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I have a 40f and I'm ok with that. My Kaiser facility doesn't do smaller than a 40f. At 4.5 months out I can eat 3 ounces of dense Protein with a little bit of fruit or veggie in the same meal. I can eat 4 oz of shrimp if it has butter or cocktail sauce on it. I'm just starting to eat some fruit and veggies. I have no problem getting in fluids. I figure the Sleeve is a tool and the rest is up to me. I can use it or I can eat sliders. It's all my choice.

Sherri, Who is your doctor? Everyone that I have talked to is on Protonix 2x a day, morning and evening. Find out if you should be taking more given the discomfort that you're having. You may be producing too much acid for your Sleeve to handle.

That's great Tamra. I'll look forward to it. Sherri, the most critical thing for you right now is that you don't get dehydrated. I'm concerned because you have pain drinking water which would have me want to stop doing it. I know a lot of people that had to be admitted to the ER to get hydrated. I'm on Protonix 2x a day for anti-acid. When my sleeve was irritated for a couple of months, Dr. Baggs gave me Carafate at my three month visit. That's what is generally given to RNY patients to coat the stomach and reduce chance of irritation. I only took it for about a week. I've recently determined that what causes the irritation for me is eating meat. As someone who's been vegan or vegetarian for most of my adult life, not eating meat is easy for me. We all have to find our own path. Since you're still on full liquids, I would definitely check in with Kaiser tomorrow and ask for help. This doesn't sound like the incision pain that you're already familiar with. Insist on getting help, even if it's in the form of getting fluids at your local Kaiser. Please keep us posted on how you're doing.

Hi Sherri, I didn't have that problem with my Sleeve. Are you sipping slowly? Sometimes walking around after drinking or eating feels pretty good. What foods are you eating now that you're in full liquids? April, I hope they figure out what's going on with your band before you have anymore pain. Mo - OWIEEEEE Hi and happy holiday weekend to everyone! I just spent a week getting over jetlag from my trip to France where I had a great time. I have been really serious with my exercise so that I'll be at 174 when I see Dr. Baggs mid-August. Last week I only walked 20 minutes and swam once because after 9 hour work days, I was only able to walk 2 miles Monday and Tuesday. The jetlag and 9 hour time difference had me really tired until Wednesday. I hit a milestone on Friday. First time under 189 in over 30 years. I've definitely been celebrating, but with walking, not food. I'm determined to be "overweight" at my six month check-up. Take good care everyone. Kaiser support group is Wednesday night for anyone that wanted a reminder.

April, I'm keeping you in my thoughts. I hope you start feeling better very quickly.

Hi Everyone, I think I've caught up on many of the posts of the last two weeks. It sounds like everyone is doing great! I just spent one week in Provence and the second week on the French Riviera in an apartment that we had. I went with my 36 year old son and we had a great time. It was very strange not logging my food and eating differently. I discovered that my Sleeve really doesn't like meat all that much. I ate a little of everything and sampled things I wouldn't eat at home. I felt a lot better eating more vegetarian and got in my first salads in 4 months and more fruit as well. I definitely ate more carbs and less protein. Now I need to figure out what works at home. I was throwing up a lot before vacation and never did while away. We walked a lot. Last week 47 miles and more the week before. We traveled 25 hours to get home. We got here last night, I slept around 5 hours, then went to work for 9 hours. I was thrilled to come home and have the energy to walk 2 miles. I worried that maybe I gained weight but came home down 4 pounds. YAY! I haven't been under 189 in 30+ years so I'm so looking forward to it! I still have Dr. Baggs goal of being "overweight" at my six month visit so that means I have to shed 16 pounds in the next 7 weeks. That's my recap and now it's time to chill, have dinner and clean up some of this travel mess that's all around me. Take care everyone! Hey, did I mention that I love my Sleeve? :ohmy:

YAY Pat, so good to see you. I've really missed you. Would you please PM me your email address. I thought I had it, but I don't. I met a woman at the Kaiser group that lives up in your area and I told her about you. Riley, I had hoped to finally make it to one of the walks but I'll be away on vacation that week. I leave tomorrow at 3:30am for my 15 day trip to the South of France. I'm so looking forward to it! Take care everyone!

The options classes are held at the Southern California Kaiser Hospitals. We don't have that up here in Northern California. Good luck to all of you with your surgeries!!

Welcome Cole! This is a great website. I'm a Sleever so I don't have info or experience to share on the Band.

Good Morning! Things are going good here. Lot's of exercise and sun this weekend. My son got home yesterday so it was great that he got up and walked the 3 miles around the lake with me this morning. Weight loss still going slow but determined to be 174 when I see Dr. Baggs in August since that was the goal he set for me to be "overweight" at my six month check. I won't be around until the end of the month as I have a busy work week and leave early Friday morning for France to spend a week in Provence and a week in an apartment on the French Riviera. I'm looking forward to a visit to St. Tropez and all of the other southern towns. This vacation is a treat for working my Sleeve and really taking care of myself this year. I'll try to stop back before I leave. Have a fun day everyone.

Stacey, your BMI is so low to start with. My surgeon gave me a goal to be at a 30 BMI at my 6 month mark. You're doing fantastic!

I feel your pain! Month one - down 18 pounds Month two - down 3 pounds Month three - down 9 pounds What I did differently to get it going was to plan 60 minutes of exercise 6-7 days a week. There were a couple of weeks I had 60 minutes 5x and 30 minutes 2x. I keep carbs low and didn't get over 500-600 calories until I was 3 months out. Now at 3.5 months I'm aiming for 700-800 calories a day. How is your Protein intake. I learned over at OH that upping the protein would help and it did. I now try to get in at least 1 Protein shake daily and to get 80 grams of protein. Try shaking things up. Exercise, rotate the amount of calories. Your body may have just adjusted to what you've been doing.

Congratulations!! It will take more than a few bites of anything to sabotage your plan. We're in this for the long haul and that's going to include a few bites of something here and there. The important part is that it's very occasional and only a bite or two. Enjoy the journey!

Congratulations on your surgery! At 3.5 months post op, I eat three meals a day. I can eat 2-4 oz of dense Protein depending on what it is. shrimp 4 oz, turkey 3 oz, beef 3 oz. If I eat that amount of protein there's not room for anything else. If I want to eat some lettuce, or 1/4 of a peach, I have to reduce the amount of protein. My plan calls for up to 1/2 cup of protein, 1/4 of a small fruit OR a few spoons of veggies and 1/2 slice of well toasted whole wheat bread or small slice of potato. I haven't been able to eat those things if I eat protein. I'm keeping it to low carb because I don't want the cravings. 6 months? I have a few months before i get there. I'm sure others will chime in.

Katt, What a wonderful, well thought out post. My mother died with advanced Altzheimer's so I understand your concerns. I too have a 40f and at 59, I'm very pleased with it. I may not be losing as quickly as a 30 year old with a 32f, but I think my progress is wonderful given all of the factors. My quality of life is already improving. I have pictures of my Sleeve and I don't see the larger pouch that you're talking about. I'll have to give it a closer look and ask my surgeon at my 6 month follow-up in August. Congratulations on your great progress!

I have a 40f and I'm doing fine with no complications. At 3.5 months out I can eat 4 oz of shrimp, 3 oz of dense meat if I eat slowly.

At 3.5 months out, I'm still taking my Protonix 2x a day. Last night was the first night since 3 days post-op that I woke up with acid in my mouth. YUCK. I got hungry on Day 10, but it was resolved when I went to soft foods. My program is 1/4 cup, 3x a day no snacking no Protein supplements. At around 7 weeks I got hungry again, still eating 1/4 - 1/3 of a cup of food 3x a day. When I went for my 3 month checkup the surgeon said it probably wasn't true hunger from what I described (hollow feeling an hour after eating) but that my Sleeve is irritated. I took Carafate to coat my Sleeve for around a week and it started to get better. At 3.5 months out, something changed and I'm not getting as hungry between meals anymore. I'm just now building up to 4 oz of protein 2x a day and a Protein shake for breakfast. Things like steak I can only eat 3 oz. We are all so different. We all have our own story of how we feel as far as being hungry, full, satisfied etc. All in all, I'm thrilled with my Sleeve. I was always hungry before surgery but didn't have a chance of losing weight. I'd rather fight the fat battle from this side! :thumbup:

You go girl! What a fabulous journey you've had. Everyone here is so lucky to have had your guidance along the way as we've started our journey. You taught me so much as I came here to learn about the Sleeve. Bumping into you here was wonderful for me. You look terrific, your energy shines and your happiness is so apparent to everyone who knows you. I wish you continued Sleeve success and hope that the baby making process is joyful! Keep shining Tiffy!

I'm reading the same stories as well. It seems like a common thread is "carbs". I tested it with a few crackers, or with 1/2 a small movie popcorn (gained 2 pounds overnight and took a week to drop them), and I can see how it would be so easy to eat carbs and gain weight. The carbs slide down like it's a party going on in there. Dancing straight through my sleeve, not a hint of fullness or restriction. Needless to say, I won't be visiting popcorn again, and the box of crackers (whole wheat health food store blah blah blah) went into the dump after eating 4 of them and seeing them slide on through. I ate low carb before surgery and I guess it's going to be my path post-op as well. I can't complain because before I would do low carb and lose 5-10 pounds a year, only to put them right back on if I picked up carbs again for a moment. At least I have a fighting chance of keeping the pounds off this time. Rather than being frightened by it, I hope to read and reread those stories to motivate me to stay on track.

I was surprised to hear 1 hour a day as my plan recommends 30 minutes daily to everyone. It's true that many of us had very slow metabolism in the first place, so 30 minutes just isn't enough. When I walk fro an hour and get in over 12,000 steps a day on my pedometer, I'm more likely to see a few ounces lost the next day. I tend to stay the same weight for around 10 days, then drop a pound. Very frustrating, but certainly not as frustrating as dieting forever and not losing at all. I'd like my weight to drop more quickly but not willing to do more than an hour a day at this point. I haven't fallen prey to the snacking, but I'm only 3.5 months out and my Protein meals take care of my hunger. I just won't/don't keep anything carby in my house to turn to.

Welcome Acaaew. They may not recommend RNY for you as a cancer survivor. The Sleeve is more effective for those of us that have needed drugs in the past and may need them again. Because of that, the only surgery available to me was the Sleeve and since that was my 1st choice, I was thrilled. Analynn, I get my calcium citrate chews at Bariatric Advantage. I like the raspberry and chocolate flavors. Ash, so sorry you're sick sweetheart. :biggrin: John, Robin doesn't advance to the last stage, that's up to Doc Fisher. Baggs and I didn't even discuss it so I just did it. Has anyone seen or heard from Pat? I'm getting a little concerned about her. Late for work, have to run....

Bevanne, I personally got a little hungry on Day 10 but then wasn't hungry at all when I went to soft foods. Around week 7 my hunger came back and I felt like I was hungry 2 hours after eating. At around 3+ months, the hunger seems to be lessened again. My surgeon thought it had something to do with Sleeve irritation and I did take carafate for a week after my 3 month checkup. Maybe that helped soothe my Sleeve and took away some of the hunger.

I had my surgery at 59. My surgeon told me that over 50 we need to exercise 1 hour a day to have the metabolism of someone in their 30's that is sedentary. So it may take a little longer to get to goal. That's ok, let's all enjoy the journey!

I have a 40f. That's the smallest my Kaiser will go. They think that having a bigger sleeve allows better hydration and less complications post-op. I tried to talk them into smaller. :thumbup1: I've had no issues with reflux etc after the third day when my PPI - Protonix kicked in. By day 5 I was able to easily get in 64 oz of fluids. No complications. I don't know if the size of my bougie has anything to do with my slow weight loss but I would venture to say it's more about exercise etc, than the size 40f. All in all, I'm very pleased with my recovery and progress.

I do gross calories and carbs, but enter my exercise into myfitnesspal.com as well.