clabelle2007

Bariatric Advantage Meal Replacement shakes mixed with my tears as I watch everyone eat a bunch of grilled meat.

Chick -fil-a, homophobia is on the menu.

Thanks for this article! The doctors truly do not tell you ANY of these things that our bodies go through. I, myself had the gastric bypass surgery recently and have to be very careful of WHAT I am wearing. Sometimes, I have to wear Depends as a precaution. Such an embarrassment to eat a small amount of Protein and vegetable. Leave the dinner table and diarrhea hit you before you make it to the bathroom, especially, when others are sharing! I may have shared too much. BUT, I needed you to know that THIS is an exceptional idea of a Forum YOU put together 😃! Great job!!

I will never forget what someone else told me when I was worried about surgery: you can either die on the operating table or die not trying to save your life as a fat person

@bluehat I definitely understand where you are coming from. For me, I don’t want people talking about my weight or the weight I’ve lost because that would mean I would have to acknowledge that I’m obese. It’s no secret but saying it out loud makes it all that much more real.

It's def weird, I felt very weird getting total knee replacement - having bones cut and metal parts. That you can feel at least lol, but poof 85% of your stomach, it's like David Cooperfield did a 'slight of hand' trick with a black tablecloth. Presto!

I am 48 years old. I have been morbidly obese for about 7 years and obese for 20 years. My mother died in 2015 of diabetes and obesity related illnesses which culminated in her dying while I prayed for her in the ER at only 65 years old. My grandmother died in the same hospital of diabetic complications and an amputated foot at only 53 years old. I am a type II diabetic and was in total denial. Was not controlling my glucose levels, was not eating right, not exercising and was developing the SAME issues that my mother experienced. Both of my feet were swollen, discoloured, pressure blisters and red dots all over them from poor circulation and diabetic neuropathy. I had constant pain in my body from sore joints and uncontrolled sugar levels. High blood pressure. No energy and could not stand up more than 5 to 10 minutes max without needing to sit. I was going on job interview after job interview for the last 2 years, qualified and experienced in the positions I was applying for, but not getting the jobs. I started to sense it was my weight - employers whether they will say it or not are concerned that your weight will impede your ability to do work efficiently and if your weight will be a health concern that will result in numerous sick days.
I did not want to end up like my mother and grandmother but I was heading there FAST. I am at the age where my weight was so high, and my hormones so whacky in pre-menopause, that the idea of being able to loose 100 lbs on my own was completely overwhelming to me. I live in a small Caribbean Island and our dollar is lesser than other countries and really did not know how I could afford help. I have not been insured in 12 years because of the diabetes.
I foster dogs for a local animal shelter and I also have 7 recuse dogs. One day the shelter represented came to visit a couple puppies that I had adopted and she took a few photos of me and the dogs. When she sent me the attached photo I cried and cried and cried that night. I always knew I was big but it was like I lived in a strange kind of denial of HOW big I really was. Seeing that photo opened my eyes and I had an 'ah ha' moment and knew that I HAD to do something to change the trajectory of my life, otherwise I would end up in an early death just like the women in my family.
So from the next day I started to change my diet drastically. I began to cut out useless carbs, stop buying my Snacks, cutting down my portion sizes, stop allowing myself to eat the sugar treats whenever I wanted them. I started to see a change in my glucose levels from the next week and until the end of March I was more in control of my sugar levels but weight was not really coming off. In April I started to FEEL better because I had changed my eating habits but knew I needed an intervention to help me get off the kind of lbs I need to loose. So I found great reviews for a bariatric hospital in Mexicali and the cost was SO CHEAP compared to other countries. I started researching and corresponding and booked gastric sleeve surgery the end of May 2018. It was a long journey to get to Mexico from Barbados but I never looked back. I would not recommend the kind of flying I had to do after surgery because its hard on your system (and blood pressure) but I did what I had to do.
I think everyone comes to that 'ah ha' moment when you honestly are just sick and tired of being sick and tired and fed up of not being able to live a full life and being bound to medication. I view the VSG as an intervention and an opportunity to 'reset'. The year or so it will take to loose over 100 lbs will give me the time to learn new habits, get off of insulin, be mobile again to do exercise and LIVE LIFE again. The time for my body to heal from the inflammation, get my heart healthy again and to learn to eat to fuel living and not eat for the sake of comfort.
We have the choice to take control of our future with the KNOWN obstacles that morbid obesity brings. Sure a car could crash into me but that is a different thing to dying from diabetic complications, heart attack and amputations because of weight!
I was in a RUT!!! How my rut looks may be different to yours but the point is that WLS helps with the leverage you need to begin getting out of the rut.
I'm looking forward to my healthier future

In the same vein—my surgeon did 3 surgeries on the day he did mine; he told me that I was the only one who seemed to have been compliant for my preop diet. One of his patients had visible fajita tacos still in her stomach, and the other had evidence of a large meal the night before. It’s really hard but I watched a lot of my 600lb life and ate my weight in sugar free Jello and broth. You have time to recover from this and 6 days of “doing it right” can and will make a difference. I’m 7 days post op and on a bachelorette trip about to dance the night away again like I did last night. You can do it I PROMISE.

Yes, way less sweaty. It started for me right after the surgery before I even lost much weight.
One more thing for everyone to look forward to!

Here is what my wife told me; 20% of people you tell do not care, and the other 80% are glad it is not them... I have elected to tell family members, and a few close workers, but as I move forward, I only keep the family updated on my progress.

Yes. I'm way less sweaty. One of my "I'm going to do the surgery moments" was when I was sweating - very literally through a job interview.
Now I'm freezing all the time. I don't know if it's permanent - I'm about 9 months post op.

Same issue here! Plus it’s extra tough right now because it was 100 degrees here today with high humidity and the same tomorrow. Ugh. Hope I sweat less after surgery!

2 weeks seems a little quick for a Vitamin deficiency, hows your Water intake? Your skin will certainly not stay hydrated if you aren't meeting your water goals! You could also try some more natural solutions for skin hydration, find some Jojoba oil, it's 100% natural and mimics your bodies natural oils and absorbs quickly and deeper than most other oils. You can also use Jojoba in your hair as well! Look for the cold pressed version as it retains more of the "good stuff" that heat breaks down. Other products I like to use for external hydration is pure coconut oil, the USDA graded stuff meant for food. Really does wonders!

Good luck!

Hi Kimbero. Isn't it amazing how good sugar-free Jello and pudding are, especially when you can't eat much else?

On day 3 of my liquid diet, this taste so good.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using BariatricPal mobile app

This is @ my country .. but another area, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Had a one piece too... but no pics only in the Water. Btw plane sit belt was never a hassle had room to go.    

Same thing happened to me when I had to go to the ER to get fluids for dehydration. The ER doctor said “why did you choose something so drastic? You’re not that big.” It was very awkward and all I could think to say (mainly because I was shocked it was coming from a medical doctor) was, “well because I qualified for it medically and it was my choice.” I didn’t feel any need to explain any choice I made about my future health and self beyond that point.

Try just the shakes without the veggies and see if that settles things down. My bestie will poop her pants if she eats cucumber. I know this cause at restaurants she flings her cucumbers in my salad...cause I love them. Also...I've seen her do the mad dash after accidentally eating one on more than one occasion.
Have you ever had a sensitivity to any of those veggies or whey?

Just say you would rather not discuss it any longer. Why on earth would you get in trouble for not talking about your personal business?!
if your boss makes a big deal about it, file a complaint with HR

Just let him know you no longer feel comfortable talking about medical issues but happy to discuss work and business related things.

Thanks for all of your support everyone!

What should I say if my boss wants to talk to me about surgery? Do I just say that I don’t feel comfortable talking about it because it’s personal?

I don’t want to get in trouble.

Thank you for the support.

Thank you!!

It definitely helps to see that I am not over reacting.

So my boss and coworkers know I am going to have gastric bypass. They have been very supportive and understanding if I needed to take time off work for my appointments. A couple of weeks ago my boss told me when “good times” would be to have surgery and I said okay. Just the other day my boss came back to talk about my surgery and now wants me to wait an additional month to have surgery due to things that are going on at work. I don’t have my surgery date yet but will get it next week when I meet with my surgeon again.
During a meeting with our little department my boss made a point that my surgery is elective so maybe I should just wait until this fall to have surgery.
I don’t think it’s fair for my boss to tell me when I can have surgery. I believe that my surgery date should be between me and my surgeon.
Am I being overly sensitive about this? I talked to my mom about it since she had this surgery about 8 years ago. She said that I need to keep things private and not speak to anyone but HR at my work about my surgery.
Thoughts?

This is appalling. Years ago when I was scheduling surgery to remove my gall bladder, my boss at the time tried to get me to postpone the surgery until a project at work was finished. I spoke to her and I spoke to HR and let them know that my health absolutely needed to be the priority. I got no argument from HR. I hope you schedule the surgery based on your needs only and do not feel in any way beholden to your boss! As others have said, just because the surgery is “elective” does not mean that it is not medically necessary or incredibly important to your health and well-being. Good luck to you in dealing with this!