PatientEleventyBillion

My goal was based on what it was a few years ago. This was 180. Ideally I'd like 150-180.
However, with the lifestyle implementations I've already started, it could well get below that. Or maybe it gets stuck at 200. What really matters is the changes applied and the overall improvements to quality of life + lifespan.

get back to biking, skating, racquetball, etc, all the stuff I did all the way up to a few years ago

Drinking during meals is my big one too. I've done my best to stop. While it hasn't been 30 mins before/after, it's been usually at least 15.

Here's a relevant part of the discharge papers I was given for my EGD:

- So going in I already had an IV in my wrist, nothing attached
- Was already on a bed they just moved it into surgery room
- My surgeon was the one doing the EGD
- Was sprayed in the back of my mouth twice with the spray.. had to swallow, felt like I was gonna swallow my tongue
- Was told to lay on my side, they had some instrument with a mid sized hole (for scope) I had to put my mouth on
- Then was told sedative was coming and I'd feel like a bunch of beers would hit me, might be better to close my eyes
- Closed my eyes, woke up in the same day surgery room I had been waiting in for my turn
They gave me pictures of the EGD and it went perfectly fine. I also asked the surgeon for pictures/video of my surgery as I wanted to see what it looked like inside my gut.
After this procedure I've had a sore throat since but it's going away.

you're likely sedated at minimum so having someone who can drive you would be advised

It would be a good idea to be honest if you have any sort of eating disorder, which includes comfort eating. One thing you don't want to do is carry one of these disorders to post-op, it will not help you whatsoever.
If it's something you already have under control then don't tell them anything. It's really screwed up how this irrelevant profession can have an impact on a biological process.
Example: During one of my second opinions (when I was deciding between VSG and RNY) a nurse accompanying the surgeon, who had never seen my file or anything, started asking me targeted questions about "do you think you can eat whatever post-surgery?", when I tried to ask the surgeon if there were more compelling studies between VSG and RNY when it comes to how it affects satiety. Now, I didn't have the sense to use the technical term "satiety", so I used "hunger drive", and the idiot started thinking I meant I wanted to do nothing but gorge myself on chocolate milkshakes. I was forced to have another pointless trip to the psychologist because of her reporting it on Netcare. Insane how someone that doesn't know shit can nearly damage the progress I had during this 1.5 year weight management process. You have to watch what you say around ANYONE during this process.

Edit: Had to edit post multiple times. Effects of being scoped today still lingering. x.x

I strongly recommend more counseling before you consider this surgery. I was diagnosed with body dysmorphia post op. Its something I wish I addressed a long time. But I didon't realize how bad it was.

Little amounts. Very little.
Consider the lifestyle change, and consider it in very simple terms: Live like a big person, be a big person. Live like a smaller person, be a smaller person. One may be pissed like oh that's such a tiny amount, but that limitation is part of being a smaller person.
I will most definitely be having a lot of the stuff I had before, the difference therein lies in Portion Control and balance.
I'll use ice cream as an example since I've never been a fan of cake. I'd easily go through 1L of ice cream in a sitting. Post-op, when I can even tolerate ice cream, I expect to have no more than a teaspoon. It may not sound as satisfying but one has to reorder their priorities before even having the surgery, lest it be unsuccessful.
And if you can't see yourself having portion control, it would be better to flat out eliminate.
In my case, the pre-op liquid diet has modified my mindset so much. I feel so much better with portion control, and I'd rather have portion control than 1) feel miserable like I did at my peak weight, and 2) have these shitty Glucerna Meal Replacement drinks. NEVER again.

Me too... I switched to a whey Protein Isolate which has helped me.

I do Premiere Protein Shakes which have whey isolate Protein, and typically have no problems....until I drink them too fast....then yes, runs will come on. I just try to go slow on them, and it's all good!

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Thanks for your help guys and girls ..we'll see what happens post op ..I'll definitely talk to the nutritionist..Surgery Wednesday!


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I do not have IBS but my Protein Shakes on preop have destroyed my gut

It probably depends on the person, on possible health issues, what the surgeon feels comfortable with, and likely dietitian too.
No doubt Water is likely included.

Thank you so much for the scope info! The biggest concern I had about the endoscopy is my extremely strong gag reflex (which I passed along to my daughter, ugh). I told my wife, "I hope I don't puke all over the guy.. maybe they can just knock me out".
I'm sad to hear about how slow they're going in Edmonton, but the fact that you're able to jump to Calgary is awesome! I don't particularly like the drive (1 month ago drove to Drayton Valley to get our ragdoll kittens) but for something this big I'm sure it's worth it. Heck, I've seen so many posts already on these forums from Canadians willing to go to Mexico to get it done. I guess I won't be whining so much about the drive from Calgary to High River, LOL. Thank god the OR is at South Health Campus, which is very close to us.
And I just realized you barely joined, wow. Small world! I'll send you a DM, I really wanna keep in touch to see how things go and don't wanna derail this topic too much, haha. I see your profile pic too and what a lovely family you've got!

I was worried about having lifelong malabsorption issues. I also wanted to live as close to a "normal" life as possible and I didn't feel like the increased chance of food restrictions fit into that vision. I also like the fact that, since I'm only 31, if something happens down the road where I have substantial regain, the option of revising to an RNY is there. (Although I'm hoping I never ever ever get to that point!) I don't have as much weight to lose and think a slower, less drastic weight loss would be just fine for me. It somehow seemed less invasive as a procedure than the RNY. I did have some time there where I seriously doubted my choice (mainly because my surgeon brought up some compelling reasons for having the RNY!) but ultimately I went with my gut... and I want the sleeve.

I'd love to answer!
I don't have fatty liver or staged fibrosis. My liquid diet is two weeks. The usual minimum for Dr Gill (my surgeon) is 3 weeks, but he decided due to my current BMI (35) and general good health, 3 full weeks would be unnecessary. I'll find out more details on Monday when I meet with the RD to make my individual plan.
I've been overweight since I hit puberty, and obese since college. I'm only 31, so that puts me at about half my life overweight or obese. Before that I was your normal healthy, active late 80s kid. In the last 5 years after I got pregnant with my first daughter and my PCOS really flared up, I gained 50 lbs despite periods where i did weight watchers and daily cardio workouts. I've been 220lbs or more for the past 5 years, but in this last year after taking the Edmonton weight management courses, starting a swimming routine, and taking meds for my ADHD, I have managed to bring my weight down to ~202 lbs.
That sucks about the 12 week liquid diet, but I have heard of people having to do long ones like that before! I think the longest I've heard of was 16 weeks. I hope after further investigation you're able to get it shortened!
Are you in the Calgary bariatric clinic too? Who's your surgeon?

he actually suggested bypass to me initially, as he thought it had the best evidence of long term success since i'm still so young. I just wasn't comfortable with the idea of a bypass, and when I told him he was totally onboard with me doing a sleeve instead. very supportive!
nope, I am travelling to Calgary to him. even though I live basically in Edmonton, the wait list for their program is so astronomically long compared to Calgary's I decided I'd rather just make the drive! it's been a lot of kms, but even with asking for a referral to the Edmonton clinic MONTHS before asking for a referral to the Calgary one, I am on course now to have my surgery in Calgary before even getting my intake appointment in Edmonton. I left myself on the Edmonton waitlist just out of grim curiosity, but will remove myself once I have my surgery. I'm sure somebody else will be overjoyed to take my spot!
i had my scope in High River as well. if you haven't had one before, don't sweat it. the worst part of the whole process is the nasty numbing spray for your throat. you don't remember anything else of the procedure, and you wake up high as hell and they're feeding you muffins! the nurses there are amazingly kind and good at their jobs, too.

that's him LOL!
I quite like him. I find him to be very sympathetic.

Richdeep Gill? LOL. I think we might have the same surgeon.

I understand, and see your decision is indeed a tough one. Crossing my fingers everything works out.

I've gone 24 days on mine and while the insane hunger has gone away (the hunger torture lasted a few days), I still occasionally get shaky, dizzy, etc. especially if I get up quickly.

I concur, it's no one's business. If a person wishes to tell others anyways that's their prerogative. However, outside my wife, a best friend, and the Leaner Services department of my university, and of course wide array of medical professionals I see, nobody else knows or will know.

I think of it in a Charlie Sheen sense regarding hemorrhoids, if I tell them about it, they'll leave me alone and quit speaking to me. Win/win.

yes and no
When I was in high school and thrown off the football team for chewing out the coach I went through a huge weight gain -- coincided with drinking tons of soda and such
Normal weight was 180, but shot up to 240, but easily lost it within a few months doing tons of situps, pushups, and eating nothing but a couple Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches a day.
Weight was fine for years until a post-relationship depression went on (when you work hard for years to keep a relationship going then decide fuck it), in my mid-late 20s, a bunch of health issues arised and shot up again but instead of from 180 to 240 in a matter of a year or so, went up to 360 in 5 years. So I'm here in my early-mid 30s with newly diagnosed stage 3 fibrosis and type 2 diabetes.
I'm not accustomed to weighing a lot so the changes I went through were all debilitating to me. Apparently after MRI's and such I had fractured my spine as a kid but never knew it until I had this weight gain, then moving to another house caused me serious injury to where I need facet injections in my lower lumbar (soon to be some sort of ablation) as simply taking out the trash caused extreme amounts of pain to my back.
In the US, we're not educated enough how utterly useless carbs and especially sugar are in the diet, and how easily we can get into dangerous territory without thinking about it. Given how it's turned into a serious societal issue where kids in their 20s are having fibrotic/cirrhotic livers without even being alcoholics or drug addicts, it really points to an education being necessary. Since being in Canada, I've noticed the education is a little better, but still needs improvement. It's definitely a western problem, where we're taught to be good little excess consumers with little regard for our health. It's up to us to change that.
My surgeon decided on a 12 week pre-op liquid diet that I started Feb 1st, far longer than I see anyone else with, already I went from 350 pounds to 314. I'm thinking if I really have to go all 12 weeks (OR date already confirmed April 20) I'm likely gonna be in the 200s before surgery. Some have said why not be on this miserable diet for so and such amount of time to get back down to normal weight, but sometimes for us mechanisms of hunger (satiety) we can't control are required to be corrected. In my case, the surgery should accomplish this. Also, a very important point, that for many of us who "become" this way, it's up to us to recognize where we screwed up and work to change it. Personal responsibility is a must.

I'm getting sleeved on the 6th as well!

As for telling people, I'm not. I possibly might tell my friend later on, but coworkers and such no. I'm a private person. It is my business and no one else's. Although people might start to wonder at work. Especially since a coworker had bariatric surgery yesterday and she was open about it. I feel both of us losing weight at the same time may look suspicious