cat17

Dr Shillingford in Bocal Raton, FL. His website gives the package pricing. I had a very good experience with him, and it's a bariatric center of excellence.

Today marks 1 month out from surgery!!! Seen my surgeon for 1 month f/u was giving the green light to commence my working out no restrictions and eat anything and everything of course healthy things and in moderation and to CHEW CHEW CHEW!!! YAayyyy so excited everything is going great feeling great as well. Cant wait to get into my routine now to tighten and tone as i keep loosing.
My stats:
HW:227
SW:208
CW:187
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No one told me I was brave for having the sleeve surgery and taking control of my health for the second half of my life...so I am telling myself that. I am BRAVE! And now I'm telling all of you. You are courageous souls for taking this step and I honor you!
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This seems to be a running theme on a lot of sites today. To a similar post this was my response:
Proud of you girl! You're killin it. You are what they term a.."Good Sleever". I will say as an overweight person who is somewhat "New" fat and has been of normal weight for many years without effort. I used to think the same of those who were heavy. How could you let yourself get big? How could you put yourself through that?
But now having lived as a heavy person, being a possible pre-sleever, my view has widened. I see those people with food addictions and those met with tragedy post surgery be "Bad Sleevers". I'm not sure which I'll be, but in theory I'd love to be a good sleeve patient. One who eats right, shakes old habits, and works out consistently. And, I will put my every intention there. But I know that to have gotten to the size I am now, I am addicted to something. We will have to see where the proverbial OA chips fall.
I don't eat Condiments of any kind, never have - but my ass has been eating something. And like most people, something has been eating me too. I can only hope.. I've found it. Soothed it and put it to rest. I am hoping my peers, friends, and supporters understand if I get it wrong.
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I'm only a month post-op, but totally psyched that my five year old son ate salmon with me last night!! I'm hoping to evolve our diets as I move through the stages.

In another post, I mentioned that I had joined a gym for the first time in my life. I grew my muscles the old fashioned way, by hard work. As I am getting older, work isn't all that hard anymore. Maybe that's because I do less of it. So I joined up to lift some weights, perhaps ride a machine or two, and get back in shape. And, the gym has a pool. We used to have a pool here at the LittleBIll compound, but it started to rust out, so it is no more. It was only good for floating around with a beer anyway. Besides, swimming outside in December isn't exactly my idea of fun, or even sanity.
I've been there about two weeks now, and have had several adventures there. One thing that is included in the swingeing fees they charge is a couple of appointments with a personal trainer. They set me up with a young gentleman whose father is four years younger than I am. It is an interesting relationship. He is not quite sure what to make of me, and I am taking orders from someone younger than my own children.
I had my initial appointment with him shortly after joining up. I was supposed to meet with him last week, but had to reschedule due to squirrelus interruptus. Today we met up again so he could take me through a personalized workout plan. I learned a few things. One, I had been just moving weights around on the various machines up until today. He walked me through a bunch of exercises, starting out with the exercycle, or whatever they call it. Then it was squats. I felt like telling him when you get older, you do lots of them anyway. I kept my mouth shut though, because I didn't want to give him the impression I thought he didn't know squat.
I was a little miffed at the weights he was suggesting for me. "I thought, I can lift way more than that!" Well lemme tell you something. By the time I was done, I was lucky to be lifting my feet off the floor. The last exercise probably made the least sense, but it was kind of fun. I had to take a 10 lb medicine ball, lift it over my head, and then hurl it to the floor with all my strength. I told him, "I'm already good at this one!" Every now and then something goes wrong in the shop and a piece of wood will impact the floor at near relativistic velocity. It doesn't improve my situation any, but it makes me feel better. By the time I did 10 reps of that though, I was ready to quit. Fortunately, it was the last thing on the list, and he was expecting my reaction. He told me I did better than he expected. Either that means I am in better shape than I thought, or I look even worse than I am. I will choose to believe the former rather than the latter.
There's no way I am going to join the musclehead crowd though. That's the group of guys there who spend what looks to be most of their life pumping Iron. Some of them have bulging muscles in their eyelids. I am going to have to stop looking in the mirror there though. I understand it is good for proper form, but it also keeps reminding me that right now I sort of look like a snowman in the sun with the way the weight is sluffing off of various parts, and none of it symmetrically.

I'm only a month post-op, but totally psyched that my five year old son ate salmon with me last night!! I'm hoping to evolve our diets as I move through the stages.

I'm only a month post-op, but totally psyched that my five year old son ate salmon with me last night!! I'm hoping to evolve our diets as I move through the stages.

I'm only a month post-op, but totally psyched that my five year old son ate salmon with me last night!! I'm hoping to evolve our diets as I move through the stages.

I'm not sure what you mean about feeling your metal sleeve -- there is nothing metal about the sleeve except a tiny line of titanium stitches where your stomach was cut.
As far as your weight goes, gaining weight early on usually means you are bloated/retaining fluids, constipated, or having hormonal issues (common after surgery) causing weird Water and metabolism issues. It's really unlikely you are eating enough to gain weight unless you are sitting around eating milkshakes and Peanut Butter without stopping. Unless that is the case, it's very very likely one of the other issues. Sorry to be gross but this early Constipation is often the culprit.
If you are worried about a leak, definitely get in touch with your surgical team and describe your symptoms. That is a serious issue that you want professional medical guidance on rather than random speculation from internet strangers like me. Good luck to you!

As I read this, you're already done!! Be patient the first couple days, they are very difficult, but you will start to heal and feel better each day. Welcome!

This last weekend two guy friends of mine asked me about my surgery and what they could expect because they are ready to take the plunge. I'm taking this as a great NSV.
I don't post on Facebook "I HAD WLS" but when a big buddy comes up to me and asks "how did you do it," well I'll tell them. I think they have been watching me for the last couple of years and they see the changes in my life. Now that they have tried WW and other things and it's just not working for them they are coming to the same conclusion I did over two 1/2 years ago.
Thanks to this site I can share with them a wealth of experiences, share knowledge and insights. But ultimately I think it is the "life style" evangelism of renewed health and energy which pushed them over the top..
Am I the only one, or has anyone else had this type of experience?

I swear, @Gustavio....you have a serious habit of poking at certain vets on this board and if you run them off before I get through this surgery and get to my 5 year mark, I'm gonna be very, very irritated. I NEED them. You don't seem to realize that you may need them, too.

I thought this was going to be about eating Leeks.

Yay!! Good luck!

Only person who's ever victimized me was...................me.
And I'm kicking his ass on a daily basis.

I have only weighed myself once since my surgery because of the swelling and three week stall so many people talk about. I'm going to weigh myself on my one month surgerversary. I made myself a picture board where I'm going to post my picture each month so I can see the change.

I'm so sorry for your loss! I had to put my girl down two years ago, and I miss her all the time. Dogs are special.
As for food for comfort, good for you for recognizing what your need really is. Grief is a process and there is no way to get through it, but going through.
For what it's worth, this stranger on the net sends you love.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about telogen effluvium (post-surgery hair loss), so I thought I would post about it. Even bariatric clinics sometimes don’t understand or explain this condition adequately.
“It is normal to lose up to about 100 hairs a day on one's comb, brush, in the sink or on the pillow. This is the result of the normal Hair growth cycle. Hairs will grow for a few years, then rest for a few months, shed, and regrow. Telogen is the name for the resting stage of the hair growth cycle. A telogen effluvium is when some stress causes hair roots to be pushed prematurely into the resting state.”

”If there is some ‘shock to the system,’ as many as 70% of the scalp hairs are then shed in large numbers about 2 months after the ‘shock.’ This sudden increase in Hair loss, usually described as the hair coming out in handfuls, is acute telogen effluvium.”

“Among the common causes are high fevers, childbirth, severe infections, severe chronic illness, severe psychological stress, major surgery or illnesses, over or under active thyroid gland, crash diets with inadequate Protein, and a variety of medications.”

[Quotes from “Biotin and someone else didn’t doesn’t necessary have anything to do with respective amounts of hair loss. Which leads to…
3. You don’t need to do anything other than get enough protein.
“No treatment is needed for most cases of telogen effluvium. Remember that the hairs fall out when a new hair growing beneath it pushes it out. Thus with this type of hair loss, hair falling out is a sign of hair regrowth” [Telogen Effluvium Hair Loss]. You don’t need to take Biotin. However, failing to meet your prescribed protein goals can also trigger this condition (see quote above about causes: “crash diets with inadequate protein”).
4. You can’t prevent it.
Even if you get adequate protein, major surgery is still a shock to your body. Almost everyone who has bariatric surgery gets some degree of telogen effluvium afterwards. Someone who has lower surgery stress and thick and/or short hair might not even notice telogen effluvium.
As someone who has been through this several times, I can reassure everyone worried about it that the effects are temporary and don’t do any long-term damage! Cheers

I'm new on this forum, but I've been on Internet forums of all sorts pretty much since there was an internet. I've been the old expert on several, the noob on others, and on one I was the grim moderator who didn't put up with crap from anyone.
Forums are different. People are the same. There are the lurkers who read and never post, and there are the attention whores who have to be in every thread. There are people who are so cranky they think no question should ever be asked again, and people should use the search function every time, and there are those who crave actual interaction with other people.
I don't let it bother me. No one is forced to read or write anything. And at the same time, I am pretty sure I gored a few oxes with what I just wrote above.

I know, right? I didn't post anything on this board for a long time after I joined because just about every question I had was answered by doing a search of the boards.
I haven't been here anywhere near as long as you, and I've started skipping those posts as well.

Habits and addiction are life long battles. Surgery is the easy part but the mind's behavior wants to stay the same.
I am a food addict, but I work at my "recovery" every day. I have not strayed from my plan and I feel I have a handle on it now. Its those addictions and behaviors that lead people eat that stuff.
Why post about it? My guess is that there is guilt and worry and a need for validation. My best advice for them is to seek counseling and therapy. food addiction is a b*tch but it can be overcome.

Feeling pretty successful so far. I have 53 lbs to go to meet goal, but have lost 45!
HW: 240 (pictured in blue top 9/15/16, size 1x, 20
SW: 219 10/3/16
CW: 192. (Pictured In black 12/5/16), size L-xL, 14
Now time to keep focused and on track through holiday/cookie season!

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You're dad loves you.
Ultimately, you have to decide this for yourself. If you choose to move forward, maybe you can educate him as you learn. The surgery affects your body/life--no doubt. Some of the side-effects he listed are avoidable through behavior. I suggest reading as much as you can so you understand everything for yourself. The books I read:
"The Big Book on the Gastric Sleeve", "The Sleeved Life", or my favorite "The Emotional First + Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery" Good luck in your journey. Whatever you decide will be the right decision for you, as long as you make it.

I'm one month post op. I could not picture myself ever not wanting to eat. Now.....is a totally different story. I do get what I call empty. It's not the feeling I used to have pre surgery when I would feel serious hunger pangs, or not that serious, but the feeling that I couldn't ignore that would cause me to binge out on whatever food was available. Now I feel my stomach, but I am learning it's different messages. Most of the time it's acidy or gassy--not embarrassingly-I'm the only one who can feel it. But I have confused this message with hunger. Then sometimes, I can tell when my stomach is empty and I can have some Protein. The empty feeling goes away after about two bites. I can safely eat about 1/4 cup (less of some things). If I go over, I'm very uncomfortable and sometimes get sick.
I remember my pre-op diet time. If I had told me I would feel this way I would have told myself I was crazy. The pre-op diet was so hard for me, so I understand you. Panera has an Asian flavored broth bowl that was like heaven to me (I threw away all the solid food in it). You can and will get through this part. I wish you strength!!