Wheetsin

Apparently I'm just stalking catracks around today. Get a muffin pan. Into each hole thingy, crack an egg and break the yolk up with a fork. Add whatever you like with eggs: cheese, sausage, bacon, chorizo... and then bake around 300 for 10 - 15 mins, or until the egg is just set. If it turns green, it's ok. I promise. Voila - egg "muffins" that you can eat with your hands. I keep turkey Jerky at my desk, and almonds (and lots of other stuff because I can have food-food at my desk, but prefer to eat away from where I work)... One of my fav. Snacks is to microwave turkey pepperoni until cooked, blot off and cool. Turns super crunchy like a chip on steroids. I eat themwith cottage cheese or garden vegetable cream cheese, or plain - but they're kinda strong that way. Deli meat/cheese roll-ups - you can wrap them in a baggie and eat them like a burrito... or whatever you've eaten with the wrapper still on the outside.

I don't know that there is a "mandatory" waiting period, other than generically until you're healed - for teh reasons like blood thinners stated above, and maybe because IF you got an infection, it would be that much harder for a freshly post-op body to recover from it. I used to want a tat so bad back when I was like 17. I still do, but I'm a wuss. I'm glad I didn't go for it back then (when I was a normal weight) because... eww... I don't even want to think about what it would look like now. I ay unwuss and get a tat one of these days, but it would be well into maintenance, once I felt confident that I could keep the tat looking like, say, the letter "A" and not get fat again and have it end up looking like a ninja throwing star.

"Surgery in Mexico" has a certain stigma associated with it, no? "If I can't even drink the Water there, why would I have surgery?" Umm, where do people think Mexicans go for surgery? (I might have reservations if I'd never been beyond Tijuana)

Wha...? 1. When did I question your comprehension of English? 2. I don't think I skirt an insulting line in that message, but if you think so, you can tell me what you thought was insulting & we can figure it out - or I can shrug because you've already made up your mind (I don't know which applies). I tried to help you & give you info, I was not saying you aren't ready for surgery or whatever message you got, and apprently am now being lumped in with the rest of the "d***s"...? I'm glad you're no longer worried about cheating. Nancy can be quite helpful (as can the others) - IMO. Nancy especially, since she's so focused on the bariatric patients. My point was just to state that a "cheat" is not going to derail a really good surgeon, which I believe Dr. Hoehn is. That's not saying "you're a cheater" or attacking you (or insulting you) in any possible way.

Ugh I got that at a "5-7-9" store once. I don't even know if they still exist, this was years ago. Shopping for a skinny friend. Clearly at 400 lbs I KNOW I'm neither a 5, nor 7, nor 9. TYVM. I wonder how often thin women - not having any idea what LB is - walk in and make a (probably unintentionally rude) comment about how, "Oh, they only have big sizes here!" Maybe you had them on the offense. Great NSV!

I know it's hard to comprehend, especially when still in the pre-op, but people who say "if you cheat then you maybe you aren't ready for surgery" are being supportive in the way they know how. I can pretty much promise the intent isn't to insult, belittle or put down, and most of the time it isn't projection. So...how's the weather? Dr. Hoehn has a level head. He will take your actions in stride (as it sounds like he did). Tim will as well. They do TONS of surgeries and have seen it all. He really is a very skilled surgeon and could probably work with just about anything you threw at him. Anyone who could make a pretty little sleeve out of my scar-tissue-jumble-mass of a stomach is a miracle worker. Just continue be honest with your progress, and if you do falter - just make sure he knows about it. You don't want any surprises on your big morning.

Mine was short (2 days total) so no, I wasn't terribly cranky... I just sort of took my Jello & iced tea in stride. But yes, crankiness is fairly common. It should get better shortly (sooner than the full 2 weeks).

Preauth is most likely where you want to be. Predetermination is really just a determination of whether or not you're eligible (i.e. does your plan cover it IF all conditions are met). Predetermination is optional, say if your provider wants more info on what's required or coverages. Preauthorization virtually always has to be done in order for your benefits to be payable. It's also a more of the big picture, like "I've done this, and these things are true, and here's this documentation - am I eligible?" Does that help? Here's a little more clarification:

I'm only 3 mos out but I can kind of gulp... maybe swizzle? Bah, I dont' know what to call it. I cannot drink 32 oz straight without even coming up for air (yes, I could really do that). But I can take/swallow several mouthfuls in succession. How many depends on my restriction, which does vary a bit. Usually 3 - 5 mouthfuls is not a problem, but I might feel a tweak or two after 3 or 4 at other times. Not pain, just a little nudge telling me not to drink any more just yet.

Guess what I saw this weekend! Torani makes BACON flavored syrup! I'm sooo not kidding... But it's not SF. And I don't really like bacon.

Let's put things into perspective here. A low sugar, liquid pre-op diet shrinks your liver but it does other things as well: No solids or residues in the digestive tract. Any time a surgeon is going to be cutting into any part of your GI system, you really, really don't want any solid matter in there. It can have a benefit when dealing with post-op nausea - it's easier and generally more pleasant to expel liquids. It helps you get properly hydrated before a major surgical procedure. Better hydrated you are, the easier/quicker your recovery will be. Reduces liver size AND clears the colon. Body does not have to work hard to digest whatever is in the system. Is cheating on a pre-op diet OK? Sure, if you're OK with any of the above having the potential to be compromised. It's your surgery, and your risk to take. But if you ask for opinions, you have to accept that they are going to come from all directions. If you're looking for a particular answer, then save people the time and put that in your topic. That's only fair. ("You" is not a reference to anyone in particular, but just a general comment to this entire thread.) (To be fair, I have to insert a little warning here - I'm inserting this after the post was all written because I sort of soap-boxed... and lots of people here don't like me very much because I'm blunt/opinionated/know-it-all/adjective of choice... so if "I" am not your "thing" or you don't care for my messages or my body ain't that bootylicious or whatever, then bow out now because I'm sooo going there again...) I get both sides of it. I really do. On one hand - if you can't even make it through two weeks (or whatever), what are you going to do for the rest of your life? On the flip side, you don't have enforced will power or surgical exorcism to take help with your caloric demons, you're still feeling hungry (physically or mentally), and let's face it -- there's usually a healthy dose of "poor me" thrown in there somewhere. Keeping food away from a fat person is like the worst thing ever! (Said in my best ommigod voice). Yes, that's facetious, but not entirely... We have this mechanism called "cognitive distortion" that makes not ok things be ok, or ok things be horrible, or whatever. Example: Ugh, traffic was HORRIBLE!!! No. Traffic may have been worse than yesterday, but it wasn't horrible. A building full of babies and puppies and Ryan Reynolds burning to the ground - that's HORRIBLE. Traffic ain't **** compared to that. But when you give yourself permission to tell yourself it is, then you're giving yourself permission to believe it. What does an enflamed (not flaming!) Ryan Reynolds have to do with us, here, now? Us obese folks are master manipulators through cognitive distortion. "Well, I've already had a piece of gum... there goes that diet... I'll just start fresh tomorrow and have this cheesecake since after tomorrow I'll never eat it again..." Raise your hand if you've been there, because I certainly have. Most people who have insurance, or can self pay, or have Internet access (which in some way, shape, or form should cover most people here) have no idea what real hunger is like. We've never, truly been hungry. We have felt hunger, but we don't know it the way that people who are actually starving know it (but look how meaninglessly we throw around phrases like, "I'm starving!") But we blow our little NERF hunger pebbles into gigantic boulders. And it's all thank to the "stinking thinking" we permit ourselves to have. Being faithful to a pre-op diet is hard. But it is finite, and you know exactly when it will end. Haven't you ever thought to yourself, "If I could just do something for two weeks, and know that at the end of it I would ne skinnier/healthier/richer/sexier/whatever, I would do it?" So why is this si hard? It's important to keep away from the cognitive distortions that are going to make "cheating" OK. Is cheating OK? Not really my place to say. But I know that my sleeve surgery was worth the sincere effort & compliance. Pre-op was a great detox, and a good opportunity for a little introspection. I'm not going to tell someone it's "OK" to knowingly "cheat" in a pre-op diet. I believe in the function/purpose of the pre-op diet, and if I tell them it's OK to cheat, I'm also telling them it's not their fault if their surgery has to be revised to an open procedure, or cancelled, or takes longer because the liver was too large, or... whatever. I'm not that much of an enabler. But I'm also not going to put the smack-down on someone for eating a Cheetoh. Cheating on pre-op comes up as a topic quite frequently. It's unfortunate for the people who are truly just wondering, because I think they tend to get lumped in with the others who are looking for affirmation/justification of their bad behaviors. The problem is - it's really hard to tell the two apart.

Umm... lots of places! Kind of depends on what I'm doing with them. I have ones that coordinate with my dinnerware - I bought those at Target (even though my dinnerware didn't come from there). Sold per piece, not as a set. I have some clear plastic ones - I use those for more casual meals, or to hold ingredients I will be using as I cook/bake. Those are from BBB. Also per piece. I also have some black plastic ones that look like mortars - I use those pretty exclusively for holdoing salsas or "Mexican dinner" toppings (diced onion, cheese... for fajita night!). Also sold per piece. I also have some pyrex ones for baking, from Target. Sold as a set of 2 or 4, can't remember. And some ceramic ones from a local kitchen store. Sold per piece. I guess I like my ramekins...

Yay no more wavy landing strips!

I'm not looking for clothes, but saw the post & just wanted to let you know that your Flickr link is not working for the public: emlefe doesn't have anything available to you. I'll bow out and those interested in purchasing can give you more info.

Coming to a VSG board, you're probably not going to get many unbiased answers. With that being said, see below in blue. Obviously this needs to be 100% your decision, but knowing what I know now, if I were paying out of pocket, I would go with the VSG or DS. I would not self-pay for a lap-band. I have 0% confidence in its integrity as a long-term solution. If it had worked the way it was marketed it could've been the perfect solution, but people just don't seem to be able to keep it in, and functioning properly, for very long. If I'd self-paid for my band, I'd be pissed. My complication was considered a "mechanical failure" and the different band manufacturers do nothing. I'm amazed it's still as sought out as it is. BTW, having had both is called a "revision" (one proedure revised to another). There's an entire forum here for band -> sleeve revisions. Check it out if you want a comparison. But to be fair, also check out www.lapbandtalk.com. There's a complications forum there, you can see what's going on.

Just curious to see what the popular opinion is. If your opinion is "other" please explain, if you don't mind the break in anonymity. It's virtually impossible to cover every option with a poll.

scales are crap. I think your trainer is correct. Muscle is a lot more dense than fat. If you're building muscle and losing fat, your weight can actually go up. It's pretty common for people to not lose weight when they begin a muscle-building workout plan, although their measurements will change. You said your clothes are fitting looser - there's your proof. It's also proof that things are not "grinding to a halt" - just that something is going on inside that is keeping your overall weight stable. But remember that your weight, and your fat, are maybe like distant 3rd cousins twice removed. They are not bosom buddies. Below is a represenation of 5lbs muscle & 5 lbs fat. Look at how much more volume the fat takes up. With a difference like that, who cares about the scale? Also, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories it takes for your weight to maintain. More muscle = higher caloric requirements. So as you build muscle, you're basically increasing your calorie defecit (assuming you aren't offsetting it). Muscle = calorie furnace.

Have you tried "doctoring" your shakes up? Does he have you guys using the Bariatric fusion ones still? When I had my band with him the pre-op diet was 2 days of sugar free liquids, and maybe since I was a revision he just had me do the same before my sleeve, so I'm not completely sure what his other pre-op diets look like now. If you can add SF ingredients, try some of the DaVinci or Torani syrups. They really make all the difference in the world. Or you can try some PB2 (if allowed). I buy mine online, but the best local selection I've found is at World Market in Westport (for the syrups) and Price Chopper usually has the PB2. To chocolate Protein try adding: PB2 and a squirt of SF PB syrup - tastes reasonably close to a peanut butter/chocolate treat. SF Khalua syrup, and blend with ice - nice "mudslide". SF Salted Caramel syrup - just yum. To vanilla protein try adding: PB2, a squit of SF PB syrup, and a squirt of SF strawberry syrup - PBJ. A squirt of SF White Chocolate syrup, and a squirt of SF Cookie Dough syrup. White chocolate cookie. Low sugar OJ (if you can have it), half packet of Splenda, tsp of SF vanilla pudding, blend with ice - orange julius. ^ not sure how those taste when blended with Water, I use skim extra milk. If you can't make those additions now, they might still help for the first several weeks post-op before you're able to get all your protein in through regular foods.

Luckily crunch can be pretty easy while still maintaining low carb & high Protein. Ask Nancy if you can have some turkey pepperoni. If you can, microwave it on some paper towels until it's thoroughly cooked - it will darken slightly and not sizzle as much. While still hot, blot the grease off the top. Let them cool and they will be extremely crunchy & tasty. You can eat them as-is, or as a chip/scoop. I like them to scoop cottage cheese, or garden vegetable cream cheese -- but I'm also 3 mos post-op. Per serving (17 slices): 70 calories 4g fat 1.5g sat fat (I don't know if blotting the grease/cooking reduces the fat - I would guess cooking does at least a bit) 40mg cholesterol 640mg sodium 0g carbohydrates 9g protein You can also make a crunchy "cracker' out of baked parmesan - the grated kind, not the powdery pizza stuff. Just make small piles of about 1 tbl on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat/silpat. Once you have the piles made, use the bottom of a glass to "squish" the cheese as flat as you can get it. Bake at 300 until brown & bubbly - this takes about 10 mins in my oven. They're gooey when they come out but let them cool completely and they will get really crunchy. When I was doing Atkins several years ago, I used to make taco shells this way. They're really good and versatile! Whole Foods also carries a few versions of the crackers above, but theirs have higher carbs and are more dense - the ones above come out fairly thin. I can't remember what they're called but I have some at home & can take a pic of the packaging if it would be useful. I live in NE MO, about 10 mins from the airport but I work near the OP/Olathe area. If you guys have any questions about anything please feel free to message me.

dorrie - my husband is the same. His metabolism is still doing him a few favors, but he'll turn 40 next year and his luck can only last so long. He has recently crossed into thye "obese" threshold - he's between 6'4 and 6'5 and about 270, all if it is carried in his middle torso (stomach, "love handles", etc.) He is a horrible volume eater. We went to a bakery Saturday and I picked up 10 stuffed rolls - about 6 of which I planned to bring to people at work today. These things are about 5" across, so we aren't talking about small dinner rolls. Sunday when I went to pack them up they were all gone. He'd eated all 10 in less than 1 day, in addition to whatever regular meals we'd had. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to make something for dinner, but can't find it and when I ask him if he knows where the this or that is, he's like, "Oh I ate that..." There goes dinner! Now - I make him a week's worth of breakfasts every Sunday. So he has a nice, balanced breakfast. He takes leftovers for lunch most days, or eats out. And if I don't make dinner (which I do 95% of the time) then I make sure he has something. I also make sure he has Snacks at work (he has had bouts of hypoglycemia since he was about 8, controlled through diet). He still eats - usually another full meal - as soon as he gets home from work, and then I generally start dinner about 2 or 3 hours later. He thinks he eats healthy because his favorite snack is lowfat yogurt with granola, but he doesn't the quart-sized yogurt tubs should last longer than 3 servings! He truly doesn't care. He will refuse to eat lowfat products (other than the yogurt) - sour cream, milk, butter, etc. He has no idea how many calories he eats. If he's hungry, he eats what he wants, and as much of it as he wants, period. I worry about his health - but like you said, I can't make him care. I can just try and figure out ways to plant the seeds. (I can't really say much about his weight gain considering I used to make fun of how "tent-like" his pants were... you know... the 36x36 pants he wore that I used to be able to swim in... I may be a hypocrite but I have my limits...!) I guess the related point of all that is - splitting a meal isn't really an option. He doesn't do well with less than his entire meal, and then some. Plus we like completely different foods (he's a big red meat/steak eater, I'm not at all). Luckily I can split with DH, who eats whatever mommy or princesses eat.

Keep in mind the card is a printed out "please." It does not obligate the restaurant to let you order off the kids' menu, or discount your price. If it's the restaurant's policy not to let you order off the kids' menu, then the card is not going to change that. I have a card but I don't use it and I have never asked for reduced pricing. In my mind, I have no right to expect special treatment because I chose to have surgery. And I am not yet public about my surgery - so waitstaff are probably the last people I see in my day who I'm going to explain my surgery to. I've never had a problem ordering off the kids' menu, but the food is usually crap. Generally I order what I want, and if there are leftovers they become a lunch or dinner for DH. If I'm just not hungry I will go for the company and have a drink. If there's a healthy appetizer I may order it. Generally ordering sounds something like: "I will take this, and please bring a box when you bring it - I know I won't finish it. Hon, what do you want for my sides?"

I so totally don't want to incite a debate about medic alert bracelets. Completely not my intention. A good friend of mine is an ER physician. We've talked about this topic, and here's a summary of her conclusions: Medic alert bracelets are rarely checked - by the physicians anyway. It's possible that medics/EMT or nurses check them, but never guaranteed. She has never looked for a medic alert bracelet prior to placing an NG tube. Medic alert bracelets, if useful, are most useful in trauma/emergency type situations (if you're at a scheduled visit, you'll be able to tell them of your needs). In a trauma situation, NG tubes are virtually always done "blind". The greatest risk from an NG tube is not impacted by the size of the stomach (or pouch, or whatever). It comes from the condition of the esophagus. An NG tube, regardless of how it's inserted, is virtually never going to cause damage on its own. E.g. it's much more likely to coil up than puncture something. That being said, if you like medic alert bracelets, get one, It isn't going to hurt anything.

That's not really "slow". The majority of what you're losing in the first 1 - 2 weeks is just Fluid as your body tries to get sugars replaced, and as you begin to dehydrate to some degree. So basically what you're really saying is that you didn't lose as much fluid as you had hoped to. Surely you can see how that would actually be a bad thing, right? As for slow losing - lots of people lose slowly compared to others, and lots lose more quickly. There is a thread/forum for slow losers, but you really cannot classify yourself as such fewer than 2 weeks post-op. Just give it time and see what happens.

I debated answering this because of our different theological takes: I wondered if I could give input that would do anything other than contradict your beliefs. I think I can, if I strip out part of my reply, and I will do my best. Just please understand that if you find anything below offensive to your beliefs (I don't think you will) - that it is not meant to be. You appear to be an adult, therefore you do not need your family's permission. They don't agree with it - so what? Have they always agreed with everything you've done? Did you care? (asking rhetorically). I think the only thing about this to take too much to heart is how their lack of agreeance makes you feel. In other words, what does their disagreeance mean to you? And how might it impact you? Otherwise - let them disagree. That's what makes the world an interesting place. Don't block your family out of it. Listen to their objections, and do what you can to educate them. Educate, not convert. You can give them the information but you do not have to "win" their approval, or "be right." If you truly feel this is right for you, that's right enough. At the end of the day it's you and your DH (unless you live with your parents or brother, or have some other type of nuclear family arrangement). Is DH enough support, or will you need the support of a larger family? If you need additional support, could you find it elsewhere, e.g. friends, a support group, etc.? (again, rhetorical - just points to consider). I had lapband surgery in 2006 and my mother was pretty much set in stone against it. SHe was not kind in voicing her opposition, nor was she at least thoughtful about it. My father was worried for me, but felt that if it was what I wanted, then it had to be at least a little right. DH was scared something would happen, but he has always stood beside me 100%. Know what? My mom ran out and got herself a lapband about 2 years after I got mine. My dad got his the year after. (Talk about something that has the potential to engender resentment!)

The same response I put in on the other thread where you asked this question still applies: