4me4them

I am not a doctor and I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn last night . I will relate what my PCP told me about night sweats...I went in because I was sure it was peri-menopause but he said more than half the time night sweats are a symptom of depression...the mind is racing at night when you are sleeping, which revs up the body to act. I tried estrogen for a bit, and at the same time decided to pursue WLS and my night sweats went away. I really disliked the estrogen though because it made me have a period like every other freakin week So, with his approval, I stopped the estrogen...about 3 weeks ago and have not had any more night sweats....So...maybe...your mind is still trying to wrap itself around the surgery/changes and they will get better with time. But as with all things, if you are not sure you should talk to your medical dudes. Just my two cents...

First...welcome to the site! You will find so much support from folks who have been there and "walked the talk". Second...congrats on having a date!! I'm just starting and hoping for surgery in late November... let us know how it goes!

Awesome success! Thanks for sharing and putting it all back into perspective for me...

How fun! Congrats and I'm glad you didn't get a skinned knee...lol

So I had my psych eval this afternoon. I found myself wondering on the drive there what kinds of questions they would ask. I really didn't worry about it but I was curious. Since I wasn't a patient, I had to fill out all the new patient stuff...but it was kind of cool because it was all on a tablet and went pretty quickly. The Dr. was able to see my responses as I entered them and since I was the last patient of the afternoon I actually went in about 10 minutes early. I'll try to list as many questions as I can remember: 1. How long have you been married? 2. Why are you here today? 3. How long have you been considering WLS? 4. Which surgery do you think you want? This one was followed by a discussion about talking to the surgeon, what did the surgeon recommend...etc 5. What are the cons to the surgery? I started with the medical ones...he pushed towards the "other ones" things like changing behaviors, social situations, family issues.... 6. What are the pros to the surgery? 7. How long has weight been an issue? I briefly wondered if this was a trick question....like "when did you stop kicking your dog...lol 8. What else do you hope to accomplish with your surgery? 9. Have you ever been in a psychiatric hospital? 10. Tell me about your depression. (self reported by me, have been on anti depressant for about 6 years and it runs in my family) 11. Tell me about your family's weight/relation to food. Then we did some memory stuff...he asked me to remember three words, then asked me to spell world, then spell it backward (harder than you think under pressure ), who was president..before him...before him....and then he asked me what the 3 words were. I can only guess that this was to make sure I was able to follow things???? 12. Have you ever binged and then purged? 13.Ever been treated for drug or alcohol abuse? When we were done he said he thought there were 4 main reasons insurance companies require the psych eval: 1. To ensure the person has a good understanding of the commitment level/risks (although the surgeons office also assess this I would think especially if you have a supervised diet period) 2. To ensure that there aren't any environmental issues that might keep you from being successful 3. To help ensure you are able to follow instructions/guidelines 4. To help ensure that you will be a good patient for the surgeon (although he didn't elaborate on that one). All in all easy peasy. Next Monday is a busy day for pre-insurance testing...I have my second NUT apt, an upper GI, an EKG and my cardiac clearance apt! Beth

I love to cook. In fact my husband and I do "chopped" challenges to each other all the time. I agree that this was something I had to think long and hard about. I'm just in the supervised diet phase, so I can't speak to after the surgery, but I've just shifted my focus a bit and find that I still like to find recipes and modify them and cook...I'm just looking for different stuff.

Congrats! Sending hopeful thoughts your way...

Welcome and congratulations! This is an awesome site full of cheerleaders, task masters (only when needed) and folks who can truly say 'been there done that". Me I'm in the cheerleader role right now as I'm just starting my journey...so I'll say "GOOOOOO YOU!" Rah Rah and all that jazz...

Congrats! Here's to an awesome next 6 months!

Good luck! Hope you had fun competing! Be sure to update so we know how you did...

Best wishes! See you on the other side...

Welcome to the forums! My brothers are 18 months apart and I know growing up they were a handful for my mom...so kudos to you! Lots of good information here and good support as well. I'm in the early stages of getting the paperwork ready for insurance myself. My psych is this Monday, and then almost everything else is on 04 August (I live about 1.5 hours away from the hospital so wanted to do them all in one day). I'm hoping for a late November/early December surgery because that is a really slow time at work. Looking forward to getting to know you and following your progress! Beth

Welcome! You have come to the right place! Lots of folks here to give good advice and a shoulder to lean on if things get rough.

I look at it a little differently. In a lot of cases the sleeve is a first step towards the bypass anyway. You could get the sleeve and keep the bypass an option for down the road. I do NOT mean that you will be unsuccessful...just that if your grandkids are older, your health needs determine it or your situation changes, you could potentially have the bypass later...

My nut is a hoot...lots of energy and she wears a "Eat Beef" button (no foods should be taboo...only moderated is her motto). At my first apt she weighed me, took a weight history, asked about exercise and then laid out my first months targets for Carbs (120-140 a day), Protein (80-90 g a day) and total calories 1500 a day. We talked about label reading, her requirements for a Protein Drink (low carb high protein), and the habits I should start practicing now for after surgery (chew each bite 20 times, no drinking with meals). She said my weight goal was to lose...no specific number. Hope that helps. It will be interesting to see what YOUR experience is...let us know how it goes!

Welcome to the site! You have come to the right place, lots of good folks with awesome experiences, a willingness to share and a sympathetic ear when needed! Good luck in your continued recovery!

Welcome to the site! I think most folks can only share what their dr tells them....I've noticed that there is a lot of variation. I'm still in the preop supervised diet phase so I can't comment specifically on your question. I want to share what a personal trainer once told me when I was asking a lot of questions similar to yours...she told me to turn each one into a positive question and write them down somewhere where you will see it. So... What will I do when I get flabby because I've lost so much weight, What will I feel like when I accomplish this, How will I go about loving myself....just calorie free food for thought...

So I work for a government training organization and there are many hails and farewells (welcoming and saying good bye), monthly observances, formal balls....you get the idea. I am responsible for two organizations, that are not collocated and while their missions are complimentary, there really isn't a lot of joint events between the two. All of this is to set the stage for the food gauntlet I had to face at work this week. 1. Wed. Farewell for the senior protocol officer....formal luncheon buffet style. So my strategy going in was to use a salad plate only, get a good amount of salad, and the put small amounts of whatever else I could on top. (I'm just in the 3 month diet phase now). So not too bad, salad, mixed veggies, small amount of roasted potatoes and a pitifully small roasted chicken thigh. Put one in the win column! 2. Thu. Farewell to two of the tech nerds in organization number one. This group had the bright idea to have an open "snack area" from 1000-1400 so I took some olives and mozzarella cheese. No one brought salad, but this one went pretty good as well, had fresh veggies, some fresh pineapples, 2 small meatballs and two fresh tomato, basil, mozzarella on small bruschetta with balsamic vinegar. Ate socially and then had meetings the rest of the day so I was out of the office. Put a second one in the win column! 3. Fri. Farewell to one of the instructors in organization number two. This one was a "comfort food casserole" potluck....ugh. So I made a big salad with lots of veggies and brought a bottle of dressing. Plan going in was to use the same technique as Wed. But there was a giant problem here....there was very little protein and lots of potatoes, pasta and cheese (melty kind). I took very small portions of three things on top of my lettuce and then I went back (first mistake) and got more of a couple of the potato dishes (mistake number two). I've been thinking about why Friday was so much more difficult to navigate than Wed and Thu because I truly did not feel deprived/upset/anxious at either of those two. I think there were two important differences. A. the first two events were controlled...the lunch was one time through the line and then the program started/I left the scene of the second one. On Friday, since I don't get to see these guys that much (I used to work with them daily but then got promoted and am now located with the other organization even though I am responsible for both) so we sat around chatting, people kept going back to the buffet line, passed out cake... B. I knew going in what was going to be available at the first two...not the third. So you may be thinking, but Beth, Friday doesn't seem like such a big deal...and lunch wasn't...but for whatever reason, it led to lots of snacking/eating while I was making dinner which hasn't been a problem for me in the past few weeks. I'm still working on why one triggered the other....right now I'm blaming the carbs! I guess my takeaway from this week is that I will always have the social aspect of my job and I've got to use this time before I have surgery to keep experimenting with what will work for me. I'm also taking a good lean protein to the next potluck in organization number two....they really need it. Beth

Hi Wndyyy, I hope to have my surgery the first part of December as well. Welcome!

Welcome to the forums! Many US insurance companies require a supervised diet period of either 3 or 6 months. It seems that most people can get all the pretesting stuff done during that time and then submit the insurance paperwork so another couple of weeks for that, then getting on the surgeons calendar. I'm guessing it would be much shorter if you are a private pay person...

Congrats! We are on almost the same track...my first month is over 04 August. Love the "shop it off" approach to get started. Would help here in AZ this time of the year because it is freakin hot right now...lol Good luck in month 2!

Welcome to the forum! I hope your recovery goes well... You will find lots of support here as you start your journey!

There are very different long term management issues between the bypass and the sleeve...just be sure you are really ready to accept them all so you have no regrets later...sorry it got messed up!

I don't have words of wisdom because I'm just starting the process, but you are in the right place! Lots of good folks with good ideas to share on the forums. Good luck!

Hey you, we are about in the same time frame...I'm a couple weeks ahead of you in that I had my first nutritionist apt on 07 July. I'm hoping to have surgery the first week of December because that is the best time for me to be off work. I'm also a former classroom teacher...high school science and math Good luck and I'll be looking for your posts!