BarefootDrummer

@ - Ugh. You know I really struggle with this. It is because of reactions like this that I have only told my husband and best friend. I didn't want their negativity before surgery. It was a long hard road coming to this point and finally making the leap to have surgery. I have done so many diets and lost so much weight! But...I blink and I'm obese again! I thought about surgery many times over the years and always thought - it's too extreme - people will think I cheated - I can do this on my own, this time will work. Last fall I got to a point where I couldn't bare one more diet without some hope of the weight staying off this time and I went in for WLS consult. I think comments like your brother made are said by people who truly do not understand the struggle. Yes, he lost weight once. Did he live that life for years and struggle with diet after diet, only to gain it all back? People think because they once lost weight it makes them the same. It doesn't. He doesn't understand the struggle. You are not taking the easy way out! But I think I'm also starting to get the WTF mentality about this now too. OK, let's say this is the easy way out. Let's say this is cheating. We are not going to be given any awards or grades on how we lost the damn weight. We just need to lose it AND keep it off so we can live a healthy, happy, long, fulfilled life. So even if they want to call it taking the easy way out, don't these people love us enough to say - do it however you need to. I just want to have you around for a good long time. People who make these comments are just starting to bug me. If the surgery is your best chance at losing weight - why not do it? My surgeon told me that studies show that only 5% of obese people can actually lose weight and keep it off. 5%!!!! I've been working with those odds all these years. July 27th was the day I leveled the playing field. Stay strong. Don't worry about your brother's comments. He doesn't understand your struggle.

Hi Deborah! I hope everything went splendidly with your surgery. You've got a whole new world ahead of you now. :-)

Are you getting in enough calories and Protein? Maybe you need to eat it more often so you feel satisfied more often. And are you getting in enough fluids too, as they help with the full feeling.

I found these to be great! They told me that really cold would make my stomach spasm and would be worse, but I have had no problem with these and find I can help boost my Fluid intake by having one or sometimes two of these in a day.

I was sleeved on 7/27 and felt so full and sick with one bite or sip too. I told the nurse I was getting sick with the one bite of pudding she put my meds in. I guess she didn't believe me. I threw it up even though I tried so hard not too. It seemed like it got worse for a day or so after surgery, but then it started getting better every day. I think the stomach was just really swollen from the trauma it just went through in surgery. 2 days post op I did horribly and barely got anything in, but on 1 week post op, I finally had upped it to getting my full 64 oz of liquid and 60 gr of Protein. Hang in there. It will get better.

Surgery Date 7/27/16 Highest weight: 242 Preop weight 2 wks before surgery: 228 Weight day of surgery: 215 Today, 9 days post op: 207 YAY! It's working! LOL. I told my surgeon at my consult that my goal weight was 160, but I've since decided I want to shoot for less than that. We shall see. I don't really want to aim for numbers, but what looks and feels right for my body.

I'm only 9 days post op, still on the lovely liquids. The foods I'd say I'm afraid of right now are my biggest temptation foods, like pizza and popcorn. I have 3 kids, so they still have those foods. I feel like they are ones I just can't be around right now though. I have no problem cooking a healthy dinner for them to have, but sitting next to them eating popcorn is really torturous. I'm hoping with time that the temptation passes. I've been doing the required 6 month diet before surgery and was restricting those foods some during that time, but still having them. Then I started the 2 week preop diet and now am 9 days post op. I haven't had a bite of anything I wasn't supposed to during this time, but the temptation for a few of those foods is still really strong. I'd prefer to not be in the room or in the house when they are being consumed.

What stage are you at in the process? Are you looking for someone who has been there done that or who is going through this and is at the same point you are at? Share a little bit about what you're looking for. There are a lot of members here and you might find the perfect buddy to pair up with, or lots of new friends. :-) I had the sleeve done 9 days ago. So far, so good!

Congratulations! It sounds like things are going very well for you. I'm one week and 2 days post surgery. I had a hard time getting the fluids and the Protein in. Then it seemed like at the one week mark, it magically became possible and I've done well the past two days. I think I probably still had a lot of swelling making it harder. Have you gotten on the scale? How are the numbers going for you? I have always been someone who weighs myself daily, no matter how big or small I've been. I think it's so cool to get on the scale and see the numbers going down every day now! Keep up the good work!

I wish you well! Your new life is about to begin.

Hi Everyone. Today marks one week from my surgery. That's hard to believe. It seems like yesterday. I've lost 20 pounds since I started my pre-op diet 3 weeks ago. I started taking measurements then and did those this morning too. I've lost 3 inches off my waist and 3 more off my hips! I should not be complaining, right? But why am I feeling SO BITCHY?! Seriously! I feel like I have my worst PMS x 10,000. I feel so agitated and annoyed at everything right now. I do have to wonder if the pain pills had something to do with it. I was given Hydrocodone and was taking them regularly at first, then I went down to like 2x a day, when I got up and when I went to bed. I don't think they helped my pain a ton. They made me very sleepy and like I was really drugged. Everything was blurry and weird. I needed to be able to drive again, so I stopped them completely and didn't take any yesterday. Coincidentally, the major bitchiness started yesterday. I also have not been meeting my Protein or Fluid goals though. I've found it impossible. I think the Hydrocodone was working against me with that too because it made me sleep a lot and you can't drink when you're asleep. Yesterday I got to 57gr of protein (my best yet post-op) but still only 36oz of fluid because I went to bed early. That was only 434 calories, probably my highest post op number too. So I think the low calories could add to the bitchiness too. I'm losing weight. This is working. I'm going to be the person who has been trapped inside this body forever. I should be skipping around, so happy. I don't want the new me to be bitchy and miserable, annoyed at the world. HELP!!! Any ideas why I feel this way or how to help change the mood??

@@Proud2BMe - I'm really happy to hear you've made such great progress. Keep up the good work. I also encourage you to stay really open and honest with yourself about this. I believe that some people genetically are at more risk for alcoholism than others. Add in the high risk from the WLS and that's a bad combo. You slid down the slope without realizing you were slipping this last time. Now you know the slope is there, so you can use all your awareness to try to avoid it. Unfortunately, you might not be able to walk anywhere near that slope anymore. As I said in my last post, I've never had a problem and hope that I can still have a glass of wine socially here and there, but your post made me realize, that might not be the case. You also might not be able to "enjoy an occasional drink." I know it feels like there must be a way to just have an occasional one, but that's walking on the top of that slippery hill and you could quickly start sliding without even knowing. My father and mother both used to drink a lot before I was born. They both quit. My mother can have an occasional drink, like maybe 3x a year and is fine. My father hasn't been able to touch even one sip in 40+ years because he knows he can't get close to that slope. You've tuned in your awareness to this right now. Keep it at high alert. Keep up the good work! Don't be afraid to get some professional help if you are feeling challenged. I don't know you, but I have faith in you!

@ - I never thought about this. Thanks for sharing. It's probably all of these combined making it feel like such a whammy right now.

I decided to only tell my best friend and my husband. I felt like everyone else would be judgmental and add in a lot of negativity. It took me a lot to get to the point where I was ready to do the surgery. I feel like unless you have truly struggled with obesity for years, you have no right to comment on it. I have friends and family who have battled that same 10 pounds for life, or maybe gone up 20. They have no idea what I'm dealing with, even though they think they understand. I don't need to hear their comments. I thought going into surgery that it should feel really positive to me. It's actually a really healing thing. I've been working on a lot of other areas of my life and this is one that really needs healing and a fresh start. This is a good thing for me, not something bad or negative. By leaving their feedback out of the process, I was able to go into surgery with a much more positive attitude. Maybe I will tell them some day. Maybe I won't. I have yoyo dieted for years. I have done very low calorie diets where I lost a rapid amount of weight at once. So they have seen me do it before. I don't think their first assumption is that I had WLS. Many of my family members saw me doing the pre-op diet which I told them was a high Protein liquid kind of cleanse. LOL. One of my family members wants to give it a try! I think even when I'm a few months post-op, the surgery is over, and the weight is coming off, I won't care so much if they find out. I will be able to deal with them then if I have to because I will FEEL and know the results. I will easily be able to brush their negativity aside, because I will know the truth. Don't feel pressured to do it any other way that what feels right to you. If you feel you need their support and they will in fact be supportive, tell the appropriate people. If you feel like you need to keep it private for whatever reason you choose, then it is 100% acceptable to keep it private. It's a very personal decision and there is no "right" way.

Hello All. Do you recognize me? I was sleeved on Wednesday (27th). I'm a different person now. :-) I have to say that things didn't go exactly as I had anticipated, but I'm doing well. My surgery got moved later in the day. We arrived at 10:30. They weighed me, took my urine to make sure I wasn't pregnant, hooked me up to an IV, started the leg compression stockings, I talked to the anesthesiologist, the nurse anesthetist, the surgeon, and then we waited. I think surgery began around 1:00pm. My husband did not see me again until 6:00pm that night. I remember getting into the operating room and I really don't remember anything else until waking up in recovery. I've had numerous surgeries and I always wake up fast, have very little pain and bounce right back. I was assuming it would be that way this time too. However, I woke up in recovery in a ton of pain and feeling like I was going to vomit uncontrollably. I remember being a bit frantic about it and telling them how bad it felt. They gave me some anti nausea meds and probably pain killers and I was right back to sleep. I only remember about 2 minutes of the recovery room and I was there for awhile apparently. My husband said surgery took about 2.5 hours according to the status board. I remember waking up as they rolled me into my hospital room. My husband was there waiting for me. He said that was about 6pm. I was really sleepy, but they still began telling me about sipping water and how they'd want me to get up and walk soon. Apparently, I had what they were calling "Fast track", where they did my swallow study while I was still in the operating room. This meant I could begin liquids immediately. I started sipping my water and marking my ounces down. It wasn't too hard that first night. The next morning was when I felt much more nauseous, more pain, and like I couldn't keep things down. Despite my best efforts after taking a crushed pill in some pudding, I couldn't help but throwing it back up. That hurt! I felt like I was going backwards with the swallowing. The doctors and nurses didn't seem too concerned though. They saw I'd been drinking and that I had done my laps around the floor, so the doctor said I could go home. I was so nauseous at home that I could barely keep anything down. I did not meet my liquid or protein goals for Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Today seems to be a better day. Things are slow to go down, but I feel like I can keep them down. My pain is easing up too. I think it will get better every day from here on out. OH, I was very pleased that I had lost 12 pounds on the preop diet. However, I was quite disappointed to see that I'd gained 11 pound from my overnight in the hospital. Yes, 11! It did go away over the next two days though. I wasn't hungry at all those first couple of post op days. Now food sounds good. I fell asleep and dreamed I was eating popcorn. Then I got all nervous because I realized I'd just been sleeved and I couldn't have that! I started to wake up and realized it was just a dream, so I told myself to go back to sleep and enjoy it there. LOL. I hope everyone else is doing well. Since this is the July board and it's the last day of July, I assume most of us are officially sleeved now.

This is my last night as this person. Surgery is in the morning. I'm not nervous about the surgery, but I am thinking a lot about how my new life will be. Good luck tomorrow my fellow 27s!

@@Proud2BMe - I wanted to say thanks for sharing your story. I am going to be sleeved on Wednesday. I only drink occasionally and don't have a drinking problem. However, addiction does run in my family. I haven't had anything to drink in two weeks now because of the preop diet. I know the recommendation to never drink again, but since I just have wine occasionally I figured it will be ok to have a little here and there in the future. Your story makes me seriously reconsider that thought. My brother in law had RNY about two years ago and seems to have a problem with alcohol now too. He also went through a divorce and I thought that might be more his reason. I do wonder though. My brother is an alcoholic and has been doing it for awhile. He's to the point where it seems nearly impossible to stop, even after a DWI and $10,000 down the drain. I urge you to follow your own instinct and seek some professional help. Stop it in its tracks. Don't let the disease leave you down and out, like it does for so many. A friend of mine did AA and said it really turned his whole life around. You faced WLS and lost all that weight. You took such a huge step at making a better life for yourself. Don't let this stop you. Get some help. You can tackle this too. Thanks again for sharing.

Before surgery my doctor called in a prescription for some nausea medicine to be taken the night before surgery. When I went to pick it up the pharmacist said $50.00. Wow! I said how much is it before insurance and he said $130.00.....When I opened it up to take it that night it was just one pill!! Amend was the name of it....But I haven't had any nausea so I would buy it again. Hmm, now you have me wondering. My surgeon called in some meds for me too. Anti nausea, acid reflux, and stool softener. I thought they were all for after the surgery, but I wonder if I'm supposed to take the anti nausea one beforehand. My surgery is Wednesday. I guess I better get on that!

I thought about using this too! The thing is, I'm not sure my family and friends will suspect WLS with my weight loss. Those who have known me for years, have seen me gain and lose weight many times before. They'll probably just think, "Oh she's on one of her weight loss kicks." The thing is... this time it's going to STICK! I think it actually was good that we had an extended family camping weekend while I was on my pre-op diet. I told everyone I was doing a high protein, liquid cleanse-type diet. They kept trying to get me to eat tons of other stuff and kept saying, "Is that all you can have?" So they already saw I was doing something more extreme towards weight loss. It won't be too big of a shocker when they see that I'm smaller next time. When I did the HCG diet, I did lost 20 pounds in a month. So they've seen me do it before. I don't think they'll jump to the WLS conclusion or the dysentery one either. LOL.

I feel the same way. This is hard enough. I don't need anyone else's negativity.

@Rocshae I'm July 27th in NY. How are you doing? Are you on the preop diet right now? I'm on day 10 of it. (Did you just hear my stomach growl? LOL)

Hello. I'm on day 7 of the liquid pre-op diet. When I heard that I was allowed certain greek yogurts on the diet, I wasn't too concerned with it. But I'm mainly doing yogurt and shakes. I'm already feeling so bored with them and I know I have a long ways to go, as I have to do this for 2 weeks post op too. Then the pureed diet will probably include a lot of those foods too. Last night I tried ProtiDiet chicken Flavor Protein Soup. It was good. It was different. I probably wouldn't have liked it had I been eating my usual way, but since I hadn't had anything like it in days, it was rather satisfying. What I would have given for a few noodles to chew though! I was looking at other protein Soups online. So many have bad reviews. They are also so expensive. Paying $13-20 for (7) packages (makes 6-8oz) is crazy. I know people say you can put your plain Protein powder in soups/broths, but then others say the protein sometimes doesn't dissolve right in the heat. I was wondering if you could take a tomato soup and add protein powder? Does it make it gross? Are there some powders that work better than others? I'd like it to dissolve, not get a weird gel texture, and also not add a weird flavor. Is that possible? Any other suggestions for variety on the this stage? I know they say sugar free jellos, puddings and popsicles too. I have to watch the artificial sweeteners though. Has anyone taken Isopure and made it into popsicles? I was wondering if that'd work? I'm sure these questions have been asked before, but when I search, it's hard to find answers. Thanks for your help.

@@Laughkc11 - I love coffee, so I'll try adding those to shakes. Yes, I'm allowed no sugar added, low fat greek yogurt that has high Protein, but no chunks of any kind. I can also have skim milk. I agree that the salty soup flavor helped switch things up a bit. When I tried that ProtiDiet creamy chicken protein soup, it tasted like heaven! I hate it slowly with a spoon, imagining noodles in it. I'm sure before this diet I would not have liked it at all, but after 6 days of the sweet shakes and yogurts, it seemed like "real food".

@@Inner Surfer Girl - Are there some protein powders that work better than others for adding to hot liquids?

@@Jodie Posie - I don't really like to do measurements, but today is one week from the start of the preop diet and I redid the measurements. I could not believe I've already lost 2" off my waist and 2" off my hips! I know a lot of people don't like getting on the scale either, but I find it so motivating to see those numbers going down every day. I just hope they keep doing that. That's my biggest fear. I've been on very low calorie diets before and they start off good and then my body adjusts and says Ok, I'll just maintain on this amount. I'm a very "easy keeper". Ha, ha. I have faith that you can do a perfect pre-op diet! I'm going to attempt to do the same. I think that since I made it through my family gathering last weekend, I can make it through anything now. Did you find anything that you really liked the taste of or that made it a little easier with the eating?