Stacy160

[edit] Never mind. Just WOW. Good luck.

It's been years since I worked for a Plastic Surgeon, but I'll answer your questions the best I can! 1. It can get rid of stretch marks, if the skin with the stretch marks is removed. Last I knew there was nothing to be done for stretch marks otherwise, but they may be doing things with lasers now that I'm not aware of. 2. Your old incision scars will be removed only if the skin they're on is removed. And know that any plastic surgery you have WILL leave scars too, but they're generally well-hidden...for the belly, they'd be way low on the abdomen running between your hipbones, and around the navel (unless they need to bring skin in from the sides as well, in which case there would be a longer vertical scar as well). For the chest, the scars would be below the breast where the indent/shadow of the margin of the pec muscle normally is, and around the edge of the nipple. 3. See #s 1 and 2. 4. Not surgically (again, unless the skin is removed). You CAN get permanent hair removal by electrolysis, but it's expensive and requires repeat visits... honestly, you'd be much better off buying a bottle of Nair and going from there. That way at least when it grows back in, you've got nice soft ends, and not hard prickly ones from the hairs being shaved off bluntly. FYI, Gynecomastia is sometimes covered by insurance, but it'll depend on whether it's TRUE gynecomastia (excessive breast tissue) or just a case of moobs from being overweight--can't hurt to find out though and hope to get at least some of it covered! Good luck!

I was on full liquids right off the bat (two weeks) but after about 12 days, I was DYING for cheese, so I had 2-3 little pieces of an American cheese slice, about 1/2" square each, and let them melt on my tongue and it was sooooo delicious. Amazing how sick you can get of sweet stuff, isn't it?

The "Detox" people would tell you that's a sign that your body is purging itself of toxins. Having done a week of the Master Cleanse diet (the lemonade thing)(before surgery)(yes it sucked)(but I dropped 15 lbs in that week), I can say that it did happen to me while doing that as well, soooo... i've gotta go with that.

NOT TRUE!!! Like many others, I had horrible reflux before surgery, and have had zero since. ZERO. I had a moderate-sized hiatal hernia repaired also and I'm sure that was a major contributor, but even before surgery, whenever I ate low-carb (which is pretty standard post-op), it went away. If they want to argue about it, I'd see someone else.

Tomato soup (plain ol' Campbell's) got me through the first two weeks, with all the sweet liquids.. Nothing ever tasted so good... until I started plopping a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt into it, which made it pure bliss. Try it!

That does seem like a lot to be able to eat at this point -- but just because you CAN, sure doesn't mean you SHOULD. You can still make what you have work by not eating to capacity (that's what got us all here in the first place, right? ). Measure your food, and shoot for no more than 4 oz. meals (by volume -- what would fit inside a 1/2 cup measuring cup), and leave the carbs alone, and I bet you'll see a very big difference in what you lose.

Early, early restriction differs between people, and I think mainly it's due to the amount of swelling people have and how quickly (or not) it starts going down. One of the first concerns I had myself was that I thought I was able to drink too much, or "eat" too much Soup (Is soup really "eating?"). At that point, less than two weeks out, I was taking only about 20 minutes to have 8 oz. of warm soup, or 45-60 minutes to get down a bottle of Propel Water. Everyone explained to me then the the liquids pretty much run right through and don't sit in your stomach, and assured me that once I started on real foods, I've feel the restriction. They were NOT kidding. My first meal was 1/4 cup of refried Beans with a little taco sauce and cheese and I couldn't finish it. So don't worry! Be glad that you can get all your fluids in so dehydration won't be an issue for you, and look forward to being blown away by how much you CAN'T eat. When do you start mushies, anyway?

I completely agree with this.... be glad he's gone now, instead of further down the line. Men -- people in general like that -- do not change and their behavior only gets worse as they test to see how much you'll let them get away with it. It's hard to believe people can be so jealous and controlling. Look at it as part of shedding the old life that was holding you back!!

I can promise you that you will be able to do every single thing on your list -- some of them probably even sooner than you expect. Sure, losing 200 lbs. will leave any person with some loose skin -- but did that lady really think she looked better more than 200 lbs. overweight??

For some people, the early weeks are hell; others sail right through. There's no way to know ahead of time how you'll do, so my advice would be to prepare yourself for the worst! Imagine the abdominal soreness, some sharper pain around the incisions, some nausea and fatigue...everything that's been mentioned... and then imagine how you're going to handle it. Then hope for the best. I was one of the lucky ones who sailed through. There was some soreness of the abdominal muscles and a little sharp pain when moving around much, but by day 4 I was out shopping and the soreness was gone (except some tenderness to touch). By a week out I was cleaning the house out of boredom, and went back to work at 10 days instead of two weeks out 'cause I didn't see the sense in burning up my vacation time! So, prepare to be miserable just in case, but hopefully it won't be bad for you. And good luck!

I just had chicken salad for lunch Early out though, chicken could be difficult, especially white meat. It's just so dry and heavy, and still I can't eat as much of it as I can dark meat or even burger or steak. Have you tried chicken any other way yet (I didn't seen how far out you are)? Getting it really really shredded, almost pureed, might help, or try dark meat and see if it's any better.

There's never any guarantee that you'll lose hunger 100% after surgery. The people who never feel any sensation of hunger seem to be those who stay on a PPI indefinitely... most of us still have some degree of it post-op. I will say though that for me, the worst of it was about 8 weeks out, and that lasted for about a month. Now, the hunger signal (the actual gnawing feeling in the belly) is probably less than 25% of what it initially was, and I get it rarely. Hunger to me usually is just a feeling of being "empty" and needing something to keep running on. Head hunger now, there's a whole 'nuther monster!

You can buy really low-carb lavash bread (I see people say the find Joseph's brand at Walmart, I keep forgetting to look for it myself!), and top it with your own stuff, then pop it under the broiler for a few minutes to warm and melt -- super fast, and you're in control of it all!

Agreed... it's not the calories directly, it's all the hormones being released from the fat you're burning through so quickly. It's VERY common to have messed-up cycles during the losing phase, especially the first few months. Happily, I had my surgery just as I was getting firmly into this whole "peri-menopause" deal, and I went from having one every 3-5 weeks (already getting whacky) to just one every couple of months now, so yay!

BADLY. Story of my life lately. *sigh*

NO, only people who are literally starving to death have to worry about so-called starvation mode, when their body's already burned off their fat reserves and starts metabolizing their muscle for Protein and energy. For anybody with any amount of fat to burn, "starvation mode" is a myth....you WANT your body burning your fat, and it will, and as long as you're getting in your protein, Water, and supplements, there's nothing to worry about.

Oh gawwwwd, you poor thing... I never had heartburn a day in my life until I was 4 1/2 months pregnant, and from then on it was an almost nightly issue... the choking on acid after breathing it in, the whole bit. It started the day I ate a huge baked potato, fully loaded with butter, cheese, mushrooms, and sour cream (how's that for healthy?).... 5 hours later it was still sitting there, up it came, and I'd bet anything that's when I developed that hiatal hernia that was fixed 21 years later with my VSG. Ugh, I know it's miserable for you. Are you still on your PPI? Sorry if you said that and I missed it. One thing you might try is in the evening, having a little apple cider vinegar, just a tablespoon or so. (I can NOT take straight, always had to put it in 4 oz. of Water with some sweetener.) Sounds counter-intuitive because it's SO acidic itself, but it really works incredibly well. You look SO CUTE!! If you're popped like that at 3 months, you're gonna be toppling over on the ground by six.

The word "exclusion" sounds like it's not the insurance company not covering bariatrics at all, but rather your policy itself not covering it. If that's the case, then it's your employer who elected NOT to include it in the policy, to save money, and in that case there's nothing you can do, unfortunately.

Hi and welcome! I just wanted to hit on a couple of things: Don't think of it as forcing yourself.... walk into that hospital knowing that it's the first day of the rest of LIVING your life and be excited about it, looking forward to getting on with it! Know that you're doing a great thing for yourself. You can't really believe or imagine the changes you'll go through until you experience them but trust me, you're in for the ride of your life. But see, here's the thing... except for the first few months when the sleeve really is doing all the work for you, you WILL be doing it with diet and exercise--the difference is, the sleeve makes it possible for you to DO it that way and be successful with it, through great restriction if you eat right, and a huuuuuuge reduction in hunger. You'll still have to do the work, the sleeve just lets you finally do it and get it right.

Sounds like you're doing great! Moving's not gonna hurt you, just be careful about any heavy lifting for awhile. Congrats on your sleeve, you won't believe the changes it brings!

"ONLY" 20 pounds, in less than a month? Really? When's the last time you did that? Your BMI was on the lower side to begin with, you're not going to lose as fast as someone whose BMI is 50. 20 lbs. in a month is pretty significant.

Mine didn't have an assistant.... not sure why one would even be needed, honestly.

No question about it, you still have to do the work, at least after the first few months when the sleeve's doing it for you. The thing is the sleeve makes it finally possible do actually DO the work you couldn't do before.

As your swelling goes down it'll get better. Also, is that with everything you drink including your protein? The reason I ask is that a lot of people have problems with plain water. I read somewhere -- no idea where, so I don't have a source -- that because of something to do with pH, water wants to sit on top of our stomach acid, which generally isn't a problem in a normal-sized stomach, but in such a tiny swollen space as a new sleeve, it is. Something about putting something in it (Crystal Lite, tea, etc.) changes the pH so that it's not an issue. That's why you'll see tons of people wondering why they have no problem drinking anything other than plain water. Goes away though, eventually!