clairec

Hi Janette,
How are things going with the baby? He looked so scrumptious in the photo. You must be a very proud grandma! Have a great time with them and with Andrew in San Diego, I hope you get to see Kim too.
We are off to Lake Garda in Italy on Easter Monday for a couple of weeks and can't wait. I need the sun to pep me up regularly I think.
Take care all of you and keep chatting on here, I miss our contact. We are all moving on with our lives and that is great to see, it is just nice to Celebrate this with others who know how far we have come.
Take care
Claire

Hi,
Wow Janette, thin enough to slide past, how wonderful! I am not sure about NSA or NSV, but I thought if A stood for Advantage, then it should be A.
I have posted two new pictures from today, and two from the day before my surgery. I can't quite believe it myself, I don't seem recognisable even to me.
Take care
Claire

Hi to you all,
Delilieflower I started off at the weight you did, and which is higher than the average bear! You are doing really well. There will be times when your weight does not seem to go down, and times when it suddenly does for no reason. Who knows why but it is just one of those things. I had only lost 83 pounds since the surgery 6 months ago when I came away on holiday, so you are doing better than me. I had lost weight in the 3 years before then so my weight is lower than yours overall if your ticker is correct, but your speed of weight loss is quite a bit more. So Celebrate, and it will carry on soon I am sure. While we celebrate the fact that quite a lot of our group are in ONEderland, we can also celebrate when we get into the 200 range, I just have and you will soon. Everyone will then also celebrate with us, that is what this group is for.. celebrating, supporting and advising and sometimes giving a kick up the butt.
Janette thanks so much for your excellent posts, really interesting. Sarahgirrl, you sound as if you are doing really well, it is not easy being perfect all the time, and none of us are, cut yourself a little bit of slack if you can.
Hopetochangeyour life, you made it on here and welcome. We are all 6 months down the line as you can tell. This is a great group and we are so lucky to have found each other. We are happy to answer any questions you have.
We are in the Smokie mountains at the moment which is just beautiful. Just had to say I went up a mountain chair lift, they were great about the disability side of things and sent up a wheelchair ahead of me to sit on, and back again. They were really great. I asked Alan to ask them about the weight limit before we bought the tickets under my old mantra about the times it is not safe to be "creative" about how much you weigh. With an anaesthetist before an operation, bungee jumping, hot air ballooning and in our case a chair lift going high up a mountain....! He said that they have people much bigger than your wife going up, which was wonderful to hear. I guess i always think that I am the biggest person on the planet, but not any more maybe! My mother took a picture of us coming down and even I had to say I didn't look THAT big. So a real result. Only problem is that I forgot that I was wearing flipflops and there was no foot rest so I had to clench my toes and keep my feet straight all the way to stop my shoes going into the abyss. Far from easy!
Hope you are all having a good Summer. xx

Hi Janette,
How wonderful, an exit row! No seat belt extension, what an achievement! I am still using one but there is definitely more space. I was in Premium Economy coming over here without an exit row and miracle of miracles the person in front did not put his seat back, but I sat with my legs crossed some of the time... just because i could!!! yay!
Take care and have a good trip
Claire

Hello to you all,
I am glad that you had a good time in Europe, Deanna. As you say the time difference and the jet lag is not easy, particularly flying east I find. Coming back from Hawaii takes weeks to rally feel that you are back in the time zone.
Tammy, you look really good. Slow and steady wins the race and we can't all lose as fast as others, and some of us have further to go. It is just wonderful seeing each others successes and celebrating those.
Kim, yes I think that having future surgery will be necessary for me too, although I would rather avoid it, all things being equal. It is unavoidable I think.
As for my time off work I resigned from my really full on role in the Fall last year and would not have been able to cope with the post o symptoms since then if I had still been there. We do have more Annual Leave time over here than you do though and I have always been able to take about 5 weeks at least and 7 weeks including Bank Holidays most of the time. However I am still really busy teaching but a lot of it is on line. That meant that I didn't take any sick leave following my surgery and I can't really take any time as holiday without working but I can work from anywhere for a lot of the time. So on our trip to the South I will carry on working and will have a large glut of marking. That will be really difficult to cope with while traveling around all the time so we will see how that works out.
Janette, I am not really very keen on those sweet sorts of foods and I don't seem to really dump (well not yet anyway). What will be lovely is trying the BBQ foods and some of the savoury stuff. With small amounts I am sure that will be fine...
Take care all of you.
Claire

Hi,
Janette, I will trying adding banana to the shakes. With the extra consistency and taste that might help the taste and the texture. Adding the Protein mix to food is an idea but I ony have chocolate and they come in such large tins. We have tried making it into an ice cream wth low everything custard and fat free fromage frais and that works fairly well too. Thanks so much for the suggestions.
Dellieflower, what a wonderful weight loss, congratulations! I am slowing down a bit now, like Kim. However I have not weighed for over a week so who knows what the effect will be of holiday eating. I will weigh in a day or two at Longs and let you all know! Yes we are still in Hawaii and loving every moment of it. It is just so beautiful.
Eating is a challenge, some meals seem to be fine, very small amounts but the range of foods is excellent. Other meals, not so much! However I have not been sick, or had problems with things getting stuck so that is great. Just some mealtimes nothing really works and despite hardly having anything my intestines sound like a drain for hours afterwards, I swear there is a little alien busy working inside me! Most days one meal is like that, and occasionally all three. I am really lucky with my range of foods and lack of sickness though but it is difficult to enjoy eating. I have not had much sashimi because it seems very filling but as Janette says it does tend to go down better than cooked fish. Only 4 more days here which is a shame. I could stay here forever but we all need to return to the real world I suppose!
Take care all of you
Claire

Hi to you all,
Carol, Hawaii is great and i managed the long flights from the food and tiredness point of view quite well really. It is so great here. Different scales I know but I even managed to lose 4 pounds in 4 days over the flights and couple of days here. Very strange because I have not lost that much since just after surgery. It won't last but it was a bit of a surprise.
Ryn, you look so great, a completely different person. You must be so pleased. Wow!!! It is good to see you and Esthor on here.
Eating is a constant challenge but I manage a really good variety of foods. It is just not knowing how I am going to feel for some time afterwards which is the challenge. I don't think I dump at all but sometimes after eating I can feel a small amount of palpitation type feeling and a little on the sicky side. However, the palpitation type thing goes away really quickly and the sicky feeling is not to the point where it is a real problem, I would just rather it wasn't there. And I hate feeling sick so it really is very mild! It also is not associated with particular foods, it just seems as if my body would be happier if I didn't eat at all. Strange about the honey mustard Erin, did you check the sugar content afterwards, did it make any sense at all? Kim the chicken satay sounded great. I had something similar here the other night.
My Protein is around 40-50gms per day which my dietician says is fine, but as you say they all vary. I am not able to exercise because of my back and Ryn if you are doing so much as Kim says maybe you should be doing more if you can. I agree that protein seems to help with feeling full, though for me it definitely is the thing that keeps the sicky feeling going for longer. I don't ever feel hungry though, so I am not the best person to say. I prioritise it whenever I can though. Dreaming just keep going, you are doing so well. I think the amount of fluids is also important as others say.
It is so good to hear about how well you are all doing.
Take care
Claire

Hi, It is lovely to see you here, this is a very supportive group of people, who as you say are at the same stage as you. It sounds like you are doing really well!I think that stalls in weight loss are inevitable and you are doing a lot of exercise which is building up your muscles which is great. I also try to have as much protein as i can manage, but there are limits! Weight loss does slow down but I think we tend to concentrate a lot on the times when things stand still and not really on times when they speed up again, which they do from time to time. We can't all expect to carry on losing at the speed we started off on, it is isn't realistic or probably that good for us. Think of all that you gave lost and how active you and celebrate!I am certainly really happy for all that you are managing to do and the weight that you have lost.
Congratulations and take care
Claire

Hi, It is lovely to see you here, this is a very supportive group of people, who as you say are at the same stage as you. It sounds like you are doing really well!I think that stalls in weight loss are inevitable and you are doing a lot of exercise which is building up your muscles which is great. I also try to have as much protein as i can manage, but there are limits! Weight loss does slow down but I think we tend to concentrate a lot on the times when things stand still and not really on times when they speed up again, which they do from time to time. We can't all expect to carry on losing at the speed we started off on, it is isn't realistic or probably that good for us. Think of all that you gave lost and how active you and celebrate!I am certainly really happy for all that you are managing to do and the weight that you have lost.
Congratulations and take care
Claire

Wow Erin, i am not surprised. You look amazing! And you have the same nail varnish as me, bright pink. I am trying to keep my nails from flaking by having them done properly, a real luxury. They are fine at the moment but i think that might help if they get to be a problem.
Off to the airport for the flight to LA today then on to Maui tomorrow, yay!!
Take care all of you
Claire

Hi Tammy and Carol,
I am sorry that you have had such miserable days. Great news though about the weight loss Tammy and jeans size Carol.
Every cloud etc.... however when you have a bad day it is difficult to think like that isn't it!
We are off to Hawaii on Sunday yaayy!! I am teaching all day on Saturday and so we have to pack everything into the car by tomorrow night. Then we go straight to my mothers for an overnight stay on Saturday before flying to LA on Sunday and on to Maui on Monday, where we will arrive Monday afternoon
(or the early hours of Tuesday our time). A very tiring few days but it will be so worth it when we get there. I am not so worried about the long flights as I would have been. I will try to keep my fluids up, diarrhoea and iffy days down, and food and Protein as much as I can cope with over the flights. I have tried on swimsuits which I thought might not be ideal with the weight and inches loss and the slippage downwards, but they seem just about ok. I just need to keep my legs together and the skirt part down. I know that you know what I mean!
Then sushi, sashimi and ahi here we come ( I will avoid Mahi Mahi, thanks Janette, until I think I can handle it). I will keep up with you all while I am away, in fact there won't be such a time difference.
Take care all of you
Claire

Hi,
Well done Zom, great news and way to go! I am thrilled for you.
Samantha, I can't help I am afraid with periods, I have had a hysterectomy, I am sure that others can help though.
I am really worried about hair loss, but mine hasn't started yet. I am sure that it is only a matter of time, I really hope that it isn't too bad for any of us. Like Janette, I have been trying as hard as I can with Protein in the hope that might improve things as much as possible.
Wallflower, weight loss seems to come and go for me. I don't think our bodies want to lose and want to hang on to the pounds. In the end they cave in though, particularly as early as you are in your journey. Your body just probably thinks that you are starving it. It will get used to it though, hang on in there.
RR I am glad you are feeling not too bad. I have to say that gurgling has been normal for me ever since the surgery. It feels strange and is very loud! I still can't predict for sure about what foods will work every day, sometimes familiar foods will not work, even though they did the day before. I find I just decide not to have it if that happens, or abandon it after a mouthful or so. It is not ideal when you are out and about though, and my reactions are not as bad as they are for a lot of people.
It is great to see all of your news
Take care
Claire

Hi Kim,
I will look out for Regaine when I am next in Costcos. It is good to hear that that has helped you. My hair is ok at the moment but it will happen very soon I am sure and I am more than a little worried about that. If you are all losing yours now then it is only a matter of time for me too. I was wondering about Kerastase Densifique because I saw something on TV about it helping with Hair loss but it is rather expensive. I have put in a question to the company to see if it is for this sort of hair loss though. Regaine might be a better bet all round.
Thanks Kim
Claire

You poor thing. I hope today is feeling better already today. Take care
Claire

Hi to you all,
Wifi access is not good at all in HDU. However my op was at 2.30 yesterday in the end. For the first few hours i was in some pain ( but not terrible) and that was making me feel sick. Then the sickness was making the oain worse, they dealt with it all really well though, and it feeling sick that i hate. However... At about 9pm i suddenly felt better. I could talk to people, smile and actually got out of bed for a pee at 10. Through the night i was great and got up again. Then at 5am i had a full wash and have been sitting out of bed since. No painkillers since 1am till 8am and now i am just on soluble paracetamol. Just mild discmfort, no wind pain from the laparoscopy, 3 plasters to cover the sites, no drain or catheterand oxygen stopped, drip still up. I am feeling fine! Just sleepy really. I am tolerating 60 mls of Water every hour absolutely fine and should be back in my room from HDU by 11ish (UK time) .
For those of you coming after me, like Ken who i think is next, i hope that is reassuring. I have got my list of who also had their ops yesterday back in the room.
Erin hope your new job is going well and that you are feeling ok food wise. Also Kim i hope your drain is out by now, i am glad that i didn't have one.
Zomgjj you sound like you are doing great, i am glad to be here and am feeling great and much better than i thought.
Thinking of you Ken on Friday, it's ok really it is.
Take care all of you
Claire

Hi to you all,
Well I seem to be losing again and have now lost slightly over 50 pounds in just under 12 weeks. More to the point my body shape has changed quite a bit and even I can see that I have lost. I have still got a really long way to go but I am really pleased that it is starting to happen. I also got my 7 stone award ( that is 98 pounds so I have now lost over 100 pounds in total) at my Slimming World group on Wednesday. I had lost some weight already before the surgery and the reason I decided to go forward with the surgery was because I was told that I wasn't burning calories like other people do and I would put it all on again.. plus more.
I do still have a couple of dodgy days a week and the greatest problem is that I can't predict when they will be, or even know that they are here until I eat something. I can't really cope with eating on those days (but I do not throw up) and I often have diarrhoea and feel really tired. However, that is not bad in comparison with some of you I know so I feel really lucky. I do not seem to dump, again in comparison with what I have read, although things have got stuck and I have felt unwell after eating. I can seem to eat a wide range of foods, but not all of them will work on an every day basis. So really things are as good as they can be and the weight is coming off so I am pleased.
How do you get the body weight ticker on to your profile?
I hope that everyone else is feeling ok at the moment and that RR you are feeling stronger every day.
Take care
Claire

Hi,
It is great to see Julie on here, because I find it such a supportive forum, and we all need that. That "buyer's remorse" feeling seems to be very common, as does trying to cope with how to eat/drink. I don't actually regret my decision but I do feel that I have done something terrible to my body which will always have a negative impact on me and my health, as well as a positive impact. It is a lot to get your head around.
I do like your phrase "you got this", we don't really use it over here but it really says it all. We have all got this, we are strong people who can cope with this, we know what we are doing and why we are doing it. Things just don't always go to plan every day. I am trying to concentrate on the small daily successes in eating and the positives, whether it is weight loss or other things. They all mount up. I am 5 weeks post op on Tuesday and really there is no comparison with how I was 1 week ago, let alone 2 weeks ago.
Last night I even had a 3 course meal!!!! Well it was a long meal while we were waiting to go to the theatre but I did manage 3 things. I tried a bite of bruscetta which didn't go down, I think because it had some grated apple on it, so I had half a breadstick dippped in guacamole instead so that was my starter. Then I had a small amount of lasagne which was new and then some pieces of melon. So 3 courses! I was really pleased. My small successes are:
small amounts of fruit - plum, grapes, melon, raspberries, strawberries, banana, pineapple - and avocado
Pasta - macaroni, tagliatelle, lasagne
crispbreads with philly cheeese
They all feel great and so normal. That is such a relief. So think ahead a few weeks Dreamingbig and you will be able to have more variety, maybe not the things you are craving at the moment, but anything that feels as if it is progress is wonderful. Also to get your social life back for me was a really big thing.
So today I am celebrating and if we listen to our bodies we can gradually creep up on this thing that we have all done.
We will get there together, we have got this, it just doesn't always feel like that every day, but the trend is that we are all getting better.
Take care
Claire

Hi,
It is great to see Julie on here, because I find it such a supportive forum, and we all need that. That "buyer's remorse" feeling seems to be very common, as does trying to cope with how to eat/drink. I don't actually regret my decision but I do feel that I have done something terrible to my body which will always have a negative impact on me and my health, as well as a positive impact. It is a lot to get your head around.
I do like your phrase "you got this", we don't really use it over here but it really says it all. We have all got this, we are strong people who can cope with this, we know what we are doing and why we are doing it. Things just don't always go to plan every day. I am trying to concentrate on the small daily successes in eating and the positives, whether it is weight loss or other things. They all mount up. I am 5 weeks post op on Tuesday and really there is no comparison with how I was 1 week ago, let alone 2 weeks ago.
Last night I even had a 3 course meal!!!! Well it was a long meal while we were waiting to go to the theatre but I did manage 3 things. I tried a bite of bruscetta which didn't go down, I think because it had some grated apple on it, so I had half a breadstick dippped in guacamole instead so that was my starter. Then I had a small amount of lasagne which was new and then some pieces of melon. So 3 courses! I was really pleased. My small successes are:
small amounts of fruit - plum, grapes, melon, raspberries, strawberries, banana, pineapple - and avocado
Pasta - macaroni, tagliatelle, lasagne
crispbreads with philly cheeese
They all feel great and so normal. That is such a relief. So think ahead a few weeks Dreamingbig and you will be able to have more variety, maybe not the things you are craving at the moment, but anything that feels as if it is progress is wonderful. Also to get your social life back for me was a really big thing.
So today I am celebrating and if we listen to our bodies we can gradually creep up on this thing that we have all done.
We will get there together, we have got this, it just doesn't always feel like that every day, but the trend is that we are all getting better.
Take care
Claire

I agree with everything that everyone else has said. I am also really pleased that you feel able to post those thoughts Dreamingbig. I am on another forum in the UK which is run by the company that carried out my bypass and everyone seems so positive all the time, even when things are going wrong! Before my surgery I was reading those and thinking how can they be talking about these things that are definitely not ok and saying how delighted they are to have had the surgery. These things don't coexist at the same time in my mind, though they can both be true at different times. I think people feel the need to put a positive spin on things when they do not always feel that way and that can feel very lonely. I really enjoy the honesty of this forum, if you are having a bad day then share it and others will be there to support you.
As Erin, babygurl and zoe have said honestly we have all had those days and things really do get better. It is horrible to not eat when others are and 4 weeks down the line I am really enjoying being able to do just that. Very small amounts and I have to pick what those things are but I feel so much more normal and I have my social life back, yay! The pain subsides too, although the tiredness and lightheaded feelings are still there at times, for me anyway. We just have to be patient with ourselves and allow ourselves to feel bad when we do and Celebrate the small successes every day.
People seem to struggle with certain foods even years down the line, and unexpectedly. Someone on the my other forum dumped on branflakes 5.5 years down the line, now that's not fair at all! She is moving house so stress might have been a factor but that is last thing she needed. Those things worry me, because I just want to know that certain foods are ok and always will be, particularly when I am out and about. Last night everything I tried got stuck and I hardly ate anything so my Protein levels were down, however I am sure that today is another day.
So do keep sharing your feelings, bad ones as well as good ones and you will feel better as time goes on. I think people saying that it is early days and you are bound to feel ... makes it difficult to express just how you are feeling. Well it did for me, and I think you have earned your right to say that you are having a bad time at the moment. Keep going and you will have much better days, honestly you will
Take care
Claire

Hi,
Welcome Mena and Lallie, you sound like you are doing really well.
Dreamingbig I do hope that you are feeling better every day. I am so sorry about your grandfather, what an awful shock for you when you had just had your surgery. It sounds like you you will miss him so much. I am thinking of you. Just take every day at a time because you have had all your pre op concerns, your grief for your grandfather and getting over a major op to cope with over the last week, as well as your eating and drinking to get your head around.
Kim, I am not sure what calorie levels i should be aiming for. Since I started more solid food my calories have gone up a bit, and my Protein down a bit. I am still managing 40g protein without the Protein Shakes that I was having but as I can't really have too much meat yet, and I really couldn't cope with the pureed forms again, I think this is a temporary thing. My calories are under 1,000, but I was having 500, again with more proper food but less protein However, this is probably only short term too. I am not sure whether this is right or wrong though, and all our regimes are different.
Erin, I think you did really well over the weekend. I don't think that safe always means healthy, and not having a problem while you were there was much more important than whether you were having chips or not. I think that you are absolutely right about rejoining life and the positive impact on how you feel , as well as not letting your bypass rule your life. I am 100% with you there. I think that the advice is not clear, and can be conflicting. I really want to know what might cause dumping, what is bad for my pouch and what are healthy eating principles separately. Then I can make decisions. If alcohol is something that is fine in moderation, as long as you don't dump and are careful to sip it, then why not. I really am coming to the conclusion that if all our regimes are so different that this is not an exact science. On top of this we all respond differently on an individual basis so surely we just need to carry on listening to our bodies and push the limits gradually. I think the weekend was everything you needed and you have realised that you can do these things without anything untoward happening and that is so positive and empowering.
I am also pushing the boundaries in little ways and had tiny bits of meals out over the weekend which was a real relief. Not sure why I have diarrhoea after meals but it is better than Constipation. Just a little difficult to cope with when out and about. I hope that is temporary! We are booking holidays like mad so I am hoping that I can continue as I am going and can eat and drink something wherever we go. Life is too short and I was so worried that I would be unable to do these things so I feel so much better knowing that I am rejoining the normal world.
Take care all of you.
Claire

Hi to you all,
Hope jeni and Ken that your surgeries go as well as mine has so far. I am glad Jen that Pam has her date now too, as you say she will be a professional by then via you.
Zom , Sally and Nikki i am glad that you are doing well too.i am sure that we will have difficult days in the coming weeks months and years but i have to say that my surgery has been so much better than expected. I had no staples, catherter or drain and i was glad to get rid of my appendages. Drip down last night so free at last, just mild discmfort around the holes but i even managed to sleep a little on my side on night 2 which i was not expecting. I had a quite acute lower abdominal spasm earlier in the night which felt like i needed to have diarrhoea, but nothing happened but am parping which a good sign. Dull abdo ache so i think i am starting to feel constipated. TMI i know but we need to share these things. When i get home later today i will start to take Benefiber which was advised by my variatric nurse. You just add it to any Fluid and it is colourless and apparently tasteless and it keeps you regular and sorts out Constipation. I got it on Amazon before i came in, something you might want to consider.
Erin i can see what you mean about new job and new start. They are only expecting you to eat what you do now, not what you did before. It sounds like you are really enjoying it too which is great. At the time it felt so brave to go back to work so soon but it clearly worked for you. I am sure that you ate missing eating with your family but hopefully the variety you can eat will increase soon and you will feel more able to. Kim you sound like you ate doing great too.
Nnegrete, i do hope you feel more positive soon, strange about the avocado fetish, i suppose we will all have them. I think that is why i was struggling before the op, it felt like a permanent bereavement of things i couldn't do again. I was so sad when we were in Key West for a few days at the beginning of the year because every day felt like that. I am hoping that was my way of preparing myself and that those feelings will not be as strong afterwards. Stay strong, you HAVE made the right decision and things will feel better, in time you might even manage those avocados, and you are losing weight! We are all there with you, just hang on in there.
Take care and be careful out there, we are flooding big time over here, worst floods for decades and you are in the middle of terrible snow storms.
Claire

Hi Zoe,
It sounds as if you are doing really well. Having soft normal food is such a major step isn't it! I have just tried some hummous and an oat biscuit, I couldn't have much at all really, but it is normal food, so that is brilliant.
Going back to work must have been difficult, tiredness suddenly hits you doesn't it, well it does me. I have never actually been off sick but that is because I planned the timing between teaching face to face days and the rest of my role is carried out from home. I think I have been overdoing that a bit though, even so.
I hope today at work is going well and your weight loss sounds great.
Take care
Claire

FAB and ncbabygurl,
To add to suggestions from others... I have found the egg/cheese thing suggested on here very helpful. It wasn't puree which was a relief, is high in Protein and is very nice. I agree that pureeing things puts you off so yogurt and berries with frozen Protein Drink made with home made custard base, fruit milk shakes and thicker protein based Soups have been my staples. I have tried to have something more pureed once a day though. I have found having some potato to help the chicken/fish etc go down is helpful as is upping the taste with mustard/soy sauce/cheese/BBQ sauce as separate sauces or to increase the flavour has helped too.
I hope that helps a bit
Claire

I hope that your pain goes away quickly and that you start to feel much better soon.

Wendy's chili was my go-to food when I was out too long and wanted a quick, hot meal.
Try not to weigh yourselves so often so you don't get discouraged. And don't compare your progress to anyone else's for the same reason. Everyone loses at their own rate and there are many factors that affect how fast or slow you lose. Starting weight (and how much you have to lose), activity levels, age, gender, complications, your general health at time of surgery, Constipation, too much sodium, and possibly other things I can't think of right now. It takes 3500 calories to gain one pound - none of us is capable of eating that much, especially in the early days following surgery. The weight will come off if you follow your doctor's instructions as closely as possible. Celebrate your non-scale successes. Things like fitting into a smaller size, being able to do something you couldn't before, not needing that medicine, walking farther than you could, being able to play with your kids, having joint pain ease up, seatbelt fitting better - and so many other things that you will notice. It's not ALL about the scale - it's about LIVING your life, happier and healthier. :-)