Malaika

As I said on FB Tiff - have a safe, happy and blessed Thanksgiving Dinner with your family. HUGS to you and we'll talk to you when you get home!

I take the 2500 mcg sublingual B12 and get it at Wal-Mart - it's really good! I also take the adult gummy multi-vitamins you can get at Costco - they're very tasty!

Chancie - Haven't you heard? The new "normal" is "abnormal" ... LOL

Only one tattoo - it's on the top of my right breast - I call it my "titty-tat" ... so far no change in it...BUT I have another 50 lbs. I want to lose and then have a boob lift and TT ... so not sure how that will affect my tat -- it's an Angel - wondering if after the lift, I'll must have wings and nothing else --- LOL

Chancie - My brother SWEARS by the Mac - that is all they have in their household and it's true, they're never bothered by viruses. The IT guy at our office likes Mac as well, for the same reasons. My desktop was a computer that my ex-husband built, and now I have an Acer laptop - I gave the desktop to my daughter-in-law and only use the laptop. I saw in the paper today that on Friday morning from 5 am-11 am Wal-Mart is going to have an e-machine laptop for $198; of course, I'm sure there will be a line a mile long. I hope Santa is good to you this year too! Wishing you a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving, and giving thanks, too, that we've become "friends".

[quote=DALITEDESIGNS;21111]Thanks everyone for all your amazing advice so far. Hope my answers help you some - I'm sure others will have their own stories as well; if you have any other questions, ASK!

Christmas goals :svengo:-- I haven't thought that far ahead - right now I'm trying to get through Thanksgiving and family coming in from out of state -- I'll figure out my Christmas goals after things calm down around here!:w00t: Proud of those of you have thought that far ahead!:confused1:

Ryan's Girl -- OMG 65 lbs in 11 weeks -- do you realize that is 5.9 lbs. a week????? Do you realize that is 59% of the weight you wanted to lose in 11 weeks??? I can't believe you're questioning whether this surgery is going to work for you -- it seems to me it's working BIG TIME!!! I was sleeved 5.5 months ago and I've lost 51% of what I want to lose -- so you've got me beat hands down. You didn't put this weight on overnight and it's not going to come off overnight -- this is not a race - this is a marathon and you are way out in front of the pack girl! Don't focus on what you still have to lose - Celebrate the weight you have lost ...FOCUS on the positives!!! Keep doing what you're doing ....if you keep losing at the rate you're losing, you'll reach your goal in a little over 4 months ... have you ever been able to do that before? Have you ever lost 175 lbs in 6 months before? What's even better -- if you follow the plan, you'll keep it off!!! You're doing great, you're looking great - you're a very beautiful woman -- keep on keeping on - and you'll be at goal before you know it!

Joon and Newmom - you'll be in our thoughts and prayers - keep us posted on your progress and your surgery experience when you're able to do so. Tell Dr. Aceves and his staff all of his patients from VST say "HI" ...

I was using 1/2 a dose every morning in my coffee (can't taste it at all) and it did absolutely nothing for me. I still find that eating a salad every day seems to do the trick for me. You can take magnesium (500 mg) - 1 tablet a day - and if that doesn't work - then 2 tablets a day -- that works for most people. And, if you're lactose intolerant like I am, you could always just eat some dairy (ice cream, milk, etc.) and that will clear you out in no time.

I'm the same way Tiffy - and I have issues with mayonnaise too -- haven't figured that one out yet, but it really hurts my stomach. I gave up on spaghetti sauce, which bums me out because I really liked it on the ricotta bake.

Megan - WELCOME to VST ... I think Tiffy did a great job in answering all your questions. You will absolutely LOVE Dr. Aceves and his staff. Keep us posted on your progress!

Wow, I must have a high pain threshold, as I didn't take any pain medication after being released from the hospital and even rode home 6 hours in the car and still didn't need anything. I guess everyone's level of pain is different.

JeepChick - welcome to VST and keep us posted on your progress - January 18th will be here before you know it!

Cajun - Congratulations! Isn't it a great feeling to feel "normal" ?

Dalite - So happy you've got your smile back ... when you smile, it makes people wonder what you've been up to!

Donna - Aleve does nothing for me at all. I will ask my Ortho about the other - never heard of it. I can say that I hardly take it now for the pain since I've lost my weight. I haven't had cortisone shots for over a year now - and was getting them every 4-6 months. I know the degenerative arthritis I have isn't going to go away and eventually I will have to have bilateral knee replacements; however, losing 50 lbs has helped immensely and can't help but believe that when the other 50 comes off it will do anything other than help too. I will, though, ask my doctor about the drug you suggest. Thanks!

Paula - try sipping warm drinks to help with the pain - I had that after my surgery - I would drink - pain - burb, repeat. The heating pad on the chest and back really helped. If the pain persists, you need to talk to your doctor. I also had trouble sleeping -- I took liquid benadryl for 2-3 days and after that I didn't have any trouble at all sleeping. Hope that helps.

Every doctor is different - Dr. Aceves has us on 10 days clear, 10 days full, 10 days mushies, then progress to normal food as tolerated. I would think the choice is up to you - to follow the post-surgery diet your doctor provided, or another one from another doctor- whatever you do, you definitely need to follow SOME post-op diet and slowly add in new foods as your stomach tolerates.

Newmom - quit stressing - you're wasting needless energy on things you can't control - on top of that - stress raises your BP and can cause you to have diarhea, so the one thing you don't want may be brought on by your stress and nothing else -- 10 days out from surgery you should be okay.

Rosebud2 warned me about the bra thing before surgery - I asked Dr. Aceves is he could make the incision below that line and his response was "That's the spot where I retract the liver, if I can make it lower I will, if I can't, I won't" -- Luckily, he was able to make it a little lower and my bra never rubbed on it or bothered it at all - so just to be on the safe side, you might want to put one non-underwire bra in your suitcase and just mention to Dr. Aceves about making the incision lower - he may not be a able to, but if he is aware of it, he'll do it if he can. Hope that helps! That's hilarious about your brother-in-law. I call him Bearded on here because he posts - BeardedItalian and so everyone knows him as Bearded!

sounds yummy Joon; thanks for sharing.

Awesome Judy - once you lose some weight you'll be able to get off the BP medication - glad it worked for you!

Congrats on getting your surgery date Judy!

Dani - welcome to VST and thank you for sharing your story - you are so lucky to be able to have this surgery at such a young age and have your whole future of a healthy life ahead of you. It's great, too, that you have all the support you have from your family and work. Keep us posted on your progress as you begin this journey!