educationrulz

Glad you'll like it!

Great pics! Thanks for posting your fantastic results.

I'm in the middle of a bad sinus infection too and it has severely impaired my emotional state and ability to focus on what I'm doing in terms of postop healing, diet, and exercise. I've been like a bump on a log for the last week and a half. I went to the doctor yesterday and just flat out told the doctor that I can only eat 2 tablespoons at a time and I can't be having a bunch of mucus in my stomach making me nauseous and causing me to throw up, like it did the other day. I don't think I've ever been so happy to walk out with a prescription as I was yesterday. I know that once I get this sinus infection cleared, I'll be so much more clear headed, energized, and able to exercise. My antibiotics are in capsule form and go down just fine. I hope you're able to get your infection cleared soon because I'm sure it will make a big difference on your outlook. As for failing, all we can do is try. And this is the ULTIMATE try! We will succeed! :biggrin0:

Yikes! :biggrin0: This is scary to think about. Is it possible to have dumping without the diarrhea part? I've had couple of experiences with this cheese pototo frozen dinner dish that I take a few bites of. It was one of my favorites before surgery and now I can't eat more than a tablespoon - which is good because it's kind of greasy. Anyway, I do feel kind of wierd when I eat it, like a little lightheaded, queasy, and wierd. I've had it twice but the second time wasn't as bad. I didn't have diarrhea either time. Is that still a type of dumping?

Hey July sleevers! Congratulations on your surgeries! As a June sleever, what you are going through is still fresh in my mind. Boy was I an excited, nervous wreck. My advice would be to pay close attention to your body and don't be hesitant to call your surgeon's office when you have questions. Good luck to everyone and keep us updated on how you are doing postop.

I think your biggest problem might be the heat. I live in the Hotlanta area and at almost 3 weeks out the heat still knocks me out. I think it's probably more humid here than in Texas, so not sure what role that plays in it. But, I have had several occasions where I felt like I was going to faint if I was hot for too long and I am NOT the faintin' type. That lightheaded, dizzy feeling is not cool. So, going back into football practice mode will probably require you to put your pride aside in some cases and delegate things to others. Don't be ashamed to just plop down in a chair every now and then! Also, being on a liquid diet for 2 weeks will require that you be proactive with Water and Protein drinks. Get some sample packs and ready to drinks, but don't taste them till after surgery. Then, you can focus on the ones you like the best. Take a well stocked cooler to practice everyday. That being said, this is all very individual as others have said. I reacted totally differently than I thought I would. I've always bounced back quickly and been up and at 'em, but that wasn't the case for me with this surgery. I've had to learn to slow down and adapt quite a bit. But, at almost 3 weeks out I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...FINALLY!

Be sure you're working the whole arm consistently (with proper form) - not just the triceps. The muscles all tie together and support each other. For example, pushups work several parts of the arm and can be very effective if done correctly. I can't wait to get back in the gym! :thumbup:

This is so simple I'm almost embarrassed to post it, but it was a big help to me during my low carb preop diet. I plan to try it again soon now that I can tolerate more foods in my postop diet. All you need is the boxed "Steak Um" frozen beef slices (in the frozen meats sections) and some string cheese. I used the pepperjack cheese. You can use any cut of cheese but the string slices seemed to just fit right in. Fry one serving of the steak um patty in a pan. They cook really fast so stand there with it while it cooks. You can season the meat as it cooks. I used Lawry's seasoned salt and pepper. Turn it over when it browns on one side. When the second side is done browning, remove the pan from the heat and take the cheese slice and place it toward the end of the steak um patty. (Steak Ums are rectangular shaped.) Then, roll the steak um around the cheese until it looks like a little wrap. The heat from the meat will melt the cheese and make it nice and gooey. You can bite right into it. Yummy! Some people may prefer to pat some of the grease off the meat before rolling your cheese into it. Also, if the cheese was real cold, I would lay it in the pan for a quick minute before rolling it into the meat just to get the melting process started. Hope someone is able to enjoy this.

Jolanda, Do you think you're going to have to eat more than 1500 calories a day to maintain?

Well, I poured it into a glass but left it in the fridge so it could stay cold. Do you mean I should take it out of the fridge? I'll try the metal spoon.

I'm still kind of craving my soda. I did finally drink some and spit it out. Then, I decided to try the thing with letting it go flat and then drinking it. Has anyone tried that? I've seen it recommended in some of the surgeon's postop diet plans. Unfortunately, it is taking FOREVER for the soda to go flat. It's been in the fridge for like three days and still has little bubbles in it. I actually took a sip one day when I though the bubbles were gone and discovered later that there were still bubbles. It freaked me out but nothing happened. How long does it take for soda to go flat enough to drink?

First ask them if bariatric surgery is a covered part of your policy. Then ask about the sleeve. Most importantly, have them tell you where you can find all of this in writing because I've gotten different answers from different cust service reps before. Once you get to the written policy, it will tell you what to do to initiate the process. I found all the info I needed online by logging on to my personal insurance page.

Nothing like a hurricane to take your mind off preop jitters. Congratulations!

The only thing I cheated with was drinking 2% instead of 1% milk. But, I have a fairly progressive postop diet. I know it's not popular to say, but if I had been told to do clears for 2 weeks postop, I can't honestly say what I would have done. I'm not saying that to suggest that people should cheat. Just being honest. I actually stayed on clears one or two days longer than I was supposed to because I was nauseous. But, once that passed I jumped right in with full liquids. I was very weak as it was and moving along in the food stages gave me some strength when I needed it most. But, I like to think that I would have stuck with it and did what my doctor said. I would suggest to experiment with some creative options that fit in with the stage of the diet you are supposed to be on. If you're on mushies/pureed, look through the food forum here on VST and check out the recipes and suggestions from other members of what to eat. I always find something new and creative there when I read those threads. Also, call your doctor's office for some suggestions. There's also a lot of stuff out there on the web. In terms of actually stepping back in the meal plan, how far off track are you? If you're eating softs and supposed to be on full liquids, start by stepping back to mushies/pureed. Then, incorporate fulls for at least one or two meals a day. The time will fly and it will be time to progress your diet in no time. Let us know how you're doing...

For now I have added my bariatric surgery status to my ICE (In case of emergency) contacts in my cell phone. This is also one of the areas police officers are trained to look in emergency situations. They recommend that everyone set at least three emergency contacts in your cell phones under the name ICE. I just added a 4th ICE with the word medical after ICE. Then, under work phone I entered Bariatric Surgery Patient. Under mobile phone, I entered my drug allergies. Your phone might give you some issues with entering text in these numeric fields but you should be able to do it if you play with it. I did a copy and paste from a text field to the numeric field and it worked fine. This allowed the info to show up immediately when the contact was selected without anyone having to go further into to contact to view my info. (Dang Windows Mobile phone crab I guess.) I am going to add this info to the emergency card in my wallet and will check into adding it to my driver's license as Tiff suggested. I thought about getting an alert bracelet but I know I wouldn't wear it everyday, so not sure it will really be helpful for me. I do however have my wallet and cellphone with me everywhere I go.

Ok, Tiff, so you're saying I'll probably be able to eat cornbread dressing and eggrolls again one day?? Yippeee! I know you'll keep saying you can eat anything after a while, but it hasn't quite sunk in with me yet. Daisy, I know you stress that a lot and I'm looking forward to that phase of things but also a little scared of it. All this stuff about sliders really freaks me out -especially since I've experimented with a couple of chips and a piece of cookie recently and discovered that they went down way too easily. It's so easy to grab quick Snacks like chips when you're busy and on the run and that's always been a bad habit for me. Got to stay away from that stuff as much as possible...

I agree with Stacey. For someone who's nervous about eating, oatmeal is a great starter. Also, try some mashed potatoes with a little butter. The instant kind are great cause you can easily play with the consistency. I know the potatoes are strictly carbs, but they are a safe way to see what your stomach will tolerate. For a first meat, I would suggest tuna or some type of baked fish, if you like it. It doesn't require much chewing and goes down pretty easily.

Marilee, I think you've got two separate issues going on here and that's why there appears to be a conflict. It sounds like the second "typical" diet IS the type of diet you would follow for long term weight loss, like a 3-month or 6-month supervised diet for insurance purposes. I didn't have to see a nutritionist beforehand for UHC but this is the type of diet that my PCP recommended. The high Protein, low carb diet sounds more short term, like what you will need to do 2 weeks before your surgery. I suspect that's why the doctor's office told you to follow the out of office nutritionist's diet. The in-house nutritionist is probably used to working from the preop/postop diet perspective as opposed to the long term insurance hoops diet. But, this is all conjecture on my part. I think we are using the same surgeon so I can verify that I was told to do the high protein, low carb diet for 2 weeks prior to my surgery. This is the only dieting advice I was given by the surgeon's office as related to my eating before the surgery. Everything else they gave me was about the postop diet. I did lose 14 pounds! on the preop diet over the course of 2 and 1/2 weeks. I started a little early to drop some weight I had gained since my initial consult. It really did the job. But, it's not something I could have done for 3 or 6 months. It's just not varied enough. I think right now you should focus on doing what your insurance wants you to do. Do they expect you to lose weight before surgery, or just to provide documentation that you ATTEMPTED some type of doctor/nutritionist prescribed diet? For me it was the latter. If that's the case, it doesn't matter which diet you choose. Pick the one that you can follow the most or use a combination of the two. Just be sure you don't drop below the mandatory BMI for surgery or the insurance will deny you. That's what I was most concerned about in terms of my 6 month supervised diet.

I feel your pain! I bought 10 sample packs of the Unjury unflavored and have 7 or 8 left that will never see the light of day. I tried mixing small amounts in yogurt and various other foods and each time I tried the smell and taste became more intolerable. I even tried pinching my nose first so the smell wouldn't get to me, but once the taste hit my mouth that was it! Total FAIL! I almost puked the last time I tried to use it and that was enough for me. Can you trade the ones you didn't open for something else?

YAY!!! I'm glad to hear that everything is going well. 50 pounds is great!!!:thumbup: Thanks for letting us know how you're doing.

I don't think it sounded rude Stacey.

I wish the diets were more standardized across doctors - at least among ASMBS surgeons. I think it's discouraging and tempting for some people when they know others who had the same surgery are far ahead in the diet stages. I posted my postop diet in my blogs.

My postop diet recommends 5-6 small meals per day (4-6 tablespoons). As the diet progresses through soft to regular, it decreases to 5 then 4 meals per day with an increase to 8 to 10 tablespoons per meal in the final phase. Since it's phrased this way, I think of everything in terms of tablespoons instead of ounces. I'm still averaging 2 tablespoons per meal although the plan says I should be at 4 to 6 tablespoons. But, things are going down easier now and my volume is increasing slightly each day. I might have only gotten in 5 meals once or twice. Even though I have cravings every now and then, I really don't want to eat real meals so it's hard to force down 5 meals right now. I'm doing my best to focus on my Proteins and those are just too much sometimes to eat 5 times a day. The cravings are scary because I've already figured out a couple of things that are sliders and see how I could get into trouble with those if I don't watch myself.

I discovered during my preop appointments that my surgeon had recently changed his postop diet to advance more quickly than it had in the past. I got the impression from someone at the hospital that the nutritionists were not thrilled about it, so it sounds like they are a more conservative bunch. I decided that there is no way my surgeon would allow the diet to advance without proof from his earlier patients (or other doctors' patients) that it has been safe to do so. Why would he risk messing up all his hard work on my insides?

Maybe they noticed and just weren't comfortable saying anything because they weren't sure. I think you should focus on the fact that someone has noticed - meaning the folks at work. Oh yeah, your scale has noticed too, right? You can't argue with that. :scared0: