Appointment

Hi everyone, I am just wondering if anyone is off to see Weber this week...I was going to see him on Thursday, but I begged Summer to give me a Friday appointment so I wouldn't have to bring all my kids. So...I will be there Friday at 4:30...I am a little worried because I haven't gotten my blood work back and I know how much he wants to look at it. I figure I am pretty much wasting my time by going over there without it. I have been kind of blacking out lately though and I am sure he would like to know about that...one of my close friends had been experienceing the same thing and then last week she actually passed out and went numb for a bit....we took her to the Navy hospitol, but they sent her home with no explanation.....go Navy (go fgure)...We think we are low in something...Iron, potassium...something liek that. We both work out and it's more noticeable during and after workout sessions. I also notice it when I rearrange the furniture or wash the floors....anyone else get this? It's like I eel like I start to black out and then I put my head up and take a deap breath and blink my eyes and drink some water and it calms down...like I am stopping myself from fully blacking out. I am not too worried about it since my body is all different now. That's it for now...if anyone has any pointers thanks in advance! Rachael - 120 280/160/140?

I forgot I posted some new photos to my site.... http://rachaelkelliott.blogspot.com/ scroll down past the adorable naked babies...

I get light headed too when I don't have enough carbs. And, it was because of this light headednes that Heidi pulled me off exercising for a while way bach when. She didn't want me passing out at the gym. I will be interested to hear what Dr. W has to say about it. Hat

So do you still get light headed when you work out now? Or is it better? How long did you have to go without working out....If I don't work out I don't lose weight anymore. The carb thing...it could very well be the same for me...I eat carbs but only ones that are in what I can get down. I don't eat bread...or I ralph like crazy. I eat cheese and that has come carbs...I can eat a saltine because I can chew it well, but after one I feel like I have playdough stuck in my throat. Any odeas on how to get a few carbs in? Seems like I live off of spinich, string cheese, and soy lattes...and water of course. I was drinking this stuff from Costco called zip fizz...it's VERY VERY lightly carbonated...and if you let it sit out for a minute it's not at all. But it has lots of vitamins and natural stuff in it to boost your day, oh and it has b-12 too. It really gets me going...it's supposed to hydrate you better than gatorade and water and it's carb free sugar free and aspartame free.....you mix it with a bottle of water and shake....it really helps me lose weight extra fast. It's and energy drink too so I get really "buzzed" on it. On the days I drink it I don't drink coffee...I don't need it. Rachael

I don't have much trouble with carbs at all. :-/ I have to watch that I don't eat too many. Actually, my goal is to eat next to none of them because they tend to slip in when I am not looking. Good carbs would be whole grain rice -can be hard to chew up enough whole grain toast -many people find that they can eat toast but not bread. I can eat 1/2 of a slice at the most. Potatoes and yams- It is easy enough to thin down potatoes with FF brown gravy. Milk has more carbs in it that protein A glass of juice is loaded with carbs. Slimfast is loaded with carbs. It makes me wonder how anyone can lose weight drinking that stuff. I know some people say you don't need carbs at all. But, I find that I do. Although, my weight lose is drastically affected by how many carbs I take in. I am bad when it comes to exercising. I just can't get into it. But, I have been spending my time moving and emptying boxes and other such moving activities. So, I am not sitting around all day doing nothing. But, what I am doing is not enough to firm up this rear. So, I know I need to jump to it. Oh and to answer your question, I went without working out until I had the third and fourth round of strictures stretching. That was in Nov. Since then, I am getting better at keeping things down. I think I only barf about 4 o 5 times a week now. Hat

How long has it been since you had surgery? I'm kind of nervous because my surgery's coming up, and I was told that you'd just throw up for like the first 5 or 6 months, and then after that (provided you stick to the doctor's diet), you'll stop doing that. I hope you feel better...

Some people throw up a lot and some people never throw up. You can control that somewhat by which surgery you have. But, you can't really predict what complications you will have or what might make you dump. Heck, everyone dumps differently too. So, you might dump but not throw up as part of it. I assume your having RNY. It is impossible to predict how your body is going to react to the surgery or what complicatons you might have. In my case, dumping for me is violent throwing up sometimes followed with fatigue. I was 5 months our before I realized this. I didn't know dumping could include throwing up. My complication is a stricture. Actually, a lot of us here are living with strictures. Mine isn't so bad any longer so I don't know how much of my throwing up is caused by it and how much is from a picky pouch. At one point, I was really concerned about it. But, now it isn't too bad and just part of my life. In some ways, it is good because it makes me be extra careful. I have a friend that had surgery 2 years ago. She was a barfer like me except I don't think she had a stricture. She still barfs a lot. But, it is just something she lives with and accepts it. OK so I took the long way about trying to say that there are on promises on if or how much you will throw up or when it will stop. But, if you do and it keeps you from getting enough food and water, then it is a problem. Other than that, it is just something you will have to learn to live with. If you have real issues with barfing, then you need to discuss this with your surgeon ahead of time and maybe concider an alternate surgery. I hope this answers your questions. If not, then ask away. Hat RNY 8 months ago 256/139/128

This question may be a little elementary, but I have to know, what is a stricture?

The opening to the new pouch is called the stoma. Sometimes in the healing, the stoma starts to heal closed. This is called a stricture. In my case, my first one happened at about 3 weeks. It was so bad that I couldn't ge****er down. I have had my stretched 4 times. Because of a stitch in my stoma, they weren't able to stretch it as big as my surgeon wanted. But, as long as I chew well and watch what I eat, I can get a full range of foods down now. Even so, there are things that I still can't eat like hamburger. Arlene and Rachel are living with theirs. If you want to read more about mine, check out my profile. I think Arlene has info about hers and what can go wrong with a stretching on her profile. I can't remember if Rachel has much about her's on her profile. At the very least, you should know what to look for just in case. Hat