th, and got home on Wednesday 27th. A few complications arose. Slowly getting better... I am allowed strained cream Soup now. So I tried cream of broccoli tonight made with milk, instead of water for the extra Protein. Great change from sickeningly sweet sugary tasting shakes! That's the first thing that has tasted somewhat good to me since the surgery. I wish you continued success and healing.

I honestly don't think I could have done this without the pain pump, and vicodin at home now. I'm in pain, not horrible now, but still, to rest well, I need pain relief. Lucky I didn't have your Dr. @@red37 I'm so allergic to Toradol, I stop breathing. Best of luck to you! Hope you get to go home tomorrow.