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Well, Saturday is my weigh in day and I GAINED 2 pounds!!!! WTH!! I'm 19 days out of surgery, only on soft/mushy foods and have NOT cheated at all! I'm blaming it all on my period and trying not to freak out!

You are doing the right thing. It seems overwhelming at times, but when you are healthier, physically and mentally, you will be glad you did it!

That's always the hardest for me, too. I've read where others drink right up to their first bite. I don't know how big a difference it makes.

Welcome! I am a former bandster as well. At the doctor's seminar I went to before my surgery someone asked him about how much you should chew food. If I remember correctly, he said overchewing was not good with the sleeve because it went through the stomach too fast causing you not to feel full as long. I was soooo glad to hear that! Good luck!

When I went in to get my drain out, one week after surgery, the dr. told me I could take pills as long as the weren't larger than a tylenol capsule. Hope you feel better soon.

Congratulations Stephanie! I was sleeved 2 weeks ago by Dr. Nick. He and his staff are fantastic! Be sure to let us know when so we can check on you!

Barbara- Glad things went well today. Good job on the weight loss and getting the dratted drain removed! Sounds like you went to Northpark and maybe LaMadeliene? That's my favorite mall! I started mushies/soft foods yesterday and had some shredded chicken for supper. I was really worried when I at 4 bites I didn't feel full, thought there was something wrong with my sleeve, but then a few bites later I looked at Bill and said, I'm full. So I guess it's working just fine! Keep up the great job!

I'm just so happy for you!!

Good luck Hope! I'm so glad you're finally getting answers.

J- Just take your time and make sure things are REALLY moist to watery in consistency. I haven't tried anything more real than Soups or runny mashed potatoes at this point. If you do run into a problem when eating, remember the retching will cause your stomach to swell again, so you might want to go back to liquids to give it a chance to go back down. Thanks Theresa for the mention! I had refried Beans for lunch today and I swear they were the best thing I've eaten in years!!! LOL Thanks for being a week ahead of me, too. It has been so easy just to follow right behind you!

Welcome! It sounds like you have a pretty good support system with your husband and counselor. Be sure to lean on them when you need a little extra support. I lost 70 pounds with my band and don't know that I ever felt "sexy". My husband is like yours and thinks I am all the time! (We are so lucky!) Even though I didn't feel sexy I was so much more confident with myself and I think that showed through in other areas of my life. Good luck and congratulations with your decision. The 27th isn't that far away!

Welcome Marci and congratulations for choosing to do this "for you" and noone else! The time will fly til your surgery date!

I think that feeling of depleting the ocean of crab and being so full on 3 oz is why the sleeve works. If you follow the rules for 60 g of protein you kind of automatically fall in the appropriate calorie range. When I lost my 70 pounds with the band, I NEVER counted calories, only protein and water intake. TRUST the process! Every doctor and nutritionist has a plan that's a little different than the one before. Dr. Nick has had many successful patients doing what we are doing now. Just trust the process.

It's not as hard to do as you think. I had to learn to not drink while eating when I had the band. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had a harder time waiting to drink after I ate.

I had that problem too. Sandy told me to use Milk of Magnesia, not Miralax. She said the Miralax needs to be after your on solids. So last week in to 2 tsp of MOM on Friday, no help; Sat 4 tsp and still no help. Finally Sunday when I drank a REAL Protein shake things started moving. Sorry this is so late to your original message, but I've been out of pocket all day.

That's awesome! Keep up the good work!

Hey Barbara! Glad you're home safely and feeling better. Everyday will get better. I feel pretty normal now. Keep up the good work!

2009 sounds like it was a great year for you to get things moving in a positive direction. May 2010 continue that trend for you.

Breek- Congratulations on making the decision to take control and LIVE your life! What you are doing for yourself and your daughter is so great! Jan. 6 will be here quickly!

I think you would definitely need two weeks off of work. I had my sleeve on 12/22 and go back to work next week, 1/4. There is no way I could have gone back this week. I'm a HS counselor so I just used the holiday break as part of my recovery. Which didn't make for the best Christmas, but I HATE to miss work! I am a band revision as well and know that all I learned to do with the band will pay off with the sleeve. The eating guidelines are so much the same. I lost 70 lbs with the band but gained 40 back. Good luck!

WOW Kermit! That's incredible! Congratulations.

I don't know anyone in CT, but I used Dr. Nick Nicholson in Dallas and really liked him and his staff. I was self-pay as well.

You are doing so well! Keep up the good work. Britany moved me to full liquids yesterday and told me to move to soft/mushy next week. The Forest Park plan is different from the Baylor one, she told me to follow the Baylor. The FP plan has you do 1 week of clear, then 2 weeks of full, then soft. I'm glad she told me that. How's Matt?

Way to go Cajun! What a great start to the new year!