Tiffykins

I was on full liquids at 3 weeks out. Creamy Soups (strained), yogurt, pudding, custards (all sugar free), anything that could fit through a straw without major sucking. Protein shakes mixed with milk. End of 3 weeks I was able to move to mushies as tolerated.

I didn't see your post yesterday. I typically just hit "NEW CONTENT" and if it's not on the first page, I don't see it. As for your emotions, they are perfectly normal. My thought process was/is, being fat is going to shorten my life expectancy and quality of life I can offer to myself and my family more than having a major portion of my stomach removed. I would recommend doing independent research on gastrectomies for stomach cancer and ulcer patients. Many people live fully functioning lives with partial or full gastrectomies. There are people that lose their entire stomachs, and they are living good lives. I checked out the American Cancer Society forums, and read personal stories, read research documents on pubmed.com springerlink.com for VSG and gastrectomies. If you have an experienced surgeon with good stats, follow the post-op dietary guidelines, your risk for a leak should be less than 1%. See if you can talk to some of your surgeon's patients about their experience. Post on here for your surgeon and see if anyone has used him/her. I can't recommend a support group because I don't know where you live, what hospital you are having your surgery performed at etc etc. You can check for support groups through local hospitals to see if they offer a support group meeting. Don't get discouraged or take it personally when people do not immediately reply. It's difficult to keep up with all the posts when there are nearly 100+ posts per day. Some people don't know the answer. Some don't post at all, and only lurk on here to educate themselves or just read information.

So, I kicked soda this week. I'm trying to avoid unhealthy carbs, but honestly I just don't give 2 shits right now. I'll be honest this whole hormonal, moodiness, downright bitchiness is really taking a toll on me. I hate feeling this way, and honestly, I was never this way pre-op, or even 6-8 months ago. I'm still hanging around the 127-129lb range, and I'm fine with it. I wouldn't mind hovering around 123-125lbs, but what's 3-4lbs? ? ? I'm not beating myself at this weight. I'm trying to get back into working out, and it's not working with the crazy mood swings, and irritability. I'm not being very positive, I'm beating myself up emotionally over a bunch of trivial b.s. and hopefully once I get over this moodiness, I can settle into a routine.

I have told several people that if VSG would not have been able to happen for my revision, I would have had my band removed and stayed fat. God's to honest truth. I would not have bypass if someone paid me. I have too many friends in real life that have complications with bypass long term, and I'm not talking minor complications. I'm talking bowel obstructions, major strictures, stoma erosion, pouch dilation etc etc. I won't mention regain because you know that stat, and I'm sure you know about vitamin/nutrient deficiencies. I hope everything goes well with your surgery, and consults.

No one has ever asked me outright if I've had surgery. But, that could be that I'm pretty open about surgery. I've found nothing but support and compassion from my friends. When I was around 3.5-4 months out, I joined our spouse's club on base. I started getting active in the social functions, and joined the bowling league. Since I was still early out, I did divulge to my partner, and the lady in charge of bowling about my surgery. I figured if I had any issues, someone needed to know what was going on with me. Well, after bowling, we go to lunch. At first, I wasn't sure how it would be received, but because of me being open about it, 4 of my closest friends have had sleeve surgery. They all tell if I had not shared, they would have never had the courage to seek the referral. We all have a common bond, we share the ups and downs, they saw that I could lead a normal life, eat freely choice wise, and not have to diet to lose weight. I did have one lady make a snide comment, and of course, me being me, made a snide comment right back! ! ! I have also found when we don't make a big deal about it, other people follow suit. I did play with my food early out, I did order appetizers, and did take home leftovers to avoid comments, but I have had nothing but fabulous support from my friends. We're military so I don't live close to my family, and I've received mixed reviews.My brother told me I looked sickly, and gangly. My mother, I won't even go there. But, we've had many of arguments over my weight loss. I do not go into details about the surgery unless asked. Then I explain the mechanics, and the actual operation as briefly as I can. If someone wants more information, I offer to email the research I have stored. I am a super open person, always have been, so I took the same approach with surgery. It's not for everyone, and I respect that decision. I've just found that most people are not judgmental when it comes to my choice to be healthy.

3 months out for raw veggies/fruits with the exception of melon.

3 months for raw veggies/fruit with the exception of melons.

I can't answer for the plication stuff. But, with VSG you can literally eat anything you want. I eat tons of raw, steamed, cooked, baked veggies. I eat on average 2-3 salads a week. So, that information is incorrect. I eat a very balanced, nutrient dense diet with VSG. At 19 months out, I still never experience physical hunger with VSG. Keep reading, and base the decision on what you need for long term success.

Hiatal hernias are pretty common especially with overweight/obese people. You can tell him that, and if he prods any further, just tell him, that your medical history is NOT pertinent to your job duties. If you do not have a physically demanding job, then you can reassure him that you will return to work, and it will not effect your job performance, and that should be his primary concern. DO not divulge information that you do not want broadcast to your co-workers. He doesn't sound very professional, and above all, you do not have to disclose anything to him. Gallbladder, ulcer, or hernia surgery all legitimate reasons to give him. Most of the time ulcers can be treated discreetly, and if he asks "why haven't you complained?" Tell him because you are being treated by medical professionals, and surgery has been recommended by your surgeon to resolve your issues before they worsen.

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo elated for you ! ! ! I think you have done an amazing job, and I think the food you ate over your 8 day losing fest is showing you that you need more food/calories/fat and you will continue to lose. You've done so awesome, through all the struggles, and rough Patches you've hung in there. 70lbs in 5 months is remarkable, and while I know you think it's "Slow", by every definition in the WLS world, those results are phenomenal ! ! ! Congrats on all your victories, and cheers to many more ! ! !

Yes, you can drink as you can with any WLS type. It's typically recommended to wait until you are goal, or at least 3 months out to allow adequate time for your stomach to heal. Plus, staying hydrated is key during the first 2-4 weeks so adding alcohol to the mix is just wasted calories, and is a diuretic essentially it's just wasteful to drink early out. Your surgeon will have guidelines. While some surgeons are super conservative, they'll tell their patients 6-12 months wait for alcohol. I was cleared for alcohol at 3.5 months. I was advised to avoid red wines due to the tannins (acid), and have been drinking since around 6.5 months out. I was below goal. I will tell you that the first time I drank. It hit me hard and fast. One glass of wine, and I had slurred speech, numb lips, and overall not pleasant after just one drink. I sobered up quickly as well. Today, at 19 months out, I drink extremely socially. My alcohol tolerance is back to what it was pre-op. The one thing I have noticed is that I urinate 4 times the amount I did pre-op. Once I break the seal, I'm in the potty every hour. It runs right through me, and I have to really drink heavily to get drunk. Catching and maintaining a buzz is much easier now, but early out, 1-2 glasses of wine and I was pretty buzzed then it'd leave me pretty quickly and there was no fun in that.

If your liver is too slippery from the fat, yes, they will close you back up. If you had "fatty liver disease", you wouldn't be cleared for surgery, and the pre-op diet is only there to shrink the outer layer of fat that makes the liver slippery. They have to move it out of the way to get to the stomach. It's held back with a single trochar usually, and if it's slippery/slimy from the fat, your risks of a liver slit, or perforated liver increases significantly. The carb monster is fighting you, and your body is thinking "what the hell". It's going to start burning the fat stores in your body, and it does get easier especially after surgery. By about day 3-5, I didn't even miss carbs anymore, and to my surprise, I was able to stay satisfied with meat and salad which is what I tanked up on. I ate huge spinach salads before my band surgery, for my sleeve revision, I couldn't really eat salad with my band, so I had to stick to meat and cheese. It's tough, but it's totally doable, and this will help post-op especially once you go liquids for 2-3 weeks post-op.

So, you can take Tylenol, but you can't take Ibuprofen? ? ? Midol is just Tylenol with caffeine and a little diuretic so Tylenol won't help either. What do you usually take? Have you tried a heating pad?

How strict is the pre-op diet? liquids suck and I personally think they're ludicrous since studies prove that super low carb shrinks the fat on the liver just as well as the all liquids. I'm sorry you are struggling, but it is for the best. If you must cheat, make it a healthy cheat, a plain chicken breast, salad, no carbs, no carbs is the best thing to shrink the fat on the liver. The post-op liquids is tough too, and I know they suck, but that's the part that you are really going to have to fight through so you lessen your chances of complications.

I didn't quit prior to surgery, but did after. I can tell you that the lack of physical hunger really helps you not eat to replace the habit of smoking. Remember, giving up food is very temporary, giving up alcohol is also necessary, and giving up cigs, well I have quit and gone back to it 3 times since my revision. If you have addictive personality, like I do, then I recommend getting into a support group, and really find another coping mechanism for those tough times. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones that picks up exercise/working out as a transfer addiction. I picked up shopping, and luckily I'm extremely frugal, and it hasn't impacted us financially.

Price is definitely NOT something you want to base your decision on. Revisions are complicated, and you need a true revision surgeon with tons of revision experience. With a revision, your risks for complications quadruple especially with leaks. You'll pay a little more since you are revision and not a virgin sleeve. I had my surgery in the states at a military hospital so I can not help you with personal experience. But, I can tell you that if insurance would not have paid, Dr. Aceves is the ONLY Mexican surgeon that I would have allowed to do my revision.

You've hit the dreaded 3 week stall. Plus, you've dropped 34lbs in 3 weeks, and your body is thinking "WHAT H E **" is she doing to me. You're going to have to be patient, continue to get in your fluids, and Protein, follow the plan, and you will lose weight. We didn't get fat overnight, we aren't going to get skinny overnight. I know it's frustrating, but you've been losing almost 2lbs a day, and realistically that can not continue. Your body has to catch up, and adjust. The average weight loss is 10-20 the first couple of months, then 5-10lbs per month after that. Now, with a higher BMI, we typically lose faster, but your body is still trying to figure out what you are doing. You will lose your weight. Stick to the guidelines, stay the course, and stressing over it isn't going to make it worse. Hide your scale, drink your fluids, and let your body recover. Hang in there, you're doing amazing ! ! !

Check with your insurance to see if that is allowed. With our insurance(military insurance), this fee is illegal. We have a surgeon in this area that charges the same fee, and it's a fraudulent charge that is not authorized. This particular surgeon is currently under investigation by Tricare, and I'm hoping he gets "blacklisted" from performing surgeries with Tricare. As a self-pay patient, it might be acceptable if you cancel the surgery, or back out halfway through the process, but if insurance is covering the revision, then it might be a scam.

It sounds like acid, and acid can cause hunger. Hopefully, you're on a good PPI such as Prilosec, Prevacid or Zegerid. To help with the breakthrough heartburn/reflux until the PPI can kick in, talk to your surgeon about using Gaviscon.

This isn't what anyone wants to hear, but I still have random port pain. If I bump it just right, or push on it just right, then I get a sharp, quick pain and it's gone. It's not a daily, or even a weekly thing. And, I can remember back around 3-4 months out, still having a lot of tenderness in that area. It eased up when I really started losing weight, and the "pulling" from gravity weight decreased.

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Maintenance was tricky for me. My goal weight was 150lbs, and today I'm sitting at 127lbs. I do not look too thin, or sickly. I fought to get into maintenance. I added high calorie, healthy fat food options, and had to cut cardio out of my workout to get my weight loss to stop. Your body will settle where it's happy. I know that's not a lot of help, but it's something I had to come to terms with. I never imagined being a size 2, and was content at 150lbs. I will tell you that body has changed 10 times over the last 8-9 months while in maintenance. My fat has redistributed several times, and I definitely do not look sick. I am only 5'2 so 125-129lbs is actually the high end of the BMI chart for me, but I feel too thin at 119lbs which I was at for a month or so. You'll have to play with your food intake, and adjust it to get the losing to stop. It took a solid 4-5 months for me to get the right amount of calories and carbs in to get the weight loss to stop. I had to incorporate 100% juice because I could not physically consume enough food. It's easier now obviously, but I still have to eat 1500-1800 calories a day to maintain my current weight. I added avocados, Peanut Butter, and nuts to my daily intake to get the weight loss to stop.

Gina, I can completely relate, and I am not the best person to talk to about it. I've quit and gone back to smoking 3 times since having my revision. The main concern with smoking post-sleeve is ulcers. Even though, I haven't had any issues in 18 months since going back to smoking. I wish I could tell you some fabulous story, or remedy, but smoking for me is the one thing that is my horrible habit that I can not kick. I've tried Wellbutrin, and I dropped down to 119lbs, lost my appetite, it made me manic, and overall was a horrible experience for me. Chantix is expensive, and not covered by our insurance. The patch, gum, lozenges make me a total nut job so I have to do it cold turkey, and for that to work, I'd have to be on an isolated island with an IV of Moscato, and tons of hot cabana boys to keep me occupied. Hypnosis is the one thing I haven't tried.

Revising to a tighter sleeve is not recommended, honestly if I stick to the rules of Protein first, even at 19 months out, I have little to zero room for junk food. You'll do great ! ! !