HYCIERRA

Here's one I just found on Amazon that has 3700 reviews and almost 5 star rating. Really good reviews, up to 400lb. Reading and within your specified budget. Might check it out http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004L6NTHU?cache=5a3e31547e23b220ef4f35e400497c47π=SY200_QL40&qid=1405304219&sr=8-3#ref=mp_s_a_1_3

Ahhh, if only I could lose the hair on my legs rather than on my head, I'd be in heaven!!

Thanks everyone for checking in on me. I'm doing well, but struggling with water. I normally would drink about 70-80 ounces a day pre-surgery, but now about 2 sips and I feel it's backing up my esophagus. I carry water everywhere I go, but it's not liking me to well right now. Decaf tea seems to go down better. Why is that? Anyway, my tummy is still new and trying to figure it all out. I'll persevere with the water, I'm sure it'll work itself out eventually and I'll be to to my 60+ ounces soon. Again, thanks for checking on me

Both points well spoken and neither of which I thought of. Love "a steak is still a steak"...hasn't thought about the digestive components needed to break down some of this food. I will wait. Don't want anything to sideline progress, physically or nutritionally. Thanks for your comments and common sense. Very much appreciated.

Ok, I'm newly post op (last Tuesday) and have a"beef" with this full liquid diet. Clear liquid, broth and such. Skim milk, cream soup minus any food bits. My question is what is the difference between those foods and say... cottage cheese pulverized in my ninja or cream of wheat made extra soupy? Is there a difference? Wouldn't it digest the same as the cream soup and broth? Is there a risk in altering my full liquid diet with other foods as long as they were full liquid consistency and non-spicy or hard to digest foods? I'm not looking to cheat my full liquid stage, just looking for options that might be a bit more palatable to my slightly deprived tastebuds right now. Your thoughts and personal opinions are very much anticipated.

Ok, I'm newly post op (last Tuesday) and have a"beef" with this full liquid diet. Clear liquid, broth and such. Skim milk, cream soup minus any food bits. My question is what is the difference between those foods and say... cottage cheese pulverized in my ninja or cream of wheat made extra soupy? Is there a difference? Wouldn't it digest the same as the cream soup and broth? Is there a risk in altering my full liquid diet with other foods as long as they were full liquid consistency and non-spicy or hard to digest foods? I'm not looking to cheat my full liquid stage, just looking for options that might be a bit more palatable to my slightly deprived tastebuds right now. Your thoughts and personal opinions are very much anticipated.

All is now great, nothing my body and 24 hours couldn't fix on it's own. Got my drain out this morning and will be headed home sweet home today, hopefully by noon! Thank you all for your thoughts and well wishes.

Bummer, went for my upper GI this morning and have a kink in my bowel (a small bowel obstruction), so no liquids, no ice, no nothing for me today. Bummed, but ok. I'm walking a lot, went for my third 45 minute walk today and started burping. that's a great sign. We'll try again tomorrow with the GI. Wish me luck!

Sitting in pre-surgery, got my surgical gown on, vitals taken, iv going, this is real! It's really happening. I get my life back! I get to be the mom I've always wanted to be, to have the energy to go ride bikes, to play in the park, to play tag and be able to keep up. Life is amazing. <3

I chugged and chugged- I had the grape, which tasted like a sour candy- not too bad, but certainly don't care to drink any more in the near future! LOL. Surgery tomorrow... now it's time to pack and get ready for my big day. So unbelievably excited. A 14 year dream in the making- coming to reality TOMORROW MORNING!

Yep, surgery is on Tuesday, so I'm chugging the bottle tomorrow. I just remember years ago drinking something before a colonoscopy and it gagging me so bad I was drinking and heaving drinking and heaving. Was so hoping this want going to be like that!

Yah or nay? Did it make you gag??? Dreading this part.

What did you pack for your hospital stay, or better question what did you use or need during your hospital stay? I don't have a clue where to start. Also, any last minute prepping ideas?

Hmmm, I'm thinking I better be asking again on this. Mine is to be laparoscopy as well. I assumed the pulmonologist and nurses in the practice knew, and never asked the surgeon directly. I'll for sure be double checking. Maybe it was a scare tactic by the pulm. Since I was squawking at having a sleep study.

I'm hearing varying lengths in time- even within my surgical team. One says a couple hours, another says I'll be under anesthesia for 6 hours, another says 4 hours. What can I expect? (of course not factoring in any unexpected events happening)

I'm set for surgery in 4 days. I couldn't be more excited. I had my final pre-op appointment with my surgeon today and all is well. I'm not nervous, scared, I have no doubts that this is what I want, and what I need. The only thing that scares me (aside from being off work for 2 weeks without pay) is the fact that I'm convinced I will have loose skin. I've had 6 kids and I honestly don't think this ol' belly has any elasticity left in her. Anyone else scared of this more than anything? I'd really love to hear from anyone who's experiencing the saggy skin issue and if it's gotten better or worse over the years. What do you do to conceal it or do you just "hide" it under baggy clothes and don't give it a second thought?

That is a fear I have! My surgery is set for July 8th and I've called the dr's office no less than 7-8 times over the past couple of months checking in to make sure nothing has changed, they're receiving all my clearances, etc. It would be devastating to have my surgery postponed. I am so sorry that you are going through this. Prayers that October comes quickly for you. Take the time to educate yourself- read, listen, learn... attend support group meetings, build your network, keep yourself busy. Time will fly by and in the meantime, you'll be all the more determined and ready!

I'm on day 10 of my 15 day pre-op diet- clear liquids only with 3 Meal Replacement shakes a day- the first week was pretty easy- this second week though has been tough! I mean really tough! I'm constantly hungry. My guess is I'm close to my period, so that doesn't help much! I have a large family- 9 kids plus my husband and I. Cooking for them has been challenging- so I've been making the littler kids smoothies for dinner, or Cereal... or spaghetti o's (please send your mom-of-the-year nominations my way LOL). The older kids are fending for themselves, and hubby... well we work opposite shifts so he's on his own. The most challenging day I think will be tomorrow. My work is catering in lunch tomorrow and we always have these amazing feasts! I'm normally in charge of the planning, but thankfully everyone I work with is an amazing support, so they opted to plan this one without me. My comment was I 'm not eating, no one else is either. And my vote to have a "everyone bring in your favorite clear liquid non-calorie beverage" luncheon was quickly shot down. BOO! I think I'm going to take a walk during tomorrow's lunch. Some fresh air (away from the aroma of yummilicious food) will do me some good! My shakes are great, don't get me wrong, but it is the whole mindset that I need to embrace. I will never go back to where I was- a glutenous food monger- I will only move forward following this wonderful path I've choosen. I want to be healthy. Way too many people depend on me to be around for a long time- if I can't fight the food demons during my pre-op diet, I'll never be able to down the road. I am tough. I am determined. I am a champion...and you're gonna hear me roar!

Hi. So tomorrow is my final pre-op appointment with my surgeon. Surgery is set for next Tuesday the 8th. Super excited, not an ounce of nervousness, but I've been wondering about silly stuff- for instance- I'm quite confident I will have excessive skin- anyone have any suggestions on how to hide this extra skin? Spanx or another undergarment that you've had good luck with? I don't want something that is extra control and confining, just something that provides a little "damage control". Also- I've been thinking about my goals and milestones. Did any of you ever go out and buy a super cute outfit before surgery in several sizes smaller as additional motivation? I've not done this, but was thinking about it. and then my final question- I told my mom I was having surgery- she was not a fan of the idea and to say it safely, she's uneducated about the process , procedure, benefits and consequences, therefore she wasn't very supportive. Knowing this- I've not given her any additional updates on my process (she lives 500 miles away, so she's not involved in my daily doings). I'm contemplating on not telling her when my surgery is beforehand just because I know she is a worrywart. I don't want to stress her out about this, but I also know that if I tell her afterwards, she'll probably have her feelings hurt. I'm sure some of you can relate- any suggestions on how you handled this and the response Mom gave you?

I couldn't find then on Amazon either, but did find then here http://www.bariatricfoodsource.com/Crunch_O_s_p/crunch-o.htm. shipping was $4.95 depending on where you live. I'm on day 3 of my pre-op liquid diet now, but will be ordering some for after surgery snacking when I'm back on solids. Thanks for the suggestion!

I love that rule of thumb! I think I might have to abide by that as well. Way to easy to fall off the wagon and slip back into old habits. Great suggestion!

I use the isopure unflavored protein powder. I found it cheapest on Amazon. I think $42 for a 3lb. tub... it can be added to pretty much anything

I'm currently pre op, surgery on the 8th of July, someone mentioned to me once upon a time to calculate my BMR. I've always heard of bmi, but not bmr- which tells you how many calories your body burns per day and can be adjusted depending on how much weight you need to lose. Not sure if this applies to bariatric patients or not, but might also be a helpful tool. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

You can always get some unflavored protein mix to put in with anything you eat. Scrambled eggs, soups, cottage cheese, etc. This was recommended by my nutritionist. Or if you are having sugar free pudding you can always add a vanilla protein powder.

So at one of my pre-op support meetings yesterday, the therapist said that the best way to shut negative comments down if someone disagrees with your choice to have surgery is not to respond back negatively, but to reading with open ended questions. For instance, my mom is very opposed to me having surgery. The very first comment out of her mouth was " oh no!, that's so dangerous, so many people have died from that surgery". The therapist said a great response from me would be "wow! I hadn't heard that. What makes it so dangerous" or " oh no, I'm sorry, who passed away?" Obviously she doesn't have first hand knowledge of any of this, so if she were to say "well I heard about it on tv, or so and so said... then again, come back with another open ended question. " I've been doing a lot of research and I haven't run across that. What t.v Program was it on so that I can add that to my research.?" In all honesty, it's probably been 20 years since my mom has heard anything about gps. Then at the point that you've established that she really doesn't have a lot of information, you can simply say, "I'm pretty knowledgeable about the whole process, I've been doing months/years of research and have spoken with experts on this. Would you like me to tell you some of the information I've learned"? And then you can proceed to educate them with "real" information. Do any of you have experience with this or have you run into situations where family/ friends had negative responses? I'd love to hear your suggestions on how you deal with this. After my mom's response, I've now opted to be very cautious as to who I add to my support team.