Born in Missouri

It's only natural to feel apprehensive. Yes, this is major surgery, but the overwhelming majority of surgeons would not take you on if they thought you were a high-risk patient to begin with. You didn't offer many details. Do you have any other health issues? How old are you? Have you ever been under general anesthesia before? What is your support system like? When you read only stories about people with the worst possible outcomes, it begins to appear that many, many people suffer from complications. Statistically, that's not the case. If you have an experienced, competent surgical team, you can expect a terrific outcome. You do realize that some complications are caused mainly because patients are irresponsibly non-compliant with their surgeon's discharge instructions or they don't follow other recommendations? Advancing your diet, being sedentary following surgery... you have considerable control over your actions -- things that would greatly minimize your chances for a complication. Prior to surgery, we see many professionals along the way whose job it is to explain to us what to expect, etc. (and often it seems as though they explain the same stuff over and over until we want to scream!) That said, these face-to-face meetings are intended to prepare you for your journey ahead. If you pay attention, ask questions, and make a sincere effort to follow their advice, you'll be fine. Really. How about sitting down and writing yourself a letter? Be sure to include of all your fears and concerns. Then wait a day or two. When you re-read your letter, pretend that you are reading this letter as though you're a good friend of the letter-writer. Now answer your "friend's" letter. Try to be comforting and understanding. Try to be positive and reassuring. You might actually surprise yourself at what a good friend you can be... to yourself. Share your letters here, if you think they might help someone else.

Clever -- and very appropriate for this forum.

Be an unapologetic self-advocate. If something doesn't seem right to you, it probably isn't. And even if it does turn out to be something that's not problematic, you deserve to find that out, too.

Keep up the positive attitude. Good onya. Your life is about to change -- for the better!! Just curious. Are you on an all liquids-only diet prior to your surgery?

Do you share a bed? I layer and stack several pillows of different sizes and firmness. I place pillows along my sides to cushion those areas. I like my head raised, almost as though I were in a chair. Sometimes I even have pillows for my legs and feet. It takes a while to arrange my nightly nest, but it's always cozy. I also require a cold room, that includes a fan in addition to air conditioning. I'm only a few steps away from the bathroom, too. Do you use a C-pap? Lately, I've been sleeping with an over-sized T-shirt. I also prefer going commando, but that's just me. So, lying on your belly and lying flat on your back both feel weird, is that correct?

How confident are you that your psychiatrist has a good understanding of pharmacology as it relates specifically to bariatric surgery? Sleeve vs gastric bypass? Which meds are you taking? Dose? How often do you take each med? Dosage form (immediate release or extended release)?

@Luzbella I'm so glad that you decided to start documenting your journey with photos. Believe me, you'll be happy that you did it. Once the weight starts to drop, those pictures will be a great reminder of where you started and where you're headed. Of course, you already know this!

Wow. It's been a while since I've experienced morning sickness. I have four adult children. The trigger for me was smell. That really escalated by nausea. Because meds are something I wouldn't risk taking (particularly at this crucial, early-developing stage of pregnancy), I remember just having to live with it for a while. Sleeping was a way to not deal with the sickness. Are there any other liquids that you can tolerate? Dairy tends to add to nausea. What about soy milk? Coconut or almond milk? Sip on decaf hot tea. Nausea during pregnancy is, unfortunately, one of those leftover things from evolution. In order to ensure the survival of new life, we were warned about eating bad or poisonous food by making sure we had heightened senses for smell and taste. Hormonal levels come into play as well. It's a lousy scenario, but one that millions and billions of women have had to endure. I know that's no comfort for you as an individual. Is this your first baby?

You successfully complete one week of a two-week diet. That does not blow. That's great!! I hope your second week flies by. Good luck with your surgery.

You'll most definitely need the ChapStick.

@Lily'sMom Pescador is not the original poster. Pescador already had weight-loss surgery and so did her husband. It's confusing sometimes, especially when there is more than one page and we have to scroll up and down to read who said what.

316913 does not give enough information. What can we do?

@RickM. If grades were being assigned to comments, your comment would receive an A-. I was going to give you an A, but I didn't want to risk you getting a transfer addiction involving perfect grades.

I'm only 5/6 WEEKS post-op, so perhaps I’m not the person you hoped to hear from. First, I want to applaud you for trying to think ahead. All these unknowns can mess with your mind. Yes! Yes! Yes! You have every right and you deserve to be treated with respect in an honest and thoughtful way. It's not easy to ask questions when you're unsure about what kind of answers you'll receive. Anyway.... The first thing that popped out at me was the general bargaining tone of your questions. What I mean is this: You love eating X , drinking X, and doing X so much that you’re hoping to bargain your way out of the commitment that you'd need to make in order to be truly successful. Kindly notice that I didn't say that doing any of these things would be 100% terrible. My point is that you need to be prepared to give up some things that you genuinely enjoy NOW in order to get the ONE thing that you apparently want the MOST. Is losing weight and improving your health what you want the MOST? If it is, then you've established your top priority. I know these sentences will sound silly the first time you read them, but they are meant to make you really think hard about what is truly important to you versus what seems important NOW. It all boils down to you being willing to give up something in order to get something else that's better. Again, I didn't say that you must give up any of these things, but you have to plant the seed deep into your head that you would be willing to give up one or all of these things if it meant the difference between being getting what you like or love NOW versus what you really want LATER. 1. My favorite food chain is in LA, In-N-Out Burger where I like to eat a cheeseburger and small fry with like a milkshake, but losing weight and improving my health is what I want the most. 2. I absolutely LOVE sparkling Water like La Croix and San Pellegrino, but losing weight and improving my health is what I want the most. 3. I like to have myself an occasional couple of social beverages, such as mixed drinks (hard liquor) and wine, but losing weight and improving my health is what I want the most. 4. A lot of people have a sweet tooth, and I love the occasional scone, croissant, cookie, French macaron, etc., but losing weight and improving my health is what I want the most. 5. I'm ADDICTED to coffee and espresso beverages; lattes, macchiatos, cappuccinos, matcha lattes sweetened with flavored syrups like a pump of lavender or simple Syrup or matcha powder, but losing weight and improving my health is what I want the most. 6. I'm not stupid. I know it's an addictive habit and I'm trying to quit smoking cigarettes and e-cigs like Juul's, but losing weight and improving my health is what I want the most. 7. I eat I like to sip on water or unsweetened iced tea, coffee while eating a snack or meal, but losing weight and improving my health is what I want the most. I’ve spent more time on this post than on any other so far. That’s because you and your topic are both important and you deserved my full effort. I’m not implying that my full effort is worth more or less than anyone else’s effort, but you deserved more than just a quicky reply with no real time or effort invested in it. We all started where you are now. We’ve all wondered about how our lives would change after weight-loss surgery. Would we be able to handle all the new and different lifestyle changes or would we end up having regrets? Please take my post in the caring spirit in which it was written. I had other, more pressing things to do tonight, but I chose to write to you instead. Did I waste my time?

@Kitty. Thanks for posting your video. You're beautiful. I loved near the beginning (at about 0:26) and again (at about 4:38 and 5:38) where your cat(s) video-bombs your talk by casually walking down the hall upstairs and also downstairs!)

@Frustr8 Little Kitty and I are neighbors. (We live only a few miles apart in neighboring Missouri cities. Kitty's not from Kansas, despite her user name.) I was just trying to make light of her situation to ease some of the tension. And I'm sure she knew that.

You're brave. I could feel the pain in your words, but I could also feel a renewed sense of hope for better things to come. LIFE has kicked you around long enough. Now it's your turn to kick LIFE in the nuts!! Continue to vent. It helps you to get rid of a lot of the toxic "shame" that has been holding you back.

@lisalou1968 Not only do you have a stomach made of steel, but you now have a new steely desire for success. In a weird way, your wayward homecoming that led to some dangerously taboo eating ended up helping you. It makes me sad that you predicted a beatdown just for sharing an unfortunate post-op experience. While there will always be people around who are inclined to be judgmental (particularly when they can be anonymous), the majority of people who belong to this forum seem to be more interested in helping each other deal with their ups and downs. I thought your post was very brave. I'm not sure that I'm as brave as you were. By the way, there are several of us here who have abuse and trauma as souvenirs of our childhoods. I'm one of those people, so you can expect plenty of empathy from me.

@Chunkysoup I see from your profile page that you are self-pay. Is the sleeve not as expensive? Did cost play a part in your decision?

@Chunkysoup Wow. How exciting. I'm happy for you, too. Did you decide on the sleeve or did your surgeon suggest it instead of the gastric bypass? I'm always curious about how people decide on one over the other.

@Luzbella. The surgery date on your profile page said July 29th. Wow. A two-week liquid diet! Suddenly, my week-only diet doesn't sound as challenging anymore. There really is no standard! By the way, are you addicted to caffeine? Were you told why you need to be on an all-liquid diet pre-op? In case you weren't: "In order to reduce the amount of fat around the liver and spleen, a preoperative liquid diet must be followed 7-14 days before gastric bypass surgery. A large liver prevents your surgeon from visualizing certain anatomy during the procedure. If the liver is too large, it then becomes unsafe to perform the surgery."

@James Marusek Thank you, James. I'm aware of the altered taste buds. I did quite a bit of research on the subject after I noticed the difference post-op. See below. I've always found Crystal Light and other on-the-go flavorings unpalatable. Everything has a cloying aftertaste. And the flavors available for most products today are pretty much the same. Blue raspberry has to be the worst flavor ever created. Recently, I found a bottle of peach-flavored water at CVS, but after I got it home I realized that it was sparkling CARBONATED water. Peach and coconut are the only two flavors that are halfway tolerable for me. Anyway, I left the lid off the sparkling water and allowed it to go flat. Then I drank it much later. I won't buy any more of it, however, because I noticed it had other additives that didn't sound body-friendly -- so that's the end of my peach water. I will keep trying to meet my fluid requirement because I know that liquid is crucial to my health and healing. Thank you for your comment. Researchers at the University Hospitals of Leicester looked at the relationship between taste, smell, and appetite among 103 patients who’d undergone gastric bypass surgery between 2000 and 2011. Nearly half of the patients polled reported their sense of smell changed following weight loss surgery and 73 percent noticed changes in the way foodtasted. Topping the list for patients experiencing taste changes is increased sensitivity to sweet foods and sour foods. Reduced tolerance and cravings for sweets and fast foods are common changes are reported by many patients. Some patients may become so sensitized that even Protein Shakes and powders taste overly sweet and are difficult to tolerate. (Some tips that may help include thoroughly chilling the Protein shakes to improve taste.) Food aversions usually develop immediately following surgery and may lessen or disappear over time. In studies, animal Proteins top this list with patients steering clear of chicken, steak, ground beef, lamb and cured meats like bacon, sausage, and ham. eggs, dairy products including ice cream, cheese and milk and starches such as rice, Pasta or breadalso ranked high on the list of disliked foods. Interestingly, very few patients reported aversions to fruits or vegetables. Some patients even report loving veggies like broccoli or cauliflower even more. Patients may feel turned off to foods for a variety of reasons including smell, appearance, texture or consistency. Sometimes a change in preparation method can help improve tolerance. Simple adjustments like stewing meat instead of baking or grilling and poaching eggs instead of frying may prevent the often-reported feeling of food “sticking” on the way down. While the exact cause is unknown, many experts believe sensory changes occur as a result of fluctuating hormones in the gut and their effects on the central nervous system. This gut-brain axis as it’s known and its relationship to bariatric surgery is a subject of much research and speculation. In a nutshell, the nervous system relays countless transmissions about your hunger, satiety and cravings each day between your GI tract and your brain. Because the carriers of these messages are affected by changes in weight and the removal of a portion of the stomach, it is highly likely they have an impact on taste, smell, gratification and other sensory perceptions. Leptin and ghrelin are hormones that are known to have a prominent role in the relationship between hunger and satiety. Ghrelin also plays a role in determining how much of what we eat is burned for fuel versus stored as fat. Weight loss alone results in an increase in ghrelin, which explains why we tend to feel hungry as soon as we restrict calories and begin to shed pounds. Surgically induced weight loss, however, in which a portion of the stomach is removed or bypassed, reduces the production of ghrelin while restricting the volume of food consumed. This unique combination explains, at least in part, why bariatric patients are able to eat less but not feel hungrier as a result. Leptin also plays an important role in telling your body when you are full and how calories are stored. It is believed that weight loss improves the body’s sensitivity to the messages leptin delivers to the gut and brain. This in turn may result in greater food satisfaction with smaller quantities and less flavor intensity.

It's all good, Luz. Why not take photos to document this early part of your journey? You might want to share your story some day and images can often say more than words. Keep us in the loop. I see that your surgery is scheduled for July 29, 2018. When are you supposed to start your all-liquid pre-surgery diet?

A supernumerary kidney? Hey, it beats having a supernumerary nipple. http://www.wetpaint.com/celebrities-extra-body-parts-nick-jonas-extra-tooth-1442257/

"It is very important to drink plenty of liquids. Your goal should be 10-12 glasses a day. At least 5-6 glasses should be water. You may also want to consider drinking lemonade. Research suggests that lemonade may be helpful in reducing the risk of calcium oxalate stone formation." I'm not sure Crystal Lite Lemonade qualifies as lemonade, since it's only lemonade flavoring. Perhaps it's too soon for anything too citrusy now, but you might be able to ease into actual lemonade, with real lemons , in the near future.