BlackBerryJuice

Lately, I've felt that my sleeve seems to empty fast. I've always had a tendency to eat frequently, including pre-sleeve - it wasn't uncommon that I'd stuff myself silly, yet 3 hours later, would be hungry again. Well, same thing here! I actually paid attention to the timing today. I had a canelloni with veal for lunch around 12:15 (ground veal rolled into a sheet of pasta) and was full after. Then, around 1:30 I started feeling hungry again! I distracted myself by drinking some tea, but by 2 o'clock, I HAD to eat again. Packed away a whole cup of strawberries, so obviously, my sleeve was empty by then, even though less than 2 hours had passed. Is it just me or does anyone else seem to have rapid emptying?

That sucks. I've never been a happy perky cheerleader, so this will never be a concern for me, haha.

IV and a drain. No catheter for me.

I wasn't sure why it was a bad thing, but then I found a good article on it. I guess there are actual diseases for which low LDL is a symptom, and treatments do exist. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/121975-overview

You have to remember it's also very swollen right after the operation, when the first image was taken. Just think back to how little you could eat when you first tried mushy foods - I could barely eat half an egg! Now I can eat 2 eggs.

My spine's really prominent in the lumbar/lower thoracic area now, it kind of freaks me out when I run my hand up my back and feel these huge vertebrae. I remember falling off a horse on a pile of pointy gravel pretty hard a few years ago and landing right on my lower back. At 200 lbs, I came out with just muscle spasms and a bad bruise on my lower back, but I bet if it happened now, I'd definitely crack a vertebra!

Wow! You've lost at least 10 years, too!

38DD --> 34D so far. Still look nice in a bra, but the skin is definitely looser and a bit wrinkly now. It's only obvious if I wear something tight that cuts across them, though, like some of those one-piece swimsuits that are meant for actual lap swimming.

It's ok to break open the capsule and wash down the granules with something if it works for you (but don't grind the granules down!). However, PPIs work best when taken on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning, and it's best to wait 30 mins before eating. So I'd suggest trying to wash it down with just water first; if it doesn't work for you at all, do the yogurt thing, but once you can do it without the yogurt, switch.

I couldn't even use the site - dark purple background with black font and ominous background music do not a helpful site make....

Weird, I've been able to eat pasta without a problem for months. Never tried elbow macaroni, either. But I agree, if it's not tasty AND isn't good for you, why bother eating it?

I didn't realize how silly this was until I related it to my counselor the other day. He asked me how I've been doing with weight, and first I said I was terrified of gaining weight and told him about our trip to the mountains the weekend before where I ate a ton of sweets, drank daiquiris, etc. Then I felt like I could grab more skin/fat on my stomach than usual the day after, so I was absolutely convinced I put on a bit of weight. Then I got home, got on the scale, and I was actually down a pound! Then under the same breath, I told him about how I'm terrified of wasting away because of my sleeve, and how I don't want to end up a bony size zero or something. Then I realized how funny it was that these 2 fears can somehow coexist in my head at the same time and not contradict each other. I guess if I put them all together under the umbrella of "fear of the unknown," it starts to make more sense.

I've never gotten to the point where I threw up, but I've had maybe 2-3 experiences where I felt absolutely horrible because I inadvertently overate. I gave it some thought and realized it was always at social events and always with people who don't know about my sleeve. I'd never eat myself to the point of nausea at home or with friends who know about my surgery. It was a problem back in the days in particular, when I couldn't eat much and was self-conscious about that with strangers, as I didn't want random people to know. Do you think this could be the case for you? I found once I reasoned that through, I could deal with it, and I could choose foods that take up a lot of room on my plate, but not so much in my stomach (salads are the best for this), or repeatedly invite my boyfriend to "have another taste of this delicious steak!" at parties so people wouldn't pester me about eating too little or whatever.

I had an eczema-like rash on my face about a week after surgery. I contacted Dr. Aceves and he said he had never heard of anything like that, but then a week later, he e-mailed me to say he just had a patient with the same issue, so maybe it IS possible that it's a delayed reaction to an anesthetic or some other medications they give you. I had also gotten a pertussis shot the day it started, and it has been linked to eczema, especially in children who've had eczema before (which I did as a child), so I figured it was most likely due to the vaccination, but I guess a medication reaction from surgery is also possible. Some medication reactions, including scary ones like Stevens-Johnson, take up to 6 months to develop! I self-medicated with topical corticosteroids (I'm terrible, I know), but it didn't completely clear up for a good month.

Wow, they can reject you for a visa because of weight? What's the reasoning?

Have fun! I'd like to go to Australia some day, but it will probably be after I finish school. There seems to be a demand for Canadian doctors there and in NZ, lots of good contracts, it'd be fun to work there for a year.

I'd call and ask if they can give you a discount. Also, if your deposit was less than the difference, it might be worthwhile to cancel and rebook.

I'd just do it....what's the worst that could happen? I guarantee you you'll be full after a few bites.

I actually don't think you need to go on a diet. Your BMI is already smack in the middle of the healthy range. I would just focus on reshaping your body with resistance exercise and cardio.

I found sugar to be hard to tolerate the first few months after the surgery. If I tried to eat an entire candybar now, I'd probably get the same symptoms, although at this point I can have 2-3 pieces of chocolate.

Sometimes I get really bad reflux around bedtime - maybe 2-3 times a month? I don't take my Nexium anymore. I'll just pop an antacid and it goes away in a few minutes. Some ways to minimize your odds of getting reflux at night: 1) avoid eating right before bed, especially fattening or spicy foods 2) avoid coffee and alcohol in the evening 3) prop yourself up on pillows - or, alternatively, put some books under your bed legs at the head end so your bed is propped up. I've heard this also helps with puffy eyes in the am!

I'm in medical school, so I always come across research study flyers begging for participants - some of them compensate their participants quite handsomely! I never qualify. I consider myself to be a pretty healthy person, but as soon as I mention having been on antidepresants once, I'm always rejected. I don't know why it's such a big deal, considering I haven't been on them for like 5 years. There was a food consumption survey advertised (they wanted to watch your eating patterns for 2 weeks), but I figured with my sleeve, I'd probably skew their results. Be careful, though, they've long used med students as paid guinea pigs and some of these experiments did NOT end well. I had a lecturer say that when she went to med school about 20 years ago and they were given an opportunity to be guinea pigs for this immunosuppressive drug that was to be used for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. They were offered something like 3 grand, which was an obscene amount of money back then. Unfortunately, 2 of these completely healthy med students died after taking the drug! I definitely wouldn't mess with any pharma trials, you never know what might happen.

Yeah, I think I know who you are talking about! I don't remember the username, but she had her VSG somewhere in the South in the States and then she noticed complete lack of restriction in less than a year. She had her stomach imaged and was told that her pouch completely stretched out! I think she said the Dr. told her she had hyperelastic stomach tissue or something. I remember her asking for input on whether she should repeat the surgery....talk about bad luck!

My greatgrandmother had 90% of her stomach removed about 20 years ago. She's having some digestive issues - not terribly familiar with them as I don't see her every often because she lives abroad, but I know she gets diarrhea, particularly steatorrhea. However, she's 91, and who doesn't have at least SOME digestive issues at that age? So it's hard to tell if it's from the gastrectomy or just old age. It doesn't make sense for steatorrhea to happen because of a gastrectomy, it's usually due to a pancreatic or biliary cause. She was plump, but not obese before her cancer dx and surgery. She lost weight after; she is now thin, but not emaciated or anything. She eats normal meals - my mom mentioned that she came by for dinner recently and had a small bowl of Soup, 3-4 oz ground beef, and maybe a cup of mashed potatoes, and then some tea.

I had a lot of nausea right around 2-3 weeks post-op despite feeling great the first 2 weeks, and I've seen other people on the forum with the same issue. I went to the emerg, they said nothing was wrong with me - mind you, they did 0 tests besides a basic abdo exam for peritonitis. The emerg Dr. suggested I double my Nexium. I called Dr. Aceves 2 days later, as it happened on the weekend, and he said the same thing. I used it 2x a day for a few days but it didn't seem to make a difference, and since the pills were pricy, I stepped down back to 1 pill/day. Then the nausea just went away as randomly as it had started. Moral of the story - probably nothing bad if it's just nausea, but if you feel any pain and feel extreme discomfort/pain when someone presses on your belly, then go to the ER.