Vertical sleeve gastrectomy

Absolutely! No one wants me to be without my caffeine. (*grin*)

Can you drink soda? Yes and no. I cannot drink any soda right out of a can or bottle. Too much carbonation, makes my stomach hurt. I can drink some diet Pepsi IF it's poured over ice and I let it get a little melty. No slugging it back like I once did. Believe it or not, I really don't miss it.

How is hair loss?  I lost about 1/3 of my hair. I knew it was going to happen but I was not prepared for how it would look.  My hair is thin and fine anyway, so the hair loss around my face was noticeable. Thankfully, it all came back in at around 5-6 months, so now it's back to the way it was before.

Are you able to drink alcohol or beer ?  I am not a beer or wine drinker, but I do love a good mojito. I don't go to bars, so my mojito-drinking is limited to special occasions. I may have one once a month, with my surgeon's blessing. So far, I have had no trouble with alcohol and I don't believe that will change.  I've never been much of a drinker and it takes me a couple hours to finish my one mojito so I'm not getting high at all.

Also chest pains is it true that you can have really bad chest pain amd stomach aches due to eating sugar?   I don't particularly get chest pains due to sugar, but I will get very queasy if I eat a lot of sugar in a short time period. I learned my lesson on this back in April, when I was about 4 months post-op. I ate some chips, followed by some small powdered donuts, followed by some chocolate. Ugh. Why did I do that?? I was just being stupid.  Unfortunately, I was on a business trip about 75 miles from home. Suddenly I realized I was gonna hurl. I pulled off at a Waffle House and parked around the back. I felt weak and was pouring cold sweat. I'll leave the rest to your imagination but trust me when I say that chocolate isn't nearly so good the second time. I pass that Waffle House several times a year on my business trips and it almost makes me feel ill just looking at it.

I was in Alabama with my wife and her family and they went to Sonic. I was like hey I am on vacation I am going to have a small shake. I drank it and man was I sick. I never threw up but I wished that I had. That was the only time I would say I felt any kind of dumping symptoms.

HI ,, did you go to a consultation with the doc? All those ?? are discussed there before you start on anything,,

Yes i di but it was berly my first one i need 6 months before my insurance can approve it :(

I do not drink soda. I used Diet Coke as my "water" pre-op. Tried it post op and it makes my tummy hurt so no go there.

I did not lose hair. I've always been compliant with my protein which helps, but honestly, I think it's a crapshoot whether you do or don't lose hair. Good news is, it grows back.

I drink alcohol.  I'm 48, divorced and have an active social life.  Once in a great while, I'll drink a Guinness which is the most lightly carbonated beer. The carbonation fills me FAST so I usually can't fini**** before it gets hot. Typically if I go out I'll order white wine or Absolut and Cranberry or grapefruit juice. It's light, has no carbonation and doesn't upset my stomach. You just have to be careful with the extra calories 'cause they add up FAST with alcohol. I'm pretty much a light weight now in more ways than one, LOL!  There's also the worry of addiction transference with WLS patients so we have to pay extra attention. I'm in maintenance now, but if I gain a few pounds, alcohol is the first thing that gets cut till I'm back where I belong.

Chest pain? Not really. If I over eat it IS VERY PAINFUL though. Painful enough that I have to get rid of the excess, (which is not easy for me since they fixed a hernia during my sleeve which makes it hard to throw up). You learn quickly where the limits are and the consequences for exceeding them.  For about the first 6 months if I over did it on sugar I'd "dump" it, but that hasn't happened in a long time.  Either I'm over it or I've learned where the limits are, not sure which, LOL.