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My barium eval showed a mild hiatal hernia. My dr hasn't said anything about it (I actually just found out about it a few weeks ago and my eval was months before) I think it's a much more common thing than what people believe. It makes sense if the dr wanted to fix it to just do it then - one surgery versus two is better! But, it's a pretty common thing in obese people.

I was never told I had to crush my pills, but I did it anyways for about 1 week. After that, I swallowed them whole and have not had any problem. I am almost 3.5 months out.

I have been on full liquids for 2 weeks and started soft foods today. I drink 2 premiere protein shakes a day from Costco. They are 160 cal and 30 gms protein. Not sure what the purée stage is. Most Drs have their own regimens. I was clear liquids, full liquids (anything you could suck through a straw after blended. Not using straw of course ). Now soft foods, anything I can crush with a fork....fish, canned chicken, cottage cheese, eggs...etc.

Thanks for all the responses. Did not give right numbers for lbs. Must had brain freeze, The stall weight is 240lbs with start weight at surgery 261lbs.

I thought my moods were stabilizing now that I am 6 weeks out, but boy did I have a day today! I also have not been eating right the last couple of days so that could have something to do with it too. Hang in there

I am set to have a surgery with Quillici in March. Everything was very quick. Spent 2-3 hours there my 1st time. Met everyone one on one, went to a support group 2 nights later, did my psych eval 1 week later, paid my $200, gave my prelim of what procedure I wanted and got an approval in under 2 weeks. Yes, they are busy, but the were very efficient with getting everything done. They kept calling me to follow up. I am still nervous about getting the procedure done. What about you? Feel free to IM me for more info or use each other for support.

I got banded on Jan. 27,2007. I felt GREAT! I was back to work on Monday following my surgery. With the restriction of no lifting. I am pretty much doing everything that I did before- only more of it! I went for a 2 mile hike this weekend, & I am going to go again this weekend...I have lost a total of 37 lbs since my surgery. March 31st will be exactly 8 weeks since my surgery. I know things have really slowed down now, which can be disapointing, b/c you get to be on such a high each day like"wow, another 2 lbs!" Now it feels like "damn, no more weight gone?" But I keep on Truckin...I am trying to walk @ least 4 days a week. Cant afford to go to a gym right now,since we are trying to move back to California. But I think it is still good. I cant 'weight' to get to my goal weight,but I am also realistic... well my only concern that I have is that I worry that the band will slip of that the Dr. wont be able to fill it for some reason or another. I just have to keep faith that everything will remain fine. If you want to talk ...Email me!

It's not truly the surgery that causes the hair loss. No amount of Protein, Vitamins, fluids, magic pills will guarantee you won't lose hair. I have not met one sleeve patient that didn't endure some sort of big "shedding" some lasts longer than others. Here's other threads that discuss the topic of hair loss http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/9817-the-hair-diaries/page__p__85627__hl__+hair++diaries__fromsearch__1#entry85627 http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/9393-hair-today-hair-tomarrow/page__p__83200__hl__+hair++loss__fromsearch__1#entry83200 The 2nd topic link I posted has actual medical articles and explanations to why we experience hair loss. Yes, part of it is related to the drastic dietary change, and lack of protein in the beginning, but there are patients that got in their required protein grams plus and they lost hair longer and more than I did and I didn't get in my protein until I was 6 weeks out. I even lost hair after my gallbladder surgery in February 8 months post sleeve, and my hair had finally stopped falling out 2 months prior.

Awesome! Why’d-a-go! You tell’em! My dearest friend said “well I like myself so I’d never to that”!!! That was the day I realized I didn’t have a support system except for myself ... and I’ve gotten very strong inside. Two weeks Post-Op and altogether down 27 lbs. .. and going all the way ... why.. because “I love myself”!

I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOO PISSED!!!!. I went to Dr. Spiegel's office on July 7th for my consultation and to submitt my paperwork with United Healthcare. I chose to go to him because he has performed over 6000 surgeries, despite some of the rumors that I have heard about him and his office. After going to the seminar, I was impressed with him and felt good about my decision to go there. I called a week later to see if they were needing any additional information from me such as previous doctors records and to see if they had heard anything, and I was told by my RUDE case worker Lulu that and I quote "I don't know the status of your case for I just submitted the information on July 12th and do not have time to stay on the phone and call the insurance companies for every patient that we have. But feel free to call UHC everyday if you would like!!!" I wanted in my heart to believe that she was just having a bad day............boy was I wrong! I decided to call my insurance co a week later on July 18th to check the status and was happy to find out that I HAD BEEN APPROVED!!! So I called Lulu to tell her so we could set up a surgery date and was told that they had to have a copy of the approval letter BEFORE they would schedule the appt.I was fine with that. So I waited and checked the mail every day and finally it came in on July 25th. I emailed the approval letter to her on July 26th and she forwarded it to Pam at their Houston office to schedule the surgery. Pam finally called me back at 1:00pm that day to schedule the appt. Great right??? WRONG!! It was then that I had learned that my information that had been sent to UHC to be approved had requested that the surgery be done at University General Hospital (a new hospital in Houston which Spiegel had raved about during his seminar) which was OUT OF NETWORK for me!!! They never asked me where I wanted the surgery to be done!!! I assumed that they would set it up with 12 Oaks which is the only In Network Hospital that he goes to!!! I was told to redo it so I could go to 12 Oaks that all of my paperwork would have to be resubmitted to UHC and could not tell me how long it would take!!! I AM SOOOO MAD!!! I call UHC to verify this and Pam was correct!!! I have left multiple voice mails for Pam to call me because I have questions and I have yet to hear from her. So I have decided that I am going to make me an appt with another doctor closer to home being that I live in Lake Charles. I just wanted to let anyone considering Spiegel to know what they would be getting themselves into before they wasted their time!!!If this is the way they are treating me know, how would they react if something were really wrong with me after I had the surgery. That is the question I asked myself and I figure that if I am going to have to wait for another approval that I will go to someone else. Sorry so long just needed to vent!!!

I had borderline diabetes with a family history. Tricare was great. I was approved within a day. I did have to call to check. My bmi was 42, my weight for my height was right at the approval mark and I was told not to lose any weight till surgery or I may not be approved. I had the surgery within 2 weeks! :smile: My post-op and fills were not a problem either. From your history I do think you will be approved. Good luck! :smile2:

I am preop and preparing for my grocery list and favorite variety of protein shakes. I am going to spend the next 10 days trying different ones. I start my preop liquid diet July 25. So far I have tried muscle milk. I can live with that one. I want a variety as I get bored easily. I will try the one from Costco everyone is talking about. Please feel free to keep recommending drinks. This is going to be a long 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after!

I am 7 weeks out today. I had diarrhea around day 4 or 5 (bad, had to run to the bathroom) At my 1 week check up my surgeon said sometimes it happens when the system starts working again. He recommended Benefiber. You put it in your Water and can't even taste it. Since then I had diarrhea one other day, but just once and it was mild. Other than that I have been very regular, like clockwork, having a normal BM almost every morning. SO......not everyone gets constipated. I'm glad I don't. Hopefully your diarrhea will be short-lived like mine was.

YEP! that's been me. That's all I've had. not related to period either, had period week before surgery. I'm just glad everything's working!

I'm a week post-op today, and this is my third morning with nausea...make sure you're taking your acid reducers, could also hv something to do with timing of your vitamins (I think that's my issue, so I'm going to switch it up today), try and sleep propped up a little and of course you know to stay up on your water and proteins...goodluck!

Amazon has it but they are out if stock right now... I googled it and it is available through pro ade... Black cherry, strawberry kiwi and orange are the flavores. I read the reviews and it doesn't sound too bad. I just finished my 6 month supervised diet and will be starting the rest of the requirements in the next couple weeks so I've been doing as much research as possible and this is a great site...

[quote=APPROVED Candace83]Heading to my 6 wk post op visit and i should get a fill..Im nervous...not sure why. I had that first fill last week...mosquito bite. I worked myself up for nothing...lol...bring on the next one...you will be awesome..

I have this its not bad to me atleast. Just wondering if any1 else has used it for preop diet. I start mine next week. Getting nervous a little. 20g protein per serving.

Wow...I am so impressed with you and mbranham0306...65 pounds in 3 months!! Is that all post op? I was banded July 15th of this year and including the 8 pounds pre-op, I have lost 30 pounds. I have only had one fill...and have a 10cc band...he put not quite 1cc in it cause he said I was already a little tight (didnt have any fill during surgery itself)..and I honestly do not feel like I need another fill...cause when I do eat, I am not able to eat much before I get that stuck in the throat feeling...however, I do get hungry about 2 hours later. What did ya'll do to lose so much? I have also started walking on the treadmill in the last month and for the past 3 weeks..have been at a plateau...any suggestions for overcoming that?? Congrats on your progress!! That is truly inspirational!

Congratulations! I just passed my 3 month anniversary also (surgery on July 10, 2009). I've lost 65 pounds too. I'm not sure about your skin but mine is terrible! I'm not sure it will shrink because I was chubby even as a child and have been overweight ever since. I'm going to start a good core workout next week and trying to use weights now. I'm hoping that'll help because my insurance won't pay for plastic surgery of course! :laugh: I'm really excited and happy about my weight loss and my experinece so far! You're done wonderfully! Awesome job!:blushing:

I was banded on May 3. Anesthesia is NOT my friend. I had 3 tough days of pain and nausea, then it passed. I slept sitting up in a comfy chair for a few days. I would call the doc if you are concerned that this isn't normal. I'm doing great now. Just had my 2nd week follow up appt. and I'm going in next week for my first fill. I'm down 10 pounds in 2.5 weeks. I feel pretty good. My knees are killing me from trying to walk and exercise a bit. I'm hoping that will subside once I get some of the weight off of them. Good luck to you... and I hope you feel better.

Oh boy. I sounded like a dump truck for months. But it does go away. And if you think that's embarrassing, just remember never trust a fart the first few weeks! Thank goodness I had a spare nightgown. Lynda

I used them pre-op during my two weeks liquid diet. After surgery (10/1), they were too sweet to tolerate and the protein isn't enough.

I am 3 months and was 34 pounds down hit a stall and started gaining. 3-4 pounds. The stall I can handle, the weight gain has me discouraged. Is occasional gain expected? RJ will say a prayer for you! I see you post often and you rock!!

I bought a sample vanilla protein powder from CVS and tried it this morning. I now know what everybody was talking about the smell!! It was horrible!! I took one drink and dumped it down the drain!! I go to the NUT Tuesday and I will probably be put on 2 week liquid diet then, so I was trying out. Now, I'm scared I won't be able to tolorate them!! I have some Sentrax Nectar samples coming in the mail. Please tell me not all of them are this awful!!!!