lovely_tai

My other favorite right now is puréed clam chowder. I found yummy chowder in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe’s.

I’m 2 weeks post op and in the puréed stage too. I’ve had refried beans with melted cheese. I also added a little plain Greek yogurt to it. It’s a great sour cream substitute. I puréed the beans first and thinned them out just a little with water. It taste great!

Hi everyone. I was sleeved on 1/23/18 so I’m almost exactly 2 weeks post op. I’m down 20lbs yay! I had started to feel better about 10 days out, but last night I got increased pain on my right side so bad it made me nauseous... I was dry heaving this morning but then it subsided after I got back on my pain meds. I had stopped taking it a few days ago. I’m a little sad that I’m still experiencing this level of pain, as I thought I was on the mend... anyone else still have pain??

Mine is the same date as you. January 23rd!

Hi everyone [emoji1480]. I'm in the beginning stages of my wls journey as I was recently accepted into a Bariatric program and have my first meeting with a surgeon next week! I'm planning to move forward with the sleeve. I have been doing a lot of research and preparing myself mentally for the changes that lay ahead. One thing that is really bothering me is not wanting to be the poster child for wls! I'm a private person and the idea of having to tell people (outside my immediate family) I had this surgery is driving me nuts. I also don't want to lie to anyone who asks how I'm losing all this weight! "Oh I'm just exercising and eating right blah blah..." I'm not ashamed so I don't feel the need to lie, and I also don't want to miss out on an opportunity to encourage or inspire someone who may be thinking about surgery. And I don't want to contribute to the stigma of this surgery. However, opening up about the procedure invites more questions, scrutiny, etc and at this point, I just don't think I will want to share those private things about me... just doesn't feel right. I'm not really sure what my question is, but what are others thoughts about this? Should I just suck it up and accept that I will be known for this and prepare to answer people's questions? Or is there really a way to do this privately? Lying to people is not an option I'm considering because I think it will be damaging to my self image. Thanks in advance for any insights!

How did your orientation go today??

Whooo hooo! Congrats!

Thanks for this. You are definitely right. I have lost significant weight before by cutting carbs but ultimately, I find it not to be a sustainable lifestyle for me. I spent time today making a 1200 calorie meal plan for next week. It took some time, but I mapped everything out in My Fitness Pal and plan to go shopping tomorrow. I'm feeling good about being able to stick to it. I'm a little worried about being hungry at first, but my plan is to drink a protein shake or eat an apple if I get too hungry between meals. I'm pretty sure that after the first couple weeks my body will adjust.

Btw, good luck with your psych eval tomorrow. I'm sure everything will go great! You are almost there! How are you feeling? Excited? Nervous? Keep us posted.

Thanks for the heads up about the wait. I had gained weight since I was last seen at Kaiser (which was a while ago) so I wanted to get documented before I started loosing. I'm starting an eating and exercise plan tomorrow and will get a jumpstart on my loss before my surgeon meeting. Even with the wait, I hope I can get a surgery date this summer! Can I ask your method for loosing your goal weight? Were you following the pre-op 1200 calorie plan? I'm concerned about the carbs in the plan. I know I will loose faster if I cut them out but the dietitian said to eat the carbs to plan for long term success. Any tips??

Hello! I went to the orientation today. I'm actually hanging out reading my big binder of information now. There was at least 20 people in my class and it was a pretty good experience. They called us up one at a time and recorded everyone's weight before the class started while we were waiting in the waiting room. Later, while the surgeon was presenting, he noted that they typically ask people to loose 10% of their weight but that it is customized to each person. Some may be asked to loose less depending on their circumstance. He said your goal weight is calculated from the highest in your chart within one year. So any weight you lost already this year would count! You get your official goal weight during your next appointment. They let us schedule our consult with a surgeon at the end of the orientation. It was a mad rush to get in line, but even though I was towards the end of the line, I got an appointment for next week so there seemed to be plenty of availability. One thing I wish I knew, was that you have to pick which surgeon you want to see when you schedule your next appointment. I would have wanted to research them more, but I just went with my gut. I guess I could reschedule before next week if I change my mind... but it would delay things. In case you want to look them up, their names are Christine Chu, Larry Dennen, Sanjoy Dutta, or Eric Hahn. Dr. Hahn did our orientation class and I went with him. Good luck at your orientation. Let me know how it goes!

Yes, that would be great! Let's plan to keep in touch.

Thanks for the run down on the Richmond clinic. I'll follow up with specifics after my orientation tomorrow at Fremont. I hope my process moves as quickly as yours. I've been reading everything I can find to educate myself and I feel motivated!

Hi kbellakat, I'm also going through Fremont Kaiser and my process sounds a lot like yours. I think SoCal Kaiser is different as there is no 12 week class for us. No classes for the Richmond Kaiser either as I inquired about both. I went to the info session a couple weeks ago and will be attending the orientation class tomorrow. I'm excited to learn more about the process and officially be on my journey. Was there a lot of people at your class?

This is an interesting perspective. The changes people make along this journey are pretty amazing! I clearly need to do more thinking about this, but I appreciate you mentioning what those conversations have been like for you. I might be ok with being a poster child for changing my life for the better, or being a living breathing example that truly anything is possible. In fact, I can even imagine getting to the point where the joy of that outweighs whatever anxiety I feel about the other stuff. Hmmmmm.... I have a lot of thinking to do. Thanks for pushing me.

Thanks for sharing your perspective. You sound really grounded in your way of handling this aspect of the journey and I only hope to be that much at peace with my decision when the time comes. I'm going to continue to let all of this sink in and give it more thought.