deedee

There's plenty of room on the bench...welcome! Glad things went well.

Very happy you're doing well. Keep us posted when you feel up to it.

I'm glad you had your questions answered. Good luck on the rest of your pre-op journey and keep us posted!

Congratulations, you are doing a fantastic job!

Good luck today, I'll be thinking positive thoughts for you!

Congratulations on your date and good luck getting everything done!

I'd have to agree with Tiff, research until you become comfortable with the decision. You sound like you have great reasons for getting healthy again, but at least for me, my head had to be completely into it so that I could make the right decisions and lifestyle changes post-op. Just remember it's only a tool, but a darned good one that makes this journey so much easier.

Congratulations on your date! You are right, we all lose at such different rates with this surgery. But I completely understand wanting to know of other's progress. At 6 weeks, I had lost about 26 pounds from my surgery day. At 3 months, I was down about 48 pounds from the day of surgery. I was not as fast as some, but steadily lost except for my 2 or so week stall, which began around 2.5 weeks post-op. AS for ankle and joint pain, all I can say is this has been one of the best things about this surgery. Exercise is so much easier when you weigh less. Good luck and keep us posted! Your date is so close.

Congratulations Shanda! Thank you for keeping us updated. You look absolutely stunning, you will be a beautiful bride.

That is wonderful!

Very well said AND you should feel damned proud of your accomplishment!

I'm so glad for you Tiff. Has this been pretty recent? I have PCOS and a lot of people report that with significant weight loss many of the symptoms like male pattern hair growth diminish, but it hasn't happened for me yet. As a matter of fact, the hair growth on my face is growing faster than pre-op. I'm hoping this is a newer development for you because it gives me hope :-) But, either way I'm very happy for you!

0.2 pounds is not a mess up. I was worried too when I hit a stall around 2.5 weeks out and then actually gained 2 pounds, then lost it again, just to gain and lose for a couple of weeks. You are doing fantastic with the weight loss!

Welcome to VST and congratulations on your surgery. I guess I'm a little unsure of what you are describing. Could it be that you are drinking too fast or taking too big of gulps and not "sipping," which lets in air? I know the first month for me both eating and drinking were uncomfortable, but I'm just not sure I had what you're describing...not that your feeling isn't normal for some. It definitely wouldn't hurt to give your surgeon's office a call. Good luck and I hope it resolves itself soon. Keep us posted.

It's excellent that you are getting into the routine now. Congratulation on your loss!

This morning I weighed 144 pounds. That's a 3 pound loss from last week. I've decided my goal is to try to maintain between 140-148 pounds.

Hi Krystal, My husband was really concerned too when I changed my mind from the band to sleeve. He attended the seminar and most pre-op appointments I had with my surgeon and asked all the questions he had (I think my surgeon is closer to him than me :-). It really did a lot to put his mind at ease, but he was the one that opened my eyes to the fact that my weight was very unhealthy and I had to do something about it before we continued trying conceive. Even then, on the morning of surgery he was ready to cancel the procedure when I was so nervous they were having difficulty getting an IV in me (I was shaking uncontrollably, and my teeth wouldn't stop chattering). I knew all along that his actions/feelings were all out of concern for me, and it sounds like your husband might feel the same way. My suggestion is similar to the posts above, talk more with him about it. Good luck with that and insurance. Keep us posted.

Thank you for the kind words. I know these aren't really big problems and I could (and did) have more serious concerns when I was obese, but at times my perfectionist side takes over and I cannot help the way I feel. On a positive note, my husband and I have decided to start bike riding on the weekends. I really think this will help the legs and am super excited to do it. In the past I was able to go on short little rides, but I'm excited to see how I do now.

That is excellent news about the meds and an amazing number of pounds you have lost so quickly. Congratulations!!!

Over the last week, I've posted on forum threads regarding issues with my body and things I feel could use improvement. Now in the big picture, I understand these issues are not that important especially compared to the good health I now enjoy, they're more just little annoyances that only get to me at times. One of the biggest issues is my skin. I know a lot of wls patients fear, dread, hate their lose skin and I am no different. Fortunately my arms are pretty okay and in most clothing, I look fine. But today I went swimsuit shopping to prepare for my upcoming trip (end of March) to Florida. It was a picture taken on that trip last year that prompted my search for a new weight loss plan, which eventually led to me discovering wls as an option. Okay, back to the issues. My lower body (tummy, butt, and thighs) is disgusting. I'm not giving up hope that I can tone up these areas to some extent, but it's going to take a lot of work. In college I started buying swimsuits with skirts and always wore them due to bikini line razor burn and cellulite. Both of those things are still present, but much to my dismay, my saddle bags made any skirted swimsuit bottoms look pretty bad. I spent 3 hours shopping for a swimsuit and finally came to the conclusion that my body will never be perfect and I might as well just choose something and get on with it. When I'm at the beach I actually could care less how I look and hardly ever feel self conscious. It's all about the sun and water :biggrin0: So here's the one I ended up buying. When I saw it in pictures, it wasn't quite as scary as the in the mirror, but still not the prettiest sight (I'm just loving that double butt I've got going on:-). I guess I had body issues when I was larger and those issues have not gone away just because I have shed over 90 pounds.

I wouldn't mind the tiny hiney (cute phrase) so much as long as it was lifted and not a big bowl of jello. You're right though, lunges and squats probably need to become my best friend.

So glad you're sleeve and/or baby is helping you make plenty of healthy lifestyle changes. And glad everything is progressing so well!!! Thanks for keeping us updated. We're going to start trying to conceive this spring, but we tried for two years with no luck, so I'm not holding my breath...just going to live vicariously through you;-)

Lee, I've always been lactose intolerant and the Chike powder had my stomach cramping horribly and straight to the bathroom when I first discovered it after surgery. I spoke to my nutritionist about it and she had never heard of this happening to her other patients, even those who were lactose intolerant. Because I suffered with constipation after surgery, and it was one of the only brands I could tolerate to drink, I still used it periodically...it usually took care of my constipation problem;-) I've never had a problem with yogurt and some cheeses are okay, but others are not and I'm off to the bathroom. Real ice cream has always been hit or miss with me, sometimes I can tolerate it, other times it gives me problems. I didn't worry so much about the carbs on the full liquid phase, but that's just me, because I was eating so little. I did cream of potato Soup, yogurt, unjury's Protein chicken soup, Jello, more yogurt, and other creamed Soups...pretty boring I know. I didn't do applesauce because pre-op it could give my stomach problems and send me running to the bathroom. Good luck through the rest of this phase!

That's interesting, I've never heard of height playing a role in what we can eat. I'm 5'5" and haven't had pizza yet, but did buy school lunch last week (I know gross, should have brought my lunch or went out, just didn't have time) and was almost able to eat 2 cheesy bread sticks...ate all of the cheese on both and 1 of the bread sticks. Felt a little uncomfortable full, but not too bad.

I too was tired all the time. I took an afternoon nap almost every afternoon when I got home and then had no difficulty sleeping at night. By month three my energy was through the roof, but then around month 5 I started to get so physically fatigued again (I think this was because of how much I was pushing my body with exercise). It's definitely a journey and a great time to listen to our bodies.