WildIris

I'm still pre-op, but I've completed all the pre-op bloodwork and testing and so forth. I'm on the exceedingly-low-carb, high-Protein pre-pre-op diet, and I have run up against something that I'm frankly confused about. My surgeon told me to cut out milk, but cheese is okay, as is low-fat cottage cheese. I've always gotten skim milk, and had never actually looked at the labels on the soy milk that's available out there, and I'm trying to figure out what's superior about soy milk over skim milk. The only difference I can see is that typically there are about 2 carbs fewer per 8-oz serving of soy milk versus skim milk, but the protein content is about the same, and the soy milk actually has fat calories, which the skim does not. There are actually more calories per serving with soy milk, too, and if I were to get flavored soy milk (such as vanilla or chocolate), then there are MORE carbs than skim. Anybody got any ideas on this before I pester my surgeon's nutritionist? Mind you, this is the soy milk I see for sale in the supermarket, or at costco, so I might be missing out on some soopyr-seekrit formulation. Either that, or I'm missing information. Help!!!

Yeah, I've found that I really like them as well. Lots of fruit flavors, and I love the chocolate and vanilla. And they're readily available, so as far as I'm concerned, unless my doctor tells me I absolutely have to take something else, I'm sticking 'em!

GACK!!!! Goat's milk. I can't stand anything goat. My younger brother is lactose intolerant, has been all his life. When I was a kid, my mom decided that we all had to drink goat's milk as a show of solidarity, so we got a doe, bred her, and milked her. I hated goat's milk then, and I haven't been able to stand it since then! Or anything made from goat's milk, including cheeses. It tastes and smells so revolting to me that it makes me gag. It's too musky or goaty or something. I am glad it works for some people, though. You can all have my cosmic share of goat's milk. :thumbup1: Ahem. Back to the topic of cow vs. soy. It sounds like I need to discuss this with my surgeon, and at my nutrition class on July 6, because it doesn't sound at least on the surface like there's any actual benefit to soy milk, especially if one isn't lactose or casein intolerant.

Does anyone have an opinion on nectar whey Protein Isolate? I've been drinking that for over a year, and I like it a lot because it's fat-free and carb-free, and one scoop is 90 calories. Just not sure how it stacks up against unjury. I get mine from Amazon.com--free second-day shipping makes it a lot cheaper than even buying it from the local health food store. Oh yeah, and 23g of protein per scoop. Anyway...opinions, anyone?

I'm just a day before you, on July 14, in Federal Way, Washington, and I am SO excited. I keep bouncing around emotionally, though. Today I was irritable, and tonight I'm a little depressed after a phone conversation with my brother. I was going to tell him I'm getting surgery, and then he made a remark on something else entirely about people expecting to get health handed to them on a plate or by popping a pill, and I chickened out. Normally, I'm feisty and don't take crap from anyone, but this one, I just don't want confrontations. I'm sure that after surgery when I can point to my better health and appearance I'll be back to my feisty, snappy, stiff-backbone self. Right now though, I just feel...tired. :thumbup1:

...and I realized that it's because I'm itching to talk about how excited I am about my surgery (only 21 days out now!) but I've driven my husband nuts about it enough for at least another 24 hours. My mom starts in worrying about the safety of the whole thing in general (which is why I decided not to have her stay with me post-op, which I suspect hurt her feelings and I don't even care right now), and the rest of my family I haven't told about it and don't intend to 'til it's done. I've told some close friends, especially the one who's going to be taking care of my cats for me for a week while I'm 236 miles away from home. But otherwise, I've pretty much kept this all under wraps. I'm very definitely not ashamed of any of this--in fact, despite physically feeling yuck right now due to a sinus infection, I'm still really excited. I just feel this extreme aversion to telling the rest of my family about it, mostly because I'm avoiding having one of my (extremely religious) aunts finding out until afterward. I decided that I've got better things to do--like getting my left foot sawed off with a rusty hacksaw dipped in feces--than have her emailing me. She's even notified me in the past that she's asking her prayer circle to pray for me (is there any such thing as in-family confidentiality, and if so, why can't I invoke it?). She's also of the firm belief that being anything less than a total vegan and only using naturopathic remedies as a cure for EVERYTHING (including death, I'm secretly convinced) is somehow akin to sinning. I think the word "fanatic" fits nicely in this sentence. Of course it doesn't help a bit that I'm the black sheep of the family in that I'm an atheist and I'm being offensive if I ask them not to talk about religion to me. Somehow, I'm fair game for constant attempts to reconvert me, but my own reasons for no longer claiming belief in any deity are offensive and irrelevant. This really pisses me off, especially when it has to do with yet another lecture about how my lack of faith somehow caused my obesity. Yep, definitely irritable today. Maybe I should simply send out a mass email to my contacts list, and then systematically set filters on anyone's email address who doesn't respond in a supportive manner, so that all future email from them goes to my Junk folder. It'd be a good litmus test to find out which family members I want to cut out of my life altogether, permanently.

I have had an incredibly busy day! I'm getting sleeved on July 14 at St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way, with Dr. Myur Srikanth. It's official--I'm getting it done!!! Now I'm going to crawl under my bed, suck my thumb, and curl up with my blankie, because I'm freaked out. :001_rolleyes: Heheh. Seriously though, and all jokes in poor taste aside, I'm feeling really psyched right now. Nervous, yeah, but by tomorrow it'll have sunk in that it's really going to happen, and I can actually start making concrete plans. I handle stress a lot better when I can actually channel it into doing something constructive...like making hotel arrangements and scheduling the final pre-op, and blah, blah, blah that everybody's heard a million times.:biggrin0: One little fly in the ointment is that I found out today that I have a sinus infection, which means that I'm going to be on antibiotics for two weeks. I've got a long history of sinus infections, and I figured it's better to get rid of it before I actually have the surgery so I'm not fighting that on top of recovering from the surgery, but it's not going to be especially fun if I experience some of the more common side effects associated with antibiotics. And I'm intolerant of a lot of antibiotics, too, so sometimes it takes two or three months to get rid of an infection. Everybody cross their fingers that it only takes one go-round for me, please? I can really live without dragging myself around swallowing decongestants and Tylenol, really truly...

The ones that let you list the doctor, your highest weight, your lowest weight, how much you've lost, and so on. I can't figure out how to do one of my own. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, WildIris

Yeah, I grew up on the cool side, near Portland. Love the green, can't deal with the rain. I've been to St. Francis Hospital several times--Dr. Srikanth's office is in the attached medical building, and I've simply gone ahead and gotten my testing done there--so while I haven't yet been inpatient at the hospital, I've seen a fair bit of the complex. I have been extremely impressed by the general attitudes I've observed of other staff and how they interact with patients. Also, it's scrupulously clean, and doesn't feel crowded, either in the public areas or the exam and testing areas. The pre-op testing, almost all of which I've done over there, was handled extremely quickly and efficiently, with an eye to making it convenient for me to get multiple tests done in a very short period of time to reduce travel. I don't think I'm getting any special courtesies because I'm self-pay, either. So far everybody's been very professional and very, very nice. This might sound a little weird to notice or care about, but every time I've walked into the lobby of the hospital, it feels sunny (even on a rainy day) and airy and spacious. The people going back and forth carrying out their business are friendly, smiling, and all of them seem to genuinely enjoy their jobs. It makes me feel confident that I'm in good hands, not only with my surgeon, but that my care team will be kind and professional and knowledgeable. I'm scheduled to spend one night in the hospital, and then I will be staying in Federal Way for a week before my post-op release to travel back home. My husband will be going with me and staying there throughout. I may end up doing a second night in the hospital, but the stay is really supposed to be brief, since the surgery is going to be done laparascopically. One last thing I picked up on and thought was extremely encouraging, is that with all of the testing that I underwent, several of the people doing them commented that they thought Dr. Srikanth was actually a little over-cautious in his battery of required tests, compared to the other surgeons who do the same surgeries at St. Francis. They were off-hand remarks, made when I'd hand them my order sheet for a particular test. Frankly, I don't think there's such a thing as being too cautious about my pre-op health, when the results of it are going to be such a life-changing event. I don't think that caution counts negatively against Dr. Srikanth at all, and in fact makes me worry less about complications both short-term and long-term. I'm considering blogging about the whole experience--I'll have nothing but time on my hands post-op, and I'll have a laptop and internet access, and I won't be able to walk, walk, walk all day long, that's for sure.

I finally got the money together for this whole thing (or at least got the house refinance paperwork signed off and I'm expecting the check on Tuesday). I'll be sending off the fees for the surgery and all later this week. And now I'm antsy. It's suddenly hit me that I'm actually going to get surgery, and on the one hand, I can't wait to start losing weight, and on the other hand, I'm in this place where I think, "It's nonsense, I'm going to not lose a pound," or I'll gain it all back in a month anyhow." Not terribly rational, I suppose, but when I can't actually be doing something, I get stir-crazy. And right now, I just have to sit on my keister until I get the cashier's check delivered on Tuesday, then turn around and get another one to actually make the payment and schedule the surgery. General anesthesia scares the crap out of me. I intend to counter that by insisting that I'm sedated 'way the back side of beyond, beforehand. I get grouchy when I'm nervous. I get grouchy when I'm tense. My poor husband is getting the brunt of it, and I'm fluctuating between feeling irritable that I'm going to have to shop for a whole new wardrobe, and trying to decide if I should just shop at Goodwill initially. How stupid is that?

:001_tongue::biggrin0::drool: Will you be my OCD buddy, please? :thumbup::biggrin0::drool: I'm so bad that I'm to the point of making lists of lists! Oddly enough, the financial aspect of it all isn't what's making me nervous. Honestly, the things bugging me the most are the really stupid things like the clothing issue. And it's not even relevant yet. Eesh. I need to get a short-term hobby to keep me busy before I start barking at the moon.

Oh yeah, the liquid pre-op and post-op diet...that's going to be interesting, at least beforehand. My husband's started joking that he's going to ask the doctor for a prescription of Ativan and take it religiously until the minute I go under the anesthesia, just so he doesn't go barking mad. I'm already stocking up on things like Crystal Light (every flavor I've ever liked), and sugarless Jello, and thinking up ways to make chicken broth taste interesting (if I cook it with onions and garlic and other veggies and then strain out the chunks is that okay?) and so on. I live in an area that gets oven-hot starting about this time of year and lasting through about mid-September. I've discovered that frozen Crystal Light makes really good popsicles. Jello works okay too, if you don't mind it being a little slimy on the outside. :001_tongue: 'Course I'm probably reinventing the wheel, here.

Wow, that's actually funny! Thanks for the reassurance, guys. I'm feeling less antsy (at least for today) just from your responses. And yeah, I've pretty much decided that I'm going to initially buy from places like Goodwill. I've got to get used to the whole idea that "shopping for clothing isn't a bad thing and a headache and massive chore and something to be dreaded" for the first time in many, many years. And that's a GOOD thing. Thanks again.

I've always absolutely hated getting photos taken of me. They've always reminded me of how awful I look. I love doing photography, but I'm always the one behind the camera. The last time I got a photo of myself was in June of 2009 when I went on a camping trip with my photography club, and I looked awful! I've gained weight since then, too. I'm really ambivalent about pre-surgery photos. Any advice for/against? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

Wellbutrin and Paxil both have very common side-effects of nausea, among other things. I've been on both, and I still take Wellbutrin. It stands to reason that it might make you feel sick after something as drastic as bariatric surgery. Although, since I have no expertise other than personal experience, YMMV. Glad you're doing better, though, especially with the depression. Nothing worse than being convinced there's nothing remotely attractive or likeable about yourself--I've been there more times than I care to admit.

Interesting take on the whole carb thing, and I think it makes a good deal of sense. I grew up a strict ovo-lacto vegetarian. Everybody I knew was either LOV, or strict vegan (religious thing). Everything I've ever known about eating a healthy diet was centered around low-fat, high-carb, high-Fiber food combinations to create whole Proteins (Beans and rice; :tongue_smilie:legumes such as lentils, and grains like barley and buckwheat, and on and on). The emphasis on healthy living was so strong that I actually remember attending church services where the sermon was about the evils of eating meat, consuming alcohol, and any source of caffeine, and what it would do to you. So far, I can't seem to kick the carb habit, or at least the automatic mental process of pairing foods to create balanced meals that are, of course, high-carb. It seriously sucks being diabetic with that kind of background, let me say! My reaction to eating something high in carbs is more like serious annoyance, and, "Crap, all that health stuff I got hammered into my head, and I had to go and get diabetes and now I have to try to convince myself that the nutritionist isn't full of crap on the whole 'eating meat' thing." I guess some kinds of indoctrination go deeper than others, because I'm still not totally convinced after all this time that vegetarianism (if one includes sufficient sources of protein) is at all a bad idea. There're always dairy products and eggs, after all...or at least I'd like to try to maintain that pleasant fantasy for a couple more weeks, anyhow! :001_tongue::laugh0::001_smile:

I already live with constant self-evaluation because I've been dealing with what turned out to be bipolar disorder since I was fourteen (diagnosed when I was 23). After reading and replying to and getting responses from all of you out here, I'm seriously considering arranging some pre-emptive therapy sessions (if I can find a therapist who specializes in post-WLS locally--living in the buttcrack of nowhere makes some things difficult). I've been rock-solid stable for five years. I want this surgery, and I am soooo not going to do this and then end up crashing into a debilitating depression!

My husband was ambivalent about it until he went to an info session with me. Kept telling me, 'Well, maybe in five years after we get the house paid off.' I started using some relatively harmless emotional blackmail: "You were willing to get a home equity loan for 'way more than what this surgery would cost us, when it looked like we needed to replace the roof, and then it turned out we just had to replace the chimney cap...this is an investment in a healthier me...and oh yeah, if I have this surgery before I've had diabetes for five years, there's a higher remission rate..." Then we went to the seminar on Saturday, and he's sold. All the way. I love my husband!

OK, that settles it then. I'm definitely doing pre-op photos. And measurements. What's the standard set of measurements to take? Arms, thighs, hips, neck, bust, and waist? One thing I realized just a few minutes ago that I'm really looking forward to is having cheekbones again. Weird? Quite possibly, but hey. Never could stick with the whole scrapbooking thing for long, but I've got enough stickers and supplies to start my own store (well, so I'm exaggerating a tad); maybe this is something I could do for, say, the first year or so. I'm big on projects that have a start and finish defined!

I've been thinking about bariatric surgery in general for a couple of years now. My BMI is 37, and I turned 35 on April 29. That was the crucial day for me, the day I realized that I had to do something, because I realized that I am now older than my husband was when we first met. He's fifteen years older than me, and I'm afraid that if I don't take drastic measures, that he'll outlive me. We've already been through so much together in our nearly thirteen years of marriage. I have diabetes, hypothyroidism, high cholesterol (jaw-droppingly high, despite medication), back problems, and a minor heart condition. I take far, far too many medications every day to treat these obesity-related illnesses, and the side-effects are unpleasant. I want to be healthy! And I'm willing to do what it takes. Previously, my husband wanted to either go through insurance, or wait a few years to do this, and since I'm unable to work, it would be his paycheck funding the whole thing. But the insurance route is a for-sure no-go, specifically excluding weight loss surgery. But, on Saturday we went to a seminar done by Dr. Myur Srikanth, and now my husband is enthusiastically on-board to do this as soon as it can possibly be arranged!! We're going to take out a home equity loan to pay for it, and later on this morning, I'm going to talk to Dr. Srikanth's patient coordinator about getting the process started! I am so excited that I woke up at 3am, and I have been poring over statistics about weight loss for this surgery, calculating how much I might/will lose, and thinking about all the things I want to do after this actually happens. It still almost seems like a dream, that I'm being ridiculously optimistic, that I should keep my expectations low so I won't be disappointed. And it still feels almost crazy-silly to speculate about doing all the things I want to do: the annual Seattle-to-Portland bike ride, hiking part of the Pacific Crest Trail with my husband, backpacking and hiking and bicycling in general. I'm not sure it's going to seem solid and real until I actually have a date for the surgery. I still have to get a one-on-one appointment with Dr. Srikanth (scheduling to happen today), and see a psychologist (to be arranged), and all the preparatory things for surgery. I haven't even told my family, except for my mother, that I'm doing this. And the only reason I told her is because she's a nurse and will be coming to help me out post-surgery. I'm sure that some of my family is going to react negatively (extremely so), and frankly, at this point, I don't care and don't want to hear it. Hence my keeping silent. But I'm soooo excited! :001_smile: More to follow, as events progress. Wish me luck, please!

I've been getting treatment for Type II bipolar disorder for almost 12 years, and the various mood stabilizers I've taken are the major contributor for my obesity. Fortunately, I've been absolutely rock-solid stable now for just over five years. I haven't gone to a therapist in more than three years. I'm wondering if the psychological adjustments post-surgery are so great that I should resume seeing my therapist. I've learned to be VERY careful about monitoring my moods--I have too much to lose if I tumble too far into depression. Norma, you're the expert on this--advice? Please?

Good point. Maybe what I should do is get some videotape of myself, even. Demonstrate what I can't do (touch my toes, tie my shoes, things like that). I'm going to have to seriously work up the courage to do it, though. I don't have an issue with phobias, but this is almost one, I think.

Both my husband and I are atheists. Living in an area where a lot of people are religious and conservative about it, I've just started telling people that I belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and that I've been Touched by His Noodly Appendage. It usually makes questioners stare, and then start laughing...and totally deflects tension, especially if I get into my routine about carb addiction. Now I'm going to be a healthy atheist! And with no help from, or credit given to, a non-existent deity, either.

I haven't even done the consult with my surgeon (Myur Srikanth, MD) yet, but I'm going to schedule it today as soon as the patient coordinator gets in to her office (6:45am--can't wait!). I'm not sure when he's got a surgery opening, mid-June, I think. But I might be as soon as that! Or late June, possibly. I am crossing my fingers! I'd love to be in the 'June Club.' :sad0: