Elisabethsew

I had the band removed and was revised to the sleeve by Dr. Aceves and had no problems (unlike the band). I love the sleeve and don't regret my decision.

We can never have enough RNs! Welcome!

You had a very tough time but I'm glad everything turned out well for you. I am surprised you were allowed to eat at 2 weeks post-op. Congratulations on your great weight loss.

I have an ice-cream maker that I never use and decided to drag it out and see what I could come up with. Here's a VERY simple recipe that is fat free and sugar free: 3 cups of Greek vanilla fat-free yogurt (toss the liquid) 10 packets of splenda 1 tsp vanilla extract THAT is the basic recipe (easy enough?). LOL. You mix all the ingredients and then follow the directions on the ice-cream maker. Each cup is 180 calories and has 11 g of Protein. You can "kick it up" by adding whatever you like the last 5-10 minutes of processing such as: - Dried fruit - Fresh fruit - Peanut Butter - Nuts of your liking I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the basic recipe and it was delicious. You can also make the basic recipe and serve it over fresh berries, etc. Enjoy!

You've made an excellent decision and you WILL be successful. The sleeve allows you to feel full on small amounts of food. Congratulation on getting the surgery you wanted!

I've got t-mobile and was able to pick up the U.S. tower in Almater Hospital but not in the Lucerna Resort. I could text message in both places.

Welcome! You're not alone. I had my surgery a week before you and I am losing at the same rate you are. Now that I am used to solids and am finding out how much food I can eat and feel full, the weight is steadily coming off. Try keeping track of everything you eat on a free site such as fitday.com. I am not great with getting in a lot of protein and that's something I am working on. Have you tried bumping up your protein?

Welcome and thank you for posting. You're a text book patient. Congratulations on your success!

We're all thinking of you and waiting to here how you're doing. I am so happy for the two of you.

If white tea could make me thin, I'd bathe in it. LOL. Diet and exercise....

HFCS is cheap and manufacturers love it because it's so inexpensive. They HAVE to "sell" it to consumers as safe and healthy.

Being vertically (5'2") and horizontally challenged, I agree!

I agree with the research but you can't leave out genetics. When I was 440 pounds, my cholesterol was 160. Many of my thin friends were taking statins. Staying away from dairy (yes... cheeses) can dramatically reduce cholesterol levels. Of course, it's the direct LDL and triglycerides that we need to target.

I am curious to see if the worldwide recession will have any effect on obesity trends. Hopefully, more people will prepare their own meals and spend less money and time frequenting fast food establishments. Kids of all ages LOVE coming into the kitchen and helping to prepare food. It's the perfect opportunity to teach them about nutrition, perservatives, etc.

I don't do bread or processed carbs. I do eat fresh (steamed) veggies and fruit (a little fills me up). As for protein, it's seafood and poultry for me. I don't like eggs.

Aside from some occasional heartburn, I haven't had any complications.

Welcome, Robin. Congratualtions on your recovery. I am a food addict but have a brother who was addicted to drugs for MANY years. He's been clean for a little over a year. Everyone in the family is effected when they are trying to help an addict. We went through hell and so did he. Thankfully, we all get to celebrate and enjoy his happiness in living life clean. YOU are a success!

I was able to retrieve the information on Pleatman. As of 2 months ago he has less than 500 staple lines (170 sleeves, 250 bypass), has a 2.4% leak stat (global are less than 1%), and he doesn't do any leak tests on the actual patient. He take the portion of the stomach he removes and has the nurse fill it with air before it goes to the lab. When having a sleeve you want a surgeon who has done at least 250 procedures, who has a low leak percentage, and who does leak tests to make sure the portion of the stomach that is left IN you does not leak. I know that his prices are low and that he has patients who have done well. Unfortunately, he also has a high leak rate so he's got other patients who did not do well. You might want to explore other surgeons before making a final decision.

I have scheduled the surgery for the first week in Sept. and both knees will be replaced a week apart. Bike riding is a great exercise but I am unable to get more than a 90 degree bend in either knee making that exercise impossible for me to do. The x-rays showed that the cartilege in both knees is gone and that I'm actually grinding bone away evidenced by bone dust on the x-rays. So, I'm going to continue to work with the trainer and try and get as much weight off as I can by the time of surgery. I must say this was the first surgeon who did not make my weight an issue. He saw my highest weight was 440 and I was 258 that day (6/9). His response was that he was surprised I was able to walk without a walker or cane and that once he gave me back my knees, he had no doubt I would be able to lose to goal. Ahhhh... an MD with a brain and heart.

WASA has a lot of information on Pleatman... private message her.

Welcome and thank you for posting. You definitely have gotten your life back and you're well on the way to working towards your goals. Congratulations.

It sounds like you might need an endoscopy or a swallow test (esophagram) to see what's going on. Can you request one from your surgeon or a GI specialist?

You need to talk with Dr. Aceves and/or Dr. Campos. Keep walking and use the breathing machine. When you use the machine, the goal is to keep that ball up for as long as you can. I could not tolerate more than an ounce of water or juice for the first week or so. Once the swelling goes down, that improves.

You'll find a "mixed" group of people. Many of us have had the band and revised to the VSG but there's also a growing number of people here who are just exploring WLS and deciding on the sleeve.

My doctor's scale says I have lost 35 pounds and my scale says 25. I'm working with a trainer and love that my clothes are too big and the inches are coming off. You're doing great!