Berry78

Thanks, Apple! Looks like I need to switch out my beverage.

Ok, first thing is to address your medical needs. Do you have a family doctor and insurance? If not, can you get them? You need annual bloodwork, for life. The bloodwork shows what vitamins/minerals you are low on. Hair and teeth falling out point to iron and calcium, but you are likely short on a lot of things if you haven't been taking vitamins religiously. Every bypass patient needs a multivitamin and calcium citrate. Most also need B-12 and Iron.

I think I'd spend a bit of time examining my vitamins to see if there is a cause. It's possible you are getting too much of something. Medications can cause this too...

Oh, how miserable! Fingers crossed for good news on Friday....

There is a difference between "fear of", "power over", and "just don't care". An Average Man walks by a table. Upon said table resides a bowl of M&Ms, free for the taking. The Man glances at the colorful confection, and moves on, hands and belly remaining empty. 1. What struggles (or lack thereof) does he face? 2. What is he thinking or feeling? 3. What would you want him to think and feel? But what if "Average Man" was instead "the Heavyset Man"? How does that change your perception?

The body has to process your rapidly breaking-down fat. Your altered blood values might be reflecting this. Your doc should tell you if they are concerned.

I started coffee again about a month postop I think. It was so funny how jittery it made me the first time I had it. I got used to the caffeine quickly again, though. Now I drink 1 caffeinated and the rest decaf. The only problem for me is it seems to increase heartburn a bit. Working on transitioning to tea...

If y'all are only getting 20oz of fluid a day, you need to go to the ER for fluids. Never consume more protein grams than ounces of fluids. You can't digest it. If you are getting 40oz of fluid (the bare minimum for keeping you out of the ER), then don't take in more than 40g protein. Once you can get your 64oz fluid, then you can have your 60-70g protein.

My legs are still a bit chunky for folding them up. Looking forward to that!

Vitamin A (retinol) and vitamin D both work as a patch. Not sure about the others.

Every time I sit down I cross my legs. Because. I. Can.

Welcome! It's a whirlwind, and surgery day will be here before you know it...

11/15 202lbs.

Oh, goodness! Did the doctor say how long he/she expects you to need the tube? What was happening before they put the tube in?

I have that too! Uuuhhgggg... I'm 39, and had been looking younger, but as I lose more, my face is getting older... Funniest thing. Get a mirror and put it in your lap. Look down at it. (This puts 50 years on my face!)

If it were me at 6 weeks at Christmas... I'd eat 1-2oz of turkey and a little gravy. Then an hour or two later go back for mashed sweet potatoes (It's Christmas after all!).

Talk to your team about adding liquid Mylanta or Maalox to your acid control regimen. Not sure what to think about your lack of feedback. The stomach nerves were cut, but usually we get a full feeling around the stomach someplace. (I get full low in the gut, others feel it in the chest).

I had really thick hair as a kid. It was average before the surgery, and now it's so thin! It hasn't started regrowing yet, but what is there did get a little curlier (I think because there is less weighing it down). It's always been curly though, so not a huge change. Oh man, if it all comes back in grey, I'll have to punch someone... Straight grey hair is sexy. Curly (wiry/frizzled) grey hair... *sob*

I was reading, just today, about re-feeding anorexics. Basically, for them to gain weight, a typical 2000 calorie diet isn't enough to make significant changes to their weight. They need to eat 3500 and 4000 calories to make much headway. This is because the first 2000 calories are used just to continue living.. the extra is needed to make repairs and gain weight. Bella, even eating whatever she wants, is still restricted by the size of her stomach and her rule of stopping when satisfied. She isn't eating over 3000 calories a day, therefore can't gain a ton of weight... yet. I believe that once her body has healed the starvation damage, (may take years with limited calories), then she'll gain weight like the rest of us. Assuming "satisfied" comes a smidge too late As for what "most bariatric patients" do or don't do with rules.. you are probably right, summerset.. I just know that at some point, in order for us to be morbidly obese, we couldn't have been following rules. Whether burnout, or lack of attention, or a rebellious attitude.. whatever reasoning was behind it.. doesn't really matter... cuz here we are! The key to long term success is going to look different for each of us. But ultimately, we all are working with the same fundamentals. If we eat too many calories, we will put on weight. (how many is "too many" will vary wildly between us). If we find we are eating too many and the scale goes up, then we have to change something so we aren't eating too many any more. Much easier when we've gained 10lbs, then 100.

The demon isn't food though, sweetie. The demon is the hurt your child experienced, and the hurt you are now experiencing because of it. Write out a menu for the next few days, make a plan of what you are going to eat. Then stick to the plan. Once that plan is in place, then you can focus on finding another coping mechanism for the emotions. Moving your body really IS the best one for most of us. It allows that hurt and anger to be "worked off". The more you think about food (even thinking about NOT eating)... the more you want to. Do what you can to put it out of your mind as much as possible. You are a wonderful parent, and all of you are going to get past this.

Even though you are feeling great, your stomach won't be healed for 8 or 9 weeks. 4 weeks is longer than most, but mine wasn't that far off. For me it was a week of clear liquids, a week of full liquids, then a week of thin yogurt (pour off the spoon), then a week of thicker (sit on the spoon). So, although that last week I couldn't have sipped through a straw, it was still just yogurt, cottage cheese, and things like that. Just take it day by day, and one day it'll all be ancient history

You absolutely need to be able to get this off your chest. A counselor is a great idea. See one by yourself first, and ask your counselor whether your child should come in with you, or have a counselor of his/her own. {Hugs} You, and your family are going to be ok.

I cook the same way I always did.. pots, pans, oven. It's true I don't bake dessert much any more, and I never was one to deep-fry food. Toying with the idea of getting an instant-pot pressure cooker. Never used one, but quick, tender meat is appealing. Slow cookers are useful, but I can't stand the smell they make in the house. Looking forward to hearing what others have to say...

You are only a couple weeks postop, low energy is the name of the game this early. Took me about 3 months to feel 100%.

I'm almost 8 months out and have noticed increased hunger already. I think it's normal, (and why people tend to gain weight at some point). Try to fill up on more veggies, so the calories don't start going up too badly. I've started having either raw or cooked veggies, ready to eat and available, so when I'm starving, I can grab that instead of chips or bread.