thebynum79

I would say be prepared for the emotional changes. I just started my journey toward the gastric, and already I'm noticing things I never did. It's good, but challenging.
Good luck!

Hello my friend. First I'm not in your exact shoes, but I get the shoes you wear.
First off support is your biggest need. People who get what you're going through, but at the same time hold you accountable.
Second, weigh things out. If you're really serious about this then you'll have to be as serious about quitting your substance abuse.
I smoked for a good while. I knew I needed to lose weight. I knew I wanted to, but want sure how. I went to an orientation as my first step for GPS, and there they explained that if I were to smoke after my surgery I would have an ulcer.
So I decided to ask a close friend of mine that understood my addiction to tobacco, to support me and keep me accountable. It's not been easy and at times I crave. But I also remind my self why I quit; I quit for my health, I quit for me.
I have a sister who had the GPS and for a while it worked. But soon she began doing the same things as before, drinking smoking and not taking care of her body; she gained 80% of her weight back.
So this isn't a judgement of wether you're good or bad. But it is a plea to ask yourself if you are really ready for this life changing event in your life if you're not ready to give up the other life altering event in your life.
I hope the best for you my friend.
William

Anchorage Alaska

Hello my friend. First I'm not in your exact shoes, but I get the shoes you wear.
First off support is your biggest need. People who get what you're going through, but at the same time hold you accountable.
Second, weigh things out. If you're really serious about this then you'll have to be as serious about quitting your substance abuse.
I smoked for a good while. I knew I needed to lose weight. I knew I wanted to, but want sure how. I went to an orientation as my first step for GPS, and there they explained that if I were to smoke after my surgery I would have an ulcer.
So I decided to ask a close friend of mine that understood my addiction to tobacco, to support me and keep me accountable. It's not been easy and at times I crave. But I also remind my self why I quit; I quit for my health, I quit for me.
I have a sister who had the GPS and for a while it worked. But soon she began doing the same things as before, drinking smoking and not taking care of her body; she gained 80% of her weight back.
So this isn't a judgement of wether you're good or bad. But it is a plea to ask yourself if you are really ready for this life changing event in your life if you're not ready to give up the other life altering event in your life.
I hope the best for you my friend.
William

Hello my friend. First I'm not in your exact shoes, but I get the shoes you wear.
First off support is your biggest need. People who get what you're going through, but at the same time hold you accountable.
Second, weigh things out. If you're really serious about this then you'll have to be as serious about quitting your substance abuse.
I smoked for a good while. I knew I needed to lose weight. I knew I wanted to, but want sure how. I went to an orientation as my first step for GPS, and there they explained that if I were to smoke after my surgery I would have an ulcer.
So I decided to ask a close friend of mine that understood my addiction to tobacco, to support me and keep me accountable. It's not been easy and at times I crave. But I also remind my self why I quit; I quit for my health, I quit for me.
I have a sister who had the GPS and for a while it worked. But soon she began doing the same things as before, drinking smoking and not taking care of her body; she gained 80% of her weight back.
So this isn't a judgement of wether you're good or bad. But it is a plea to ask yourself if you are really ready for this life changing event in your life if you're not ready to give up the other life altering event in your life.
I hope the best for you my friend.
William

@@AvaFern thank you very much for a concise and truthful answer to my question. Just to clarify to everyone, I do not plan to do cocaine or smoke pot because I have random drug tests at work, but everybody has their moments of weakness due to peer pressure or what have you. I'm making a huge decision to have this surgery and I am doing it to live healthier and better my life. I'm 40 years old now but in my 20's up until around the age of 33, I lived a life of excessive partying and drinking. I have two children now and I no longer partake in the drug aspect of that life but I do drink quite a lot on the weekends with my friends and my brothers. I've gone from a pretty steady 215 pounds to the heaviest I've ever been at 290 lbs. my joints hurt, clothes don't fit me anymore, my confidence is all but gone. All I see now is a fat lazy slob that I am ashamed of. I have depression and I'm on medication for it and looking back, I believe I used drugs and alcohol as a means of self medicating. I appreciate all of the posts and well wishes from all of you on this thread. It means a lot. Thank you for listening to my issues and letting me vent. I cannot wait to get this surgery and start to live my life the way it was meant to be lived. It will force me to do the things that I did not have the ability to say no to. I am excited for the future.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hello my friend. First I'm not in your exact shoes, but I get the shoes you wear.
First off support is your biggest need. People who get what you're going through, but at the same time hold you accountable.
Second, weigh things out. If you're really serious about this then you'll have to be as serious about quitting your substance abuse.
I smoked for a good while. I knew I needed to lose weight. I knew I wanted to, but want sure how. I went to an orientation as my first step for GPS, and there they explained that if I were to smoke after my surgery I would have an ulcer.
So I decided to ask a close friend of mine that understood my addiction to tobacco, to support me and keep me accountable. It's not been easy and at times I crave. But I also remind my self why I quit; I quit for my health, I quit for me.
I have a sister who had the GPS and for a while it worked. But soon she began doing the same things as before, drinking smoking and not taking care of her body; she gained 80% of her weight back.
So this isn't a judgement of wether you're good or bad. But it is a plea to ask yourself if you are really ready for this life changing event in your life if you're not ready to give up the other life altering event in your life.
I hope the best for you my friend.
William

Amazing! Good job!

I posted this last year on another board. I will share it here as well. I actually got thinner after this and I now have a 6th child but I stand by the rest of what was said.
I wanted to give you guys a REAL look at what weight loss surgery does to you so that if you decide to get it you know all the facts. I would do this surgery again in a heart beat, however it is not all rainbows and unicorns. I have an insane amount of excess skin, 2 hernias and Iron so low I have to be transfused weekly. At my heaviest being weighed I was 368 but I HAD ALREADY BEEN DIETING so I was probably closer to 380. I have had 5 kids and that has a lot to do with my stomach being so baggy, I am going to get the apron surgery and have that removed once my Iron is high enough. This surgery saved my life, I am not longer diabetic, my blood pressure is perfect and 5 months out of surgery I got pregnant with my daughter. It was a miracle for me but I wish someone had shown me REAL before and after photos so I would know what I was REALLY in for cosmetically.

When I was in the pre surgery faze I found peoples pics very helpful and inspiring. Not trying to brag just wanted to help others who have worries! Q 

Hi @@thebynum79,
My doctor asked me to lose 25 pounds prior to surgery. He said he wasn't too concerned about it because I would lose at least 15 pounds (in his estimation) during the 2 week pre-op liquid diet.
Given that I want to have the very best chance possible, I started following the diet he prescribes for everyone - WLS or not. It's called the "Pound of Cure" diet - the book is available on Amazon (I believe it's around $10).
I'm sure there are tons of diets you can do that would be successful, but I can tell you that I have lost 40 pounds in the 5 weeks I've been on this diet. In fact, it's been so successful that the doctor waived the requirement for a 2 week pre-op liquid diet (which was kind of awesome).
If you are interested, you can google Dr. Matthew Weiner and either go to his website or his YouTube channel where he has a ton of videos posted about WLS and the Pound of Cure diet. They're interesting videos with a ton of good information.
Essentially, the diet requires a lot of "real" food. Starting with a pound of vegetables (or more) per day. Also you can have all the fruit you want, and several servings of Protein a day (he asks that at least one be a non-animal variety like Beans or lentils). He also promotes raw, unsalted nuts. He is extremely anti-processed food, so the hardest part of the diet is being prepared. The good news is that I have NEVER been hungry and lost a ton of weight.
When it comes to post-surgery, you definitely want to follow your own surgeons plans. Dr. Weiner takes a fairly different approach than many when it comes to post op. Most of the differences come in regards to Protein. His requirements are lower than many (I believe it's like 60g a day for men as opposed to up to 100 that I see others are asked to do). He also wants his patients off of processed Protein shakes ASAP.
Sorry if this reads as a commercial, I really didn't intend it to. But after losing 40 pounds in 5 weeks I am a bit evangelical about it if people ask a good way to lose weight.
Oh yeah, and he himself lives this diet (I even confirmed this with the Psychologist during my eval as she has known him a long time).

I was required to lose 25 lbs pre-op, but ended up losing 86 lbs over the course of my 3 month supervised diet. Its a boring tip, I assure you, but all I did was what they told me to do. I was told to track my food (I use myfitnesspal), limit to 1200 cals/day, get in 70-90g of Protein, and exercise as tolerated. These numbers would likely be different for you, being male. The calorie restriction was absolute hell for the first week, but I gave myself some leeway to ease down, which made it more manageable. Soon enough my body was used to it. I wasn't insanely precise about it - some days were higher than 1200 and others were lower. As long as it roughly averaged out, I just let it go.
Exercise was difficult for me to begin as well - I was just so out of shape and winded so easily. Plus I just didnt want to. I started by walking to the mailbox to get the mail every day (we have a large yard, so this wasn't just 5 steps outside the door). When I could do that without getting winded, I extended my walks to the corner and back. Then to the next corner, then around the block, and so forth. Now my dog and I take a 3 block walk 3-4 times a day, about a third of which is uphill. Focus on doing what you're able to do, as you're able to do it.
In the end, just do the best you can. Anything you can do is more than you're doing now and will help get you to where you want to be.

I work in a hospital setting so I had access to this before surgery. It is fabulous. You can find it cheaper on Amazon but it is definitely worth it.
https://www.interdry.com/
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

I am pre op and have always felt I would never need to do this that I could do it myself. Well I have done it myself and the weight always crept back on. For me it was about control (needing to keep it lol). Now I need both knees replaced. My doctor again recommended surgery except this time gently said " let go of your ego". Well this hit home for me and here I am. I am embracing the gift of this surgery and knowing I will get new knees too is nothing but a win/win. I am grateful for my doctor and his honesty and his genuine care. Everyone I speak to says they wished they had it sooner.
Looking to live life again

It's 100% worth it. I'm only 3 days post op and ive already lost 4lbs since my surgery date. And I didn't have to starve or torture myself to lose that 4 lbs.

Hey ladies - I've seen forum posts about unwanted advances after WLS. I'm just curious to know if anyone else has experienced this phenomenon pre-WLS...
For the past decade I've noticed a certain type of man hits on me. Usually he's gross, missing a couple teeth, smells like cigarette smoke, and is either hanging out of someone else's car or standing behind me at a grocery store carrying a bottle of booze and a package of hot dogs. I get the feeling they think they have a shot with me because I am obese, therefore must be lonely and desperate.
I always reject them and then they get really offended like they can't believe I'm ungrateful for the attention. One man shouted as I walked away "Well, you're fat anyway!" YES. I am fat. Thank you for stating the obvious. That doesn't mean I should be glad scumbags are interested in knocking boots with me.
Anyone else have this problem? Does it get better or worse as you lost weight?
Personally I'd rather not get attention at all (positive or negative). I just want to be left alone. I'm happy with my marriage and that's enough.

Congratulations on taking such a big step.
The best advice I can give is learn as much as you can, ask lots of questions, and write everything down. Your program may give you a notebook to keep up with all of the information you receive, but if they don't you may want to get a big three ring binder to keep up with everything.
You have posted in the bypass forum so I assume you are planning to have the bypass. If you aren't familiar with the other options, I encourage you to learn about all of the available procedures and work with your surgeon to determine which one is best for you.
Also, stay positive, proactive, persistent, and patient throughout the process.
Best of luck.

I think that's it. I never really paid attention to it before, as it was just a part of me, literally. However I now am seeing and feeling the great desire to see the me underneath me.
Thank you all for the responses! Does anyone have a BF/AF?

Awesome. I have my before's just need some afters. only 2 weeks out...I will get there though!

Prior to surgery, I never really looked at myself. I generally took the photographs so I was rarely in any of them. When I saw myself in the mirror it was always a straight on shot so being obese was not that evident.
Now to the point, many people do not really look at themselves prior to surgery and then after surgery do not have anything to compare to so they become oblivious to the amount of the weight they lose. So it is very important to take a good before photo prior to the surgery, so that you have something to compare your weight loss with other than the bathroom scale.
Here is my before photo and then one taken 6 months after the surgery. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Operation.jpg
I tried to duplicate the exact same pose the best I could. Don't pass up this opportunity, you will find it important after surgery.

I never paid attention to how I actually looked and I would avoid the scale. When I look at my passport picture I clearly see that I don't look the same ( I was bigger but unsure of my weight ). I always take pictures of everyone and I hate to be in them. I would like to take some before and after pictures so that I can compare them after surgery.

I think many of us live in a 'chosen' state of oblivion with regard to our weight. Subconsciously we are aware, but aren't ready to deal with it. When I made the decision to have surgery and really became in tune with how my health was and could have been impacted due to my weight, I had many 'thank God' moments that it wasn't worse than it was for me. I want discouraged, but just thankful my chosen state of ignorance didn't cost me more.
Don't grapple with the choices of yesterday-- they can't be changed. Learn from it, and use what you learn to aid in your success post op!

Went and some baby powder today at the store, and it feels great! I'll see how it feels through the the week.
Thanks everyone!

@@thebynum79 I use regular baby powder sometimes too. The gold bond is sort of tingly because it's medicated to help raw skin, and the baby powder is just soft and is more to help prevent issues, from my experience. Any powder will work, it's sort of personal preference.

If you're thinking of getting plastics someday, make sure you talk to your dr about your issues. I did, they documented it for future insurance approval and prescribed me nystatin cream and powder to use.