Alright December Sleevers, I'm hoping that this title brings more people in so we can follow and encourage each other through our journeys.

I am 40. I'm 5'4" and about 308 right now. I'd like to get to a healthy BMI which would be around 145. I'm hoping for a December 4th or 5th date with Dr. William Johnson.

Everyone introduce yourselves!


So far as of 11/02/13

• Dec 02 Krysta03
• Dec 02 gaslimgal
• Dec 02 jess9395
• Dec 02 Annadette
• Dec 02 sookie
• Dec 02 Nurse_Bonnie
• Dec 02 doopa
• Dec 02 Jerzygurl
• Dec 03 Tasha420
• Dec 03 SouthernCharm
• Dec 03 redilla42
• Dec 03 skinnynewbecky2014
• Dec 03 Sinderelly
• Dec 03 missmee
• Dec 03 Browneyedgurl
• Dec 04 L-in-NJ
• Dec 04 Healthbound
• Dec 04 Katdrox
• Dec 05 Blondiee
• Dec 05 Lioness813
• Dec 06 kyholder
• Dec 06 harleychic
• Dec 09 De-jo
• Dec 09 AshleyMidwife
• Dec 09 Sweettart702
• Dec 09 MShell
• Dec 09 Carlotta
• Dec 10 hopecomeswithtime
• Dec 11 liciamarie
• Dec 11 KaminaBlue
• Dec 11 Only1likeme
• Dec 11 soul2bleed
• Dec 11 Volfan
• Dec 11 dencob1
• Dec 11 MnWin
• Dec 11 onedaycloser
• Dec 11 Scraglycat
• Dec 12 amills
• Dec 12 kellymoon
• Dec 12 honeylove
• Dec 13 Mommie4
• Dec 13 amduc (and husband!)
• Dec 13 Under1star
• Dec 14 Sleevin It
• Dec 16 slvrsax
• Dec 16 elhudge
• Dec 16 Mfs
• Dec 16 MGR1852
• Dec 17 Shelly70
• Dec 17 Serenah
• Dec 17 ginnie290
• Dec 18 Sns513
• Dec 18 Nona337am
• Dec 18 gemgirl
• Dec 18 mija1980
• Dec 18 Teachamy
• Dec 26 ReEstDec2013
• Dec 27 Carmen1963
• Dec 30 elsnanny

No date yet:

• AtlantaRed
• beansmomma
• HoustonTexanFan
• AngiD
• fpmr96a
• SueRN
• Simpley_ke
• Vixey
• macman
• MonisNatural
• fmpr96a
• Tarheel79
• SeniorMoment
• Coachk
• kan7525
• caligirl3
• Besleeve It

Question: Does anyone count there calories? If so how? Because I know that I never eat all of anything. From jello, to apple sauce, pudding, refried beans, anything!!

Yes, I count everything i eat. I use My Fitness Pal. There is a huge database of most foods but you can also create your own foods by listing the ingredients you use and you can adjust how much you had. So, applesauce is usually a 4 ounce serving. If you only eat half, you would change the serving to 0.5 for half. I also bought a food scale and I measure out all of my food. On My Fitness Pal, you can also use your smartphone to scan the barcode of any food label and it will automatically load the numbers for you!

Hope that helps!

As of today, I am down 17.4 pounds since Dec 10 surgery, and 23 including pre op. Again, thanks for tracking all this!

Hi Coachdk! Congrats on your loss!

I don't have the link but I think you can message MinWin or look for the December 2013 pounds lost thread. That is where she is tracking the pounds lost!

Question: Does anyone count there calories? If so how? Because I know that I never eat all of anything. From jello, to apple sauce, pudding, refried beans, anything!!

Yes, I count everything I put in my mouth. I track it all in my fitnesspal from a cup of decaf tea with two packs of stevia to a tablespoon of salsa and a scoop of protein powder. Right now, NUT has my cap of calories at 700. I've gone over maybe 2x, but mostly I stay below or around 600.

It's good to measure and track that way you can see the whole picture.

My fitnesspal really is a great tool.

Question: Does anyone count there calories? If so how? Because I know that I never eat all of anything. From jello, to apple sauce, pudding, refried beans, anything!!

Yes, I count everything i eat. I use My Fitness Pal. There is a huge database of most foods but you can also create your own foods by listing the ingredients you use and you can adjust how much you had. So, applesauce is usually a 4 ounce serving. If you only eat half, you would change the serving to 0.5 for half. I also bought a food scale and I measure out all of my food. On My Fitness Pal, you can also use your smartphone to scan the barcode of any food label and it will automatically load the numbers for you!

Hope that helps!

BINGO!

Hello my fellow sleevers and Ty for such a warm bench, thoughts and prayers xoxoxo!! Yesterday was a really bad day n horrible night. I had a hernia repaired as well, so now I'm havn what they call esophageal spasms, they gave me evry med under the sun...they gave me the scop patch for nausea bc the meds had my eyes bouncing everywhere and I'm bad about motion sickness. I do however, have a lot of chest pains that move to my heart, they did so many test to rule out heart attack, all is well w my heart, Praise God! Today I was given an nsaid, which yall know is contraindicated for us sleevers but it made all my suffering from pain go completely away.. they double check w the physician but bc I'd been given so much meds which I was allergic too, Not sure which, so I was then given benedryl a lot. This morning was taken for leak test but the contrast only a little traveled through so they cancelled it for tomorrow, doc said I was too swollen inside. So another day wo drinking. Just swabs to wet my whistle. I dont think I have gas pains but either way, this pain n my chest and heart is killing me. My families here and taking care of me, Yippie . My throat is fine, wudn even know I had a tube in it. Still have catheter, leg hoses and pain pump. Other than these spasms, which feels like a knife cutting me inside and hiccup spasms, I feel pretty good. Thank you my friends and prayer warriors! I appreciate u gr8ly:). To all of todays sleevers I pray ur all recovering well, I'm so proud of our Dec group, we have made it. In advance, HAPPY NEW YR, can't wait for us all to start posting b4 and after pics! Gonna b fun:) XOXO ))) take care

Doesn't look like I will be going home today. I only had one ounce of apple juice in the last 3 hours. This is not good. They just gave my some broth and I am loving it. I can't tolerate plain water though. I am not hungry at all. My brain is though . Not in pain so much which is good but every once in a while they give me medication because my stomach is sore.. I am so glad I reminded my nurse that I am allergic to codeine because that's what my doctor ordered apparently. So sucks I can't take the strong medication but it's manageable. I am watching spongebob square pants on tv lol I am 25 so hey it's acceptable. Make sure you take a blistex with you. That helped me so much. Now I'm gonna go enjoy my broth yummy.

Deez, continued prayers your way.

Hi Coachdk! Congrats on your loss! I don't have the link but I think you can message MinWin or look for the December 2013 pounds lost thread. That is where she is tracking the pounds lost!

Thanks...I posted there. Guess I got confused amongst the December threads.

So sometimes I am able to drink my water so quickly and several ounces at a time, I keep thinking there is something wrong with me! All liquids go down way to easy.... I want puree so bad just to feel that restriction to make sure all is as it should be. I am still not "hungry" so that is a good thing, but with the liquids only, I really don't get that full feeling.

tami j,

I understand what you are talking about regarding the ability to drink more ounces at a time than others are reporting. I have experienced the same thing, too, and I was starting to think something was wrong. Contacted my NUT and she let me know there is nothing wrong with this at all, it's perhaps a blessing. It's good to be able to get all of these fluids in and just make sure I monitor the amounts I'm drinking.

I haven't really felt physical hunger but have experienced head hunger and I'm looking at these experiences as an opportunity to understand the difference between the two.

I'm loving cottage cheese and vanilla yogurt like never before-- I'm going to move to pureed food later this week, a little earlier than the typical schedule but with my ability to swallow and hold more than most, it's giving me the chance to move ahead a little quicker.

The scale was moving slowly but the last 3 days I'm seeing it move at a more gratifying pace. All in all, it's a good journey so far and I'm humbled by the progress. I have certainly done little in the last 20 years to give my body a reason to respond so well to my desire to get healthy. God is good

tami j, I understand what you are talking about regarding the ability to drink more ounces at a time than others are reporting. I have experienced the same thing, too, and I was starting to think something was wrong. Contacted my NUT and she let me know there is nothing wrong with this at all, it's perhaps a blessing. It's good to be able to get all of these fluids in and just make sure I monitor the amounts I'm drinking. I haven't really felt physical hunger but have experienced head hunger and I'm looking at these experiences as an opportunity to understand the difference between the two. I'm loving cottage cheese and vanilla yogurt like never before-- I'm going to move to pureed food later this week, a little earlier than the typical schedule but with my ability to swallow and hold more than most, it's giving me the chance to move ahead a little quicker. The scale was moving slowly but the last 3 days I'm seeing it move at a more gratifying pace. All in all, it's a good journey so far and I'm humbled by the progress. I have certainly done little in the last 20 years to give my body a reason to respond so well to my desire to get healthy. God is good

Like you guys I am able to drink well, and thus was moving ahead on adding more things to my diet... The PA at my surgeons office cautioned me and said that while I may have good capacity the staple line is still healing and things like pudding, and yogurt are tougher to digest... So I am back to shakes soups and clear liquids... Needless to say I am bummed as I thought I was doing quite well for myself.

On the losers bench now. Back at the hotel and will return to the hospital tomorrow to remove my drain. Soooo glad it's over.

Mazzers120 - Glad you had a good surgery. I really enjoyed my time down there. Are you headed back to San Diego tomorrow? Tell the driver hello from the "stressed out girls" who were trying to get to the airport on time on Monday the 23rd. And ask him if he ever got that bottle of tequila.

Edited January 1, 201412 yr by Kindle

Deez...so good to hear from you. I'm so sorry about your struggles and am praying that each day shows improvement! You'll be back cheerleading in no time!

Today I was given an nsaid, which yall know is contraindicated for us sleevers but it made all my suffering from pain go completely away..

To my surprise, the pain med my surgeon sends home with every patient is a sublingual NSAID to be taken twice daily for up to 4 days. I took it for 3 days. I forgot to ask why, but my guess is that the benefits of reducing the post op swelling (thus decreasing stricture and leak complications, and increasing ability to drink fluids right away) outweighs the risk of ulcers over such a short duration. Plus we are on 2 weeks of an anti ulcer medication and 2 months of a PPI, so our sleeve is pretty protected. We were told to take regular Tylenol if we had anymore pain past the 4 days of the Rx NSAID. Luckily I never needed to.

Okay, I'm worried. I found out today that my surgeon removed approx 60% of my stomach while I had thought it would be 85%. I'm so worried that it isn't going to be enough and I have will be right back to my HW later on. I don't have anyone to share those thoughts with who would remotely understand so I just needed to share it with yall. It's really bothering me. Thanks for everything