goblue9280

Echoing JM... there is only one right answer here: Call your surgeon first thing tomorrow morning.

Has it gotten bigger? Let me put it this way, I tried to post a picture for you but got an error message that read "image too large, please resize and resubmit." Joking aside, WLS does nothing but good things to the equipment.

As the son of two teachers, I know all about that!

One thing I've learned (only 4.5 months post-op) is a lot of those mental triggers don't go away after surgery. One of my big triggers has always been stress at home... e.g. argue with my wife, or kids fighting = I go eat something bad in large quantities. That hasn't gone away, and some nights it's a tough feeling to fight. I too have not sought therapy to help address it, and it scares me on a daily basis that it will end up being my downfall again.

I really hate what we do (or don't do) with vacation/personal/medical leave time in this country. A few years ago, I took this job down here in Houston, it was a dream job for me in terms of the industry I wanted to work in. It was for a big company but under a government contract, so while I work onsite at a government entity (like most here) I'm a contractor. Every 6-10 years, the contract goes through a rebid process which can ultimately lead to employees staying in the same role but moving to a new company. After the rebid a couple years ago, I was moved to a small company (less than 200 employees) and all of the companies on the contract changed how they handled time off. Instead of having my 3 weeks of vacation, 2 weeks of sick time and 1 week of dependent sick time (rarely used more than a week of the combined sick time) I was now given 4 weeks of PTO to use for anything/everything. On the surface, it seems like a cool concept as it can lead to more vacation time if I stay healthy. However, in reality all it does is lead to all of my co-workers bringing their sickness into work since the system rewards them for coming in sick. Futhermore, my co-workers can sell back any unused PTO at the end of the year... so the incentive for coming in sick is not just extra vacation, it can be financial as well. tl;dr summary: tired of co-workers coming in sick... now I've caught the bug going around the office which is the last thing I need right now while I'm still in the post-op honeymoon phase.

@@737captain That Norton is gorgeous. My dad has a couple British sports cars (TR6 and MGA), so I've always wanted a British bike. Have had my eye on a present day Triumph Bonneville... Used to have a cottage in northern Michigan when I was a kid in the 80s/90s. My dad bought my brother and I used kid-sized arctic cat kitty cat snowmobiles... many a weekend was spent running those little guys out of gas. Unfortunately, no snow in Houston... although I did see a pickup truck on the highway the other day with an old 60s/70s Rupp snowmobile in the bed. It was very odd, lol.

I say I'm procrastinating, but I think I'm doing the sensible thing. The fact is I haven't put enough effort into working out yet... so I think jumping into the C25K, as you've pointed out, is a recipe for disaster until I get my fitness level up a bit. I'm going to continue going out on the ice with my kids 1-2 times per week... continue walking a mile at lunch... and start upping my bike rides (which to date I can count all of them on one hand.) Setting a goal to run my first 5K by my 1 year surgi-versary (Oct 1st) seems like a doable plan.

I'm right there with you... have a soon to be 14 year old daughter that will be starting high school next fall. College tuition is right around the corner. Also have that 5k goal... but I keep procrastinating starting the C25K program as I'm also worried about injuring myself. However, I did recently return to the ice to help out at my kids hockey practices... haven't been on skates in 5 years, so that's a big step.

Thanks guys... appreciate all of the responses! I should add the new car purchase was a few years in the making. I had a 2000 grand cherokee that I bought used in 2005... I put around $4000 for repairs into it in the past year and decided I'd rather put money into a new car, rather than fixing a beater. However, going with a midsize car versus a truck/suv was absolutely made possible (and encouraged) by the surgery. As much as my inner man was pushing me towards a sports car... I did the sensible thing and purchased the economical ford fusion that fit into my budget.

For the vet fellas out there, did you find WLS spurred a mid life crisis? While only 35 I am married with 4 kids... so feel a bit older than my age. I have found myself making a lot of changes in the 4 months since surgery. I bought my very first brand new car... all black with black wheels. I've been shopping for clothes and not just because nothing fits me anymore, but rather because I want to. I care about shaving and getting haircuts again. Sex drive is at my 19 year old self level. Hell, I just bought a pair of retro Air Jordan IVs because I wanted them so bad as a child. Most of this I've attributed to just loving life again... but now I'm starting to wonder if I'm becoming the stereotypical middle aged man.

Plenty of sugar daddy websites out there, dubz. No more stripping to get through college in the Internet age... just find an old, rich guy.

I fail to see the problem, lol. Only thing I'd watch is the sodium content, as excessive sodium can hinder weight loss. Some hot sauces are loaded with sodium. I use to put tablespoons of franks in canned Soup, complete sodium overload!

@@Katnroyal Who was your surgeon?

I've been using the Bariatric Advantage probiotic since surgery. I'm not sure if I will reorder when I run out as my doc said I could discontinue it at my last check-up.

Southeast Houston 'burbs checking in!

Oh yes, I'm ALWAYS cold now. I'm the one that always avoided the outdoors due to sweating, so I'm interested to see how I handle those 100 degree Houston summer days this year.

What size are you wearing?

I didn't really do much beyond following the pre-op diet. I did spend a great deal of time soaking up these forums in the weeks before surgery and reading/re-reading/re-reading again all the info my doc provided. Having someone there the first couple of days at home was probably what I was most thankful for. My parents came down to Texas from Michigan and took care of our 4 kids, so my wife was able to be my nurse. Having someone to get/give out prescriptions, remind you to get up and walk, make sure you are getting in your fluids, etc. I would also advise to make sure you have something to measure out small servings of Water... disposable dixie cups will even work. And something to keep track of your water/protein intake... smartphone, pen/paper, etc. Most importantly, somewhere comfortable to sleep those first few days (you will be doing a lot of it) and books or a charged ipad/smartphone with a netflix subscription.

I believe I've read hair loss (while common) only affects 1/3 to 1/2 of all WLS patients... so odds are you won't have to worry about it. I wonder what role age plays as well... your odds may be even better since you are young.

I was just able to add a photo, and then delete it. 1. Click the "edit" button on the post you want to remove the pictures. 2. Now click the "Use Full Editor" button at the bottom of the post. 3. The uploaded image/file should show underneath your post in the full editor, click the red "delete" to the right of the picture/file. 4. Click "submit modified post" at the bottom of the full editor.

Had gastric bypass surgery on a Thursday, went home by noon the next day and was on pain killers the first day or two home. After the weekend, I was out and about on Monday and went back to work on Wednesday. I'm mid 30's and have a sedentary office job.

Haven't had too many sugar cravings... but I was never a big sugar eater. The other day I had my first sugar food post-op, it was a small sugar cookie my kids baked, and it caused me zero issues. I do get "sugar" from other clean sources (e.g. fruit, veggies, some grains) and none have caused me to ever dump.

@@Salonboi I had gastric bypass on Oct 1st, 2015... I was about 425 before the 2-week preop liquid diet and was down to 404 lbs the morning of surgery. So about 100lbs lost since the morning of surgery 4 months ago. Doing well, still losing, but it's starting to slow I think. Wife and I went to Boston earlier this month for a hockey tournament for my son... didn't lose anything over those 5 days. There was a whole foods across the street from the hotel, so most meals we swung by there and I'd get 3/4 to a cup of salad or their premade cold salad... I have a feeling the premade salads were a little heavy on fat/sugar and thus calories. Anyhow, since then things have been much more routine, and the scale has been moving slightly again. I think this next week is when I'm going to start with the strength training to hopefully maintain any of my muscle mass and increase my metabolism.

@@Salonboi Amazing progress... very inspiring for a guy like me that has entered the back stretch of the weight loss.

@@CowgirlJane, @@Babbs - So I just spent 10 hours of my life over the past 3 days watching Making a Murderer... lol. Wow, I don't know if anyone else followed the West Memphis 3, but it's an eerily similar case. With the WM3, essentially a young, mentally questionable teen confessed after hours of interrogation after being handfeed details by the interrogators when the details he offered did not match the evidence. I followed the WM3 case after seeing the HBO documentaries years ago. The WM3 eventually were released after 20 years or so via an alford plea (pled guilty, but maintained their innocence) when the case was going to be retried due to DNA evidence. After spending quite a bit of time watching the WM3 documentaries and reading through some of the case files on the internet, I still don't know what happened. The three guys convicted might have done it. What I do know is the police screwed up the case so badly, the three never should have been convicted. Likewise in this case... Steve and Brendan may very well have done it. My mind is naturally scientific, and I'm a believer in Occams Razor... the simplest explanation is often the correct one. In this case the simpliest explanation is likely Steve did it, but that doesn't mean it is correct. The preponderance of evidence has to prove it, and thanks to way the case was handled from the beginning, you essentially have small town police letting their egos trump common sense, thereby tainting all of the evidence presented. It blows my mind that state officials would let those local county law enforcement officers be so heavily involved in the investigation when so many of them were just deposed in a major civil suit and had played such an important role in the unjust conviction of the man that was their primary suspect. I'm baffled by all of that. Lets say Steve did do it... what drove him to commit such a heinous act? I would think spending 18 years falsely imprisoned would drive even the sanest person to the brink of insanity... never mind someone who was already shown to be a little off and intellectually slow. The saddest part of all of this was that no official ever answered for that false conviction that very well could have been the start that led to this murder. I have many friends and family members in law enforcement, so I'm not anti-police by any means... and Steve definitely is responsible for his own actions if he committed this murder... however, I do believe the county law enforcement is partially responsible for the pain and suffering inflicted on the two families, the Halbach's and the Avery's.