CrankyMagpie

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.

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.

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!).

October 3, here! ?

The only October 2018 gastric sleeve group on Facebook, right now, is for Australians. I'm afraid I'd die of jealousy about their health care system, so if your September group grew to include October sleevers, @KatallacStrong, I'd join it. (If you want to stick with just September folks, that is also totally cool and fine. I am capable of creating my own group, if I really need one, or waiting until someone else does. ?)

@photogirl70 please share what worked for you?

How much you lose is dependent partially upon what you do--how well you stick to the plan, how much exercise you get--and partially upon your starting weight. (The rest is effectively random, because bodies are complicated.) My team says it's reasonable to expect to lose 30% of your excess weight (weight on day of surgery minus ideal weight) in the first 3 months. 6 weeks is half that. So if your excess weight is at least 130 pounds, yeah, that's a super reasonable goal! If you have less than 100 pounds to lose, it is probably a less reasonable goal. And I don't know about you, but focusing entirely on the scale is a recipe to make me crazy. I need to focus on the things I can control--what I eat, what I drink, what exercise I do--instead of my weight, which isn't entirely up to me.

I'm playing with the idea of saying "I'm really uncomfortable talking about my weight. [Obvious subject change]" Because I am, and because it's really rude to comment on/ask about other people's health. And maybe a gentle push will help people behave better. What the subject change is will vary with context. At work, I'll ask some question about a work project or redirect back to whatever we were talking about before. With friends ... well, with close friends, I actually won't have this problem, because I'm being honest about what's happening in my life. But with friendly acquaintances, I'll ask them what TV shows or board games they're enjoying lately, something like that. With family... that's going to be hard. I don't see most of them that often, so it'll be a bit of a shock when they see me, if I'm suddenly down 100 pounds (not outside the realm of possibility, with my in-laws--I see them once a year). I might get my spouse to run interference with that side of the family, to avoid awkward conversations. My brother knows I'm planning to do this, and so does my aunt. My mom... oof, that's going to be an unpleasant conversation, probably. I'll see her a little under 2 months after the surgery, so the loss (and my changed eating habits) will be noticeable. (I might not even be on solid foods yet? So. That's fun!) Anyway, what I'm saying is, it's your choice what you tell people. I'm not willing to imply that I did it all with willpower alone, because that is cruel to other fat people. But I'm absolutely willing to deflect and refuse to answer.

OK, I don't promise that I will ever actually post to it (nor do I promise that I won't), but I'm on insta as crankymagpie

Y'all. Y'ALL. Do you realize that (at least at my surgeon's practice) you get to move on to fairly serious exercise at the 4 week/1 month mark? You can swim and lift weights at that point!* We are going to beat the "resolutioners" to the gym! (Or back to the gym, if you're currently up for that! I'm not, but I realize a lot of people who do WLS are.) (I'm a very anxious person. This is a thing I was low-key worrying about, when they were talking about doing my surgery in late November. I was high-key stressed about getting bronchitis and being pushed off into 2019 and having to redo tests and restart on my deductible, but I was a little stressed about doing the surgery on time and then going to the gym a month later and people seeing me as the fat resolutioner. Instead, I'll be the fat normal gym goer in November and December! ) *If cleared. I am not a doctor. My doctor clears people by then, but maybe yours is more conservative. Do what your doctor says.

I just got my surgery date! (It's been a wild ride, with scheduling it, so this is BIG news for me!) 10/3/18! That feels so soon, since I only just found out about it! I am anxious! But I'm ready. I've done so much preparation, so much reading, so much mental work. And on the physical preparation side of things, I've got some homemade bone broth in the freezer (might need more than I have--maybe I'll order some of that powdered stuff I see other people using), I've got lots of comfy yoga pants and loose shirts, I've got two pairs of walking shoes, I've got a couple of kinds of protein shake (not the "nectar" ones that people on here seem to like so much, but I'll make sure to get an order in before my liquid diet week). I'm ready! Let's do this! ... in a month and change. ?

OMG LADIES GUESS WHAT! Guess who just got their surgery date! I wrote a long, impassioned plea to my surgical team--who were holding off my surgery until I hit 10% initial weight lost (I'm at 5%, will be below that by another several pounds after a week of liquid diet)--to please try to fit me in before flu season gets going and I get bronchitis and get stuck having to put off my surgery until May (I get bronchitis every winter, and it holds on for months; this is one of many issues I hope will clear up, somewhat, when I am at a lower weight). I don't think they had realized I'd cut back my work hours (I work at a public service desk on campus, where people literally walk up and cough on me -- I've taken leave from that part of my job until after surgery, which leaves me with very few hours per week and a feeling that my employment is in limbo and my coworkers are angry with me), or just how much anxiety this whole shifting dates thing was causing me, because I don't always express myself well on the fly, in person. (Those of you who have seen my long, rambling posts are going "or in writing, either," and I hear you ) They just called and told me they'll give me their first available, which is ... so much better than I had hoped for! I am so happy! And suddenly, just, kind of jittery, because it feels so SOON. The first week of October!!! That is so much better than I'd been expecting/braced for. SO MUCH better! I am over the moon, y'all!

Thank you all! This is great and helpful information! I can work with this, definitely. (Happily, I hate mayo -- lucky, I know -- and have never tried a deep-fried roll and therefore wouldn't know what I was missing.)

This is an oddly specific question, but I'm just wondering: post-sleeve (and I don't mean immediately, I mean longer-term), are you all able to eat maki (sushi rolls)? I mean, probably not an entire roll to yourself, but part of a roll? Those are real big bites, which seems problematic for a bariatric patient. If you are able to eat it, are there any special things you do? Take bites, even though that's super awkward? Deliberately find smaller rolls to order? Make your own, so you can control the roll size? Obviously, if I'm weighing getting my arthritis under control versus eating sushi, it's clear which one wins. I'm not canceling my surgery if everyone says "Nope, can't do it," or "can only eat sashimi." (Not my favorite, honestly. I'd rather have the miso soup than the sashimi. And I do realize "only the miso soup" is an option, though the wait staff will be confused and potentially appalled.) But sushi is on the healthier side of restaurant foods (especially if you can find a place that will let you sub in brown rice) and is a date my spouse and I really enjoy. It's a food I like. So it's something I wonder about. Thanks! ??

Is there a product called "dry mouth spray," or are you all just taking little spray bottles with water in them, or what? Aside from that, here is the list I've decided on, some unknown number of weeks(? months?) out from my own surgery: Phone & charger (long cord) Headphones Dry mouth spray(?) Lip balm Sandals/slippers Sleep mask Ear plugs Pillow to protect surgical sites from car seat belt and to help with sleep A lavender sachet and bottle of lavender essential oil to refresh it Yoga pants, underwear, at least one easy-to-wear bra and shirt Hair ties Tea bags (link to a forum discussion) (may not be used, but I really like tea)

My people! Hello! It is so nice to see this thread! (I am not exactly a gal; I'm non-binary, but I was assigned female at birth and pass as female in spaces where I don't feel comfortable being "out." I hope it's OK if I hang out here. I have about had it with dudes, right now.) I don't put my weight in my profile, because, I'm not sure why. I feel like my writing style is pretty distinctive, and I worry that someone will identify me based on what I say here and then will know what I weighed? ... Look, anxiety isn't rational. Anyway, I started just under 350. I set a goal weight for myself based on the BMI chart (even though it is ridiculous and unscientific), but honestly? If I get under 220, I don't think there's anything I will want that I can't have. I'm not even really having this surgery explicitly for the weight loss; I'm doing it to get my arthritis under control. (The weight loss is part of that, and believe me, I'm excited about it. But I wouldn't have signed up for it if not for the arthritis.) I'm self-pay (which will completely clean out my savings--probably with some debt to boot), so I don't have a mandatory insurance waiting period, and I just wrote a really long message to my bariatric team, begging them to reconsider their "you must lose 10% of your starting weight before we'll operate on you" policy. It isn't science-based (I didn't tell them that; I wanted to convince them, not make them mad), and it is making other parts of my life significantly more difficult. I get bronchitis every single winter, and if they push my surgery off until mid-winter and I get bronchitis before then, 1) I can't have surgery until probably at least April, and 2) my deductible will reset. (The surgery isn't covered, but it'll still count toward what's left of my very, very high deductible.) Also, my clearances will start to expire, which is expensive and time-consuming. Also, I've gone back to school, and my easy classes are this semester; I can't miss 2-3 weeks of class, next semester. Anyway, if they hold fast on their arbitrary numbers, I think I will start investigating other surgical teams in town. So, hi, that's my life story. Nice to meet you all!

I haven't had the surgery yet, but I'm really appreciating the responses to this question. Thanks for asking it, @KymmerShimmer! I can say I chose the sleeve over the lap band mostly because of statistics. The failure rate on the lap band is high--not even all that much better than diet and exercise alone (which has a 95+% failure rate, just btw); the failure rate on the sleeve is so much lower. The risk of complications on the band over time is comparatively high, too. The chance of scarring on the outside of the stomach is something I couldn't handle (which is maybe a weird stance for me to have, since I'm fine with them chopping out part of my stomach and making a line of staples ... OK, I am freaked out by there being metal staples in my squishy organ area, but I'm less freaked out by that than I am by a band full of saline floating around in there). And my sister in law had the lap band, lost a lot of weight, had complications, and has regained a bunch back. She's planning to get a sleeve, but she's having trouble finding a doctor who'll do it, since (some stuff that's specific to her, PLUS) it's harder to make the staple line close up cleanly after someone's had a lap band. So, there was a personal story to go with the statistics, you know? What I'm saying is, I never seriously considered the band. Which is for the best, since my surgeon also doesn't offer it. The bypass is considered the "gold standard" of bariatric surgery, and the sleeve is the most commonly performed bariatric surgery nowadays; at the risk of making some folks mad at me, I'll be honest and say that, having seen the statistics, I think it's a little unethical for a doctor to even offer the lap band, anymore.

A little tea tree (melaleuca) oil and a little cedar oil (very small amount of each -- I'd start at 1% and never go above, say, 3% by volume of your deodorant mix) would add a bit of an antimicrobial boost and also make for a slightly more masculine scent, if you're looking for that kind of thing. (I don't know about mosquitoes, but moths hate cedar. I can't imagine cedar would attract mosquitoes, so it shouldn't hurt your odds of avoiding them, either. :))

Did the article really say "men don't pay more at all"? I feel like it said "plus-size people are being charged unfairly high prices, especially women," and since most men don't need bras at $60 a pop and don't have to walk quite the same fashion lines women do (let's argue about what constitutes "business" and "business casual" for women, especially fat women! that'll be fun! and what is appropriate to wear to a wedding, versus a rehearsal dinner? and how office wear is different from what you wear out in the evening?), I don't see how it's unfair to suggest that women pay a disproportionate share of that price. I look at how many clothes my husband requires, versus how many I'm expected to have, and ... it's just no contest. Even if men's plus size clothes are marked up at exactly the same rate (and in that one store, it seems they were not), women are paying more. And then you combine that with the "woman tax" on everything else. Like, I'm sorry that the men felt left out by something in the phrasing of that article, and nobody's suggesting plus size men don't also have a tough time. But when it comes to finding clothes for a fat female-coded body? Dudes, you don't even know.