Frustr8

Some people turn vegetarian for just that, the smell of meat repulses them, and that is quite a change. Mind you, we have had many on Bariatric Pal, many are lacto- ovo or pescetarian. But things may change still, that's a whole new world we are now living in now.

I no longer look like me, I no longervrecognize myself, I look like my Mama and my Aunt Grace, both long dead. When do I get to the stage where I look like a younger cuter sister? I'm waiting, I'm waiting!

For me thinking today it would be Long John Silvers, Everything is pretty greasy, when they had corn. ears I got majorally sick, I think they sit forever in the old cooking water. And Tomkitten and I go there with good healthy intentions that are budget friendly , I never escape without spending $20. what would I do if my family was bigger? I used to like Steak and Shake, sandwiches were pretty fine but their excuses for baked beans & fries. just better forget it, not worth crossing. the street for!

September 5th, 2018 at 7 Am EDT. I believe I started having stricture symptoms at 2 weeks, I was either ignored or poo-pooed, Oh you're just swollen, give yourself a chance to heal, you have had major surgery, You can trust us, we have your best interests at ❤, we know more about recoveries than YOU do et cetera et cetera. Finally at a full month out, largely to shut me up, they scheduled a upper endoscopy with Dr Noria, my surgeon's partner who LOVES doing endoscopies, yep she Really Does! And who was right? ME ME ME! Those nurses might have had the fancee shamancee degrees but I have lived in this body a Long Time, I Knew something was not adding up right. She started me on ulcer medicine, told me to stay on this full liquid diet until SHE told me I could move on , normally she and her partner Dr Needleman progress bypass patients to Stage 3, puree and some finely chopped if they can handle it at 2 weeks out. a Well since my pouch , I call her Precious Pouch for many reasons , had stenosed, that with the ulcers made me an atypical patient. Stenosis means the normal opening that had been made between my pouch and small intestine had swelled and narrowed until only liquids could pass through. And that at a slow rate of speed, I had and still have 2 ulcerations within the pouch and multiple ulcerstions on the back wall of the jejunem, the portion of the small intestine the pouch drains into. Was scoped October 12th,26th, November 9th, 28th. At that point I was hospitalized. because nothing in there was showing any signs of healing. The end of October she asked if I smoked, nope never, neither does my son, so I cannot be in the presence of an active smoker or one with smoke on their clothes. I have on a jelly wristband that states Secondhand Smoke Kills" because in my case it could! On the morning of the 29th, after a discussion. that I was protein deficient from my limited diet, could not ingest the 90-120 grams. of protein needed for tissue repair, could still measure my food intake in Tablespoons instead of Ounces, I would need to go on Total Parenteral Nutrition or commonly TPN and a PICC LINE would be installed in my upper left arm that afternoon so I could receive sufficent protein and also for Life Sustainment. I was pretty malnourished at that point although I had been trying my level best. And much as I hate to admit it I did start to feel more like the Former Frustr8 within a day or 2. Still stayed for a week before my dismissal, had to regulate me , I was been fed 12,on , 12 off in the hospital, those were electric pumps, at home my pump is battery- powered so 14 on, 10 off, didn't like it much at first, I can be a prideful red-headed person, like to think I can do everything for myself, hard to accept help. I now know before the 1960s, I would possibly had a nasogastric tube or slowly starved to death, unless my ulcers perforated or my 73 year old tomorrow ❤ stopped beating. Your own mortality is a fearsome thing to contemplate. So whatever must be, must be. And not much use to cry, it turns your 👀 red, your nose runs and not many people give a Good Gol--durn in the first place. Maybe when I get to Heaven God will let me sit on His Lap, I ache to cuddle someone and be told Everything Will Be Okay💦😪💦

Yeah I know of a RnY- er who dumped badly on Campbell's Tomato Soup. It does. above the limit carbs, glad Trader Joe's didn't. Wish we had a Trader Joe's in my area of Ohio!

Well I wanted quick healing and to get on with life. Oh I was going to exercise, eat a proper bariatric diet, NoBody told me I would have a PICC LINE in my upper left arm, be fed 14 out of 24 hours 7 days a week TPN and no scheduled termination. Maybe the end of January, maybe into February? March will be my Six month Surgiversity, surely not THAT LONG? Mind you I will retain it as long as Drs Needleman and Noria say so, but this was not the "paint by number masterpiece" I was planning all along. I wanted to go to Kings Island and Cedar Point in 2019, maybe the Ohio Statehouse, do I show up with my backpack , battery pump and bag of feeding fluid. I'll be right there with the people on oxygen and tubes in their moses, and when they finally remove it, will I have a permanent scar on my upper left arm? Not really That Vain but people might think I had skin cancer or they removed a small tattoo on there. But it is what it is, and although the Good Times aren't Rolling maybe they are Still Ahead?

Guess what I am intolerant of, and it isn't gluten or lactose. Bananas, yep , a teeny tablespoon , in shakes , anything with 🍌 as an ingredient, Up She Comes! And I have tried it every week or so because Tomkitten loves those , but no can do!

Yeah it is pretty fine, I went to Six Star Strawberry when my local Wal-Mart in their infinite stupidity, refused to stock any other flavors of Premier Protein but Vanilla and Chocolate. I have developed a near- loathing for Vanilla, that thick, white tasteless stuff, yeah I could go buy Torani or other sugar-free syrups but those rascals are nearly $4 each. And I have been allergic to cocoa butter and the rest of the chocolate family for 43 years, so for me a cheap way to commit suicide. I was a Premier Protein Peaches and Creme junkie, unless I order in I can't have it. I m not even sure if they are making any anymore. And before the suggestion, no Sams Club- 23 miles away, no Costco- 30+ miles away, as Paul Simon sang " Nothing but the dead and dying in my little town" , maybe I am living,in the Gobi Desert and I never noticed it before. Haven't checked Rite Aid and CVS , K-Mart left town, and Krogers selection is even more pitiful than W-M. I would have orgered cases of it all if I had a clue I would still be imbibing 21 weeks after my Liver-Shrinking Diet in August! Ah well, Man proposes, God disposes and shall it always be so.

I DO KNOW WHAT IS AWESOME! We all are, we came from deprecation, being all but invisible to run-of-the-mill people, from NO Hope into a bright beautiful FUTURE. And if you and I still have a distance to make our Goals, why we can and will. And each pound / KG we lose, each,inch/ cm we decrease in our size, it is gone forever and we move ahead. And I know I have made so many friends sharing this journey on Bariatric Pal, and when my heart wanted to give up, when I was uncertain it was worth the effort, they were only a posting away, many had gone through this trial, and there might have been a little trick to get through and move on. So today is only the prelude to better things Yesterday is good, it was only the PAST Tomorrow has not dawned, it is the FUTURE Today is now, A wonderful Bright shining Day with promise, a True Gift📦 That's why they call it the 🎁 PRESENT! Much 💘 Love to All. Merry Christmas🎅 And Every Good Wish for a Happy Prosperous 2019.😝❤😝

Yeah they do, may buy a couple of cans tomorrow when I have transportation, pop one open and sing Happy Birthday to ME! Been a Hard Candy Christmas, nearly broke until Social Security a week from Thursday, tried selling a couple items on our local buy-sell-barter radio program called TRADIO. Turns out the things I had decided I didn't need any more and wanted to sell, nobody else wanted either. Did not get a single phone call. Oh my cell phone has gotten the usual Spammers. I have been offered Viagra- husband dead 6+ years, Can you plant it like vegetable seed and grow a new man? Better rates on Car Insurance- don't owe a vehicle Hearing Aids- one so tiny Nobody would know- no but my depleted bank account would. Defraying Student Loans- come on Folks, I'll be 73 tomorrow, only thing I'm studying is how not to starve and get vitamins in and not die! Caribbean cruises- I have enough trouble getting to Columbus 48 miles away for doctors appointments Roto-Tiller- this is Ohio, December, I don't even go outside in icy weather. Evangelists- maybe a legacy from MIL, because I have had this cell phone number that long. She sent money to every crackpot that came down the lane, even the one who stated " GOD wants ME to have a Jet Plane" How wonderful but I'm not financing it! Then there was the love sick dude. in Louisiana who claimed to have gotten my phone number from me in a zydeco bar. Never ever been in a zydeco bar, not many people in Ohio even know about zydeco. And last but not least Wrong numbers and Basic Spam "Is this You? I guess Not. This is YOUR lucky day! Nope don't think so! Did you wake up this morning? Well I must have, or I wouldn't be listening now. Will your family miss YOU when you are DEAD? One can only hope so! And why, oh why, do they call it LIFE INSURANCE? Should be DEATH INSURANCE, that would be,more truthful. You are getting you are going to die, insurance company says No you are still,going to cough up monthly premium, if you win, you're dead and only your heirs are going to enjoy 💰. And unless you have pre-arrangements the mortuary takes it all for your funeral anyway. And supposedly I won a steak dinner at a local restaurant, would have given it to Tomkitten but it's non- transferable. At 21 weeks post-surgery I am, because of Precious Pouch' s Stomal Stricture , the 5+ evil bad intentioned jejunem ulcers and their potential future family marching towards the ileum, a non-glorious location for irritation, if I want to try anything P.O. it must be full liquid or super duper runny puree and 1/3 cup or less, so unless I am feeling highly "Froggy🐸" I have one powdered and skim milk based 16 oz shake and sip on it all day. But really TPN , prenatal vitamin, minerals, B12 sublingual, and what few meds I require, that's what I'm living on into Mid January. And my. liquid supplement dietician told me yesterday how many calories my 14 hour feeding gives me, Whoee, about double what I was taking when I was doing fully oral, but my surgeon's know this, they authorized it, so if I haven't hit a Stall, it will be by the Grace of God, Tomkitten on Thursday will be seeing our PCP, one of his meds requires a 3 month check, Thanx Abusers, it's one his health requires but let's just say IT HAS STREET VALUE also. So while we are there I shall utilize his professional scale and probably let you all know. Before the 60s I would either have a NG tube or slowly starved to death, might take a while, because I still have enough weight to be divided into 2 " normal" people, my heart would have ceased beating probably first. Could not have a tube through my stomach wall as an RNYer, oh Medicare suggested it when my medical team was trying to seek approval, has to have a Practical Anatomy lesson from Dr Scoville, my surgeon's Resident. Nice doctor, potentially an UberSurgeon when his residency is complete. For Christmas I attemped some sugar free protein enriched butterscotch pudding, a teaspoon and a half, sure of the amount because that was the size spoon I was using to eat, an orphan from one of my measuring spoon sets. Precious started to speak Spanish, she's smart, was made at Ohio State University so college-educated." Pelligro! Hija, NO MAS!" Yes ma'm , I do not want to wear it! But you know, I am warm, safe, loved, smaller physically than 2017, a great bariatric team I can call on if necessary, and I will get through this bumpy part of my recovery. I am God's Child and His Retirement Plan is out of This 🌎World of Sorrow and Pain. So No Regrets and I'll get better Yet!😝🎁🎅📦

If you look you do have a bunch, tomorrow it's like the surgeons are saying " Nice Christmas break, now let's see how many we can get in before New Years!" You are definitely NOT a voice crying in the Wilderness. Now me, I have not seen a sign of my September 5th Surgery Twins for months and months! Guess they got so healthy they just faded away and became inactive. Me, I'm still in the error and trial stage and besides, so many have helped me I think I should remain to help along the Newbees if I can!

And you will be our designated Kangaroo from Kangaroo-land. Our inside joke from bypasser Q. How do we resemble marsupials when we have now had our surgeries? A. Because we also have pouches.😝

Last Christmas I was. trying desperately to finish up prerequirements for bariatric surgery at Facility #1, only had my sleep apnea one to go. When I had gotten to my cardiologist, because of the strong family trait toward cardiovascular problems I had a more involved assesment done than average. And I found the one cardiac anomaly I possessed was not enough to bar me from surgery. I was pleased enough with her care of me that I am retaining her as my permanent cardiologist , although I cut ties with the others affiliated with that hospital system. So the majority of my specialists are either here in Mount Vernon or at Ohio State University in Columbus. I had just joined Bariatric Pal, although I was a still-apprehensive newbee, everybody here was kind and answered my questions. And I was heavier by nearly a hundred pounds then but had started trying to lose. And I was going to my appointments, dotting I and crossing it's as I went, trying my best to make them like me, I still was trying to be perfect. Christmas 2018, I finally received my RnY in September, although my recovery has been and still is bumpy, I will never regret something I still regard as a Wonderful Miracle in my life, I had. sought it for over 3 years, fought an uphill battle against age discrimination from many angles, and now I have a PICC LINE in my upper left arm, receiving TPN 14 HOURS EVERY night, could have never forecast that twist, but I believe it to be helping my ulcers to heal, when the inner swelling of my pouch subsides perhaps the stricture will better also. So at least into January I will retain this added bit but I remain very hopeful that Drs Needleman and Noria are correct, I am repairable and will be okay when all said and done.

Have the surgery, you still can turn 57 in March, but it may be a smaller day of celebration, at least you may be getting smaller. The highlight of my pre-birthday? Waiting for my TPN company to make my supply delivery. UPS isn't working today, so someone from the company itself is driving it up from Columbus, my city is 48 miles NE of there. Had enough through Christmas only. But on the other hand I am not afficted with either my ornery relatives or those of the Late Lamented. And some them are real foodies. Left me with some strange memories, yes they did!

Gaga 26, just how old are you to be worried about age? Come on, tell Auntie Frustr8, I will be 73 on Wednesday, didn't let it keep it from persuing and obtaining My Own RnY. Will be 4 months on January 5th, wish I had it at much younger age, but I hadn't had my " Come to Jesus" moment then. But you're at home here with beaucoup friends. Can we help you with your pre-surgical fears or. anything?

Oh Goody Ohio is not on the Bad List, although my county Knox should be, loads of obesity clear down to 60-90 pound toddlers. Looks like Deep south, West Virginia and Iowa are on the Bariatrician Bad List. Okay I guess.

May you reach your goals, meet all your expectations, and not be accused of having a rump wide enough to show drive-in movies on, actually had somebody make such a remark! No longer in my Friend Rolodex- serves them right!

And I suspect Premiere Protein got their feelings hurt when somebody found out they were putting 23-26 instead of the 30 gr they were claimIng, and now my Wally World has only vanilla and chocolate, no Peaches and Creme which I dearly loved and drank faithfully. So don't tell they didn't have sales, because I was buying all I could find. Now I have had to switch to a powder which I don't like as much, just to find a non-vanilla flavor, the thick white tasteless item.

Kind of doubt it, but,it should qualify you for Santa's Nice List! Yeah, the very short one. And LustyDraconianMaid yours in the absolute first choice if I ever win a lottery and can afford travel. Has been for years and years! My opthamologist is Finnish, from the area where much Swedish is spoken so she is Trilingual, Finnish, Swedish and English, and suspect Russian and German but totally fluent there. I'm American and I still fracture English, ask my Bari-Pals in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. And my Canadian cousins(yep a whole branch on my Family Tree) they gave,up correcting me long ago. Happy Christmas Everyone!🎁🎅🎄

Heat a towel up Hot in the Dryer and then use it until it cools down.

I have had glue(allergic to it) sutures, staples, and tape over incisions in my life. Sutures can itch and tickle, staples can hurt and you may have pinpoint bleeding where they are removed. My surgeon knew I had adhesive sensativity so he used criss-crossed hypoallergenic tape over absorbable skin sutures. No problem, they did come off 2 days sooner than traditional tape but NBD, no big deal and today at 14-15 weeks they have faded into the surrounding landscape of stretch marks, 3 nearly 9 pound babies who rested 3 different directions, my belly looks like the road map to Indianapolis with all the state and county roads marked, knew I would not escape those "Mama Battle Ribbons" , part of my heredity, myself and all 3 of my offspring got our first ones at 11 on the outer flanks, and FYI not a one of us was above average weight at that time. Rather have left them a sum of Money like Fred Trump left Donald J, but we seldom get out desires, do we?💦😪

I can tell you an answer, at 70 you will weigh 320, and you looking will start looking for help, you will try to find a program, nearly complete the only one you think will accept you , for many have a 55, 60, 65 year old age cutoff, then for reasons not yours your job and insurance terminate and you resign yourself to trying to lose weight on yourown, and you start trying multiple diets, and it doesn't work, you might lose 5-10 pounds only to regain it all and then some. You drag your fat self to your Primary Care doctor, humble yourself. and ask for some chemical help. You are put on a medication other patients have used with success, you keep a perfect diet journal, and you really are trying hard. At the end of the month you go back to be weighed and re-evaluated. And you have LOST no weight, instead you have GAINED 30 more pounds which you can ill- afford. PCP looks from you to your journal and back again. He does not say so, but you can see disbelief in his eyes. Finally he throwshis hands up, says " I have done what I could, go back to the Bariatric Surgeon." So once again you go back , at 365 pounds, more than you weighed for the first attempt. Since it is now 18 months later, you have to re-fulfill all the previous requirements plus now they add 2 more specialists. But still you go do them in good faith, and the time is approaching to be scheduled a surgery date. And you wait and wait, finally you start calling the office, and each time you are given a new excuse, flimsy as they be. Finally the end of February, when they bled all the monies out of your insurances, they announce they will not perform your surgery. I will not dignify them by stating their reasoning but it was an attack upon my very psychological/ emotional being. The only thing keeping me from binging on good at this point for solace was the fact I was too nauseous and somewhere deep inside remained the one shred of self- respect they had not stomped to death. I cried, I puked, considering suicide but they had convinced me I was such a screw-up I couldn't do THAT right either. A week passed, I looked at my swollen eyes in the mirror, Said " Old Girl, you are better than this- are they going to kill all your hopes?" There were 2 other facilities in this city, all rated Bariatric Centers of Excellence, what would it hurt to explore their programs? So I booked at their seminars, looked up bios on all the surgeons at both places, did the research I should have done before attempting facility #1 where I was assigned someone. This time I would do the picking, I would secure someone wh9 be as close to perfection as I could find. After #1 had told me No One Would Want Me, this new facility welcomed me with open arms, asked how they could Help me to achieve My Dreams instead of being "takers" that regarded me as little more than a meal ticket, these were giving loving individuals who seemed to have my interest at❤and I had the feeling of being home. So I was accepted into their programs and it will be soon time to chose a surgeon , after some minor loose ends of requirements were tied up. And I looked , I prayed, I thought about both of them, and I knew which one I was hoping for but when Jessica one of the pre-coordinators called I was nice and. said " Whichever has the first opening" finally I stated the one I REALLY WANTED, Dr Bradley J Needleman, the chief of Bariatric Medicine and Metabolic Weight Loss at the Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio, who performed my RnY on September 5th 2018, at 72 the oldest patient he had ever had, but in many ways healthier than the run-of-the -mill 72 year old and I will be forever in his debt. In my ❤of❤ he is a miracle worker. And even though facets of my recovery have been and remain difficult, He and his Partner Dr Sabrena Noria have worked to make things better and like me, we will see things through to their conclusion. I wish I had found them sooner, wish I had not had Dr Evil Mc Nasty and his band of misfits in my past, wish I could have had my surgery at a much younger age, you simply heal much slower in your 7th or 8th decade of life, but at least they have given me a chance to live healthier, longer and Praise God thinner than I once was. Don't wait until your BMI surpasses 50 to seek yours, I have lost 110 pounds since High weight but I STILL have about 80 to go, I was carrying around an NFL linebacker on my body, my body was breaking under the weight, I have sacrificed both my knees to science, and replacements,nice as they are, only 85% as good, there are activities my body cannot do again, I was a power forward/basketball center, a baseball/softball catcher, I was so good my boy cousins stopped challenging me to "Horse" their tender egos couldn't stand being trolled. And I was the only person in my neighborhood with a strong enough arm to throw to bases, didn't pitch because I DIDN'T want to, and the windup in Girls Softball was asinine in the first place. So have I given you enough reasons to seek surgery at this Golden Time? Don't let Obesity side-line You like it ended up for me, Go and enjoy fitness in Your Life! Frustr8 out for I have spoke my piece.😝🎄😝🎁and Happy Christmas!

Lolo, I have been a Bari-Pal for a little over a year now, almost never been sorry I joined, only ran into 2 people that seemed to loathe me, they were misguided, and I'll leave IT there. I think it might have been. last Spring we had a Bari- Pal whose surgeon who. went ahead, tried to push her chubby liver out of the way, instead of merely pushing it and having a junior surgeon hold the retractors and keep it out of his way, he , with more energy than good sense, plowed right ahead and tore her liver. To phrase it medically " hapatically friable" at any rate she was having a MISERABLE recovery and could have potentially hemorraged to death. So extremely rare, even more than an apology from Donald J Trump for bothering people on Twitter. And let me tell one from my own family, I mention it because 1) somewhat similar 2) Doctor who didn't quite know what to do. My daughter, who I seldom talk about, for multiple reasons, but still my First Born, had a HIATAL Hernia. Her stupid surgeon, well we DIDN'T know he was stupid until later, said " Oh I can fix THAT and I can do it laprascopically. So Rotten Daughter went to sleep. What happened next was either Over-confidence Didn't really know anatomical landmarks very well A fumbling klutz who couldn't use tools in a proper manner. When he was supposed to be sewing up the defect in her diaphragm, he knicked off the end of her spleen, and the easy multiple slit laparoscopy turned into an open wound from her sternum to and a little. beyond her naval. Spleens Bleed Badly and she came close to bleeding out. Horrible ugly scar, and it did not heal quickly, drains all over, are you getting an ugly modern art picture? And when you lose your spleen , you lose all your immunities, the give you gamma glob so the first germ doesn't carry you off. Your blood even isn't the same, she had been a blood donor previously, was just one pint from the Gallon Club. And Dr Fumble- Fingers left town amid much disgrace, is he practicing medicine somewhere else? Gosh we certainly hope not! Asked if she and Son-in- law were filing suit? Was told to take a Flying Leap and leave HER alone, and she wouldn't let SIL who truthfully treats me better to say either. Told another family member I should have protected her, How? She was an Adult Woman! And thus ended my true tale.

I feel sad 😪you are four hours from your home but happy😝 you did get your surgery. And I worry the flight might be too tiring for you now. I guess I'm being an old fuss-budget because it is your decision , not mine, when you go airborne again.✈

And mitty, often things can be worked out for financing if you can show need. Too old- Oh my my, I am 73 years old in 2 days and I still had mine. Surely you aren't as Me! And also don't try waiting as long as I did, you fight an uphill battle to receive IT THEN. And I was a veteran of every diet you have ever heard of and some you surely haven't. The weight you lose without surgery has a frustrating way of rebounding and bringing more with it. That's why it commonly is called yo-yo dieting and it, in the long run , bad for you.