FocusOnMeNow

@sunjumelts are you out there and doing ok?

Try some lemon juice in your water and take it from there. Also make sure you are getting enough vitamin C. You're craving could be caused by vitamin deficiency. You might also want to try "true lemon" in your water. You can get it on amazon. Unlike artificial crystal light it's real crystallized lemon with a touch of stevia for sweetness. Good luck!

You should not be having gas pains this far out. Left side is where your heart is. And lots of important veins and arteries in your neck. Better to be safe than sorry. Have you been taking your injections as instructed to prevent a blood clot. Yes or no be sure to be honest with your doc.

Go to the ER now

Hmm, I always heard to take antibiotics with yogurt, so that the yogurt can combat the bacterial imbalance in your gut, and reduce the side effects from abx. Never realized that it could compromise the efficacy of the antibiotics. I will have to study that further.

Your blog also reminds me of the Mary Lambert song "secrets". Now that I own the fact that I am a flawed human being, own my surgery, etc it is so freeing.

@@DebiDoo - Are you doing any exercise specifically other than walking? I'm not sure what your actual surgery date in June was but most doctors have specific exercise restrictions so you may want to consult those. And yes it is "just" your stitches pulling. That sharp pain could be them pulling through your tissue. If you don't want that to happen then you need to scale BACK your exercise until it heals a bit more. I have seen several guidelines (yes they all say different things but that's a different thread) - some say not to lift anything more than 20 lbs for 6 weeks. Some say no swimming for 3-4 weeks. Rule of thumb - if you are having SHARP pain STOP what you are doing and let yourself heal. This does not mean not to exercise, it just means to do a different kind of exercise (think something like walking or bicycling if that doesn't hurt your abdomen). You should continue to call and/or visit your Dr. and if you are not getting quality care with them and are still having distressing pain then proceed to your nearest Emergency Department and get the care that you need. They will take care of you there but you may have to wait.

Sara Kelly Keenan and others, I am trying to come up with a "top ten" list of things to do when I am stressed and need "comfort" instead of eat. Any suggestions, in addition to exercise I mean? Any suggestions would be most helpful. Especially any for stress at work and/or stress at work when someone brings in your favorite chocolate cake, etc. I am still pre-op but want to be successful in the long run.

I appreciate the article and realize that changing behavior and consequences really is about making better choices that become habits. But the definition of an addiction is when something sincerely interferes with your life functioning and you want to stop but can't. That is how food can be with me. My knees hurt and I want to lose weight but hard to implement hours on the treadmill when one's mobility is so limited. I think and hope that the sleeve will give me a great tool, that will set me up for about 6 months of good habits and then after that it is up to me not to go down the slippery slope. And actually I had a dear friend who I found out had been an IV drug user for 30 years. They really wanted to quit and had wanted to for several years, but they didn't have the tools. I connected them with the tools and they quit. Not cold turkey mind you but they did it. My friend also quit smoking as well. I was so proud of my friend, but then realized that I needed to focus on me and my own recovery from my addiction.

Actually if you search you tube for Biggest Loser gastric sleeve there are a number of former BL contestants who are now sleevers

I believe that I saw a VSG you tube video from a former Biggest Loser contestant who gained all the weight back and more, and so opted for the gastric sleeve instead. I cannot recall her name.