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- GLP-1 medication Zepbound, Wegovy, access, side effects, progress, and support.
- Before surgery Compare procedures, plan ahead, and get honest pre-op answers.
- Post-op Recovery, food stages, symptoms, and support.
- Long-term Regain, labs, habits, and life after the honeymoon.
- Revision Explore revision options, complications, and next steps.
Everything posted by KathyLev
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Stalls
Stalls can be agonizing. ( I'm in one now ...ugh ) I am just so impressed with your weight loss so far ! I'm crossing my fingers that it will end soon for you !
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my booty hurts
Since my surgery,the only things I've sat on are soft . I took my dog to the vet and they have wooden benches to sit on. I sat down, wondered "what am I sitting on?" Got up - I moved to a different bench. "What the heck? It's on this bench ,too" . Then I finally realized " That's my BONES I'm sitting on !!!!! LOL ?
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Fluids
Sip sip sip . Alot of little sips add up . My first week home I sat with a 64 oz. bottle of low cal juice by me with a small cup .... just kept sipping and adding more to the glass. I wasn't hungry or thirsty , but by sipping,it went down pretty easy.
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Protein cookie dough-it’s sooo good!!!
That sounds great ! I need something to snack on that's healthy Thank you !
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Protein Shakes Too Foamy
Great Idea ! I'm so tired of the "sip...burp...sip...burp" routine !
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Insurance and the Pre-Op Diet
According to my doctor , the insurance company goes by your weight on the first day of your doctor visit. I was in the same boat ... lower BMI and pre-existing conditions. The pre surgey diet would put me on the edge of the required BMI . I have United Health care and it was no problem !
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Weak Bariatric Vitamin Brands? Doesn't Make Sense...
I use Bari-Slim chewable multi vitamins. They have alot in them - except calcium. I buy Caltrate to take along with the Multi-vitamin. The orange Bari Slim flavor is great - I use that as my "candy" for the day . Here's where I get them : https://www.amazon.com/BariSlim-Complete-Chewable-Bariatric-Multivitamin/dp/B081264LLH
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Over 65 when you got your sleeve ?
I just got mine at 69 . Am I the oldest one ? LOL I had no problems with the surgery.
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Surgery Failure
You've already lost 30-40 pounds ...... I would call that a Rousing Success !!!!! Are you writing down what you eat ? If you are,you can take your notes right to the dietician and they can steer you in the right direction. Might be a simple fix
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How long after surgery could you drink caffeine ?
I always had one cup of coffee in the morning ,and it seems like now that I've had the VSG and hiatel hernia repair , caffeine hurts my stomach when I drink it. (Feels like bad heartburn) I've heard some people go back to drinking coffee right away. I'm still taking Prilosec , but no luck with anything that has caffeine in it. What about you ?
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Scarring
Some of mine are deep purple,too ! The one where they slid the stomach out of is Really purple. I don't know what's going on ,either. I want to ask my doc,but I don't see him till the end of Aug. Hopefully you and I will get some answers here from "our experts"
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Returning to work post surgery
Sending you tons of healing vibes and good thoughts ! I hope someone more qualified than me can answer your question .
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Bitter Skin?
HAHAHA ms.sss !!!!
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Curious About Post-Op Days
My first two weeks,I had uncontrollable diarrhea . Don't get scared - it's a very unusual happening and seems I was pretty much one of the unlucky ones. Other than that,pain was mild and only in the incisions . It went away fast. The worst part of it was being so tired . That lasted about 3 weeks and I was totally back to normal. Walking exhausted me,but I still did it. I'm 69 years old , and I'm lucky it was very easy. Good luck to you !
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Bitter Skin?
Ok-- raise your hand if you just tasted your skin ...... LOL I did - nope no bitterness. I do have a wonky sense of smell though .I just noticed that I smell things that I'm not sure are real or not. My taste buds also changed a bit. Now to me - cottage cheese tastes so salty . Maybe it's all connected somehow.
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2.5 Weeks Post-Op sleeve revision to bypass. A little nervous reading these posts
As soon as I complained to my dietician that I thought my weight loss was slower than other people , she said "STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS !!!! " Lesson learned. I'm glad she was blunt . ?
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My son laughed at my baggy clothes LOL
My son stopped by yesterday to see how I was and he started laughing at my baggy clothes ! LOL It was funny because I was still wearing some clothes from when I was 242 . Well ,I'm down to 191 now,so I figured it was about time to go to the Goodwill and buy some more "temporary" clothes. I am so used to shopping in the 2X section, it was hard to go down a size or two. My method of measuring is always to stretch it across my stomach , if that fits, I buy it. I started at the 2x ,hhmmm...WAY too big. I went to the 1X ... well ,what the heck? These are too big ,too ! I hit the XL section and thought "no way" .... but I'll be darned .... they fit !!! The main colors of my pre surgery wardrobe was always Dark blue and black. Not any more ? I got me some Bright colors !!!!! LOL Now the happiness I have on the inside shows up on the outside Got any stories of your first "downsizing" shopping trip ?
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SURGERY DAY!!!!
Sending you all sorts of healing vibes !
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Can I start taking Ibuprofen again ?
Before surgery, whenever I'd have a sore muscle ,I'd take Ibuprofen because it dials down the inflammation and for me, it was my miracle drug . Now ,after having VSG,I was told I can't take them. I never asked if this was temporary or forever. Alot of Google replies said to avoid them for the first month only. What did your surgical team tell you?
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What do they do at your cardiology appt?
I went for an EKG at the hospital first. It came back slightly irregular,so I was sent to see a cardiologist . All he did was listen to my heart ( 5 minutes) and sent me for a stress test . The stress test was easy - took about 45 minutes. They gave me drugs thru an IV that made my heart beat faster and they took pictures of it. They did this a couple times till my heart beat 145 times a minute ,took a picture and I was done. Very easy
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Stalls suck
I feel like I'm losing so slow , I think I'll be prepared for the plateau. I'm a month out from surgery , and lost 12 pounds. My dietician told me to put that scale away !!! It's the old saying "a watched pot never boils" LOL She told me to look for non scale victories when the losing is slow. So far my clothes are looser and I'm not sweating as much .Yeah for me ! LOL
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You can have potato chips again , but they're made out of of
A couple ? If only I could stop at a couple .......LOL
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You can have potato chips again , but they're made out of of
COTTAGE CHEESE !!!! Yes --- that's right - cottage cheese . I follow these 2 ladies on Utube , the Keto Twins, and they have a video on how to make them and different flavorings you can add. It's just teaspoons of cottage cheese on parchment paper in the microwave for 4ish minutes. Here's the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP_8v9Hax80
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Eating Too Fast
I was going to post the same question about eating too fast. It's hard slowing down ! My husband wolfs his food down . I don't know how many times I've said "Did you even TASTE it ? " I'm a third of the way done and he's finished. I have to constantly remind myself that it's okay if I finish a half hour later than him LOL
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Something crunchy
I eat Ritz crackers for a crunch. Even on my pureed diet - you can chew them down to mush ~~~ !