Food_vs_Life

I am now on day 9 of my liquid diet and I can say that it is much easier then I thought it would be. The Protein drinks really do keep you satisfied. I don't really struggle too much with wanting food unless someone is eating something really yummy (like pizza) in front of me. I did cheat and eat a slice of pizza on day 3. I can tell you that as of Day 7 I was down 14 lbs! I would recommend making a good broth. It taste like real food so you get that satisfaction since everything else is sweet. I recommend This Hibachi Broth Soup... very good. http://cookingwithcarrie.blogspot.com/2009/06/hibachi-soup.html?m=1

I am now on day 7 of my liquid pre op diet and I did not know that I could have sugar free Jello and popsicles. I am excited and mad at myself at the same time!!! My pre op diet instructions state that I can have: "Sugar free clear liquds (like Crystal Light or sugar free Kool-Aid) and water" That is it... that is all it says. However, tonight I was reading another paper that was for post op and it described Clear liquids as being a, "Fluid or food that can almost be seen through" and they actually list the jello and popsicles! I have a feeling that they are allowed for the pre op diet also and they just did not list them as an example. Going to call the doctor's office in the morning to verify. It would be soooooo much easier to bear the next 5 days if I could eat Jello and sugar free pudding!

OOOOPPPppps I mean Jello not pudding : ) @Christie - I am still going to check with my Dr. when they open because your right, it is possibly I understood it all correctly to begin with : ( @Jay- YES!!! broth is a BIG help with getting that "food" taste. I made a really good Hibachi broth that has helped and is less sodium.

Ohh and I am on Facebook if you want to add me. https://www.facebook.com/Food.vs.Life

I just subscribed to your channel. We are twins... definitely will follow your progress alongside mine : )

Hey! I am in Green Cove Springs, Florida but I am always in Jacksonville doing things. I would really love to find a support group around me so please pass on any information you have! I am having my VSG surgery this Friday the 29th. I am traveling 5 hours away to Coral Springs to have the surgery done and that is why I would REALLY love to find a local group!

Congratulations! I will be sleeved this Friday and also have a You Tube channel. I will be following you and if you are interested in my channel it is FoodvsLife.

Yes, Ma'am!! I agree completely. I am already tired of people telling me how happy I will be. I am like... the one thing that scares me is not being happy after. I am completely happy in my life and though I do not LOVE LOVE my body I have grown to be okay with it and love parts of it... accept the rest. I am scared that if I have complications that I may be miserable and that may in return make it hard to be happy with my life after surgery. THAT is my biggest fear going into this. I also worry about how bad the lose skin will be. Again, I am completely okay with my body now and I feel attractive... I know my husband finds me attractive and that is what matters to me. I worry about him being attracted to me with tons of loose skin. I have to keep reminding myself that it is for my health and that I can have plastic surgery done to take care of some of the skin I end up with. I really deeply feel that it will all come out okay though and I will learn to love my new body just as the one I have now : )

Yeah, it is hard and that Is why I am not sure if I will keep the video's up or not.

I am a sleeve sister! You are the first person I have seen on here with my date. I will be sleeved on the 29th down in Coral Springs, FL. I am traveling also but only 5 hours out. I hope this time before surgery passes by quickly and that we both recover well. We will ROCK the sleeve for sure. If you are Facebook you should ad me https://www.facebook.com/Food.vs.Life I also started a YouTube Vlog. I may end up stopping or taking that down I am not sure. Either way this is my account on YouTUbe http://www.youtube.com/user/FoodvsLife/videos

Thank you for the link. I will definitely subscribe and watch! I am scheduled for my VSG on the 29th! I actually started a YouTube vlog also. I love watching other's experience. Thanks for sharing. You look great!

My surgery is on the 29th and I am on day 4 of my liquid diet. It really has not been too bad so far. Definitely not hungry since the protein shakes do seem to keep me satisfied.

I am going to call my doctor in the morning but thought I would post my experience and question here. I am new to the forum but have been in a Lap Band forum for about the past month. I have since decided to get sleeved instead of banded. I just had my Pre Op work ups done yesterday and I am scheduled for my surgery on March 29th!!! Very excited. Here is my question. I am now on day three of my liquid diet which has not been bad at all. The Boost Protein shakes are doing a good job at keeping my hunger at bay. The problem is that the Evening of day 1 that I started the liquid diet I started having really bad cramps pretty often. At first I was not concerned but now that the cramps have continued I am trying to figure out why they are happening. I am assuming it is from the liquid diet but found it strange to start so soon after being on it??? I am getting cramps in places that I have never had them before and that makes me believe that it is the diet. I have had the cramps in my back upper thighs, my chin/neck area, and one each side of my stomach. I seems that if I bend or stretch at times my sides will cramp up. I have never experienced these type of cramps. Has anyone else experienced or heard of this? Any suggestions? Obviously my body is probably lacking something... would it just be potassium? I just had blood work done last week and everything was perfect and in range.

Ohhh okay. Reading this makes me feel much better. The crazy thing is that I just weighed myself and I went from 376 lbs to 365lbs in 3 days!!! I did not expect such a large number. No wonder my body is hurting : )

I know I would be a mess. Even though I have my date scheduled for the 29th of this month and I have been cleared, I am still fearful that something will come up and the surgery will be postponed. However, with that being said I am self pay and now that I have my surgery paid for by actually handing over the check I have a great since of relief because I know that it may get postponed but IT WILL HAPPEN! Hold on...CHANGE IS COMING!

Thank you for your reply You are sooo right. I wonder if I am getting enough water. I was sitting here thinking about it after reading your post. I am definitely drinking water but not nearly as much as I was before the liquid diet. I am guessing because I am drinking my meals I have not been sipping on my water the same. I could be wrong but looking back it is very possibly I am not drinking as much. Still going to check with the doctor though. Thank you!

Hi fellow sleevers : ) I had my Pre Op stuff done yesterday and I am scheduled for surgery on March 29th! I am extremely excited. I live in Green Cove Springs, FL (Right under Jacksonville) but will be traveling 5 hours to Boca Raton, FL for my surgery. I have a Facebook that I made for my weight loss. If anyone would like to ad me it https://www.facebook.com/Food.vs.Life Praying that we all have wonderful outcomes : )

No, I did not have a direct number for her. Thank you so much for offering it though! I am actually scheduled for my surgery on March 29th with another surgeon now. I still stand behind that I think Dr. Baptista is a wonderful and surgeon : ) Dr. Baptista's office did end up calling me back the following Monday (full week) and they were very nice and apologized for not returning my call sooner. I don't think anything was intentional but I think anyone else would probably be concerned if they could not reach the office when they called and then had to count on them returning a message...(after my experience anyways). I did however find a surgeon that has an office staff where the same coordinator answers the phone every time I call and if she does not answer then it goes through to the doctor's cell phone. I have direct access to the Dr.'s cell number also. I just know I am going to want to know that I can always reach someone in the office (in a reasonable) time for when I have questions or concerns.

I was given a surgery date of March 28th!!!! less then 10 days away and I am starting my pre op diet tomorrow. I have been set on getting the lap band done however after reading and researching (which includes these forums) I am now really considering the sleeve also. I was always so scared of it because it is permanent but it seems that there are far less complications with it among other things. I know that there are plenty of people that get the band and experience no issues but it does seem that a good majority at some point need revisions etc.. If I had insurance that would cover the procedure I would probably definitely still go with the band because I would not mind having a revision, back and forth to the DR. trying to figure out fills (more then is to be expected) etc.. if my insurance paid for it. Unfortunately I am paying for everything out of pocket and since it looks like there is a pretty good chance that in some years down the road I will need something done in the future with the band I am leaning towards the sleeve. I know that many will not agree and that this is mostly opinion but the real fact is that if something goes wrong with the band yes it will be fixable but will I have the finances to fix it? The main issue with the sleeve would be leakage but from the figures I have seen it looks like the band and the sleeve have the same rate/percentage of a leakage. Anyways, l may still go with the band but I am definitely weighing my options. Either way I am SOoooo excited that my surgery date is the 28th! I just called this morning and I did not expect everything to move so fast. If anyone would like to share some links to statistics comparing the two I would love to see them. Please don't bash me though... I am truly only trying to learn and explore my options.

Sooo hard to make sense of it all! I know three people personally that have gotten the band in the past 6 years. One lost all her weight but had complications and so forth and now is almost back to her original size. The other only lost 30lbs total and is now back to her original size but never had complications other then not losing. The third has lost the weight and kept it off : ) I get that it has a lot to do with us but I do not know how strong I will be plus I look at my friends that were strong and still failed. I don't know what to think : ) I got a lot of praying to do!

I will look into those things further but I have read otherwise also. Definitely looking into though. From what I understand the mortality rate is not much higher at all. Though obviously it is a riskier surgery so it is expected that it could be. As far as malnutrition .. from what I have read it is not a problem unless Vitamins are not taken as needed and that many do not need anything other then a multi Vitamin. Again... I will look into it further. As far as the dumping from what I have read that is kind of like the people that slide their way around the band by eating sliders... more of a user complication?? Will definitely check on it also.. The other thing that I notice in all of the studies is that the Super Obese (ME) do not do so well in general with the lap band. Are success is often times calculated in a separate category much like in one of the studies in the link above. Another reason why I am questioning my options. Thanks for all the info!

Thanks for the links. I am not only using forums for my information however I do get a lot from them. I have been looking at studies on both surgeries. When you talk about more severe complications... what complications are you referring to other then leakage? I just need to know what I should look into further.

Thank you for the link! Someone gave it to me earlier today and I spend all day on their forum looking for complication post etc. Yes, there are many success stories but even the success stories usually experience some complications that can be fixed but without insurance it can be quite costly. Even just going back and forth with fills to find the Green zone etc. I don't know... such a hard decision to make : ) They are both wonderful options.

I will be getting the sleeve done by Dr. Shillingford in Boca Raton, FL. He charges just $10,500 for the sleeve and $8,900 for the band. http://www.drshillingford.com/

I do not yet have a surgery date but I am hoping for some time in April. I just got all my blood work back and everything is perfect and in range as always. Total Cholesterol 159 HDL 52 LDL 83 Triglycerides 118 Glucose 74 A1C 5.3 Decreased risk for Diabetes Problem is that I have always had low sugar levels and normal to low blood pressure. I took in three small children this past June and since then every time I have been to the doctor my blood pressure has been 130's-140's/90!! I can feel the difference in my body and I know it is from stress. I even had the doctor check my charts the other day and it definitely started getting high right after they came to my home. I asked the doctor to put me on BP medicine because I am worried that when it comes time for my surgery I will not be able to have it due to my BP being high. I have been taking the meds for 3 days now and there is no change in my BP other then the lower number is in the 70's and 80's again. However, the systolic? number is still very high. How long did it take for BP medicine to start working for you if you have ever taken any? Also, has anyone had experience going for the surgery and being stalled due to high BP? This biggest problem with all of this is that I am traveling to TX from FL, so if they have to cancel my surgery it would be a huge expense for me to have to travel their again. Any help or guidance is appreciated. I am taking 10mg of Benazepril a day.