TheGamer

I haven't really experienced any change in my mental state post surgery. I had made peace with being fat, if that makes any sense, and I've made peace with losing weight. My decision to have surgery was a rational decision, though I really pursued it on a whim (my thought process was "Hm, why not consider surgery?"). Those around me say I seem to be in a better mood, and in all honesty I do feel better physically. I get a psychological boost from the positive physical changes and try to take any setbacks (stalls, complications, etc.) in stride. I think it's because, all in all, I've developed an accepting attitude to the entire thing. Whatever happen will happen and I won't be able to control everything, so I might as well just do what I can and not sweat the rest.

I had not heard of them, but a quick Google search led me to this: http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/my-medical-loan-c270154.html The "no patient left behind" program seems to be affiliated with this company and the results are all over the map. They seem to charge high rates of interest as well as pretty steep fees.

I was never instructed to wear one. I think I've seen a post about people getting them because of the stomach restriction, but my surgeon never said anything about it being medically necessary.

I wasn't given a caloric total either. I was told 70g of protein, less than 100g of carbs, and 64 oz of water. Those are my dietary guidelines. My diet is pretty much: breakfast shake, cottage cheese snack, some meat for lunch, maybe part of a protein bar or some almonds, meat for dinner, and usually some NSA tapioca or cheese. I'll have some veggies some days, but mostly I don't eat once I've gotten in all my required stuff because I'm just not hungry. It's just me, so I don't generally cook because the food would go bad by the time I got around to eating it.

I was sleeved on 10/22 and I'd say on average I'm taking in close to 700, usually a little lower. It's been higher than usual the past few weeks because I had a bout with norovirus and my stomach couldn't handle hard protein like normal, so I have had a more carb heavy diet.

Slim Fast shakes are pretty high carb. What guidelines were you give for pre-op?

There's a thread in the food section with a TON of shake ideas, I would suggest looking there to find some things to experiment with. My favorite thing was to make a vanilla shake using blueberry tea, with blueberry tea ice cubes, and then add in about 1/2c of frozen blueberries. It was rather tasty.

It's generally advisable to not eat/drink and then sleep immediately, at least for me. I have had issues with some pretty severe acid reflux, and have aspirated stomach acid (not advisable or fun). Try sleeping propped up at an angle rather than flat, and you shouldn't have so much of an issue.

There can be other issues at work. First, how far out are you? If you're still relatively close to surgery, you may still be healing and your pouch may still be swollen. I know that when I had a stricture, eating was very painful because the food wasn't going where it was supposed to the way it should. I would advise getting in touch with your surgeon's office and talking with them.

Legally, they're not allowed to disclose this kind of information without your consent. When you're applying for time off, all the information that they need to know is that you're going to be out and that it's medically related. Unless your boss is also handling HR duties (my FMLA paperwork had details regarding my surgery), she shouldn't find out.

PB2 is amazing. You can get it in 16 oz packages from Amazon pretty cheaply.

Your stomach doesn't hold on to liquid the way it does to solid food. You'll find that you can consume liquid with very little restriction once you're healed up. Just don't try to empty the bottle all at once. Take a couple drinks, wait a minute, drink some more. I'd give you the "sip sip sip" thing that you're likely to get with a question like this, but I'm lousy at sipping so I'm not giving that advice

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who do not.

It can last two or three weeks, easily. Mine was two weeks, and then slow loss the week after that.

Just the sight of Nectar products in that sampler make me want to gag >.<

I've found that since my diet has changed quite a lot that my skin (as influenced by my diet) is actually better than it was. My diet is now mostly lean meat, vegetables, and low fat dairy products, as opposed to fast food and other carb heavy dishes. I can tell a difference, now that I'm several months out.

I was required to do two weeks of shakes and then clear liquids my last day. For my shakes I did Bariatric Advantage as recommended by the surgeon's office. That was a rough two weeks. The last day I just went to GNC and loaded up on one of everything they had. I think I ended up living on tea, broth, and that gawd awful Isopure with 40g of carbs in the bottle for the last 24 hours.

Psh, I live on the Internet. I am made of 1s and 0s. Keta, btw.

Man... I came to this thread hoping that it was gonna say "... Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!" I am disappoint.

You're in a stall. Do a quick search for "week 3 stall" and you'll find that most of us, somewhere in that time frame, for no reason at all... stop losing weight for a couple/few weeks. It's normal, so just stick to your plan and the weight will come off.

My insurance (UMR) told me that in no uncertain terms I had a six month diet ahead of me. Then, the surgeon's office went ahead and submitted for me (I was high BMI with co-morbidity) and a month later, I was approved. You may want to get in touch with your insurance yourself and see if there's any way to finagle a better timeline.

And it's totally normal, too. I don't think a single person who's had this surgery hasn't gone out on one last "EAT ALL THE THINGS" binge. I looked at it as part of my mourning process between the way things used to be and the way things would be. I hit the HECK outta the Chinese buffet before I started my liquid diet, lemme tell you

The surgery doesn't instantly fix food issues, though I'd say my relationship with food has changed. For me, a large part of it is not wanting to screw up. This is my last ditch effort to lose weight. There's nowhere else for me to go after this. The surgery didn't solve my problems, but it did make it easier to cope with them. Will that last? I don't know. My stomach is much more sensitive now than it was. Some times I think of eating something and the way I react just thinking about it, I know it's not going to be pleasant. Right now I mostly eat for nutrition, not for taste. My diet (like many) is mostly meat and I eat several small portions about 5 times a day. Some days, I really miss just being able to go out and eat normally (though "normal" really means "like I used to"). The temptations will always be there. They don't go away. The further out I get, the more vigilant I am about what I eat, because I can eat a greater variety of food. It helps to focus on quality over quantity. All in all, it's made it easier for me to say 'no' to the things I shouldn't do, at least at this point. I miss food more mentally than physically.

My carb restrictions are no more than 100g a day. A whole banana might be a bit much, but even on pre-op I was allowed to add about 1/4 c of banana to my shakes.

Tylenol (acetaminophen) is different than Advil (ibuprofen). If you weren't given any restrictions about ibuprofen, then I'd imagine it's fine. There are some drugs (HBP meds come to mind) that you shouldn't take ibuprofen with, and it tends to be a little harsher on the stomach.