crosswind

It's almost two weeks until I can eat solid food again and I've been thinking about diets. Dr. Aceves' eating information is kind of freewheeling. His recommendations are to attempt to eat small amounts of Protein foods, veggies and fruit and to limit carbs because most breads and rolls and etc are hard to digest; stay away from sweets because of blood sugar, stay away from crackers, and you know -- junk. That's not exactly a low carb diet although I've read some people here who seem to be on a serious lowcarb diet and I was wondering if there was a specific recommendation from your docs about that. Also I've read almost nothing about fat. Cheeses, nut butters, olive oil, avoado and etc. So what I want to know is how many people are flat out lowcarbing and how many people are just eating whatever will fit in their sleeve and gives them energy -- and also is there a problem specific to the sleeve when it comes to fat?

The scale hasn't moved since last week. That's an initial eighteen pounds at the end of maybe the first week, and nothing thereafter. I think my three week stall came early and I am making myself not think that this might mean I am going to turn out to be a slowpoke loser. I can't start soft food for another seven days. I have to wait eight days til I can swim. I am still changing my drain gauze. Two days till I can stop fussing with paper tape every day after my shower. I miss my moisturixing body wash and my bufpuf I went shopping yesterday and tried to get excited over cream Soups. Brought them home and attempted to add

If you have no insurance now, having the VSG makes you *uninsurable* for anywhere from six months to five years depending on the carrier. It makes no sense since you're actually about to get a lot healther, but whatever. You won't get aftercare unless you are already insured under something you had before you got the sleeve. However, any dotor will treat you or see you -- you can't be refused care by any hospital and it'sdoubtful any doctor would refuse to see you. But -- yeah, in that case -- you pay out of pocket.

Hooray, congratulations!

. Meggie Meggie,you're such a doll, love that you won your bed on the radio. I've never won anything on the radio but it would be so cool if people got more stuff that way .Like say a husband or -- parents! These people really gave birth to you and raised you? Nah, won them on the radio...

Oh, kiddo, I know how you feel. But the thing is, it doesn't even have to be that serious of an intervention with such severe societal overtones. . Like say a person has moles. Okay, you're covered with moles. You can live just fine looking like a hag but modern science has figured out how to *get rid of tthem*. I mean no one is coming up to with their lips pursed saying, well, did you *try* rubbing a hardboiled egg on them like I told you? Seriously. I'm a hundred pounds overweight. I've contributed *liberally* to the United States GNP via credit card to every infomercial in the known world. It's not abnormal to realize you need, and ask for, help with this. The really weird thing about it all is that so few people *get the help*. Instead of medical science, our great flagship of modern western society, working on this problem to our benefit we get like, Marie Osmond. Come on! I was thinking today about writing a blog entitled: " BCBS: Give these people their fuqing sleeves already. "

One of the reasons losing a lot of weight is so hard is just physics. I'm not talking about some crazy pyrotechnical women's mag wizardry involving blueberries and antioxidants and almonds and green tea and krill oil. I'm just saying: when you over a hundred points overweight, your chnces of losing it are really small for a simple reason: In order to diet it off, you would have to be in a state of caloric deficit for a year or more. Since your body hates being in a caloric deficit and will figure out all kinds of diabolical ways to hipcheck the energy balance, I think at that point you're basically screwed. I'm not saying it's impossible. But it's harder than anyone realizes and that is why the idea of a medical intervention is not so crazy or desperate anymore. It's *really* hard to lose 100 pounds without help, I am telling you this from experience. I remember thinking a couple months ago, from my headquarters ( a queen sized Sealy posturepedic) that I wanted to be thin again and all but the road from headquarters to there was so, so, so very long. I still feel that way. It's Day 12 and I want to be at the six month mark. I don't want to go through all this. I want to be done with this RIGHT NOW. Impatient isn't even the word, I have gone *existential* over this. What I really can't wait for is three days from now I can stop packing that gauze on my drain incision. It's not that big a deal -- pre-sleevers attention -- IT IS NOT THAT BIG A DEAL AT ALL. I just means I can stumble in and out of the shower without having to be conscious, which is how I prefer things. Anyway, today I went to NuVibe juice and Java and orderd a Power Vibe -- milk, chocolate flavor, banana, light yogurt and a double shot of whey Protein. It's AWESOME and it's going down fine. I really feel happy all the sudden. Oddly.

Thank you both. You are most excellently right. I never thought about adding Injury to SoBe water but I'll keep working on it seriously. It's just so amazing to simply not. want. food.

Oh. Right...

Hoo boy am I ever not hungry. I woke up this morning not being hungry, wandered through the morning not being hungry, drank a Vitamin Water containing a Nexium and then started on another one. It occurred to me in the shower that it would be completely easy to go fully lowcarb now because I do not give a stuff about food. And I realized I was much more comfortable with nothing but water in me anyway. Protein seems to have a set of consequences that make me feel like I've had an operation of some kind. I can see the brilliant frankengenius in this surgery. The last time I was like this I was fifteen years old and eating a Marlboro Light and a Fresca for Breakfast. I'm on the verge of skipping the thin liquid stage and just powering through the next ten days on Sobe Lifewater and valium.

My GOODNESS Tiffy good for you. I'm ashamed to even say what I spend on groceries in the same thread as you. I always admired coupon clippers and one winter it motivated me to have taken advantage of both CVS and Walgreens programs. But mostly I just get in my car and go to the store.

That's interesting Tiffy. I have never been a cook-from-scratch kind of person, but I always heard it was better to do because you "saved money". Another myth busted I guess.

I was wondering about this. I spend an enormous, shameful amount of money on *food*. It's not really because I eat a lot, it's more because I'm either on or off a diet. So when I'm on the diet, I have to buy the diet stuff. And then the diet convenience stuff, like supplements and...you know, whatever they sell you, the supplement-sprouting Chia Pet and the DVD. THen when I'm off the diet I go out to dinner, buy fast food and good wine and whatever looks good in the bakery aisle. I also buy whatever herbal thing I'm supposed to buy and all the gimmicks around. For example I bought Sensa Food Sprinkles and they are very silly but look the alternative was getting an organ removed. Anyway I spent ten thousand dollars to do this thinking that over time I'd save money on all that, not to mention I would probably eat less and save more. Is this what happened to you or is there more crap to buy on the other side of the sleeve?

Oh me either. I'm just bored and not being able to eat is annoying. However I was pissy before also when I weighed twenty more pounds than this and I probably would weigh that or more for the rest of my life. People who are recovering from surgery should be put on an island somewhere until they're ready come out and be civil. I should say I decided to start sharing my daily musings, first because nobody else is even going to get what I'm talking about but also I thought it might help people who are about to do this. It's kind of amazing to me that after blowing off insurance, getting on a plane and going to a foreign country and having my stomach resected the only thing I'm really bothered by ten days later are these minor nonsensical complaints you could just as easily have if you had the flu, or shingles or an ingrown toenail. The worst thing about flying home three days after surgery was that I hated the movie. The worst thing about right now is that I don't even want any yogurt. I know thousands of people who would kill to have this problem, you know?

I didn't really need it all that much but I went through the little box of Supradol the nurse gave me at the hospital. How are you medicating for minor pain after this surgery? Crushing up tylenol? Crushing up aspirin? Liquid motrin?

After the Great Disappointment I had with liquid Protein I'm not particularly looking forward to phase 2 full liquids. When I went into this I thought the food changeup would keep things exciting but frankly I mostly feel like I just had surgery and my stomach feels weird all the time. All I really want is purple gatorade and chamomile, I don't want to do any weird food experiments right now. A couple days afterwards what I wanted most desperately in the world was a Mrs. Field's brownie. Now I'mnot even sure if I would be interested. I waited eleven days for butterscotch pudding. It seems kind of anticlimactic really.

The scale hasn't moved in about five days. I keep wondering if this is going to mean I am a fast or slow loser. You know you go through this massive decision/risk and then the next thing you're thinking about is how great life is going to be at your target weight when you're all healed up and it's a million years from now. In between is me and Mr. Tantrum, my new stomach. Mr. Tantrum has really put up with a lot but it's just strange to relate to a nutrition-absorbing device that is so touchy and disinterested in food. It's like having a baby. Does it want a little more juice? Why is it crying? Is it lonely? Does it want to watch Barney on TV? What if we give it some whiskey? Maybe if we got it a prescription for medical marijuana just to keep it calmed down... Is that so wrong?

Medifast isn't the greatest tasting stuff but I'm never hungry when I'm on it. It's PRICEY but I can see it -being a good post op alternative because it's lowcal, lowcarb and spares Protein, People were talking in another thread about what diet they would do if the started to regain and I think this would be my choice. Gotta have the Toranis, though. They definitely make a difference. My favorite stuff they make are the brownies and the chili.

Call your doc or doc assistant and tell them you might have misunderstood the post op diet, tell them how you've been eating and ask them what to do. My sense is they'll say it's okay and as long as you're tolerating you should be fine. I wouldn't * assume* that though, make the call.

I think over time your stomach can stretch a little bit. But your stomach used to be an organ that could stretch like a snakebelly to take in *enormous* amounts of food at one sitting story and there is * no way* it can go back to being that way again. There is just not enough material there for it to go back to its original size. I also have never heard of an emergency high risk surgery needed for a restretched sleeve. I hope misunderstood him and he wasn't just lying to you. There are enough myths about weight loss surgery as it is.

One more thing I wanted to mention about getting enough protein -- I was on Medifast kind of on and off this whole past year and I have a bunch left. I wrote Gaby an emai and she said Medifast was fine for the appropriate phase. These are puddings, soft serve ice cream, and oatmeal ( also shakes, bars, and pretzels) with 15 grams of protein per serving. I definitely plan on snarfing those down pretty soon, even though I'd rather have a chalupa.

. Okay, I managed to get down two scoops of chocolate Injury. I mixed it up with a lot of ice and Water and drank it pretty slowly. And then my stomach started to feel sort of distended and I was a little uncomfortable at the top of my stomach and I walked around like for a while thinking I really had some kind of Chocolate Injury. And then you know what I realized? I was *full*. I was absolutely positively freaking unbelievably stuffed. I *overate* Protein powder. You're right meggie this is going to be long haul, it already seems. Congrats on your date by the way! That's my son's birthday!

My doc said no soda ever ever eeeeever again because it could stretch the sleeve. I *loved* diet cola more than anything a person could eat. I was hardcore with a sixpack a day and I quit cold turkey too. I'm fine without it for now. What I can't believe is how everyone used to ride me about drinking the stuff because it was supposedly making me fat and keeping me awake and quite frankly neither one of these things is true. I think..if it's not hurting your weight loss, your nutrition, your wellbeing or your sleeve....eh.

When I first got home i thought the key to hunger was Protein, so I dutifully drank down my Isopure Alpine Formaldehyde Splash and got three huge tubs of Unjury( why does this sound like Injury? Are the manufacturers aware of this similarity? ). Days three through six were the worst. I was so hungry the screaming in my belly was so loud I could not sleep on my stomach because it hurt. Okay, who knows what that was. Then I woke up yesterday and I was the opposite of hungry. I didn' t want *anything*. No tea, no Water, no....nothing. The protein makes my stomach ache and tires me out getting it down -- I get it down okay but it takes a little while for the whole crew to settle down in there once I'm done. And usually I need a nap soon after. Today. No protein. I don't, I mean I really DO NOT want it. It's not because of the pain, I'm seriously just not interested. This is the weirdest thing. I drank a thirty two ounce jug of purple gatorade and then I had a V-8 because I was bored. This has been my nutrition for the day thus far. I'm not crazy about protein to begin with. I like fat. Butter. I like fat on fat transerence objects such as toast. In fact normally if I were sick and just recovering from surgery normally it would be Toast Fiesta Week in Toast Town. Protein not so much. I don't like steak or chicken or...lamp or veal or pork or...tuna...come to think of it I just am not a big fan of eating anything with a face and this is not moral or political, I just...you know, maybe the face is still down there, getting ready to haunt the shit out of me. Anyway. . The only thing I really can get down protein wise are Beans, cottage cheese and Peanut Butter normally anyway. This is kind of a real disovery for me. I never really asked anybody WHY they were having such a hard time getting their protein in. I can see now I'm going to have a hard time with the protein because I don't want it. What about you?

The boredom continues, punctuated by moments of slight disappointment and minor terror, which appear to tbe high point of my whole day. I weighed in today and I was up a couple pounds, first of all, which I know is just an anomaly but it was sort of depressing. I just shrugged it off, though because my bathroom scale is like the worst member of my whole family. You know, the one who's always whining and saying things like, well, we just can't have nice things and locking you out of the house? That's my bathroom scale. It's just a total pain in the ass and I've stopped paying attention to what it says. Of course it thinks I look fat. It's had a horrible life and has an extremely narrow perspective. So then I went upstairs to speak with my thermometer. My thermometer was adamant that today my temperature was 99 degrees fahrenheit. I asked it again to see if it was kidding. No, it changed its mind. My temperature was now 99.9. REALLY? I said, and asked it again. Nope, nope,now it was positive my temperature was 103.3. But I don't really feel that sick, I told it. It then recanted and said it really meant my temperature was 99 like it said before. I'm not the slightest bit feverish, I said. It rechecked something and said never mind, it was 97.6. You know, you're really bad at this job, I told it. I really always wanted to be a bathroom scale, it said.