CraftyChristie

Congrats on the 100 lb loss! That's wonderful! The probs with your piraformis may have nothing to do with weightloss. Mine have been bothering me (both sides) for a couple of years due to being more sedentary... do you have a job where you sit, or spend a lot of time sitting? The only thing that has helped me is a fantastic massage therapist at my chiropractor's office. I am a massage therapist myself and I have been to over 20 of them trying to get relief and no one was able - until this guy who is just extremely talented at it! So don't give up on massage from having one person work on it - keep trying. Your best bet is to go to a massage therapist who specializes in deep tissue, or even sports massage. The relaxation types like swedish just won't do much for you. Skip the spa and use MT's in a medical setting like a chiropractor's office, they are more trained to work on specific probs and not just relax you and make you feel good. I hope this might help you avoid surgery!!!!

No a pouch test is different from a leak test. I heard about this in some youtube videos. It's something that people will do when they are farther out from surgery in an attempt to shrink their pouch back up and get back on track with their eating. It is usually a 5 day test and from what I understand it is like compacting the post-surgery eating phases into 5 days so something like clear liquids for a day, full liquids for 2 days, soft/pureed for a day and mushy for a day. I have no idea if this actually accomplishes anything... but this is what I've heard.

Every surgeon has different guidelines I know, but in my nutrition class here we are told salads are not really something they want us to eat. They grouped it with bread, pasta, popcorn, etc as a "no"... LOL! Simply because the lettuce has very little nutritional value and since it's high in water content, we can eat a lot more of a salad (eluding to what Keys Pirate said). Just like with everything else, I won't say "never" to anything but I guess I wouldn't suggest eating salad every day. They said we should make up a salad with all the fixins we want but with no lettuce. Weird. I am not to that point yet so haven't tried it out. If you have a lot of questions about how to progress to more solid foods I would definitely ask the nutritionist at your WL surgeon's office!

That's wonderful!

Great job!! That's wonderful. I am about 10 days out and my energy level is close to normal. I need a little nap... but then, I always did!! Definitely the key is to stay hydrated and get in all your protein. I was told to eat my 1oz of soft food every 2 hours all day long (starting within an hour of waking, and finishing within an hour of going to sleep) and also to spread out your protein evenly throughout the day (at least intaking some every two hours)... so i think keeping it spread out nice and even like that is helping me maintain my energy level. I've been going on walks, going to stores, visiting friends, going out for 5-6 hours a day and I'm doing great - and that would have tired me out probably even MORE before surgery!! lol

Congrats!!!! For the ones you don't sell, consider putting them on here - there's a subforum at the bottom of the forums list for exchanging clothes. People on here might love to have them! (me!) :svengo: :lol0:

I bought the book "[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Surgery-Dummies-Marina-Kurian/dp/0764584472/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275236132&sr=8-1]Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies[/ame]" LOL and it is actually really helpful about how to make the transition into solid foods and there are recipes in it too. It has lots of good info in general. (ooh and in looking it up to link to it I just saw they also have a whole [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Loss-Surgery-Cookbook-Dummies/dp/0470640189/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275236132&sr=8-2]recipe book[/ame] available!) I'm still quite a ways from getting on solid food myself so I can't help too much personally, but there are some great blogs of post WLS people who share recipes and examples of what they eat. My fave is The World According to Eggface - she is 3 1/2 years out though so you can't eat as much as her right away of course! Here's what I do know from all my research and from the nutrition classes at my surgeons office. High Protein, low carb. For the first 3 months you're supposed to eat 90% protein and only 10% complex carbs (fruits and veggies), no simple carbs (bread, Pasta, etc) ... after that time frame, 75% protein and 25% complex carbs. I have purchased some diabetic cookbooks - I am not diabetic but the recipes seems to be up the right alley as far as high protein low carb. Another tip that I've been getting is, the denser the protein, the longer you will stay full. Meaning, choose chicken over cottage cheese. It takes longer to digest and leave your stomach so you will feel full longer. In our nutrition class we also learned about this little protein math to do. You want your protein sources to be under 15 calories per gram. For example if a serving of something has 200 calories and 20 grams of protein, it is 10 calories per gram. Most of your protein should come from lean sources such as meats. The middle ones are things like cheese and other diary, and the higher ones (which you should have the least of) are things like bacon, nuts etc which are higher in fat. I hope this helps!!

There is a sub-forum way at the bottom of the forums page for clothing exchange!! I plan to use that when I need some smaller stuff :svengo: :lol0: Also there's a website called freecycle you could check out! Congrats!

I'm not a professional in any capacity but have always loved singing. My voice is exactly the same now (10 days post op.) I didn't sing much the first few days because of all the internal muscle pain in the abdominal area, and your lungs can be weak for a while after being under anesthesia. REALLY be dilligent about the breathing thing they give you to practice with - my lungs were back to normal in a few days.

I can't keep reading these posts because it breaks my heart. You deserve better. People are pointing out that he is sabotaging you but what it truly comes down to is YOU are sabotaging yourself again. You know he is bringing you down and you are letting him, so you are doing this to yourself. I'm almost two weeks out also and I'm still on cottage cheese, refried beans, egg beaters, and yogurt. It will be at 6 weeks before I eat solid food. You've been at Olive Garden, eating cherries and mangos, and room service - I am not judging this as "unhealthy" eating but it is just plain unSAFE to be eating these foods before your sleeve is healed!! If you've been having a 'low grade' fever it's quite possible you're getting an infection sweetie. Please - start taking care of yourself!!!! You deserve so much more.

How long before bed do you eat? I was told to always eat within an hour of waking up, and within an hour of going to bed. If you are stopping your calorie/protein/water consumption earlier in the evening, you might be feeling weak by bedtime. If this is not the case, sorry, that's all I could think of!

I have lost 18 pounds! 6 came off in the first day on liquids (before surgery) and 12 more this week. Amazing, can't hardly believe it. I already have said a long overdue goodbye to the 300's - went from 310 to 292 in just 8 days!! Also my healing is going great - got my drain out today and I feel so much better. I've been walking 30 mins+ the past 3 days. Getting in all my Protein and all my Water. Today I got to eat some refried Beans... yay real food! I am already feeling my strength returning, and I just feel WONDERFUL! I am feeling more healthy already.:001_tongue:

Thanks hun! His surgery will be June 3rd.

I have been seeing a therapist who works specifically with food issues since November. She has helped me SO much. When I first decided on surgery, she wasn't sure what to think, but she came around to being fully supportive when she realized I am truly ready to do this. Working with her on my emotional eating problems has helped me be ready. Now I know I can really do this without hitting so many bumps in the road this time. I am going to be continuing to work with her post-op also, for any issues that come up for me. I highly recommend her so if you are interested, PM me and I'll give you her info. She does phone sessions all the time. :001_tongue:

What a fantastic update! You sound so happy and at peace with yourself. You've made fantastic changes to your life already. Sounds like the best 2 months of your life!!!

GREAT update Andrea!! I'm so glad you are doing so well. Hugs :001_tongue:

Just FYI, my surgeon has these sorts of stats for himself personally. Your potential surgeon probably will too. That's even better data, to have date from the person who will work on you. For example I was extremely happy that my surgeon had done 2,000 weight loss surgeries (all 3 kinds combined) with only one fatality, which happened to be an extremely high risk patient over 500 lbs with every comorbidity in the book. And his stats for leaks were 0.1%. This was so reassuring! Definitely see if you can get stats directly from any surgeon you are considering.

I've had the same problem because I'm a side sleeper too. Sleeping has been so uncomfortable and I already had a bad back so sleeping on my back has been rough!!! My back really hurts when I go for my walks too. I am mostly off pain meds but am taking them an hour before going for my walk and that helps.

My instructions are to make sure I get up and walk around at least 5 minutes on every hour. Additionally, to try and walk for 30 mins a day besides that. It can be 3 x 10min walks, 2 x 15min walks or 1 30 min walk. I tried for the first time yesterday (my 4th day post op) and surprisingly walked 35 mins at once with no problems. Will be doing so again today.

You need to ask your insurance company to be sure. Mine said Weight Watchers did not count, it HAD to be doctor supervised. You could be using WW as your method but would have to be doing monthly check ups with your doctor. I ended up being self pay so it didn't matter (they would only cover bypass) but just make sure before you get started so you don't waste your time. Good luck!

I didn't go to Mexico, but when I was laying in the hospital here waiting half an hour every time I pushed the nurse call button, I sure wished that I did! The stories I have heard seem like the staff is so much more attentive to you there. Here I felt like I had a different nurse every time I pushed the button, had to re-explain everything each time, and I seriously had to wait forever any time I needed anything lol. I love my surgeon but the hospital not so much.

I don't have anything new to say but I agree with everything already said here. This is about you now, and I know from your other posts you weren't happy before either.. there is just no reason to stay with someone like that. Being alone IS better than being with a prick, I promise.

Firstly, thanks for your super positive post! It's awesome to read! I am 4 days out. Really looking forward to the soft foods stage of the egg beaters, refried beans etc, which I am allowed to start after Wednesday if I can tolerate it. I will probably like some of the same things you are liking I am already noticing that each day I feel a little better, can get more liquids down, can walk better. I was able to walk for 35 mins today and it's only day 4! Whoo hoo!

My surgeon actually recommends no more than once every OTHER week to weigh in!! I am planning to weigh in at my 1 week post op, 3 week post op, 6 week post op, and then either every other week or only monthly after that. I have no desire to play guessing games with the scale I am just going to do my thing.

Today is day 3 post-op. I think the pain is getting a little better and I definitely slept better last night. The one thing that is really bothering me is intense hunger pangs. The dr. said once i started drinking protein and getting my liquids in, these would go away. Maybe I am not being patient enough but I really hoped they would go away by now. The pain at my incisions is not too bad, but the internal muscle pain is pretty bad for me. I think it is better today though. Walking is getting easier except I feel like I can't stand up completely straight. My back got really sore throughout this process too but that's because I had a bad back to begin with. I've been icing my back a few times a day and it's starting to calm down. I am just so looking forward to Wednesday when I can get my drain removed and go to another nutrition class and possibly advance my diet to full liquids (on clears now.)