JamieLogical

I'm not allowed pudding until Thursday, but I think I will definitely try that out. The cafe mocha sounds good too and I'm technically allowed decaf coffee now. I just haven't had any, because DECAF coffee always seemed to defeat the purpose of coffee for me. Maybe I'll grab some at the store tonight.

Big congratz! Way to stick with it and push further!

I was only allowed three protein shakes a day and one green salad with calorie-free dressing per day on my pre-op diet. It was most definitely NOT fun. But two weeks after my surgery, I only WISH I could drink 3 protein shakes a day! Heh.

My surgery was two weeks ago yesterday. I just toughed it out. I wasn't even allowed Protein shakes until one week out, so you are better off than I was if you are already on shakes. I just did yogurt and strained clear Soups (chicken noodle varieties mostly) for that first week. I found the sugar-free Jello and popsicles to be pretty useless, since they don't actually provide any calories. Once I was allowed Protein Shakes and strained cream soups, I was just doing two shakes and some Soup each day. I was technically supposed to be on that until this coming Thursday, but yesterday I tried a little cottage cheese and did okay with it, so I'm probably going to add that into the mix until Thursday when I'm allowed more pureed/soft foods.

Well, as with any lipo, it takes a little while to see results. When you get lipo, it sucks out the fat, but the trauma to the tissue causes the area to fill with fluid/swelling. Also, when you have extensive surgery like I did, there is a LOT of swelling and Fluid build-up throughout the body, which almost always makes its way down to your ankles and calves, thus the need to walk A LOT. But once all the swelling was finally down, I so think there was a little bit of a visible difference. Not an extreme difference, because most of the tissue in my calves by that time was muscle, not fat. Then, of course, I regained 80 pounds and that included a LOT of weight in my legs. For some reason, when I regained weight, my tummy tuck seemed to prevent weight re-gain in my abdomen so all of my weight had to go somewhere else, almost all of it went to my legs, as you can see in my photos in my gallery.

I'm not sure what the point of 42 grams of protein at one time would be. Your body can't possibly absorb that much, so a lot of it would be wasted and you'd still end up having to get a lot of other protein throughout the day in order to actually get enough protein.

I was just at OCC last week, so this is the latest info. I traveled alone and left all my possessions in my room with no worries at all. The access to the area where patients' rooms are is secured by a keypad and the office manager assured me they have security cameras throughout the facility. I had over $100 cash, my wallet, my tablet, a laptop, a cell phone, etc. in my bags and nothing was touched. No worries at all. Also, I got all of my medication handed to me in a plastic bag, along with all the instructions about what each medication was for, how much to take, and when to take it. There was an antibiotic, a pain killer, an anti-nausea pill, and antacid. I didn't have a need for any other over-the-counter medication while I was there, aside for some Gas-X strips (not sure if they actually helped at all). As for packing, bring the hard copy of your pre-op survey, your passport, some cash (not much), your cashier's check (if you didn't pay with credit card), all your electronics and chargers, any medication you've been instructed to continue taking, Gas-X strips, your spirometer, toothpaste/toothbrush, deodorant, any other toiletries (hotel has soap, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion), comb/brush, hair ties, comfortable underwear, socks, and clothes. I just brought a couple pairs of yoga pants and some t-shirts, plus the jeans I was wearing to travel. Pack as lightly as possible. It will make going through various security checkpoints easier and it will make it easier to get through the airport and loaded onto the plane.

I hope you are referring to the Atkins-style diet the Nutritionist recommends and not the stricter 3 protein shakes per day diet you have to do for the last 15 days. If you try to stretch that out to 6 weeks you will die. And I'm not exaggerating. You will literally die. It's only about 450 calories per day and you are expected to still continue your exercise, continue going to work, and you still have 100% of your stomach.

That was my big worry as well. Trust me when I say that if you follow the 15-day pre-op diet, you will lose a lot of weight in those last two weeks. I still had over 6 pounds to my maximum goal weight (meaning losing the MINIMUM the nutritionist wanted me to) when I started the pre-op and then I blew right past that goal by my surgery date. Just don't ease up on diet and exercise before your pre-op. If I hadn't lost those 7 pounds prior to starting my pre-op diet, then I wouldn't have made my goal before surgery.

I'm surviving. Wish I could get more water in. It is SOOOOO hard getting my water in. Before the surgery, I didn't get what everyone was talking about. How hard could it be to drink water? But now I know exactly what they meant!

I don't know that there was anything they could have done for me in the clinic that I couldn't do for myself in the hotel. They maybe could have given me something for the dry heaving, but it came on so fast without any warning that they probably wouldn't have.

I just realized I haven't posted back to this thread since I was still at the clinic! I am home now. Came home on Friday night. That was a whole ordeal because my flight home from Chicago was canceled, ugh! Let's see... So I had my surgery Monday and left the clinic Tuesday morning. Only two of the five of us who had surgery Monday got to leave in that first group Tuesday morning. As Swee_dee mentioned, she had some nausea, so she and her fiance stayed a little extra. Another woman had a slight fever and thought she might be having a heart attack (it was just the same left-side cramping that all of us were experiencing), so she stayed longer as well. Once back in the hotel I was doing pretty well until the early evening, when all of the sudden, the need to throw up rolled over me and I was making a dash to the bathroom for some dry heaving (hadn't eaten anything, so there was nothing to throw up). That happened two more times during the evening. I didn't feel nauseous prior to or after each incident. It really just came over me super quick and then was gone once I finished dry heaving. Fortunately no more of that after that first day post-op. The main issue I had aside from that was SEVERE cramping. It felt like menstrual cramps more than anything. It started initially up under my left rib cage while I was still at the clinic and then by the time I was back at the clinic to have my leak test and drain pulled, it had migrated very low, like down near my bladder. Wednesday morning I had my leak test. Got to see my new stomach and it really is just a tube now! Then they pulled my drain and the cramps immediately stopped. No cramping at all since then. Since Wednesday my main challenge has definitely just been getting my water in. It's just so uncomfortable to drink. Every time I take a sip I feel this gurgling gas bubble up my esophagus (often have to burp) and then a constriction of my esophagus that feels like a tightening in the center of my chest. That happens with every single sip. It doesn't hurt, it's just so unpleasant, that it makes drinking a chore. And since I can only take tiny sips to begin with and I go through that with every single sip, it takes a VERY long time to get any significant amount of water down. As for food. I'm still on clear liquids + drinkable yogurt until tomorrow, when I can start having protein shakes again. The last two days I've manages about 3 oz. of yogurt. Yesterday I made some chicken noodle soup and strained out all the solids and drank about 4 oz. of the broth. And last night I had a sugar-free popsicle. So I was maybe up to about 200 calories yesterday? I figure it will be a lot easier to get calories in once I can start my protein shakes. Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to get you guys all caught up since I hadn't posted in so long!

Definitely stay the second night. You'll be close to your surgeon in case of emergency and travel is exhausting, so the extra day to recover is well worth it. I had to travel home from San Diego to Rochester, NY yesterday, 4 days post op (I stayed two nights in hotel in TJ and a night in San Diego) and I was definitely dead on my feet by the time I got home last night.

Well, I'm sleeved! Sorry for not posting earlier, but I just got my laptop going again. As far as I know, everything went fine. A young male nurse who didn't look a day over 17 drew my blood for tests and put in my IV. He was very nice and did a great job. He also gave me liquid Xanax to calm my non-existent nerves. Dr. Ortiz came in and chatted with me a bit before the surgery. We talked about bariatric vitamins, what foods to avoid even when I'm back to solids (he is not a fan of dairy in general it seems). By the time they came to take me to the OR, I was pretty out of it from the Xanax and sleep deprivation. They took me to the OR and the anesthesiologist introduced himself and then I woke up and the surgery was over. That was definitely the worst part. Coming out of anesthesia. My mouth felt like it was filled with 100 cotton balls, I was drifting in and out of sleep, and I was moaning a lot. I don't know why I was moaning other than how torturous it was breathing in with my mouth so dry. So on every exhale I was moaning from the discomfort of breathing I guess? I also had a headache. They came and put meds in my IV for the headache and I finally got some ice chips. That helped some with the dry mouth, but it's now hours later and even with sucking on ice chips and sipping water constantly, I still feel thirsty. I've been up to walk to the bathroom a few times and I've walked around the room and down they hall some as well. Just sleeping on and off between walks. I have a lot of burp-inducing gas, but it's not painful. I occasionally get a pretty strong cramp, but it always goes away quickly. I guess that's everything. Oh, I am working on eating my second popsicle of the day right now.

I'm in my room now, just waiting for the nurse to come hook up my IV then it's off to surgery. Catch you on the flip side!

Leaving this afternoon for my surgery at OCC tomorrow! I'll be sure to post ASAP after the surgery to let you all know how it went.

If you feel up to it, go for it! Just don't drive if you are still on any heavy pain meds.

Of course it does!

From what I understand, everyone stalls. It is perfectly normal. And 8 days isn't really a stall. Some stalls last a month or more. If I had to guess, I would say you are maybe not getting enough calories? It sounds like you are doing a lot of physical activity and you're male, so 650 calories seems pretty low.

The daily recommended allowance is only something like 35mcg. My bariatric Multivitamin includes Biotin and I really have no intention of taking any extra.

I felt the EXACT same way a few days into my pre-op diet. It is sooooooo hard. I'm now just finishing day 13 with two days left (surgery Monday!) and I am still second-guessing this decision every single day. I was very confident in my choice before the pre-op, but I think the pre-op just really messes with your brain. You feel so crappy and miserable and wonder if you will ever feel "normal" again. Everyone reassures me that I WILL feel normal again one day, or at least a "new normal". I hope they're right, because there is no backing down now! Just know you are not alone.

Congratulations! I can't wait to join you!

You should really really really quit smoking before the surgery. Nicotine drastically reduces your body's ability to heal. E-cigarettes still have nicotine, so they are no better than normal cigarettes in that regard. In fact, currently the amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes isn't regulated, so they could be worse. Here's a little article about it: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1323208

I love reading your post even more than seeing the pics, because it just comes across how much happier and healthier you are. It's great to hear how this surgery has really changed your life in such a positive way that is impacting more than just your weight.

Wow! Down 150 pounds and you look fantastic! I bet you feel amazing!