Hammer_Down

My $.02:

In our society, we choose who we will go through life with. Our marriages are not arranged, we do not receive divine intervention from a higher power that pushes us together with anyone. Only we choose who will walk beside us in life, and eventually death.

The second it occurred to me that my chosen partner in life was secretly hoping I would fail for the sake of winning an argument ("I told you so!") I would be choosing to walk alone. It's easier to walk on your own than to be dragging someone else along.

@@Djmohr

You are not alone with the malnourished obese phenomenon. Since obesity is primarily a hormonal issue and not a gluttony issue, many (perhaps most) obese people also show deficiencies of Vitamins and minerals and signs of malnourishment.

While a calorie is a scientific measurement, it cannot be said that all foods affect us the same way. Calories from carbs increase blood sugar, insulin response, contribute to insulin and leptin resistance. Calories from meat do none of those things.

If I eat a single slice of bread, I will not lose weight for 1-2 days. A few years back I became basically carnivorous for 2 years and regularly ate 4000 calories a day of mostly red meat (poultry has too much Protein and too low fat content and causes me to stall) and I lost 100 lbs in 18 months and put on substantial muscle without really trying.

I had a few rounds of really intense nausea when coming off the anaesthetic. I only vomited once, about 4 hours after being woke up and it was bloody and horrible. Luckily I was still wasted on morphine and fentanyl and didn't care too much.

For the next 24 hours or so, my mouth would suddenly Water intensely and I would need to sit down and take as deep of breaths as I could manage, and it passed after a minute or two.

My wife and I both had the sleeve done in Mexico, so obviously we both stayed there together.

I sleep in a moving tractor trailer all day, so maybe that contributed to my being able to sleep just fine. The nurses would wake me up and poke and prod me for a few mins and I went right back to sleep. I wasn't up walking around until the morning after surgery, but it was nice to have someone to walk with and get some fresh air outside.

My mother in law is planning to do the same procedure next fall, and she wants us to go with her for the same reasons. Father in law says he's not going (he does t support the decision) but I have a sneaking suspicion he'll be right there, too.

This is great advice - we often sell ourselves short.

To quote Stewie Griffin: "Whether you believe you can or you can't - you're right!"

I had surgery with Dr E Ortiz at Mi Doctor in Tijuana, on Oct 27.

The recovery process was simple and straightforward for me. I didn't find there was any pain, beyond some tenderness which I expected.

I have transitioned seamlessly through the food stages from Clear Liquids to full liquids to purées onto soft foods without ever getting sick. I followed his post op plan religiously since I was aware that he is very far away shoud I develop any leaks or complications.

I made a post detailing every minute of my trip to Tijuana in the Mexico self pay forum. I realize the process is different for every doctor and hospital, but it might offer some information about the recovery and surgery process.

We are certainly all different, but I've done several n=1 experiments, and I have learned much about my body and metabolism.

I have learned that anything beyond a small to moderate amount of cheese will stall my weight loss totally. So the many delicious and low carb cheese recipes come with the added knowledge that the scale will not budge.

Starches are my Achilles' tendon. My blood sugar is impacted much more by bread than by sugar itself. The effect is longer and more pronounced, and thus anything made with wheat flour (whole grain or otherwise) will promote Water weight retention and weight gain besides. There is no moderate amount of starch for me, it has to be cut out totally.

Corn products, be it through sugar or tortillas or whatever will make me crave more of the same to an almost unbearable extent. I will literally dream about tacos and wake up unsure if it was all a dream (nightmare) or I really ate like 12 tacos. Corn Syrup is so ubiquitous in North America that it basically means eating real foods only to avoid them. No amount of time seems to improve my cravings for corn based foods, so I have to accept the reality that I can NEVER indulge that disastrous addiction. No different than a heroin addict having to swear the stuff off totally, lest they be dragged back into the life.

I've had a few bouts of cravings since surgery as well, most notably at the 3 weeks mark.

Perhaps if you start cooking healthier meals that will be the thing to encourage your kids and partner to pick up some of the cooking duties.

In my house growing up, if we didn't like what was prepared - we didn't eat that day. We learned pretty quick that being hungry is worse than turnip, salted fish and brussel sprouts (all of which I love as an adult but hated as a kid).

I saw a post from a woman here who was diagnosed with Lyme disease that led to Bell'a palsy, I believe.

@@Aggiemae

I had the exact opposite problem, for 8 days post op I didn't have a BM.

Probably not a bad idea to check with your surgery team, there may be a medication you have an allergy to, or perhaps a sweetener in those sugar free treats.

(Google Amazon reviews for Haribo sugar-free Gummy bears to see what maltitol and xylitol do to some people's GI tract)

@@Missexpress

I was really impressed at the efficieny and care we received.

Our surgeon does 7-8 procedures a day, compared to maybe 7 per week by US surgeons. He is regularly invited to speak at bariatric seminars to physicians and surgeons in the USA because he has so much experience. He's also the only surgeon at his hospital who can perform laparoscopic procedures on BMI 50+.

2 things I noticed - 90g of Protein is a TON of Protein. I'm 5'8" and fairly muscular and my threshold is 65g per day. Any excess protein is converted to glucose by your liver. I would cut back on protein and see if your scale moves.

At 100g of carbs, I would not lose anything pre surgery. I have to keep my carbs between 20-30 to keep losing weight. I measure my ketones with a breath meter, and my ketones (byproducts of metabolized fat) disappear above 30g of carbs.

Where those carbs come from is important too, bread and Pasta will be off my menu permantently unless I'm okay with gaining weight.

I think a lot of times we have unrealistic expectations for weight loss. Yes, we had this procedure done but that doesn't change the biological factors involved in weight loss.

Losing 2 lbs a week is considered very fast weight loss, yet there are folks in the WOS community who call themselves "slow losers" if they aren't shedding 3-4 lbs a week.

I've seen posts where people are disgusted and discouraged when they "only" lost 20lbs on a 14 day preop.

We're all anxious to be our new (or old), slimmer selves, but don't discount the process. It's not liposuction. We're learning to make new choices around food, forming what will (hopefully) be our habits for the rest of our lives. Just losing all the weight isn't the challenge with dieting or WLS - long term success is.

I repeat "I paid thousands of dollars for this procedure and cheap, crappy French fries aren't worth it" when I feel tempted. I already know "I can't just eat one" so I just eat none.

Building muscle is a hard fought battle for the body, so contrary to popular belief your body will not break down muscle tissue unless absolutely starved to.

Triglycerides (fat molecules) are bound together with glycerine molecules (hence the 'glycerides' part) which will be broken down and provide necessary glucose while your body is metabolizing fat. Getting adequate Protein is important, but it's easy to overdo it. The vast majority of us require less than 100g/day and any excess Protein will be converted to glucose by your liver and prevent fat loss.

Unless you are very lean (less than 15% body fat for men), you may be building muscle but not achieving the cut look due to body fat concealing the muscle definition.

There are ways your doctor can measure your muscle mass so you can check in every few months and measure how much/little your overall muscle mass has changed.

For me, I notice swelling in my fingers (rings tighter) in the days leading up to my period. Anything that increases bloating will be noticed there first. Often first thing in the morning my rings will fit a bit tighter than later in the day, and it's always been that way even when I wasn't overweight.

You wouldn't be the first person who gave the preop diet a go before actually starting preop preparations.

The only concern, and IMO it's minimal, would be that preop isn't a nutritionally complete diet. It's designed to shrink your liver down so it can be clipped up out of the way for the procedure. The Vitamin and mineral profile of preop foods isn't ideal for long term, but some people are put on 6-8 weeks of preop and do fine. Humans are remarkable and we can survive long term on deficient diets (look how many people eat fast foods for years and don't suffer any serious hallmark Vitamin or mineral deficiency)

Your story was informative. Thank you. I was on another site so not new but new to this site. Were you cut open or did you have laparoscopic surgery? I much rather laparoscopic. Which did you have?

As best I am aware, all procedures are done laparoscopically. I don't think any surgeons are doing open procedures anymore.

First off, Congrats to the both of you. From a fellow driver here in the states.

Just wanted a bit more info if possible to explain. From what I've read so far on this forum. You are the only one to say anything about the medication. When going to the pharmacy, did they give you actual medication or was it just written prescriptions for when you get back? Im very curious about this. I do a lot of overthinking. So getting hit at the border for soemthing I have on me that I need vs. getting the same back home and having no troubles is better for me. I would rather get something from the Dr. to hold me over till my flight gets me home and see a Dr. Unless they do give you the medication. It's just the border issue. Paranoid. Any info would be appreciated.

The surgeon provided some medications and a prescription (powerful NSAID Ketorolac, antibiotics for preventing infection).

We were taken to a pharmacy where we could purchase medication and were provided a written prescription from the pharmacist for anything we bought.

I have a FAST Card, so I was very conscious of the risk of bringing pharmaceuticals without a prescription back across the border. We made sure we were totally covered, including a letter stating which anaesthetics were used (in case of a random urine screening, we would test + for both opiates and opioids from the morphine and fentanyl).

You're definitely not the only person who has experienced this.

Our society attaches moral values to appearance. We want to believe that thin, attractive people must be good people. We believe overweight people have moral failings, like gluttony and sloth.

Thin people are much more likely to be hired than fat people with identical credentials because of the baggage we attach to body profile. The effect is much more pronounced in women than men.

For men, height can be a deal breaker for finding work when competing against taller but equally qualified candidates.

I lost 100lbs several years ago, and the attention I received from men was brutal (I'm a lesbian). I suddenly had men trying to invite themselves into my relationship with my wife, and had 1 stalker who took it upon himself to become my new "protector." I am generally a warm and friendly person, but I quickly realized that being friendly with men when you are attractive is always perceived as flirting and I opened myself to heaps of abuse from them when they found out I was just being nice (and not in any way, shape or form interested in them.)

It's a zombie post, back from the dead after more than a year!

KILL IT! KILL IT!!!

Out of curiosity, how was the preop and approval process in BC?

I live in NS, and there is only 1 bariatric surgeon in the province as far as I know, bypass is the only option, BMI 50+ and it takes about 7.5 years from start to finish.

I went to Mexico for mine, since at BMI 36 I would never be approved.

Way of eating, I eat Keto

Same here! I had great success with keto a few years ago, and so far I am replicating that success. I had to modify my plan a bit (everything I eat is approved, but I don't eat everything that is approved).

I have lost 18% of my total body mass in 6 weeks. As a big meat eater anyway, it's a natural fit for me.

@@vamping

Fun story about the healing process:

A few months after having mine done, I was getting ready for bed while extremely intoxicated. I hooked the barbell in my wedding ring and tore that sucker 3/4 of the way out. The natural response was hysterical laughter (yep, THAT intoxicated) and going to bed.

Repiercing (a year or so later, once it healed back together) SUCKED. Piercing through scar tissue on an existing piercing was no laughing matter.

@@RJrocks

I have a few links here that discuss the various mechanisms involved:

On the process and mechanics of weight regain after loss:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4371661/

On the ever advancing field of epigenetics, or how gene expressions are altered by diet, weight loss and excercise:

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep14841

http://clinicalepigeneticsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13148-015-0101-5

http://m.advances.nutrition.org/content/5/1/71.full

Regarding the claim that there is a 3-4 year period before your genotype adjusts towards that of a non obese person, I learned that from a podcast with a bariatric physician who treats 15,000+ patients per year with a ketogenic diet. I will try to find which episode it was, the podcast is called Keto Talk if you're interested.