2008 Junies and Friends

I have discussed this situation with my doctor and he said that once the sleeve is healed there is no need to have insurance to cover it as it is not like a band and prone to slippage etc if traveling over seas. He could not find a reason for why travel would be an issue at any stage for it in that it would not cause any medical problems... there fore not needing insurance to cover any medical emergencies to cover it.

With the band there are many disasters that can befall it when taveling given that food can at any stage, even foods that are normally ingested safely can be an issue. Not so with the sleeve once the 3 or 4 months is done

He said it would be like stating that having removed the gall or the tonsils or the appendix or the womb was pre existing, yes a percetage of the stomach was removed but it it fully functional and not in any way an issue.

Trish

I have been doing more research into travel insurance. I think you will find that your sleeve is classed as a pre existing condition. I tried to copy and paste for you but it won't work from the pdf. Here is a link to the doc

https://www.agaassistance.com.au/allianz/skins/__AllianzFI/pdf/ProductDisclosureStatement.pdf

page 10

it states that a pre existing is anything that you have had surgery for or see a specialist for

It might be useful to warn others sleevers to be careful.

Thanks... I just want to get it back down to 75 where it was when the band came out ...then I will be working on getting the rest down to where I was before I started to gain with the band (lowest was 63 dont want to go there).

Its all about undoing the damage for me.

Mind you I am fitting in to things now that fitted when I was around 70 so I may have to readjust my goals... we will see. I am 5.5 and a 1/2 so anywhere under 75 is a good number I spose.

Well done Zippy you are now 1.1k under me.

The sleeve seems to be suiting you weill.

Delia

Love the new ticker!

you gots da ghetto booty Loosinit...

debs my belly was always hard and bloated with the band... soft in the morning but as the day went on it went like a frigging beach ball. It was also uncomfortable and tight.

Now its soft and flatter...no bloating at all and feels normal.

Can't say I've noticed that, however I do know that no matter how much exercise I do, and how much weight I lose, I will ALWAYS have big hips and a fairly large rear end, as well as those thunder thighs.

Me too. lol The belly is the one place i can't get rid of the fat...well there are others but the belly is the worst.

That's interesting about the size loss as opposed to scale loss zip. Yes with the band my weight has fallen off my bum and chest area and face. What's unusual though is that i've lost weight before, without a band (just couldn't keep it off) and i never lost my bum, it used to come off my chest/shoulders (like band) and waist and legs. Now its mostly my bum, a little off my legs but not a lot of my stomach and that's the worst place of the lot. The other thing is with the band my tum seems bloated all the time. I get up in the morning and although my tum is still big its more proportional to the bod, as soon as i eat something or drink something its like its gone up another size and stays like it all day.

I wonder if anyone else has noticed fat loss in different places....in comparison between the band and pre band diet and exercise?

I have a few handfulls on my belly that I wish would disappear overnight!

Its strange I am losing size and in big chunks but only like 500g a week. I am smaller now than when I was 5 kilos lighter with band and its coming off my belly where with the band my belly stayed very bloated.

When I grab the skin on my arms and my belly I can feel the fat is disipating (if you know what I mean) there is so much less of it.

I am dropping clothing sizes over night.

I stalled for 2 weeks ( seems everyone does no matter the WLS) but its starting to drop on the scales. I have so much more energy now than I had with the band too. My hair is thickening up too and I am not looking as drained in the face.

With the band I lost weight off my bum and shoulders and face and my face got gaunt. Now its coming off my belly and arms ( where I need it to come off) but the rest is looking better.

I dont know why, like i said its all very strange to me

As for real food... I guess it will be easier when Im out but food means so little to me now Im not that over excited. I carry cheese sticks with me and when Im out I have one for lunch or get a long black and Im happy... gone are the days where I get to 12.00 or 1.00 and thing fwaaaw I could go something nice to eat.... now its more....sheet its 1.00 I had better eat something.

But yes I think it will be easier to make going out choices on real food....at home.. I just eat cos I have to and dont really care what it is to be honest.

awesome news zip. Ar eyou excited about real food again? Have you lost much weight since your sleeve op? I can imagine it must be falling off you if you can only eat a 1/4 cup of food at a time. It blows my mind. LOL
Well done. I need to get my butt in gear and go and see him.

went back and saw nigey today for my 4 week follow up... he was a happy lil vegemite.. all is good and in 2 weeks I start on normal foods...steak and bread ( he specifically said he wanted me to eat these) I have to have one bite and wait for it to hit bottom before continuing.

I have another follow up in 4 weeks to see how its all going and to make sure I am handling normal foods well.

Other than that it was just general "how ya dooin" stuff.... as he said not much else to say because I have a normal belly that just has a tiny capasity...

Thanks for that description Zip...its much clearer now. I didn't realise about the bougie thing....and its much smaller than i thought it would be. I guess it would have to be though otherwise it wouldn't work. lol I didn't realise about the grelin thing either...or cutting the nerves and the tummy having to relearn things. See, we would never get this info if we didn't talk to someone who has had it done. Fascinating stuff! Thanks so much for explaining it depth, very very interesting.

debs

Interesting but I can't watch the video yet.

Here is a clip that explains it in better detail... it shows the operation too ( not gory though)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3G4dSmJUro&feature=relmfu

below is a relative size comparison for bougie sizes... my doc uses a 34f which is the body ( not the cap) of the silver colored bic marker. I was told there isnt a lot of differend in them anyway but smaller you go the more chance of strictures and reflux issues

yes its now a thin tube. Doc peck cuts it by inserting a bougie, size 34, ( a long thin plastic tube the width of a bic pen) down your throat. This is the sizer for the sleeve. he then cuts the excess off the side leaving you with a long stapled tube... he then over sews the from the top of the stomach valve to about half way down which makes this a bit firmer. He said he does this because this is the part of the stomach where you feel the restriction and this will re-enforce it.

When this portion of the stomach is removed so it the Grehlin which is what makes us hungry. I read somewhere that grehlin will slow the metablolism as well. So no Grelin no hunger...

It takes a few months for the tummy to relearn its digestion because nerves have been cut so it processes a bit slower and works more on gravity to push the food down through the tummy into the bowel...hence why at this stage one goes slow. ( which isnt hard cos your not hungry and feel full quickly) The nerves and the normal digestion process does return in a few months as the tummy repairs.

Pushing food in will put pressure on the newly cut and sewn stomach and feels at first like your full..a bit more and its uncomfortable and further like its stuck...very much like stuck band but passes quicker.

I am told by the doc that in a few months I will be eating normally all be it smaller ( around half cup at a sitting) and all foods including steak. But till then the seam line is hard scar and wont yeild very well so it will be a little hit and miss with finding the right foods.

With this situation I have to say again not as hard as the band. I remember 6 weeks out with the band I ate a bite full of ripe pear and spent the next hour hung over the sink, sliming and in such horrid pain I thought I would die. I have since sampled morsels of such things and I feel instantly full but no pain... but like I said I am not pushing it by continuing past this feeling.... with the band there was no warning just instant pain when I got it wrong.

I was afraid of cutting away my stomach but now it doesnt bother me... to me its no worse than removing the gall or tonsils. I had to do this to survive or gain weight and die from the side effects.

I researched it and the large part of the stomach has been being removed for 30 odd years due to cancer and people have gone on to live full and healthy lives so I dont see it as a huge issue... a big decision yes but so was the decision to get a band.

yes it is strange huh. I wonder if there's some sort of mechanism involved or if its purely psychological...this need for chocolate. Even my partner has said to me that even though i eat less overall i'm choosing higher calorie food. Interesting.

So Zip, even though there's no foreign body in your....body...it sounds like you still have a 'stoma' of sorts at the opening of the stomach....is that right? Do they make the actual opening smaller or do they just reduce the size of the stomach pouch? If i'm picturing your innards correctly (hope that doesn't sound too pervy LOL) it sounds like your stomach has almost become just a tube..that connects to the other 'tubes' (being the oesophegus and the intestine.) Is this right? I'm painting quite the picture i know. lol

Yeah it is kinda weird. Like with the band if I was having cravings I haaaad to have what I was craving. If I get one now, I go have some diet jelly and its gone.

Now i could just be a freak of nature and this is just how its working for me but I am finding this a no brainer.

Like I said there are a couple of kids are having issues with pushing the sleeve in the early stages on my month thread and 1 is an exbandit...the others are all virgin sleeves. The exbandit ate toast and got it stuck and continued eating instead of doing liquids and is now suffering with sever reflux pain as due course of damaging the valve at the top of the tummy. Bit scary but rules is rules, same would happen if you did the same to the band at the outset.

The only prob I have is waste management.. or lack there of but with only eating a max of a half cup of food a day at the moment its no wonder.

Debs I'm the same - I liked chocolate before banding and used to have it occasionally. Now it's a different matter. If I get by without having some form of chocolate in a day it's a miracle.

Even when newly banded, I used to have a couple of choc melts to satisfy the craving.

Oooooh Zip i'd love to have that 'i've had enough' effect with the chocolate. The funny thing is i didn't used to eat a lot of chocolate before the band...don't get me wrong, i still loved it, but i would have a few bits and feel satisfied. Since the band i think about it all the time. I went a bit mental at easter with it and i still didn't get the 'i'm over it now' feeling that i thought i would get.

It sounds like the sleeve has a more concrete effect on cravings, like it effects you mentally aswell. For me the band works mostly on the physical...like a stuck, or chuck moment. But then they do say..'its not a band for your head'. Sounds like the sleeve kind of talks to your brain more, if that makes any sense.

And yes, i can see how it would be easier for ex bandits to adjust to a sleeve. I haven't eaten bread in over a year...same with red meat..and the only thing i can eat at maccas are chicken nuggets. In that respect the band is great. I just wish it had more of an effect on your brain like the sleeve seems to.

Yeah now see I was the same with the band... chocolate was one of my food groups. But the sleeve has changed how food tastes ooor effects me... dunno.

But chocolate is a two square deal now and its well enough. Apart from the fact that it makes me feel physically sick now.. it is simply toooooooo sweet.

Peanut butter is more to my palate now. I just cant seem to tolerate anything too flavoured.

You know how you feel after you have brushed your teeth... its kinda like that with out the pepperminty taste... Or had a biiiig glass of milk... not hungry but not full and not really interested in anything and if you do put it in your mouth to eat you are really not enjoying it..... hard to explain.

I do get mild hunger / cravings but after about 2 teaspoons of food or a half a cup of tea and its over I dont want to eat any more.

Now having said this there are others (mostly virgin sleevers) that are pushing their sleeve at this stage but those that are doing it I have noticed are stretching and agrivating the opening to the eosophigus and getting reflux and have to go back to fluids. They are having trouble with the rules like no bread or heavy meat at his 3 or 4 week stage and slipping them in.

I am sitting back and using what I have learned with the band to guide me... this is my last chance at this stuff so I want to give it the best start I can. And to be honest Im finding it easy because I have not had to go cold turkey with macas and bread like them cos the band has broken that connection over 4 years ago.

the 70's? That's awesome Zip. COngratulations! I don't get the whole peanut butter thing...unless its on warm buttery toast...drooling now...but haven't been able to eat toast almost since the band so no peanut butter. Still, i have the same thing with chocolate....why chocolate why... lol

Linda - it's that sort of weather. Has turned really cold the last few days. Think we have definitely seen the last of the warm weather. It couldn't last forever.

It was cold and rainy yesterday, perfect for a baking day, which is exactly what I did. It was most enjoyable. I visited some friends today whom I rarely see, so they, along with my neighbour and my niece, were the recipients of some home-made goodies. All seemed to appreciate them. I never bake just for myself because . . . . . . . . well I shouldn't have to spell that out! We know EXACTLY what would happen - I would eat the lot.

Congrats on getting back into the 70s. Freezing here. Just want to sit in front of the fire and eat.

Morning all.... still all the same here, progressing along...still only eating a 1/4 cup or under. Weight under 80 this morning...woo hoo so I am back in the 70's.

Still not hard to do, surprisingly easy actually.

Someone suggested that a slice of ham or devon or turkey loaf with philly cheese or avocado and a slice of cheese is a good lunch. I made one up and could only eat half of one ...really slow. Had the other half for arvo tea.

Bizzar how contented and full I feel on such a small amount.

Still loves me peanut butter though!