Wheetsin

This thread might be helpful. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/43639-what-did-you-tell-your-kids/page__p__393636__hl__+mommy%20+owies__fromsearch__1#entry393636

I'm not a big alcohol drinker so I've had limited types of drinks, but there are two things I will drink, that taste good to me if mixed properly. One is an amaretto sour. No soda or fizz. Amaretto (I prefer Disaronno) and sweet/sour mix (which you can find SF). I like them shaken with ice, and a cherry. If I had any desire to get drunk, this would be my drink of choice. #2 is a blended drink - frozen strawberry margarita made with Tequila Rose. I can't begin to describe how good this is. Not a mixed drink, but it needed its props too.

I'm a plain Water girl, but DH loves Vitamin Water - specifically a flavor called "XXX" which is a mix of acai, blueberry and pomegranate. Target had it 10 for $10, and get a $5 gift card. He bought 100 bottles. He drinks about 3 a day. He says they have a light flavor (most mixes or flavored water are way too overpowering for me), and aren't very sweet. Have you tried any of the newer crystal light flavors? They're based on popular alcoholic drinks. Margarita, mojito, appletini... there may be others. The girls at work drink them all the time. Do you like tea? You can brew some tea and add any extract or syrup to it. Rasperry tea, peach tea, blackberry tea, etc. Do you like peppermint? Brew tea 1:1 black tea bag to peppermint tea bag. Then add in some lemon, or frozen lemonade concentrate. That's a "must have" summer drink in my house. (I don't like it but everyone else does). Do you like chai? You can make chai (water) or chai latte (milk). I make my own chai mix so that I can do it way less sweet than what you get in the stores. When my band was slipped, I lived on it with skim milk. And the milk has good Protein, too. (Doubley since there's powdered milk in the mix.) I can get you started with a base recipe, and then you just tweak the spices to your preference. There's a newer flavored water product called HINT. It's kind of hard to find, but it's not to sweet and calorie free. Our Whole Foods carries it, and I've seen it at Sbux. http://www.drinkhint.com/products/ Hope you can figure out something that works for you.

It will depend on your guidelines. The only thing I will add is that some sleevers do dump, and alcohol seems to be one of the things that triggers it. It's not super common, so I'm not talking about an odds-are situation, but when you can drink it, maybe start with small sips and wait generous amounts of time between. Alcohol, orange juice, corn, and syrup are (that I can remember) all things that have reportedly caused dumping in more than one person. That last sentence almost made sense.

I actually used: Driver's license, insurance card (for admission) Cell phone (during prep - what can I say - I'm addicted to Boggle) Nook (I'm not a tv watcher, but I read a LOT, so between walks I would read, esp. when DH was sleeping during the night) Robe (I couldn't actually wear it, but I could use it like a blanket. Far superior to thin blankets.) My own pillow, just a small one I keep for travel. I always take my own pillow anytime I'll be sleeping away from home. I'm a pillow *****. I never have enough. And flat hospital pillows are beyond useless. (This is another use for a robe. I can always wad it up and shove it behind me like a pillow ramp). It's also a good brace against road bumps on the way home (had about a 45 min drive over KS/MO highways - which are not good) A non-wax lip moisturizer. One of the first things I can remember is asking someone to schmear my mouth with moisturizer, and being euphoric when it finally happened. I felt like I was in a porno or something, basically pouring that stuff all over my entire face. Toothbrush Hair clip & stretchy thin headband thing. I can't stand feeling my hair on my face. I have historically brought some method of hair removal. This time I just made sure to schedule time with my waxer. My mom's Greek, so... yeah. Clean underwear. Once underwear come off (down is ok, but not off), they don't come back on. It doesn't matter than I only wore them for about 1.5 hours immediately after a super long/hot/antibacterial shower. It's just a rule with me. I didn't mind wearing the same outfit home (I wore something surgery-friendly), but clean undies were a must. That might've been it.

Whatever, you just wanted to show off your cute pedi big toe flower. When I was losing with my band, I was amazed at all the little things that changed. Shoe sizes, watch bands, rings, necklaces get longer, towels wrap all the way around, all of a sudden noticing your hands or fingers feel more boney, all of a sudden your car is uncomfortable to sit in because your bone (not just fat) is up against the door, etc. Feet kinda gross me out, so at least "they get smaller" is something we can Celebrate.

The fatigue is monkey butts. I would go upstairs to take a shower and have to stop as soon as I got to my room (before actually showering). Just going up the staairs wore me out. Then I'd get into the shower, and about halfway through have to sit down, especially if I'd bent down to wash toes, shave legs, whatever. As soon as I got out, time to sit down again. Get dressed, had to rest. To actually be ready to leave the house was probably 7 breaks. I remember once we were at the grocery store waiting at the deli counter, and just standing in line was wearing me out so I went and sat in one of the little scooter things (even when I've been on crutches, I don't use those). It came on pretty much overnight. It got better gradually. I felt a lot better fairly quickly, but it sort of lingered a while. The good news (other than it does get better) - it's pretty much universal. Almost everyone who has WLS goes through it. The biggest exception is probably the band, but RNY, DS, SP - you hear it everywhere. There's not much you can do to avoid it... you can do "everything right" and still get hit hard. (My surgeon too discourages "workouts" until 6 weeks, and heavier stuff like circuit training ot weightlifting for 8+ weeks).

A ton of us keep daily intake logs on myfitnesspal.com. There's a thread around here with tons of screen names. I'd suggest making an acocunt (free) and starting to add names from that thread. That will give you constant access to tons of daily food logs. Lots of discussion over there about routines, challenges, etc. too.

Hydration doesn't need to be plain Water. There are some purist "only water is water" philosophies, but most plans count Protein drinks, flavored waters (vitamin waters, Crystal Light, etc.), juices, popsicles, ice chips, SF snowcones, Gatorade, tea, etc. as "water" - especially right now, when basic core hydration is challenging. When I was 2 weeks out (and more) I was having to make choices like, "How do I feel today... am I hydrated? Because I can either take this Vitamin, or drink a few sips of water." Truly, water vs. protein (I hadn't yet found a Protein Drink that was thin enough to be friends with my sleeve) vs. food vs. vitamin was a constant choice because no way I could do all. (It took me several weeks, probably at least 6 - 8, to get the bare minimum protein counts). Hydration had to be a conscious choice & a conscious priority. With what your body is doing right now, being hydrated is the single most important thing - and 10 oz is still better than 0 oz.

This question has come up a few times. You might want to search terms like "hair loss dye" and see what you can find. Here's a response I made to a previous thread: Here's the thread if you want to read more input: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/31943-hair-dye-and-hair-loss/

You have to intake calories or burn reserves, etc. to get energy (metabolize). You do not have to exercise to get energy. Exercise at 2 weeks is a "bonus" not a requirement. Not exercising 2 weeks post-op is not linked to depression, that I've ever seen, or a behavioral reversion (at 2 weeks out, very few behaviors are actually changed anyway - it's still learning curve & adaptation time). I don't mean to "argue" your advice. I'd just hate to have basic things like "where energy comes from" be misunderstood, or for statements like "if you don't exercise you will get depressed" be assumed as truth. HTH

Below in blue (I lived with a band for about 6 years, and have been sleeved for a bit over 3 months).

Time will get you over the hump. Honestly, I felt great the first few days to week. I thought it was all good. And then *boom* lethargy, apathy, doubt, etc. all at once. The exhaustion was the worst. It lasted a good three weeks, gradually tapering off into my 4th week. Don't worry about being at the gym this soon after surgery. In fact, many surgeons will advise against workouts for the first 4 - 6 weeks. Your body needs your energy to heal, not to exercise. And exercise at this point can do a lot more harm than good. Just focus on staying hydrated (#1), getting whatever Protein you can (#2) and keeping up with your vitamins/meds (#3). Everything else will come with time.

You don't wear any jewelry or anything like that. And you probably won't need your wallet - I never have (DH has had his so he can get food or run and get me things I end up needing). I've always just kept things like my electronics in the room with me - in the closet when not in use.

My left side pain was almost gone, then came back two-fold. IIRC it came back around week 3 or 4. It didn't last too long, but was considerably worse than when I'd first gotten home. Does the skin around the incision site look ok? Do you feel anything hard under the skin, maybe something marble-like?

I'd say 100% that the least offensive is Roadside Lemonade. When I use it, I mix it with water, ice, and a pack of lemonade drink mix. I've tried a few of the other flavors and they were pretty bad.

My NUT wants me at 800 - 900 calories regardless of how many times I have to eat to get there (I still haven't been able to make it that high). My surgeon/PA want me to focus on getting about 1000 calories in three distinct meals spread throughout the day. I have a lot of restriction. I've been told to expect that it won't change much. If it doesn't, I will have to continue Snacks to reach anything resembling either of those calorie goals, if I ever can. With just 3 meals, and not doing well with dinner, I'd probably get in the range of 450 calories on a good day.

I eat exactly what Dooter posted. Well, I try to. Dinner has become quite challenging. Breakfast, am snack, lunch, pm snack, dinner if I can.

I think you're being way too hard on yourself. If your stats are current, your BMR is about 1770. Your BMR is the number of calories you have to eat to break even without doing anytthing. Basically if you stayed in bed all day and didn't even move, you'd burn 1770 calories. (Of course, that's just an approximate number.) Any activity at all, anything, increases that number. The foods and quantities you have posted above put you nowhere near 1770 calories. So here's the key. Even if the scale registers a higher number, it's not fat. It's Fluid. Believe me - if your fluid isn't fluctuating enough to impact your weight, then your body is not functioning properly. You're supposed to have some pretty wide fluctuations. That's how your body works. So if you get home and find you weigh more, just remember that weight does not = fat.

Maybe some ice variations - ice chips were my "water" for a while because water didn't do well. You can take whatever lemonade concoction you like, freeze it, and pulse it into chips. You might want to cut way back on the citrus though, it can be an irritatant. Iced tea (you could amke it with a lemon tea if that's the flavor you're craving), coconut water, etc. Gatorade mix packets do not have artificial sweetners. There's a brand called Electromix that has no calories, sweetners, etc. Luna mixes have no artificial sweetners (at least some of them). Celestial Seasonings "zingers to go" IIRC don't have artifical sweetners. Also look at some of the vitamin waters. I know there are brands that do not use sweetners. At some point you might to choose between "carbs" and "hydration" and "taste" - hydration wins. If you really cannot stomach anything sugar free, or cold, maybe it comes down to drinking the warm water because it's better than a trip to the ER.

I know several of Malley's band patients and they are all very fond of him, but I didn't know he did the sleeve. Do you know if he has only started doing them recently? I'm pretty sure that about a year ago, the VSG wasn't included in what he offered - but I could be completely wrong (I know a few of his patients who needed revisions and said that the only revision they could have done with him was another band, or RNY). Other than (maybe) inexperience, my only reservation about Dr. Malley would be that he doesn't appear to be a FACS (something I looked for when "shopping" for a surgeon).

Mojo criollo - you can make it with bitter orange, or a bitter orange substitute (I will use a pineapple base if I can't find bitter oranges). You can usually find premade in Hispanic groceries, or in the Hispanic aisle of a generic grocer. The Goya brand of premade mojo criollo is not bad, and it's cheap.

I don't have recipes, really - I just kind of throw stuff into the crockpot. Here are approximations. Lechon asado - picnic shoulder, whatever size will fit in the crockpot (I use different sizes depending on how many people I'm feeding). I dust it with adobo (Goya) and then add it to the pot. Put in about 3 yellow onions, thinly wedged and I like to add some chopped green chilles although the purists would scoff. Add in some rough chopped garlic... I don't know... 4 - 6 cloves maybe. Then I make a mojo criollo sauce and cover the meat about 25%. THen just let it cook until it's falling apart. DH eats it on rice, I just have the meat. DD likes to make tacos with it. Pulled pork - shoulder/butt to size. I sprinkle it with meat rub - the kind you use for smoking meats. No particular brand, just whatever DH has (he smokes lots of meats). ANd then I really work the rub into the meat, don't just sprinkle it on. I pour in a bottle of root beer (I use homemade but any store bought would likely have similar flavor & sugars), and "enough" liquid smoke. One of those no recipe things... a little tiny bit goes a very long way. Maybe the equivalent of a half tsp or tsp per pound. And some onion powder - maybe 2 tsp. When I get home from work I take out the meat and shred it, drain the juices from the crockpot and put the shredded meat back in with enough BBQ sauce to make it... squishy. I use "Rufus Teague" brand BBQ sauce exclusively (store bought) or a mustrard/Carolina style sauce that I make myself. chicken adobo - I use skinless chicken legs & thighs, with or without wingette. Doesn't matter much, whatever the store has. I think they're uually in 3# packs. Put in the crockpot. Add in about 4 cloves of garlic, smashed. About 1 tsp: white pepper, white sugar, salt. 1 bay leaf. 2 large white onions, finely chopped. Equal parts white vinegar and soy sauce (for 3# I probably use just under 1/4C of each). Don't cook yet, cover and marinate in the fridge for about 2 hours. Cook in crock pot for - 3 - 4 hours. Then I transfer everything to a large saucier and reduce until the juice has thickened. It usually takes 20 - 30 mins. I like to put crushed red pepper on mine, though it's not part of the traditional way of making it (a Filipino neighbor showed me how when I was a teen). Serve on jasmine rice for the fam. ^ If you haven't had chicken adobo before, you might want to try it first. It's not for everyone. BTW, always wash & pat dry all meats before you put them in the crockpot.

I think it can make older people look even older. This happened to my grandma when she was in her 50s/60s. She had a plump face and the fat kept her wrinkles filled in. She just had this really youthful face. She lost a lot of weight, lots the facial fat, and all of a sudden her wrinkles were highly visible. She really looked like she aged 20 years in just a few months.

I use mine usually once every 2 weeks or so. I use it for a lot of different things. Dishes: Lechon asado (Cuban pork roast) Chili - regular or white I roast chicken in mine (with olive oil, sea salt and rosemary) I'll bake meatballs in mine Stroganoff Chicken adobo Beer & cheese soup (one of my family's fav) Lasagna Pulled pork sandwiches Tikka masala So many more As you can tell, lots of oven dishes will translate to the crockpot. You'll just need to make a few adaptations. E.g. when I roast chicken in mine, I place the chicken on foil balls. That allows the juices to drain down so that the chicken doesn't "stew".