Alex Brecher

The new Bariatric wing at Oasis is much nicer than Florence Hospital. Inside and out. Not yet.

Weight loss surgery is for life. The journey isn’t easy, but I believe that the best way to make it work is to take the best of both worlds. Recognize that we are bound to each other through our weight loss surgery, but don’t let that special tie isolate you from everyone who has not had weight loss surgery. Instead, recognizing the similarities in all of our lives can make our own challenges easier to overcome. These are some of the things we all share, weight loss surgery or not. For each, there are some unique aspects for bariatric patients, but also parallels with everyone else. We all have a daily struggle. If you’re overweight, there’s a good chance you’ve looked enviously at people who are at a “normal” weight. You see them walking down the street, maybe wearing a cute outfit that you can only dream of wearing, and wish you had it as easy as they did. You’re jealous because your own weight problem is visible to the world. But we all have our own struggles, and you don’t know what is going on in that person’s life. They may face abuse, struggle to pay the bills, suffer from a chronic disease, care for a sick child at home, or work at a job they hate. Just as you struggle every day to eat right and exercise, they may struggle every day to wake up and face their own challenges. Rather than envy them, think of other people as inspiration to get through your day. We are all in this together, doing the best we can with what we have. We all keep certain things from our bosses. Many bariatric patients are hesitant to tell our bosses about our surgery. We may fear judgment or retribution. We may just want to keep our personal lives private. It’s not always that easy to keep quiet about Weight Loss Surgery, since we need to eat differently and our appearances change as the weight comes off. There may even be times when we need to leave work because we feel sick or have doctor’s appointments. But guess what – nobody tells their boss everything about their personal lives. I am certain that all of your coworkers have their own secrets from your boss. Looking just at alcohol abuse, an estimated 15% of the workforce has come to work after drinking or with a hangover! Add to that secrets such as playing hooky to see a sports match, searching for a new job, or living out of a camper to save money, and you can bet that every employee has their own personal issues that they don’t want to publicize to the boss. We all want to be there for our families (or worry about our futures). One of the most compelling reasons to get weight loss surgery is to be there. We want to be alive and be healthy for as many years as possible to support our families and get to enjoy them. With obesity, the pressure to improve health is real and personal, since we may already have our own health problems or have seen family members struggle with or die from conditions such as heart disease or diabetes. But everyone worries about the future. They may worry about their job security, about having enough money for rent and to put the kids through college, and – yes, it’s true – about their health and weight. We’re all short on time. Weight loss surgery success is time-consuming, from meal planning and grocery shopping to food prep and measurement, not to mention working out. It takes some sacrifice to get in all those healthy behaviors, especially before they become habits. But everyone is short on time. We’re all busy with work, school, and family obligations. And that includes diet and exercise commitments, even for people who don’t look like they need to be careful. In fact, the people who are most dedicated to their health are the ones who are best at prioritizing their lives, and making the necessary sacrifices to clear the time to work out and eat right. We can all use a helping hand. Hopefully, this article has shown that we’re all in this together. We can all use a helping hand. Within the bariatric community, resources like BariatricPal can give us the chance to ask questions and give advice. Outside, try to remember that giving someone a smile or encouraging word can mean a lot, and possibly make someone’s day a lot easier.

When you decide to get weight loss surgery, you join a unique community. Bariatric patients have a lot in common. We’ve struggled with weight for years. We’ve been unable to keep the weight off with regular diets and exercise. And now, we’re bound to each other by a special bond: the weight loss surgery. Weight loss surgery is for life. The journey isn’t easy, but I believe that the best way to make it work is to take the best of both worlds. Recognize that we are bound to each other through our weight loss surgery, but don’t let that special tie isolate you from everyone who has not had weight loss surgery. Instead, recognizing the similarities in all of our lives can make our own challenges easier to overcome. These are some of the things we all share, weight loss surgery or not. For each, there are some unique aspects for bariatric patients, but also parallels with everyone else. We all have a daily struggle. If you’re overweight, there’s a good chance you’ve looked enviously at people who are at a “normal” weight. You see them walking down the street, maybe wearing a cute outfit that you can only dream of wearing, and wish you had it as easy as they did. You’re jealous because your own weight problem is visible to the world. But we all have our own struggles, and you don’t know what is going on in that person’s life. They may face abuse, struggle to pay the bills, suffer from a chronic disease, care for a sick child at home, or work at a job they hate. Just as you struggle every day to eat right and exercise, they may struggle every day to wake up and face their own challenges. Rather than envy them, think of other people as inspiration to get through your day. We are all in this together, doing the best we can with what we have. We all keep certain things from our bosses. Many bariatric patients are hesitant to tell our bosses about our surgery. We may fear judgment or retribution. We may just want to keep our personal lives private. It’s not always that easy to keep quiet about Weight Loss Surgery, since we need to eat differently and our appearances change as the weight comes off. There may even be times when we need to leave work because we feel sick or have doctor’s appointments. But guess what – nobody tells their boss everything about their personal lives. I am certain that all of your coworkers have their own secrets from your boss. Looking just at alcohol abuse, an estimated 15% of the workforce has come to work after drinking or with a hangover! Add to that secrets such as playing hooky to see a sports match, searching for a new job, or living out of a camper to save money, and you can bet that every employee has their own personal issues that they don’t want to publicize to the boss. We all want to be there for our families (or worry about our futures). One of the most compelling reasons to get weight loss surgery is to be there. We want to be alive and be healthy for as many years as possible to support our families and get to enjoy them. With obesity, the pressure to improve health is real and personal, since we may already have our own health problems or have seen family members struggle with or die from conditions such as heart disease or diabetes. But everyone worries about the future. They may worry about their job security, about having enough money for rent and to put the kids through college, and – yes, it’s true – about their health and weight. We’re all short on time. Weight loss surgery success is time-consuming, from meal planning and grocery shopping to food prep and measurement, not to mention working out. It takes some sacrifice to get in all those healthy behaviors, especially before they become habits. But everyone is short on time. We’re all busy with work, school, and family obligations. And that includes diet and exercise commitments, even for people who don’t look like they need to be careful. In fact, the people who are most dedicated to their health are the ones who are best at prioritizing their lives, and making the necessary sacrifices to clear the time to work out and eat right. We can all use a helping hand. Hopefully, this article has shown that we’re all in this together. We can all use a helping hand. Within the bariatric community, resources like BariatricPal can give us the chance to ask questions and give advice. Outside, try to remember that giving someone a smile or encouraging word can mean a lot, and possibly make someone’s day a lot easier.

It's already in effect!

@@AmiLou, Ideally, you should go with what your nutritionist said, but there are many possible reasons why it may not be working for you. In that case, you can try questioning your nutritionist. She or he may have given you the standard recommendations that she gives to all of her patients, but have other ideas that could work for you if you let her know that you’re bored. It’s perfectly fine to question your dietitian. You said you’re not allowed to have bread, rice, or Pasta – but you didn’t mention if oatmeal was specifically mentioned. The reason I bring this up is because many or even most plans forbid or discourage bread, rice, and pasta…but allow oatmeal, even though it’s starchy. So, you might want to specifically ask about oatmeal, and you may be pleasantly surprised to find that it’s allowed. As @@Christinamo7 suggested, you’ll probably want to make sure you eat it with Protein, such as making it with milk, adding protein powder, and/or eating it with a protein like cottage cheese. As for the boredom…it looks like you’ve gotten a bunch of great suggestions! You have way more options if you don’t have to have “breakfast” foods for breakfast. Even if you do, you can be creative. You could make things like protein pancakes with cottage cheese and protein powder (there are a ton of recipes online), or any of those special bariatric products like protein Cereal or protein oatmeal that are also low-carb.

@@reeniemay, It is different for different patients. The lack of fullness and hunger might last for a long time. I would guess that when hunger comes back, fullness will come back, too. However, it might be a different kind of fullness than you may remember from before. It might be a fullness that is not only less full than “unbutton your pants” kind of full, but a fullness that is super subtle that takes a while to recognize. By measuring your food now and until the fullness comes back and you learn to recognize it, you are setting yourself up to succeed in sticking to the right portions for the long term, even if you stop measuring your food eventually (not recommended, but common!). You’re still really close to surgery, so things are still getting settled.

@@Jane1979, Thanks for the update and the explanation. You are being extremely smart in being honest with yourself about why you feel surgery is not for you. It is far better to realize that beforehand than to ignore your concerns, do something irreversible, and regret it for the rest of your life. As the others said, you may not have to give up coffee for life if you do get surgery, although there are no guarantees. There are plenty of paths to a healthy weight and a happy weight, and I hope that you find one that works for you! Of course, WLS is always an option if you change your mind; you can always do it, just not undo it! Good luck, and keep us posted whenever you would like!

@@Hiraeth, Congratulations on getting over your stall! I, too, am surprised that you are eating noodles this early. The only way I would expect you to eat them would be pureed and watered down, and even then I would be surprised. What you describe sounds like classic food intolerance that comes with eating foods too early. Symptoms would be fullness that comes way too soon and way too harshly, and pain like you ate way too much even though you didn’t. Plus, since you said you had trouble eating the noodles slowly, that would definitely make those symptoms way worse. How are you doing with other foods and Protein shakes? Has anything changed; that is, is there anything that you can’t tolerate now that you used to be able to tolerate? Of course you should definitely contact your doctor whenever you’re worried, but from what you described, it doesn’t sound too worrying if there are no other red flags. Good luck, and keep us posted on how you feel and what the doctor says if you reach out!

@@madisunshine1, Congratulations on your surgery and weight loss so far! If you’re tolerating that variety of foods, you must be recovering well, so that’s great! Hunger doesn’t always go away post-op. It may be something that you need to get used to, and it may go away in a few months or so. I wonder about your surgeon’s guidelines to have 400 to 600 calories per day. That seems really low. I would expect a goal of 1,000 to 1,200 calories per day. Another thing: you said you’re getting your fluids in, which is great! If you feel overly hungry and don’t want to eat, you could try drinking even more. It’s unlikely that you would get too many fluids. And finally: it is fantastic that you are recognizing your hunger, eating healthy foods in response, and stopping when you are full. That is the habit that will give you success forever.

@@even11, LOL!! I have to agree with @@Fredbear! But assuming you’re trying not to make enemies, I guess you could ask them what they mean. Eventually, it might come out that they think you’re not dieting and working hard, and you can explain that they are. Or, if you don’t feel like wasting your time conversing with rude people, you can just tell them that you don’t know about them, but you don’t feel as though eating 1,000 calories a day is easy. Or, you could agree. What difference does it make? Or, you could say, “Maybe, but it’s the only way I know. How did you lose 100 lbs?” (Because anyone who’s telling you this clearly hasn’t been in your position and lost 100 lbs.) I’m sorry you (and all of us) have to deal with this. Of course we shouldn’t care what people think, but all but a lucky few of us do. No matter what you say, people will still probably be able to make you feel bad about your WLS choice. At least you can try to remind yourself that people who say things like this about WLS (besides being ignorant on the subject) would probably find something else to try to make you feel bad about even if you hadn’t gotten WLS.

@@campingdiva, If you can’t imagine yourself thin, I guess you’re going to have to get thin in real life so you can see what you look like! Just kidding. It’s totally normal not to be able to imagine yourself thin. You haven’t been at your goal weight in recent history, so it would be impossible to know what you’d look like if you lost a bunch of weight. The neat thing about surgery is that you’ll enjoy seeing your new body the entire time as you get smaller and smaller, until one day you’re there, at goal weight! @, which long-term health issues are you thinking of from having a low-calorie diet long-term? Just curious!

@@mommafranz, Different surgeons and nutritionists have different recommendations about using straws. The reason to avoid them is because they make it easier to swallow air. In general, I think many surgeons and nutritionists would say it’s okay to use a straw if you’re super, super careful to sip slowly and avoid swallowing any air. Congrats on your surgery and on feeling great so far! Hope it keeps up!

@Dr. Adeyeri, Thanks for the reminder that the physical changes from surgery only take you so far, and your mind has to handle the rest. We’re told that WLS success is a long-term proposition and it depends our own choices, but don’t always realize that that means changing our mindset. It sounds like you have a good idea explaining to patients that the surgery is only a small piece of the puzzle. It may give a patient the potential to control weight, but that’s all it does. The majority of long-term success and happiness depends on changes in mindset. Thanks also for the great advice on ways to change the mindset. I love your suggestion to make sure you’re improving your quality of life in all kinds of ways as you lose weight, so that the weight loss journey isn’t strictly about weight loss per se, but about making life great. It is all too easy to focus so completely on weight loss that we don’t make the changes needed to enjoy life more, or we don’t realize that now the potential is there to enjoy life more! Thanks for the insights and tips!

The few weeks after surgery are tough for many of us. You’re getting used to your new way of life, and you may be in pain. Also, you’re on a pretty restricted diet. Your first post-op stages are the liquid diet and the pureed foods (“mushies”) diet, and they’re not always fun. liquids can be tough to get down even though you know you need the Protein and fluids. Pureed foods can be boring or there may be a lot that you can’t tolerate. These diets can also get awfully boring. So, what are your tips for the liquid diet and mushies diet? How did you get through (or how are you getting through) these stages if you’re post-op? If you’re pre-op, what are you doing to prepare yourself for the challenges ahead? Share your tips here!

Nope, sorry. Has there been an update to the Gastric Sleeve procedure I'm not aware of? ????

Wow! I can only imagine how humiliating that must have been Please accept our sincerest apologies for your experience. FYI, we were promised by Florence that you (and all BP patients) would be in the new rooms where they have larger shower stalls. It was only when you arrived that we realised that they had lied to us and didn't have any of those rooms available. I agree 100% that everyone would have been better off if you had surgery at the new Oasis Hospital. If I could have predicted the issues you had with Florence, we would have asked you to move your surgery forward two weeks. I wish we could have announced our new facility but we had an agreement not to announce it before everything was good to go at Oasis's new Bariatric wing. Not that it's going to help what you went through but the new wing has large bathrooms. The hallways have rails so it'll be easy to walk around. Everything is designed specifically for Bariatric patients. If you'd like to discuss anything else about your what occurred, please DM or email me. Let's try to look forward and not in the past....

Yes all my nurses had a basic command of English. I never had a issue with any of them. Who was your valet? I am really sorry you had a bad experience. I do wish we had a nutritionist with a degree. We have a Registered Dietitian that's going to start offering support to all BariatricPal TeamMX patients starting this week! We will announce details Monday.

We can't go back in time and we can't find out what went wrong since we've cut our affiliation with florence hospital. In general, they were ok but there were situations such as yours that gave me major pause and was one of many reasons we moved to our new hospital. We had very little control over the rooms our patients were in and the care they received. I know you were placed in the smallest room in the old Gacho unit. I'd also have been upset about if I were in your shoes. In Oasis hospital's new bariatric wing we have complete control over everything and we've spent a ton of time making sure our patients will receive the care they expect to care from BariatricPal Team MX.

I was researching and making some calls to find out what happened before I responded. Looks like you were put in an older wing of florence hospital known as "cacho." This has happened a few times with our patients and is one of *MANY* reasons we've moved away from Florence hospital. I've never heard of patients having to move to their own beds since you're moved from the gurney to a bed by the surgeon's staff right after surgery. Sorry about that! Regardless, we will definitely not have any of these issues at our new hospital. We've met with the director and medical coordinator of Oasis hospital's new Bariatric unit many many times and have spent hours upon hours going over every single issue we've had at Florence Hospital. We do not want them to repeat some of the mistakes made by Florence hospital! My apologies if your hospital stay wasn't as comfortable as it should have been!! How are you doing otherwise? Were you happy with your surgeon and surgery?

Most of us are lucky enough to have access to most kinds of fresh produce year round, but seasonal produce is still one of the hallmarks of summer. Fresh corn on the cob, abundant zucchini and cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, sweet melons, and juicy peaches are just some of the tantalizing fruits and vegetables with a lot of summer memories attached to them. Farmer’s markets are another sign of summer. They can be the best places to get your seasonal fruits and vegetables from local growers who love what they do and are eager to share what they know about their precious wares. Just walking through the farmer’s market and talking to local vendors can be an experience in itself. Going to a farmer’s market can also be good for weight loss if it inspires you to eat more fruits and veggies and take more of an interest in where your food comes from. Do you go to a farmer’s market regularly? Why do you go there instead of to a supermarket where you could easily pick up the rest of your groceries? Do you talk to the vendors about new recipes and even new fruits and vegetables to try? Do you take more of an interest in farmer’s markets after weight loss surgery?

I suggest staying away from Dr. Ramos Kelly. He's had one too many complications and deaths. Search the interwebs.

Everyone has trouble getting going at some point. You’re tired. You’re busy. You don’t feel like exercising. The weather’s bad. You can think of a million things you’d rather do. But you know you have to get moving, so how do you get out the door? Do you remind yourself of your reasons, like health, weight loss, and looking good? Do you schedule workouts with an exercise buddy so you don’t chicken out? Do you try new workouts and group exercise classes so you’re never bored? Do you save up great new songs to listen to, or episodes of your favorite TV shows to watch while you’re on the treadmill or stationary bike? Do you make sure you don’t think about until you’ve started, so you don’t have a chance to talk yourself out of it? Do you tell yourself it’s okay if you only do 5 minutes, so long as you at least get started? There are so many ways to help get yourself started on your workout. Share your tips for getting your workout in, especially on those days when you don’t really feel like it! Your tricks can really help others get motivated to get out the door on those tough days.

@@charley27, I can’t speak to whether it’s a good idea for you to drink or not at the wedding, but I will say this: be really, really careful! Whatever you think you can handle – you can’t! After surgery, your tolerance for alcohol goes way down. You’ll get drunk faster, and on less alcohol. Your blood sugar will get wackier. From a dieting perspective, stay alert! Since it’s not safe to drink on an empty stomach, you’ll have to break your WLS rules by eating while you drink. Careful not to overeat! Also, inhibition goes down when you’re under the influence of alcohol, so it’s easier to eat too much and choose the high-calorie foods. Whatever you choose to do, just be careful about it because your body isn’t the same as it was.

@@KaiserKid, Great questions! I always struggled with my weight, but didn’t really blame my parents. It was pretty clear to me, especially after moving out and going to college and being able to make my own decisions, that my eating was my problem. My parents may not have stopped me from being overweight, but at least they somehow taught me enough to realize for myself that my eating habits were terrible! As for getting over the “guilt of being fat,” I got over it by not being fat. Actually, I never felt directly guilty for being fat. I felt less guilty over the outcome (my overweight body) than I did over the causes (obsession with food, inability to stick to a diet or healthy eating plan). Dealing with people who think you should “put down the fork” is tough…very tough! I try to remind myself that they may mean well, that they probably have no idea what they’re talking about, and that they have their own problems in life – that they’re lucky enough to be able to hide rather than display to the world in the form of an oversized body. I also remind myself that if they weren’t doling out advice and judgement about weight, they’d be commenting on and criticizing other aspects of my life that aren’t their business, either. But really – growing a thick skin is the only way to put up with people. They’ll never stop.

@@Jellybean55, Make sure you blend the chili, as others have suggested, and make sure you ask your nutritionist if the soups are on your meal plan! Some patients are told to avoid tomato products for a while after surgery because of the acid. It can irritate the surgery wounds and also increase heartburn if you’re having trouble with that. Enjoy your soup!