blashlee

Your honesty is very much appreciated. I'm sorry that you're unhappy with your new body, and I don't wanna sound like a cliche or a repeat of a previous comment by pointing out what you've "gained" by losing. One of the things my therapist pointed out that was something most people struggle with after WLS is that their new body doesn't look the way they expected it to (loose skin, lost breasts, lost hair, things sagging or out of place), and it is a fear I have as i'm 15 days out from RNY...my trainer and PCP think we'll be able to combat the issue with lots of weight training and limiting cardio so I don't burn off muscle mass, but until I get to goal I have no idea what's going to happen. I do hope I can appreciate my transformation, as I'm hoping it will remove the limitations my size has put on my life for the last 28 years :-\ Again thank you for being so candid, I know it must be difficult.

I have an uncanny ability to transform any song into a parody of whatever I feel like it. Off the top of my head. Sometimes they happen so quickly I don't recall what I said. I just know whoever was around to witness was one lucky SOB.

Ugh, I really want to but I'm torn. I'm to start liquids/protein only this Monday. I didn't lose as much weight last month as I did the month before and I'm afraid if I don't stay 150% on track my liver won't have shrunk enough to have my surgery. It's so hard to battle in my head, but I guess I should liken it to what I'm going to deal with when faced with temptation post-op.

It breaks my heart to see so many of you whose family members and spouses don't support your decision :-\ I worry about what will happen with my boyfriend (who i live with) once I have my surgery and start seeing results. He's supportive of me having surgery, and he wants to have it done as well, but he hasn't taken the steps necessary which makes me doubt his commitment. I hope I have success and that being there everyday to see it will inspire him. I worry about his health and mine, which is the reason I'm having RNY. Your husband has to understand that if diet and exercise was really the way to lose weight, you would have done it by now. He also needs to understand that you want to be around for your children and be active and play with them. If you're at a high weight, you can't do that. What you're doing isn't selfish; you're saving your life. You're adding length to the time you'll have here on this earth, and adding quality to that life. Quality of life that does directly impact your husband and your children. I wish you the best of luck with your upcoming surgery and I hope your husband comes around.

liquid diet puts your body into starvation mode. It's trying to hold onto anything it can so that you don't essentially shut down. As long as you're losing anything you should be fine.

Ladies, I'd love some input. I've been off of my birth control since I started my WLS journey back in mid january. I won't be back on it until a month post-op, which will be early to Mid-March. I've been on Ortho Tri-Cyclen (with a brief stint on Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo) for going on about 9 years. It's gone swimmingly. I have regular, brief, tolerable periods, my skin feels clear, my moods are great. Since I've been off, it's been pretty hellish. Can't predict my cycle, off the charts moody, acne like a pre-teen. My question isn't about returning to it, because until it's family-making time in a few years, I'd like to stick to it. My PCP and my surgeon state that having gastric bypass should not have any impact on the way my body absorbs my birth control because it's such a tiny pill. With insurance, it'll cost me almost $40 a month for this pill. If I go generic and have it mailed, it's free (I pay small shipping costs). I've never had generic birth control and the thought of it kind of makes me nervous. Has anybody switched from a preferred brand to a generic birth control and how did that go? I know most generics are basically the same product just from a different manufacturer to cut costs, but getting "cheap" birth control doesn't really sit well with me... Thanks in advance!

You should definitely be celebrating! That means you lost 6.25 lbs each week. It just took me a month to lose that on my pre-op diet. You don't wanna lose too fast because you may be compromising muscle mass. I bet your doctor is happy with your progress and you should be too! Keep up the good work.

My doctor says chewables/soft chews only for the first little while. But I imagine it depends on what surgery you're having. Bypass patients have different absorption than sleeve/band patients. I'm a bypass patient.

I went to a seminar that gave information on all 3 options; band, bypass, sleeve. When I met with my doctor she determined based on my weight, previous struggles, and goals/expectations, the bypass would be the best choice for me. She cited more complications and slower progress overtime with the band, but some people still want them because they're not comfortable with rerouting or removing internal organs/parts. She does not perform VSG; if a patient is adamant about VSG she refers them to a colleague of hers that does many of them. The reason she doesn't do the sleeve is because she doesn't believe there is enough long-term data to measure how successful they are. It's only been done within the last 10 years or so, vs the bypass which has been performed for over 40 years and has been considered the Gold Standard procedure throughout the industry. I know people who have the sleeve and LOVE it. So much so that it made me rethink what I wanted. But I've also met people who have the sleeve and have chronic leak, GERD, reflux etc that they did not have before the sleeve. I've met some bypass patients that are doing just beautifully...until they dump and then they're completely miserable. There are risks and complications associated with each choice, and every BODY is different. You may not have the risks and complications that the person next to you who had the same surgery has. You might be able to eat basically everything you ate pre-op with little to no problems. Or you might have a miserable first year of learning what you can and can't tolerate. You're on the right track as far as asking questions and doing research before making a decision, and I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide! Ask a billion questions! That's what you're paying your doctor so much for! <3

Thanks for sharing! I've been wanting to try the Syntrax nectar flavors. Which one(s) did you try?

@@Rebecca Jo Ragon Have you tried Isopure RTD? They come in a ton of flavors. They're more gatorade-like vs shake like, but they use whey Protein isolate. They're zero carb, zero fat, zero sugar, and 40g protein per bottle.

Mine is April 6th

I know tons of WLS patients who love Premier Protein. What was the reason you were told they weren't good for us? I drink them daily and my doctor is just fine with that.

I changed my insurance to see her as well and I'm really glad I did. My previous insurance had a lot of hoop jumping and it was about to go up on cost anyway. Things shook out really well, I'm 23 days away. A little freaked out but I mentally feel pretty ready and have a great support team in my family and friends.

Every body is different. You might feel fine after a week. Might not for a month. If you've had surgery before, it'll give you an indication of how your healing will go.

@@laurenjane You're closer to my age than the people I met before, and actually pretty close to age range of people I normally socialize with anyway! i would love to meet you at the next support group I got my date at my 2nd appointment and it was confirmed two weeks later. I'm seeing her again on 03/18, we will have just missed each other. I really am glad I have found Dr. Ellner, she's great and so is Dawn, they always get back to me right away when I have questions and I always feel comfortable and at ease with her. My surgery is April 6th, we are getting things underway. It's exciting but also terrifying all at once.

You should not be alone after surgery. If you're on pain medications you may have a difficult time getting up and around on your own, and you won't be able to drive while on medications. If someone is willing to come and help take care of you when you get home, you should let them. My mom is coming to stay with me the week after surgery, and i live with my boyfriend but he's at school during the day and we live on the second floor. I dunno about you but pain medication makes me dizzy, the last time I had to be on it, I got up from bed too go pee and took a tumble in the hallway. You definitely won't want to be alone in the event something like that happens. Good luck!

Take measurements instead of relying on your weight on the scale. When you exercise, you build muscle, and your body holds onto Water to stay hydrated while you're exercising (do your fingers swell during a good walk?). When you replace fat with muscle, you won't see a big decrease on the scale because muscle weighs more than 5. The good news is, while it weighs more, it takes up less room on the body. So your measurements are likely still moving even if your weight isnt.

I have the app. I've never finished it but i want to!

As the days go by and I get closer to my actual surgery date, I have let a few more people know what's up, only so that if I'm not as social as what they're used to, they don't think anything is wrong with me or that I'm avoiding them. And also so people can lift me up in prayer and positive thoughts while i'm recovering. I also think it would be good for my own safety; if something happens to me while I'm out with friends, it's important they know I've recently undergone major surgery. I know a lot of people, but I'm not close to a lot of people. I don't let every acquaintance become a friend and know my personal business. It isn't something I would announce on social media for everybody to know. If I run into someone and they say "Hey you lost weight!" I'll simply say "Yeah, I did thanks for noticing." If they are curious and want to know what I've been up to, I don't want to feel like I can't share my truth. And as I look in other topics on the forums, I notice people are struggling with how to tell someone they've had WLS or how to respond when confronted with "Oh you took the easy way out." There are so many misconceptions about WLS, I think I might want to advocate for people being a little more educated on it. I'm typically an open book. I don't make announcements, but I also don't provide coverups. I think I'll just take it as a case by case basis. Somebody's boyfriend's sister doesn't need to know, but i think people i will be spending time with should probably know, if for no other reason than for my own comfort and safety and so I will have some support. And if somebody doesn't support it, that's just their problem because by then it'll be a done deal. And that'll be one less person I have to worry about.

I start mine on 03/23 and my surgery is 4/6. I too hope it flies by, I'm so not looking forward to it. I'm constantly surrounded by food LOL

Just FYI once you can have meat, Chick-Fil-A has naked nuggets. They're not nreaded and not fried. Just in case you pass Chick-Fil-A and cant help yourself Hope your healing continues to go pretty well!

@@Maddie1 Depends on what you eat. Foods that are high in sugar and fat are what usually cause dumping, but every body is different. The rule of thumb in my post-op instructions is not to try anything new outside of the comforts of your home. So basically anything you wanna try to reintroduce to your system post op, do it at home. Because if you get sick, you'd rather get sick at home than in public or at someone else's home, right? Many people still go out to eat, they just eat substantially less than what they normally would have pre-op.

I went to Road Runner and let them analyze my feet and my stride before buying shoes. I bought some New Balances, they didn't work out. I got custome insoles and put them in a pair of Asics I already had, a DREAM.

I understand where you're coming from with this, but it does belittle how hard it actually is. People have misconceptions about WLS being as simple as "oh they staple your stomach so you dont eat as much, that's not as hard as working out and eating right." when actually it totally is but harder, because even the foods that are healthy for you may not agree with you.