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Tamra, Dr. Baggs told me that I won't meet with Robin and Liz until I've met my pre-surgery goal weight. So you're not behind. Congrats on NO COFFEE today! :thumbup:

Congratulations Sarita!

Maria, I'm new here, but I want you to know that reading your story is heartbreaking. I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I hope that your infection is cleared up ASAP and that you get home to your family where you belong.

Sending good thoughts your way!

Thanks Rcarter. I'm so new at this. It's good to know that my doc does what others do.

Deb, good luck on Tuesday. I too started out wanting a Band but over at lapbandtalk.com I read about the sleeve, then found this place. I am now on board for a Sleeve and I'm delighted. I'm 59 so I understand about being a little older and having surgery. I can tell you that after a life of no surgeries, I had ankle surgery in 2008 and just last month had my gallbladder out. Everything went perfectly. I bet you're going to do just fine. I can't wait until you're posting in a few months how this was the best decision you ever made. Again, good luck with your pre-op!

Tamra, They'll have the scale for weighins at the Wednesday night support group. WTG with that salad for lunch! :willy_nilly: I've done ok today. B. 3 oz chicken L. grapefruit, plain yogurt w/blueberries D. early dinner will be - NY steak and green beans

I just met with my surgeon on Friday for the first time. He said that he performs a leak test in the OR, then an Upper GI the day after. He said that he uses the Buttress to staple method. I'm glad to read that LapSF also uses the Buttress method. I feel like I'm on information overload!

JaneP, I don't think my surgeon oversews. He said that he does a Buttress to Staple. I guess I should research what that is. :bananajump: Congrats on your sleeve working so well for you!

Tamra, back away from Starbucks and the Chicken Shack. They are not helping you achieve your goals. There is nothing there for you that works. Everything we've received from Kaiser tells us not to drink coffee drinks. Give it up now so that you can be successful later. You can do this! :thumbup:

My doctor said that he uses a 40F Bougie. When I asked him how big it would be, he pointed to my thumb. I have tiny hands. Does this sound about right?

Good to know about the Unjury products. I've read that some can tolerate them, but I too wondered about the foam when mixing.

Good Morning! Tina, you're already a success. When is the last time you shed 60 pounds in a year and kept them off? Dr. Baggs told me that anything under a 30 BMI (170) would be a success for me, but hitting 25 BMI (145) would be incredible. Just keep doing what you're doing. This isn't a race, you have the rest of your life to live in a body that you love. Great new pic Tina!! Nicole, nice to see you back! Keeping carbs to fruit and veggies really works for me. You're doing fantastic! Tamra, I said a little prayer for you (spiritual, not religious) yesterday that you wouldn't allow your tiny slip to become a problem. So great to see that you made a salad for dinner last night. If you're going to that Chicken place, it may be causing you cravings. All of those places shoot spices/sugar etc under the skin to make it taste great. Does your home baked chicken ever having you crave it over and over? Costco chicken is the same way. I just want to eat the skin! I try to keep my food pretty simple these days to keep away cravings. Candra, just keep visualizing the deposition takers in their underwear. They're just like you and everyone else, just a tougher job. Please don't let them freak you out. It will be over really soon. Jes, I think everyone is doing the holidays a bit differently this year. When I was in NYC at Thanksgiving, I bought things for my sons apartment to help him decorate a bit. I told him that was Hanukkah, Christmas and Birthday rolled into one. I'll get him the new Nabokov book that's only available in hardbound for his birthday in January and he always gets a new pair of shoes for his birthday. He'll be 36 but it's a tradition that we started when he left home. Those darn classes Adidas etc are so darn expensive that he can't afford them himself while he's a starving grad student. Hey, I'll see you at the meeting on Wednesday night. I think Tamra said she'd go as well. Yesterday I felt bingey all day. I had a ton of mouth hunger. All I wanted to do was eat. I tried to keep it in control by eating some Persimmons that I got at the Farmer's Market yesterday. So at least it was healthy. This morning it was incredible to see the scale go down .8 so I guess I didn't do as poorly as I thought. I think I was having a reaction to hearing from Dr. Baggs on Friday that my surgery goal is 230. Knowing that I was only 4.6 pounds away made it suddenly very real to think about doing this WLS. Before Friday it was just a big thought in the sky with nothing backing it up in the near future. Now it's right in my face. I'm going to really plan my food for today so that I don't eat compulsively. I'm also getting myself down into the gym on the treadmill after reading for awhile this morning. Happy Sunday to everyone!

Congratulations Susan! How great to get to Onederland before the New Year!

Cajun, my doctor put the bug in my ear back in October. I'm so glad she did! I feel like I'm getting ready for the biggest event of my life (other than my son of course). It's interesting to read the plastics thread here. Earlier today I was playing in the mirror and thinking how much I'd like a facelift when I've lost my weight. At 59, my skin has gone through a lot of changes. I'd love to look in the mirror and like what I see. Of course, that may happen without the surgery. I love my body today because it takes me through my day and works very well, but I can see loving it even better with the perky breasts I've never had. :drool5:

Hi Ash, I'm not surprised that most of the people at the meeting were RNY. I pay close attention to those that are still attending meetings. I have a feeling the people who are not following the program as written, might have more trouble getting/staying at goal, and don't show up as much to the support groups. Keep asking those questions. That's what the meetings are for. The next group at Kaiser Richmond is on the 16th, but that's the day of your surgeon appointment. The Richmond room is filled with both pre and post-op people. A few men but mostly women. Richmond is 95% RNY as well, but you have to remember that Kaiser didn't start offering the sleeve until November so there's not many out there. More will start showing up. As far as dropping some pounds, I really slashed the carbs and calories. Last week I was eating 1000-1200 calories a day. I do best losing at 1000-1100 calories a day. I did cheat and drink the Pure Protein 110 calories, 21 gr protein drinks from Trader Joe's for breakfast which helped me keep my calories down. Dr. Baggs told me to knock it off and eat real food. The food plan before and after surgery is the same for all three surgeries. They don't want us using supplements like protein shakes and to keep it real. Let me know how I can help you!

Tiffy, I think you look stunning, radiant and happy. You are one of the people that I've been following in my decision making process for the Sleeve. I see so much physical recovery here on VST. Congratulations on seeing your hard work and dedication to your Sleeve, show on your body.

Hello, I've been reading everything here for the last month. I started my WLS journey on 11/10/2009 at Kaiser Orientation. I knew I didn't want RNY but thought the LapBand sounded like a good option. After much research, I know that the LB isn't for me. I don't want to deal with fills and possible problems down the road. I know that Kaiser Richmond, has a great program but they encourage everyone to have the RNY. I'm hoping that Dr. Baggs will have an open mind and discuss the Sleeve with me. Things I want to bring up with him: I had Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2001-2003. Should it flare up again, I don't think I would be able to take the RA drugs with the RNY. My mom had Celiac Sprue, a malabsorption disease that's herediary. I'm already showing signs of having it. I don't want to compound malabsorption diseases. I have hereditary cholesterol issues. It spiked when I was raw vegan for three years. I'm taking HCTZ for blood pressure that's a little high. I take motrin for ankle surgery 17 months ago that still causes pain when I exercise. Wow, I sound like a train wreck! Is there anything else that people have discusses with their doctors to help sway them from RNY to Sleeve? I appreciate all the posts that I've read about questions to ask my doctor. I'm armed with my questions and concerns for my appointment this afternoon. Am I missing anything? I really hope I come back here tonight to post that I'm on track for a Sleeve! Thank you all for sharing your stories because they've all helped me come to an informed decision about what I want from surgery.

Good Morning! Tina, there are a lot of people over at verticalsleevetalk . com that have had the band to sleeve revision. From what I've read, it's better to have the revision before a slip or erosion as that makes it more difficult to revise. There are some that have the band out, then have to wait months until they are healed enough to be revised. I don't know what Kaiser does about revisions since the Sleeve is still so new there. Who knows what problems might arise with the Sleeve, ten years down the road. Riley, I'm so happy that you're feeling better today. So this cranberry juice, I know it's no sugar added which is great, but what's the carb count? Could someone please check for me? Thanks! Any Oakland (or close) people on this board? I'm always looking for someone to walk with. Have a fun Saturday everyone.

Hi Katrina, I'm new here as well but have gotten wonderful information. I'm going through the Kaiser Richmond program up here in Northern California. Congratulations on your wonderful weight loss!

Thanks Cajun. Your weight loss is awesome!

Thanks everyone, Candra, the AMA recently came out with new reports regarding the Sleeve. Kaiser just started to offer it as a third solution in the right situations. I have had to take meds that would not be viable for me with the RNY. At my age I decided against the LB because of upkeep and potential problems in the future with the Band. Pat, I completely understand about missing the meeting. My son comes home on the 24th. It will be his first trip home in awhile as he was teaching in Dubai for a year, then went directly to grad school in NY. I would miss it too if I were you. There's lots of future meetings. That is so cool that Virigina is your grammy!! Riley, can't wait to hear about date night. I'm very encouraged to think that I'll be more willing to meet men once I've let go of some of these pounds. Tamra, I'll see you at the meeting! I took Dr. Baggs printouts of my last week's food journal. I told him that I don't lose at 1200 and showed him my logs for 1000-1100 calories a day. He didn't like that I've been having Protein Shakes for Breakfast so I need to work on that. Whatever reason he had for giving me a low pre-surgery weight, I'm grateful! Dr. Baggs told me that as long as I'm under a 30 BMI (170) he'll be happy with my surgery and progress. I put 150 because I'll be in the 25 range. Would you up it if you were me?

Cajun, when they started with the LapBand, they didn't expect to run into problems. Now several years down the road, they're finding problems. That's what I meant by medically. We have no way to know about long range success, or do we?