Tiffykins

This is my hope as well . . .

Ohhhhhhh thank you for sharing these ideas. . . I will definitely try out the ricotta cheese recipe.

I used them when I had my LapBand until I was able to consume enough protein from food sources. They do not taste anything like jello in my opinion. They are extremely sweettart tasting like the little candies Sweettart, or even more like the Sour Smarties. I had to dilute one of the shots into a Powerade Zero/Gatorade G2 for the first couple of weeks. They are thick consistency wise, so shooting them like a "shot" isn't really possible for me. They have the consistency a little thinner than Maple Syrup. I will use them again this time around for the revision to VSG beause they are convenient and I can not stomach any of the protein powders. I went through 15 different brands with my lapband. I just can't stand the way any of them taste. If you can tolerate it, I put my protein shots in the refrigerator veggie/fruit bin before drinking them. I liked them frozen as well. Kind of a slushie consistency once they were semi-frozen. The shots being cold made them more tolerable to drink. I am going with the 26g shots this time because my nut told me that I wouldn't really be absorbing the total 42g. The Fruit Punch, and Blue Raspberry are the only flavors I can tolerate. The Orange and Grape Flavor tasted so disgusting. I've tried a couple different brands and the IDS and the New Whey Protein Shots at GNC are my favorites.

Glad to hear you've made it home. Hope you're resting, and tomorrow is a much better day for you.

I thought it would be easier to start a blog of sorts in here since I would like to keep progress notes on how things are going for me. I have posted most of my back story in other threads so I am just going to start from today forward. Today, I had my psych consult on base. The surgeon decided t it would be a good idea to have another consult since the psych had lapband surgery herself, and she is 74 or 75 years old. He was also concerned for me because my husband is deployed. Pleasant little lady, she deemed me fit for surgery, and invited me to join her support group. I went to the front desk of the surgical clinic to have my med records copied. When the 2 clerks at the desk saw the stack they refused to copy them, and wanted me to leave them. Ummm NO. So, I took them back with me, and made copies at my office. I'll take them to him at my next pre-op appointment. Not a lot to report. I start the low carb/fat diet this week. I've pretty much been doing that, but I need to add more Water, and lay off the mid-day snack. I'm scheduled for the hematologist on Friday. I bleed excessively. Not to the point of needing a transfusion, but it took 4 days for my wisdom teeth holes to quit bleeding. I apparently heal quickly, but, I bleed a lot. All of my bloodwork has been normal, and I tested negative for the R5 factor which apparently has something to do with a reaction heparin. I read the hematology report, and it says NEGATIVE. Anyways, I am not sure what they have planned for me at this Friday's appointment. I googled R5 factor and a lot of HIV/AIDs articles show up. I am HIV negative, so I am not sure what to make of everything. I won't lie, I'm pretty freaked out mentally that I'm having to go see an oncologist. I just want to make sure I never have problems like I did with the previous surgery. I'm a big time writer, and am often long-winded. So, if it gets too long, or I ramble it won't hurt my feeling if you just skim. Hope everyone is having a great Hump Day! ! !

The von Willebrand bloodwork came back negative. The hematologist is going to give me DDAVP and then do another bleeding time test to see if it resolves the issue. The rest of my bloodwork is perfect. Literally nothing is indicative of any other clotting disorder. Anyways, I go in on Monday for my pre-op and the follow appointment with the hematologist. I've turned it all over to God because me worrying about it isn't going to change anything. I can only pray that they will find a solution and I will be able to have surgery. I'm guessing the worse case scenario would be that I could just have the band removed without doing VSG revision. I can't continue to live in pain every day, and I don't want to be fat anymore. I'm done fighting.

I need to give a little back story here. My husband is 26 (will be 27 on Sunday), he's a great looking, attractive, naturally fit/lean guy. He's 6'0" and 165lbs dripping wet. He is currently deployed to Afghanistan and will be returning late September/early October (4 months after my post op revision). Ever since I told him I was moving forward with the revision surgery, his mentality has changed. He's working out, weightlifting to what I consider an extreme. He's bragged that he's "getting bigger" and I will be able to see a difference. I asked him "why are you working out?" He brushed it off that he was was just "passing the time". Now today, he has ordered a whey Protein supplement online from a bodybuilding website. He overpaid for what he is getting, and the email I sent, once the email confirmation came through, let him know that he overpaid for something I could of gotten here and shipped to him for less. I could care less about the money, or that he had ordered a supplement, just the fact that I asked him about that a couple weeks ago, he said he had no desire to "bulk up". My question is: Have any of ya'll experienced this with your husband/significant other? I almost feel like he is threatened by the fact that I will be losing weight. Kind of like he wants or feels the need to 'one up' me. We've never had jealousy/insecurity issues in our relationship/marriage. We've dealt with long distance relationship for over half of 3 years together. This is our 1st deployment as a married couple, I'm just really perplexed by all of this. He isn't the work out type. He hates working out when he is here. He has always loved me for me regardless of my pant size. He was and still is extremely supportive of my WLS decisions. He has mentioned a few times about me changing, but after the initial surgery back in October all of that was never mentioned again. We did talk about me sending him progress pictures. He decided that he wanted it to be a surprise. . . I just need to know if this is normal. I kind of feel like he is threatened by the thought of me losing weight. He knows that I get hit on now as a "hot fat chick". I feel like he is doubting me, or my fidelity, and he wants to make sure when he comes home that I am going to still want him, or even worse that he is the "better looking half". I may be overthinking all of this, but I can't shake this feeling that something other than "passing the time" is the driving force behind his 5-6 day a week working out/weightlifting. Thanks for any input. I appreciate it. . .

I am so glad we are going to be going through this around the same time. . I'm at 10 days and counting. I wanted to let you know that I'll be contacting you know who, after surgery. I can't get all wrapped up in extra stuff right now. But, did want to keep you updated! ! ! I'm so excited for both of us. . .

Thank you all for your input. . . I thought long and hard about it being more him than me. There has been a few comments here and there that led me to feel the way I do. It's just so uncharacteristic of him, but I'm just going to take it in stride. We're both changing, and I have to accept it. Thanks again ! ! !

Well, the blood work that the hematologist ordered last week all came back normal except for my bleeding time was greater than 20 minutes. The hematologist is like 98% certain that it is von Willebrand disease which is a relief. I go tomorrow for more blood work to determine which type of von Willebrand. I just got back into town from the stupid business trip. Caysen made the All-Star team for his little league. Last year, this coach's team made it all the way to state, and his son went to the Little League World Series. I was so proud of him, he called me while I was out of town, and I could hear all of his excitement. Tonight, Caysen (he's 10) asked me "mommy, can you die?" I said "well of course I can die, we all can die Caysen." He said " No mommy, I mean with this surgery." He just broke down and started crying. He is so freaked out. I finally calmed his nerves and he has a better understanding of what is going on. I think he just really missed me while I was out of town. It doesn't help that John is gone and he is worried about being left without us. It's just a lot for a 10 year old to comprehend. . . I hope everyone is doing well. I'll be checking in with everyone over the weekend.

If everyone could please keep Tasya in your thoughts and prayers. She posted a thread a couple days ago about breastfeeding and the sleeve. She's getting her sleeve tomorrow morning. . . She's uber nervous, and was busy moving this weekend. I'll be in touch with her in a couple of days. Our husband's are both stationed on the same base so I'll be checking in with her. Thanks ! ! !

I was out of town on business, it was horrible in Jacksonville, FL. I couldn't log onto via my Iphone, I don't know why, but it wouldn't accept my information. We sent a couple of text messages back and forth, she posted a thread that's on here. I'm doing great, I have more blood work scheduled tomorrow.

YAY YAY I am so glad you posted. . . My phone would not let me log on here while out of town and I forgot to take my laptop. I'll call you this weekend and check in on you.

YAY congratulations! ! !

Holy crap, I just realized that I'll be sleeved on your 1 year mark. . .

Thoughts? Advice? I never had to take it with the band, but now I have been reading everything, and going over the stuff the new surgeon gave me. . . The psych I saw today had LapBand, she takes a no calorie sublingual b12. The paperwork I have says that it will be suggested on a PRN basis. Who/what determines when it will be needed.

Thank you. I called my mom and my aunt (my dad's sister) to find out if anyone else had been diagnosed. To their knowledge, none of my relatives have this disorder. I have always had symptoms of "easy bleeding". I bruise extremely easily, like it took 4 days for me to quit bleeding when I had 2 of my wisdom teeth extracted. If it isn't von Willebrand disease, I hope they can get a diagnosis. . . I just want to make sure everyone knows everything before surgery. I can't go through another horrific experience. The hematologist is actually familiar with gastrectomies, and he says that he really doesn't think that it's going to pose a major roadblock. Thank you so very much for all of your help, and information.

That is so exciting to be able to do this with a close friend! ! ! I'll keep you both in my thoughts as the day is approaching quickly. . .

Had the hematology appointment today. He suspects that I have von Willebrand disease. He sent me for a battery of tests including a bleeding time test. I finally clotted after 22 minutes. The tech was going to stop at 15 minutes, but she was pretty intrigued apparently. Anyways, I should hear back on the final results by Monday. Of course, now I'm freaking out because I need to have this band removed, I need and want the Sleeve, but I am scared. I won't deny it. Hopefully, they will be able to still do surgery on 3 June. I seriously want to pull my hair out. It makes me so mad that my old surgeon made me like the post-op bleeding was so trivial. I knew in my gut something wasn't right. I did not have this problem with my c-section in 1998, nor with my 2 knees surgeries in '93 and '99. I have read a bunch of information on the internet, but I am so confused. No one in my family has had this disease. I can only pinpoint that I started noticing that I bruised really easily, and bled pretty severely after having my wisdom teeth extracted back in 2000. I don't drink on a regular basis, I don't take Tylenol, or Aspirin. I really don't know understand all of the implications. The hematologist did rule out an allergy to heparin. I spent 3 hours of my day between the lab and the hematologist office. Work was so hectic today. I have a business trip next week that pulls me out of the office for 3 full days, and I have so much on my desk that I can't get caught up. We have the end of season baseball party tomorrow for my son's team. It will be a good time, but I am going to have to cram so much crap into my day on Sunday. I'll get a bunch of it done tonight, but after the day I've had, I just want to veg out in recliner. . . I hope everyone had a great Friday! ! ! Elisabeth- any information that you can give me about this stuff, I would greatly appreciate it.

Ohhhhhh good lordy, NO. I've had to manipulate and maneuver my way through Tricare Prime (husband is active duty Air Force) insurance HMO stuff. I started researching surgeons the 3rd week in March after my last horrid fill under fluoro, and ended up choosing the bariatric surgeon on base for my revision.

Oh for the love of everything holy, I got a date! ! ! June 3rd:thumbup: I have my psych consult on Wednesday (I have to have another done because I've changed surgeons for the revision, plus the husband is deployed), and the visit to the hematologist is on Friday. I got the call this afternoon at my office, and almost fell out of my chair. I am so elated, and almost cried when the surgeon personally called me today to tell me the good news. Thank you to all of you for your support. I'm on my way in just a couple of weeks. Out with the horrid band ! ! !

Yep, 16 gauge. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I was a vet tech for 12 years, and while I am not a nurse, I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous. I ask so many questions, I had 2/16gauge catheters, I was flooded with fluids. . . It was insane, and the prick of anesthesiologist placed my catheter because I have horrible veins. He just jabbed it my hand, and it was HUGE. No numbing, nothing, he missed the first time. I wanted to claw his eyes out. . .

Definitely NOT crazy. . . I am revising to the sleeve after having my band for 7 short months. I agree you have the support of your husband, and you have every right to be healthy and happy.

He tried to tell me that I only received 4 injections of Heparin because he ordered the dose every 8 hours instead of 6. Well, guess what mr surgeon, I got 5. He literally argued with me that I must of not really been paying attention. "yes, sir the nurses waking me up in the wee hours of the morning to poke me, I wasn't paying attention." I had to pull my pants down to show him all of the bruising I had on my thighs so he would believe that they dosed me with heparin 5 times. . . He orders the heparin injection to be given in in my outer thigh. You should of seen when they pulled the catheter out of my hands. I bled non-stop for over ten minutes with pressure. It wasn't huge bleeding because it was a 16 gauge catheter, but we had to apply pressure over 10 minutes to get it to stop. I had 2 catheters, one in each hand, and the discharge nurse pulled out the left one, slapped a little tape and gauze on it, she went to do the other one, my husband said "Ummm ma'am, I think there is a problem with her hand" We looked down and there was a little puddle of blood at my foot. . . It was not good. I know it seems like all I do is b*tch about my horrible experience, but when I look back over the last 7 months, I cringe at everything that has happened. I plaster the Latex allergy all over my chart. OH LORDY, please tell me they won't catheter me. I hate, hate, having to be cathed.