CrankyMagpie

I was kind of hoping I could cheap out with sports bras for a while, that they might be a little more forgiving if I misjudge the cup size or something while I'm losing. No? Is that not a thing?

Yeah... the tone of this is definitely not my thing, but I'm glad that others found it motivating/helpful!

What @ChellNC said, but also, you're a sleever, and @Naughty Glitter Goddess is an RNYer. I bet the schedules have to be a little different between surgeries.

I have bought some of the protein soups (Bariwise broccoli cheddar -- they were rated highly, but I admit I haven't tried them yet), several boxes of no-sodium-added chicken bone broth (Jet.com sells them), a bunch of sugar-free Jello and sugar-free popsicles, some of the premade Muscle Milks (the 100 calorie ones), and Quest powder in vanilla and chocolate (pre-surgery, it's really only drinkable to me with some skim milk in there). I haven't had the meeting with the nutritionists, yet. There might be other things I can have that haven't occurred to me yet.

1) Thanks! These will come in handy when I hit that stage! 2) I'm glad someone else uses ramekins as bowls. I splurged on some cute ramekins, and that kind of was? my entire new small bowl budget? So I'm just going to eat everything from cute ramekins for a while. And now I feel extra good about it, because your presentation in these photos is fantastic! 3) My contribution to the thread, since fall is almost here (in the northern hemisphere): this pumpkin protein custard. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm very excited about it. I've done crustless, lower-sugar pumpkin pies for years, so adding protein powder and removing all the sugar is an obvious next step. I'm also really hopeful about this black bean soup. (Bonus: there is a bariatric-friendly plain egg custard linked from that page, too.)

I described the one week liquid-only diet to my spouse (my team's version: 3 shakes or soups per day, plus unlimited clear, sugar-free things like broth and Mios). He looked kind of nervous and said "I think maybe I should go somewhere else that week and just come back to take you to the surgery." ? (I mean, he isn't wrong. I'm going to spend the entire week hangry.)

????

I should be clear: the only reason my rheumatologist is quibbling about this is that the American College of Rheumatology's new guidelines say not to go off methotrexate for surgeries--apparently, the increased risk of infection isn't as high as they previously thought. But I'm usually a pretty big fan of being over-cautious about health stuff. And if I'm off methotrexate for a month, I can get a flu shot and maybe have it work its full magic!

If you mean oral systemics and biologics like methotrexate or Otezla, that's worth a conversation with your team(s). I can tell you that my surgical team wants me to be off methotrexate for a month before and then to wait six weeks after surgery before restarting, and that's with a sleeve; my times might change, as they negotiate with rheumatology, who doesn't want me to stop my meds at all. (Honestly, regardless of what they end up deciding together, I'm not planning to restart methotrexate until my stomach is healed enough for solid foods, because it's pretty hard on the GI tract.) It seems like pills are a little harder on bypass patients, so you might end up having to switch to the injectable kind, to make methotrexate (for instance) work with a sleeve. If you mean injectables like Humira or Enbrel, again, it's going to require a conversation, but probably more with rheumatology than bariatrics. I don't know how long they want you to be off before surgery, or to wait afterward. But at least that kind of med won't make your stomach irritated! Now, if you mean NSAIDs (ibuprofen, Celebrex, etc.), the answer I've been given is "never." That's why I went with a sleeve, so I could take ibuprofen now and then, when the pain is too much to bear otherwise.

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!

*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.)