Beni

Fun fact: someone did walk out of surgery last week, not sure if you saw the posts layknee. What did I enjoy before weight gain? Would have to go far back. Hum, I did enjoy dating (well, you know) but I'm married, that's out, lol. I may have to content myself with becoming a member of the sippy cup. Awesome sippy cup by the way

@@superbariatricbabe I have been giving a lot of thought regarding how food plays such a major role in my life and how it is wrapped in my persona. Food and I are like two sides of a coin. I am thinking I will have to replace it with something else. Because many WLS replace it with other things equally as destructive such as alcohol I need to get in front of this. In my opinion it will have to be something that provides pleasure. I think I failed in all my diets in part because I was not replacing food with something else that I loved as much. Of course it may have been because I was just hungry all the time and that was torture. Any thoughts?

I agree, we are all about TMI. This is the place were we can share our fears and all the info we can't share with anyone else because they won't get it. We are members of a very exclusive club!

I was told 5 days

Post Surgery Recovery at home : 1) Gas pain: chewable gas strips, walk, heating pad, stretching, sleeping in different positions 2) Pain: Liquid Vicodin (prescription) and Tylenol, sleeping in a semi-reclined position, even on a recliner as breathing may be uncomfortable 3) First week is hard but by day 8 you can go to DQ with family watch them eat but sip a drink, right AuriP? 4) After two weeks we'll be able to return to work and attend support group looking good to folks around you, we may even feel good 5) Exhaustion: I have read a lot about people feeling really tiered in the first month. The description of running out of steam very quickly is abundant. Many report not feeling great until 3 months out. The length of time feeling exhausted, in my opinion requires some mental prep. Anyone has anything to share? I was just thinking about this because so many of us are getting surgery next week

@ ammylynnsI I figured it out: I think you should stop walking with the dogs and kids, it's causing a headache, lol. Hope today is a little better. I can't wait for 9 months out from surgery, I wouldn't mind having a 100 lb baby and getting back to normal, if you get my drift. I feel pretty much as when I was pregnant: Emotional, cranky, hungry, bloated, huge tummy, aches and pains, scared to death of delivery, recovery, life after baby. Zero energy. Great analogy, I can pretty much replace the word baby with surgery. This is very helpful because I did recover from having a baby and I will this time too. It wasn't easy but I did it. I have HOPE again.

I love my mother and we talk at least once a week over the phone but a few years back my mother came to stay with us for 6 months. My father had passed away 5 years prior. I was going back to work and I thought she would help with the kids. I didn't need much help, just someone to be home when the kids got gone from school. Well, I have 3 kids, after she came I had 4. She was terribly lonely and missing her home and friends. Depended on everything from me. I came home and had to entertain her as she would be "so sad and lonely" and she didn't cook at all and her statement was "i'm not used to your kitchen"and what I mean is she didn't even cook for herself, I had elementary age kids, of course our dinners were simple stuff. I had to cook for her as well since chicken fingers, pizza and hamburgers was kid stuff. I must add, my mother was a stay at home mom her entire life, her dinners were elaborate and cooked from scratch. It was a disaster. I wish I had been able to check into the Holiday Inn.

Auri, all the protein drinks I have tried make me bloated and nauseous too. I wonder if we are intolerant to whey protein. From what I have read some WLSs are. There is soy protein out there but it may taste even worse

@@misstvb Bummer your husband is going to be gone for the next 2 weeks. Is there someone who is going to help you in that first week after surgery?

Hi AuriP, how was your day?

I was told by my doctor that the average weight loss for Gastric Sleeve is 50 to 60% of excess body weight and that's about 50 to 60 pounds. You did above average with 74 lbs lost. You are doing great. So the next few lbs are going to take a little more effort but you are still doing amazing. Always remember it's not about perfection but about a significant improvement.

What WLS surgery did you have ? I ask because I am at the same weight you were before surgery and we have the same height. 75lbs is a lot of weight though. You have made great progress.

I too have BCBS and it's about $4,500. Of that amount $1,000 due at the hospital before surgery and I forget the doctor but it's less then that maybe $600. The rest will be billed later

I think leaving was the right thing to do for you. You have to be ready for this and you were not ready. The best analogy I can think of is deciding not to get married the day of the wedding. You were not ready to get married. Maybe you will later maybe you will not but you should not go ahead with this kind of doubt. Take a break and revisit the issue after a period of time. Get counseling to work through your feelings independently of your decision. Your feelings are real and they need attention.

@@Myonlybattle Thank you for sharing that. It has given me so much hope.

I have another regarding the artistic composition I mention above. I wonder what people are going to think 20,000 years from now when our bodies turn up? Perhaps some will be in the kind of soil that preserves things. They are going to go, "what the F is that?" In any case, at least all our staples will still be inside of us. I imagine a lengthy discussion about the bits of surgical metal. Wonder what they are going to think it's for: jewelry, sacred amulets to ward evil spirits, this could be very entertaining. Now on to more productive endeavours, got to get some work done. Ta ta cheers!

@@walkin'onsunshine, My response to your "awesome", will have to answer with my usual - I know. I did say I was not humble, lol. But because in every garden some rain must fall. I have noticed my typing skills leave a lot to be desired. I type fast but now I skip letters, whole words, reverse order, it's a hot mess. It's almost like my brain and hands are not in sink. My sincere apologies for such poor writing, my English teacher would be sad. But then, I have been under stress lately. It's not everyday that you decide to go and get your insides all sliced, diced and rearranged into hopefully an artistic composition, right? @@smiley922 You got a really impressive thing going with that DaVinci machine. If I were you I would be very nice to it. Funny story: When I was researching doctors, I ran into this doctor's website and one of the first things it said was that no, the machine cannot move by itself and only the surgeon could operate it. I thought it was so funny. I am sure he placed that there because people worried and he must have received a lot of feedback about it. It's just a tool like a pair of scissors folks. But it is very impressive.

HAPPY B-DAY ! Thanks for all that you do for Bariatric Pal and us WLSs

Welcome BypassMan, you just stumbled into the most dedicated WLS support group on earth. And in my not so humble opinion the "October Surgery Date" folk are the cream of the crop, the best of the best, the cat's meow, you get the picture! You don'y have to take my word for it, ask any of us, lol. You are going trough a lot right now, wow and I thought I was having issues. Stay strong my friend

Great, the "Oct 7th bunch" is beginning to roll home. Everyone in "October" is reporting gas pain, some pretty bad. Please share anything that has helped you, even as silly as it my seem. Standing on your head? (Which you could?) Suggestions so far X-gas strips warm pad / heating pad walking Wishing you a speedy recovery and that the pain goes away very, very soon.

Ginger, I read Kindle takes insoluble fiber (not the same as soluble fiber such as metmucil) It's hard to find but she adds it to her shake and keeps her regular. Amylynns' doctor has her taking a different type of Iron which upsets the stomach less. Do you remember what level of B12 you were taking, in sublingual form (I think I read you were doing sublingual)? My recommendation was for 500 mcg. I noticed my drops (the only dosage I could find) are 5,000 mcg.

Like with anything, practice makes perfect. I have been eating without drinking at meals for about 3 weeks now. I tell you it is easier then you think. The main reason you had to drink with your meal before was you needed the liquid in order to wash the food down. Without it you have to eat much much much slower which actually causes you to feel full eating a smaller portion. In my opinion the drinking with my meal contributed to my weight gain. If you take a bite, chew a couple times and wash it down with a drink, you can eat a whole plate in 5 minutes. If you have to chew enough (20 to 30 times per bite) to swallow without a drink, after 20 minutes you eat 1/2 of the plate and you are full. It's amazing. I wish I knew then what I know now.

I have an idea about "food with mom" this works for pea soup or anything else When visiting mom bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup and explain to her, after having weight loss surgery, your doctor said, it is very important to eat in portions that size every time you eat because everything is healing inside of you (not busting your stitches). Later you will be able to eat more (later, hopefully will never come) The visual removes the: 1. "Have a bit more soup" suggestion that we all know is coming or "is that all you are going to eat?" to follow. She doesn't have to know that's all you eat 3 times per day. It is open ended in the sense there is the potential that you will have several more meals that size through out the day. We know you don't. 2. Tell mom her soup is delish and you would love to take some home to freeze for later. Tell her how her soup is the best thing ever and you are the luckiest person alive to have a mom who makes the best soup. Good luck

I believe the terminology is as follows Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) also known as Bariatric Surgery Types: 1. Gastric Bypass also know as Roux-En-Y (RNY) 2. Gastric Sleeve 3. Lapband ETC, there are a few other types but you get the idea

@@walkin'onsunshine good to hear from you. Ouch the gas sounds bad. Good to know about the Water. It seems like it goes right through you. I was expecting drinking to be somewhat uncomfortable. The lack of hunger is normal from what I read. I am sure it feels good to be home