Malaika

Congratulations on making it through the ordeal ... I am sure that God will provide the proper people when the time is right.

Well then on second thought, maybe GNC is not a good idea ... unless you promise to wait to eat them until you get home ... LOL... Gas sure seems to be the topic today/tonight!

Man--o-man girl you luck flippin' awesome -- what a transformation -- I'm glad you kept the pics too so now you can see how far you've come ... thank you for sharing!

Congrats Nanna - you will be in my thoughts and prayers -- post when you are able!

Are you talking about Jaffa Steve?

Actually, I find that if I take about 45 minutes to eat then I stay fuller much longer ... so it may be your hubby is done before you.

Okay Daisy ... so add GNC to your list of places to visit while in Las Vegas :svengo: We'll check out the OH YEAH bars.

I was back in one week and would have gone crazy if I had to take another week off ...

Glad to hear you're home and that everything went well Ange ... just walk, walk, walk and the gas will finally work it's way out -- or you might try pulling your own finger and see how that works for you. As for the drinking, I find it easier to suck on ice cubes -- I like my beverages really cold -- however the cold causes my esphogus to spasm ... so I find that by sucking on the ice cubes, I get the cold I want, however since there is just a trickle down my throat as they melt, I don't get the spasms. Hang in there, everyday gets easier!

Caro - Wow that is pretty cool - I may have to give serious consideration to purchasing one of those. THANKS!

WHOA - That is fantastic Bob -- you've lost as much in 3 weeks as I have in 2 months ... I know men always lose faster as Bearded is fast approaching me in weight loss and it's only been 1 month for him ... keep up the good work and congrats on getting off the BP medication.

You're welcome - hope you enjoy them. I used to live in SoCal too -- grew up in Anaheim until my dad lost his mind and took a job in Connecticut~lived there for 2 years and then moved to Indiana ... lived there up until 13 years ago when I let my (ex)husband convince me to move to Las Vegas. And here I am ...

Thank God I didn't have the back pain too - the spasming is bad enought thank you very much!

Yes but Mac is EXTREMELY active - she works out 7-9 times a week in preparation for the Ironman - so you need to add exercise into your program once your doc says it is okay.

LOL -- well yeah, you might want to clue in the hubby -- especially if you want him to accompany you ... or at least not report you as a missing person when you disappear for 5 days!

From all that I have read, that is totally normal Ash - I stalled for 2 weeks - scale didn't move even 1/10th of an ounce - then it started moving again - hang in there!

Yes, definitely much easier to read - thanks Tandy!

:lol0::lol0: I'm am so right there with you SoCal :biggrin2:

The 2nd day is always the worst - you'll feel better tomorrow and fine to go home on Thursday - every day gets easier ... you will be tired for a while though so sleep when ever you can.

But these are SWEET PICKLES and home canned ... can't compare to those store bought things ...

I was taking 150 XR before surgery - I couldn't swallow them after surgery (still can't) so I quit taking them -- I didn't have any withdrawals; however about 1 month out I did feel myself getting depressed so called my doctor and he called me in an RX for Venaflaxin - the generic of Effexor - which is NOT an XR and can be cut or crushed as needed. I had to start over at 37.5 mg; however, the venaflaxin makes me sick to my stomach, so I'm off of it once again. I see my OB/GYN (the one who prescribed it) on the 20th, so I am going to see about getting back on the XR - the 37.5 and 75 are much smaller capsules and I think I can swallow them okay and they didn't make me sick. You might want to see if your doctor will write you an RX for the venaflaxin and try taking it before surgery (you have to take it AM/PM) to see how you do with it before surgery.

I'm just now getting to the point of counting calories and carbs since surgery, mainly because I haven't been able to eat all that much and I was concerned with it -- now that my spasming seems to be improving (it's a day-to-day thing), I'm able to eat a little more so I am going to start tracking my intake. If I were you, since you're so new out of surgery, I personally wouldn't worry about it just yet - I'd focus on getting in your Protein and your fluids. That's just my opinion, however.

I've been on prilosec and nexium since they were released (years and years ago for prilosec) and had a bone density test 3 months ago. Everything was great - bones in great shape ... so agree that if taken as prescribed, it's okay -- anything taken to excess is dangerous.

VAVAVAVoom! WOW girlfriend look how darn cute and happy (and THIN) you are ... GREAT PIC ... John is going to be so shocked when he sees you. You're doing great girl!

I think that may be a true statement when I hear people saying they "only" took pain medication for 3 or 4 days or it was the worse pain they've ever had ... the only time I had pain medication was the day of surgery and I never needed it after that; so maybe it was because Dr. Aceves and his staff were "kinder" "gentler" surgeons ... I don't know for sure. I do know I'm glad I didn't have to take anymore pain medication than I did.