BigTink2LilTink

lol tell me about it ...

You wanted the bariatrics police... And I see you got them!!!! LoL

@ Lipstick Lady, I never ever do expect sympathy from people, I don't complain about stalls, and of course I'm not looking for anyone to congratulate or encourage me. I never expected to be condoned either but I am. So with this being said, I have everything I need, and I'm Happy in my own skin, and Im just sharing my experiences with other's. I know that there are people out there that wonder about certain things that's why we all joined this forum. I do gather a lot of knowledgeable information and never knock anyone down. If I read a post like I wrote I would probably respond by saying something like "Thank god you're okay and did not experience anything horrifying," Every"BODY" is different, what is good for you may not be good for me. Think about it. and goodluck on youre journey for I have been blessed a million times over with mine. 1 month post op and Im down 35 pounds. i feel and look amazing.

You posted about having some wine several weeks after your surgery. If you are having trouble going "cold turkey" with alcohol, then I would suggest getting some professional help.
Did you even READ some of the responses? It's not judgmental. It's sadness and concern for people who don't have enough damn self respect to adhere to doctors orders and do what you need to do to heal from the MAJOR SURGERY you had 7 weeks before.
Why don't you let your surgeon know that you had some alcohol, eh? See how "judgmental" he would be with you.

hey don't feel bad it is very hard to go cold turkey after years of enjoying something that was so comforting to us and that's why I put call the Bariatric police because some people are so fuckin judgemental like has anybody honestly been 100% perfect in their journey please tell me who have no shame in my game to hell with the rest of them ✌

Polarizing posts like this one make me shake my head, too. There is a strong difference between seeking guidance from your bariatric brothers and sisters for some part of his journey has you totally befuddled and that the original poster this time is flaunting a deliberate step off of the beaten path to indulge in a behaviour that is detrimental to healing and successful recovery.
It's like when a kid takes his hands off of the handlebars of his bike and hollers, "Hey guys - look at me." He's hoping that he is not go to hit a rock and face-plant in the street. He may return home and Mom will never know about it, or he may return home after an ambulance picks up his a** and his has his nose stiched back on.
That is flagrant abuse of the gift (his bicycle - our bariatric surgery) he's been given.
It breaks my heart that newer folks coming into our forum environment and get scared away from this bottomless well of wisdom when the tough love of veterans try to steer a stray calf back into the herd. If you newbies can bear with us until you get your first few months in, you will begin to understand where we are coming from. Be patient with the veterans and they will be patient with you.
Newbies, please stay with us and you will absorb awesome helpful knowledge by observing the give and take in the posts.
I got carried away here, but dag nabbit, the little whippersnappers around here need to come when Grandpa calls.

Not "faults". CHOICES.
As long as your choices aren't endangering your health, share away. We've all been there. But if you're drinking multiple alcoholic beverages weeks out from surgery, prepare to get your ass handed to you. By most of us AND your doctor.
And if you feel that drinking and eating things you shouldn't be just weeks out from surgery is justifiable, then I SMH at YOU.

Well, guess I won't be sharing any of my faults anymore. That scratches that! SMH

I know the OP meant to be funny, but these threads often end up being a battle of who's rules are right. It's not so much each little detailed rule, it's the glib attitude toward "bariatric rebellion" that concerns me. It's "let me see how far I can push the envelope" and get away with it. Then to announce it, have others chime in, it ends up sounding like the no alcohol rule is silly and encourages behavior that does not lead to success.
The hard, cold truth is that weight loss is hard, and maintenance is harder. One bad decision won't break any of us. One drink won't make us fat or drunks. However, a general attitude of "let me see what I can get away with" seems like a bad idea to me.
For me, I know that I can't maintain perfection forever. None of us can. We are humans, and most of us are in this boat because we couldn't refrain from eating and drinking too much. So, knowing that, I do strive for perfection every day. If I set that as my goal, I figure I won't be too far off the mark at the end of the day. If I strive for less, I'd probably be further off. I know if I had allowed myself too much latitude in the beginning, I would be worse off today. I had to learn new behavior, and I had to learn that I AM capable of following a plan that leads to success, and I learned what it takes to do that. The early days are what set me up for success by establishing new habits. It's the easiest time to do that, so my advice is to take advantage of the gift you have.

I'm right there with you @@Babbs, @@LipstickLady, and @@Slimsoon1988 - you all made excellent points worthy of serious consideration.
I've had maybe 3 sips of wine post-surgery, but not before month 4. I felt fine, too, but the affect of the alcohol was different and more immediate post-surgery than it was pre-surgery-yes, with just a sip or two. Farther down the road I'm sure I'll have a sip or two again with a meal, but I seriously doubt it'll be a full 5 oz. glass like pre-surgery.

Just because one can drink 6 glasses of alcohol weeks after surgery and be "fine" after does not mean one did not cause damage to their sleeve or self. This is when the slippery slope begins. Oh I had 6 glasses of alcohol and I'm good so it's ok! Let me try again! Oh I can have 6 glasses of alcohol and still lose weight so that means I did good today.
Some of these post are concerning indeed. Trust me I'm no alcohol police. I'm 3 months out and have had a glass of wine twice. And plan to certainly drink A glass of wine during special occasions and social gatherings in the future but I wouldn't have dare compromised my healing process by downing alcohol 2 weeks after surgery which is a critical part of healing.
My post is not to judge or make anyone feel bad because what is done is done this post comes from pure concern of some of the dangerous actions taking by some.

I know the OP meant for this thread to be light and tongue and cheek. But I have to say, seeing some people consuming alcohol just weeks out from surgery kind of floors me a little. Not only do you have a line of staples going down the whole entire sleeve that haven't even begun to heal yet, you are already trying to sabotage any weight loss efforts by consuming empty, non nutritious calories at a critical time where proper nutrition is important for healing.
Like I've said before, I don't care what people do after your'e all healed up. Drink alcohol, eat sweets to your hearts content. You're only hurting your chances of not reaching your weight loss goals and in danger of the whole surgery being all for not. That's none of my business.
What I don't find funny and won't condone are people making light of behaviors that could potentially harm and put you right back in the hospital. For goodness sake, care enough about yourself to at least heal properly before you choose to continue self destructive behaviors that caused you to have surgery in the first place.
I suggest you find a video of a sleeve procedure on YouTube and watch it just to see the amount of healing that needs to take place after you see your little sleeve that looks like Frankenstein when they are done. The doctors aren't telling you not to drink for a certain amount of time just for shits and giggles.

Sorry guys im 7 weeks out and i drunk some non carbonated Moscato and im fine im sooo freaking tipsy but ok and i only had 2oz lol

You need your Vitamins and supplements. Especially early on. We are eating much smaller amounts of food than we used to, our healing bellies need Protein and our bodies need the extra nutrients we are no longer getting from food. I wouldn't wait until a follow up appointment. I would call and get an answer to this immediately.

I'm more than nine months out now, and it has flown by! Down 92 pounds since my first appointment (66 since surgery). I've come to realize that this is about as far as the sleeve alone will take me "easily". My winter stall only ended when I upped the duration and intensity of my exercise. Need a few solid hours of power walking or jogging minimum to continue losing. Thankfully the loss has made exercise more fun and easy; I can run without knee pain (wearing correct shoes)! Overall I feel much better, am healthier, more comfortable, more confident.

But at the same time, I'm noticing my body's deflation-- not bad in the most visible places but very noticeable in others. That skin fold above my groin chafes when I exercise and gets infected no matter what I do to keep it clean, dry, secure, treated, etc. Other areas rub and flap, too. Knew I'd probably need plastic surgery but held out hope that losing gradually and being young might work in my favor. In front of the mirror I fold in my tummy skin and pull up the extra skin on my legs and butt and can see and feel the potential for a more normal body, yet I know major body contouring is more dangerous than the sleeve surgery itself and a experienced, high-quality surgeon in the U.S. will cost a year's salary. I look smaller in clothes but still have lumps and rolls in the same places. My hair is still falling out, too, currently at less than half its normal thickness. Yes, have been taking all those extra recommended Vitamins, but it hasn't helped. Oh, well.

Despite these things I am so happy to have gotten the sleeve and come this far! Wouldn't trade the experience!

Puree some Beans. Kidney, garbanzo, pinto, soy, and black Beans have a low glycemic load.
Avoid canned beans because so many have added hidden sugars.
Depending on the dry bean variety, this can take as long as 30 minutes on the stove top.
Peanuts are an excellent source of Protein along with cashews and other nuts.
As for beans making you fart, the more you eat beans over a period of time the more accustomed your body gets to breaking down the complex carbohydrates and dealing with the extra Fiber.
Otherwise, Beano helps.

Are you sticking to your dieticians recommended supplementation? Lack of D3 and B12? Increased levels of the stress-hormone cortisol can cause memory problems. I had to cut down on all my medications including statin drugs after surgery because after surgery my blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol dropped into the normal range. Statin drugs always seemed to affect my memory. Also, now my body thinks it doesn't need sleep so I had to switch to my exercise walking early in the day instead of at night. Not needing to nap during the day and being up most of the night is starting to affect my memory too. I'm only two-weeks post-surgery, but all the changes are making me a little blue and forgetful too. Good luck.

I lost my memory with my weight. Lol. No joke. I used to be sharp as a tack. Not so much anymore. I forget everything without a list.

Hey I wanted to give everyone an update on this. My memory has improved over the last few weeks. Still not 100% like it was before the surgery but its has improved since the last time I've posted in here. The last round of blood work done on me again showed nothing. I have an appointment with a Neuro doctor however I couldn't get in to see them till basically the middle of July. Hopefully by the time I see them my memory is fully normal again and no imbalance issues.
So I'm just dealing with things as is. As its sits right now I'm still losing anywhere between 8-12lbs per week. Still a lot of weight per week, but I am almost 5 months post-op. So I'm still in that magical rapid weight lost phase. Which is to me still good cause it makes going through all of this so totally worth it. Right now as of today I sit at 355lbs. That is down about 240lbs from my all time high of 595lbs. I know about 180lbs of that is from the affects after the surgery. From the time I decided to have the surgery up to the actual surgery date (including the liquid diet phase) I had lost like 40lbs.
With all that weight gone and no back issues, physically I've been feeling really good. Mentally again its mostly good days and then some very not so good days peppered around in there. I would still do it again in a heart beat. Just would have probably surrounding myself with a better support group of people. That way the mental stuff wouldn't have been as tough as it has been.

Hey I wanted to give everyone an update on this. My memory has improved over the last few weeks. Still not 100% like it was before the surgery but its has improved since the last time I've posted in here. The last round of blood work done on me again showed nothing. I have an appointment with a Neuro doctor however I couldn't get in to see them till basically the middle of July. Hopefully by the time I see them my memory is fully normal again and no imbalance issues.
So I'm just dealing with things as is. As its sits right now I'm still losing anywhere between 8-12lbs per week. Still a lot of weight per week, but I am almost 5 months post-op. So I'm still in that magical rapid weight lost phase. Which is to me still good cause it makes going through all of this so totally worth it. Right now as of today I sit at 355lbs. That is down about 240lbs from my all time high of 595lbs. I know about 180lbs of that is from the affects after the surgery. From the time I decided to have the surgery up to the actual surgery date (including the liquid diet phase) I had lost like 40lbs.
With all that weight gone and no back issues, physically I've been feeling really good. Mentally again its mostly good days and then some very not so good days peppered around in there. I would still do it again in a heart beat. Just would have probably surrounding myself with a better support group of people. That way the mental stuff wouldn't have been as tough as it has been.

Also, feeling really low can be caused by too low carb of diet or even by "fasting". I have experienced anxiety and can definitely trace issues to the way I eat, at least partially.

As others have pointed out this is a medical concern.
If you have bad memory loss or confusion it is likely nutrition related. Get blood panels as you may be low on something. I take a sublingual b complex drops a few times a week plus vit D as they both help with these things.
Depression that persists is also a medical issue. To some extent losing your very bad friend (over eating) might take some time but if it gets really bad...get help. Medication, counseling -both?

I thought my memory issues were just me going crazy!! And I thought I was the only one who had this issue. It's good to know others have struggled with this! I forgot how to spell my nephews name one day. I helped raise the kid. But couldn't remember if it was Tristan or Tristen. Then I started noticing I was forgetting other things. Everyone around me says it's just because I am almost 40 (Shh!) but I knew it was more than that. Depression was a big issue for a while too. That one was a real struggle. It's already something I have dealt with for years. But after surgery I really felt like I had lost my best friend. food wasn't there for me anymore. It was a real stage of mourning. That's something I wasn't at all prepared for. I live 5 hours from my family so it's just my son and I. I felt alone in life and alone in the fight to get healthy. It was hard. But I know from past experiences that Prozac helped, so I got back on it. I feel so much better now. So much negativity has finally left me. This life is defiantly not for the weak. It's a struggle. But we can all struggle together. =)

The memory loss is by far the worst part of it. Forgetting things that prior to the surgery were mundane at best. I'm planning on seeing a neurologist here soon just to make sure that its only from my VSG and not something more serious like a tumor.
I also know that because of the memory thats whats causing the depression to actually take in harder. I really do want this to pass cause where this should be the most joyful time in my life, seeing that joy right now is down right impossible.
Case in point last night I went to Wal-Mart of all places to try on clothes. The last time I could fit anything from Wal-Mart was around 95-96. I've been buying my clothes from big and tall stores every since. Last night I was in clothes from Wal-Mart that actually fitted comfortably. A feet that I should be very proud of. Yet still not up mentally.

I am probably not the one to ask but I got some Premier Protein bars that have 30 g of Protein but have more carbs than i'd normally consume, that also boosted my appetite which I needed because food repulsed me and made me gag. Some people add berries. When I cut out some artificial sweeteners in things that helped too.