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8 days post op too. How are u finding it [emoji4] Sent from my SM-G925F using BariatricPal mobile app

Happy Thursday! Nothing much to update on, I'm just writing to keep up the habit. I've been plugging away at food/protein/water goals. Going grocery shopping tomorrow, so next week I'll be (slowly) introducing new foods to my sleeve. I still feel a good amount of fatigue which currently is my biggest frustration. There are people who reported feeling their energy come back by now, and while I have had a steady increase, I still get fatigued pretty quickly. Fingers crossed that I'll turn a corner soon!

I'm with Fresno Ca Kaiser. I started my process in August and had surgery on Feb. 9th. It's a process. Takes time. Trust me I know how anxious you are to get the surgery. My Kaiser has an 85% 5 yr. post-op success rate of maintaining weight loss. All the hoops they require you to jump through is building a foundation for your best results. That said. Some goid advice I got that helped me jump thru the hoops. When you go in for your orientation you will be weighed. That will be your "Offical start weight" unless you have been regularly weighed at your Primary doctor's office for the last six months ( I think that was our length). For me I was right at the cusp of meeting requirements to be eligible. So I was told not to lose any weight until after my Offical weigh in. Most patients are required to lose X amount before surgery. Start keeping a food journal. Be honest!! Weigh and measure when you can. I use myfittnesspal app. Start working on achieving 60 grams protien and 64 fluid ounces of non carbonated drinks daily. If you drink soda start to ween yourself off of them. Start practicing nothing to drink 1/2 hr before during and after meals. Start doing some form of movement and logging it. I started with a 15 minute walk 2 times daily. After you have your Offical weigh in, start working on losing weight. Whatever you lose from that moment on counts. I was required to lose 15%. I reached that rather quickly (luckily). You will not be approved for surgery until you reach this goal weight and you must not be over that weight on day of surgery. I was told if you are you will not get surgery. All things I've mentioned above were requirements that my Kaiser required before surgery. By starting now you are establishing your new way to healthier you and showing your bariatric team that you are serious and motivated for surgery and being successful at weight loss. It's a wild ride but so worth it. Good luck to you

Agreed 100% with @Introversion. I weighed quite a bit more than you when I had surgery and I lost 45 lbs in 2 months, so I think you are doing fantastic.

I'm also Kaiser CO. I have my surgery booked July 6. I can tell you right now you won't be August. After your last class is done (and you see the psych again, but this is typically done during your last week), you'll wait a week or two to get a call to schedule your consult. That is typically scheduled a week out. Once you see the surgeon, they give you your date. Which surgeon you see may impact your wait time. I got Rahem and my surgery was scheduled 9 weeks out. Others in my class had the new guy, Johnson and got in earlier. Who knows, by the time you finish it may all equalize. I'd plan on surgery being 6-8 weeks after your consult, so 7-10 weeks after your last class. Oh..and if you are an ex smoker, plan on taking another nicotine test after classes are complete that will add 2-3 weeks to the process. Let me know if you have any questions though. I realize I sound like I'm raining on your hopes...but as someone who just went through the frustration, I want to help really! Sent from my SM-G935P using BariatricPal mobile app

So today while I was watching this female Asian longhorned beetle oviposite her egg I was thinking about the science behind WLS. How many experiments aka..clinical trials have been done, are still being done, and will be done in the future to help doctors figure out the complex mysteries of this disease we call obesity. It blows my mind to even try to think of all the variables involved in the design of these trials. My research focuses on this beetle, a much simpler organism, and yet it can take days of thought and reading current published research to determine the variables that need to be considered and controlled during a planned experiment. Sometimes we even design pre-experiments just to figure out whether something is going to effect something else before we run the main experiment. All of this thinking has made me realize how little we really know. Why has my diabetes gone into remission after surgery? This surgery has done what following a low carb diet alone could not do, normalize my blood sugars minus any medications. I haven't had time to read all of the published literature on this subject, but I would like to. My mind is trained to looked for patterns in data so of course this is the way I am approaching my journey after this surgery. I am logging everything I eat, drink, and my exercise. I will export the data to excel and graph it to see if I can figure out how my body works now in relation to theses things and weight loss. I know for some people, maybe most, this is not something they would want to do. It may seem excessive and time consuming, but I hope to learn something that will be useful to me during the maintenance phase. I am increasingly more convinced that low carb is going to be the best diet for me to follow long term. I just don't see any reason to test the waters when I am doing so well right now. I have zero cravings for sugar, bread, rice, pasta... my energy levels are good, my bs are excellent, and I am losing weight. These are my musings for today, 5 weeks post-op.

I wish you good luck and many blessings in your journey. My best advice is to start working on changing your relationship with food now. Figure out what your issues are and do whatever you need to do to start addressing them. Because you are going to Mexico for your surgery you will need to do this largely on your own. I also had my surgery in Mexico and I scheduled it 2months out so I would have time to do research and get myself mentally prepared. Stick with the plan your doctor gives you and ask questions on this forum or through whatever support system your doctor has set up for you. I went through Bariactric Pal and Dr. Illan and they have a Facebook page for patients and we have lifetime support with the nutritionist.

Since you are at the beginning of this process, I would recommend three things. 1. Take a good before photograph of yourself, so that you have something to compare to after surgery. Many times we are blind to our obesity. We do not see ourselves. Therefore when the weight begins to drop off rather dramatically, we question if this is really happening. Photographs are a good visualization of our success. Many people carry a before and after photo with them, just to remind themselves of their success. 2. Walk 30 minutes each day, every day until surgery (or equivalent exercise). Walking helps the recovery process go smoothly and minimized the pain levels from surgery. 3. Wean yourself from caffeine and carbonated beverages now. After I gave up my 6 diet coke a day habit, I suffered from a week of severe withdrawal syndrome consisting of severe headaches and body aches. I was miserable. You don't want to combine the effects of caffeine withdrawal with the effects of surgery.

Preperation H or Tucks work good. I ysed them after each time I went poo!! They are the PITS for sure. Before my RNY I had "the back door trots" every time I ate!! It makes for a very sore bum. Now I have a hard time going but I would take that over constant runs any day!! Good luck I hope you find the thing you need to help you with the go.

Go girl!!!