Tiffykins

Consignment stores for business casual, goodwill and thrift stores for casual wear. Hell, I still shop thrift stores. I scored 2 pairs of jeans this week for 10 bucks. One pair of Calvin Klein and one pair of Levis, both still had the original tags on.

Do you have Tricare for Life, or Tricare Prime or Tricare Standard?

I developed lactose intolerance after surgery and couldn't tolerate milk, whey Protein mixed with Water since whey is a milk product. I could however eat yogurt, greek yogurt, and cheese without issues. It resolved fully a months post-op.

The VA is a gov't ran facility just like MTFs. If the surgeons do them, are qualified, their paychecks are the same regardless of surgery performed. On the outside world, every surgeon charges a different fee, and each surgery has different requirements. Just like my boob job and tummy tuck can/will be covered at an MTF but I'd pay out of pocket with a civilian. Plus, surgeons at MTF/VA facilities need practice, and those procedures do not change the surgeon's paycheck either. They get the same pay on the 1st and 15th regardless.

I was released for cream cheese on full liquids which is the stage before mushies.

I'll add in there that when people ask my mom about her band she still tells people "she loves her band". But, I've seen her puke on oatmeal, and curse the effin band to hell. Also, my other friend down here that has it, avoids most decent food, but she sings it's praises, and tells people that she would never do anything as drastic as the sleeve. My reply to her was "really, but puking every 2-3 days with a silicone band wrapped around your stomach isn't drastic?" Ehhh, for me the stats from the actual band manufacturer speaks the truth. Personal experience is one thing, but numbers don't lie.

Every person I know had highly reputable, and different surgeons in 6 different states so I'm not exactly sure what the case is.

I was diagnosed with orthostatic hypotension in late February/early March. It's our bodies trying to adjust to the weight loss. The receptors for blood pressure are in the neck, and apparently they don't catch up with our bodies during the rapid weight loss phase. My PCP and surgeon both agreed after extensive blood work that there was nothing wrong with me chemically, and to increase my Fluid intake, get up and down slowly, and to increase my activity level. I'll also add that I had cut my sodium intake to below 1000mg daily. Apparently, that is a BIG NO NO, and that our bodies need a minimum of 1400-2500mg to function properly. I stopped monitoring my sodium intake as closely, but do not over do it because I hate Water weight. I use the natural sea salt grinders from a whole food market for any cooking. Within a few weeks of making these modification, it was resolved. I still have episodes, but they are few and far between. The way they diagnose orthostatic hypotension is they have you lay down flat, take your blood pressure, stay still for 10 minutes or so, and sit up rapidly, take your bp, sit still for 10 minutes, then stand up quickly, take your bp, if the numbers are lower by more than 10 points on the systolic and/or diastolic readings during all the readings then it's orthostatic hypotension. My numbers dropped significantly with a drop of about 20-22points from the laying down to standing reading. My bp has always been normal. Never high, never low, and it's been fine since mid-March. My episodes were occurring 3-10 times per day, and were causing me to almost black out. Be extremely careful getting in and out of a vehicle, or bending over for things on the bottom shelf at grocery stores. I've had 2 serious episodes that left me disoriented, and kind of "fuzzy" for several minutes and I found myself sitting in the middle of an aisle at Wal-Mart.

I'll keep you in my thoughts. I've fought with a friend from CA all the way to the congressional level, and it's been denied. I've written letters, emails, made so many phone calls. I'm extremely passionate about this subject, and stay on top of it. The day it's covered it by Tricare off base/post, I'll be singing it from the rooftops. Get a letter of clearance from your neurologist that should help significantly.

In plus sizes, it takes a good 30-50lbs to drop sizes, at least that was my experience. I was able to wear my 22's for a couple of months, then dropped to 18s hung out in those for a couple months, and then once I got out of the W sizes, with every 10-20lbs I dropped sizes. I also skipped sizes the smaller I got.

Unfortunately, until Medicare covers VSG nationwide, Tricare Prime nor Standard will cover it. I've fought it, I've helped friends fight it, and they are not gonna budge. I've dealt with it for over a year. Personally, if I were in your shoes, I would not settle for RNY, and don't do the band. That's just based on my personal experience. Don't settle for something that you have to live with for the rest of your life. What all of the case managers, patient advocates, and claims managers I've spoken to, they foresee coverage no later than 1 Jan 2011, and no earlier than 1 Oct 2010. The only way my revision from band to sleeve was covered is because I had it at a MTF. If I could not have had it there, I would have had my band removed and stayed fat. There is no way, I would have gotten another band, nor RNY. No one could pay me to have RNY, sorry just not gonna settle for something that I know would not work for me personally with all the long term complications, and all of my friends in real life that have major complications that have been post-op for 5+ years, not to mention the regain stats for RNY. I'm sorry you are going through this. I personally would wait unless you are willing to do all the research, and really look hard at RNY. For me, and my personal opinion, both the band and RNY are not options that one should have to settle on.

I don't weigh my food because my stomach holds by volume. I know it's controversial, but I measure with cups instead of a scale. I am able to get my Protein from food. 4 meals per day with a minimum of 15gr of protein per meal. Never used Protein Drinks. Now at 13 months out, I easily get 80-100+gr of protein per day from food. It's more difficult early out, and that was a main factor in me staying on mushies much longer than others. It was easier for me to get my protein from deli/meat, or chicken/tuna salad than it was from solid meats. Some meats do weigh the same as the actual measured amount. So the quantities are close. If I'm 0.2oz off on weight, I'm not going to sweat it, and I'll toss in some chunk cheese, or cream cheese to make up the lack of protein in the meats.

I agree. I'd love to find just one band patient that has had their band for 10 years without complications, another surgery, a 2nd band, or the ever popular "band issues". I was able to find 1 band patient on OH that had her band for almost 9 years, she is on her 2nd band, and now is going in for a revision to the sleeve. She just "lived" with the band issues because she thought it was a fair trade off to lose the majority of her weight. For me, it's not about doing well, or losing _____% of my excess weight. It boils down to quality of life. Not being able to eat a good, healthy balanced diet because certain foods would not go down, or the ever lovely puking on the same food I ate the day before without issue. For me, that is not a high and pleasurable quality of life. Not to mention all of the maintenance, in and out for fills and unfills trying to find the sweet spot. The stats on revisions for sleeve patients that have been documented at 5-7 years out is between 3-5% vs. 25% with the band. For me, that speaks volumes. We all know someone or several that have done well with each WLS option. Unfortunately, I know way more people that have complications or "band issues" than I know true success stories. It is a personal choice. You have to weigh all the pros and cons. Look at the big picture, and then proceed. My mom has a band, and is almost 3 years out. She pukes 2-4 times weekly. Lives on mushy, soft solids, can't eat lettuce or bread, and forget chicken. She's had over 20 fills/unfills trying to find the sweet spot, and still at almost 3 years out she has 40 pounds to goal. BUT, per the stats, she's considered a success. I just hope she doesn't screw up her stomach tissue along the way by just "dealing/living" with band issues. On the other hand, my younger brother has a band also and is about 15 months out, he's lost over 100lbs and doesn't have any of the band issues with the exception of eating certain foods. Unfortunately, he hates getting the fills at this point so he's on a forced diet because they can't get the fill right on him either. If I wanted to diet, I wouldn't have gone through WLS to begin with. Think twice, cut once.

Google "Skull crushers" They are the absolute best exercise for toning your tricep areas. Bicep curls are fabulous for your biceps. I use 10lb dumbbells to do my skull crushers. So, I push 20lbs of weight total for skull crushers, and 15lb dumbbells for bicep curls.

If no one has told you lately, YOU are brilliant. I love that you are geeky in the body chemistry department. No offense on the geeky thing, I'm an uber geek as well. I LOVED, LOVED, you tannic acid post.

You've done so amazing ! ! ! I'm so happy to hear all your wonderful victories, Laura, and so glad we've gotten to know each other along the way.

All the Protein drinks sucked for me too. Before crossing into the Pasta, rice, bready type items, try some chicken salad, tuna salad, and soft cooked meats. The first times I tried bready, pasta, rice, at around 2.5-3 months out, they hurt severely. I was cleared for deli meat on mushies. Try some rolled up with cream cheese that was a staple in my diet for months on end. The flavored cream cheeses are fabulous.

Welcome and best wishes with the insurance approval. I'll tell ya the sleeve is fabulous. NO sliming, puking, good foods getting stuck constantly, and the gammet of other issues that are hosted by the band. The sleeve works like the band is supposed to, and the restriction is immediately, and forever. It's not a magic pill, but 10000 times better than the crapband. I've had one as well, and was so glad to be able to revise to VSG.

My stomach holds the same amount of food right now at 13 months out that it did at my 8 month gallbladder removal. My surgeon believes my stomach is at full capacity. There is not enough tissue left to stretch, and the part that remains is not as stretchy as the fundus that is removed. The actual staple line: Inside of the sleeve looking down from the bottom of the esophagus(imagine looking down into a cylinder). Hope these help ! ! !

I'm far enough out now that I can honestly eat a meal of just veggies if I want. Sometimes when we go out, I'll just order 2-3 veggies al a carte, and eat what I can then bring home leftovers. I'm able to make up my Protein in another meal. I also sometimes just eat a small spinach salad. I think my body just kind of tells me what it needs. I started introducing more veggies when I wanted to slow down my weight loss, and get out of advanced ketosis. I wanted to get more balance, but it took a couple of months to do it. I gradually added more broccoli florets, or more cut green Beans to eat dinner.

I can only eat 1 slice of crustless bread at 13 months out. I can eat about 1/4 of a soft taco size tortilla. I can eat 1 slider burger from Chili's. So, carbs aren't gone forever. With every passing month, you will be able to consume more food. Right now, it doesn't seem feasible, right? But, believe me, you'll find that your sleeve will relax, and you'll be able to eat more food in 6 months out than you can currently. I can eat twice as much as I could at 2-3 months out, and that's not out of the ordinary from what I've read from others that are further out. It's just Water weight, don't fret. You'll lose it. Right now everything is going to fluctuate. Just stay the course, and you'll do great.

Until your incisions heal completely, and are no longer scabby, or scaley. Any type of lake/ocean water, or chlorine can cause infection, irritation, and even cause the incisions to open again. My instructions were no swimming, or actual baths until I was at least 4 weeks out.

I wouldn't even toy with breads, any type or quantity of bread at this point. Your sleeve is still extremely swollen, and it's going to discourage you from eating if you choose things that expand in there. The reason it made you uncomfortable before it hit your stomach is when food enters the esophagus, the stomach starts contracting to help pull the food in there. Your stomach is healing, has been brutalized, and it's trying to pull dense bread in there that is gummy, and expanding all the way down. Then your esophagus starts having spasms trying to help get the food down. It's kind of a vicious cycle on your newly sleeved stomach. As for the Vitamins, even the non-chewables may upset your stomach. What I do is that I take my vitamins or pills, and then eat a small piece of deli meat or a chunk of cheese. This puts something in the stomach right on top of the pill, and gets it moving out of the stomach into the intestine where it can be absorbed. I've never had any upset stomach issues when taking pills, and I've had to take some horrific antibiotics, and other drugs post-op. You may need to stay on mushies longer. Meaning refried Beans, greek yogurt, pureed chili, pureed meats, use condiments to help with meat going down. You're not even a month out, and your body may just not be ready for solid or even semi-solid foods.

Recognizing the patterns is half the battle, and you're doing really fabulous. Plus, you're probably reaping some great benefits of the weight you've already dropped. Sometimes when I have "fat" days, I make a little list of stuff I have recently done that I could not or would not of done pre-op. It kind of puts things in perspective, and give my ego a nice little stroke. Did you know the average karaoke machine that they use at bars, and parties weighs 22 pounds? Try imagining strapping that thing on your back and lugging it around! ! ! Now, that put things in perspective for us, right? You're doing great Stacey, and just stay the course ! ! !