midorigal

Wishing you both have a great recovery from thyroid cancer. So good to hear from others who've been there that the recovery great is high and (compared to other cancers) relatively easy.

@@WantToBe and @@Daisee68 thanks so much for the reassurance re: pills. Also grateful to hear about your experience of being consistent with medication.

Synthoid pill is very small and round pill. No problems taking them with the band. I do not have sleeve yet.

@ midorigal- I've been taking my Synthroid whole since the day after surgery. It is very small. You can cut it if you need to but highly unlikely you will need to do that.
@@shokoh - So sorry for your diagnosis but as others have said, if you have to get cancer, this is the kind to get. I promise once you get it out and get your Synthesis regulated, you will feel a million times better. You MUST be consistent with taking your med. Every morning with Water only and wait an hour to eat. It is very important to be consistent with this new especially in the beginning when they are trying to get you to the right dose. As for the other stuff, please don't let this derail you. You have done well. Are you seeing a therapist? If not, I would strongly suggest doing that during this difficult time to help you sort thru the feelings and to get back on track with your eating. You got this!!
Sent from my HTC One M9 using the BariatricPal App

I bought the tea off Amazon. I've heard it's also available in stores. I will definitely order more. It's herbal/caffeine free. I may also get a bottle of Benefiber just to have it on hand.

I made the same mistake!!! Thought I could go off the Colace. [emoji31]

It's kind of funny because I am college educated, and did the whole career thing for a while. Of course government cuts were made and all the programs I worked in suffered because of it, so I started looking for a job in an established company where I could just plant my feet and stay a while. Grocery store cashier for the win! And to boot, I actually love it. My favourite customers are the older ladies and gents who come in once or twice a month. I have to take my time with them and show them how to use the debit machine, and I help load their carts for them and they are just so darn appreciative. It's nice being appreciated. It's really nice that my manager is being so supportive of me too. When I come back and work the desk my hardest task will be standing for 4-5 hours to complete my shift.

@@Amelie2016
How funny! I just went to the butcher to get bones to make bone broth! He only had morrow bones and no joint bones so I bought some chicken feet too. I made broth years ago and didn't see it gel that much. I'm hoping for the best today!

Update for today:
I woke up and the pain from the intubation tube in my throat from surgery has pretty much gone away. On a scale of 1 to10, I'd say the pain is 0.5 which is good! It's almost more like an annoying irritated throat than anything. So that took about 7 days to heal.
On another note, got on the scale at the same time I do each day and down to 271.6. I might hit the 260's tomorrow! I was 266 when I found out I was pregnant with my sweet little girl so that would be amazing if I could hit that goal during this week!!!!
Just a running log of my weigh-ins so far:
2/1 (day of surgery) - 283.6
2/2 at hospital, didn't weigh
2/3 home from hospital - 282.6 (big shock)
2/4 - 279.2
2/5 - 276.6
2/6 - 274.6
2/7 - 271.6
Just looking at it like this is shocking! Praying I keep doing what I need to do to keep being successful!
Plan for today:
*Drink 15g Protein drink for Breakfast
*Drink broth (4-6oz) for lunch
*Drink Premier Protein 30g for dinner
*Potentially work in a sf Jello cup again. It didn't go down too well last night so I'll try again.
*Also, I have this Syntrax nectar tasteless Protein powder that I might experiment with in my broth. Idk. I'll let you know how that goes!
I need to stay rested since I go back to work tomorrow. All the achiness in my legs and arms is gone, no gas pains at all (thanks to gasX strips and laying on my left side - i remembered that from my Csection). I have a doctors note that has me out till the 12th but I will only use it if necessary. As far as my employer knows, I asked for 5 days off and it was approved. That's all I wanted them to know. I feel like if I had gone the medical route then everyone would know my personal business which is not what I want. So hoping for a smooth day back at work mañana! I'm actually looking forward to it!
And how about something random - I'm craving lumpia!!!! I just wrote it on the running list of things to try when I make goal!

Okay, the standard advice is to follow what your NUT or surgeon tells you - but I can't help but pipe up and say, the instructions have been given are "non standard" and a little concerning to me.
I still find fruit juices, especially citrus ones a bit hard on the tummy unless I have food too (a big no no of course) - and I am 4 years post op! I can't imagine having that acidy of a liquid (not to mention the sugar) so early out.
I only had one dumping experience, and it was about 2 weeks post op, caused by me "treating" myself on christmas day by adding Peanut Butter to a Protein drink. I thought i was going to die. I personally would not risk sugary or super high fat either anything those early weeks based on my own personal very unpleasant experience. Seriously - it was bad.
I couldn't handle Water the first several months post op. It made my tummy hurt and tasted like metal. So, what worked really well is warm, not hot, herbal teas. Herbal tea isn't really tea so there is no caffiene, is easy on the tummy and didnt taste metallic to me. I often put a dab of stevia in, but some of those herbal teas are so flavorful that wasn't needed.
Soup is not very nutrient dense and at 3 days post op, MOST of us were advised to focus on Water (or whatever you can tolerate that resembles water!) and Protein drinks. Protein Drinks have Protein, but for example, Premier Protein also has some Vitamins and i couldn't handle Vitamin pills early on either.
I don't recall where I was 3 days post op, but I think I was still drinking out of a - don't laugh - shotglass! The whole idea was to get in a shotglass of Fluid every 15-30 minutes... the sip sip sip all day long to avoid dehydration.
I think that those first weeks, you can't completely trust your stomach "feeling" right - I ate/drank by the clock and the measuring cup/spoon/shotglass since I had no idea if I was hungry, full, or anything. It was a difficult time, but it does pass!
I personally was prescribed PPIs - an acid reducer - for the first few months post op and i think that is fairly standard as well. I was told that it takes awhile for the body to adjust and make less acid, to match the smaller tummy. I was lucky in that I don't have ongoing GERD/reflux problems so it was a temporary thing for me.
I am 4 years post op, so I realize recommendations may have changed over time, i know all surgeons are different - so take all with a grain of salt. I went to a center of excellence and believe I received very good advice based on what was known at the time, to give best results.

For the record, tuna is NOT a slider food. No animal Protein is a slider food.
Slider foods are highly processed high-carb foods that don't require much digestion at all. Want to test something to see if it's a "slider food"? Put it in a glass of Water and see how long it takes to turn to mush.
Some typical slider foods: crackers, white bread, potato chips, ice cream, Cookies, cooked potatoes.

I asked at the hospital and they approved one for me to take home.

The key for me is not to go for feeling "full", but to feel satisfied.
Try practicing eating mindfully: eat slowly, take small bites, chew thoroughly, and put your utensil down between bites. This is really helpful for me.

What I used:
Robe
Chapstick
Phone charger
Brush
Tooth brush:paste
Did not use:
Slippers
Extra change of clothes
Hospital provided:
Grippy socks
Heating packs
Tooth brush/paste
Face towel
Body wash
What I didn't expect is that they sent me home w/pretty much everything in my room: basin, pitcher, toiletries, pillow, and and extra stuff I wanted. I wish I had more room in my bag. Haha!

Ask the only person whose opinion should matter to you and your surgery---your surgeon.
You can use all of the posts on this thread as discussion fodder, but when all is said and discussed, it's your surgeon's opinion that should mean the most.
Take care and feel better.

I make pizza on top of portabello mushrooms...

The professional photos were a nice bonus...my surgeons medical group paid for them to use me for advertising!
Quite a change for me as I kept my surgery close to the chest at the beginning but shared more as time went on.
Now my photo is in all the binders they give out to patients and things like that.

I'm late returning to the party/group! Good luck to everyone having surgery tomorrow! I report at 5:15 am in So. Cal. Hope I can catch some zzzzs's tonight. And yes, would love to buddy up or be in a group! Like @@songsmith I'm feeling under the weather and have a stuffy nose. Can't do anything now. @@Shiloh2004 I admire you for drinking Isopure, had the grape yesterday and it was fine. The mango/peach is meh so I'm skipping it. The nurse said it was ok so I'll keep it for after surgery.

It's true! Dogs have "frito" feet. I have done work in animal rescue before and breed recovery. Everyone talks about it on the doggie forums. I challenge anyone to smell their dog's feet. I'm not lying! Well, um, make sure they haven't stepped in anything gross before you do.

I had to quote this because it illustrates how I feel so well. When I went on diets I would loss 30 to 50 lbs and it felt a little better and my clothes fit better but it never made a huge difference. Now 7 months out I am only 1/2 to goal but I have lost over 100lbs. Losing 100lbs has completely changed my life. If I never lost another ounce I would consider this a success. I want to keep losing and I am still losing and I am very hopefully I will make my goal. This first 100lbs has made my life so much easier and me more active overall, I have no doubts I can make goal.
On my own it seemed impossible, because of constant hunger and rarely feeling satified.
Also like someone else said now I know one bite of something can be enough for me. I never had that kind of control before.
I was skeptical the sleeve would work for me. The first few weeks I felt I was losing slowly for my start weight and I was discouraged. When this happened in the past with diets I would just quit because I was hungry and deprived and not seeing results. With the sleeve, I couldn't quit. Not quitting forced me to push through stalls and "slow" results to ultimately get great results. Being sleeved isn't easy but it makes everything easier.

A stroke scared the living daylights out of me and I don't want that to happen ever again. It was caused by my obesity and 53" belly, which caused my high blood pressure and multiple other co-morbidities.
As I was coming back on to regular foods, I was shocked to realize how little food the human body needs to survive. When I see other people eating the amounts of food I used to eat, I just want to kick myself in the seat.
So, the major thing that is making this work is the fear of dying if I don't. I just did not take my health seriously enough before.

This is different due to my restricted stomach capacity and (at 18 months post-op) I'm still feeling the effects of reduced ghrelin (the hunger hormone). I do still feel hungry when I'm hungry. But the runaway hunger that demanded food now isn't nearly as strong as it was pre-op.
Also -- and this is key: This time with WLS I didn't lose just 20 or 40 pounds, which wasn't even halfway to goal. I lost ALL my excess weight! And that has made so much difference. Because now my knees don't hurt and I CAN walk farther and more often and faster than I have in decades. My daily routine is so much more energetic -- housework, errands, fidgeting.
All these things are self-affirming. My increased activity level keeps me calmer. The fact that I eat more Protein and complex carbs (and fewer simple carbs as a lifestyle, not just the weight loss diet) also reduces my appetite by keeping my metabolism burning steadier, not up/down.
Finally, when you actually engage in healthy behaviors for 18 months, you actually do build new habits that, together, are a very different lifestyle that reinforces itself because it makes you feel so good. Habits are very, very powerful -- including the new habits you will build after WLS.
Good luck!

Another thing that most folks don't realize about the sleeve surgery - it removes such a large portion of the stomach that it reduces the amount of the hunger hormone (called ghrelin) that is produced in the stomach. Studies have recently posited that the hormone is over-produced in some people and that absolutely can cause obesity since if you are constantly feeling hungry, you're going to eat more to try to feel sated. Without that hormone overproduction, you get normal feelings of hunger and feel full faster and stay feeling full for longer.
The lack of overwhelming hunger is usually a long range effect; some people never regain the need to overeat due to perceived hunger, but most people do redevelop a normal hunger response after a certain period of time (roughly a year).
Two other ways the sleeve works:
The most obvious is the size and portion control/restriction. You have a stomach that will hold at most 5-7 ounces of food after about one year (it is much less for the first 6-8 months, but will relax (not stretch) after a time. In its natural state, the stomach can hold up to 6 cups, so that is a HUGE reduction of tummy real estate!
The portion control/restriction coupled with the lack of overwhelming hunger means you finally have real control over what and how you eat. You get the optimum effect for roughly 12-18 months, and during this time you have to teach yourself how to eat healthy and make smarter choices. The best measure of long term success is how well you do to relearn how to eat - Protein first, veggies next and then complex carbs in small portions.
My doctor said that anyone could lose a significant amount of weight for the first year or so even if they ate absolute crap the entire time due to the restriction. But they will eventually have major issues (since most bad for you food is also lacking in nutrition and high in fat, sodium and bad carbs) and regain if they don't completely revamp their diet to eat correctly - protein/veggies/complex carbs. And of course eating "slider" foods - things that break down easily like cake, breads, Cookies, ice cream or basically anything that turns to mush easily - that slide right through your sleeve and never really trigger that feeling of fullness. There are many ways to eat around your sleeve and consume to many calories. These are the people that get fat again and then complain about how their sleeved failed; but it didn't fail - they failed due to poor eating habits and not taking advantage of the time to really get serious about getting healthy.
You can eventually eat the junk again - there won't be anything you can't technically eat. But you should cut out all of the garbage foods and only eat them rarely and in small portions.
If you take the time to plan meals, revamp recipes to remove the high carb/sugar/sodium, eat healthy small portions of good Protein like fish and chicken and get some nice veggies... and you eat that way 90% of the time, in addition to exercise and getting in your Vitamins and Water, you probably will be successful for life.
It is a total lifestyle change - ditching the bad habits and excuses and embracing the healthy. If you get your head straight and are able to do this, it will work for you or anyone.

Thank you one and all! @@WLSResources/ClothingExch, you are sister in spirit, so that counts.
@@midorigal, I phoned my surgeon on Friday positive he would cancel on me, but nope. The surgical nurse told me so long as I am not running a fever and my lungs aren't clogged up that they should be good to go. Not looking forward to being without fluids for all that time in the first place. It will be even worse now that I'm so dehydrated by this !@#%!! cold. (There really are no swear words appropriate enough for the way I feel about it.) Best of luck to you! I may not post while in the hospital because I have not mastered phone posting, but I'll think about you.
@@CherieF, ouch! I never got cold sores from stress, but I used to break out all the time because of it. Super annoying since I was one of those lucky teens who never broke out. Hope it heals up soon.
Thank you, @GibbsGirl. I can hardly wait to be part of the losers' circle!

My day is tomorrow too! I also have a stuffy nose. Filled-up on fluids, Vitamin C. I'm been really stressed and worried about surgery (my first ever) but now I'm worried what if they cancel it!?