CrankyMagpie

Thank you! I'd been wondering how she was doing.

Smoke of any kind is going to be bad for your lungs and increase your chances of getting pneumonia post-surgery. That's a big risk. There aren't a lot of studies showing how many of the other tobacco-related risks apply to marijuana, so I'm not sure we can tell you how or whether it'll affect how fast you heal, whether blood clots are more likely, etc. But it seems risky? It's also likely to make it harder to modulate your appetite. And there are documented risks of people performing other addictive behaviors more obsessively, to compensate for their inability to eat to excess, which is part of why we're told to avoid alcohol for the first year. That reasoning applies to marijuana, too, even though it's not physically addictive in the same way alcohol is; you don't want your fun little habit to get totally out of control. My advice is to hold off for at least a while. Maybe a year is too much to ask, though that would be the wisest course. Maybe see how you feel after three months? Six, if you can handle it?

I might be telling you something you already know, and if so, I apologize. But there are therapists who specialize in this. It's probably more accurate to say that a particular therapist/approach doesn't really help, rather than writing off therapy as a whole. What about support groups? My hospital has a support group (it only meets twice a year?!) for bariatric patients. And while I, personally, am uncomfortable with the religious overtones in the ___ Anonymous approach to dealing with addictive behavior, Overeaters Anonymous does work really well for some people. You have a good tool, which is not ruined, and now is the best possible time to retrain yourself away from food-as-emotional-support and into food-as-fuel. I believe in you!

I had an appointment today, and since someone on here had freaked me out with their story of repeatedly throwing up Prilosec-sprinkled-in-applesauce, I asked about it. My surgeon allows pills the following day. (I don't remember if it's his rule or something I read somewhere, but "10 minutes apart" is stuck in my head.)

Thanks, Shimmy! I'll be honest: I'm really stressed about the pain and the nausea. I've had vicodin and codeine before, and I don't think either does much to relieve pain for me--they just make me sleep. (Which is a blessed release from pain, certainly, but at least during the hospital stay, they wake you up all the time. Awake-time is pain-time. And my team wants me up and moving around every hour during the day when I'm home, too, which I plan to do my best to do, even though I know I'll be groggy.) Plus, people have these horror stories of hospital staff who won't administer their pain meds, and I'm not usually a good self-advocate. Being the kind of person I am, I have written down all of my passwords and put them in a sealed envelope with a letter for my spouse, just in case, because surgery always comes with risks. Doing that was painful--the letter, I mean, not the passwords--but I feel better knowing it's done, and if the worst happens, he'll be able to access our bank accounts and everything else. (I'm the organized one.) It's rational to be a little worried about the risks and about the pain and nausea and other potential negative side effects, I think. But it's also hard, with almost a month to go, when I know that the worry isn't helping anyone. It's just releasing unneeded cortisol into my system, and I can feel my arthritis acting up as a result. I need to chill. So I appreciate reminders that the risks are low (I do keep telling myself the stats and that my surgeon has never lost a patient and only had three leaks in the thousands of surgeries he's done), that the awfulness is temporary, and the new life on the other side of those days-to-weeks of misery is a good one, for the vast majority of people. ❤️

October 3rd! I'm nervous! And also excited! Btw, thanks for labeling this thread "2018." There are two other October threads that don't have the year marked, and I really hope some of us stay in touch through 2019 and 2020, at least. No sense in confusing next year's sleevers!

They already have me following a lot of the post-op rules (protein first, stuff like that). My surgeon only requires a 1-week liquid diet, so I guess that starts on September 26. There's a class/meeting the week before, where a whole group of people get information all together--how to do the liquid diet, what vitamins to buy, stuff like that--and then that day there's a one-on-one with ... the surgeon? or just his PA? Dunno. Anyway, I'm a little weak on some of the details, until that meeting happens.

Yeah, y'all are right; there's definitely individual blame to be shared, too. And, yeah, a couple of my doctor's nutritionists are just awful and probably not 100% qualified to be in the position they're in. I do wish there were more even education for everyone undergoing this process, though. (I want an online course! That'd be helpful!) It's truly upsetting how many people rely on internet strangers' opinions for important health information and decisions.

I haven't even had my surgery yet, and I'm feeling a lot of this thread. Honestly, though? I'm less angry at the people posting the repetitive questions and more angry at their doctors, for leaving them so under-prepared. My doctor has this whole three-month thing he makes everyone go through (even if they're prepared and don't need it, but that's a side rant), so that people don't end up totally at sea, like I see on this site. Now, they haven't really talked to me about stalls, yet, but like I said, I'm pre-op. Also I've dieted before--counted calories, counted macros, the whole deal. Are there really people who get this surgery who haven't tried any diets? Every diet (or "lifestyle change," whatever) comes with plateaus, and it is absolutely mind-blowing to me that, after surgery, this surprises anyone. But I guess maybe people expect WLS to be different than every other kind of weight loss they've experienced? And I guess there are doctors who let their patients swing in the wind, with no concept of what is a reasonable expectation? Then again, I am the very crankiest of magpies, and doctors are not, generally speaking, my very favorite class of people. (My current doctors are great. Exclude them from this rant. I'm talking about doctors in general.) Too many of them have been too cruel and/or patronizing to me, in the past. So. I'm nice to the posters, and I quietly seethe at the doctors who didn't make sure their patients were prepared. (I believe in individual responsibility, sure. There are books about every type of WLS out there, and many of them are written in very approachable language. People absolutely should be more willing to seek out information from reputable sources, rather than asking strangers on the internet. But that isn't how doctors expect us to behave about our health, and many actively discourage it, so I can sort of forgive people for not doing that.)

My team clears us for swimming and weight lifting at 4 weeks. It's worth checking with your team, to see what they say.

I'm still pre-op, with a surgery date in the first week of October and a one-week liquid diet to do before that, and I'm about 20 pounds down (probably only 18, if I'm honest; comparing my home scale and my first-thing-in-the-morning, pajamas weight with my post-breakfast, fully-clothed weight at the hospital is probably a little unfair). My team has a required 3-month "program" they put you through, where you're supposed to practice good habits, small bites, protein-first, and all that... and they want to see significant weight lost during that period. All told, I'm imagining I will have lost 25-30 pounds before surgery--it depends whether my current stall breaks (I've been gaining and losing the same 3 pounds for 3 weeks) and how brutal the liquid-only diet really is, right?

Gaining muscle will cause you to retain water for a little while. You have to tear the muscle fibers just a little to build new muscles, and the healing process requires retained water. So some of the "stall" isn't, really--you're losing fat, and you're gaining muscle and probably retaining a little fluid. The "muscle is heavier" thing is a motivating thing to tell ourselves, but it just means that a pound of muscle is smaller/denser than a pound of fat--they still both weigh a pound and look the same on the scale. Instead, I remind myself that pound of muscle is healthier than a pound of fat. Also, every gain in muscle is a gain in basal metabolic rate, which will help with losing fat/maintaining a healthier weight in the long run. Are you using measuring tape? Because if you aren't losing pounds--especially if you're building up your exercising habit--I strongly suspect you're losing inches. Approximately 70 pounds in 5 months is nothing to sneeze at. It's a major accomplishment, congratulations!

I was reading somewhere that someone's team insisted they use a sippy lid, to keep the foam off of their protein shakes. Sleevers: is this, in your experience, especially important? Couldn't I maybe just wait for a minute, for the foam to subside? I'm pretty invested in BlenderBottle as a brand--I have like four of them--but they definitely don't have sippy lids. Possibly relevant: I can't have Premier Protein premade shakes. My team is adamant that the only protein shakes we drink have some kind of protein isolate as their first ingredient. My team doesn't care if it's whey protein isolate or soy protein isolate, as long as it's an isolate. I'm probably pushing it, a little bit, with my Quest powders, since their first ingredient is "protein blend," but the first ingredient of that is whey protein isolate, which means it's probably still the main ingredient.* As far as premades, I can have Muscle Milk, which I like a lot (pre-op), so that's fine -- but it's also more expensive, so I plan to rely a lot on protein powders to get me through the full liquids stage and as an add-in during the puree stage and onward. Quest powders do foam when shaken, but the foam subsides pretty quickly. If you have used a foam-free brand--if that's even a thing that exists--I'd also be interested in hearing about that. *Ingredients have to be listed in order of how much is used, I think by weight. (Maybe by volume? Hm. The FDA just says "predominance" on their website.) Using the chocolate flavored Quest as an example, the first "ingredient" is their protein blend, while the second ingredient is cocoa. I'm fairly certain there's more whey protein isolate in there than there is cocoa.

*looks at your surgery date* That's not so far off! Good luck!

Mine has us take it for 3 months, then see if we can go without it.

Your surgery is next Tuesday, isn't it, @Frustr8?

I can't think of where I read someone saying this, or I'd link it, but yeah... it was a lot like the lids on toddlers' cups. Anyway, if nobody else was told to stress about this, I'm not going to stress about this. I'll let my shakes settle a bit, and then I'll drink them from the BlenderBottle just like I always have. (I bet I have at least one coworker who recognizes the sound of the shaker ball hitting the lid of the bottle and who hates it. Unfortunately for them, it's going to happen more often, soon.)

A lot of the things I've put off are more because of pain from arthritis/plantar fasciitis than because of my looks or anything: going to the zoo and some local museums, trying stand-up paddle boarding, getting back on the elliptical and catching up with the story in Zombies, Run!, hitting up the Renaissance Fair, taking some classes on wild foraging herbs and edible plants, going on some bird walks... I've got a lot I'm looking forward to. I'm looking forward to getting into kayaking, which I have held off on because I'm worried I'll get to the kayak rental place and my butt will be too big for the boat. I'd also love to learn to SCUBA dive! And swim with dolphins! On the looks front, yeah, I'm looking forward to being willing to swim with groups of people I know. I may have enough saggy skin that I'll still need to wear a suit with shorts, but that's fine. (My current suit has shorts, and it is pretty cute. I'll miss that, a little, when I size down out of it. But I bet there are better options in smaller sizes, anyway!) This isn't something I'm deliberately putting off (besides not applying for anything right this second, given the big medical procedure I have coming up), but ... I have kind of a crappy job, right now, and getting into a job that better suits my skills and experience has been a real challenge. Part of it is the field I'm in, no doubt. But part of it is my size: people look at a fat woman (I'm not out as non-binary to potential employers) and assume they're stupid, no matter how good their resume might be. And, yeah, my confidence is probably not where it should be, because I know that. So I'm looking forward to getting out there, in my smaller interview clothes, and getting a job that's right for me. (I'm also taking classes, to help bridge the gap between my under-employment and where I want to be.)

I ordered some of this (link goes to Quest Cold Brew Coffee protein powder). It's a bigger expenditure than I'd usually make when trying something entirely new to me, but Quest has never let me down--except by putting tree nuts in their protein bars--flavor-wise, I trust them. Anyway, it says it has "natural coffee flavor," which I take to mean that, if it isn't 100% caffeine free, it's darn close. I'm excited about having a coffee-flavored protein shake in the morning, without the actual coffee. (Yeah, I'm allowed to have it--my surgeon doesn't ask anyone to stop drinking caffeine--but like others have said, coffee can be a bit of a stomach irritant. And everyone seems to have so much trouble getting their fluids in, in the first weeks, that I don't want to take up any space with coffee.) I'd offer to report back about whether or not it's good, but individual tastes vary so much. GNC often has single-serve Quest packets, if you're curious and want to try it without committing to the big container.

If you're breastfeeding, you'll want to make sure you get enough calories to feed the baby, too. This is something to talk about with your teams (bariatric and post-natal and maybe also a pediatric team). Balancing your nutrition and the baby's is going to be important. Even if you aren't breastfeeding, your body is healing, and it is probably holding on to some resources to make milk.

And not even, I would argue, for coffee. Thanks for starting this thread, @kjuno! Lots of useful stuff being said!

I was browsing recipes last night and thought this page was pretty helpful: https://www.bariatriceating.com/category/basic-be-eating-plans/ There are a lot of good recipes here, too, but they aren't as clearly split into phases: https://www.bariatricfoodie.com/recipe-index/ I only just found this site while I was googling for the other two, but it breaks recipes into stages! So I'm going to look at this now: https://www.bariatriccookery.com/recipes-2 And, finally, this is just a single recipe, but it's the one I'm most looking forward to making: https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/shellys-baked-ricotta-324036

I like my Misfit Ray, because I can wear other bracelets with it. It doesn't seem to sync very often during the day, but I've never had trouble getting it to sync when I open the app. It talks to MyFitnessPal and other calorie trackers, same as Fitbit. (There are some things Fitbit works with that nothing else does. But not many.) My friends with Jawbones also really like those.

My team says to start chewable vitamins after my post-op visit, which will happen about a week after surgery. If you are worried, yeah, I bet patches won't hurt. (It's hard to know how much they can help, by which I mean, how much skin can absorb vitamins, but I can't see how they'd hurt.) I am planning to drink some nutritious teas and broths. One week isn't enough to develop a vitamin deficiency, so I am not stressing much about it.

I really like using straws. I also really like carbonated beverages. But it's such a small thing (or pair of things, I guess) to give up, in the grander scheme? I'm going to do what I'm told, on that. I've heard enough stories about people causing themselves discomfort by pushing the boundaries that I plan not to push, at all. I threw out my water bottle that had a straw attached, and I got myself a half-size Nalgene (it's so cute! it's like they took the normal, 32 ounce one and just shrunk it!).