AEdoesRnY

I’m not trying to cause a ruckus, I have not posted anything on this thread until now. I am sincerely happy that so many people have found support in this thread through prayer and a prayerful community. I just wish it could happen without starting to cast judgements on those of other faiths, since this is a public and non-religious forum.

No, telling us that we’re going to be judged for our bad wrongness because we have different beliefs should not be happening on this forum. As an agnostic I fully agree with side eye’s eloquent and patient explanations of why statements like that are exclusionary and unkind to those who do not share the same faith.

I’m jealous that yours went away! Mine is still going strong. No new anything in my environment/food except my chewable multis, so I switched to a different one to see if that’d help...I’m so over it and want it to go away already!

Me too!

Interesting, I’m going to have to try that!

I think it in part depends what age level you work with. I’m a teacher too - middle and high school social studies. When I’ve subbed as elementary I feel like it can be more moving around/bending/performing and you never know when an overeager hug will hit you right in the incisions...I think I would have been fine two weeks out, just really exhausted/low energy in the afternoon. I think it’d be really hard to miss the first few days of school, and I’d say be there for the first few days even if you need to take the Thursday Friday off that week to rest up after it. But as others have said everyone’s timeline is different!! Good luck!!!

Wow!!!! Amazing!!! Congrats!!!

Congrats!! How exciting!!

I'm just about 4 weeks out, I had a really delicious three bean turkey chili (from skinny taste website)!

I’m in MN too, surgery was a week after yours. All the Instagram posts from friends trying out all the amazing fair foods is bumming me out for sure. I’ve been a bit of a hermit the last few weeks, which has meant less in person exposure to temptations, but I’m going back to work Monday and there are bound to be tons of treats around with the start of the school year! Hoping I can stick to my plan even with all that, which may be hard to do without telling people about my WLS which I don’t really want to do because I’m a private person. Last night though I had a major craving for buffalo wings, and we found a recipe for buffalo mashed cauliflower and it was really good! Trying to stay ahead of cravings and have alternatives has been helping a bit, but I do miss the fried cheese curds and beer tasting and other summer fair foods! How are you holding up?

Update: I emailed a few articles about this to my sister (who is a MD) and she said it sounded bogus and backed it up with some good explanation/examples... I definitely have the rash too, but it seems like maybe there's a reason besides keto type diet behind it...

I googled Keto rash and it looks like what I have & it seems like it tends to show up where mine has shown up. I do hydrocortisone cream and even went to the doctor to have it looked like. Basically they said to keep doing hydrocortisone and follow up with them later...

I didn’t have to do any shots, just had to walk/move for at least five minutes every hour...

Hello! I apologize for asking a question that I'm sure has been asked before, but as I'm awaiting returning to work on Monday for back to school teacher workshops before students arrive the following week, I've been so anxious and nervous about how I'll react and what I'll say to people who comment on my weight loss. I'm a very private person, my decision to have WLS was a complex one and not something I feel like discussing with all my coworkers. I feel like it's inevitable that people will comment, and I just really don't want it to be an ongoing conversation. It frustrates me that losing weight all of a sudden makes your body "up for discussion", like people think it's then appropriate to ask you all sorts of questions and make all sorts of comments they otherwise wouldn't. I'm curious to hear from those of you farther along how coming back post surgery went, what you said/didn't say, and how much of a "thing" it was once you were back at work... THANKS!

Congrats on getting your date! For me it was a combination of so much excitement and a lot of nerves when the theoretical finally became practical by getting a date. Just keep reminding yourself why you're doing this, what you want to do/try and how you want to feel 3/6/12 months after surgery - I found that to be a very useful practice when I got stressed!

I brought too much, but I'm an over-packer in general! I was only there for one overnight. I purposefully wore a long, loose maxi-dress with loose/comfy undershorts to the hospital on the morning of surgery because I knew it'd be comfortable to go home in as well. Here's what I actually used, as far as I can remember: - Phone charger&Phone - Headphones (audiobooks & podcasts were great choice for me) - Make-up remover wipes/face wipes - Change of underwear!! - Deoderant

Curious if other teachers have advice on what worked for them, anything they’ve learned or tried that has made a difference. Specific things to have on hand or things to think about?

Speaking as a TOTAL newbie (only a few weeks postop): My goal isn’t to never ever have foods I love again. My goal IS however to never have them for giving into a craving, or for self-soothing and emotional eating, and to only ever have them in a mindful, planned, well-thought out way that works in my program. I think the motivation and planning is really important! I’m curious if those further out think I’m deluding myself/if this distinction is bogus!

Btw I no longer have the itchiness around my incisions, that probably got better around the 2 week point, maybe 2.5.

The itching of the skin around my incisions was THE WORST. For #5 my doctor told me that as the swelling goes down/as things heal, the opening into the stomach gets bigger. So immediately after surgery it’s teeny and won’t let anything bigger than like a pea or grape through, but eventually the opening is like maybe ping pong ball size in diameter...

I am not back to real food yet, but if you like browsing recipes and/or cookbooks, I HIGHLY recommend skinnytaste.com. She also has two cookbooks, one general and one that's called "fast and slow" - a collection of quick weeknight recipes and easy slow-cooker options. Back when I did weight watchers and lost 20-30 pounds, my husband and I used to cook her "Turkey Taco Mac and Cheese", "Santa Fe Chicken," "Cheeseburger Casserole" and others ALL the time! We still have several of her recipes as our go-to stand by options...I can't wait to try them out again!

Everything you wrote SO connects for me. This is how I felt the last several years of my decade teaching at the same small public charter school. From the self-soothing ("today was total bullsh** and unfair, I deserve pizza") to the being taken advantage of because of my dependability. Thanks for bringing up these issues, I think they're so important. This will be my 11th school year as a teacher, and my first school year not being able to self-soothe with food. It makes me nervous because I have used it so long as a coping mechanism that it's hard to imagine not being able to have that as a go-to. I think your point about when/why you gain and lose during the school year is exactly why my weight has been SUCH a yo-yo over the years. Sometimes I am able to lose 20-30 pounds, only to regain that and/or more over the summer. OR I am able to lose 15-20 pounds over the summer, only to regain that as soon as school starts. I'm curious what kind of strategies will help me stay focused on planning ahead. Trying to think about what things to have stashed in my desk and what kinds of things to try for self-care alternatives to eating. I've tried taking baths/doing facial masks before, and sometimes that works, but it's so easy to want to fall into the old comforting standbys. Your point at the end about what will it be like for you post-surgery is one that's stuck with me and been nagging at me with both positive and negative possibilities - who will I be without the weight? who will I/can I be if I'm not fat? what can I do without the weight?

To answer my own questions - I’m excited about being back at work so I’m not as prone to spending all my time/energy obsessing about WLS and the scale. I’m excited to feel more comfortable moving around the classroom and between desks, etc - it’s a pretty tight space! I’m nervous about how to respond when people comment on my weight loss. I’m a private person and really don’t feel comfortable sharing that I had surgery, but I don’t like the idea of lying either. It’s frustrating that weight loss all of a sudden makes me feel like my body/health choices are up for public discussion! I’m also nervous about food prep and having everything I need to have on hand, being able to avoid the disordered eating that has always been a result of my school day schedule. Any advice on this front would be much appreciated!

Hello! I thought I’d start a thread for fellow teachers since most of us have either just started the school year or are about to! I feel like there are experiences/questions/concerns/etc. specific to the teacher+WLS experience and that it might be nice to have a thread to use to share/ask/discuss/etc! My workshop week starts on Monday, then the first day of school is the day after Labor Day - also the day I get to return to solid foods! What are you most excited about with back to school? What are you most nervous about? What advice do you have for others or advice would you like from others?

I was prescribed Pepcid to take in AM and PM for thirty days post surgery