kyleebean

I've been off of work for two weeks for my gallbladder surgery and am returning to work on Wednesday. I thought I would go out today and buy some new clothes for spring and well, because I just don't have a lot that fits right now. So, I head to the local Avenue and Lane Bryant and try on some cute summer dresses and such. I ended up asking the sales lady (who was maybe a size 2~ why she is working at the big lady store, I have no clue) to give me an honest opinion on the two dresses I picked out. She looked at me like I was out of my mind but said I looked nice. I wasn't super convinced so I asked a fellow shopper who also said it looked a little big.... I had tried on a 18/20 dress thinking my "girls" are huge so a smaller size wasn't going to fit. Well, the smaller size did fit. So I bought them. I also realized, I am at the SMALL end of the big girl stores..... I still can't wrap my head around that. How do we come to terms with our new bodies when our minds have not caught up to the physical transformation? It wasn't too long ago I was buying shirts in 30/32 to try to hide my size~ I don't know what I was thinking, except I felt more comfortable in them and well, some of the shirts really did need to be that size. Today was a good day.... and hopefully the last time buying clothes before I can buy them at a "regular" store.

My doc only required a preop diet for 2 weeks and it wasn't liquid, but it was very high Protein and very low carb. (and obviously, I couldn't eat after midnight the day of surgery) The point is to shrink your liver to make surgery easier. If you aren't eating snickers bars and are eating healthy protein, I wouldn't sweat it at all.

Our minds play such dirty little tricks on us..... When I was 315 pounds, I knew I was fat but I still thought I looked good.... Until I would see myself in pictures and ask my partner, "Why didn't you tell me I was this fat?". Conversely, now I have lost almost 80 pounds and think I still look the same as I did 80 pounds heavier. I know I don't fit into my old clothes, I know I have bought sizes way smaller than I thought I would, I know I am more physically active and comfortable.... But I can't wrap my head around the fact that I shrunk (shrank?)... Aside from the head games, when I look at your profile, I wonder if you have excess skin that could account for the weight you want to lose? Maybe your body is where it is suppose to be? Either way, I am in awe of your accomplishments and think you look amazingly beautiful.

236.... Passed my goal

OMG I love pancakes...... I will try this. I make a ricotta pancake that's pretty good and super simple. It's 1 egg, 3 tbsp. whole wheat pancake mix, 1 TBSP sf butterscotch pudding mix, 1 TBSP of torani SF syrup (Caramel or cinnamon and brown sugar are good), 1/2 c low fat ricotta. Mix together and fry up. They are super fragile and sometimes come out looking like "scrambled pancakes" but they are sooo good. Top with sf jam or sf syrup.

I had band to sleeve surgery in November. I had my band placed in 2005 and had nothing but problems. But the Dr. deflated the band about a month preop and did the removal and sleeve in the same surgery. It was a difficult surgery for me due to scar tissue from the band and from a previous open spleenectomy from years ago. I don't know about your insurance requirements but mine was horrible. They approved the surgery and after the fact told me there was a 25,000 cap per lifetime for bariatric care. I had a four day stay in the hospital due to complications which resulted in a 100,000 bill~ that I'm responsible for....

I do want to mention that I believe Zoloft comes in a liquid form and maybe your doc can prescribe that?

I can totally relate to your post. I had a very difficult surgery (mine was a revision from band to sleeve) in November and had a 4 day hospital stay due to complications. I too had severe swelling and wasn't able to get any liquids in (other than IV's) the first three days. I would try and it would come right back out. I had an Upper GI done and it showed there was no passage way due to the swelling..... So, I just had to wait for the swelling to go down. When I was about a week out, I fell into a terrible depression (despite being on Zoloft) and to just wait it out. I remember crying because I was thinking about my dog, who is 8, would die in several years. I have no reason to believe this, except she's 8 but she's healthy. I'm just mentioning this because a lot of what I felt was just emotion and not rational at all. My hormones were all over the place, I was sore, tired and HUGRY and I lost my most basic coping skill, eating for comfort. As far as sleeping, I asked my primary to prescribe Ambien to help me sleep and she did. I have always struggled with insomnia but after surgery it was ridiculous and this was really helpful. I am a side sleeper as well and couldn't sleep in my bed for about 4 weeks. I slept in a recliner with pillows and that made for a comfortable night sleep. There is light.... I know it feels dark and hopeless in the moment but you will make it through to the other side.

I'm in Wauwatosa, right in Milwaukee.

Mine is my beagle's name! I thought I was the only one whose screen name was after an animal!

OMG Trade in value would be awesome. Those puppies are so expensive! I have always had HUGE breasts~ When my, now 24 year old, daughter was about 4, she was in a dressing room with me at Lane Bryant and she LOUDLY told me "Mommy when I grow up, I want boobs as long as yours!" I secretly hoped she would get them but she didn't. She's 5'9 and maybe 110 pounds..... I'm not certain she's really my kid~ LOL! I went from a 50H to a 46 D.... I look like I have deflated balloons that I could tuck into my pants.... OK, maybe not that extreme.

A couple of people said they follow a low fat diet to deal with the stomach issues after gall bladder removal. What is the guideline you follow? How many fat grams? It is a very rare day if I eat more than 25 grams of fat.. Not sure how much lower it could be

What is FIB.... I thought you meant you lied about something... LOL

I wouldn't wait. I ended up with emergency surgery and would have much rather had a planned surgery

Honestly, I thought I had the stomach flu. I had nausea and vomiting and horrible gas. I thought maybe trapped gas? But then the pain got really bad and I knew it was something more serious..... whether it was gallbladder or possible bowel obstruction. Thankfully, it was just my gallbladder. But now I'm having serious diarrhea.

I had revision from band to sleeve in November 2013 and last Monday needed to have my gallbladder removed during an emergency surgery. Since then I have had an upset stomach and ongoing diarrhea. Anyone else experience this?

I really like the EAS CARB Advantage. I only like the chocolate fudge and the caramel latte. they are 100 cal and 17 gm of Protein.

241~ despite having gallbladder surgery and gaining 11 pounds of water weight

I'm really curious about people's responses as I'm heading to Disney in July.

I had my gallbladder removed on Monday and had IVs until I was ready for discharge on Tuesday. During that time I gained 11 pounds of which I assume was mostly Water weight. But I've been home 2 days and I haven't lost any of the weight. I'm not drinking as much as I should because I'm nauseous and eating mostly consists of Soup or oatmeal. I'm just so frustrated because prior to surgery I was 239 and now the scale doesn't budge from 249. Depression is setting in. It also doesn't help that I'm in pain on top of it.

I have NEVER had gallbladder issues. However, this past Friday I started feeling ill. By Saturday I was vomiting and had diarrhea and a fever. I was having severe abdominal pain and back pain. I assumed it was a stomach bug or trapped gas. Saturday morning I called the Dr. on call who suggested I take Gas-X. So I did, and nothing made it feel any better. In fact, I felt like I was in labor~ I still felt horrible on Sunday and thought if I didn't feel better by Monday, I would go into the Dr. However about 3am, was in such pain, I had my partner take me to the ER (something I would usually never do because of the cost of it). My white blood count was through the roof and an ultra sound showed my gallbladder full of gallstones. So, I had emergency surgery yesterday. I was discharged this am and while I am in pain, it doesn't compare to the pain I felt prior to surgery.

I was admitted to the hospital yesterday and had my gallbladder removed. I was discharged today and while I'm in pain, I'm recovering nicely. BUT I'm pissed at the scale because it shows an 8 pound gain. I haven't eaten any food since Sunday afternoon. I know it's from the IV fluids but it still really upsets me.

What I thought was the stomach flu, which I had since Friday, landed me in the ER this morning. After testing and much pain, the verdict is my gallbladder has to come out. So ironic because my doc had me on medication to prevent this. Apparently, it wasn't doing it's job. So, I had surgery this afternoon and am in quite a lot of pain right now, but hopefully will get to go home tomorrow.

Everyone's plan is so different. I was eating pureed food before I left the hospital (I was there for 4 days) and progressed rather quickly from pureed to soft and then normal~ all within 6 weeks. I tolerated everything really well. Follow what they tell you regardless. Honestly, I wasn't hungry at all until 8 weeks out and nothing, NOTHING, tasted right. I lived on refried Beans and Amy's lentil soup!

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