southernsoul

Sounds like somebody took the expression "Put a cork in it" way too literally! Glad y'all found it before somebody got hurt.

Great idea! I have a mental list, but I ought to write them down.

Great points...thanks for the valuable reminder!

My 2 week preop diet was high protein & very low carb, less than 20g per day. I didn't have any calorie or fat restrictions, so I could eat chicken, steak, fish, eggs, cheese, and green veggies. After the first week of eating like this, I got on the scale & had lost 17 lbs, from 320 to 303. I almost fell off the damn scale!! I made my husband get on to make sure it wasn't broken. I didn't even know such a big loss in a week was possible. The second week I only lost about 1.5 lbs, mainly because it was my time of the month & I usually gain weight that week. Several people asked me if I was still going to have the surgery, which surprised me. Of course I was! I agree with you that making diet changes preop helps in our postop lives. Now that I'm back to eating regular foods, I'm pretty much eating just like I was on my preop diet (except for the volume, of course!).

Roo, I was in the same place just weeks ago. I had not been able to got to the grocery store for more than a few items in over a year. The pain had been bad enough, but then the swelling started earlier this year. I was already going through my preop steps by then, so I just hoped it would reverse quickly once I started to lose. I am now 6 weeks post-op & I'm happy to say the swelling has gone & my knees feel so much better. My ortho doc told me that every 10lbs I can lose, I'll take 40lbs of pressure off my knees. With 42 lbs gone, I've taken over 160 lbs of pressure off. I'm walking a little every day. I can only go for about 15-20 min at a time, but I do what I can. My high weight was 320 & I am now 278. You can read more about my story in my profile & in my blog posts on here. My surgery date was June 19th. I'll never run a race or anything, and my knees are by no means strong, but I'm not in constant pain anymore. I still have a long way to go, but I'm on my way & that feels great. Good luck to you & please reach out if you need motivation or just to vent.

I'll be on pureed in a couple of weeks, so I am really glad you posted this! I had thought of baking sweet potatoes, scooping out the inside & mixing with unflavored protein powder. Also, ricotta cheese mixed with some SF Torani caramel syrup was a fave dessert on my low-carb preop diet & I know it will be fine for the puree stage. The cauliflower sub for mashed potatoes is on my list (too bad they don't make butter flavor protein powder!), along with tuna, chicken, and egg salads. Also, I love pumpkin pie, so I thought of mixing pumpkin puree with some vanilla protein powder & pumpkin pie spice.

I am so jealous that you're eating soft foods! I'm 9 days out & will be on clears until next Wednesday, when I go back for my first postop appt. I will then be on 2 weeks of fulls before I can move to purees. Gah...seems like a really long time to have a whole month before a freakin' puree. The only 2 exceptions to my clear liquids are skim milk & kefir (liquid yogurt), which I'm very thankful for. My scale has begun to move, but certainly nothing as dramatic as 22 lbs! I love your attitude...thanks for sharing it!

Personally, I am a "teller". If there is anyone in my life who has had negative or judgmental thoughts, they have (wisely) kept those thoughts to themselves. I have received a huge amount of support, encouragement, praise, and love from every corner. However, I believe that we must each do whatever we need to in order to ensure our success with this tool. If that means limiting the amount of people you tell, then limit away & don't let anybody tell you that keeping a secret is bad or wrong. There is no one "right" way, it's just what is best for each of us. Good luck to you!

You won't have to miss any of those foods, at least not forever. The thing is, you won't be able to eat as much of them as before, but you can certainly have a couple of bites & feel fine with that. There may be certain foods that no longer agree with you, but that can happen to anybody. Some people develop allergies to things as they get older, or start getting heartburn from something they used to eat with no problem. Adjustments are a part of life, and this is certainly a big one. Seeing a counselor is a great idea, although I have to admit I am biased. I'm working on my masters degree in clinical mental health counseling, so that's definitely not an objective opinion. Do everything you can do to help ensure your own success.

Congratulations!! I'm having surgery on the 19th, so maybe by October I will have matched your 100 in the other half of the year! Good luck on the rest of the way!

Thanks, everybody, for the kind words. I am so thankful for this site, and for the opportunity to share and learn from each other.

Wow, what a powerful moment. Thank you for sharing. Your daughter is lucky to have you for a mom.

This is very inspiring to me. I also have terrible knee and leg pain, and I limp badly. My surgeon told me I must start walking, and so I am doing the best I can. I often feel like my pathetic gimping along is not effective at all, except in the sense of making me hurt a lot. However, I have just begun to notice that it is getting ever so slightly easier...at least it seems like it. I have been wondering if I am really seeing improvement, or if I'm just imagining it. Your post has renewed my hope that it will get better, and that I CAN do it. I don't have any thoughts of running or rock climbing or anything like that, but I sure would like to believe that one day I might walk even 5K steps in a day. I do believe it's time for me to buy a pedometer!

Preach it, girl!! There is a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that I have always loved: "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent." You are absolutely correct that the sleeve is just a tool. I don't feel ashamed for one second that I'm doing this, and I could not care less about somebody else judging me for it. Nobody can make me feel ashamed without me agreeing that there is something to feel ashamed about. There are things in my life that I'm not proud of, but this ain't one of them. Good for you for being proud!

Congrats!! You go on with your overweight self!

Thanks for sharing the start of your journey & I wish you all the luck in the world!

This is great information...thanks so much for sharing!

Maybe your doc won't be as negative as you think. My surgeon required a letter from my PCP stating that I had informed them of my sleeve plan & providing a 3 yr documented weight history. When I went in for my appt, the PA was really encouraging! She said that more and more research is showing how many health risks can be minimized by WLS, and that the sleeve in particular is showing some very good results. If your doc is keeping up with current research, she's probably seen the same stuff.

You are absolutely right...the only person you can change is yourself. Bravo to you for finding the strength to undertake this journey! I hope you can find a good support group to lean on through the process, since we all need and benefit from a supportive environment. Good luck to you!

I quit 2 1/2 weeks ago with Chantix and a nicotine vaporizer (basically an ecig, but rechargeable & refillable). I saw my surgeon last week & asked if the vaporizer would be a problem since it is A) inhaled and still nicotine. He said he didn't think so, that his main concern was lung capacity, not nicotine itself. He hasn't mentioned a pre-surgery blood test, either. To be on the safe side, I will probably transition to nic gum if needed a month or two before surgery. I'm hoping it won't be necessary, though...I didn't even touch the inhaler yesterday til almost 6:00 pm, so I can really tell I'm needing it less & less each day. Don't try & cheat the requirements...they are there for a reason. Good luck to you!