Thank you to everyone for their support.

I took a 6 hour flight to CA on 3/31 and arrived in San Diego at 11:30 "their time". The driver, Ernesto, was waiting for me at the baggage area and put my luggage in the van and drove me, and another passenger, to Mexacali. This drive was about 2 hours long.

I was taken directly to the hospital where they were waiting for me and had blood work, urinalysis, EKG, chest x-ray, and then an esophagram to evaluate and completely unfil my band. The last stop was meeting with the coordinator to get pre and post-op instructions and to pay the balance for the surgery.

I was told I could have anything I wanted to eat (was on a 30 gram/day carb diet for the week prior to surgery) and driven to the Lucerna Resort which is beautiful. As I worked the night before, I elected to have the sandwich and protein bar I brought with me, showered, and fell asleep. I took the antibiotic they gave me before I went to sleep but did not take the ativan.

At 7 AM on 4/1, I was picked up and taken to my room in the hospital. I was seen by a medical internist who reviewed my tests (all good), an assistant surgeon (who was sleeved the day after me), an anesthesiologist, and finally, by the surgeon, Dr. Aceves. All questions were answered and I was the second sleeve of the day.

I got dramamine and versed to take 30 minutes prior to the OR and that knocked me out. LOL. My IV was inserted in the OR and I had spinal and general anesthesia. The spinal dramatically decreases the amount of general needed. Since I don't do well with general (severe nausea), I elected for the spinal too and had NO problems in the recovery room.

All I remember about the recovery room was being asked if I had pain... nope, and being told I was going back to my room. I got some IV pain medication at @ 4 AM and then had sublingual (under the tongue) toradol @ 1 PM. For me, this surgery was a lot less painful than the band.

At noon, I had to drink small sips of water. An hour after that I drank apple juice with a blue dye in it. This is the second test (first done in OR) for leaks. I have a drain near where the port was and the hope is that no blue color comes through to the bag. I passed. After that, I was brought hot tea, tang OJ, and apple juice. My IV was taken out this evening.

Tomorrow morning, I go for the last leak test and will have to drink a radiograffin substance. If I pass that test (and I have no doubt I will), the drain gets removed at noon. I will leave the hospital at 5:45 AM on Saturday to make my flight in San Diego for home. I have nothing but positive things to say about this experience. As a registered nurse I was very watchful and am impressed with the care, cleanliness, and professionalism I observed.

Hi, I'm WASa and I used to have a BubbleButt! HA! My thing has never really been sugar. If it's in front of me I'll eat it but I don't crave it. I just eat anything in front of me. ;o) So today I only keep good foods in front of me.

When it comes to trigger foods I learned a long time ago that if I eat it I crave it more. It's all or none for me. If I give myself an inch I take a mile. ;o) Anything with flour in it is a huge trigger food for me. Bread, Pasta, anything. If I take one bite that's it, the carb craving cycle begins. :thumbup:/

I am the same as you WASa ... so now there is nothing in my house that isn't healthy ... my fridge contains lots of salad and fixings, eggs, cheese, tons of Water and bottled tea ... if someone is coming over for dinner, we have to go to the store and buy whatever it is we want to fix ... freezer is full of frozen veggies, chicken and tilapia, fruits and SF popsicles ... so even if I DO have a craving for something ... if I want it, I have to get in the car and go get it...and after working all day, that's the last thing I want to do ... so I eat string cheese or drink water until the "head" crave goes away... I am hoping that all of this helps me once I have my VSG surgery on 6/12/09.

Now that I'm getting used to solids, I've been experimenting... lol. I love the 100 calorie english muffins. For lunch one day last week, I toasted one and put a tablespoon of peanut butter on the surface. It's about 250 calories total and was very filling.

Today, I toasted another muffin but this time I used a teaspoon of mayo and then put 2 slices of honey turkey breast to make a sandwich. I could only eat 2/3 rds. This proves that solid proteins are the way to go with the sleeve if you want to keep calories low and your stomach full.

No, I am not the mad scientist. LOL.

Here's a question for those already living with the VSG. Do you find it's better to eat 3 meals a day with no snacking or do you do better with smaller, more frequent meals?

Here's a question for those already living with the VSG. Do you find it's better to eat 3 meals a day with no snacking or do you do better with smaller, more frequent meals?

I am a natural born grazer so I eat all day long. ;o) If I just ate three times daily I'd keep losing.

I eat about every 3-4 hours. So that works out to about 3 "meals" and 2 Snacks. However, when I am working out, that all goes out the window.

What I've worked out for myself is to eat like an endurance athlete right before, during & after working out and like a bariatric person the rest of the time.

So I may have my afternoon snack then go to the track to run and drink a sports drink the entire time and have a Protein Bar afterwards. Then I go home and have dinner.

So is that 1 snack and 1 meal or 3 snacks and 1 meal? I count it as 1 snack and 1 meal and the sports drink and Protein bar, I count as "fuel" for the workout. After all, one my days off, I don't consume them because I'm not working out.

Of course, this is all still in flux because I'm only now starting to go into maintenance mode. But I am working out so much now that I have to do something or I'll become skin and bones!

I workout 2x a day for 5 days a week and burn 500-1000 calories with each workout. If I counted that in my regular diet, I'd start eating all sorts of junk to get my calorie count up and I'd have to eat constantly. I like the idea of having separate workout "fuel" that is only associated with workouts. I think that will give me good habits that will work even if I go through a period where I can't work out as much.

Thanks, Ladies. Dr. Aceves said to keep to three meals a day with no snacking. I think this might apply more to the band. Unlike the band, I get the "full" feeling quickly and experienced that awful sensation that occurs when you take "one more bite" after the full feeling hits... NOT pleasant.

I couldn't eat veggies and fresh fruits with the band and all those things are in season now. I can't eat large amounts but I do crave a healthy diet and prefer to eat a few grapes rather than snack on crap when I'm working (13 hour nights). Flip-flopping from days to nights and back again and figuring out what to eat and when is challenging. LOL.

I don't know how you can do that. I have a good friend who is a nurse and works grave yard, on one week and off one week. She still sleeps all day on her week off so she stays on the same schedule. It's nice for me since I have insomnia because I can call her at midnight and know it's not too late to call and that she is always up at that time.

I am glad you're enjoying solids! You went through hell with that band.

I don't stay on a night schedule. I'm off tomorrow so I'll take a 2 hour nap in the AM and then stay up until @ 11:30 PM. Luckily, I am not a person who requires a lot of sleep... 4 hours and I'm good to go. LOL.

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