Eddie Giddens (MsDad)

Funny, my husband says the same thing...

BAHAHAHA!!! Welcome to all the new folks! I don't get on here a whole lot, but anyone is welcome to contact me directly if you want at msdad@fdn.com. I'm nine months out and have lost almost 100#.

Sunny, thanks so much for starting this thread! I've had such bad heartburn and couldn't figure out what was going on. It was my Crystal Lite! I quit drinking it yesterday and haven't had heartburn since (it was pretty much 24/7 before)!

Thanks Steph! You're right, I am sooo ready to get the hell out of this place!!

I am a hoot! Just want to get out of this damned hospital right now. Having some heart issues unrelated to my surgery, which went quite well. Ceci, I made the mushroom Soup without a recipe but here's how I made it. Melt a half stick of butter with a couple tbsp of olive oil. Saute 4 minced shallots, a pound of mixed mushrooms, stemmed, and a tbsp of garlic paste until shallots are soft. Add 2 cups of chicken stock and 1 tsp dried thyme and simmer for about 30 minutes. Process with immersion blender until smooth, then add 8 oz heavy cream or low carb milk if too concerned about fat content. That's pretty much it. Very tasty!

Thanks Shell! Glad you're doing better! I cooked all afternoon. Made this and some cream of mushroom soup too. Froze them both so I have them ready. Been digging up recipes for mushies too. Trying to be on the ball...

I decided to go ahead and do some cooking. Made that and cream of mushroom soup too, pureed of course. My surgery is Tuesday morning with Dr. Webb. Nervous, but excited all at once...

My surgery's coming up on Tuesday and I wanted something to eat besides Jello and Protein shakes when I get to the full liquid stage. So I decided to make a redux of my Potato cheese Soup that I've been making for years. I've cut the fat some and the carbs drastically by substituting cauliflower for the potatoes. I just made a batch to freeze for after my surgery and honestly I can't tell the difference! I don't think I'll ever use potatoes again! Anyway, here's the recipe, feel free to plagiarize it, change it to suit you, whatever. Just enjoy! The calorie and fat numbers may seem high, but again, you can adjust to suit you and besides, you'll only be eating a small fraction of it at a time. Eddie’s Fauxtato Cheese Soup 1 large onion, diced 2 10-oz bags frozen cauliflower 1 can carrots, drained 1/2 stick butter 1 Tbsp garlic paste 32 oz chicken stock 8 oz cream cheese, softened 16 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese 2 C half & half (can substitute fat free Calorie Countdown milk if available) Salt to taste Sauté onions in butter until tender. Add stock, carrots, garlic and cauliflower and boil until cauliflower is mushy, about 25 minutes. Add milk and return to a simmer. Remove from heat and using immersion blender, incorporate remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. If too thick, can be thinned with chicken broth. Nutrition for entire recipe: Calories – 4511 g Fat – 373.8 g Carbs – 141.8 g Protein – 166.8 g Fiber – 23.4 g

Thanks Wishes! Since my date was later than I expected and I didn't have to actualy start my pre-op diet until today, I had a couple of cheat days. I must not have done too bad though, cause I've still lost three pounds in the past week! Now it's back to the real thing though, so as you put it, time to really kill it now!! I've quit listening to all the negative crap now. I've got to do what I'm doing for ME!!

It's funny, I have another friend who has had Gastric Bypass surgery and lost about 300 lbs and is keeping it off very successfully. He posted on my FB wall in response to the other friends, not in a combative way, just being supportive of me and my decision. Shut the other folks right the hell up!! I'm so glad I have you guys here that I can vent to...

Wow, I guess I didn't realize how lucky I am! My PCP, endocrinologist, and neurologist (I had three strokes last year) all happily signed off on my surgery. My PCP wasn't as familiar with the sleeve as other WLS, but enough so that he didn't bat an eye at my decision.

For the most part, I have a very supportive group of family and friends. But lately, since I've been on the pre-op diet and posting to Facebook that I'm losing weight on it (because I'm actually excited - I'm a band to sleeve revision and didn't lose like this on my band pre-op diet, and my band failed), I've had "friends" coming out of the woodwork saying "why don't you just stay on the diet and skip the surgery?" OMFG!! They have no clue what this diet is like and that it's not a sustainable lifetime way of eating! If I could just "stay on a diet" I wouldn't be in the shape I'm in today!! I stupidly assumed everyone would be happy that I had finally found a way to become healthy. Silly me! WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE??? Are they really just that f%ing ignorant?!? This just really burns my a$$!!! <deep sigh> Ok, rant over.

My surgery date is 9/6 so I technically don't have to start my pre-op diet until the 23rd of this month. However, I was hoping for an earlier date so I went ahead and started it. With the exception of two "cheat" meals when I found out my surgery date was so far off, I've been keeping my carbs below 15-20 grams per day. I've lost 18.6 pounds so far (in three weeks). It can get boring, but make friends with eggs and microwave bacon (drains most of the fat) for breakfast, tuna packed in Water with sparing amounts of regular (not low fat, has extra carbs) mayo, salad with cheese and carb free meats, boiled eggs and cucumbers (no carrots or tomatoes, again, carbs) and lean meats and fish. If you need something to eat your tuna "salad" on/with, get some pork rinds. ZERO carbs. Be sparing with even green veggies (green Beans, asparagus, etc) - just because they're not starchy veggies, everyone thinks they're low carb. They are lowER carb, but just watch them closely. One that snuck up on me was Brussels sprouts - 1 gram of carbs per sprout! My favorite veggie off the list for now. Like salmon? I have a recipe for a teriyaki glaze that's almost completely carb-free. PM me and I'll give it to you. It would be great on pork or chicken too! Is pre-op easy? No. Is it fun? No Is it boring? Can be unless you get creative and think out of the box. The most important thing is to get those carbs out of your system and drop some weight to shrink your liver to make for a smoother surgery.

Congrats on your surgery date Mim! I'm a band to sleeve revision as well, with my date looming on 9/6. I have been lucky that the only problem I've had with my band is just that it failed. My surgeon told me at my last appointment that they're finding up to 40-50% of bands are failing so at least I know now it wasn't just me. Feel free to check in any time you'd like with questions as I'll be about a month ahead of you. I can keep you in the loop as to what to expect.

Thanks razrbakcrzy! That makes me feel a little better. Now if I could just get my damn emotions under control...