Tiffykins

I used my sense of humor and quick wit to win people over. I was the fat, funny friend, the fun outgoing, dance on the bar "fat" friend. So, I can relate to you doing things, and excelling in certain areas to gain approval and love. I was never good enough for my parents either. I actually have buried my father emotionally even though he is very much alive and well. My mother and I recently had it out over me posting a Sleeve vs. lapband research article on Facebook and she had the audacity to ask me NOT to post bad things about the band because she has one and so does my brother. Of course to appease her, I told her I would hide those posts from her and my brother. BUT, then I called my brother and he told me he didn't speak to my mother about the article nor was he upset that I posted it on FB. I've always been a bit selfish as an adult. I won't deny that at all. I had spent far too many years trying to be the "best" for my parents, and always failed miserably so I gave up and just decided to do what was best for me. I made that very apparent 3 years ago when I packed up myself and my son to move across the country to be with my then boyfriend, and now he's a my husband. Literally, I packed us up, and drove 1800 miles from TX to MA without a ring on my finger not knowing truly what the future would hold for us. Well, look at us now is what I tell my family that told me I was selfish, and living a "pipedream". I know that my body image issues are deep-seated, and it will take years for me to recognize all that I have accomplished. I know that I'll never really "see" myself as the rest of the world sees me. I know that there will always be some nagging voice telling me that I'm "not there just yet". Thanks for sharing ! ! !

Not working for me on Microsoft Vista, and Firefox. I'm not using Internet Explorer anymore, and if the title doesn't grab my attention then I'll just move on to the next topic. Awwwwwwwwww CORRECTION: I see what you're talking about. It's not something I can see easily on the page. It only pops up if I move my mouse over that general area of the thread title.

YAY YAY so glad it worked for you ! ! !

Nopers, and I've searched, dug, click on all the options. . .

It could just be Water weight. Without more details, like how far out you are, what you're eating, your exercise regimen, etc etc, it's kind of hard to guess why you've seen a gain. BUT, don't fret the scale will go down. If you're working out, gaining muscle, it's probably water weight, if you're female, it could be just good ole' water weight, if you're not getting in enough fluids it could water retention, if you're eating too much or not getting enough calories it could your body holding onto weight, if your bowels aren't moving regularly take a good poop(harsh, but true) and you'll see the scale move.

I'll just toss out there that it's really cumbersome to navigate through the site. Trying to find the USER CP was next to impossible, I don't care for the colors, but I can deal with it. I also being able to put my mouse over the thread topic and getting a preview of the post. I know it'll take some time, but I sure do miss the old VST. I also hate that I lost all my privacy settings. The new notifications are kind of weird, and I'm not digging the chatroom feature at all. Will there be a way we can set a default font size and color again? Am I just missing that option somewhere? I've checked through all the options and didn't see it as an available feature.

Your body is still pretty pissed off at you. Let's be honest, they pump you full of fluids during surgery, you're healing, and your body is still in shock from trauma and anesthesia. I was a scale whore, and it's what worked for me. But, that doesn't mean it's going to work for you. When you stress, you're body goes into fight or flight mode, and right now it's fighting. Keep following your program, stay positive, and if you have to, put the scale away. We didn't get fat overnight, we're not going to get skinny overnight. It's not a uncommon for our bodies to hold onto weight the first couple of weeks post-op. Give your body a break, and realize that at only 8 days out, you can't expect to drop 10-20lbs. The average sleeve patient loses 10-20lbs per month for the first couple of months then it drops down to 5-10lbs per month. Depending on how much you have to lose, and how your program is set up, you'll lose weight, but don't compare your results to anyone else.

There's a lot of changes that occur within the first 6 months that are truly just learning to eat with the sleeve, facing the mental and emotional challenges of not being able to eat like we did pre-op, and some side effects/symptoms do not hit all of us. I wasn't prepared to have zero appetite. I knew I'd lose my hunger, but I wasn't prepared to hate food. After years of loving food in large quantities, many huge meals, it was definitely a huge change to all of a sudden dread eating. It wasn't because eating was painful or uncomfortable, I simply hated the way things tasted. Nothing sounded good, nothing smelled good, everything was just blah. I had to force myself to eat, and had to really get creative just to be able to eat. It didn't last, but it was a very trying time for me. I also had to set an alarm on my phone that would remind me to eat. My appetite did return, my tastebuds went back to how they were pre-op. Food did taste good again, but it took some time. Essentially, eating became a chore. It did help change my relationship with food. I learned to eat to live instead of living to eat. I became lactose intolerant which was not fun. Yogurt and cheese was about the only thing I could eat. Protein drinks were out. whey is a milk product so anything with whey made me puke. I tried the other varieties of protein soy, and veggie Proteins, but they were disgusting. I was prepared for the hair loss, I was prepared for the small portions, chewing everything to mush, and eating slowly. I had most of the eating learning curve beat because of my band experience. When anyone asks me for pre-op advice, I tell them the same things: stretch your meal out to 20 minutes, stop drinking with your meals now, and don't drink for 30 minutes after your meal, eat your meat first, switch over to a salad plate to cut your portions down, put your eating utensil down in between bites to help slow down your meal, when eating out get a to-go box as soon as your food is delivered and divide the meal in half, box up half of it to take home. Start drinking 60+ ounces of clear fluids now because it's a tough a habit to get into, but it's essential post-op. My other advice is to confront your food issues before you have surgery. This will help with the food funerals, mourning the loss of being able to eat big meals, figure out what works for you. I had a different mindset than some other vsg'ers. I wanted to get to goal quickly and worry about maintenance when I got there. I was super strict with food choices through my losing phase. BUT, I knew that I would not be in deprivation mode for the rest of my life. I think it worked best for me. Best wishes! ! !

YAY YAY YAY I'm sooooooooooooooooo proud of you, and your determination ! ! ! Congrats! ! !

The easiest way for me to explain is step by step: If this doesn't work, you'll have to send a message to the site administrator, Alex. At the top of the forum, it says "Signed in as______" Click on your name. On the top right hand corner, it says EDIT YOUR PROFILE. Click that button. It will then put in at your USER CP (control panel). On the left hand side, you'll see a bunch of options, click CHANGE SIGNATURE. A blank box will pop up, in this box you will need to PASTE the bBcode from the tickerfactory.com site that you have made your ticker on. If you made your ticker on another ticker site, highlight and COPY the code for Message boards, and then PASTE that code into the signature box. Once you PASTE the code into your signature box, hit SAVE CHANGES button. Your ticker should appear in all of your post. To edit your ticker, you can click on it from any post that you have made, and update your weight stats. Hope this helps.

I wasn't able to use protein drinks. So, I didn't get in my protein until I got to mushies. Once I could eat soft foods, I was able to get all my protein from food sources. Chicken/tuna/egg salad, soft cheese, greek yogurt, and refried beans were staples in my diet. I ate 4 meals a day that consisted of a minimum of 15gr of protein. Eating just those 4 meals allowed me to hit my protein goal, and feel satisfied.

Yes, I do have Facebook. You might be able to add me with this link as well: http://www.facebook.com/sparkleandcharm

So far, I'm not a fan. I loved just being able to hit "NEW POST" and BAM I had the forum broken down for easy access. I'm sure it'll take some time for me to get comfortable with all the changes, BUT so far, I'm just kind of trying to navigate through the changes.

I'll be very honest with you about my experience. I never once had a true moment of buyer's remorse until Thanksgiving hit. I was mad, pissed off, sad that I could not eat a huge Thanksgiving day meal with my family. You know that's the one day out of the year a fat chick can gorge herself silly, and no one says a damn thing about it. I was literally mad at the world, but it was a fleeting moment. I saw how miserable everyone was in their food comas, and they had changed into stretchy pants. I was just ready to go and do something, anything. The sleeve is a fabulous, and it's really given me a fabulous life that I never realized I was missing out on because of obesity. I didn't have a liquid diet, or any specified diet pre-op. I just did a modified Atkins until the night before surgery, and then I pigged out and had one last food funeral. My liver looked fabulous the day of my revision. The main reason for the liquid/low carb diet is to help shrink the fat in the liver so surgery is easier, and reduces the risk of complications. The liver is slippery, slick because of the fat. When we do low carb, and especially with liquid diets that fat shrinks making the liver easier to move out of the way. Best wishes with your sleeve. Work on your food issues now, start cutting portions, stop drinking with your meals to make the transition to eating with the sleeve easier, eat your Protein first, stretch your meal out over 20-30 minutes. All of those little things can really help the post-op eating time easier. If you need anything, have specific questions, feel free to ask. We're all here for you! ! !

You shouldn't have any issues with kidney stones unless it's related to dietary issues. You might want to consult a nutritionist to ensure that you'll be able to keep your kidney values in check while going through the post-op dietary changes that we all endure.

I considered it for maintenance, but I really don't like the points system, and would never make it because I keep my carbs in check.

I noticed major relief in my knee joints after dropping 30-40lbs, and now after losing 145lbs, my knees no longer ache at all. I have zero cartilage in my left knee, and have had 2 knee surgeries. My ACL has been replaced once, and the replacement tendon has been repaired with cartilage removed during both surgeries. I was diagnosed with arthritis in both knees in my early 20s. My knees no longer hurt after hours on my feet. They don't hurt after exercise, but I do have some bone rubbing during certain workouts that cause some discomfort. The one big difference is the fact that I can get out of bed, and not wobble around like an 88yr old woman with snap, cracking and popping joints like I did pre-op.

hair is going to fall out. No matter what you do or do not do, it's going to happen. You can do things to help with regrowth and decrease breakage, but nothing is going to save the hair. I've posted these links below countless times on here, and it's documented that surgery, drastic diet change, and general anesthesia can cause hair loss after major surgery. I even lost hair after my gallbladder was removed in February. The good news is that the hair grows back. Telogen Effluvium: eMedicine Dermatology Telogen Effluvium Hair Loss Nothing is going to stop it from happening. It might not be as severe as others, it may last longer than the normal 3 months, it may not last that long, but it's pretty inevitable.

It's really a personal decision. I've had both the band and the sleeve, and I can honestly state without a doubt that the sleeve is far superior to the band. I'll copy and paste some information that I have saved with information on the band, and informational links on the sleeve. This is a lot of information, but if you want to make an informed decision, and feel that you have researched your options, these links, and information should help you tremendously. Think twice, cut once. 1 in 4 band patients will have to have another surgery. I do not regret my band, but if I could have skipped over it, I wouldn't be upset about missing out on those miserable 8 months that I had that thing in my body. Band and sleeve information: Questions to ask your surgeon:

If you look up just gastrectomies, you'll find that surgery has been performed for decades upon decades for people with stomach cancer and major ulcerative conditions. It's definitely not the same as the old stomach stapling. It's not making a pouch out of stomach tissue, it's literally stapling off, and excising the stomach to remove the large, stretchy portion called the fundus. Also, VSG has been performed for over 10-15 years as the first stage to the Duodenal Switch surgery. It became popular as a stand alone WLS when surgeons were seeing satisfactory weight loss and easier maintenance of loss with VSG before finishing the 2nd stage malabsorptive portion of the DS.

Vanity sizing is rampant in today's market. I guess because I never recall wearing "normal" sized clothing that I'll take the major ego stroking that sliding on my size 0 Gap jeans give me every time! ! ! I'm sure it's closer to a size 4 of years past, but for me, it's a size 0 and I'm going to just not think of "what size they really are".

I never stalled (more than 14 days without any loss). Some weeks I'd only lose 1 pound, but I technically never experienced a true stall. When I was super close to goal, I didn't lose for 10 days, then out of nowhere, I dropped like 7-8 pounds without changing anything. I stuck to my guidelines. No more than 30gr of carbs, 60+ Protein, and between 600-800 calories per day. When my loss wasn't slowing down, my surgeon had me add more carbs, but I was stubborn and still rarely got in more than 50gr per day. I dropped 80lbs the first 4 months. Then it took me another 2.5 months to drop 33lbs. I continued to lose past goal, but it slowed way down when I upped my calories to 1000-1200 a day and stopped counting carbs as strictly. I dropped about 25ish pound over the next 4.5-5 months and my body seems to be content around 122-125ish pounds on any given day. My first 3 weeks post-op were stressful because I did have major complications. For 20 days, I was pumped full of 1800 calories, all kinds of drugs, and Vitamins via a pic line in my arm because I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything for 22 days. I was on clears for 17 days, a week of fulls then I was mushies for a couple of months while trying to incorporate solid foods very slowly. My complications probably contributed to some of my immediate loss, but I came out of the hospital weighing 297lbs and on the day of surgery I weighed 263. I had lots of Fluid weight to lose, and I don't count that 34lbs in my loss.

Yep, Dave exactly what Gayle said. I have 2 girlfriends that had their sleeves done at Madigan. They do them all the time, and have a fabulous program! ! !

Dave, Tricare won't cover VSG outside a MTF. Honestly, I was faced with the same dilemma, and as luck would have it, the MTF near us had 2 surgeons that had performed enough VSGs for my standards, and one of them had removed bands, and converted to RNY so I jumped through the hoops to have my revision at the MTF even though I see a civilian for everything else, and my band surgeon was a civilian with Tricare Prime. Tricare will not cover the sleeve outside a MTF until Medicare starts fully covering the sleeve. They did the same thing with bands. They will not overturn a denial, they will not do anything to cover the sleeve outside a MTF. I've been through it myself, and I've walked 4 friends through the process from Florida, DC, and Cali. I was hellbent on getting the sleeve, and I would have self-paid with Dr. Aceves in Mexicali or Dr. Nicholson in Dallas if Tricare would have not approved my revision. If I would not have been able to have VSG and self pay was an absolute no go, I would have had my band removed and stayed fat. I wouldn't get RNY if you paid me, and I refused to have another band placed even though both of those options were immediately approved without hesitation by Tricare. I'm sorry to be the bearer of more bad news. BUT, it's been "hinted" that Medicare "might" start covering VSG around 1/1/2011, we "heard" the same thing in 2009, but I have hope that Medicare will get on the ball, and Tricare will follow suit. If there is an MTF near you, check them out. I'll help you in any possible way I can with the Tricare situation. I'm an insurance agent as well, and umm pretty much know how to work the system. Keep all your paperwork from your current appointments, keep getting your PCP to weigh you, keep doing everything you have been doing. Do not settle for a surgery you are not 100% about.