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It definitely sounds like a electrolyte imbalance or not enough sodium in your diet. I drink plain water but I also make sure to even that out with salty foods like some babybel cheese or chicken noodle soup. Usually I will get a headache if I drink a ton of water and don't eat something salty. Gatorade is good but pedialyte (sp?) is even better because it contains more sodium than gatorade. I don't have blood pressure issues so what works for me may not work for you :/ I still prefer plain water because it doesn't give me an after taste but I do ingest a good amount of sodium.

I agree with everyone who said that your surgeon is possibly inexperienced and doesn't feel comfortable operating when the person has a large liver. I can't believe that they wouldn't offer you any pain meds. I would definitely consider finding another surgeon because what if everything doesn't go text book perfect? Will he freak out and not know how to tackle simple obstacles. My surgeon doesn't require a preop diet, maybe it's because he's knows how to work around the "fatty liver" but from what I've read my surgeon has been a wls surgeon for the past 10+ yrs. Hopefully your liver will shrink to the size that your surgeon is asking. Good Luck

I don't have to do a pre-op diet and i think my BMI is around 41. My surgeon has had tons of experience so I guess he's doesn't worry about liver size *shrugs*

7/13- Got the referral from my PC 7/17-Was approved for WLS 7/25-Met with surgeon and got a checklist of appts that I need 8/1- 1st NUT appt 8/2- metabolic testing appt 8/3-metabolic testing results 8/8- 2nd NUT appt. 8/9-wls seminar 8/12-psych appt (1/3 appts) 8/15- 3rd NUT appt (I get to meet with other wls patients) 8/18-2nd psych appt. 8/27-4th and final NUT appt pre surgery, it will be a 1 on 1 meeting. 8/25-3rd and final psych appt. 8/30-Final Clearance appt! I will get my surgery date and then the countdown begins 10/2-MY SURGERY DATE!!!!!! I'm so excited My checklist was fairly simple and I didn't have to do a sleep study or the endoscopy (sp?). My surgeon doesn't require the 6 month diet, so the process has been very quick.

They will be performing my surgery at the bariatric clinic on the Army base where my husband works and it's part of the package for all people who undergo weight loss surgery. They will be performing a tummy tuck and breast lift on me after I get to my weight goal. My friend had a tummy tuck about 8 months after her sleeve surgery, she weighed about 123 lbs and in a couple of months she will have her boobs done. We don't have to get approval for plastics through our insurance company (Tricare), our Army base makes up the requirements and everyone who has underwent wls can get plastics if that's what they want. They also do other elective procedures like taking the excess skin off your bicep/arms. My surgeon understands the benefits of plastics and the fact that excess skin can cause issues such as infections and plus having excess skin can cause self esteem issues or the need to wear girdles (sp?) or spanks for the rest of your life. I think it would be great if all insurances covered plastics. I think my aunts insurance covered plastics also but this was back in 2003 and I think a lot of insurance companies covered it at the time

I'm not required to do a pre-op diet either. We did get a huge binder that mentioned a 2 week liquid diet but at the support group meeting everyone says that it's not required and when I met with the surgeon he didn't mention me doing a diet either before surgery. Supposedly they have us drink a clear liquid the day before surgery and this will help flush out our intestines but that's pretty much it. I'm happy about not doing the liquid diet because my blood sugar dips a lot, plus I need energy from food in order to deal with my 3 crazy kiddos.

I feel like a kid who is going to disneyland. I'm feeling very impatient and can't wait for it to be my turn. I do worry about how permanent it is to have part of my stomach removed and then tossed in the trash but I've read lots of bad things about the remnant stomach that is left over from the rny and I think it's a good thing that I don't have to worry about it causing problems. As you can tell I'm overly excited about having this surgery and the fact that plastics (cosmetic surgery) is part of the package, I'm stocked

My surgeon doesn't require a pre-op diet but I think the day before surgery you are required to drink some clear liquid that will clear out your system. I might try a 1 week pre-op diet but protein shakes give me horrible constipation so I might have to reconsider.

I told my mom a couple of weeks ago that I was having surgery because I wanted her to fly here and take care of me. Yesterday I found out that my mom had told my sister and I'm very pissed about it. I'm a very private person and when people tell me their secrets, I don't talk about it with anyone else. I'm extremely loyal and trust is a huge thing with me. My family is extremely gossipy and they just can't keep their mouths shut and I had to set my mom straight yesterday about the fact that I HATE how she feels the need to share my business with our family members. Nothing is ever sacred between me and her, I just let her know how hurt I was and the fact that I can't confide in her and this has hurt me deeply. It took a while for her to understand where I was coming from but I'm pretty sure my whole family knows by now. My family knowing doesn't even bother me but it's the fact that I trusted my mom to keep this between me and her. She has a history of sharing everything with my sister and this caused a huge blow up yesterday and I suspect my sister is a little jealous because she struggles with her weight also, even though she is about 30 lbs lighter than me. *sorry about my vent*

I enjoyed reading your blog Thanks for sharing

My surgeon does a blood test right before surgery to see if you've been smoking. I was never a smoker and the last time I tried a cig was way back in 2001, I was about 16yrs old. OP good luck on quitting. The surgeon is looking out for your best interest because it's not safe to operate on a person who smokes. My uncle was a smoker for probably 30+ yrs and he passed away from lung cancer a couple of months ago. They did offer him surgery but unfortunately the cigs had a hold of him and he just couldn't stop, even when he knew that the surgery could possibly save his life. I never realized how addictive cigs could be until then

I was worried about being honest until I read this post. I skipped straight to what I thought was the after pic (3rd pic) and I was like huh lol. Then I looke at the 1st pic and realized that more than likely the 1st pic was the after pic and you look FABULOUS! I think you will ultimately have to decide whether or not you want to keep going but you look AMAZING.

Since my husband is in the Army I can have surgery on the Army base (MTF) and the MTF can set up it's own requirements. If I were to have my surgery done outside of the military base then I would have to do the 6 month supervised diet because Tricare is making it a requirement. Usually the process on the military base where we are stationed takes about 3 months from the time of the referral to actual surgery. I'm only 1 week into the process and tomorrow I will be attending my 4th appt. and the only thing that's not been easy is scheduling the appt with the psychiatrist, they've been horrible and saying that they will call back and not doing so. If everything goes as planned I should be done with all the appts. by early to mid Sept. I'm hoping I can have surgery in October.

I'm sorry to hear that your insurance requires 6 month diet, that would suck so bad. My surgeon doesn't require the supervised diet because he believes that most people who seek wls do so as a last resort and they've mostly tried every single diet out there.

I can so relate to your anxiety. I have a 8yo, 5yo, and soon to be 10 month old. Thankfully my 2 oldest will be in full day school and that will allow me to rest but my doc said that he wants me up and moving after surgery. He doesn't want me to lay around because he fears blood clots. I do plan on taking his advice and staying active while listening to my body. My husband works about 12-13 hrs a day, 5 days a week so he wont be that much help but I'm just gonna do my best. Good luck