Toni I couldn't type ANYTHING in the boxes using internet explorer. So I changed to Modzilla firefox and have never had any trouble at all

Hi Rick, thanks for your reply and I'm sorry to hear things didn't go too well for you. I suppose we're all taking a risk with this surgery, but I have to look on the positive side of things and just hope that everything goes well for me. I'm actually going in today to have my endoscope. Hey, I hope you get better real soon...it can only get better from here right? Keep in touch, I'd love to hear your progress. Cheers, Toni

I had this procedure on Jan 18. Unfortunately I had a haematonia [blood loss] which seems to have slowed recovery. I have lost 14kg but have a lot of gastric reflux and am pretty much still on a liquid diet. I am told things will improve significantly.

Hi Toni, I had a sleeve last March in sydney. No problems. I have lost 32kg and I am now under my goal weight. I am 55 years old and a midwife with a small grandson whom I adore so I needed to lose weight to enjoy keeping up with him. I have no regrets from the surgery and should have done it years ago. I found the operation to be quite straight forward, not much pain (due to excellent analgesia from anaesthetist) my main pain was in my shoulder, this was due to gas which was relieved by a hot pack. I was up and walking the same day and was home in 2 days. I was a bit tired when I got home but had no great pain, any I had was relieved by panadol/panadeine. One of the most important things to remember is that you must drink your water as you can get very dehydrated, particularly in the early days when you are not eating very much. The other important thing is to take a multi-vitamin every day. I went back to work after 3 weeks (remember very active job as a midwife) and I was exhausted. I probably could have taken an extra couple of weeks to recover. But if you have a less physically strenous job you should be OK. and you look a lot younger than me so you should be fine. The only problem I had from the surgery and still have if I am not careful is constipation. I take Benefiber daily which works for me. You will need to stock up on mushy food for when you first come home. I lived on salmon mixed with Deb instant potato (easier to mix than ordinary potato) and pureed apple with light custard (yum, yum) of course soup, yoghurt and jelly. I started eating normal foods after I saw my Doctor at 3 weeks and can eat anything now, but in small amounts only. My typical size would fit on a bread and butter plate. I only eat half a sandwich and can only eat half an apple. It is important to eat your protein first as you will fill up on carbs and be hungry sooner. If you have room, then eat your carbs. Protein is important to help burn off fat rather than muscle. Another thing to be aware of is as time goes by you can certainly eat more than in the early days. This surgery is only a tool (a good tool) but a tool nevertheless. You still need to limit sugary carbs and empty calories. It can be easy to graze all day as mushy foods go down well (i.e. chocolate, milk shakes etc). particularly if you are an emotional eater (like most of us) it is important to work through your emotions in a diferent way. I used to ask myself "Am I really hungry, or am I thirsty" so I would try a drink first if that didn't work I would try and distract myself with some activity and if worst case scenario I was still wanting something sweet, I would eat a couple of sugar free lollies. I also try to eat 200cal per meal and have 200cal for snacks as a general rule. Works well for me. You should not be hungry. I am still not hungry. Exercise is important, but don't pu**** too soon, and try to do something that you can maintain long term. E.G. don't go to the gym 7 days a week as that is impossible in the long run. There is an excellent book called Weight loss surgery for dummies that has lots of tips. You may need to purchase it on line as I don't think it is available in Australia but it is worth looking at. The other thing to let you know is there is a support group on line here in Australia and there are some members there from South Australia. The address is http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/awls good luck. regards kath from Sydney

Thanks Nancy. I got onto OH and they told me to download Firefox which I finally did and yes, that worked. It seems the OH website doesn't like internet explorer, which I find quite strange as I'm sure most people use it, and I do have the latest version. Anyway, the main thing is I can use all of the website now. I couldn't even reply to messages before. People who sent me messages must have thought I was ignoring them, but I've contacted them all now and told them what the problem was. Anyway, I thank you again. Cheers, Toni