Gene1970

Congrats to both of you!!!! The next month is going to FLY by!!!!!

Congrats on being a week out!!! I get sleeved next week and have spent a lot of time on this site. I can tell you from everything I have read what you are experiencing is VERY NORMAL!!! Lets face it, most of us have a relationship with food that most others that are not overweight would not understand. Try to stay focused for these first few weeks. I am sure you will do fine since you know that doing the wrong thing could land you in the hospital. Every day will be a struggle for a while, but every day will get a little easier... That's how I feel about the pre-op diet at least. The first few days were bad and now it's easier. Hang in there!!!!

What is the Pre-Op Diet? What is the complication rate for his practice? What post OP meds does he prescribe? How long will you be in the hospital? How many incisions? some Dr's are doing single incision although I'm not sure how popular that is yet.

sounds delicious

I totally agree, post anything you want here. Those who reply with rude comments don't matter, but you will find plenty of people here that really care.

Sounds like you have identified your problem.... snacking! Can you find an alternative thing to snack on? If you like sweets made some SF pudding and add protien powder to it. Taste is just the same but fills you up quicker and keeps you full longer. If you like salty, could you substitude for maybe some lean deli chicken or turkey or maybe some string cheese? Anything with high protien should help I would think. If you are exercising more then you could possibly still be losing fat but building muscle which weighs more than fat. Maybe add in some weights to your exercise. good luck!!!!

Use skim milk in my opinion. It's going to add even more protien which will help you stay full even longer. Don't worry about calories, I don't think I've broken about 650 calories a day on my pre-op diet.

Hi Brooke, Welcome to the group!!! Congrats. I think the timeframe between initial consult and surgery really depends on whether you are self pay or insurance and your Dr's schedule. I was self pay and had my surgery scheduled about 30 days past my initial consult. I am on the Pre-op diet right now and I don't have any directions from the dr as far as how much I need to lose, I just need to stick to the diet. The diet does work, in just 5 days I have lost 10lbs. The protien shakes IMO suck!!!! My dr fortunatly allows me to have some lean chicken with the shake and I feel full when I am done. It's more of a mental struggle than a physical one. About day 2 of the diet I struggled with energy but after that it's been a breeze. I guess my words of encouragement is to stay focused and remember your goals. When you get to the pre-op diet phase you can start to question yourself and you just need to take a step back and remember why you are doing this and tell yourself that this is the right decision. Gene

Congrats and good luck today. If you've never been put under before, don't worry about it, it's a piece of cake (umm. maybe that's a bad choice of words for this forum...LOL) The surgery will be over and you will be in recovery and it will seem like you just went to sleep a minute before. easy stuff. All the best!!!

I would lose the mashed potatoes. I know my post op diet doesn't allow that until 8 weeks. Focus more on protien.

Kathy, While I haven't been sleeved yet i do have advice (and hope I take my own advice if ever I am in the position you are in now). I think you really need to reflect on everything you have gone through to get to this point. If you were an insurance patient you had to jump through a ton of hoops, if you were self pay you spent a LOT of money!!! You made the decison to have this surgery because it can be LIFE ALTERING!!!! You managed to get through your pre-op diet, then the pain of your surgery and your post op diet. You have lost over 1/2 of the weight that you want to loose... so why would you want to stop now. Snacking on JUNK is as good as saying "I really didn't want to change my life after all". I don't think that's how you feel.. at least I hope not. Surely you are not saying "everything I went through to get here wasn't worth it and I'll just go back to being the weight I was". Losing 65lbs is an inspiration to people that come to this site either to learn if the surgery is right for them or for those already sleeved to get inspriration from others. With that said, you need to find something healthy to snack on to feed the need to snack. Maybe that's apple slices... i'm sure some of the long time sleevers can give some advice there. Stay strong, it sounds like you are making better choices today so just keep up those good choices and you will see those pounds coming off again. Just think about how good it will feel to reach your goal.

I totally agree, there is a ton of great information and the people are really great. It's amazing how long after surgery some people still post on the boards. It's great to see the success stories, they are an inspiration.

My advice is to stop drinking any soda's and to hang in there, the headaches will go away in about 3-4 days and then you will be completely free of the addiction. When I quit drinking soda I transitioned to iced tea which of course has caffiene. It was a great way to quit the soda though because now I haven't had a soda for over 3 weeks and don't miss it at all. My addiction to soda I think went much deeper than just the caffiene but transitioning to something with caffiene helped me up front to break the soda habit. I know the transition from regular iced tea to decaf will be much easier for me.

Welcome to the group. You will find a lot of great support here. Sounds like you are well on your way and surgery will be here before you know it. I can't believe that I start my 2 week pre-op diet tomorrow... time is flying by for me and it will for you too!!!

It's hard when those around you make it hard to make the right choice. It sounds like you are making good choices today. One choice at a time, they won't always be perfect but at least we are thinking about what we eat now. If you are anything like me that's something I haven't had a lot of experience with in my life. I was so used to eating what I want, now I feel a lot better about making choices that benefit me.

My recomendation is to give it up while now. There is so many bad things about soda even if it's diet. I found this article that I found very interesting.

I think most people can totally relate to how you ate after you knew your surgery was scheduled. I know for me I love food and love to eat and I think a lot of people do the same thing that you did. I know I tried to get a lot of my favorites in before I have to start my Pre-OP diet (which starts tomorrow). I did cut out soda about 3 weeks ago which even with what I have been eating(which hasn't been great) has allowed me to drop 10 pounds. Had I not cut the Coke out of my diet I am sure I would have continued to gain like you did. I think it makes total sense to now try to lose 10lbs pre-op, you might as well get a jump start on the weight loss. Good Luck!!!! Gene

It's great to hear from people like yourself that have had minimal pain from the surgery. Sounds like you are doing great with the weight loss as well. Congrats!!!

That is awesome!!!! I start my 2 week pre-op diet tomorrow morning, I hope I have as much success as you!! Way to go!!

Congrats!!! Hope everything goes well!!

Congrats to both of you!!! I have my surgery on the 13th of June. My guess for you babydoll56 is that they will get your surgery scheduled within just a few short weeks of seeing the Dr. Good luck to both of you!!!

You can't think about what everyone else things... who cares what they think. YOUR health is the MOST important thing. There are policies in place for you to have time off for things like this. You have to make the best choice for you. The way I look at it I would rather have people talk about me for having the surgery than have them talk about me for dying young because I was obese. I think we all get a bit too wrapped up with how other people view us and forget about who is the most important person... and that is YOU. Do what is right, what will make you happy and what is going to make your life healthier and longer.

My Dr said that I could head to the gym as soon as I felt like it and to start with things like the treadmill, stair climber, eliptical, etc. He told me to judge what I can do just like a child would do.... meaning if it hurts, then don't do it.

I haven't been sleeved yet, but have had abdominal surgery with the gas pain and yes, that should be gone by about a week out as well. I'm not sure about the rumbling. I've read a lot of the posts here and it seems that after the first week almost everyone is feeling much better. Walking is the best thing for those gas pains. I had them with my last surgery and walking helped a ton.

Most of the doctors now think that the sleeve is the way to go. My wife has the lap band and has done very well with it but even her Dr is pushing the sleeve over the band now.