Lee

Pam, just jump right into the conversation on Rich Bar facebook page. You're right, we haven't seen a new band person in a very long time. A few RNY and mostly Sleeves.

HI Reggie, I was wondering the same thing! I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the summer. I'm so happy that it's finally warming up! Take care everyone!

Congratulations Kim! You are doing terrific. Isn't it amazing what you can do so early out. I remember being on the treadmill on day 5, sipping 64 oz of water. How cool that you had the one incision procedure! I don't think they're doing them at Richmond yet. My surgeon Dr. Baggs came to speak at one of the Richmond support groups. He said that regardless of what you do, your hair will shed. It will stop when your rapid weight loss stage is over, so wear this as a badge of huge accomplishment. I remember mine stopping at around 10 months and now at 17 months it's very thick and you'd never know I lost any. Take good care of yourself and don't overdo it!

Hi everyone, just checking in to say hello. I've just returned from two great weeks in Spain. The food sux and was too expensive to eat out so we pretty much ate from the farmer's markets which is great after WLS anyways. I wore my pedometer daily and logged in 10-15 miles a day for 13 days. It felt so great to have the weight off and be able to be so excited about moving. I went to a Weight Watchers meeting in Sevilla, Spain and hit my Lifetime status. I'm using WW to be accountable to a weekly weigh in. I figure my leader will hit me upside the head if I start to slip. I need all the help I can get to make this Sleevie successful. Big congrats to Kim! Welcome to the Sleeve Loser's Bench. Heather, I'm so glad you didn't have your surgery while you were sick. You'll have such an easier recovery when you're feeling great to start with.

Anyone going to the Santa Rosa support group this morning? I'm going to be there as I want to hear the Plastic Surgeon speak. Please say hi if you're there!

Heather, congratulations! I've been following you over at verticalsleeve talk, so I know how excited you are! I couldn't be happier for you as you have waited longer, and been put through more hoops, than any of us. Keep on fantasizing because what's ahead of you is simply fantastic. What date is your surgery? I'm going on vacation, returning on June 27th. I'll be around for any Sleevie support and to answer any questions that you may have, if you're looking for that. Just remember to sip sip sip, walk walk walk and know that everything is going to be just fine. During the first few days I had a lot of phone calls so I got up and walked while I was on the phone. It took my mind off any little pains that were there. During the first few days I had lots of Dreyers No Sugar Added popsicles to help get the fluids in and it felt good on my swollen Sleevie. I kept a glass by the sink and threw the sticks in so that at the end of the day I counted 2 oz of fluids for every stick. A lot of people find it hard to get down plain Water, I used a lot of warm herbal tea in the beginning. Crystal light has just been too sweet to me. Now I can tolerate the Peach tea flavor of Crystal light but only in small quantities. Sobe 0 Fugi Apple Pear flavor was my fav drink becuase it was like diluted apple juice without the calories. Be ready for your taste buds to change. Everything is so sweet in the beginning. Kaiser Richmond doesn't recommend any shakes, but I know that SSF does. Beware that shakes may cause lactose intolerance in the beginning. I had the runs something fierce while on full liquids until I discovered the culprit and went to Muscle Milk Light which has no lactose. GNC has a lot of good brands with enzymes that counteract the lactose in the whey Protein. sleep raised up on pillows those first nights. I never had heardburn a day in my life until day 3 post op when I slept on 2 instead of 3 pillows. Woke up with a mouthful of acid and learned my lesson. The PPI's will kick in soon enough and you'll be able to sleep laying down. Be excited, be happy and wait for the beautiful changes that are about to happen for you.

Welcome Chef Neil. Your surgery date is getting closer. Are you excited? This thread has been quiet for awhile. How's everyone doing on their journey?

I'm so in for that party! Good luck with your job search. Is anyone going to the Santa Rosa meeting on the 14th? I've never been, but I'm planning to go on Saturday. Lee

Congratulations Heather!! Pam, I'm sorry that eating is so tough on you. I can so relate to not feeling great about yourself. I have watched so many people breeze through this surgery process and get to goal so quickly, while shedding each ounce has been torture for me. I honestly thought it would be easier than this has been. Last summer doing 3 hours of exercise daily with a trainer and I was still only able to shed 3 pounds a month, was so darn tough. I'm still fighting my way towards my goal. In January I decided to go back to Atkins and did get 10 pounds off in 3 months. Lately, I find that I'm doing a little better with adding in more veggies. I'm not a bander so I don't know how dense Protein feels to you, but I'm so sorry that it hurts you. Riley, hang in there with your ulcer. Are there less carby foods than oatmeal that you can eat and still feel good? Aren't tofu scrambles pretty easy on the system? I was a vegan/no sugar/flour for over 10 years and ate a lot of tofu. How does that work with your bank? Have a fun weekend everyone!

opps, double post. Sorry

Hello, What Kaiser does offer are twice a month support group meetings. The people who continue to come appear to be pretty successful. It's a great bunch and there's a lot of accountability. If you're on Facebook, you can look for the Richmond Bariatric group. People post there looking for, and giving support. They keep saying that people who attend groups tend to be more successful so I've been going 2x a month for the last 16 months and intend to continue. I'd love to see more people there. I know it's too far for many of you, but if you're close enough, give it a try. 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month. Sometimes we have a speaker and it's fun and informative. Third floor conference room.

Pat, it's great to see your face on here again! it looks like you're doing really well. I may be coming up to the Santa Rosa meeting with some friends in April. I'd love to see you there. I just wanted to mention that the Richmond meeting now has a Facebook page. I don't really check into FB very often but wanted to put it out there that it's available. It's something like Richmond Bariatric and it's a private page so it won't show up on your regular FB if you participate.

Hi Reggie, it's good to see you posting here. How have you been? Little Mo, get yourself back to that meeting! There's a woman from the Sleeve site that came on Wednesday, she lives in Antioch. Maybe you could get a carpool going. What about MamaAsh, get her coming with you. The group is really growing with lots of new people. They keep saying that people that attend support groups have a better shot at long term success. I NEED/WANT that for myself so I go. I also want to pay it forward as people were in that room for me while I was pre-op and it meant a lot to me. I'm going to the San Leandro meeting this afternoon to celebrate the great woman that started that support group 10 years ago. That's quite an accomplishment. I heard from John on our 1 year surgiversary. He's doing well. Figuring out how to eat in his new body. He's under 200 pounds and feeling great. I'm still making my way towards goal. One pound at a time but I'm definitely not giving in until I get there. I see Dr. Baggs on the 30th and will have him access my progress with me. I'm feeling better at 60 than I've felt since I was in my 20's. My life is now filled with yoga, pilates and all sorts of other fun, now that movement is fun again! Have a fun weekend!!

Analynn, congratulations on your surgery! Hello everyone. The Kaiser Richmond meetings have been good. They're still on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday nights. We're having a speaker these days on the 3rd Wed. Last month was Dr. Baggs and this week we had Dr. Shnurr the psychologist most of us saw pre-op. She did a presentation on body image that was quite good. I hope some of you will start coming again. They say that going to a support group ups the chance of a good recovery/maintenance so I try to never miss it. I'm hoping to go to the Santa Rosa support group in April. Do any of you go there? Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary meeting of the East Bay Bariatric group that meets in San Leandro. It should be a nice meeting. Riley, how's it going with WW? I'm still attending the weekly meetings but don't use the points so much because I eat low carb so I track calories/protein/carbs, but when I log my points I'm generally between 15 and 20. Eating the fruit just doesn't work for me and I gain weight in a flash. Take care everyone!!

I'm almost a year out. I have been able to eat more than others since the early months. I know my sleeve is bigger than others. That said, following the rules of protein first is the best thing because it's more filling than anything else. I find that I have to really limit my carbs and stick to dense protein. I could eat a lot more than I allow myself if I wanted to but I want to get to my goal. I track everything in myfitnesspal so that I'm realistic about what I'm taking in. I exercise daily. As an example, today I had: I know others eat a lot less calories. Calories - 1002 Protein - 119 Carbs - 17 I still have 14 pounds to lose and I'm sad that I won't be there next week, but this is a journey and I'm doing what I can for the best possible outcome. Hang in there and go back to basics. You'll be fine!

Just checking in to say hello and see how everyone is doing? It's way too quiet around here. Has everyone moved to a different lapband site? I spend my time over on Obesityhelp . com because there are a lot of Sleevers over there, but I like to keep track of my friends over here. For any of you in the area, a reminder that this Wednesday is the Kaiser Support Group from 6-7:30. On Feb 16th one of the 4 surgeons will be speaking. That should be fun. My one year surgery anniversary is on the 17th. I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. I'm still working my way towards goal!

That sounds like so much fun. Congratulations to both of you on your fantastic success stories!

Hi Riley, I joined WW back in October before the switch to the new plan which happened at Thanksgiving. I found that I can't lose an ounce following the guidelines but the points allotment is good. Last week I switched over to Atkins Induction level of carbs and had a much better week. I was happy to maintain my weight between Thanksgiving and New Years but now it's time to get these last pounds off. How far are you from Lifetime? I don't remember how tall you are. I need to be 146 to be at Lifetime so I have a ways to go!

They discovered that half of the people that went to the orientation class never came back, so now everyone at Richmond has to go to the 2 hour overview class before being registered for orientation. I think they try to scare us off at the overview so that they won't waste their time with people that aren't serious. Good luck with your process.

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing all of you a very healthy and happy 2011.

John, surgery brother, where the heck are you? Friday was our 10 month anniversary! If you're around, how about an update on how you're doing. Things have been slow for me since October when I injured my back and had to cut back to only around 30 minutes of walking a day. I haven't dropped many pounds since then. I'm happily wearing size 10 or 12 jeans and cords. I'm still aiming for my goal to get 100 pounds off. It's just not happening at the pace that I'd like but I'll continue forging ahead. I'm doing Physical Therapy at Kaiser now to help me get rid of this back pain. How's it going for you?

The support group meeting wasn't very good. Robin was there to talk nutrition for the holidays but Liz basically talked the entire time. It's still the same meeting as it was previously. It's really not possible to be honest about what's going on with eating etc. I'm grateful for Kaiser, Dr. Baggs and my WLS and the surgical care that I received, but the support group meetings have been lacking since Bev retired. Liz is trying to change up the format which can be a positive thing, so we'll see what happens in the New Year. With my Sleeve, I find that OH is the best support group for me, for finding information etc. I wish I had a better report about the Kaiser meeting. The first Wednesday is generally better because the post-ops meet in a separate room with no facilitator. That's where the honest talk happens. Happy Holidays to all of you and your families!

Hello Everyone, It sure was tough to find this thread again. I just wanted to remind everyone that the Kaiser meeting is this Wednesday night. I think Robin is doing a presentation on Holiday eating. Liz said Robin would have recipes and ideas for navigating December successfully. She said it would be different than what we generally hear from Robin. I've been having a really hard time shedding the pounds. I was started on thyroid meds in August but I'm not really seeing a difference. Regardless of the surgery, it takes a lot of determination and commitment. Happy December everyone.

Just a reminder that tonight is the Kaiser Richmond support group from 6-7:30. Tonight we have a plastic surgeon coming to speak to the post-ops. I hope to see some of you there.

Good Morning, Is anyone from down here in the Bay going up to Santa Rosa for the WLS support group tomorrow morning? I'm thinking of driving up.