HeatherS.

Thank you! I'm all aboard for friending and cheerleading! The proportions are pretty good, and I feel lucky there, but like you, I carry a LOT in my arms, some of which may not go away (thanks, grandmas!), but I find that's by this point post-surgery, I'm not as bothered by what I now recognize as relatively minor and non-health-affecting things.

My boob surgeon, unfortunately, didn't take anything off the side boob, so I'm still camouflaging that with tight tanks under my clothing to cut down on the chafe. hopefully, some day, there will be lipo in the cards for that area.

My one regret, looks-wise, is trying to keep the appearance of fullness in my cheeks. When I don't, it ages me a good 10 years. Not a great look with neon blue hair.

I admit I had to look up the term xiphoid process (thank you - I love new words), and that seems to be a common place for things to go pear shaped. (Or literally apple shaped, I don't know!) I have noticed though that's there's a pattern to rapid loss and a lot of people first lose the weight they'd put on last. I had to pass 250 for my stomach and thighs to start going crazy out of down side to my shape Is that its so easy to think, around 200 or so, that I've lost enough weight. But I'm still classed as higher risk then and I need to keep going.

Hopefully, that will be easier with the smaller stomach and accompanying nausea I get eating the wrong things. (Just had two beef gyoza for early dinner, and they were delicious.)

On 4/27/2017 at 10:26 AM, Ms. Brightside said:

That is so surprising about ginger! Definitely something I was planning on having on-hand post-op. Hopefully your tastebuds will come back around to it in a few months.

Sorry to hear about your migranes. I'm the same with fake sugars and non-natural cleaning products. They're the worst!

For nausea, have you tried Psibands? I picked up a pair on clearance at Target and hoping they will be helpful for me. Also, I remember from my cruise that green apples (???) are supposedly great at helping with sea sickness/nausea. Maybe you can find (or make) green applesauce and give that a go.

Hope you are feeling better each day!

Sorry the reply is so late. Thins HS in life got a little crazy and I've been away. I haven't tried the psi bands.

My doctor gave me scopolamine patches to use along with the Zofran, but they burned the skin behind my ear. It's too bad, because they worked pretty well.

The good news is that now, 3 months out, I'm easing back into ginger, as it's starting to taste normal again.

The weird thing is that in times when I would have reached for the ginger, now I prefer a handful of leaves from my herb garden (mostly various basils and mints).

On 6/23/2017 at 4:39 PM, RedOrangeSunrise said:

Can I get that refritos recipe? One of my very favorite things. I'm pre-op and trying to assemble some go-to foods for that soft-diet period of recovery. Thanks!

Sure thing. I'll get it for you, though I warn you it's more of a method than a recipe. It's Tia's way of cooking, pretty straightforward, but you need to prep in advance because there's a long soak involved.

I also can recommend requeson if you live near any Hispanic markets, or ricotta, which is the closest you'd find in a regular grocer. (The requeson is more flavorful).

Homemade REAL Mexican food is so handy in the soft/mushy stage.

I'll come back later and try again to delete that last picture. WTF, BariatricPal?

One more thing, I slept with a king size pillow over my stomach due to furballs, and it's been a life-saver while healing. 4 weeks out, I can tolerate being jumped on once more.

Wonderfully detailed post! I didn't experience the cold thing, and I'm still struggling with heat intolerance. It got up to 95 today, and it's been so hard to make myself get out of the house and into my hot car. Ugh.

The hunger thing varies person to person. I had your experience in the early days and my appetite and hunger have returned just enough to ensure I eat, and even enjoy what I'm eating, but not enough to change the fact that I'm full after 2-3 tablespoons and want no more. That's a good place to be for me.

1 hour ago, Berry78 said:

I also had the yeast overgrowth on tongue. I'm a month out and it is clearing on its own.

Great post!

Thank you! It looks like both of us had surgeons who used The Really Good Antibiotics(tm) in our IVs.

I'm glad yours is almost gone, too. That was pretty unpleasant.

@ldyvenus I'd like to know what those labs look like, too. A lot of people on HPLC diets on here like to mention frequently that their labs are "perfect" but I haven't seen specifics yet.

Most of the studies I've read so far find no difference in the short term, but concerns in the long term due to cutting out the source of many beneficial micronutrients and an increase in adverse cardiovascular findings.

I'll be sure to post about my labs when I next have them, following the LPHC hypothesis.

I found it at my local library! Thank you again for the recommendation. I suspect that within 5 years, this will probably be common knowledge, based on where the peer reviewed studies are and the fact that there's now one mainstream book on it.

I've been eating this way (and no artificial sweeteners) since 2 weeks out (once I got into the swing of soft foods) and my weight loss has been steady. I'll blog about any findings around my 6 week post-op, but I have plenty of energy, no unreasonable hunger (only if I forget to eat ALL DAY), and a reduction in nausea.

Making a list and an implementation timeline is a fantastic idea! If I were the betting type, my money would be on you to succeed.

@Ms. Brightside Thank you for the recommendation. I'll look for it at my library. The many studies on LPHC and the growing understanding of the long term risks of HPLC are very convincing when you read the actual studies and their findings.

That's the best kind of reason. And depending on how the dress fails to fit now, it might indeed fit in 9 days. I found that my dresses that were too tight in the belly all fit much better by the time my post-surgical swelling went down. Good luck!

May your surgeon have steady fingers and your nurses be kind! I had to remind myself to even think about food for the first many days after surgery. It wasn't too bad, and I hope it won't be too bad for you, either. Make sure to take "before" photos of yourself tonight! It's your last chance.