Wheetsin

Oh I agree with you. (My response was mainly to someone else -- if you were even posting that for my benefit.)

I'd like to have my non-destroyed body back some day. But I'm just not sure it will ever be worth it to me. And I don't mean financially. I mean - risk, results (umm lots of ppl who had plastics look kinda butchered...), recovery, etc.

What I meant is that plastics are not necessary to live. In many cases they are medically necessary, but I could survive without it. I hate it, but I could live.

I'm just saying that her husband feels he doesn't want her to risk it. It comes down to her decision, but I'm just saying that I can see where he is coming from.

Maybe you just caught him at a bad time?

This is the second time I've been through the weightloss (second WLS). DH and I have had the plastics talk. He does worry about it - but he also worried about my sleeve. He saw one as more "required" than another - and I agree. The risk is more worth it when it's required than when it's optional. I get that. But I also have daily discomfort and I'm not even halfway to goal. In the end he wants me to do what will make me feel best about myself. Skinny or not, I'm no hottie so I don't think it's a matter of insecurity for him. I think he's just able to see past the SERIOULSY DEFORMED skin I have. Much more so than I am.

I really don't understand the guy insecurity thing. Like our relationships are threatened just because someone else might find us more attractive than they did before...? Does that mean they were initially attracted to us because we were "safe bets"??? And IDK... most of my friends are guys... married guys... and I think they'd like the "arm candy" more than they'd worry about the security of their marriage. Hehe.

But I can tell you that guys tend to be much more face value, as long as it's not something that embarasses them. If he's telling you voluntarily that it's about his insecurities, either it is - or it's something even worse. I know it's old news, but just talk to him about it. Even if it doesn't solve anything, at least neither of you will have questions or doubts.

Personally I don't get it, I love my husband, he had loved me at almost 300lbs. I feel I'm going to love him no matter what happens. This is something I want, it's hard to think about going against something he wants because he gives me everything I want, and is sooo good to me. This whole incident is totally out of character for him.

I'm always saying I think my sleeve is making me crazy, cause of my out there mood swings, looks like its rubbing off on him.

Let's be fair. There's such a thing as skin lesions. Panniculectomies are generally covered by insurance, which means that like this "medically necessary" VSG, they too are considered "medically necessary." Granted - boob jobs and tummy tucks generally are not, but that doesn't mean they're any more comfortable to live with. The boob thing especially. I can vouch for the lesions that can occur there as well.

We can be happy we're healthy and are loved, and still want to try and get our bodies back to "normal." You do realize those two things aren't mutually exclusive...?

If your avatar is you, I'm guessing your hair is colored. Shouldn't you just love yourself for you, and be glad you aren't bald? If we break our leg, we don't just let it heal on its own and be happy that we still have it, we want to get it fixed and we want it as close to "how it should be" as possible. Do you think burn victims should forego the "optional" surgeries to repair function and form, outside of what's absolutely required, and just be glad that they have "some" skin, or that they have scar tissue instead of open wounds? She's wanted to repair damage done and get her "real" body back. Don't most people want to repair damage?

If someone has destroyed their body through obesity, but it's in their means to try and correct the damage, what's the harm? Is it like some kind of a sentence that we must live with the day-to-day discomfort of our stretched-out bodies? It's not like she's talking about body dysmorphic disorder.

I certainly don't wear my pannus like a badge of honor...

Honestly if you can't handle the saggy titties & saggy skin maybe you shouldn't have gotten the WLS. Here is my theory, I mean go ahead if you want but people part of this road of losing weight you are suppose to learn how to love yourself! How is that loving yourself if you keep losing weight and keep wanting other procedures? What's after a Tummy Tuck and breasts? A face lift? Arm lift? Thigh lift? People be happy that you are finally healthy and those around you love you for who you are..

I'm still fat! But I'll let you know.

I actually didn't notice this was your post at first, and thinking some lady is going to try and tell me she thinks she has blood clots or IV catheters left in her body or something.

Though the other day someone commented that she could really tell I was losing weight, and then specifically used the example of "your collarbones are sticking out everywhere."

WLS people tend to do that. I noticed this like 6 years ago and have no real idea why. We get mad collar bone juttage. I could pass for normal weight from the sternum up, unless you looked at my arms, but from the waist down I'm all Grimace.

I'm not a Dr. but your description of what's happening actually didn't sound like reflux to me. Reflux is usually uncomfortable in several different ways. It's essentially hydrochloric acid - the most corrosive acid - coming into contact with tissues it shouldn't contact, and that hurts.

What you described sounds more like a stomach that's slow to empty, or liquids "backing up" (can happen if you drink too quickly), or getting a "bubble" stuck or something more along those lines - where it's not the contents of your stomach (as it is with reflux) but things hanging out in your esophagus or some other before-the-stomach area.

Reglan (metoclopramide) basically prevents your muscles from relaxing. When our muscles relax, the opening from the stomach can open up (it normally would not) and allow things to slosh back up, just like a ziploc full of liquid will spill out if you unzip the top a bit. It's actually a sphincter, not a ziploc. But that is essentially forced shut, and your stomach goes into a bit of overdrive.

My father was on Reglan for a while to help with gastroparesis (partial stomach paralysis, essentially) he developed as a related complication to his lap-band. It was used to -- basically make his stomach start emptying again (gastric emptying). I can tell you - it has some crazy side effects - esp. related to dosage and duration.

http://www.medicinen...ral/article.htm

BTW, they also give Reglan to lactating mothers who aren't producing sufficient breastmilk. So...

Hey there, Im new here. I was sleeved on August 23 2012! So far 16 lbs gone! Anyway, everytime I take anything in (Water, Protein shakes, soups) i get this horrible reflux, at least I think its reflux, its like i take a sip, my stomach bubbles up an then i feel it come back up slightly with some belch. Is this normal? Thanks in advance!

Most things after around 6 months become "as tolerated." You'll just have to wait and see if you can tolerate it.

I can eat Pasta, rice, etc. with no problems - but I greatly restrict how much I let myself eat. What I call "white carbs" are a slippery slope with me. Fortunately, they don't include any of my favorites.

I don't know if my (personal) distinction above will help or not. But there are some foods we can eat that have the potential to trigger the opening of our pyloric valves quicker than others. E.g. very wet foods, compared to very dry foods. Very wet foods can read as "ready to move on down" to our stomachs even if they haven't spent that much time in there. That's part of why we're advised not to drink during meals. The Water can wetten the food and our bodies can perceive it as more ground up by the stomach than it actually is. The food and cause the pyloric valve to open prematurely, which can lead to dumping.

This is all slight chance kind of stuff, though. Far, far from a guarantee.

what i don't get about slider food, is our stomachs can only hold so much food - we digest food normally - so why is it called a slider food? it doesn't just slide through, it still has to be digested, right? i thought slider foods were for people who have the lap band.....

Because I get over technical, I'm still not quite sure what a slider food is. And really, the patients of these procedures largely make this up as they go. So it's just some word someone threw out to mean something at some point in time, that has probably been grossly bastardized since then.

I've seen some people say that chips are a slider, or watermelon. Well, both chips and watermelon chew up to almost nothing. So in terms of raw volume, there's a lot. But in terms of the volume it takes up in your sleeve, there's not much at all. To me, that would NOT be a slider because it's not "bypassing" your restriction, you just have to eat a large raw volume of it to occupy the same space as something that did not mash up so much. That rationale seems kind of like saying "cotton candy is a slider because I could eat a whole tub" (even though the melted volume was maybe 1 tablespoon).

To me, a slider would be something that retained most of its volume, but did not trigger your full sensation, or restriction, or whatever. Like let's say -- eggs. If I could eat 3 eggs, but only 1 piece of beef, I'd probably consider eggs a slider food.< /p>

Can I start with an I LOVE? I love that this is nothing like what I thought it would be. I really, really thought (as ink had resigned myself to accepting) that this would be fairly miserable: constant nausea or vomiting, virtually guaranteed food intolerances, etc. About 5 months in and I can eat anything, so far. That includes Pasta, rice, bread, dough, etc. Not that I eat it much or in large amounts, but I can get it down. I do still very much enjoy the freedom to eat whatever I want (though I really wouldn't complain if it were any other way).

The NSAIDS are indeed back and forth. Really, the only reason we can't take them is a "just in case". They aren't inherently bad for us, but IF you do have a reaction or complication that results in an ulcer, it could be harder to treat than if you had a regular stomach. Ok so that's super simplified, but the idea is there.

What I hate --

I hate not really knowing when to stop. As a general rule I under-eat my sleeve. This has also resulted in me never having hit above 650 calories in an entire day, 5 months out. I worry about that. It's no good. I'd hoped to be around 900 calories by now. My nutritionist wanted me at 900 calories 3 months ago. And from what I've been told, this may never change. I never thought I would _hate_ that I can't eat _enough_ calories.

Related to the above, I do hate the hairloss. I've been through it before (previous WLS) and I'm rather used to it now... but it still sucks. If nothing else, I hate having to clean my shower drain every day.

I hate what this has done to my poops. I take Fiber, and laxatives, and still have a hard time. A few times I've been able to go, only to have it "get stuck" halfway out and refuse to budge (either direction). That may be TMI for some, but it's the truth. What the heck are you supposed to do when that happens?

I hate that I have pretty bad reflux, and I hate that every time I reflux, I worry about complications. Mental note: call my surgeon and talk about this. My reflux is associated with a particular sensation, and it's a sensation I also had with my band - which makes little sense. I'm wondering if I have some dismotility, or a slight stricture. My "this may never change" above is related to the amount of scar tissue I had from my band & previous surgeries, which could also be exacerbating this sensation/reflux.

I hate that with my lapband I lost weight like a rockstar, and relatively 'm a total toirtoise this time around. Don't get me wrong, I think I'm going OK considering I stalled for the better part of my first 3 months post-op. But when I had lost weight so quickly before, I just had high expectations that it would happen again and accepting that it isn't going to sucks money butts.

I hate that I don't know what to do with my too-big clothes. So I'm hoarding them. Because I'm also a little afraid to get rid of them (if I'd gotten rid of them the first time, I'd have been screwed when that weight came back.)

I hate what my body is looking like. I'll take it over the fat -- don't get me wrong. And I'm not a vain person. But I look like a melty wax sculpture. I guess more generically, I hate that I've ALREADY destroyed my body. That I will never have my natural, tone bare skin again. That I've wrecked it, and that no matter how much weight I lose, I will never have my beautiful naked self again.

Ugh I could go on.

It's your body trying to adjust, or find equilibrium, as I normally put it. Don't try to "fix" it - just be patient. Changing up a bunch of things to try and "fix" it could make it worse. If you hit 5, maybe 6 weeks of stall then start reviewing what you're doing. But until then just keep up your hydration and Protein. It will pass, guaranteed.

H M O was filtered out above. I guess the board owner doesn't like them any more than the rest of us.

What kind of insurance do you have? ***, PPO, PPO Plus, Open ***, etc...? You may or may not have to talk to your primary care. ut depending, what she thinks could have a huge impact.

You could always call and see what aspect of it she wants to discuss, so that you know what to bring.

Do a search for three week stall. Just about everyone goes through it. Normally it doesn't last but a few weeks. Mine lasted 3 months.

Isopure powder is horrible.

I can manage one of the RTDs. It's the "grape frost" flavor. If it's really cold, and I add a packet of grape drink mix or a good squirt of grape Mio stuff, it tastes reasonably like grape koolaid. DD will even drink it. Leaves my mouth feeling slightly dry, but really - it's not that bad. And I don't say that lightly. I'm not a fan of Isopure at all. And all the other RTD flavors I've tried so far (I've tried most but not all) are exceptionally disgusting.

"It's k

Isopure? More like Isopuke!! I'm trying to find something with a lot of Protein (can't beat 40 grams) in a bottle where I also get 20 oz of Fluid at only 160 calories. If I didn't have such a tiny stomach, I'd just chug it down fast. But I have to sip, sip, sip, and gag, gag, gag. Those Protein Shots are worse. Guess it's back to the shakes. Let me know if you found something tasty out there!

Foods @ 3 weeks depends on the surgeon. By 3 weeks I was well into "soft foods" -- deli meats, well cooked veggies, etc.

I wish I had pictures of my -ectomied parts. Srsly!

When I first opened this thread I thought you meant happy snaps, as in "2 snaps in a circle" (if you're younger than me you probably have no idea what that even means). Consider it a way of saying "job well done" -- and I was intrigued by a surgeon who would say, "happy snaps!" about your weightloss.

The Isopure powder is crap. Well actually it's really good (numbers-wise), but it tastes horrible. All flavors. Regardless of what you mix it in. I'm declaring that as 100% truth, no exceptions.

The Isopure RTDs are mostly gross, but the "grape frost" with a bit of grape drink mix added in tastes like - grape kool-aid that leaves your mouth slightly dry. I've tried most of the flavors and it's by far the least offensive. I don't mind drinking it at all. I have the orange-something one in my fridge at home... haven't tried it yet. The apple-melon is ridiculously gross.

I'm going to piggyback on this a bit. DH and I are almost debt free (we built a house two years ago on a 15 yr mortgage and have about 9 years of it left, so we aren't completely there yet, but that's the only debt we have) - it's important to me, and I don't want to "encourage" debt in anyone. I'm not bragging, I say this to show it's something I really strive for, and don't contradict it lightly. But sometimes it's worth it. If it came down to something that could make potentially the single biggest difference in my life or quality of life, I think it's worth it. Would some method of financing be an option for you? You're squirreling money away, so I assume you have some amount of disposable income each week/month/whatever. Could you, for example, get a low interest credit card and apply that same money toward the mo'ly payment? (Don't feel like I'm asking you to share your personal financial information -- you don't have to answer these questions -- just evaluate whether or not they would be options for you). Anyone in your family you could borrow money from? Are you a student? Have you looked into any of the companies that specialize in financing medical procedures? Etc. "Where there's a will, there's a way" is usually true, but sometimes you have to get REALLY creative.

I'm not even advocating THIS particular procedure. But getting weight under control is definitely one of the better life changing things we can do.

Not that I would encourage aquiring debt, but one option is to finance the cost of the surgery so you can have it sooner. I know for me, there was no way I was gonna wait longer than I had to. We didnt have the money, but my mother in law loaned it to me....so I do have to pay it back, but without interest of course.

There is no "total" when you're only 3 weeks out. You're just getting started.

Not many people get enough Protein or calories 3 weeks out. Hell, I'm 5 months out and still only get about half the calories my NUT wants me eating, and admittedly don't get quite enough Protein most days. Or at least a good chunk of some days.

As for eating the right foods, what foods are you supposed to be eating now? Post-op diets vary so much. Just follow it. Not sure how you don't know if you're eating the right foods or not...?

Not reached goal - yes. Gained - yes. But not lost any weight - like the poster above, I've never encountered that one.

Okay… Don't blow any smoke up my butt here, but I need to know something. Has anyone ever not lost weight after the sleeve? Is it possible to fail?

I think you should all post pics of your wedding rings. For some reason, I love seeing others' rings. I think it's the variety & creativity, personal taste, etc. Just like I like to check out other women's shoes. Not in a weird fetish way...

Keep in mind - that's the straight math of it. But outside of quantum mechanics, very few things in life really are "1 + 1 = 2." Case in point - stalls. I went about 90 days eating no more than 600 calories a day, with a BMR of about 2100. So every single day, for about 3 months, I ran a deficit of at least 1500 calories. Now count in my exercise (300 - 900 calories most days of the week) and my average daily deficit was something like 2000 calories. More days than not, I was burning off every calorie I ate. At about 3500 calories per pound of body fat, I should have been losing a pound every day and a half. But I went 90 days of losing no pounds, and "should have" lost about 60. So there's more to it than the math.

So you'd think - maybe it's Fluid. Sure, and a lot of it probably was. But then once I lost the Fluid, shouldn't all that weightloss have been reflected on the scale? It wasn't. I did pretty quickly lose about 15 lbs - over about 2 weeks. That's only about 25% of the "should have" weightloss. And since then, I'd say my loss has been a bit slower than expected, so it's not like my body has made up for the lost time.

Everyone says "burn more calories than you eat and you'll drop pounds" and long-term that's probably true, but there are absolutely exceptions. I have no F'ing idea why -- I get that it's something our bodies are doing, loss isn't always reflected on the scale, etc. But I also know that with my band I maintained (for my BMI/BMR) a caloric deficit for 18 months while I hit a plateau and lost/gained the same 3 - 5 lbs over and over (which is really just fluid fluctuations).

So anyone proffering a 1 + 1 = 2 caloric formula for weightloss can just bugger off.

Okay so i keep hearing in order to loose weight we need to burn 500 more calories than we eat, ore something like that. So if I'm eating 800 calories a day, i should be burning 1300 a day?

Well, I don't really believe in signs so my brain probably would have been more "FML!!!"

Sounds like you escaped significant injuries, so just be glad it shouldn't postpone your surgery. Hey, yeah - that's it. See it as a sign that you shouln you have surgery. The sign for you shouldn't looks more like a ruptured spleen.

Lots of people with the lap-band (me included) say it's the best thing, until about 5 years later when it has to be taken out.

Was on my way to NWWLS when my sister and I were blinded by the sun and she hit a cement pole in the parking lot. She and I dot remember much of it happening...my head hit the windshield (old car seatbelts didn't work well) and I was taken to ER. I have some scrapes Andy knee is all bruised up. Cat scan was clean and they gave me toradol for the pain that will be coming.

I am freaking out that what if it was a sign I shouldn't have surgery lol

Anyone else freak out like that I have generalized anxiety and unfortunately that's how my brain works

I know of a few options, I'm sure there are more. Places like Claire's sell ring reducers or size reducers (I can't remember what they're branded as). They're basically pieces of clear tube with a slit. You slip them onto your ring and it takes up the extra space.

You can also have metal sizing beads soldered into the inside of your ring. They're also supposed to keep your ring from spinning around on your finger.

I'm using a sort of spring thing I got from my jeweler. Mine had to be adjusted and soldered on (my wedding "ring" is actually three rings that stack up about a half an inch, so the standard clip/slip ones were too small). The standard ones are basically this:

They also make "clip on" versions like this:

I haven't come across a thread like this yet, so I was wondering what others have done to keep their rings on their fingers during the "inbetween" stage (post surgery, yet no where near goal). My ring has been slipping off my finger, there really isn't anything holding it in place. I don't want to go without it, and I don't want to pay for a jeweler to resize it, when in a few months the potential is there that it will need to be resized again. Any good quality products, or tips anyone can recommend? I've googled different products but everything just has such negative reviews, I don't want to spend money on something that doesn't work.

Thank you

3 turkey meatballs and a wedge of light laughing cow cheese.< /p>