aliekat55

excellent summary. I am three weeks away from surgery and getting increasingly excited. when you said 'no bowel sounds' my attention perked up for that is not a trivial thing. good that it worked itself out.

My NUT told me that a good bite was the size of a pencil eraser and I have been studiously working at making every bite that small. Hard to do, I always felt like one of those dogs that inhaled the food, I could not get it in fast enough. Interestingly, although it took much conscious effort, it is becoming much more natural to eat tiny little bits. when I saw others eating and saw the size of what they put in their mouths I was aghast! was that me in the past? the twenty chews still needs work but I am close. I need much work on the timing between bites. I need to learn to pause. However, the effect it has already had on me is dramatic. My stomach has time to tell my brain it is full, I rarely get that horrible pain from overeating. I feel satisfied easier with much less food. So far I am continuing to lose prior to the liquid diet. They want 12 more pounds lost by surgery date, my plan (shhhh dont tell) is to lose a good portion of that prior to the start of the liquid diet and shorten the period of time I take the Optifast. I have already lost 30 pounds in preparation for the surgery! The research regarding the preop weight loss indicates that 5% of body weight helps a lot, I am already over 10% lost. OF course if i gain weight over then next week I will do the full two weeks of Optifast, but I am quite motivated. I figure 12 pounds is 12 pounds, it does not matter how it came off. BTW- it is amazing to me that my dear wife of 36yrs who has seen me struggle with food all my adult life ( since we met 39 years ago) still suggests things that are so unhelpful. I know she is one of the chosen few that can keep her weight within a few pounds of goal with very little effort, but suggesting that one day of overeating ( at a party one week prior to surgery) can't hurt, is rather unenlightened ( sounds better than dimwitted).

I went to an upscale restaurant yesterday for work.quite a challenge. but I looked at the menu online ahead of time and decided on what to get. I managed to slow my eating even while keeping up my part of the conversation going. I finished at the same time my wife did! unheard off, for she eats very slow! I came close to ordering dessert but avoided it. overall a good experience and practice. My next business related meal is two weeks after my sleeve and there will be thirty plus people to see what I eat. I will be on pureed foods then, how to finesse that? alex

I can actually request any food I want. just the issue of allowing 35 business acquaintances into my private life. Perhaps by then I will be over keeping it private. thanks alex

I also was told that small pills would be no problem. and one of my pills makes zoloft look small. I know that zoloft can be cut so the pieces would be smaller. You could try one half of one and see how it goes. alex

ditto amytug, just one is a huge victory, at least it would be for me. Of course now that you know it doesnt upset your sleeve... alex

thanks for the help. it is unfortunately a limited buffet in a board room ergo no soup, but mashed potatoes is a good idea. I like the late lunch idea also. perhaps I will show up 15 minutes late when the eating is usually over and the meeting starts. alex

great! mine is on the 15th. I am going to NC because it is closer but i researched the mexico sites and would not hesitate to go if it was not so far for me. alex

Yeah my kids tell me that all the time. I think it is partly personality and mostly working in medicine for 31 years--there is nothing I have not seen. alex

A year! wow, I give you credit for persistence, bodes well for you. when is your date? Mine is 7/15 at 8.30 alex

Well, after so much waiting and anticipation I finally made the trip to Charlotte where my surgeon is. On the night before the flight it hits me what a major ordeal this is, not the surgery but the flying an hour away (baltimore) to have surgery by someone i have not met. I could not have had a better experience though. I met one of his staff people in the elevator going up to the third floor and she was so pleasant from the start. I met several of his staff, all wonderful. I loved the nutritionist because she is like me, footed in practicality. I learned so much ,even though I have been researching like mad the past months. The doctor (Heider) inspired confidence and was personable, not all surgeons are that way. I have no remaining concerns about the technical aspects. I had been worried about the liquid diet but the nutritionist helped and it doesnt seem so bad. I have been through worse. I am old and tired of being run by the nose by food. There were so many people that were kind and helpful, from the check in desk at the hospital to the nurse at the preop center to the blood drawer. I do not think i had a bad experience. except for the flight home that was delayed a few hours. that said, I did get to witness two amazing things. I was sitting doing some surfing and one second I look up to see the plane had not arrived, the next I see a wall of water blowing in and within seconds the visibility went from unlimited to a few hundred feet! Quite an awesome event. then when the storm passed by there was a rainbow, no two rainbows--one of those rare doubles. Dont get to see many of them. It hung around for nearly an hour. Very cool. I remember reading that they are inverted, that is the colors are reversed on them, and sure enough they are. I am excited and ready and the only thing I have been worrying over is how much to share with people and when. being in the public eye in my little corner of the world, this is a bigger decision than simply telling a few people. Also deciding what to tell my mother. I do not expect any support from there and since she lives in texas I can let it slide until I am comfortable with my new habits. who knows. One thing--note to self--time to stop the obsession with the research and get back to normal living. IN the great Karma department---I was sitting in the waiting room when this man and his wife sat ahead of me. I instantly recognized him as someone on this forum who had surgery the week before by the same doctor. I only debated whether to say something for a few moments, figuring that if he put his picture out there he was ok with people recognizing him. I had actually sent him a couple of mesages during his surgery. So I talked to him and he was shocked as i was that we ran into each other. we had a few minutes to chat and exchange contact info.

so clean your mother could eat off them.

Querry-- why do the blue hairs look at you in disgust? how to measure how much water you swallow. assuming the pool has a scale, weight yourself just after you get in the pool, soaking wet then after your workout. water is eight ounces per cup. If the workout is long then there is a little loss from the exertion. may have to do it a few times and get an average. alex

If the apocalypse occurred you would have bigger issues to worry about than the size of your stomach, assuming you survived. Most people say you can graze around the sleeve if you chew well and drink at the same time as eating. on the other hand the bypass patients would be in a world of hurt with their dumping predisposition. IMHO alex

Me Too! for July 15th. I spent the day at the surgeon's office and the hospital getting my pre op stuff done and reviewing with the nutritionist. They got me all pumped up. I start the optifast in 10 days. I ran into a member of this forum. I recognized him from his picture. Quite a positive karma event. we had a few minutes to chat. alex

I hope that you were being fascecious with the "little difference' remark. the change is amazing. even more so how quickly you did it. I hope to be able to duplicate your effort alex

I am 57 and have surgery on July 15th also. I fluctuate from wanting to getting it done today to worrying that like everything I have tried before it wont work. alex

why on earth would your doctor send you to a NUT that does not believe in surgery? He will be working at cross purposes. The one I saw was wonderful, helpful, insightful, respectful. IMHO alex

of course prunes and prune juice. sweet but you only need a tiny bit.

remember that many of us still waiting, wish it was us going in. happy new birthday. best wishes alex

Hi, for those of you that go a long distance for surgery, where do you get your follow up care? the regular post op visits? whom can you call with a problem? thanks aliekat

I feel the same way. I have only told my wife and one dear highly nonjudgmental friend. This decision is mine, not the world's and it is going to be hard enough without having to fight the insensitive comments from those that never had this issue. However, it seems to me that we dont get the choice to keep it to ourselves, at some point the success of the surgery will announce our decision louder than we could. I have been a family doc in a small town for 23 years so I know that soon afterwards the word will get out. I am bracing myself for it. aliekat