Dooter

Do you have a Trader Joe's where you are? The TJ brand of greek yogurt is DEEEELICIOUS!!! (It's not fat free or sugar free though). It's the first greek yogurt i ever tried, so when I tried other brands I went "blleeeech! what IS this stuff?!"

YAY!!! My cardiologist OK'd me for surgery! Says I'm low risk and other than my weight, pretty healthy!! WOO HOO!! I know I don't have any heart trouble, but for some reason I was worried about this being a snag. So...anyway....there's that then..

YEAAAAHHH BABEEEE!!!!!!

Hey there! My name is Danielle- I am 42. I'm a Christian, a wife and a mother. That's the order of devotion in my life: God, husband, children. I love them all! I've been with my husband since 1995, and we got married in 1999. I am still madly in love with him like a school girl and it gets worse every day! My children are 3 boys ages 11, 9 and 9. I've been homeschooling them since 2008. I feel like their childhood is flying by and I'm spending it on the sidelines watching the fun. I wave goodbye as they go off on a hike with their dad, because I don't want to DIE out in the desert under the strain of this weight! (desert SW here) Before I had children, I was very involved in ballooning. I had to quit that, because it involved getting up in the pre-dawn hours and once you have babies...you need SLEEP!!! Now I'm an avid quilter. I know, I know....old lady hobby. I can't help it though, I'm strung out on the quilting. I looooove all the pretty fabrics and how I can chop them all up and sew 'em back together and make a beautiful blanket for someone! I'll be doing a lot of that to pass the time during pre op liquids. Hmmm....what else.... Oh...I also worked for Albertsons from 1989 to 2000. But that's pretty boring. That's all I can think of for now...

Pics and measurements! If you do measurements, it will help when you're obsessing over a stall. You can watch the inches disappear! I'm ready!!

Dr. Kim uses an endoscope so he can visualize the inner part of the incision, and he also uses it in place of a bougie for guiding and sizing. The nurse says it's equivalent to a 34fr bougie. The only reason I asked her about it, is that I'd heard about it on this website.

*jealous* I have to wait until the 13th

Wow.

Eeeeew. Not looking forward to that.

I probably won't use milk post surgery. I don't like milk anyway. I'll be freaking out about every calorie, I'm sure. I figured if my husband is ordering and using it anyway, I might as well see if it will work for me too. I'll take a label scan with me when I go. Thanks!

NOOOOOO!!!! Enjoy the broken scale!!! hahaha

Cool, thanks!

Hooraayyyy!!!

Michelle- I'll be right there with ya babe!! It won't be fun, but for some reason, I'm not so scared of the pre op diet. (2 yrs ago I had to do clear liquids for many weeks because of a health issue, so I'm ready!) We can DO THIS!!! Staying busy is important! The rest of forever is what I'm scared of. :s SKCunningham-Good advice. I just need to rip the bandaid off and go for it. Yes, I believe my favorites are behind me now. Just gotta do it. Thanks for the encouragement! I can't wait! Amberj- Like you say, there is a wide range of outcomes on this deal- on one end you have people that are still manic and trying to eat everything in the world, and the other end where they just don't even care about food anymore. Not really an issue. I am PRAYING that I will be on the 'don't care' end. Or at least more toward that side. But still ready for the possibility of having a rough time with the cravings. I hardly ever run into anyone who even knows what that means or the gravity of it. Cravings? they say...Just don't eat it. HA!!! People on this forum are the only ones I've met that know exACTly what I mean. THANKS ALL!

WOO HOO!!! (I think that's the proper attitude!

I'm about to bust with excitement, but I can't quite get happy until these STOOPID real estate papers are signed and our property is officially sold. No money, no surgery. WAAAHHH!!! The tension is killing me!!! Now there are roof problems with the building we are selling, and they have to be resolved before closing. It's going to cut it down to the wire. I'm hoping I don't have to move my date. (weep weep)

That's good to hear. Still praying for you.

So, tonight my husband and I got to go out to dinner with his boss and his boss's wife and another co-worker. It was a lovely evening. We went to a fish restaurant. Not my favorite, but hey, it's something different. Ok fine. "Oh look- a platter of fried stuff! Oh goody! Who cares that I have an appointment with the cardiologist tomorrow to get cardiac clearance for surgery!! Go for it! Oh, and while you're at it can you please throw in a mojito so I can really spike my blood pressure? Thanks." And as usual, something sounds really good...I get it...and now I feel like poo! Serves me right. Well, I'm going all crazy with the "saying goodbye" rituals. Donuts, cake, ice cream, fried fish, McD's. I am SOOOOOO ready to not care about food anymore. I hate this. I hate it. February 13th can't come soon enough. wah wah wah...sorry....just had to get that out.

Praying for you...

Here's the way I see it: Doing clear liquids or full liquids for too long won't do damage. Eating too soon has the potential to do damage. Better safe than leaking. It may be more stressful to your mind to keep on liquids, but it'll be worth it. leonor- 2 weeks on CLEAR?? That does seem mighty excessive from what everyone says here on this forum. Is this particular to your case? Maybe there's a specific reason he kept you on clear, have you asked? Does he do this with everyone? Were you given a patient packet with instructions?

This is how my diet is going to progress when I get mine done. My surgeon is on the conservative side when progressing to the next level, and he has a very very very low leak rate. He will have me on full liquids, as you can see, up through week 3. Then blenderizedfoods for 2 weeks after that, then so on. Phase One Bariatric Clear liquid Diet (The first few days) Phase Two Bariatric Full liquid diet (Weeks 1-3) Phase Three Bariatric pureed Protein Diet (Weeks 4-5) Phase Four Bariatric Soft Protein Diet (Weeks 6-8) Where you are right now, this plan would have you at 60 oz. of fluids per day, and 40-50 gm of Liquid Protein. His reason for that is that is protects you from early complications, and gives you good nutrition for healing. Heres what he suggests: What to Drink All phase 1 liquids (clear) (also, kellogs k20 is clear and has protein) BariEssential™ protein supplementOptifast® protein supplement (contains lactose) Bariatric Advantage™ protein supplement Milk or Lactaid (lactose free) milk Soy milk Strained fat free cream Soups (American Heart Association green label with heart) Strained cold cereals (oatmeal, farina, cream of wheat) Im just giving you all of this, so you can see another docs perspective on it. I havent had this done yet, so I cant personally comment, but this is an example of a more cautious approach than some Ive seen on here. You hangin in there, sweetie??? --danielle That was weird! When I clicked this in, it splayed out a bunch of code or something! Forgive my lack of punctuation, but it made everything all freaky, so I have to take out the apostrophes. Weird man. Probably because I copied and pasted from an emailed doc. Oh well...

There will ALWAYS be someone thinner, making you feel like a cow. I remember being 125 pounds in high school being jealous of my extra skinny mini friend. We're never pleased with ourselves. Be happy that you can wear cute clothes, ride rides at an amusement park and reach your backside to clean it! hahaha...TMI??? Remember where you were, not where you 'could be.' YOU HAVE CONQUERED!!!!! HOOOO AAAAHHH!!!!!

Pantyhose? What are pantyhose? I seem to remember something from long ago.........it's fuzzy though..

I've always gained at least 6 pounds. I don't see why that would change after surgery. The hormonal fluctuations that cause all of that should still be in tact.

Cool! Sorry to hijack your question Trells, but I hope it helped you too. It seemed like the right time to throw that in there.