HeatherS.

Pain management was a big part of it for me. Both of my knees are shot, my mid-lower back has been getting steadily worse since an injury 3 years ago, I have fibromyalgia, AND osteoarthritis. Plus a tendency toward nausea. So far, my back isn't as limiting as it has been. It still hurts, but that's more manageable. My knees are also improving noticeably. No improvement to fibro or arthritis. Possible improvement to depression. Nausea is worse now. So this is 5-6 weeks. Your pain sounds like the kind WLS can really help. Go for it!

Except that Alex's contributions here have not established him to be dishonest. There is no censoring going on when someone talks about another business doing WLS in Mx. This forum overall is where people go to seek information. Alex reported what he heard and said people should contact Sandy for correction or confirmation. Instead he got confrontation. Because the confrontation seemed personal, I, an information-seeking person on the forum asked politely if the information was accurate. Others did the same. Sandy ignored the majority of all of those questions and kept attacking Alex, which struck many of us as unprofessional and bizarre for a person in her position. Alex's replies were all professional and did not include the thinly veiled accusations against Sandy herself which Sandy's posts exhibited toward Alex. And many of us pointed out to Sandy that this never even would have been a "thing" if she had just answered one of us instead of being cagey and attacking Alex. It's the immature refusal to set the record straight everyone is concerned about, because it shows the company in a poor light. That, I'm afraid, is clearly and solely on Sandy. Disclaimer: I don't know Alex or Sandy, and as a post-op who did not go to TJ for surgery, I have zero dogs in this race.

It was about two weeks between finishing Options and the scheduling OK. My options person said that's how long it always takes. It was a hard two weeks!

I got my approval to set up an appointment on Feb 13, my appointment was Mar 10, and then my surgery was March 27, because my Dr happened to have an opening that day. It was fast for me! How about you?

Go, South Bay sleevies! They'll take great care of you and you'll wake up in a seriously comfortable hospital bed, no joke.

Congratulations! I hope you'll have an appointment soon. Kaiser took fantastic care of me for my surgery and since.

Actually, you said you WON'T keep it off. Which isn't necessarily true and is why I replied with a more complete run down of what exercise will and won't do. Its not a personal thing.

This is the kind of PR mistake that only gets compounded by returning to comment as she has here. At this point, I wonder if she thinks Alex is paying us all to post or something. It wasn't a "big story" until she made it one by ignoring repeated polite (and then direct) requests from multiple people for her to confirm or deny and straighten out any errors.

Oh shoot, did I remember to reply?? I have more answers now, at least. - canned tuna (add Greek yogurt and make it even higher protein) -rotisserie chicken (sadly only moist enough the day you buy it, but this is the meat my stomach likes best) -stewed chicken (fall apart soft, cooked low and slow like in a crock pot) -finely ground beef (I've been having this with my fam on tostada nights, but remember to chew especially well.) I had some with my beans in a pinch at Taco Bell too -meatball soups. Our Tia makes aboldigas with big 3oz meatballs, and they are fall apart tender. -fish steamed in foil or parchment paper packets avoid until later: fried baked (unless in a packet with liquid) dried (jerkey) sauteed steak, lamb, pork

How long after surgery does this tend to start?

@Please I totally agree. My doctor also said the most important question you can ask is "how many of these surgeries have you done?" They become faster and more successful the more you do them. That's also going to be the doc who is rarely surprised or nonplussed by what he finds when he opens you up. I think he also implied that if you're just plain bad at it or careless, you'll be shut down before you can perform those thousands upon thousands of procedures.

I LOVE this broth. I have no sugar or carbohydrate issues, so for me, it's like the holy grail when I find it on the shelf.

I'll come back later and try again to delete that last picture. WTF, BariatricPal?

The first month diet of soft foods has been smooth. Make sure you're following your doctor's plan, not my doctor's plan, because each plan is unique to our situations, including anything your doctor found or did during or before your surgery. It's also important to note that I am not diabetic and I do not have any signs of insulin resistance, before or after surgery, so my body has a healthy relationship with all of the food groups. Here's last night's family dinner, all made from scratch with my meal front and center and my wife's delectable tostada on the far right. I eat vicariously through others and cannot wait to be allowed something crunchy again. I miss crunch, but I know I'll be allowed to crunch again soon. Oh, how I pine for a sturdy lettuce leaf! Homemade refritos, a little bit of spiced ground beef, requeson, crema con sal (a type of sour cream), and two tomato salsas, one very mild and fresh and the other hot and cooked. SW: 275 CW: 244 So, a month out, I'm on "soft foods" which my doctor defines as foods that are soft BEFORE you put them in your mouth and that anything hard to digest like solid meats and veg needs to be taken down to more of an apple sauce/fine mince consistency. I've been on this regimen since my 10 day follow up and will continue until my 6 week follow up in two weeks. There was no intermittent "mushy" stage for me. I try to eat before I take my pills with very small sips of water. Pills taken on an empty stomach may come up. I'm eating 3-4 T at meals that go well for me (that is, no stress, which makes eating any more impossible and leaves me sick for an hour or two). I tend around 30-40g protein a day from a variety of sources: lactaid milk, yogurts, cheeses, finely ground beef, beans, meatballs cooked in soup, soft tofu, and egg. I do not avoid carbohydrates, as I feel better when I eat a balanced diet. I eat 5-6 very small meals a day (some as small as a tablespoon of yogurt or a small skim string cheese). I often add nutritional yeast to savory foods to increase protein and B-12. My carbohydrate intake tends to be slow-burning low glycemic index (oatmeal, berry, beans combined with high protein rice, fresh apple sauce with no additives, a bit of high protein pancake...) The exception is that I do occasionally eat some white rice, always combined with a protein, and I have had no crash and burn. I have also had ice cream and sorbet in very reasonable amounts that fit within my plan with no ill effects or delay in weight loss. With the restriction I've felt from my sleeve, I average 350 calories a day with my highest day just under 500 and my lowest day 0. I registered my greatest weight loss after the 500 calorie day and felt my best, so I'm working up to that as a second month goal. Here's what I won't be eating again for a while due to nausea and/or vomiting: Full fat dairy, lentils, ginger (go figure!), oral B vitamin, whey protein Here's what I won't be consuming again for a while ever due to migraine strong enough to punch through the botox*: Aspartame, sucralose Here's what I won't be eating again for a while due to changes in taste: Ginger, cheddar cheese, V8, melon (with the exception of watermelon) I haven't felt the kind of "hey, I'm kinda hungry" hunger I felt before surgery since then, but If I skip a meal or two, my stomach will gurgle, and if I've missed 3 or more meals, I tend to feel a bit dizzy, headachey, exhausted, and/or fuzzy-headed. Fair enough. If I don't eat a balanced diet (for me: too much protein or fat), I feel generally unwell, but I can power through. No dumping syndrome or anything related. Just lots and lots of water nausea that leaves me out of action for an hour or two when it hits. I've also had a couple of bouts of stress tummy which results in worse nausea, a fever, and, strangely, intolerance to light, so maybe migraine, too. It lasts about an hour. I've always had a stomach sensitive to stress, but the surgery has made that worse. Oh, and the best reason not to cheat? That's down to my doctor. who cheerfully told me all about some of his patients who had advanced too soon or cheated (fits through a straw on full liquid does NOT mean fits through a boba straw) and did rupture the staple line. It's fragile while it's healing the first month or so, especially. Will it happen to everyone? No. But it COULD happen to you. And then you spend a miserable (up to a) year in the hospital being operated on, in pain, possibly dying, and guaranteed not eating those tasty things you thought were ok just a little early and felt fine at the time. Was it tall tale hyperbole to keep me on the straight and narrow. Mmmmmmnnnnnnnpossibly. But I know he wasn't joking, and I'd rather not risk it. Would you? And last, but not least, here's a random picture of my dog discovering Bones Are A Thing That Exists In The World and elevating, on the spot, to a higher level of doggy existence: *I have incapacitating migraines that have been unsuccessfully controlled with medications. Botox was the next step, and it's working great as long as I avoid my worst triggers. (Bright sun, aspartame, sucralose, non-natural cleaning products) 10/10 would recommend.

It's on the mobile menu under "patients" and then "my surgery". Hope this helps.

I respect that is your opinion, however scientists have found that the VSG alters metabolic and hormonal processes in our brains and bodies, too. If a person without gastric surgery eats as little as someone with, it causes a stress reaction starting in the brain. That stress reaction tells the body it's being harmed. (Which is why if you test drive a bariatric eating plan before surgery, make sure to consult with your Nut or doc to determine your calorie goal. Why? Bariatric patients, without that stress response, are able to eat less and lose the weight without the brain's stress defense mechanism sabotaging the effort. Granted, the study I'm including (the most recent I've read) is a rat study, but it aligns neatly with observed differences between caloric restriction alone (what you experienced with lap band) vs. bariatric surgeries like VSG, DS, and RnY. You can read about it here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4415587/

Most doctors. My doc is the head of the dept for a huge health organization, and he'll be the first to admit he's a fantastic surgeon with a ton of experience, but he knows better than to make egotistical unverifiable claims like that. (Unless, possibly, while joking. He's a card.)

She was alone because her mother had just died.

One more thing, I slept with a king size pillow over my stomach due to furballs, and it's been a life-saver while healing. 4 weeks out, I can tolerate being jumped on once more.

Wonderfully detailed post! I didn't experience the cold thing, and I'm still struggling with heat intolerance. It got up to 95 today, and it's been so hard to make myself get out of the house and into my hot car. Ugh. The hunger thing varies person to person. I had your experience in the early days and my appetite and hunger have returned just enough to ensure I eat, and even enjoy what I'm eating, but not enough to change the fact that I'm full after 2-3 tablespoons and want no more. That's a good place to be for me.

Thank you! It looks like both of us had surgeons who used The Really Good Antibiotics(tm) in our IVs. I'm glad yours is almost gone, too. That was pretty unpleasant.

I have a few modes when confronted with something that could potentially need forgiving: Forgive Set aside but remember Write them off Forgiveness has been over-sold as the way to inner peace, possibly as a part of the Christian philosophy. On the other hand, to forgive, I need to find what was done understandable and see the perpetrator working towards self-improvement. That goes for myself, too. Usually, I remember and act with caution in the future. If someone has repeatedly backed out on their promises, I won't be giving their promises any value in the future. And I won't set them up to fail by asking for promises. Then there are people whose actions have been actively toxic/harmful and those are the people I write out of my life and count myself lucky to be rid of.

@ldyvenus I'd like to know what those labs look like, too. A lot of people on HPLC diets on here like to mention frequently that their labs are "perfect" but I haven't seen specifics yet. Most of the studies I've read so far find no difference in the short term, but concerns in the long term due to cutting out the source of many beneficial micronutrients and an increase in adverse cardiovascular findings. I'll be sure to post about my labs when I next have them, following the LPHC hypothesis.

I found it at my local library! Thank you again for the recommendation. I suspect that within 5 years, this will probably be common knowledge, based on where the peer reviewed studies are and the fact that there's now one mainstream book on it. I've been eating this way (and no artificial sweeteners) since 2 weeks out (once I got into the swing of soft foods) and my weight loss has been steady. I'll blog about any findings around my 6 week post-op, but I have plenty of energy, no unreasonable hunger (only if I forget to eat ALL DAY), and a reduction in nausea.

What's a TMI post you (might) be asking. It's a post about those things I'm finding a part of VSG life that people don't talk about in polite company or usually admit to in any company, but that I really wanted to know about before getting myself into this! (Don't worry, still no regrets). So if you are polite company or do not want to hear about blood, bodily functions, and the vagaries of animal existence, you might want to skip this one. To those of you who are still with me, this edition will cover Underwear woes, scabs, itches, surgical leftovers, bowel movements, vomiting, periods, and a special surprise guest appearance by Yeast. Underwear woes: Your surgeon will tell you not to bother buying new clothes, because you'll only wear them a couple of times before they no longer fit. Your surgeon will not warn you that your boobs will soon be falling out of the bottom of your bra, and your oversized underwear will twist in new and exciting ways on your body. As a woman, I can honestly say I have never needed to "adjust myself" so many times in a day as I have since surgery. I started out wearing size 10/Torrid size 1/2 underwear that were all either snug (the 10s) or fit perfectly (Torrid, of course). Now, they're all a nightmare of chafing, twisting, falling down, and creeping up my butt. I would seriously recommend considering the purchase of an inexpensive package of underwear every few weeks or so. Scabs, itches, and surgical leftovers: Let's put all of the skin stuff together. We'll start with itching, since it has been a constant since surgery. There are two types of itching, though. There's a deep, crazy, going-insane itch that happens inside with the healing tissues. I hate that one. That seems to have faded around week 3. The other itch has been ongoing and is stopped only by Eucerin for eczema lotion. It's a combination of healing and difficulty fully hydrating. When I came home from the hospital, all of my incisions were covered in purple surgical glue with the instruction to shower carefully and avoid getting "much" water on them for "long." I followed this to the letter, and when I saw Dr. Zane again for the 10 day follow up, he was surprised the glue was all there, and he said go ahead and peel it off. This is where the blood comes in. The incision above my belly button had glue that had lifted by a good centimeter, so I figured I'd go with his advice. I got half way across when, blood! I stopped there, and was seeping blood for the next 12-16 hours, and now, two and a half weeks later, that incision is a bit deeper and more tender than the others. That also happens to be the incision with a stitch in it. The stitch is still there almost a month later, and it is black with blood I can't get out of the knot. I may just be slow to dissolve the last part, though a week ago, a 1" piece of filament poked out of my skin next to it and slid out when I scratched at it. No pain for that one, just "weird." As tempting as it is to peel after approval, go slow, and if there's any tenderness, maybe wait. The others that I peeled the last of the glue off of were no longer tender and looked sealed underneath, and that's what I found. The only raised scar I seem to be developing is the bigger scar where my stomach was pulled out to the left of the belly button. That one is raised on the edges where it was (I assume) stretched during removal. Other surgical leftovers not to stress over: I came home with iodine on my sides, no big deal, but a bit itchy. It looks like they washed the area where surgery actually happened (good to know!). I found serious gunk in my belly button once everything was un-swollen and de-tenderized enough for a thorough wash in there. I can only describe it as goo. I do not know what it was, but it didn't do me any harm, and I assume it was from the surgery, since I've never seen anything like that in there before. There was a lot of it, though! I also had a big bruise on my tailbone along with a painful abraded area about 2" long and 1" wide. Silly me, I put an antibiotic ointment on the rash. DO NOT DO THIS. I woke up the next morning to pustules all along the abraded area. The doctor I saw for that diagnosed it as a reaction to the ointment, and said to just use petroleum jelly or a steroid cream because (something something - sorry) antibiotic ointments can cause reactions after all those IV antibiotics of another type. Following those instructions, the area cleared up within a week after shedding the entire top layer of skin. I found out from my surgeon's office that the bruising is because they sit you up during surgery. Mystery solved. Bowel movements: I had to gird myself for this one, since I'm not really the type who usually talks about bathroom habits in public, but if this helps one person not feel so weird or at least feel better knowing what to potentially expect, it's worth it. Bowel movements since surgery have been consistently weird. The first was about three days after surgery (which they say is good), and very very little actually came out of me in a thin, strangely orange, stream. In spite of how little there was, I still felt the same cue from my body as I did pre-surgery that it's time to find solitude and a toilet. Since then, BMs have been increasing slowly in bulk, but they remain orange, soft-to-runny, and low-velocity enough that as soon as I feel that cue, I'm also planning a shower. Aside from week 3, in which velocity was so slow, I spent all day close to the house, it hasn't been awful. It's not fun, but it's also not often. Once a week or so at a month out from surgery. I should also mention that it's one of the things that can cause that "my heart is racing" feeling, because there's an enormous blood vessel that runs right next to your sphincter. I may only notice it so much because BMs are no longer a daily occurrence. As far as I understand it, the phenomenon is harmless; drink more water. I'll also add that urinating is fairly normal, though for the first week after surgery (or longer if you're slow to clear anaesthesia) prepare for some stop/start and give yourself a little more time. Vomiting: There has been more vomiting than I'm accustomed to after surgery, and I've pinpointed a few things that tend to cause it and others that don't. Triggers: Vitamins, unless buffered with a lot of food, are coming right back up. Even the ones I don't need in chewable form. I'm looking into the vitamin patches for this reason. Even before surgery, my stomach has been iffy with multis and B vitamins. Juice without water. Even a tiny sip. Too cold water on an empty stomach Water without additive (I had a serious case of water nausea which is starting to resolve just this week) Stress (I had to ask my family to please not talk about anything remotely stressful around meal times) Not a trigger: Fat Protein Carbohydrates Fruit Dairy Physical activity I do find that sometimes I need to lie down after a meal or taking medicine until the nausea goes away. Lying on my side seems to help. Periods: Depending on your rate of recovery and when it falls, prepare to be more exhausted than ever on your period. That hit me hard. Otherwise, totally normal. Yeast: I found out at my 10 day checkup that I had a mighty yeast overgrowth on my tongue from the IV antibiotics. I was first prescribed the slimiest mouthwash in the world (which belongs on my vomiting triggers list, probably), then 5x/day tablets to suck on which left my tongue raw and painful but tasted like nothing at all, and finally a single pill, take it once and you're done oral treatment. (Why not that one first? I don't get it!) It's almost gone now at 4 weeks out, but while it was active, the entire back 2/3 of my tongue were slimy and thick, and a lot of foods tasted very strange. So, keep an eye out for that. This concludes the first month TMI post. I expect any future posts to be shorter. My top recommendations really are to watch out for yeast and make sure you always carry Eucerin (or similar thick lotion for SUPER dry skin that works for you).