I am now running on the treadmill which has shaped the body nicely so far. Also I have been doing weights: leg presses and shoulder lifts.
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Pac-woman
Gastric Sleeve Patients
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Blog Entries posted by Pac-woman
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Well, I haven't been on the site for a long time and thought to check in. So far i have lost 83 lbs. I am in a state that I don't know where to buy clothes. I go to the plus size section out of habit and can't find anything. Then I go to the junior section and I am baffled about how I can now fit into a large or xl in junior size. Amazing?!
I am now running on the treadmill which has shaped the body nicely so far. Also I have been doing weights: leg presses and shoulder lifts.
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Sad.
All my life, my mother complained about my weight. I was often critized, warned, put through the ringer about how I looked. It was a battle with mom all my life.
I went to see my mom at the nursing home first time yesterday since I had the surgery 20 days ago. She has dementia. I asked her slowly if she noticed I lost weight? She just stared straight ahead , had no clue what I was talking about. I don't know if she knew who I was. I hugged her and I so wish she could see me now 39lbs less. She would be so proud of me. So happy. Sooooo "i told you so".
God, I wish mom had a moment of clarity and would see me and be happy for me at least for a few seconds. That would mean so much to me.
But as she stared straight ahead, all I can do is hug her and shed tears looking the other way so she doesn't see it. Not that it mattered, she wouldn't know what tears are or why.
Dementia sucks.
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Gastric Sleeve Documents- Interesting Info and Recipes
· Pac-woman · 01/29/2015 02:08
Hello,
Attached you will find a document with good information on the gastric sleeve I was give. The document contains over the counter meds that you can or cannot take after surgery and also shake recipes.
gastric sleeve instructions (1).pdf
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Easy Way Out Statement
· Pac-woman · 02/21/2015 18:49
I feel that I need to share a statement that was written by someone who is a friend of my coworker. I wish I knew who it was so I can give proper credits. But this statement will really explain how it is to people who dare to say that "surgery is the way out". There is absolutely NOTHING easy about weight loss surgery. Enjoy.
Why surgery is the "easy way out" for weight loss!
Yep, you heard that right. I've decided that I agree with the myriad non-surgical, gym-loving, overwhelming weight loss successes that feel strongly (and vocally) that surgery is the easy way out. They really are correct. We all should be ashamed of ourselves for taking the shortcut approach and racking up an "un-earned win".
Just think about it. To successfully lose weight without surgery, all you have to do is two things:
eat less
exercise often
With surgery, you only have to do one thing:
pay a surgeon to make you lose weight
Well, perhaps that's a minor oversimplification. There are a few other steps, but they are tiny and insignificant. Not everyone has to do them either! But, just for the sake of objectivity I’ll list most of them that I can think of. (I might miss a couple, but since surgery is the easy way out who cares really.) Let’s see, there is:
Convince yourself that you want to do this. This is much more complicated than it seems, so take your time. Don’t get sick before you make a decision.
Convince your doctor that this is medically necessary. Convince him/her that you really do want this and you aren’t just someone unwilling to sweat a little. Convince them that you won’t die on the table. Convince them that you aren’t doing this so you can keep eating cake for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. Because that’s the only reason big people are big people.
Spend anywhere between 3 months and a year working with your PCP to make a preliminary run at losing weight. This should include:
A special diet
Exercise
Constant office visits to measure progress
Significant expense to participate in the diet (Nutrisystem, Medifast, and Jenny Craig, I’m looking at you!)
Lots of documentation
Likely (if not anticipated) painful, humiliating failure (PS, this is a requirement!)
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Spend hours to days or more working with your insurance company website, phone reps, and via letter to determine if weight loss surgery is covered at all, assuming they will admit to it.
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Once you find out it is covered, find out what exactly is covered. Type of surgery, location, type of doctors required, pre-op programs necessary, pre-op medical requirements, pre-op diet requirements, and documentation. Make sure you understand it all clearly because…
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Meet with your PCP to go over all of the above. Explain to them what most of it means, because they don’t understand. Make sure your work so far will meet the needs of the insurance company. Convince him/her to do the work to get the approval. If not, return to step 1 and try again. (Note: make sure you do all of this quickly- most of these rules are subject to change on January 1, even if you have a 12 month diet requirement. You’ll need to find a way to violate the laws of space and time on your own.)
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Get a psych evaluation. People who want this surgery are invariably crazy, so we need to confirm that. Don’t use a doc you know. Go somewhere you’ve never been so that they can get that first-blush, cover of the book impression of your particular brand of crazy in the 45 minutes you get with them. Let them write their report confirming your “crazy flavor” to your docs and insurance. They will approve you anyway.
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Take an online class that confirms the crazy diagnosis.
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Take another online class that basically tells you if you have the surgery you will likely die horribly on the table, if you’re lucky. You might just become a vegetable and be a possibly fabulous looking skinny burden on everyone you know and love!
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Find a surgeon that can both perform the surgery (practically, legally, and allowable by the insurance) as well as doing so without causing
Errors
Infections
Hernias
Leaks
Death
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Make sure that doc can take your insurance. Not just yoru insurance, but your exact insurance. This may require them to check at least a dozen contracts.
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Do the same for the hospital.
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Make sure that hospital you’ll have the surgery in isn’t a festering wound itself. The surgeon can only do so much if when you get to the floor you’re placed in the same bed last used by an Ebola patient with a cold and cleaned by “Blind Larry”. Fortunately there are many websites sponsored by government agencies to help you with this. They will all disagree with each other.
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Get insurance authorization to have the surgery. Fortunately this process starts the weight loss, as one arm and one leg weigh a surprising amount when removed and given to them. This should take no more than a day or two, tops.
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Have a discussion with your employer. Let them know that you’ll need a full week off from work in the near future. You know, when you aren’t busy and won’t be missed. Again, if you’re lucky you’ll have vacation and can use that. If not, think of how much extra weight you’ll lose when you can’t afford to eat for lack of a paycheck! OH, you may need more than a week. If you come out healthy. If not, it’ll be more. A lot more.
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Have a discussion with your family, if you haven’t yet. If you haven’t yet, shame on you for your discretion, personal space, and recognition of the gravity of this decision. Make sure that you convince them that you won’t die, runaway with David Beckham or Eva Longoria (or both if you’re flexible), or otherwise ruin the home.
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Get answers to all of the questions you have. Fortunately ObesityHelp is a great place for that. You will get no less than 10 answers to every question. Some may actually agree. ☺
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Make sure that this is really what you want. This isn’t like buying a car or getting married. This is permanent and there is no going back. Still confident this is the right choice? Now you know your flavor of crazy from item 7.
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Go on a liquid diet. You may not have anything that you cannot “read a newspaper through”, is solid, has calories, has carbs, has protein, has flavor, or is made of a natural substance. This will last anywhere from two days to a month. Your surgeon will tell you how long.
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While on the clear liquid diet, please try not to cheat on the diet. More importantly, please try not to defecate on yourself. Here’s a mantra for you: “Never trust a fart!”
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Have the surgery. This will include:
Large, but not quite large enough gowns with special butt exposing panels
Freezing rooms
Needle fears
Vein scavenger hunts
Panic attacks
Several other fun moments no one will spoil for you to discover
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Recover from the surgery. This will include:
Amazing drugs that will make you fear for the poor 110lb nurse that will help you walk at first. Please don’t fall during this time or you will crush her. You’ll fear this, but only briefly (great drugs remember). Just don’t fall.
Walking. Yes, you’ve just had your entire insides rearranged and have more stitching in you than a rented tuxedo, but hey, let’s go for a walk. Every hour.
Eating. This is really a game. You have a 3ish ounce container that replaces your stomach. It is swollen, but you don’t really know how much. If you over fill it, you will be in serious pain, and may hurt yourself severely. Here’s the fun part- you’ll be given a selection of hald a dozen clear liquids to choose from. Some will make you retch. Some will taste like heaven. All are more than 3 oz. You- the person who’s complained that Mickey D’s quarter pounders have never once been a quarter pound – now get to determine what 3 oz looks like. Don’t forget two very important things.
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Going to a bathroom. The author of this article is a male, so with that perspective in mind, consider the male stereotype of urinating. Now imagine that sharpshooter in the hands of someone who cannot see straight, or single vision, is falling asleep on their feet, whose prostate is not yet awake from surgery but whose bladder most definitely is, and who is currently on their 4th IV bag of saline with lactated ringers running wide open. Don’t forget to measure your output!
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Go home! This is the easy part. Stuff your swollen and now anesthesia free self into a car and try to avoid potholes, cough, sneeze, or breathe too hard.
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Continue the clear liquid diet for a few more days
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Progress to protein drinks. These are a joy. There are few if any samples, so make sure you get the 5lb bottle to be sure you love it.
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Progress to pureed or baby food
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Progress to cat food or tuna
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Progress to gourmet cat food or flavored tuna / canned chicken
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Progress to dog food or chunky soups / heavily cooked soft and unflavored chicken
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Progress to human food. During this time you will need to learn a few things. These will include:
How to eat. Remember you’ve been doing it wrong all your life so this should be easy.
You may only have dense protein.
You must take in no more than 3-4 oz.
You must take an entire 30 minutes in which to do so.
You may not drink before, during, or after the meal.
You may not have anything spicy.
You may not have anything with carbs.
No alcohol for at least 6 months, or maybe forever.
Nothing liquid.
Carbonated anything is permanently off the menu for the rest of your life.
Nothing with caffeine.
Nothing with less than a 10:1 ratio of protein to carbs
Keep calories as low as possible.
Learn to keep something that meets all of your dietary needs handy. If you need to eat, not every place can meet your “special needs”.
Make sure that you understand that you need to do this for the rest of your life. You can’t change this. Non Surgical people can indulge once and awhile. They can cheat. We rupture.
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Please remember to keep your intake to levels that would make Ethiopians send you food. This is generally 800 calories, less than 40 carbs, and more than 80 grams of protein per day. You must do all of this in 3 meals with no snacks.
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Take your supplements:
Calcium. Note that it isn’t the same calcium that you can get for a dime on any gas station shelf (Calcium Carbonate). This is a highly refined form of easily absorbable calcium (Calcium Citrate). It will come in three forms: A disgusting snot textured liquid found at Wal-Mart for $11 per week, a myriad of chewable pills that all taste like flavored drywall and cost about $20 per month, and delicious chewable candies that cost $40 per month.
Multivitamin. You’ll be doing double doses. Get the adult gummy ones. Find the ones with no carbs.
Fiber. Get the adult gummy ones. Find the ones with no carbs.
Iron. Some people will take iron. Get chewables.
B12. You can do pills under your tongue that taste like yesterday’s fish for $10/month, injections at the doc’s office every 3 weeks, or a nasal spray that costs $350/month.
Do all of the above for the rest of your life. Don’t stop or you’ll die.
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Start to exercise! What, you thought that you didn’t have to exercise? Yep, here’s the trick. You are going to lose weight even if you don’t. Here’s the other trick. It’s easier to take that weight from your bones and muscles if you don’t exercise, so if you don’t work out, all that’s left will be fat!
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No really, you have to exercise.
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Yes, that means sweating.
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Make sure that while you’re going through this easy time in which every hormone you have is at full tilt, every part of your body looks and feels funny, nothing fits, and you generally are proud that you’re losing while also being weirded out by how different everything feels you also take into account everyone else. Remember, this is about them and how they perceive you. You can’t be the popular kid. The healthy person without diabetes, hypertension, edema, or apnea. The more confident employee. The more confident lover. The physically stronger person. The person who wants attention. The person with self-esteem. You need to apologize frequently for these failures and must work hard to gently help these people along to where they can think of you as a lesser person for altogether different reasons than they did before, to preserve their psyche. Stop making your weight loss about you.
See? Even with these minor things, it’s obvious. Surgery is the easy way out. Don’t be a sucker. Be strong, and just eat less, and exercise more. It’s that simple!
You are stoned on anesthesia. Your judgment aint what it should be.
So is your stomach. It’s not going to help you by saying “I’m full” for about 2 weeks to a month.
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Low Carb Recipes
· Pac-woman · 01/31/2015 13:19
Hello,
If you like to keep up with low carb recipes for your sleeve, I am posting new ideas here when I come across them on the web. You are more than welcome to "Like" the page. When you do this on your facebook account, everytime I post something, you should be able to see it on your wall.
Good Luck!
www.facebook.com/recipes4thenewyou
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Day 16 Post Op- Still Sipping Water Like a Hamster
· Pac-woman · 01/28/2015 05:42
Well, here I am on the 16th day. Tomorrow I have my first follow up with my surgeon. I am nervous about it, not sure why. I hope I don't disappoint.
I am still struggling with solids. I am supposed to be on pureed food but I can't do it. So I stuck with protein shake and bars and soup. I have tried tinkering with certain solids but my stomach is not having it.
I think I am not chewing properly. I know we have to chew to the point of non existant, but I am not there yet.
Not a whole lot to say, other than I am on the dreaded 3rd week stall and I can barely make it to 400 calories.
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Diary of a Fat Girl, Day 7, Post Op
· Pac-woman · 01/19/2015 19:10
Day 7!
Today is the first day I am by myself. Finally! I have been surrounded by people since the day of the surgery. Sometimes a girl needs some "me" time you know? Just time to yourself to think and even if it is just slouching in the couch watching hideous programs. Today is just me and my protein shake finally. I enjoy the quiet, nothing but my dogs snoring, small chattering from the tv in the background, and just trying to quietly take what has happened in the past week slowly in.
It has been overwhelming. It has been an emotional rollercoaster ride, feeling depressed, in pain, in doubt, fear?, regret?, and happy to be slimming down even if it means eating like a chipmunk for the rest of my life. UGH.
BUT, it has to be done.. There was no other way out. I tried everything, and I consider myself pretty active compared to others. But the eating habits, the carb, the fast food, the fried stuff was out of my control.
Do I miss certain foods? For sure! My head does. I practically eat with my eyes now, while this surgery has put a muzzle on my mouth practically (virtually). I would kill for a chicken nugget right now. But if I can't even down my protein shake, what in heavens makes me think I can swallow a nugget?
I think as of today, I am parting with boiled eggs. Something I liked before, I just can't stomach the texture now. It is amazing how things change. The deviled ham (a.k.a. cat food) is out the door too. THat was a desperate attempt to eat something other than shakes, well, it turned out to be nasty to me. Can't stomach that either. Do I fantasize a hamburger from Red Robin? HELL YEAH, can I have it? The reality is even if I wanted it and grabbed it, my stomach will have no part of it. So, I will just be more active in "Food porn" what can I say? lol
I broke out the wii today and did some aerobics. I was really feeling it in my legs. Then I sat down to finish the shake I have been working on for the past hour and half.
I guess I took this day just to have my mind settle. Tomorrow will be a more active day I am sure.
I still sleep in a fort of pillows.....but pain is subsiding and boredom increasing. I have no idea when I return to work. Hopefully soon, cause the money and the activity is needed. I have no idea how I am going to handle the gawking from people when I return.
double ugh.
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Diary of a Fat Girl - Day 6 , Post OP.
· Pac-woman · 01/19/2015 01:27
Today is day 6 of post op. I have managed to make it through another day and moving towards the light. Right now, I have only managed to put it about 300 calories for the entire day. (30 grams protein).
I knew I needed to walk, and so we went to the mall. This helps me get out of the house since I am getting cabin fever, While I was at the mall, I walked slowly and carefully as my side still is sensitive and it hurts. As I walked, all I could see was all the pretty clothes that I knew I was going to sink my teeth into when this post op journey subsides. OMG! Those clearance racks. You know how much money I am going to save!!??
I looked at shoes, clothes, the PRICES, I was so happy as I dragged my @ss along.
Then we were driving in a shopping center an guess what I saw? I saw Lane Bryant with a 70% off of clearance sign outside. As my boyfriend drove by it, I first saw it, smiled.....and then stuck my tongue out at it. Lane Bryant, I won't need you anymore real soon! Thank you for all those wonderful years that you saved my butt and made me look modern, cute and decent for work. But our time has come to part and I have to move on to other new store friends. Yes, Lane Bryant, I am breaking up with YOU and your credit card!!! WOOOHOOO.
As I sit here, I feel full, satisfied. Yet I see all these commercials for pizza and hamburgers, chicken nuggets. My eyes and head are still hungry. My boyfriend must think I am nuts. I sit here and it seems I have food tourettes. All of a sudden, I look at him and say " I want a cheeseburger" or "I want pizza". Hell, I want beanie weenies!! lol All I hear from him is "get over it". (As he munches away on good delishes food and I sip on a protein shake)
Can't wait till I can make a homemade hamburger so I can kill that head craving!
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