Acadia

I'm speaking as a by-choice 16 year vegetarian and I do not recommend going vegan cold-turkey (per se). You'll hate it and you won't stick to it. Instead of totally altering your diet just make a few minor modifications (recommended by the Mayo clinic): Eat more: oatmeal, high Fiber foods, fish, walnuts, almonds, and other nuts, olive oil, and any foods with added plant sterols (margarines, orange juice, yogurt drinks). Eat less: full fat dairy (switch to low fat or half low/no fat and half full fat), processed foods like Cookies, crakers, and cakes, fatty cuts of meat, and eggs. You can still eat what you normally do, just alter the quantity and type slightly.

Yes it can be acid reflux. My Dr (and many others) suggest taking Prilosec OTC for a minimum of six months following surgery. For me this has completely eliminated any acid reflux. The actual pills (not generics) are quite small.

I've had several attacks in the past two months, they are horrendous for pain. I have a ridiculously high pain tolerance due to nerve damage from an accident when I was younger and gall bladder pain is the worst pain I have ever felt. Do whatever your doctor suggests to avoid it!

I've used the FitBit for over a year now, it's very small, fits anywhere (I wear mine on the center brace of my bra), you can monitor your sleep with it, and it gives you some nice visual incentive to keep moving. The website is also free - unlike the other sites. And the FitBit works with several other applications as well. I highly recommend it.

Yes, both are common (chest x-ray an EKG).

Tongue - yes, but they may allow you to replace it with Teflon (visit your local piercing studio to get the right jewelery). Nose - no, but replace it with Teflon or plastic and tell them that you've done that in case an emergency MRI is required. Belly Button - yes, and keep it out. They do surgery in that area, and if you get a single incision surgery like I did they go in through your navel so no jewelery is allowed.

It's unlikely you'll have to take them out completely. They have absolutely no impact on your surgery (nose piercings that is). Replace it with Teflon or plastic and explain that you did that and you should be fine.

Full for me is either ( a ) hiccups or ( b ) the sensation that if I eat one more bite it won't fit. Not that I couldn't do it, but that it would feel like it's in my throat. And sometimes, if I'm not careful, it can very literally take eating just one tiny bite to realise I over did it, I salivate horribly then vomit, and am scared straight for quite a while. It's a horrendous feeling. You will get stuck at some point. You will vomit at some point. And you'll learn where your eating sweet spot is. It's like telling a child the stove is hot, until they touch it (as a child or as an adult) they won't truly realise the reality of it. Take it one meal and one day at a time. (Edited to make spaces around the letters in parenthesis because it turned my b into a sunglasses face.)

Vegetarian taco salad (with any kind of lettuce) is one of the few foods I can eat without issue - while being slightly too full (band wise).

As I posted on another thread - be very careful with that application and website: I use The Daily Plate / LiveStrong. It's $45/year for the gold plan, which allows online and app access, full backup of all of your data, sharing your data, tracking of any and everything, adding meals and recipes (so it figures out the nutritional values), forums, challenges, and much more. Granted it costs, but 12 cents a day is a very small cost for such a thorough site and most importantly - a site that will not take control of your information. For anyone using MyFitnessPal, you should know that you have given them permission and ownership to anything and everything you upload including information, your photos, your journal entries, etc. They can use your name, your username, your photos, your entries, anything you post at the site for their own gain. Including selling the information. And that doesn't apply to just them but also their affiliates, their sublicensees, their employees, etc. I don't know how you feel about your personal privacy but I'm willing to pay 12 cents a day to make sure my information is kept private. From their site: “User Content” is any content, materials or information, not including personally identifiable information (e.g., first and last name, address, phone number, email address, etc.), that You upload or post to, or transmit, display, perform or distribute by means of, the Website, whether in connection with Your use of Services or otherwise. YOU HEREBY GRANT MYFITNESSPAL AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, REPRESENTATIVES, SUBLICENSEES, SUCCESSORS, AND ASSIGNS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “MYFITNESSPAL PARTIES”) A PERPETUAL, FULLY PAID-UP, WORLDWIDE, SUBLICENSABLE, IRREVOCABLE, ASSIGNABLE LICENSE TO COPY, DISTRIBUTE, TRANSMIT, PUBLICLY DISPLAY OR PERFORM, EDIT, TRANSLATE, REFORMAT AND OTHERWISE USE USER CONTENT IN CONNECTION WITH THE OPERATION OF THE WEBSITE, SERVICES OR ANY OTHER SIMILAR OR RELATED BUSINESS, IN ANY MEDIUM NOW EXISTING OR LATER DEVISED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLICITY. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT THE MYFITNESSPAL PARTIES MAY PUBLISH OR OTHERWISE DISCLOSE YOUR NAME AND/OR ANY USER NAME OF YOURS IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR EXERCISE OF THE LICENSE GRANTED UNDER THIS SECTION. YOU AGREE TO WAIVE, AND HEREBY WAIVE, ANY CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE EXERCISE BY THE MYFITNESSPAL PARTIES OF THE RIGHTS GRANTED UNDER THIS SECTION, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY CLAIMS RELATING TO YOUR RIGHTS OF PERSONAL PRIVACY AND PUBLICITY. YOU WILL NOT BE COMPENSATED FOR ANY EXERCISE OF THE LICENSE GRANTED UNDER THIS SECTION.

I second Heather's comment. Heating pad or a rice bag (old tube sock with 2-4 cups of uncooked rice - tie the open end of the sock then microwave for 2 minutes - can be reheated around 100-200 times before you need to replace the rice) and lots of walking, stretching, and moving. Mine hurt constantly and those rice bags helped immensely. Especially before bed and in bed. It provides moist heat for about an hour or so. Make sure to wrap it in a towel or t-shirt to prevent burns.

Isn't it ridiculous the types of foods that go down so easily!? Since my second fill I'm just a tad bit tight. It doesn't impact me drinking fluids at all - but I cannot drink with meals because I will vomit. I can't eat in the morning, usually not until noon or 2 PM, then I can eat about 1/4-1/2 c of real food. No more Pasta, rice, or bread. And yet things like Cheetos and popcorn go down without a problem. I'm very conscious about what I eat now. I am at a point where I don't eat for pleasure. I eat when I'm hungry or when I notice my blood sugar dipping. That's it. I no longer buy crap at the store (other than the odd bag of Cheetos), I don't look at Milk Duds as a possible food because I know I'll get stuck. I don't look at normal portions as desirable, a few table spoons is more than sufficient. I even look forward to my Protein drink for Breakfast.

13 lbs is very good for still being within the 4-6 healing window after surgery. Slow weight loss is better for your body and better for your mental adjustment (losing weight too quickly can cause severe depression). Keep doing what you're doing and expect (and desire) a loss of 1-2 lbs a week and you'll do great.

Consider the FitBit (http://fitbit.com).

I've had similar pains and did go to the ER and ruled out a heart attack. Though the doctors couldn't figure out what it was, the guess was gallbladder. Fattening foods, dairy products, eggs, meats with high levels of fat, dairy products, citrus fruits, chocolate, coffee and carbonated soda can all trigger a gallbladder attack. A gallbladder attack can last anywhere from 10-15 minutes to hours and can make it so no position is comfortable, breathing deeply hurts, you sweat, have cold sweats, feel like you need to vomit, and more. It can be some of the worst pain you've ever felt. It's worth getting checked out either way - but if the hospital is unable to find a cause the next time it happens, consider your gallbladder. In the mean time, keep a detailed food diary and you will be able to tell what you ate before it happens (my first had a 6 hour gap between eating and the attack, the second was within seconds).

My surgery was $50,000 total ($49,000 and change so I rounded up). The allowed amount by my insurance company was $28,000. Of that allowed amount, my insurance paid $25,200 and I paid $2,800. So chances are the self pay would have been $28,000. If you go self-pay you'll very likely pay at least $10,000 more than you would through your insurance.

My surgery was at 0900 and I was home by 1300. No hospital stay isn't a problem. Talk to your doctor about doing same day surgery.

Chances are it will close. I don't know where you're located but go to a reputable piercing studio and ask them for teflon or silicone jewellery (if you message me where you are I can recommend an appropriate resource). There's no reason to remove your body jewellery completely. ** And I do know the American spelling of jewelry but I'm not American ; )

I personally don't believe in gods but I can't say 100% positively that they don't exist. They just don't exist for me.

I've been experiencing the same thing since my second fill. I used to be able to drink with meals (a no-no I know, but I still did it) - now I can't even sip with a meal because I'll get stuck immediately and will have to force vomit the Fluid. Since my second fill I'm reduced to 1/4-1/2 c food per meal (except popcorn ... for some reason I can eat 3 cups of popcorn no problem). I can no longer eat Breakfast, only drink Protein drinks. It's definitely helping me lose weight, but it's a little frustrating to wake up and not know what's safe to eat. So as far as I know it's completely normal but very frustrating.

Caffeine is probably the safest. You can get caffeine pills like No Doz, or drink coffee or tea.

Protein (but not in excess), biotin (sublingual pill works), and trying to stay stress free.

Wait the full four weeks before you get your second fill. Fills don't always show their full impact immediately. The band won't make you less hungry - it will just help keep you full longer when you eat and allow you to eat less to reach that point.

Saraboo is right on target. Chalk it up to hormone changes, which were precipitated by weight loss (fewer female hormones being released by fat cells). If you're keen to avoid a period for a while talk to your Dr about taking a birth control pill for 3 months at a time, it's not going to harm you, and will help get you back on track during your weight loss.

Just as you're thinking about what everyone else will think about you - everyone else is thinking about what everyone else will think about them. Don't worry about it. Do it for you. Learn from the others in the class.