Kat Crowder

Every day is better! I was walking around from day 1 trying to clear the gas, and I felt miserable for the first week. You're on Day 7, so I hope you feel better soon! I was lucky enough to have a single-incision surgery, though, so it's definitely possible there will be more healing time needed for you. I'm amazed at the people who do it essentially outpatient. Crazy people! Good luck! You WILL love it!

Oh, you poor thing! Other options besides dairy and water are almond milk and coconut milk. I really like using almond milk in my protein. If you have a milk allergy, the whey protein might not work for you, either, and you might need to get something else. If you can tolerate whey with water, though, you will likely also be able to tolerate whey with almond or coconut milk (unless, of course, you're allergic to almonds or coconuts) - and that way you can dilute the shakes as much as you need to handle them. And if smelling soup broth makes you nauseous, but doesn't actually make you emptying-your-sleeve-sick, you might have to manage with that. I really loved the unjury chicken soup, which was pretty thin but full of protein. I agree with the other comment about a therapist. Please know that this depression is situational, and you won't feel like it's not worth living when you get through this. You got your sleeve because you want to be healthy, and you're worth it. Please take care of yourself, as best you can! And hopefully you have other folks who can help take care of you, as well!

I agree with Carol's comments - you want to follow your doctor's orders, but don't kill yourself about it. I also "failed" at my preop diet, and I was terrified the surgery would be cancelled, but it wasn't. Do the best you can, and talk to your doctor about it. Getting your Protein in, drinking lots of Water, those are all important things to get your body used to the low calories. See if you can get your doctor to talk you through the benefits of the pre-op diet - lowering your visceral fat to make the surgery go easier is a good thing to work toward. Messing up once isn't going to ruin things, but introducing those carbs into an un-carbed system makes it even more miserable going forward. sugar free popsicles and Jello should be acceptable, and are wonderful ways to satisfy the urge to snack. Good luck! The fact that it's so hard to do it is why we are getting the surgery, but try to persevere.

Sorry for getting on the bandwagon late - I love-love-love my single incision, done by Dr. Wallace of the Kane Center Bariatric Program with Alexian Brothers. Such an easy recovery, such a tiny scar inside my belly button, such nice undamaged belly skin! I would have done it with multiple incisions, but I'm so happy Dr. Wallace suggested it. The fact that my torso is short and I was relatively low BMI made me a perfect candidate. I get excited to show people my scar! Let me know if you have any questions. -Kat

KZBen, all insurances are different, even different flavors of the same insurance company (e.g., BCBS IL is different from BCBS MD). My BCBS had BMI requirements of 40 without comorbidities and 35 with at least two.

That's probably the best plan. Some doctors aren't as restrictive about the alcohol, but anything bubbly is bad. It's also generally pretty high in calories, and it can affect you pretty quickly because you can't really have a lot of food in your stomach to absorb it. One bite of cake would probably be fine except for the sugar rush, but if you have any sort of carb sensitivity (which a lot of people who need this surgery have), it's just going to make you want more more more and it's best to avoid it. Have a happy birthday, and enjoy all the non-food-and-drink things that are great about life!

Ooh, that sounds good! I'm 8 weeks postop, and didn't get enough protein today, and now I'm wishing Applebee's was still open!

I've nothing to add to what Chimera said. Great post!

Congrats on your approval! I also needed a peer-to-peer review before I got approved by BCBS.

If things are set up for you at all like they were for me, you shouldn't have to worry about pain. I was on morphine for the first day and a quarter, and basically told me to push the button whenever I needed to. I don't remember much of the first day! I had to stay in the hospital longer than I'd hoped, because they wouldn't release me until I'd passed gas - have to make sure all the pipes are working! I was on narcotic pain meds for the rest of the first week, then only to sleep for most of the second week, tylenol for about another week, and no pain meds since. The sleeve is wonderful! I wish you the best of luck!

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It took me about a week, too, for me to feel better. I still took pain meds at night into the second week, as well, but after a week and the half I didn't have anything but the occasional children's tylenol chewables.

I did cheat, and I was terrified that my surgery was going to be cancelled, but things went well. Having said that, do your best to stick to it, not only is it important to shrink your liver, but it's important to get yourself into the habit of what you're going to be eating post-surgery. It IS much easier to eat less post-surgery, though! I do think that starting out at a lower BMI gives you a better likelihood that your liver's not too huge, but that's not always the case.

Awesome change!

Hi, Kristal! OTR's suggestions are great! I would also suggest trying to move your diet to a protein-based diet, and minimize your carbohydrate intake. You don't necessarily need to eat as little as you'll eat when you're sleeved, but moving yourself to the type of diet you'll want to eat after surgery (at least, after you're healed from surgery) will be helpful. I'm much better at sticking to a low carb diet now that I'm sleeved, but there was a several year period about 12 years ago where I was able to stick with it religiously and was slim and strong and healthy. Now I've got the sleeve as a tool to keep me in check. *hugs* to you, and keep us all posted about how you're doing!