graylola

My "bible" from St Vincent's says at 18 months I should be up to 8oz. 4 of protein and 4 of other (starch, veggie, fruit). "Allowed" makes it sound like someone's going to arrest you if you eat more. You're allowed to do whatever you want. You should be eating 8 ounces.

Congrats to everyone once again! Love the updates in this area of the board. I started out at 410, BMI of 75. I'm now 273 and BMI of 49! I am no "Super Morbidly Obese", only "Extremely Morbidly Obese". Haha. I'm looking forward to hitting 250 for the first time in like 10 years. Just bought my first pair of jeans in years, and just went shopping at an outlet as opposed to the specialty online stores. Happy happy happy!

Down 133 total, including pre-op loss. I'm still losing, but some weeks it will be 1 pound and others it will be 5. Working out more seems to help really keep the losses going. A 5k? That's fantastic! I'm still not comfortable running (still waaay too much shaking around), but I can't wait. I have been doing hour long high impact dance classes, ellipticals, golf, etc. Definitely losing a lot of hair. Nioxin seems to be slowing it down and I'm taking 5mg Biotin and garlic oil daily to keep it from getting noticeable (lucky to have thick hair, so far it's just me that notices as I handle my hair daily). I'm up to 4 ounces of food, 3 times a day, with fruit/veggie Snacks in between if I want. Still don't get terribly hungry, though. I eat a lot of baked chicken, lettuce, shrimp & grits, eggs. This week I made a sweet potato/pork dish in the crockpot, just to throw in some higher calories in as I increase my workouts. I get anywhere between 600 and 800 calories a day in food. How about others?

I’ve been trying to really workout from the day I was released by the doctor to do something other than walking, but so far I’m not living up to my goal of becoming one of those nuts that works out every day. Post surgery was mostly walking. The first week after being released I actually did 10,000 steps a day. After stopping the pain meds, though, that got more difficult with how many back and leg aches I had. Once back at work and released by the doctor, I did two days walking 30 minutes with friends and would do 1 or 2 sessions of kickboard swimming per week. About the last month or two (I’m now almost 5 months post op), I’ve been adding regular hand weights and crunches into it all, and my goal has been to do at least 30 minutes of dedicated activity per day. I’ve played golf several times this summer. I’ve done a few dance aerobics sessions at home and now I’ve started doing 30 minutes of elliptical when I’m not doing walking or another activity. I have ADD when it comes to fitness and I just haven’t found something I like to do every single day.

My favorite thing, above people saying I look better or seeing the numbers, is all the NSV you appreciate when you are so big that the little things become unbearably awkward. Car seatbelts fitting (especially where the cars yell at you when it’s not buckled). Flying without feeling mortified or getting a 2nd seat (haven’t done this yet, I was still nervous about my flight in November so I still got an extra seat – we’ll see how it goes). Not feeling like a beached whale when trying to roll out of bed. I won't get too TMI, but anyone who was at the point I was might understand when I talk about just general bathroom and bathing issues. Not constantly fearing that I’ll break every chair you sit in. I mean, really, Seating could be an entire NSV for me all on its own. Chairs, cars, airplanes, toilets, the booth/table issue, etc. Still looking forward to: Not shopping from online or Catherine’s. I’m just now getting to the point where Lane Bryant will fit me. Roller coaster rides. Taking up running. I was getting to the point where my mobility was severely impaired. I felt like I was dying walking from my office to my car, and I would leave later or earlier than my coworkers just to avoid them seeing how bad it was (though they knew). The freedom that comes from being able to want to do something or somewhere and actually doing it is the greatest thing in the world. I say “yes” to so many more activities now because I don’t have to worry about not being able to walk the distances required or fit in the seats that are there.

For me, the hunger part is hard to describe to people. I'm about 2 months post-op, and I generally tell people that I don't have typical hunger feelings. If I skip meals (I'm good about not doing so, but one day I was waiting somewhere for hours with no way to get my mid-day meal in), then I feel a headache, as if I'm having low blood sugar. But my stomach will never growl as it used to. Sometimes there's what I would call more of an emptiness, but mentally it only registers for a moment at a time and is soon forgotten, especially if I take a drink of fluids. It doesn't dominate my thoughts with desires of food. And then of course there's the head hunger. That is the hardest to tackle, but I think through this process I have become more aware of when my body actually needs something and when psychologically I just want it, because even though my head is telling me to snack, the rest of me is saying I'm just fine. Those are hard, especially late at night when I used to binge. I just have to do things like not keep Laughing Cow Wedges in the house, because I'm prone to just grab something like that, that I can justify eating with no prep work required. And I do sugar free popsicles, because at least they're on the list of things that are fine to snack on between meals and can get in some last minute fluids.

My paperwork said to be there at 8:30am

Have you tried powerade zero or G2? I had to survive on those mixed half & half with water for a while. Plain water felt like it was sticking, Mio/Crystal lights gave me toilet troubles. :/ But I found if I put even a couple ounces of gatorade in there, it helped. Also, green tea, iced or hot. Have you ever had those Lipton Diet Green Iced Teas? Don't know what artificial sweeteners they have, or if those would irritate you as well. Very, very important to get fluids in, keep testing!

I had heard the 30 day rule as well - I think it's just a general policy so that if they determine at pre-op that your sugar levels are ok, for example, you don't have a bunch of time prior to surgery to have a huge spike and throw in unexpected complications. My testing was February 14th and I didn't have surgery until April 3rd. I can't remember for sure, but they may have done additional testing that day just to check basic things like sugar or Vitamin D prior to starting. At the most, that's what they would probably do if you ended up with a bunch of time between the two dates. Every surgeon/hospital/program is pretty different. I wouldn't worry until you have to Roxanne. I think a lot of the pre-op work is done so that they can be prepared to work with possible complications. If there are things you need to address, then they'll get you on the path to doing that before having surgery. It will be another step, but it will be worth it. I know one member of my support group had to work on her sugar levels for a couple of months before finally going through with surgery, but it worked out in the end.

Stacey03 - Thanks! I've been very lucky, I feel awesome (except for the fact that as I become more active, I'm discovering sore muscles that I haven't felt in a while!!). I like Dr. Diaz a lot. He's very positive and caring. I go to my local support group every month - here in Terre Haute. I wish I was in Indy to take advantage of all the fitness and swimming classes they offer over there. But it's a good support group here with a good mix of pre and post op.

Oh, ok, yeah, that's what i thought it might be. My history was lumped in with my testing and I didn't have to do a physical. No, the 25th was when I found out my surgery date, sorry, should have been clearer. My surgery date ended up being April 3rd. So January=insurance approval, Feb=testing, found out date, April = surgery.

I had pre-op testing the 14th of February and got my date the 25th. What's H&P?

You may be talking about something else newme-in13. Because the all day class does not include an exercise regiment. The first half of the day is spent with the nutritionist, going over vitamins, supplements, diet plans, what to expect in the hospital. Plus there are a couple of guest speakers. The second half is done by a nurse and is primarily about prevention of blood clots and giving yourself lovenox shots after surgery.

You are amazing! It is so inspiring to hear how well you're doing. I'm starting from a similar weight, although shorter. I had a sad chuckle the other day at the doctor's office when I realized I still had another 160 to lose before I went from "super obese" to "morbidly obese". So I really applaud what you've already accomplished to hit that milestone. What kind of exercise program are you doing?

I really found it helpful to practice this before surgery, but that being said it was still difficult to get used to. The best thing you can do post-op is just have no liquids anywhere near you while you're eating. And don't try anything to spicy or you'll be regretting it. A lot of people in my support group and at my nutrition class were more concerned with the not drinking after. The before isn't as important. The liquid will pass through fairly quickly as long as you don't do anything like chug a thick Protein drink right before a meal. If you're just sipping, I think it's ok to continue sipping up until eating. But definitely give it the half hour afterwards so that you don't push the food through before you've had a chance to digest all of the nutrients.

No, there's no pre-op diet required by St Vincent. I just read about liquid diets on here and thought, well, it might be a good idea anyway. Some of it was just the natural result of giving up things I knew I'd have to for surgery. Starting in January I gave up coffee, pop, tried my best to cut back on fast food in general. I had my pre-op testing/history on February 14th, and that's when it really became real for me that I was doing this, and it gave me the motivation to do the two protein shakes a day plus soup for dinner for much of that 6 week period. But with a bit of cheating thrown in there for having various "last meals"

Had it 4/3. Lost 24 pounds pre-op, lost another 18 so far since surgery. I have read the stories too, and have personally had nothing but great luck. I have no problems drinking fluids at all, except a slight discomfort if I try to drink plain water without something mixed into it or if I try to eat thicker meals (refried beans, mashed potatoes) too fast. I have had maybe a few fleeting moments of what I would have previously classified as hunger, but if I focus on getting some fluids in me I forget the feeling within minutes or recognize it as just some digestion or head hunger. As drea said, there are some general surgery pains those couple of days in the hospital, but otherwise ok. I don't know what to attribute the difference to. Could be that St Vincent is just that good or I was just lucky enough to have a body that reacted well to it all. I think it's wonderful not being hungry. There are moments of remorse, when I think about the foods I can't have, especially in this early phase that's so limited. But I feel great, and that just has to be enough.

Indiana Sleever checking in (I've lived in Lafayette, Mooresville, Terre Haute). Had Dr. Diaz at St Vincent, very very pleased with the experience. FYI, from my experience, the pre-op testing I had to do was essentially a bunch of stations that you circled around to within the hospital. X-rays, ultrasound of the stomach, bunch of vials of blood, medical history. Then the Upper GI, which is somewhat of a pain, but don't let people scare you, it's not that bad. You have to swallow some barium that is really thick but doesn't taste that bad, and then they make you flop around on a machine that tracks the fluid's progress through your tract. Oh, and then the lung/heart station. They hook up a bunch of electrodes and just get a reading to make sure there's nothing funky. And then you breathe into a few machines to test your lung function. It's a long morning, but I found it to be fine. At some point before or after that, they have you do a day long dietician/nurse class where you'll be given a ton of information and a big booklet with it all written down. You might want to take someone with you to help you take notes and think of questions. It's a lot of information. I can't recommend the support groups enough. It's nice to have people who understand what you're going through and have already dealt with the problems you experience along the way, whether it's insurance, food intolerance, struggles with fluids or proteins.

My pain is much improved over the last day or so. I woke up feeling rough, so I took a pain pill, but since then I've just been doing extra strength tylenol. Will probably do the same tomorrow and see if I can make it without by Friday. If I have to spend another day in my apartment after that, ugh. Do you just have one incision? Mine was laproscopic, so I just have 6 small holes. I've heard being cut open feels waaaaay worse, so stay strong on that front. I'm a weirdo apparently. I've met my liquid and Protein goals the last 4 days. Just had to find the types and flavors that worked for me. How is everyone else doing on their activity? I did 10k steps on Saturday and 11k on Sunday, but I'm struggling to make it today. Just too humid out for my tastes and the pain pills made it so much easier those days.

I'm having a hard time distinguishing between general surgery soreness and gas. It hurts to take deep breaths, which makes walking a bit painful. But other than that, liquids and foods are going down without complications *knock on wood*. I tried plain Water the day I checked out of the hospital and that gave me an awful cramping feeling. Sometimes when I'm getting to the end of a meal, I get that feeling too, so I assume that's a sign I should stop. It's worked well so far. I'm living on gatorade between meals but I've also had a couple of Protein shakes. All in all, I have been very lucky. Have you tried different fluids and different temps of fluids? And are you using a sippy cup? The hospital gave me an 8 ounce one and said to just drink one of those per hour.

Is anyone else taking gemfibrozil or lopic (for high triglycerides)? Have you been splitting or crushing them to get them down? So far I've been able to do them in halves, but it always feels like there's a chance it will get stuck on the way down. I really don't want to crush it, though, because it's already hard to handle the bitterness as is. Hopefully I can get into my regular doctor and have him do more blood tests and get me off of it soon. One less pill to take would be nice.

Everyone in this thread is amazing, those that have been so successful and those who are brave enough to take this step towards similar success. It gives me so much hope for how happy I'm going to be by this time next year. I still may not be a "normal" size, but I will be on my way. I'll be closer to normal than be been in a long time, and that's awesome.

April 3rd here, checking in. Finally starting to get nervous about the actual surgery part of it all. I've been taking control of my eating and drinking habits, but haven't given much thought to the operation itself. Now that worry is finally arrived! Ha.