Penpen

Thank you so much! What a relief it is to see this. So really, life is normal, you just have to eat a lot less.

I would love to find out too!

Thank you. You definitely made me feel better. But I'm sure I will find something else to freak out and worry about. I'll probably be back in here asking another crazy question in a few days. Lol

I'm so glad to hear that. Nope, I'm not queasy. I've seen pictures of my insides twice. Once with gallbladder removal and another time when my stomach was scoped. If you don't mind sharing, I would really appreciate seeing them. I'll send you my email through the messenger. Thank you so much for comforting my fears and for sharing your pictures.

I think I know the answer to this but I'm so stinking nervous about my surgery that's coming up in a couple of weeks that anything and everything is running through my mind. After surgery, the staple line stays in place and your stomach grows around it, right? Do I need to worry about having leaks 3 years, 5 years, 10 years out? I don't want to have this done and then find out all is being held in place by the staples.

Welcome! I'm just east of Dallas. I haven't had my surgery yet but it is coming really soon, June 23rd. Everyone here is awesome! You can let your wall down here...no one is here to judge you, only here to support you! Good Luck!

I know how you feel. I still have almost 2 weeks and I've been waking up in the middle up the night panicing. I've had way too much time to think about it all. Talk about stressful. We'll be okay! I will say a prayer for you.

You are so right! Thank you for saying all of this. Sometimes we forget that we are worth the love and care that we deserve just like the rest of the family. Sometimes I feel so drained from taking care of everyone elses' needs and wants! Sometimes I feel cheated because not only do my needs not get met but I'm too tired to try to take care of myself...or maybe I stopped caring about myself along the way. So thank you for saying everything you said. We are just as important and as special as our family members are.

Nope! Sighhhh!! They gave me a choice. Either 4-5 shakes a day and nothing else or what I'm doing now (2 shakes and a small meal). Ugh!

My husband is extremely supportative now. My surgery is in 2 weeks. But I will tell you about a time in my past. Back in 2007-2008, I started eating really healthy and was on my way to losing a whopping 70 pounds...and I did! But my husband acted like he didn't even notice and him and the kids would eat all kinds of stuff in front of me without a care. When they'd fix big bowls of Blue Bell ice cream, I'd pull out my strawberries and whip cream. This didn't bother me so much but it hurt my feelings. It was as if he wanted to make sure I knew that he didn't notice me losing weight. I remember one time when they pulled out the ice cream, my step daughter (around 12-13 then) decided to have strawberries with me. My husband told her how proud he was of her for making that choice....here I'd been doing it for months...he said nothing of the sort to me. Talk about hurting my feelings. I think back on that sometimes and I wonder why he was like that. I think that maybe never seeing me thin was scary for him. Maybe at the time it felt like a threat to him...so if he never commented on how good I was looking, how good my food choices were, or whatever...then maybe I'd still feel as if I were real fat. I don't really know why he was like that. But after I lost the weight and he saw that hey, I wasn't going anywhere and that I hadn't changed...except my weight, that everything was okay. He started complimenting me more and he was proud. Of course, I gained all my weight back and more over the last couple of years! Ugh! This is why I am here!

Y'all are making me hungry! I'm in the pre-op diet right now but this is great information! Thank you all! This encourages me to keep on, keeping on!

<font color="#9932cc" size="3" face="Century Gothic">Well, I had my preop class today! It took 6 hours! Well, part of that was meeting with nurses, the doctor, the payment guy, going to the pharmacy down stairs to fill prescriptions .... needless to say, it was a veryyyyyy long day! Lots of great information though. I feel a little better knowing that they are very aware of the pain you will go through and nausousness (sp?) and want to make sure they control it their very best. Anyways, my preop diet has changed starting tomorrow. I will only be able to have 2 Protein shakes a day and one small meal. Ugh! I just got used to what I was doing. Now, I hope I don't have all the hunger I had when I first started. I commented to them that that would only be around 600-700 calories a day. They already realized that and wasn't surprised in the least bit! ahhhhh!

Well, this was what I was told to do if I was starting early. I'm sitting right now waiting on my preop class to start, so I may have to do something different after today. I'll let you know. I'm sorry for you, I know that has to be really hard because just one small meal a day is hard. Not having anything but liquid...ugh..I don't know how I would react myself. Can you change your Protein shake? You get something that taste good and you want feel as deprived. My doctor was okay with that as long as I stayed within his limits of calories, protein and such.

I will tell you that the start of the first day, ummmmm...I did mess up too...I had forgotten because that was such an awful day! I had two huge cups of coffee with tons of sugar and cream. You are rightt, we can do this!!!!

I totally agree with iegal. And it is very hard at first. I'm at day 9 and I'm okay now. Maybe you need to find a Protein drink that you like. My husband has used Muscle Milk Protein powder for probably a year or so now. I had drank it once or twice as a Meal Replacement in the past, so I thought I could handle it for my preop. And the doctor was okay with that. Well, after drinking 2 in a roll on the first day, I thought I was going to gag! So I went out that day and found something else and I love it. It's Syntha-6 chocolate milkshake flavor. Just a suggestion! You have to be able to tolerate what you put in your mouth. I had read it from others on this forum that the first couple of days were hell but after that it wasn't a big deal. I couldn't believe it. But NOW I do. My 3rd or 4th day out, my hunger subsided. I'm okay now. You can do this! You have to do this for your own health! Buy some chewing gum (sugar free), sugar free Jello, and drink lots of Water in-between. Pretty soon, you won't even need things like jello. You'll be content with what you have. I know it's hard to believe but it's true. My first day I had a horrible meltdown...now I'm okay.

Gosh, I'm so glad that I'm not the only one. I nearly cried tonight thinking about it but went to look at some before and after pictures. For that moment infelt better seeing that those people were still alive. I've had surgery before but it was unexpected. I only had a day or two to worry about my doom. Lol And I did have a major crying episode the night before but I had no choice. I'm really struggling now because I do have a choice. I'm doing this to myself and what if I'm the one that has terrible complications??!!?? Ugh! This is huge and life changing. I'm excited about where this will lead me and I doubt seriously that I would cancel but I'm still scared! it didn't help that my mom called yesterday and informed me of all the horrible things that could go wrong. And that what would happen to my 7 yo son if something happened to me!?!? I knew I shouldn't have told her. She was mostly okay with it at first until she started surfing the Internet for information. I didn't need that. Believe me, I'm well informed of complications and this wasn't an easy decision for me. I'll stop rambling! Thanks for listening.

Hi there! I am required to do the preop diet. I actually started a week early to try to get off as much weight as possible. The doctor required 15 lbs. and I'm already there but if course will keep going. He told me no more than 1000 calories a day. Most needed to be Protein. So I started out using my husband's Protein shakes. He uses the Musle Milk. Oh yuck! I couldn't handle the artificial sweetner after taste. I actually had a meltdown my first day. It was bad! Lol So I went to the Vitamin store and walked out with Syntha-6 chocolate Milkshake flavor. I love it. It has 200 calories (mixing with water), 22 grams of protein, 15 grams of carbs. I was told to do a 1:1 ratio and of course, I said, "What the heck does that mean?" It means for every gram of protein, I need a gram of carb. Well I'm not quite getting that with this shake but real close and it's working. I have 4 shakes a day spaced out every 3-4 hours. That's 800 calories. Then I have a very small supper. Sometimes tuna, Boca Burger, tilapia (baked with a touch of olive oil, salt, and Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper), or something like that but no red meat (doctor's orders). I also have something green and leafy...also doctor's orders. After having my first appointment with the doctor, I managed to lose 5 pounds. I started my preop diet 8 days ago and have lost another 10. So it works. Good luck and I'll see you on the other side.

I'm the 23rd also! Congrats!

Hi! I did the same thing and it still wasn't enough. When I started my pre-op diet 8 days ago, I had a meltdown the first day. Yes, crying, anger, starving tummy, ....just couldn't see how I was ever going to be able to do it. But after about 3 days, my hunger went away and I was happy with my 4 Protein shakes and one tiny meat and greens a day. Do I want real food...oh yes! But I'm okay with what I have to have. I had seen others post similar things about going crazy at first then the hunger kind of goes away and your content AND didn't beleive it. Well, they were right! Ha! The only advice I really have is maybe just let go of one thing at a time before your diet starts. Like for me, I should have given up my coffee, cream, and sugar....my McDonald's large Cokes...you get the point. Pick things that are going to be the hardest for you to give up because if you just go cold turkey on everything just like I did, you may just go nuts! I'm surprised I didn't break and binge because in the past, that's what I would have done. I suppose the thought of something going wrong in surgery because I didn't do my part was enough to keep from endulging in the wrong things. One more thing, maybe add some things that you don't do on a regular basis that will be something that you will have to do after the diet and the surgery happen. Like, drinking all your Water, walking 20 minutes a day, taking your chewable Vitamins, liquid B-12, calcuim, etc. I did all of that except I still haven't started the walking part. I'm bound and determined to start that in the next day or two. I hope this helps.

I'm so happy for you! I'll be right behind you, June 23. I'm so up and down about it. I find myself constantly thinking, "why am I doing this?" Well, of course I want to live again and be happy. But I can't help but feel doom! As if that might be my last day here on earth. Does anyone else deal with these feelings? I did start my pre-op diet 8 days ago and it was super hard the first 3 or so days but now, of course I would love to have real food but it isn't driving me crazy. My actual pre-op class is tomorrow.

I'm curious to what others have experienced going through surgery. Please tell me your experiences right before, during (if you know), and after surgery. I really want to know what it will be like ... I know that everyone has different experiences. Thank you soooo much!

Oh my goodness, you look great!!!! So when I see pictures like yours, it puts my focus back on why I'm doing this. I've been having nightmares about my surgery coming up in 3 weeks. I want soooo bad to run from it and say I'll be happy being fat for the rest of my life! Whatever to self...no way to self...I want to feel as good as you look. I'm so happy for you!!!

Oh okay...I still hope you don't have to go through surgery again! I definitely feel for you!

Hey Diva---PenPen again...well, I totally agree with iegal. The hunger has pretty much gone away. I mean, yes, my tummy would love to eat real food but I'm not in anguish anymore. I cooked pigs-n-blanket this morning for my family and I was completely fine with just having my protien shake. I didn't feel sorry for myself anymore and actually felt really good about accomplishing something. I think the first 3-4 days are total torture but after that it becomes kind of a norm for you...well, and also for me I think just knowing how good it feels to lose weight makes it just a little easier. I had forgotten what that felt like. My husband was getting excited for me too and yesterday morning when I weighed, he watched and I wanted to cry because the scale showed I'd gained 2 lbs back from the 6 I'd just lost!!! What? Well, he reassured me that there was no way I was gaining weight with this diet and it was probably just salt intake causing water to sit on me. He must have been right because this morning I had lost 10 lbs. since I started this diet. You will be fine! Just hang in there. You're not alone.

Congrats!!!! Isnt it exciting? Well, my list is limited just because not much food is involved in my diet. Ugh! Boca burgers chicken Tuna Tilapia (sp?) Fresh fruit and veggies (watch out for sugar in the fruits but other than that, you can have more that other foods but still remain a low calorie food) I'm on a 1000 calorie preop diet right now. I can have 4 Protein shakes a day (800 calories) and then a meat which is not red and leafy greens...no peas (too much sugar). I had a 4oz. Piece of baked tilapia with a little bit of olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper a couple of nights ago along with a cup and a half of fresh strawberries. It equaled around 200 calories but boy, it looked like a whole bunch. It was very tasty and I woke up the next morning still feeling full. By the way, I wasn't supposed to have the strawberries but I was out of leafy greens. So I'm on my 5th day of the diet. I weighed myself this a.m. and have lost 10 lbs. WOW! Of course, I'm hungry most of the time but have gotten used to it now. The first 3 days are a killer. You may want to take things away from yourself slowly since you still have time so your body and mind don't go into shock like mine. lol I space my Protein drinks out about 2-3 hours which is really hard to do because I'm hungry again 10 minutes after the shake. But I try to drink lots of Water and chew lots of gum. I even made up some sugar free Jello that I thought would help. The only thing is that my taste buds seem to think it's too sweet now. Wow...didn't see that one coming. I kind of like being turned off by really sweet stuff! Keeps us posted on how you're doing. Just keep the right mindset and always remember why you are doing this and you'll get through it.