Nymea

Well this time last week I was heading to the ward from recovery, my plumbing all re-routed. Am I happy it was done ... yes I am starting to be ... but for most of the last week I totally regretted the decision. After constantly vomiting for 3 days solid ... until my doc put me on an extreme nausea protocol they usually reserve for cancer patients. Finally I got some relief, not fully clear but at least not vomiting actively 24/7. There were moments when I regretted the choice. There were moments when I wondered if I would ever be able to eat of drink again. There were moments I just gave in and cried, slept, sulked or watched tv. I woke with a large bore naso gastric tube - it hurt my throat and every time I moved an inch it made me vomit again. I hated it more than anything else. Then on day 4 I had a barium swallow .... more like super Drano swallow. I must have the cleanest sparkliest innards in Melbourne by now. But at least the NG tube could come out now .. yay goodbye and good riddance. I never want to have one of those again. Finally day 5 I was allowed to eat. Yay .... salty Water named chicken broth in the hopes it might fool someone into trying it. Apple juice - yumm ... until you have had it for the 6th time in a day. And peppermint tea. I hate peppermint tea. They provide peppermint because so many people dislike black ordinary tea ... but that is how i normally take tea. I managed to cajole a nurse into swapping the bag for me so at least I could enjoy a decent cuppa. The next problem I discovered was everything going cold because I could only eat/drink so slowly. Oh well thank goodness for the microwave. On the day of discharge (yesterday) my surgeon came in early to see me and said I could have free fluids now. I hardly waited for him to leave the room before I raced down to the coffee shop and bought a latte - decaf because I always drink decaff and half strength because I don't like it too strong .... but something with flavour, something normal. It is funny - after an operation and hospitalisation, anything that helps you fel normal again has huge value. We stopped in at the supermarket on the way home and bought makings for some Soup, some puree apple and makings for custard and latte. The shop was more of a challenge than I expected. Lucky for me the center is just redeveloped with lots of places to stop and sit ... I used every single one of them on my trip, but my hubs was good and did most of the work for me. I just told him what to get and chose the meat/vegies myself. I bought everything pre chopped so all I had to do was shove it in a saucepan and put it on to simmer slowly. Hubs did the lifting for me .. and did my washing from the hospital while I rested with a cup of tea. Then after making some custard and having a little of that with some puree apple, I slept for a bit. I woke and blended up a portion of soup - enough for a couple of days, having some for dinner. That soup was like nectar from the gods. More normality how splendid. So my journey has begun. With all the early regrets and fears, I can say things look more promising now. The biggest surprise was how tired I get and how easily I tire, how easily I get full and that i still feel nauseous without the anti nausea meds.

I am a type 1 diabetic so while my upcoming surgery is unlikely to cure my diabetes, it could make significant differences to control. Some studies show that type 1 diabetics who are overweight have a much harder time keeping their sugars well controlled and this seems to improve after RNY surgery thus improving their overall health because of it.

for those who are struggling with the protein element - don't discount the protein found in vegetables like broccoli. It isn't as much as meat, but it still counts twards your daily total if you are craving something green.

Thank you for the advice - I have 2 days to go before my op and it seems that i am like everyone else in that I am expecting to be the one it doesn't work on. I am trying to remain single minded and not freak out and just let it happen. Yeh, easier said than done some days.

I am pre op and get that burning pain which is different to hunger sensation. The burning pain is reflux in me and part of the reason I am having the surgery. I have a hiatus hernia which will be repaired at the same time and GERD (reflux disease) which my surgeon says is significantly improved by this surgery. I have fundal gland polyps which are caused by the medication I take to reduce the acid so I need to stop taking them. I am hoping the surgery makes the difference otherwise I am going to have a hard time post op.

Hope things go well for you from now on

My surgery is scheduled for 2 days time (16th July here in Australia). Been on the pre-op diet for 4 weeks now and totally fed up with it but I have lost 5 kg which I am delighted with. So just 2 more days to get through and I am there - a bit nervous now - not so much for the surgery itself but I always get terrible nausea and vomiting after an anaesthetic which I am not looking forward to. I am also terribly worried that I will go through it all and not lose any weight. I know that is not realistic if I stick to what the dietitian tells me. I guess I ahve failed somany times before it is hard to imagine that this time it might actually work.

I wish you good ,uck with your surgery too Elvenprincess. I will be watching to see how you go afterwards.

Hello everyone I am pre - op and have quite a few fears and concerns. I was wondering what fears others had and thought it might be good to share a little. My biggest fear is not losing weight. I know it is unrealistic given the nature of bypass surgery, but I think that I have tried and failed at so many diets I can't quite believe this one will make the difference. Naturally I am a little concerned about the actual surgery, but I spent 20 years as a theater nurse so I know how the surgery goes and that the risks are less than flying, so I am less worried about that `than afterwards. I know my blood pressure drops dramatically when I have an anaesthetic and that can be a worry if they can't keep it high enough to feed my brain with oxygen. I also have terrible post anaesthetic nausea and vomiting which I am not looking forward to ... although I do know there are ways of giving anaesthetics which minimise that. I am not particularly worried about post-op pain. It is something that will pass and hospitals have plenty of ways of helping with pain. I am not worried about needles .. I have been on insulin for about 30 years now so I am used to them. I am a bit worried about blood sugar control in the first weeks post op though. There is a chance I may not get off insulin completely because I have been on it so long and blood sugar problems are one of the main causes of me giving up on diets in the past. When my sugar is high I am starving hungry and nothing fills the space and when my sugars are too low I have to eat whether I want to or not.

That is awesome. We must stay in contact and support each other. It maybe rough. Sent from my 831C using the BariatricPal App That would be great. I am sure we will both have ups and downs. I just realised I made a mistake .. My surgery is July not August ... I think my brain is fuzzy from this liver reduction diet. 11th August is my daughter's birthday lol I suppose that is why the date stood out for me. I still would like to stay in touch though ... it is going to be a hard path

Hi there I am having a gastric bypass on 16th August and looking forward to the positive changes that will come with it ... reduction or elimination of insulin, improvement of GERD, lowering of blood pressure, being able to move better .. maybe even less knee pain. Of course I am worried about the outcome particularly since I also have a heart condition, although my cardiologist assures me I will be fine and my heart will even benefit from my losing weight. As a nurse I know I will lose weight but in the back of my mind I still have this nagging doubt. I suppose with all the failed diets in my 56 years I can't believe that this time it will work. What I am curious about is whether it is possible to lose enough weight to get back to a "normal" BMI weight range. So I am asking if anyone here has managed it and if so what did it take to get there? For those who didn't quite manage normal BMI how close did you get? I would like to get as close to what is considered normal for my height as possible. I am not expecting to make it all the way, and I think I can live with being just a bit overweight rather than morbidly obese but I really would like to have some realistic idea before I start. My surgeon hasn't given me a goal weight yet so I feel like I am swimming in a pool of hopes and fears. Unfortunately the fears are screaming the loudest at the moment. I do still have another appointment with the surgeon before my op so maybe he will tell me then. If not maybe I will push him on the subject.

"I just left my doctor office and he's finally gave me my surgery date. August 11 it will be... I'm excited and nervous all at the same time... Who else getting their surgery in August??" I have my surgery on the same day as you ... we will be bariatric twins!

congratulations. Hope it all goes well for you

I got my surgery date today ... 16th July so I am officially on my reducing diet until then. The surgeon recommends Optifast but since I don't like any of those Meal Replacements because they are way too sweet for my tastes I am just going with low fat high Protein milk. I sat with nutritional panels and calculated how much milk I could have for the same kilojoules and it turns out it has more protein and less carbs than Optifast which is all good in my book. At the end of day 1 I am feeling okay ... I don't expect it to continue but at least I am one day down and one day closer to surgery.

Updating ... I managed to get all my appointments in before the gastroscopy so if everything is okay and the finances all line up I should be able to organise my surgery for mid July. More news later ... when I have a firm date.

Good luck. Your surgery date is almost here

I am 56 and saw my surgeon for the first time yesterday. I need an endoscopy first because of GERD & Hiatus hernia. If all goes well then hopefully will have RNY late July. The main reason for choosing WLS is because I need knee replacements in both knees and the surgeons told me I have to lose weight before they will do the surgery. I am also hoping that losing some weight will help my back pain which only started when I got over 90kg. I am a bit worried about saggy skin, but I figure I can hide it under my clothes, it's not like I want to impress anyone, I just want to be more comfortable in myself.

Having spent the first 4 months of this year procrastinating about whether to have surgery or not I finally saw the surgeon today. But a little more about me first I think. I am 56 years old and been overweight since I was 8. Sure I have lost weight plenty of times, but it never stays off. Eventually that nibble of cheese in the evening becomes a plate full of cheese and crackers or that couple of squares of chocolate becomes a whole bar ... or two. Damn the supermarket for always having a 2 for 1 special on some type of chocolate. I can't deny it is my own fault. I know I eat way too much of the wrong things but somehow after intense periods of self control it falls through the floor and I am back where I started. Of course I never set out to eat a whole packet of chips, or a whole bar of chocolate (family size of course) but that is how it ends up. 4 years go I decided to give up sugar completely. I literally dragged myself through the first few weeks, but by about 8 weeks, I was no longer craving and rarely thought about it. I didn't lose any weight but at lease I didn't put any on either. Then I stopped eating breads .. well anything with flour in it really. I also cut out potato and rice. So I was basically left with fresh vegetables, meat, dairy and fruit. I did marvelously on that diet and lost 20 kg with hardly any effort. I kept on losing slowly for nearly 2 years. Then I went on a cruise ... I stuck with my eating regime for the first week, but then decided that the Desserts were only little and one wouldn't hurt. Those croissants at Breakfast were only small too, so they wouldn't hurt either. Nor would the chocolate sauce on the pudding, and the hot chocolate at the coffee shop. I had a wonderful time on that cruise, really let my hair down and managed to undo everything I had done over the previous few years. Oh I didn't come back with all the weight back on, but when I tried to stop eating the "bad" things again and return to my healthy eating my head just wouldn't let me. Time and time again I tried but never with the success of that first time. Recently I tried to give up the sugar again with a friend's help. She suggested that I get a tape measure and cut a centimeter off for each day I didn't eat sugar. Today I cut off the 50th centimeter. I still find it hard to go past chocolate in the shops, but for the rest of the time I don't worry about it as much. Tomorrow I am stopping the bread and crackers again, moving back to more fresh vegetables and a piece of fruit a day. Then next week I will slowly introduce my VLCD one meal at a time. I will replace lunch first since I enjoy my porridge at breakfast and find I can manage well without lunch if I eat a good breakfast. I won't go without lunch though, just replace it with one of those drinks *shudder*. I am going to buy some bars as well since I prefer them to drinks. So why have I chosen to go the surgical route? Well aside from the obvious continual failings, I need knee surgery, two replacements but they won't do them until i lose weight. Since I can't walk without a cane now, I need to do something about my weight quickly. Sure I could just do a VLCD and lose the weight I need to for the knee surgery but this time I want a permanent solution. I also have a heart problem, high blood pressure and diabetes. All of these will improve if I lose significant weight and keep it off. I suppose by some measures I don't have so much to lose. I weigh exactly 100 kg and at 5 ft 2 that makes my BMI 40. I would like to get to about 60kg but even 65kg would make my life significantly better. These days I have given up worrying about what I look like. I just want to be able to move around more freely and feel more healthy. I used to be a nurse (in operating theater so I know exactly what this surgery looks like lol). I had to give up nursing last year because me knees would no longer hold me for a full shift (or even half a shift). Now I am doing a PhD and am really enjoying the change of pace. So back to today. I saw the surgeon, one of my old colleagues and we agreed that they best surgery for me was Roux en y. However, he suspects a hiatus hernia so I have to have an endoscopy first. That is booked for 5th July. Hopefully if all moves smoothly I will have my surgery mid July. I have to see the dietitian, psych and a cardiologist/intensive care physician because of my heart problems. With any luck I will be able to book them all in before the endoscopy so that when it is done I can get the actual surgery booked fast. It only takes a week or two here in Australia to book into a private hospital I already have the paperwork which I can send in now so they have me on the system. Then my surgeon will just give me a date and it's done. I am still not 100% convinced I want to go through with it, but I will most likely need to have the lap hernia repair anyway so I might as well do the lot in one go. First step on the path so to speak

I had my first appointment with the surgeon today and he is planning a Roux en Y bypass. I have an endoscopy scheduled for 5 July to check for a hiatus hernia which he is pretty sure i have, but wants to be sure so he can fix it at the same time. If all goes well I will have surgery mid July. I have a few weeks before the endoscopy that I can fit nutritionist, psych and physician appointments into .. fingers crossed I can manage to get them all in that space of time to avoid longer waits. I only need to do 3 weeks on VLCD but I am going to start mid June so that I won't have a hold up for the surgery if everything else is okay