LadyIvy

I found out yesterday my surgery date is March 19th and I have already planned 4 meals that I want to have before my liquid diet starts on Monday. How bad is it? The meal I am having tonight is one that I will never have again because it is just filled with carbs and carbonation. Two others are actually not bad for you, I just know I won't be able to have them for a while, so I am going to have my sushi one night and steak another. The final thing is something that I will be having very very rarely because it is a dessert food. Any thoughts on this? I just know it is going to be a long time before I get my sushi and steak again and the last will be so rare I feel like I need to get it in. Did any of you do this? What did you think of doing it after your surgery? Any input I can get would be awesome. Thanks all

6 months. I actually believe it is a good idea to be able to sit on it for a while. It allows you to plan and prepare for the big life changes.

Quite a few months ago, I recall someone starting a list of things to pack for the stay at the hospital. Can anyone tell me where I can find this? Thanks

I have been lurking around this site since October of last year. I finally got my date! March 19th. I start my liquid diet on Monday and am already anxious. All of a sudden my brain is telling me to eat all kinds of stuff I haven't cared about in months, strange right? I have been waiting so long and didn't think I was going to get it in time. Now I'm a wreck about the bloodwork. I guess I will find something to be stressed about. However, the timing on this couldn't possibly be any better. My husband is recovering from his hip surgery and I actually had already given two weeks to my job. I gave them the final day of the 15th a week ago and got the call yesterday. Thats not why I did it, like I said, timing couldn't be better. I can't bring myself to pray that I get my surgery in time. I really want to, but I don't want to use God for a cosmic slot machine. The most I have managed to pray for is that I have the strength to handle whatever comes my way. I am sure I will be praying for my life pre-op. I already am starting with the strange dreams too. lol. This is the beginning of an hugely changing, interesting year!

I made this two days ago for the first time. I found that the beans have a lot more carbohydrates than I thought they did. It was yummy though. I have to find a recipe with more turkey and less beans.

It only takes 3-5 days to get nicotine out of your urine, but it can take up to a month to leave your blood. It depends on amount you smoked, how long you smoked and BMI. Drink lots of water, that will help clear it out faster.

Don't allow yourself surprises. Do more research than you have ever done. Be sure to take a list of questions when you do go to your doctor. This is a permanent change for your body and you need to start developing good habits now. Hair loss is very common but temporary (I understand 6 mos to a year after). Lots of people find that biotin helps minimize the hair loss post op.

We had to explain this to someone the other day. We hadn't had a chance to say we were at 0 nicotine before they said you know, that nicotine will still kill you. We explained that it is the additional 3500 chemicals, plus the smoke that is dangerous. Nicotine by itself is no more dangerous than caffeine. It is the delivery method that is dangerous. If we lived in a moist climate we would inhale more vapor then we do from the ecig. Living in the rainforest doesn't seem to shorten life expectancy so a little extra moisture shouldn't hurt anyone. Even if down the road they find out the moisture has negative side effects, it will still NEVER be as bad as smoking. I am now 10 days in and never going back. Spoke with some family the other day and found out that everyone, I mean everyone on one side of my family winds up with some sort of lung cancer. I am genetically predisposed to it already, I'm not playing that game....

Okay, I don't want to sound like an ad for e-cigs here, but they have been amazing. I quit for a month in June, suffered daily and gained a ridiculous amount of weight. I have quit for a few days about 4 times since then and being around smoker friends and stress always got to me. I decided to try the e-cig and just go for the 0 nicotine version. I had terrible withdrawl for the first 3 days, but it was all the physical yuckiness. Since then, I keep my e-cig filled and charged and I haven't really had any craving whatsoever. The guys at the company I buy from say that is what it was designed for, but most people do it backwards and start with the high mg and stairstep down. I felt like that was just prolonging the inevitable suffering so I just did it. I even went out with a friend the other night while she smoked and smoked my e-cig. Not for a second did I want what she had, in fact, the smell was TERRIBLE. I may carry it around for a long while yet, but it is like inhaling a fog machine with a little flavor. My husband and I are doing this together (again) and we didn't try to kill each other this time either. lol. Tonight at midnight will be 8 days and for the first time in my life I don't miss it AT ALL. I am finally a non-smoker. This one stuck. It feels amazing. There is one side effect that hasn't been pleasant. I can smell everything so much better and I am finding a lot of things that smell pretty bad. Whatever your method, when you find it, you will know it. I know you can all do it. You are all worried about your health and attempting to do something about it or you wouldn't be on this forum at all! GL!! If you decide to give it a shot, these are the people I used and they are awesome. http://www.esmokeronline.com/229.html

Okay, I don't want to sound like an ad for e-cigs here, but they have been amazing. I quit for a month in June, suffered daily and gained a ridiculous amount of weight. I have quit for a few days about 4 times since then and being around smoker friends and stress always got to me. I decided to try the e-cig and just go for the 0 nicotine version. I had terrible withdrawl for the first 3 days, but it was all the physical yuckiness. Since then, I keep my e-cig filled and charged and I haven't really had any craving whatsoever. The guys at the company I buy from say that is what it was designed for, but most people do it backwards and start with the high mg and stairstep down. I felt like that was just prolonging the inevitable suffering so I just did it. I even went out with a friend the other night while she smoked and smoked my e-cig. Not for a second did I want what she had, in fact, the smell was TERRIBLE. I may carry it around for a long while yet, but it is like inhaling a fog machine with a little flavor. My husband and I are doing this together (again) and we didn't try to kill each other this time either. lol. Tonight at midnight will be 8 days and for the first time in my life I don't miss it AT ALL. I am finally a non-smoker. This one stuck. It feels amazing. There is one side effect that hasn't been pleasant. I can smell everything so much better and I am finding a lot of things that smell pretty bad. Whatever your method, when you find it, you will know it. I know you can all do it. You are all worried about your health and attempting to do something about it or you wouldn't be on this forum at all! GL!! If you decide to give it a shot, these are the people I used and they are awesome. http://www.esmokeronline.com/229.html

Doesn't it seem hypocritical to get the surgery to be healthy and continue to smoke? I keep telling myself that too!

I knew I had to quit smoking for surgery and have been trying since June. I gained so much weight that I wound up getting blood pressure problems and am still waiting on my surgery. Each time I tried since June, I slowly started putting on more weight. After more than a month with no cigarettes I still suffered every day. Thanks to some of the posts on this forum, I finally broke and bought an e-cigarette. I bought the 0 nicotine fluid and went through withdrawls the first few days. However, I am now one week down, do not feel deprived or cranky in any way. The best part is that I haven't gained any weight this time! I even stood outside with a smoker friend of mine with my ecig in my hand and didn't once have the thought that I wanted a cigarette. It smelled so bad! Its so nice to not be a slave to those chemicals anymore. This is a wonderful feeling. Thank you to the people who posted on here how much it helped them! I have a feeling this little thing has changed my life! I may carry it around for a long time to come (I smoked for 19 years) but its like inhaling a fog machine and only works to help the psychological need. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I wish I had done this years sooner!

Very interesting article!

I have been pretty quiet about it. I will tell my boss I need surgery and just leave it at that. Then again, it is different if you are very close. That will be more difficult, but I know you will say exactly what you need to. Especially if you all are friends. You have to decide how many people you really want to know about your surgery.

I'm pulling for you. I'm not looking forward to my son becoming a teenager. I hope you get approved soon so it is one less thing for you to worry about!

Oh, that would totally be me. Didn't realize that was a thing. D**n it...

I heard people in my WLS group yesterday refer to themselves as carb sensitive. What does this mean?

You can eat a ton of crawfish and still only get an ounce of meat. Boiled crawfish is really low in calories and fat. If you are with a group of people and talking, it will take a while to eat a few and you will feel like you had a bunch. I would steer away from the poboy though. A few pieces of gator would be really filling too, the trick is finding a place that makes them grilled!

Thank you forensic, I will try this as well

I see lots of people here talk about stalls a few weeks out and beyond. Here is an interesting link to help you process what is going on: http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html

I posted last week about my fluid problems too. That has actually been one of my biggest struggles. Its great that you are making changes now so that there will be less suffering afterward. I hide my weight well too so I understand your feeling there. I wear clothes that keep it covered and am proportional no matter what size I am. My hip to waist to bust ratio is always the same whether I am 150 or 250. I have exercised and been active for years and I just slowly keep getting bigger and bigger so I don't listen to anyone who tells me to just "pretend I had the surgery". You ever notice the people who say that have never had a weight problem? Good for you for getting prepared and doing something about your weight problem!

Thank you so much for the advice. I don't have the time or money for a personal trainer, but I will totally try the monistat and vaseline!

You deserve to have your funky mood. Thank you for sharing it actually. You still had a sense of humor about it "new sleeve don't take no S***". That head hunger must be especially bad because they are starving you. Hang in there and try to read a good book (they don't have any food commercials). Best of luck to you. Hope you get home soon, hospitals are tiring places

I have a very active job and am expected to wear jeans to work for safety reasons. Since we found that I have a blood pressure problem I have been put on medication. Problem is, the medication makes me sweat like a polar bear in the desert. Doesn't matter what I am doing, I sweat for the first few hours after I take it. I found that this weekend at work I developed horrible chafing between my thighs that made it painful to walk by the end of the day. I get all of my hours in 3 days, so this meant I had 2 more days to go like this! I tried powder, but it didn't seem to help. Today, since I was not working (which believe me is a heck of a workout most days) I decided to ride my bike. It was so painful! I am up to a half mile (which is an achievement from where I was two weeks ago) and I completed my ride. However, I am now in so much pain it is hard to walk much less consider working out tomorrow. At the rate this is going, I can clear up the chafing by Friday which is just in time to do it all over again! I'm trying really hard to get into the proper lifestyle and get my exercise daily. I have done it before, and know that I easily get addicted to the endorphins and quickly miss it if I don't work out for a day or two. This time it is really hard. It is already hard trying to get yourself back into shape carrying more than 100 lbs of extra weight (what is that, like a whole backstreet boy I carry on my shoulders every day?). I just don't know how I am supposed to do this when a work out causes excruciating pain. Seems like reinforcement NOT to work out. I just don't know what to do!!! First the skin condition and now this? I feel like I am blocked at every turn towards a healthy lifestyle.

I have a very active job and am expected to wear jeans to work for safety reasons. Since we found that I have a blood pressure problem I have been put on medication. Problem is, the medication makes me sweat like a polar bear in the desert. Doesn't matter what I am doing, I sweat for the first few hours after I take it. I found that this weekend at work I developed horrible chafing between my thighs that made it painful to walk by the end of the day. I get all of my hours in 3 days, so this meant I had 2 more days to go like this! I tried powder, but it didn't seem to help. Today, since I was not working (which believe me is a heck of a workout most days) I decided to ride my bike. It was so painful! I am up to a half mile (which is an achievement from where I was two weeks ago) and I completed my ride. However, I am now in so much pain it is hard to walk much less consider working out tomorrow. At the rate this is going, I can clear up the chafing by Friday which is just in time to do it all over again! I'm trying really hard to get into the proper lifestyle and get my exercise daily. I have done it before, and know that I easily get addicted to the endorphins and quickly miss it if I don't work out for a day or two. This time it is really hard. It is already hard trying to get yourself back into shape carrying more than 100 lbs of extra weight (what is that, like a whole backstreet boy I carry on my shoulders every day?). I just don't know how I am supposed to do this when a work out causes excruciating pain. Seems like reinforcement NOT to work out. I just don't know what to do!!! Any suggestions would be great.