Keys Pirate

Excellent decision. If there is a better, more experienced, more proven sleeve surgeon out there I have no idea who he is. Not to over do it but I believe Aceves is the king in his field, hands down. Good luck to you, follow your heart! Oh, and I can relate to the cross country thing - I live in S. Florida! C

She did do wonderfully and since she had the surgery early the day before, I guess you could say she was there two days. It all worked out wonderfully - she's lost almost 80 pounds (of 150) since March 25!

Too funny, I was just going to suggest him. While I had my surgery with Aceves, a very close friend of mine just had hers done with Whitwell in March. She was thrilled with all aspects from beginning to end. I was there for her through the surgery and witnessed how well they took care of her. My only "beef" was they let her out of the hospital the very next day. I was skeptical but, since such excellent care was so close, I suppose it wasn't that big of a deal. Oh, Whitwell recommended a Dr. Ross for aftercare/PCP - who is supposed to be just fantastic. Very, very caring, concerned and does most basic procedures (like drawing blood) right there in his office. I made an appointment with him myself for later this month. Good luck I think you'll be very happy with Dr. Whitwell! C

Tiff, you ROCK darlin'!!! You are such an inspiration to us all! Congrats, congrats and congrats! Still hoping to see you here in the Keys some time this year! Cheers again, C

Oh MAN do I remember feeling the exact same way at 40 pounds!! Actually, at 40 is when people JUST started to notice, I was frustrated and amazed at how very FAT I must have been! I think they should have noticed 5 pounds gone afterall! :scared0: Funny thing is, when I hit 60 lost, suddenly everyone is telling me enough!! Don't lose any more. My advice, though I know it's hard and we all want a little attention and appreciation for what we are doing, is forget about the public. The positive attention is going to become tedious after awhile, trust me. I love all the good comments but I'm ready to move on to the next greatest thing to talk about. Make any sense?? Good luck to you and hang in there kiddo! C

Well, I thought I could do it and I did for a number of weeks; over a month, anyway. I kicked my PPI after several pretty rough moments and with the help of Zantac. I went along ok for most of the time but lately... good grief, I was sure getting absolutely SICK of being "hungry" and uncomfortable so I officially gave up the battle at least for the time being. The Zantac wasn't doing much good. I think being on a PPI for a year might be a more reasonable time frame for us sleevers. I'm just over 5 months out, btw. So, I've been back on for almost a week now and all the symptoms are going away - yay! I know that it takes several days for the levels to be fully maximided in our blood but I think I'm just about there as the food obsessing that has been creeping in again is going away once again. As many of you have stated, the benefits of being on a PPI seem to far outweigh the drawbacks so I'm banking on it at this point. Defeat admitted. To be continued...

I didn't ever "stall" by definition until this month. I hit 80# lost and then stopped for 2 weeks and a couple of days. Just this week I threw off another five pounds - yay. I have noticed, also, that at every "decade" - every 10 pounds - I would not lose weight for 4-5 days or so, it was funny, actually, and got to be expected - as frustrating as it is. At least I knew it was coming. I'm guessing the stall this month is simply because I am near bottoming out - reaching goal and my body is trying to find it's happy medium. Yay for all of us!!!! C

Yeah! Haven't posted in the last couple of weeks because I went through my first real stall. I didn't get too stressed however and it broke, sure enough. I just pitched 5 pounds over this last week bringing me to.... drumroll... 169! 19 to go and I would be perfectly happy right where I'm at! Size 10's are baggy, everyone is telling me enough already and I'm feeling great and loving life! On the down side, yep, hairloss happens... by the hand full... I think it's slowing after a solid month of loss though. I sure hope so, it was thin to begin with. I'm also getting leg cramps every night... have jacked my potassium supplements, however, and it's helping. Wish I could get a true explanation as to how that happens... oh well! Thinking about plastics next year... tummy and lifting the girls! Whhooooohooo! Oh AJW, ROCK ON WOMAN!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!

I disagree 100% and am afraid you are setting yourself up for more disappointment. Simply, the science regarding carbs and weight loss is there and has been proven a jillion times. I don't buy into the good carb/bad carb thing either. Sugar is sugar, a carb is a carb. Anyhow, it will be interesting to see how it goes for you and hopefully you will prove us wrong but I doubt it. Personally, I have had raging success with carb reduction during my losing stage. I'm at 85 pounds lost in 5 months, my goal is 104#'s. I've only had one stall that was for two weeks that just ended; never had any real stalls until this one. I just dumped another five pounds in as many days. To keep my energy level and mood up, I don't turn to carbs, I turn away from them. Have another Protein shake. I know earlier on when I was feeling like a slug, a shake turned that around 180 degrees. Or exercise. I ride the death out of my bike - some 75 miles per week and push as hard as I can when I ride. It's working miracles in so many ways. Or just pull yourself out of it! I get funky and then ask myself what the heck I have to be funky about. It usually works. Re-reading this, I sound like a b*t*ch and I don't mean to, I just don't want to sugar coat the truly evil carb demon (ooo, bad pun!) and see you suffer any more than necessary... Good luck!

Man, it's been a long couple of weeks; work gets really cranked up in the summer time - but I know I can always come here for a grin! It's great to see how well we all are doing - Chancie, hang in there woman, you're one of my many heroes on this board, the rest of you, rock ON!! I had a fantastic week and I'm not sure why; down 5.5 pounds!!!!! Haven't had a week like that - ummmm, maybe ever! I would have to go back thru my logs. We did go out of town to deliver a boat last Tuesday from Slidell to Islamorada which put us on overdrive until Saturday - I even ate.... OMG... shhhh... carbs!!!!! eeeeek! And didn't ride my bike all week! I just don't get it. Maybe any form of shaking up our routines is what it takes?! Who knows - right now I'm blaming it on adrenaline. So, last week I was teetering around 181.5 - ish and today I saw an unbelievable 176!!! I am 100% convinced I am going to make goal of 150 - probably by the end of July as originally planned. In the back of my mind, I'm trying to come up with a "stop loss, but not gain" strategy when I do... What a concept! WE ROCK!!! C

Hi, Well, I wasn't "allowed" and didn't dare try solids until a month out as per Aceves instructions. But, as we've all seen, each surgeon is very different. I followed it to the letter because I was self pay and could not afford any complications - and not just from a financial standpoint... Ok, off the soap box, sorry! About the salads; I missed fresh foods dearly and could not WAIT to get back. The general guideline is three months on fresh food; that is the one guideline I kinda broke. I started with raw veggies - not a lot, just a little salad - at about 2.5 months out and it was heaven!! Even now, salad is a God send; I can eat quite a bit of it, not sure why, guess it compacts down in the stomach pretty easily, really can't explain it. Good luck!! C

Heh, not me. I'm around 900-1000 but it's because I'm staying crazy low on the carbs. It's almost impossible to have low cal and low carbs I'm finding. The fat grams are higher than I would like too but it sure is working! Lovin my sleeve! C

Dive Boat Captain and Scuba Instructor for the Boy Scouts of America. I also head up hiring and maintaining of the rest of the fleet. Hubby runs the sailing side of things; some 40+ big boats! It's a blast most of the time! Nice to see the human side of us too, thanks for the post. C

Lol!! What she said! Besides your comments about the band, (never had one) I couldn't agree more!! You go girl!

WOW Gary!!!! That is freeeeeeking amazing!!!! Congratulations to you sleeve brother!!! I am so proud of you!!! And to think it's only been four months today!!! I'm at 71 and thrilled to death!!! Whodathunk, huh???!!! Yay for us!! Looking forward to seeing you this summer and taking you two diving!!! C

Oh yeah, 182.5! Down 71.5 pounds since Jan 25! What a fricking miracle this sleeve has been!!!!!!! Hope everyone is having a great week! C

Hello again, So, here it is day 13 of the PPI withdrawal saga. So far, so good. Had a couple of pretty rough days - around days 8 and 9 where I had two Zantacs - only two cuz I didn't want to take more than that - and 6 or 8 Gaviscon cherry chewables (thank God they are carb free!) I made it ok and things were just very uncomfortable as opposed to painful. food helped but not much and not for long. I CANNOT drink coffee at any other time than the morning or I pay dearly, at least for now, and I am grateful that my stomach allows me my half-caff in the morning! I think one of those two brutal days was attributed to Starbucks... The last few days I have taken one Zantac and only a couple of the Gaviscon tabs. So far, really and truly so good, I think I'm almost past the worst of it. I do believe that the PPI's aren't totally out of our systems for a couple of weeks or so, so I may not be totally out of the woods just yet. FWIW, cheese sticks, or any hunk of mild cheese, is the one food item that soothes my stomach like nothing else when it starts acting up. So, next will go the Zantac; I plan to start cutting back the dosage but not for another couple of weeks. I want to get off all of it sooner than later. Tiff, you can do it; compared to what you've been through, this really will be nothing. A couple of weeks of not-so-bad discomfort should be a breeze for you, tough lady! By the way, I'll be four months out on Tuesday! Where did the time go?? I've been fluttering around 70 pounds lost for the last few days but not stressing really at all. My body thinks it's cute to go into baby stall mode at every 10 pounds! Hahahahaha, very funny body!!!! :thumbup: Happened at 50, 60 and now 70. Might have happened earlier but I hadn't really noticed till these last three "decades". So, that's where I'm at. You guys all rock, I love reading your posts and wish I had more time to write! C

I'm pretty square with most of my blubber in my gut. I'm 5'7" and just hit 70 pounds down with a weight of 184 - big bones too. I'm in 10's and 12's depending on the manuf. Smallest I've ever been was an 8. Hoping to reach a freeking 6!!!!!! Oh, when I started, at 254, I was bursting out of 18's. My legs and butt have always been smaller than my top half though, as my shoulders are very broad, my gut is big and my boobs are still wrinkly, saggy 38D's... TMI, sorry...! Good luck! C

Hey Tiffs! Aww, you can do it. If I can, you certainly can and you are the furthest thing from a WUSS there is! Sheesh, look at all you've been thru! It really hasn't been that bad so far but after last night's coffee incident, maybe it's coincidence, maybe not but I have a hunch that the PPI isn't truly out of our system for maybe a week or longer after stopping... the Zantac is working wonders so far. Have a great week!!! C

Oh wow! I don't know how you've gone almost two months without! Yes, it sounds like what you are describing is acid. Maybe try one of the PPI's and see if it helps. That said, if you've gone this long, maybe you'll be ok...? I've finally come to the point where I can identify real hunger and it definitely is NOT the churning, burning, extremely annoying, almost painful sensation that acid produces. Kind of just a low rumble - a distant relative of a true hunger pang - that can be easily ignored. It's taken me a long time to be able to identify real hunger. Kind of a duh moment, really, haven't eaten in 12 hours? yep, real hunger! Good Luck! C

Hey Gang, Here is my follow up to a thread that was running a week or so ago about the dangers of ppi's, long term consequences, etc., that gave me enough initiative to try and get off; afterall, the entire reason I had a VSG in the first place was to get and stay healthy, not cause more problems for myself. So, I had my VSG on Jan 25 and took Nexium as prescribed, once a day, for three months. If I didn't take it, I paid dearly. Needless to say, I took it religiously in the morning and on the rare occasion I had to take a half tab in the evening. Ran out, bought Prilosec OTC which worked just fine. Enter the thread as mentioned above. Last Tuesday was my first day since surgery (except for forgotten days or the couple of days at the very beginning when I thought I didn't need it - ha!) that I didn't take my PPI but did take a Zantac 150. No problem. Next day, no problem and so on. Thrilled so far! A couple of times I did take a half Zantac in the evening to kill any burning that was coming up. Worked like a charm. I think I'm on the road to being acid pill free! Not sure how long I'll have to take the Zantac but I'm taking that one day at a time now. I hope it's not as bad for us as the PPI's seem to be... Anyone know? I know it's only been a week but the only real hiccup so far was last night; I decided to have a small Starbucks regular coffee... what a mistake; burning, "hunger", pain, churning, burping, noise, the overwhelming urge to get something in my gut - not carbs or anything, really wanted some cheese actually so got some. It helped. Lesson learned and I KNEW from past experience that coffee in the evening has been a no-no since surgery. Not sure why - I do just fine with it in the morning but just can't do it at night anymore. This was the case too with coffee with the PPI's. So, there you have it. If you're thinking about getting off, maybe give Zantac a shot and see what happens. Good Luck! Carol

Hi gang, Well, here's my experience thus far; I'm almost four months out. Took Nexium as prescribed for three months. Ran out, got some Prilosec - it works just as well. Started reading more and more about how unhealthy PPI's can be so thought I would give getting off a try with the help of Zantac. So, I am at day two without my PPI and I took one Zantac (150mg) yesterday mid morning and made it just fine through the day. Today, not so hot. I took a Zantac early; right after my coffee (I know, I know) and was fine until about 1 p.m. I took another one due to burning and discomfort. I think I'm on the right track, however and am going to keep at the Zantac for the time being. So far, the "withdrawals" have not been as bad as I thought they might be. Yay! I'm hoping it continues and I can get off all this junk soon. Just my .02 Have a great weekend ya'll. C

Finally got to a computer, been running around all day. Woohoo! Scale's moving again, down three pounds this week; I'll take it!! Actually starting to see light at the end of the tunnel - less than 40 to go, can't believe it! Got into a size 12 North Face shorts that I had tucked away, I could barely get them over my butt when I bought them a month ago. They are quite comfortable (NF runs SmAlL, I might add!) and no camel toe! Lol!! Moved my watch band down another notch from barely in the first hole to the fourth! My belt is on it's last hole, gotta get out the leather punch. Oh yeah, kicking my husband's BUTT on our bike rides - he used to have to ride slower so the fat girl could stay with him, now he's dying! LOL! I am SO loving this! This really is a dream come true!!! Have a great week everyone, we rock!!! C

Britt is the nectar of the Gods. You can only get it on line here in the US at www.cafebritt.com. The only reason I know of it is because I lived in Costa Rica for a number of years. Heaven. The pricing is very reasonable and the shipping is quick. I don't mess with the frilly stuff; just the red or green bags; dark and light roast. It's amazing stuff. Hope you enjoy!! Let me know what you think! C p.s. they have a decaf too but I think Starbucks dc is better IMHO. :ack2:

I'm with Stacy160 and should have elaborated more too; the caffeine definitely does NOT kill hunger as before; in fact, one of the primary reasons that I only have one cup is because of the burning that I know it causes if I have any later in the day. As much as I would like more, I don't for that reason only. The funny thing is, I RARELY craved anything more than my morning cup, now I find myself wanting coffee much more often. I also switched to my own blend of half-caff to cut down on the stomach burning business. (half Starbuck decaf and half Cafe Britt dark roast... OMG!) Never thought I'd enjoy anything shy of full blast but this works wonderfully! C