IncredibleShrinkingMan

Congratulations. It seems like you have wonderful around you, and that is the greatest gift one can have in this process...even more so than the skill of the surgeon. I hope you also came to a personal conclusion that this is the right call by reflecting on your previous struggles and striving to understand yourself through a little introspection. Hopefully time will just confirm your decision for you. Best of luck!

Do you have any further updates on this trial? Sounds amazing.

Starbucks skinny peppermint lattes. Not perfect, but just what I want to keep my brain quiet for the whole day. And they obviously come decaf. 'Tis the season, even with those tasteless red cups!

I would keep carbs to under 10% of total calories, and the way that is done is by aiming for nearly entirely protein, and just accepting the little bits of carbs that slip in (you probably need them anyway just to keep your brain running). Nobody completely avoids carbs even if they think they are. Alcohol is a similar bad idea, and for the same reason...your body can burn that first for quick energy and thus hold onto more stored fat. Have you been cleared for exercise yet? If so, by all means go for it! It felt really great to be able to get back on the trails again.

That's awesome, but I think with this outlook you are already a new you well ahead of 2016 and you'll be going both in and out of the OR as a transformed individual. We can become healthier both physically and mentally long before we lose a single pound. Congratulations!

@@Indieflickers Probably, but the issue is carbs aren't what you want, and may make you hungrier later on. What would you think of little turkey or chicken meatballs that you can put on toothpicks and dip in the hummus (or any other Mediterranean spread)? Even beef jerky sounds intriguing here.

To provide some history with which you are probably familiar, the sleeve was initially the first step in the duodenal switch for patients who were too heavy for the risks of DS. The sleeve evolved to its present popularity on its own because surgeons and patients realized that the weight loss targeted by the two-phase procedure was accomplished after the sleeve alone. Perhaps you want to explore this route. You can see what the sleeve does for you, and if you are satisfied, you accomplished what you need to without a more invasive and risky surgery, and if you are not, the DS will always be there as an option, just like an RNY would be.

It is brand new and I think sleevers should all be interested in what they have to say there, in the event we go for revisions later on in life. Best of luck, and I think at some point there should also be a revision-specific board.

Hummus, as long as there is no extra oil involved! Made easier with some extremely thin wheat crackers (if your pouch will tolerate it, you probably already know by now whether or not it can) or crudités.

They say you'll be on chewables for approximately the first 30 days. There is a strict ban on gummies, as they are not absorbed to a sufficient extent, and that would be really bad in the early going. I take Alive! One A Day. The calcium citrate they approved of me taking by swallow right away (you need 4x 600 mg Ca, and you get some D3 doses with these tablets). I used Solgar from the Vitamin Shoppe for everything except the multivitamin. The B12 and D3 you need are chewable and you'll do that from the beginning all the way on out, I think 1000 IU of each, and then a little more additional D3 with the calcium tablets.

I had mine waived. They tried to press it on me, but I said I never had any trouble with snoring (I had originally slipped and said my SO had observed it once or twice). The hospital admin staff wouldn't leave me alone and tried to set up four different appointments to have one even though the NP and pulmonologist said it was entirely unnecessary...so I just had to manually cancel it every time. I would never have been able to fall asleep even if I were administered all the meds in the world. I even told them, sure, I'll do it, but you'll have to put me under anesthesia. I have enough difficulty getting to sleep when I'm alone in my old boring house with nothing to look forward to the next day, what makes you think I can get to sleep at 9:00 pm in an unfamiliar bed with a bunch of strangers observing me?

Have you identified slider foods? Cranberry sauce might be one, and with those you have to be careful and draw some hard lines. But turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes all provide instant satiety, and I think your tool is more than capable of doing the talking. Mine has already been tested at two weddings and Oktoberfest. I do not need to be my own bad cop. That's why I hired one three months ago. I think the main danger is having dozens of tiny meals all day once your sleeve clears. food tends to sit out and not be wrapped up until the last football game (Packers-Bears, not worth watching this year) is over. I know that one day of this per year is not terrible, but you don't want to teach your sleeve that you are willing to give it more and more tiny meals to compensate for the large ones that you can no longer have.

I am not a smoker, but I would imagine bariatric surgery and its aftermath provide a unique opportunity to quit. Your mind is on so much else, and other forms of discomfort readily come from having the surgery. So you have that going for you...a system reset of everything but your brain. On the other hand, this is especially difficult because the cessation of one vice usually results in a zero-sum increase in another addiction. In other words, quitting smoking may cause you to increase intake, while a dramatic calorie reduction may induce greater headaches at a time you are attempting to quit. I would recommend sorting this out with a very highly regarded specialist. The facts are unimaginably complex, and wrong moves will cost you more than most people in both your health endeavors. Blessings!

Best wishes for your surgery. This requires far more fortitude than bariatric surgery, and your story should be an inspiration to everyone who reads this forum. I know your mother is looking down on you and guiding you and giving you strength. You have obviously made her proud. Blessings!

That balloon is terrible...it provides very transient benefits and is higher maintenance than the lap-band. Somebody posted a video of it not too long ago and the animation was horrifying. Good call.

Please, please, do not quit. I can't stand to see people demoralized by bureaucracy. Call me petty, but years down the road I would like to see you send after pictures to everybody that gave you the run-around. For once, though, it seems that insurance isn't the primary antagonist. And please don't let any of it undo any of the work you've done on the diet, or worry, as some people do on this site, that they will slim themselves out of qualification. I think you need to write an addendum saying what happened at the October weigh-in. Forging a weigh-in date could cost your doctor his license (maybe that's what you want, but that doesn't help you out much, and will probably ultimately make it more likely to have to start over with someone else), and could also disqualify you from coverage for fraud. None of that is worth it, no matter how eager you are for surgery.

@@OKCPirate I am having this issue too. I can run a 10K now, but everything jiggles like mad (I would be OK with it if just the act of shaking up and down was causing it to disappear but I know that's not the case, despite some crazy claims). Do you know of any of these items that are meant for guys?

It's great that this forum exists now. I am a sleever, and I am eager to read the experiences of DS people, in the event of a revision years down the road. Good luck!

Meatloaf. Any kind. Chicken, veal, pork, beef, what have you. Just please be lean. 'Nuff said. And hummus instead of mashed potatoes.

It is really tough to respond to posts like this because nobody but the OP truly knows the situation. Even if in cases where the spouse or partner was an unmitigated and unredeemable dick all around, I don't see how anybody but the person living it can truly have an adequate grasp. That said, if he is becoming insecure because you are about to become attractive to other males, he needs to find a different way to deal with it. If you have no intention of leaving him, and that should be the baseline presumption, all he is doing to himself is weakening that presumption. It may even help to just come out and say it...that you won't have any trouble finding love again so he'd better behave. But he may not be able to help it, as he is acting out the emotions associated with having less control and leverage over your life. I support your thinking, but it may be worth it to give him a chance. If he becomes abusive, you don't owe him so much as an adieu, let alone a chance.

Just to address the issue of rejection...did you consider seeking a second opinion? I'm sure the other posters are all correct in their advice on how to deal with the skin, but perhaps another plastic surgery program would think differently of it. I understand your concern and theirs, but I would fully research this issue before writing it off.

I think it has grown exponentially in frequency in the last five years, before which it was performed but at a fairly stagnant rate and at a much lower rate than bypass or lap-band (excluding the sleeves that were performed as part of DS). I would think it has began to skyrocket in popularity at the beginning of the decade because we were just arriving at the point at which there exists enough workable data to know that it is an effective procedure.

By the way, I'm August 6th, two days after you, so I'll be happy to let you know when I think my weight loss has completely stopped. I am currently at a stall just below 200, but you should also not get discouraged by these. People tend to write this sort of post when they have been in a stall, and you really need to learn to just wait it out and not get dismantled mentally by it. They can actually be beneficial by allowing your set point to catch up with your weight loss so that regain becomes less and less likely.

You are absolutely on track and this is a great pace at which to be because that means more of your weight loss will be permanent (i.e., you are very unlikely to experience the dreaded regain that occurs at about one year out). You are also on the slim side (although I am guessing you are not too much taller than five feet) to begin, and therefore, you should be thinking about your weight loss as a matter of percentage. The people who start at 400+ (or even like me, 300+) will obviously lose faster than you in terms of actual weight, because a certain percentage of their weight is much more than the same percentage of yours. That said, initially, they have a higher percentage of excess weight, and therefore even their percentage reduction will be faster than yours, but it should be more comparable. To answer your question, no, your weight loss is also not about to stop, and it will even accelerate if you find away to manage your carb weakness. But honestly, it really doesn't seem like it has been a huge impediment to you thus far.

What will your pre-op look like as far as length of time before surgery and what will be expected (calorie ceiling, liquid requirement, etc...)? What procedure he personally prefers? How long before exercise, back to work, driving, etc...? What does his diet progression schedule look like?