jademb1023

I just got back from Mexico on Saturday. It was a fantastic experience. No complaints, couldn't have been easier. I used Dr Ponce de Leon

Yeah it varies. Sometimes it is the food, the temp of the food, the texture, the moisture content, etc. Sometimes its just the mood, etc. I know early on I would get bored eating slow and just stop eating.

I think we have a negative connotation of the word "snack". For us, timed eating is a new way of life. I have to eat every few hours to make my individually designed system work. I am unable to eat enough in three sittings to get the desired amount of nutrients needed for one day. Thus I eat 5 or six times a day. Now, is beef Jerky a snack? I think of it as an added source of Protein. Is Greek Yogurt a snack? Again, I use it as a valuable source of Protein. So, snacking or timed eating, is the way I have been successful.

When oh when, will I be able to sip on some pickle juice!

I know I have had some crazy cravings running around my head since before surgery, but I have never gone this long, seven weeks now, in my life w/o my beloved pickled things.

I am on week four post op. I'd imagine it's still just too acidic. Is it? I'm calling tomorrow. I dream about my pickles! *cry* PICKLES!! I MISS YOU!! I LOVE YOU!! COME BACK TO ME!!

Day 7 my incisions are healing minimal pain. I'm trying my best to stay hydrated. I do not have a sweet tooth so drinking Protein Drinks is difficult since I don't care for the taste not to mention it takes so long to drink. My post op instructions stated Clear liquids or pureed foods first 2 weeks.
Sent from my SM-N900V using BariatricPal

See this is that happy middle ground. I was sleeved four days ago and am looking forward to sashimi. I can still have my yummy Japanese cuisine without the added calories. ???? thanks for sharing.

On my way to Mexico in a few hours! Will be sleeved tomorrow!!!!! So excited!! Wish me luck and a smooth recovery

On my way to Mexico in a few hours! Will be sleeved tomorrow!!!!! So excited!! Wish me luck and a smooth recovery

On my way to Mexico in a few hours! Will be sleeved tomorrow!!!!! So excited!! Wish me luck and a smooth recovery

On my way to Mexico in a few hours! Will be sleeved tomorrow!!!!! So excited!! Wish me luck and a smooth recovery

I'm getting VSG in Mexico tomorrow and traveling from Nova Scotia Canada. I will be returning on Saturday morning. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. My friend did it and said she was just fine

I am looking forward to hearing from all of you, who have gone in for surgery yesterday and today! =)

I just got my date scheduled, it's Feb. 26th...i think it's the perfect way to end one month and start another!

Here I am, 9 days out...
44 years old....
Scared, excited, anxious...
I started on this journey about a year ago. I had been fighting high triglycerides for 15 years (with moderate success using medication); then my blood pressure started inching up. Arthritis in my hip, spinal stenosis, and a couple bulging discs in my neck.
I have a constant nagging in my brain; reminding me that my mom, and my mom's mom both died at 55. I didn't know my grandmother on that side; but I know there is history of Migraines, heart disease, and diabetes. Since my mom had all these and experienced a heart attack when she was 52, I assume my grandmother either passed of a heart attack or a stroke.
My kids are 19 (twins) and 14. I really want to see my grandkids. Not only see them; but, play with them, babysit, attend their sporting and music events.
I want to live longer than 11 more years.
I want to retire and live many years after.
I would love to meet my great grandchildren.
So, last July I went to an information session and signed on to meet with a nurse navigator.
Four nutritionist visits, one upper GI, blood work, EKG, 34 pounds less, and a surgeon appointment later... Here I am.
Tomorrow is my pre-op physical at the hospital.
Next Tuesday the 9th is the first day of the rest of my life.
Thank you for reading! I will try to update as the process continues!
Teri
✌️ ???? ????

Jeez, @@BananaB ... I wasn't suggesting you were crazy. I was suggesting you aren't! And since I'm seeing a therapist and don't think I'm crazy that seeing a therapist doesn't mean their clients are crazy.
Your intelligence and humor are self-evident. But (based solely on your initial post above) it's also obvious that you're in considerable emotional and physical discomfort and frustrated with what you've experienced thus far with WLS. If you won't benefit from therapy, then you won't. But as I said, you hadn't mentioned therapy in your OP. And it's something I still recommend you consider. It's been very helpful for me. That's all we can do here based on the limited information we have about each other -- speak from our own perspectives and experience.

Well, there's one thing you didn't mention: A therapist.
You got one?
You want one?
Could you get one?
Seriously, you probably need one.
P.S. I have one. And he's been a huge help. And I'm not crazy either.

I have been fat forever. At the age of six, I blew up. No reason, no idea why, it just happened. Since then, I have stayed fat. Later, I was diagnosed with PCOS and hypothyroidism, so double whammy on making it harder for me to lose weight. I tried all the usual methods—calorie counting, Weight Watchers, Carbohydrate Addicts, Atkins, gyms, personal trainers, and the utterly useless Adipex. There were also brief stints at starvation. I didn’t eat for four years of high school and graduated fatter than ever.
As the years and the pounds came and went, I got no closer to being “normal.” I have never weighed less than two hundred pounds, but I didn’t cross the 300 line, either, a place I promised myself that I would never go. Well, never say never. In 2014, I finally crossed the 300 line and reached that ultimate of BMI categories—super morbidly obese. I’ve been obese forever, but now I was SUPER obese. Not mild, not average, not even great, but SUPER.
Hey, go big or go home, right?
With my new status came some new problems. Crossing the 300 line hurt, emotionally and physically. I was tired, mopey, my joints hurt, and most importantly, I couldn’t find a decent pair of pants with an actual waist. I couldn’t wear nice jeans and that upset me. Also, I live in the tropics. It’s too hot where I live to weigh over 300 pounds.
However, none of this really mattered that much to me. I am a professional fat person, with many years of field experience. Being big is the norm for me. I was unhappy that I had become SUPER, but still, I never hate myself for being me. I am me, I like me, and I am okay with me. Anyone reading this will likely understand when I say that I am a person, not a number, and I refuse to be treated as one, no matter how SUPER I get.
Unfortunately, the rest of the world does not agree. They want me to be like them. The funny thing is, though, the world don’t want to be themselves, either. Body image is such a big problem in this nation, and it’s so sad. We keep equating appearance, not health, with happiness and worthiness. I blame shows like The Biggest Loser for making the issue even worse. America’s primetime television entertainment now includes season upon season of fat shaming, so naturally those of us at home are dealing with the fallout. The fat shaming is so much worse than it ever was, in all of my fat history.
Normally, I give no figs about what the rest of world thinks (you can’t afford to when you’re SUPER), but at the end of 2014, I quit my job to go back to school. In the quitting, there was a revelation. By quitting, I had left my safe place. My prior job hired me fat, promoted me fat, had employed me as I was for over 15 years, and therefore had also given no figs about my excess bootie. But someday, I would interview for new work. I knew, without a doubt, that my SUPER status was going to be a super problem. Fat prejudice is real.
Thanks, Jillian Michaels.
There was one other problem with being SUPER. Slowly but surely my A1C had been climbing over the years, but once I crossed the 300 line, it skyrocketed. That beast of our nation called type II diabetes had found me. It was hunting me, and it was dangerously close to catching me. I was one tenth of a place away from having an A1C in the pre-diabetic range.
Diabetes. Nope. So much nope. Nope-nope-nope. Not getting diabetes.
So, I need to be employable, and also, I want to avoid becoming another statistic. I do not want diabetes, and I needed to do something about it. So I decided to see the bariatric surgeon. Previously, I viewed WLS as a cop-out or a last resort, reserved for people who were in mortal peril and had to lose weight today. Sure, I was fat enough to be in mortal peril myself, but I’m young enough and healthy enough that fat would catch up with me later, not sooner. I wasn’t so worried about mortality, or even a shortened lifespan. I was more worried about going blind or losing my toes in the meantime.
So many people want to be thin to please a spouse, to please their family, to please their former, thinner selves, to please…whoever. This is not the case for me. Again, I give no figs about fitting into a standard. Even if I physically achieve that standard, mentally I will never achieve it. Never. It’s too late, and the damage is done. If I’m going to carry all that baggage with me for the rest of my days, however, I need all of my toes.
I decided on the VSG procedure, and I am six months post-op. I have lost fifty pounds, gotten rid of my blood pressure medicine, and so far, have had no issues adjusting to the sleeve life. It feels normal, and I don’t miss anything from my former food life. I lost my SUPER BMI status within the first three months, so I had to return the cape. That was a bummer, but I traded the cape for real jeans that do not scream mom, 1985.
Do I regret the surgery? No. Do I love it? I wish I could say yes. I’m one of the lucky ones that lost the food cravings immediately. I want for nothing, not even pizza, and wonder of wonders, the fat girl has to remind herself to eat. I do well with portions and not overeating. I get my Protein in every day and take my Vitamins. No nausea, vomiting, or other unpleasantness. As weight loss goes, the sleeve is pretty brainless. However, there are complications with VSG that I was not prepared for.
The hormone fluctuations have brought me to my knees. I’m always tired, I’m cranky, I can’t remember smack, my brain will not find x, and I hate everything. I avoided the holidays entirely last year, for many reasons. I’m depressed, and it’s getting worse. My muscles ache, my vision gets blurry, and yes, I have discussed all of this with my doctor. I asked why I am feeling worse and not better. And that’s when I encountered perhaps the worst VSG result of all.
My world is still the same. Patients considering a bariatric procedure are told how different their lives will be afterward, how they will feel so much better, and how life will be like looking at the universe through an entirely new set of eyes thanks to this revolutionary procedure, but it is not always true. At the surgeon’s office, things were just the same as they’ve always been. Sure, the doctors were great and so supportive before the procedure when my wallet was still vulnerable, but at my recent follow-up, they were less understanding. I got the finger pointed at me, I got scolded, I got blamed for what I put in my mouth being the cause of my health problems and lack of results, even though I follow their plan to the letter. I was basically called a liar because I didn’t hit an expected number on the scale and I’ve stalled since my last appointment. When I defended myself, my concerns were dismissed, my sentences were interrupted, the phrases shot back at me were condescending, and for the umpteenth time in my life, a stranger tried to tell me how I should feel. Essentially, he said I needed to stop thinking for myself and do what I was told, even though for once, I already have. But if I had, my surgeon countered, then I would lose the weight, and then I would be “happy.”
Sound familiar, fat people?
I go forward from here, and will do what I need to do, but the shine has already worn off my new sleeve. I don’t doubt that I will lose more weight. It’s physically impossible not to, and it’s not like I can ask for my excised stomach back. There is no going back from bariatric surgery, which is the point. So onward I shall go, because I have no choice, but it will get better. I think.
I hope.

I am day ten and already 20 down

We have the same surgery date!! I feel your pain, I'm about to go crazy with the liquids? ??? also, does your stomach make all these crazy sounds every time you drink anything? Sounds like a dog fight in there

I did the same thing. I was crying hysterically. The day after I was doing the same thing I couldn't believe what I had done to myself. How pathetic am i?
My surgery was 2/1 and I started my Vitamins today and I feel better each day. Stronger each day and more empowered each day.

Think of all the positive changes that are going to come out of your surgery!!! Walking without joint pain, fitting into the seats at amusement parks, not feeling like everyone is staring at you because of your weight, not being the heaviest person in the room, fitting into a normal size bathing suit, shopping in the regular clothes section (not the plus size section with limited selections!!) just to name a few!! ????. You've got this! Besides....no way I'm doing this 2 week preop diet and backing out!!! Hang in there!!! So excited for you!!

Just think of it as a nice nap and when you wake up you get to re-invent yourself. For me, all the pre-op requirements and emotions were much more to overcome than recovery. Give your new tummy a name. Mine is Miss Tummy, and two years later, she is still the boss of me.

You get eggs? ? I would kill for some eggs. I get to have Protein Shakes, broth, SF Jello and SF Popsicles!!

Feb 1st! Starting to heal

Hope all went well