leebick

My surgeon said that my sleeve ectly below my breastbone. Maybe you are feeling your pouch??

Surgery on Thurs (9/15) went well, although I had a terrible time with nausea and dizziness. I have 4 anti-nausea meds and a scope patch, and they still had to put something in my IV once I got up to the room. Friday I started walking and thought I was doing OK. A little discomfort, maybe some hardness in my abdomen, but I thought this was just from surgery. Then my blood pressure went to 180/85! Nurse had me take a pain pill and my bp started dropping. Who knew I was in pain and didn't recognize it! Anyhow I got my walking in and have had no trouble drinking my liquids. I was in the hospital from Thursday morning until Saturday afternoon, and I'm glad I could stay that long. Now I just have to rest, walk, and sip. Seems easy after coming through surgery!

My surgery is tomorrow morning- September 15th. This is my 3rd try; first time I had bronchitis, second try had to be rescheduled. I am SO ready to do this! Not nervous, not anxious. I know that might change by tomorrow morning, but I am feeling confident that I'll come through this easily and will start to get some of my life back! SO excited to think that when I go see Nutcracker with my ballet-mom-friends this year, I will actually fit in the seat! GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE! SEE YOU ON THE LOSERS' BENCH!!

I'm probably the one who mentioned that, based on one of the older Atkins induction diets (which many liver-shrink diets are very, very similar to). Onions are higher in net carbs per half-cup serving than things like broccoli or green peppers because they don't have much Fiber in them. Grams of net carbs per half-cup serving: Onions, 6.1; broccoli, 1.5; green peppers, 2.2; carrots, 3.3. Now, you can make the argument that you probably won't eat a half-cup serving of onions, LOL, but I know if we have sautéed onions to go on burgers or something, or I make french onion Soup, it's really not hard to eat a lot of onion.

Totally unrelated to BWLS, Andreaj, but do you know how FMLA comes down on pregnancy with relation to the 1250 hours/working for a year? My husband is a department chair (at a college) and is caught in the middle between one of his faculty and his associate dean. He's been trying to get a clear answer but of course the people who understand these regulations are the ones trying to deny coverage to his faculty member. All he needs is a clear explanation, but is having trouble getting such!

I live in northern Maine and am having my surgery in Bangor. I made the right call about postponing for so long, though. My mother-in-law did OK with her surgery but she's 83 and it's never easy. We were with her at Cleveland Clinic for 6 days, but they can't stabilize her heart rate- she's still there, 13 days in all, so far. I'm going back out for a week, and may try to sneak in another week just before surgery (if I can get FMLA and my principal is OK with it). However, I am not postponing my surgery again. I realized that part of the reason it's been so easy for me to postpone was my discomfort with giving over control of my body to a medical team for a couple of days. After seeing what my dear, sweet mother-in-law put herself through to be healthy and stay alive, I realized I can SO do this… and really, really want to.

Silly! It doesn't matter what **your** doctor says! As long as **someone's** plan OKs it, it's fiiiiiine. I am following my surgeon's plans to the letter, and even postponed my surgery because of their air travel restrictions, but it is interesting to compare all the different "rules and requirements" that different practices follow.

AUGUST 15th? You can do this!! TWO DAYS and you'll be restarting your life, finding a whole new package for the you that lives inside! Keep drinking your no-calorie liquids. Have you tried the no-sugar, no-cal MiO drops to add to water, or the "drink-sticks", so you get a variety of flavors? And don't forget the sugar free popsicles and sugar free jello! These were both allowed on my all-liquid diet and it sure felt good to have something to chew!! Hang tough!! You can do this!!

ALSO... has your doctor talked to you about taking vitamins? I take 2 chewable (NOT gummy) vitamins with iron a day, and two chewable calcium/vitamin D chews. Can't take them at the same time as stuff in the vitamins interferes with the absorption of stuff in the chews, but that's not an issue. There are many days when I look forward to those 2 chocolate chews as my big treat for the day! (Full disclaiimer: I am doing the gummy vitamins for the time being. I really hate the way the chewable vitamins taste. I will swap over to the chewable vitamins just before surgery and stay on them after surgery, but for now, for me, it's gummy vitamins. I like the berry version from Target!) Another suggestion: If you are a coffee drinker, start weaning yourself off coffee. Drink the half-caff version for a few weeks, then swap to decaf. It'll be much easier in the early post-surgery days if you are not battling a screaming caffeine-withdrawal headache along with everything else!

You are correct- the Atkins meals are pretty expensive, maybe around $4 each in my area. First... a disclaimer. I am NOT a nutritionist, and have never been a registered dietician. I have a degree in nutrition but decided to go to grad school rather than into practice, so while I have education in nutritional biochemistry, my experience is in academic research and NOT clinical practice. What I've written here is what I understand from my education/training, as well as what I know has worked for me. (and honestly, if I was able to make it work for me and stick to it 100% of the time, I wouldn't have a BMI of 41 and be looking at VGS surgery! I guess I can "talk the talk" but struggle with "walking the walk!"). Regardless of how much info you can learn from these boards, always talk to your own doctor/nutritionist if you need to confirm something! You can TOTALLY do this without buying the pre-made, frozen meals! I suggested them because you seemed to be wanting something that was easy, something that you could eat without having to plan or think about it much. However, when I suggested them I had NO IDEA that you were talking about a 6-10 week diet; most of the time when people refer to a "pre-op" diet, they are talking about a 2 week semi-fast, just before surgery. There's no way I could afford to do Atkins frozen meals twice a day for 10 weeks! Your doctor has given you some great material to work from when doing your meal planning. Just remember- NO fruit, NO dairy, NO bread, pasta, rice, potato, limit your cheese to about 1oz per day. I think your biggest hurdle will be portion control- I know mine is! Measure, weigh, eyeball it... and when you are done, don't have more! It sounds to me like your doctor wants you following something similar to the Atkins Phase 1/induction diet, so here's a link to the foods that are approved on that diet: https://www.atkins.com/how-it-works/atkins-20/phase-1/low-carb-foods One thing that your doctor's paperwork doesn't talk about is fats... butter, mayo, salad dressing, etc. I don't know if this means to cut these out or what. Atkins suggests using the real thing- no reduced fat margerines/spreads, no low-fat or no-fat mayo or salad dressing, etc. I have found that I am more satisfied when I use the real fats rather than the diet versions, and of course the low/no fat versions all have sugars and more carbohydrate fillers than a low carb diet can tolerate. Honestly, most of what I'd use butter on is not allowed on the diet (because it's carbs- bread, pasta, etc), and for cooking I use a minimal amount of olive oil or spray. For salad dressings, I read the labels carefully and choose those with minimal to no carb/sugar (good think I love blue cheese dressing!) or I simply use some olive oil with some kind of acid (flavored vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice). Here is a carbohydrate content list; it's VERY comprehensive and detailed. Double check anything you are not 100% sure of. http://www.carbohydrate-counter.org If you cannot measure/weigh your food, here're some suggestions on how to estimate a portion. Just remember that there are some things on this list that you are not allowed to eat (like the refined carb stuff): https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000337.htm And here's a chart, for the visual: http://www.healthyeating.org/Portals/0/Documents/Schools/Parent%20Ed/Portion_Sizes_Serving_Chart.pdf Since you can have high-protein shakes, you might want to try a variety of brands, both ready-to-drink and powdered, so you know what you like when you have to go on the protein-shake-only pre-op and post-op diet. My favorites are Syntrex Nectar, which are made from pure whey protein isolate. They have 15 flavors and can be made with either skim milk, unsweetened almond milk (MY choice, as it's lower in calories and carbs than dairy milk), or water. If you go to their webpage (http://www.si03.com) and run your mouse over the space on the right that says "monthly special" you can get the info for calling to order a sampler pack. For $16.99 (incl. tax/shipping) they will send you one serving of each flavor, so you can decide what you like without a major financial investment. You might also ask your doctor/nutritionist if she has any free samples of Unjury, or you can order an Unjury starter kit (http://www.unjury.com/unjury-starter-kit.html) for about $20 plus shipping. It has 10 packets in it, as well as a shaker bottle and thermometer. It's a little pricy, but better than buying a big honking container of something you discover you cannot stand!! You might find discount coupons for Unjury if you look around the internet. I can't help you much with the ready-to-drink shakes, because I really don't like them, but I keep a case of EAS AdvantEDGE shakes (I get them at BJ's or Sam's) for an emergency/convenience. I haven't tried their protein powder, because it has more carb and sugar than my Nut suggests. Cost-wise, I usually figure a shake should cost me somewhere around $1. Sometimes it's more, sometimes less... I look for coupons for the different brands, for almond milk, etc. (Almond Breeze is my preferred almond milk, but the store brand at Walmart tastes and feels exactly the same!) You can do this!! Look at it like a hobby, a game. Make a list of what you like and can eat, and stick to it. It's pretty easy, if you stick to protein sources and salad for your meals, as well as the two shakes per day. Honestly, I think if you can stick to the Atkins phase 1 food options and the shakes, and start doing some kind of exercise (I never thought of pool exercise as I'm allergic to chlorine so can't use a pool), you should be able to lose that 15 pounds in NO time!!

Are you surprised? I was surprised that it remained civil for so long!!

OK... I am having issues with mulit-quoting, so here are my responses to a few prior posts! Syntrax Nectar is my protein powder of choice! It tastes great, and has "juicy" options as well as "shake-like" flavors. It's great stuff- so many flavors!! My NUT recommends having that first protein shake within an hour of getting up in the morning, so that your body doesn't think it's in "starvation" mode and slow down metabolism.

I've postponed my surgery twice, too; I thought I was the only one!! My date is 9/15, and I can't wait. The first time (May), I was on day 13 of the liquids-only pre-op diet and had a horrible chest cold. Anesthesia called for my pre-op consultation and said no way were they taking me to surgery the next day! Because of personal stuff and such, I rescheduled for July 21 only to have to cancel due to a family emergency; that time, I was only on day 6 of the pre-op diet, LOL! I am psyched to get started, and have no qualms at ALL about that pre-op diet- I've GOT THAT!!

I'm not sure what you are allowed, but I was allowed a daily cup of strained, low-fat cream Soup, like Healthy Choice. I don't normally eat this kind of soup (and actually thought it sounded gross), but I found it helped me feel fuller, and the texture and warmth were helpful, too. Because I don't normally eat this kind of soup, it didn't trigger any cravings, like for Ritz crackers!

How disappointing! Hang in there, though, and something will work out. Have you tried searching online to find a surgeon in your province that does sleeve surgery? I just had an issue with my surgeon and had to postpone surgery. My MIL had open heart surgery 16 days after my scheduled sleeve surgery. She's 83, needed 2 valves, double bypass, and an ablation, and there was no way I wasn't going to be there. Well... my surgeon prohibits air travel for 6 weeks post surgery. I KNOW that people go to Mexico and fly home 2 or 3 days later- but this was the surgeon's rule and even though it seems foolish to me, I rescheduled. This is kind-of like your doctor's question "Who will take care of you post-op?" Well, who takes care of all the folks who have surgery in Mexico? THEIR DOCTORS AT HOME. People fly to Mexico, have gastric surgery, fly home a couple of days later, and somehow manage to survive and thrive despite their surgeons being out of country, despite having to fly. You'd think the surgeons here would realize this and be a little more open-minded. Keep your faith... this is going to happen for you. If you have to go out of province for the surgery, DO IT. You'll get there, one way or another. (and for the record, I thought the tweet was funny. My husband teaches college and friends are always sending him cartoons and jokes about underachieving students with bad attitudes. Doesn't mean my husband feels that way about his kids!)

I think she means she consumes 1 gram of Protein for every inch of height. My protein goal is 60-80 grams a day.

With the veggies, did she give you a list of what you should avoid? You want LOW carb (low glycemic index) veggies- that means nothing starchy, so no potato, corn, winter squash, peas, Beans, rice. parsnips, turnip. Most salad veggies- leafy greens, cucumber, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant... might want to limit things like tomato, carrots, and onions. Sugar free popsicles and sugar free Jello are your friends!! You can do this!!

I can't have the Atkins shakes because they are too high in calories for my program. Well, I can have them, but I can only have a half-can instead of the whole thing. You might want to look at EAS AdvantEDGE or Premier Protein shakes instead. Don't worry about whatever is in the canned shakes; when she says "no dairy" I'm pretty sure it means she doesn't want you having milk, ice cream, yogurt, ice cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc. Between the lactose and the fat, dairy's kind-of a no-no on a diet! (and why I make my Protein drinks with unsweetened almond milk).

I thought if the OP is looking for something simple and straightforward, without having to worry about protein grams and calories all the time, a specific number of Atkins frozen dinners and a specific number of shakes each day might be the way to go. No hassle just keep track of the number of each that is consumed each day! I am not a huge fan of the ready-to-drink shakes, so I haven't tried many of them. I didn't really like the Premier Protein chocolate, although lots do. I am tempted to try the banana one, just because it's banana! I keep EAS AdvantEDGE shakes on hand in case of emergency. I buy them at BJ's and they work out to a little under $1 each. The chocolate is OK, but I like the vanilla better... but as I said, ready to drink is NOT my first choice. My NUT's guidelines for shakes are (a.) whey protein source, preferably isolate, (b.) ~20gms+ protein, (c.)) less than 3 grams of fat, and (d) under 170 calories per serving. RTD shakes need to have less than 20 grams of carb, powders less than 4g carb. Atkins rtd shakes don't fall into this category because of the calories- I could only have about a half-shake at a time... and who wants to do that? Plus, they're expensive. Using skim milk w/powders changes the carb content and the protein by a tad, so I use unsweetened almond milk, which has way fewer carbs and calories than skim milk. Of course, if I use Water than the nutritional info is the same as what is on the Protein Powder container (but man, it does NOT taste as good!).

I really don't like the rtf liquid shakes. I can't stand the "cooked" flavor it has, due to heat processing. Syntrex Nectars are my favorite. I can mix them with water or milk (I use Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk). No grit at all! Plus, there're about 15 different flavors so I never get bored. I have found luckyvitamin.com has the best price.

You could buy the frozen Atkins dinners. They seem a little high in calories but they are low in carbohydrate, which is what is really going to help you drop the pounds. I also have found that they taste good, and have the mouth-feel I crave to feel satisfied. Three whey Protein isolate shakes (about 200 calories each, or 600 total) and two Atkins dinners (about 400 calories each, or 800 total) will put you in at about 1400 calories a day. If that's too much, cut out one of the shakes or one of the frozen meals. For the WPI shakes, I like syntax nectar powder mixed with unsweetened plain almond milk- Almond Breeze is my preferred brand of almond milk. Also, if you can't walk due to knee pain, do SOMETHING. Get a couple of cans of Soup to use as hand weights and do arm exercises. Do leg lifts while sitting- from a sitting position, straighten out your knee until your leg is straight. Do a bunch of reps. Also from a sitting position, exercise your thigh muscles by leaving your knee bent but lift it towards the ceiling. DO something, anything, besides just sit there!

I made my own broth, the broth I make for chicken Soup. It is significantly tastier than that stuff from the can, or from a cube! I also occasionally used a low-cal, low-fat greek yogurt to make a smoothie instead of having aNOTHER Protein shake. It really helped. I like the Syntrex nectar whey protein isolate shake powders; they come in SO many different flavors. Really breaks up the boredom of the shakes.

Is this really elective surgery? I have a diagnosis of "morbid obesity." That doesn't sound like anything is elective. Does your insurance consider it elective?

I was allowed unlimited amounts of leafy greens, but only allowed calorie-free dressing. If I recall correctly it's something like 4 cups of leafy greens a day... but only lemon juice or vinegar for dressing. Once again... talk to your nutritionist!

I am not allowed the applesauce. It's a fruit, so it's high in carbohydrates that are recognized by our bodies as sugar. Check with your nutritionist. Usually salad veggies are the way to go, but limit tomato, carrot (SKIP carrot), and onion. NO peas, corn, winter squash, potato, beets... all are too high in carbohydrate/recognized as sugar. Once again, check with your nutritionist.