MyGastricSleeveLife

If you do a search in the forum, you'll find an "official" MFP thread with tons of people's names. I'm mygastricsleevelife there too.

Awesome article, pdxman!! Thanks for sharing! It makes a lot of sense now!

Awesome! Congrats! Good luck!

I go to Walmart too & love all the flavors they have! Makes water much more interesting. I do mix it with more water than they say to though because otherwise its too strong for me!

Awesome!! I feel the same way!! I'm so glad I've broken the horrible cycle now!!

I'm 36 and went back to college a couple years ago. I just got my Associates this semester & am starting at a university in the fall. I'm not taking classes this summer, which made this the perfect time to do the surgery for me because I have time to recover and lose some weight before the fall semester begins. I did my 2-week pre-op diet during finals, which was kind of a pain, but I survived & still did well in my classes. I also have a family & work part-time from home. I don't think I could've done surgery while taking classes though unless it was during a break between semesters just because of recovery & energy level right after surgery.

My Bariatric Coordinator at the hospital said that as long as I was drinking slowly and not getting nauseous from drinking, I'd be fine sipping all day long without hurting my sleeve.

Olderbutwiser - I don't think it's a problem of being hungry, but more of getting all my Protein & nutrients through food eating so little. I guess I'll have to see once I'm on regular food again, but I can see myself having a Protein Drink between meals just to be healthy. Massindex - that makes me feel somewhat better about things, especially if I don't want to rely on Protein drinks forever because it makes sense to have good protein Snacks, especially in maintenance.

That really stinks!! I'm so sorry!! Do you live far from the hospital? I guess it was best if they were all worn out, but that still stinks! Hopefully they'll get you back in quickly!! Hang in there!

It really just depends on your situation. I was only on metformin - no insulin. My dietitian was worried about mine going low during my pre-op because it was only 650 calories a day. I just stopped my metformin for those 2 weeks & was fine. It was never too high or too low. In the hospital after surgery, they checked my blood sugar every 2-4 hours & I was given insulin shots by the nurses, but it still never got above 250 and never dropped low. Since the hospital, I was told to stay off my metformin & check 3 times a day & write them down to bring to my doctor. It's only been 150 once & is normally 110-130 throughout the day. I'm still on Clear liquids & just make sure I'm sipping all day long as long as I'm awake. I admit that my diabetes was never horrible though. I've been diagnosed for about 2 years & my numbers were never over 250 even before medicine. It will probably depend on your situation, but I know many people who get off their diabetes medicine completely or have it greatly reduced just after surgery.

Everyone is different, but I'm 8 days out from surgery and still on clear liquids. Yes, I'm getting tired of clear liquids & am looking forward to more variety soon, but NO I am not hungry. My family eats regular meals every night & I'm not interested in them because I'm okay on my clear liquids. I haven't had any true hunger since surgery. I haven't had any head hunger either. Again, everyone is different though.

You've probably heard this before, but the best thing to do is to find something other than food to relieve your stress. Take a walk, get out of the house, call a friend, play a game, etc. find something that will help the stress and keep you away from food. I didn't have to do a 6-month diet since I was self-pay, but I've dealt with emotional eating in the past. I know it's hard. Try to keep focused on why you're doing it. Now that I've had my surgery, I can tell you it's worth it! Think of the end goal and find a new passion other than food. If you find something else now, it will help even more after surgery!

Can you have protein drinks between meals or does he consider that a snack?

You can't do anything to stop what you're already losing, but the protein & biotin will help with regrowth. The loss is because of the shock to the system of major surgery & the rapid weight loss, it just takes a few months to start falling out.

My surgeon says he says no snacks since there really isn't a difference between a snack and a meal for us with the smaller stomachs. I said I had though of like a cheese stick or yogurt between meals & he still said he encourages against that. The dietitian I saw works in his office, so she says the same thing. Just water and protein drinks between meals to help with getting in liquids. Of course, I'm not sure if that changes once I've lost all my weight and am maintaining, but I think they still say the same thing then. I guess I will just have to wait and see how my body does!!

A few people on my surgeon's support group said fiber actually built up in their systems so they use Miralax daily. I've used it daily or every other day since I started my pre-op diet & it has helped me a lot!

Did any of your doctors advise against snacks? Mine says once I get to puréed/soft food and onward, I should only have 3 meals a day and only have water or protein drinks in between meals to get all my fluids and protein in. He is really against snacks, yet I see most people on here have snacks.

There are a lot of people on here who have lost all their excess weight. I chose the sleeve because it has fewer complications than the bypass. There are no problems with malabsorption or dumping syndrome like with the bypass. Although the bypass can be reversed and the sleeve cannot, I felt more comfortable with doing the sleeve & couldn't be happier with my decision. However, you need to do what is right for you.

Luwanna - this surgery does help hunger, but from what I've read it can take the ghrelin "hungry hormone" some time to leave the system. That being said, it does not help "head hunger" which is due to the food addiction & cravings most of us have lived with through the years. Sometimes you think you're hungry when you really aren't. The other thing that sometimes happens is a lot of acid and/or gas in the stomach that can be mistaken for hunger. That is why many doctors prescribe Prilosec or another PPI to help reduce acid production in the stomach after surgery. Everyone is different. I had surgery on 5/14 & am 8 days out from surgery & am not hungry at all. I sip crystal light with Beneprotein all day, have broth, SF Jello, and SF popsicles, and I'm satisfied, although it is getting boring to not have much variety.

Kathy, I really don't think some fruit once in a while would hurt anything. I think the thing is that they want to make sure we're not constantly grazing and that we also get all our liquids in. If we're eating more often, it's harder to get liquids in since we're not supposed to drink around meals.

Some people just hold on to fluid more & you could still have internal swelling too. I've lost all that I gained with surgery, but I know other people who haven't yet. It could take another week or so from what I've seen in others. Just keep following your diet plan and getting in your liquids & I'm sure your body will catch up soon!!

I don't quite understand that - my surgeon wanted me to start protein right away with Isopure clear liquid and Beneprotein clear powder during my clear stage right after surgery to help with healing. However, no matter what she said in the past, I would ask again or maybe even go ahead and use protein shakes to get in more calories. From everything I've read and people I've talked to, it's not healthy to be around 500 calories for so long, but I'm definitely not an expert. Are you working out? Are you still losing weight well? Usually if you're working out, you really need more calories because of burning calories working out which increases your deficit overall.

You need to find a way to calm down & rejoice in the 20 lbs you have lost! I lost 12.6 on my pre-op diet & have lost 7.4 in a week after surgery. I'm down 20 lbs from 3 weeks ago and I haven't been under 260 in over 2 years even with diet & exercise! That is amazing to me and I'm cherishing every little bit I drop no matter how fast or slow it comes off, especially since I know it will slow down eventually! Rejoice in the success you've had so far and don't stress over what is still to come!

It depends on your doctor - for me, gum is a no-no!

I guess it depends on your insurance. I have a PPO, so I don't need a referral from a primary care for specialists. My insurance also doesn't cover bariatric surgery, so I was self-pay. I went to the surgeon first and then to my primary care because the surgeon did want my primary care's "clearance" for surgery. When I went to see her, I just told her that I was having the surgery and needed her clearance. She did not really agree with me since the sleeve is not reversible. However, she did know I had been trying to lose weight for over the past year and wasn't very successful. She did an EKG in the office and that was abnormal, so she said I had to see a cardiologist before she'd give her clearance. I did that & the cardiologist did a stress test and said I was fine. They sent all their info to my primary care. She basically couldn't say "no" at that point because I was fit enough to handle surgery, so she faxed her "clearance" to the surgeon's office. If you have a PPO, I would go see a surgeon first and go from there. Maybe the surgeon could talk to your PCP about it. If you've tried in the past to lose weight and have been unsuccessful, maybe you could show that information to your PCP to show him that you have tried. If you have an *** and need a referral, then I'm not really sure what you can do other than showing your PCP that you've tried in the past, and just pleading with him to reconsider a consultation with a surgeon. If you've only been seeing your PCP for 4 months, he might not realize your true history. I had been seeing my PCP for 3 years and have been working on my weight for about 18 months and she knew of things I had tried and how I had done with different things. Although she didn't really agree with me, she knew I had tried other things. If you're religious at all, pray for your doctor's heart to be opened and softened to your situation if this surgery truly is the right thing for you and your family.