mrsjumbo

Hi Sharonhale461 I hope your pre-surgery diet and then the surgery go very well. I empathize about the knees. You are going to feel a lot better as you lose weight! the major reason why I had wls was to get relief for my aching knees. MD said that I needed knee replacements on both, but I was convinced that the pain might have SOMETHING to do with the fact that I was carrying around 120 extra pounds (that is like 25 bags of sugar, or four huge bags of dog food, or five boxes of kitty litter). now that I have lost most of the weight, I don't have much knee pain. As you lose the weight, you may find yourself feeling better even without the knee surgery.

there are a lot of things that help ensure that this will work when other things have not (and I still worry that it will not work, even though it has been over two years). you have to eat less because your stomach will explode if you don't. after a year or so of that, your habits change..and while it is still possible to change them back, if you don't eat a candy bar or a fattening dessert, or deep fried twinkies for a year or more and you survive, then why go back to eating them? especially since they will make you feel like vomiting? but it is easy to let bad habits slip back in and you have to be on it. You can look on the veterans part of this site to see how they handle it...

LOL. I worry about this all the time! It just seems to me that drinking a lot of liquid will stretch out a sleeve and I used to panic about it all the time. But I have discovered that I can take sips of a clear liquid, like water or crystal light or herbal tea, all day long and there does not seem to be any negative effect. It gives me something to do when I am sitting at my desk (I know, I should not be using food or drink to offset boredom, but hey..it is what it is... at least I'm not eating!) and it does not seem to be negative, I still get full after eating about an egg size portion of food...so I am doing it. But if there is a reason NOT to...someone post it, please!

welcome to the new yous!

great work!

how about getting a plain greek yogurt and stirring in some vanilla and artificial sweetener? I am hooked on chobani passion fruit, but I eat only the yogurt and never stir in the fruit on the bottom. strange I know, but it takes me longer to eat it that way, saves me from eating the seeds and sugar and still has a hint of sweet and passionfruit flavor. there is also a yogurt out there in a black container (power yogurt?) that has a super amount of protein that might be worth a try

you might want to try isopure apple/melon (get the pre-mixed). tastes kind of like granny smith apple juice and is clear. You can get bottle to try at GNC and then order on line (look for cheapest price, there is usually a case deal someplace) if it suits you. Hang in there!

I am kind of addicted to the brownie quest bars, so I get your concern! I could not tell from your post.....are you using the bars/shakes as a high protein meal? Or were you thinking of adding them to the protein/calories you are already eating? Seems to me that if you are going to live for the rest of your life with a food plan, you will need to have something that is a healthy and that you really like on that plan....it cant be all beef jerky! Why not treat the bars as a "treat' for days when you can use something sweet for a meal?

I know there is a weight loss surgery clinic at both Danbury Hospital and at Waterbury Hospital. Waterbury is probably closer to Naugatuck. I went to the Danbury clinic a few years ago to learn about WLS, but I am not sure if they do the VGS procedure, though, you may want to check...I know they are terrific in terms of clinical support. I don't know much else about them, as I had my surgery in Mexico ...welcome to CT! and hope your move goes well!

OMG just looked at the date again! Did you lose the weight? I hope so!

sugar-free popsicles. low salt (yuck) bullion. isopure (get the pre-mixed kind, it tastes better) s-f jello. If you do this and you lose the weight, it will make your recovery so much easier and so much faster! it is really worth the unpleasant-ness. think.... if you cant do it now, how will you do it after the surgery?...I was worried that I was going to spend all that money and go through all the pain only to gain the weight back (like I had over and over with dieting), so I made myself a deal that I could only have the surgery if I could stick to liquids for a month first. I seems to have worked! good luck and hang in there!

I think of that saying "be the person your dog thinks you are"....I have two bad-dog boxers who turn themselves almost inside out when I come in the door....even if I have only been gone for 15 minutes! That helps make up for the current flea problem! thanks everyone for sharing your photos and stories. Pets are the best!

there are high protein jellos (tropical and red flavors) and isopure clear protein drinks and powerpac chocolate puddings can find them online or at a gnc store, I think hang in there!

Post op is hard on your emotions as well as your body and old habits. Calling your MD is a very good idea. And are there any non-sugary drinks that you like? You might want to try switching over to a few of these to hydrate more. And eating crackers after a sleeve seems like it would make you feel sick... I think they may not be such a good idea.......keep reaching out...this forum can help, as can friends or family (sometimes) or perhaps a post-op support group, if you have that as part of your surgery team. If your MD team is local. you should give them a call, I think

Mine was the opposite. No interest in candy now...and hardly any interest in fruit or salad (I used to eat salad like a hippo would)...however, I think that this is more a result of eating pretty much only protein for a couple of years. On the other side...I will kill for anything salty!

I did. 7/1/11. the surgery went very well and there were no complications, still none. it does not look like a typical hospital (more like a strip mall). It is basic but clean and likely has a lot fewer super-bugs than you would find in a multi-service hospital. for recovery, you will likely be in a house with roommates. I liked the company...not like any of us were perky, but there were people to walk with (you will be walking a lot, to get rid of the post op gas). and there was terrific clear soup and popsicles on the second post op day . the only thing that I would suggest you consider is to have a post op md or nurse lined up in the us. first of all, it is important to have someone to call if there is an emergency. also, unless you are very personally un-squeamish, you might need help taking out the post op sutures. I ended up doing it myself, because no doctor or nurse here would do it for me. Also, you might want to consider having the folks in Mexico send you a list of the post op meds you will need and then seeing if there is a way to get these in the US. I did not have any problems with this, but on another (terrible, horrible and awful) trip to Mexico for dental work, the anti-biotics they gave me were not effective... I found out that the ones you get there may not always be top quality. One final thing, remember to follow all pre-op instuctions. If you can get on a liquid diet now, you will reduce your risk in surgery, heal quicker and feel a LOT better than you will if you dont. most of all, don't worry ...congratulations on making a good start toward feeling better about yourself and your health

what a great post! I am going to stain a deck (distraction and some exercise) and powerwash some stuff and maybe even do an early fall leaves clean-up. and take the dog, who keeps looking longingly at the leash, for a well-deserved ramble. and eat a bbq rib (Not ribs!) that my husband volunteered to smoke on the grill. Have a nice Friday and a great weekend!

sorry. what a doofus. I didn't even read the picture before I started sharing info. the pastabilities looks interesting...have you tried dreamfields? I have really enjoyed it and you can get it at most supermarkets

quest bars are amazingly good! the chocolate brownie seems to be the best, very chocolate-y...however (sorry tmi) I wonder about all that fiber? My experience has been that having one bar a day seems to umm..clog things up a bit...in my digestive process. Just something to watch out for... they are so good that I wanted to eat one every day, but I seemed to suffer the consequences a bit.

of course you are hating the water-y diet! Who wouldn't? Boring! however, it is a great way to heal your stomach and will be over soon! how about sugar free popsicles? Or try one of the clear fruit flavored protein drinks (I like the iso pure one). Maybe you could talk to your md about a protein pudding instead of a shake? That really helped me. Hang in there. This is a tough time, but it gets easier

don't give up! I admire you for having enough energy to work with 4 year olds.... at any age! hang in there, your body is probably in back to school shock or something. I am sorry to hear that getting going is painful..I know how much my knees jammed up and still jam up sometimes. Just keep taking the meds, keep moving and the weight will keep coming off.

hang in there! there is a bottled clear drink from Isopure that comes in many flavors (apple-melon is best) it has 40gm protein. I think you can get it at GNC or on Amazon. Also, once you are on solid food, you might try Quest bars (20gm. protein, low net carbs)

ask your MD, but I use Biotin and I did not lose much hair and even seem to have grown a lot more over the 2 years I have been taking it, post surgery. what makes me think it works is that I lost tons of hair after pregnancies and tons of hair on diets before the post VGS (with Biotin)

wow! I'm really impressed by all the things you've been doing for yourself and your health. my guess is that either way, your surgery will help you feel a lot better in the long run. I went with the sleeve because I was worried about having to get all the post care on band fills and I had seen some research that suggested that the VGS would be more effective, even if more draconian. Don't be freaked out by the skin thing. I think it will depend upon where you carry your weight before the surgery, as well as how much you lose overall. For me, I was really huge in the thighs and so of course that's where I have the leftover skin. It's not like there are folds, but I must say, my thighs look like a deflated balloon. However, I didn't carry much weight in my upper body before ....and now my arms don't have any excess weight and don't have any of that "batwing" issue at all. so I wear a lot of sleeveless dresses and stay away from bathing suits If you have been swimming all along, my guess is your thighs are in pretty good shape and you won't have to worry too much. I find that wearing swim shorts is a good solution and an even better solution is to wear one of those triathlon bathing suits . it covers you from above the knees,all the way up to your shoulders....and works like a compression garment.... I actually find it a lot more comfortable in a bathing suit to swim in.... and although it does look like you must be a major kind of an athlete,, the fact is, no one is really going to care and you are going to feel comfortable......just try to pretend you are Diana Nyad!

Go for it Raven 123. Good luck and I bet you will be knee-comfortable soon! it may not work for everyone, but after having two MDs tell me that there was no way I would make strides without having my knees replaced, I found that, once I dropped to below 160, I could walk without the pain and below 130, there is a lot of clicking and weird stuff, but the pain is not there anymore