CrankyMagpie

Some of the most helpful people on this forum (it's actually a web forum that you can choose to access through an app) are participating in this thread and blowing off a little bit of steam, in between answering the same questions over and over again. It's in the "Rants and Raves" area of the forum, not on one of the main question-asking areas. I don't think they're doing anything wrong. And I say this as someone who has just gone through the surgery, last week. I remember so very well what questions, issues, and concerns someone undergoing this surgery has--I'm still going through many of them. (Like will this dang gurgling ever stop because I feel constantly hungry? The answer, by the way--because I started researching before I let someone cut me, and I've paid attention, and I've done some forum searching of my own--is that it varies by person, but by the time I get to normal foods it should have settled down, mostly. If I'm lucky, it might settle down sooner.) I'm (still) annoyed at all of the doctors who under-prepare their patients, but more and more, I'm noticing that people seem to want to have their own little thread about their issue, rather than just reading what's going on before they ask so they can participate in the existing threads about exactly the same thing, often happening at exactly the same time. (Which would, by the way, make every thread more valuable--more perspectives! more people encountering the same thing!) And when they get their answer, they don't always seem to acknowledge that the people who answer are volunteering their time, for free (or for very small incentives at the store, I guess, which is a really nice thing, btw), and on top of that maybe are also just random people who won't have all the answers. (Sorry, Very Helpful People In This Thread, but you -- we! -- really are all just randos, at the end of the day. And until someone's read multiple of our posts, they are going to have a hard time pulling apart what is our own individual bias versus what is actually probably applicable to them. All the more reason people should do a little reading before they post.)

Updated list for folks to find others having the sleeve done on the same day. (If I missed anyone, I apologize--let me know, and I'll add you. Please don't quote this whole post, though; it's huge.) I'm trying to only re-post every couple of days so I'm not bogging down the conversation, but we've had several people with surgeries this week join us recently I figure, even if they haven't gone through all 29+ pages of posts, they still might want to know who to look for, to be surgery buddies. Oct 1: aapb79Gmail.com chicagogirl74 chuckwalsh clara1900 cw19147 irishgal21 JennieJuniper momofmjbm Red Alicia Vwlover0611 Yare_2018 Oct 2: bmatt418 cindy t Deanayeah jgirlnyc Lizzieming Marla522 nikoleroze Oct517 Oct 3: boringtessa crankymagpie LosingLbs18 mamadownsizing sekud02 Oct 4: AriesMary25 btrfly kerbear1980 mspink702 rnchaveri1 sleevemebaby7781 swisskath Oct 5: greener pastures mommytina rafc100 Suesloosinit Oct 8: Crystalmartin82 jhojho90 Oct 9: Anglkrys2 bigcurt mailchickie76 SheilahMc Oct 10: busyforever fandangle MeeAhhh oct102018 spatch2813 Oct 11: aussie Ange healthygirl05 kathy060464 UncleBeezy willowfinely Oct 12: afer0841 Tabularasa2018 zpratt Oct 14: katiemarie22 Oct 15: allyb15 annaisbananas April1965 JessLess llrn90 MegsNiko (or maybe the 17th?) recreating_courtney redaj954 Tina6769 Oct 16: 2shea beccaconaty87 br3n Thisismytime ummyasmin Wincy Oct 17: Chello219 Fawksy Grapefruit Jlh2350 JustKeepSwimming OpsMatt Oct 18: shazz73 Oct 19: Oct 20: Lucybear22 Oct 22: clb164 GizzlyKitten Kathy10/22 kimberlymi laceco marciamae3474 Oct 23: emccomis kdiddle31 llhill mimi tahoegirl96118 Oct 24: Beachladee3 GirlShrinking Lovingmyselfforever Susiern56 tuttlemomma Oct 25: AndreaK. kiwiangel23 teenyshell Oct 26: amanda-xo carebear38 shany1567 TropicalBeachDoll Oct 29: 1BigHeart JadineC jflower88 Kai91 kjallen nedawson1908 notmyname Rgiannos Oct 30: sleevegirl88 wishful.shrinking Oct 31: relaxrelaterelease

Probably not a great idea. https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20020610/herbalife-diet-linked-to-brain-ailment# https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/6252628/herbalife-uk-reviews-weight-loss-towie-liver-damage/

I'd encourage you to try some new things, in the hopes you will find something you enjoy, or if not that, then something you'd like to achieve. Exercising to lose weight is fine for a while, but that isn't enough to keep most of us active enough for long. Things that might be fun: A friend of mine loves Zumba. Another friend likes spinning classes (I don't see the appeal, but they make her happy!) I actually really like using the elliptical with the game Zombies, Run! running in my iPhone--it makes it a lot more interesting. The company that makes that game has some non-zombie games, too. Water aerobics are different and a surprisingly good workout (and there's Aqua Zumba, too). Possible goals to work towards: Walking/running a 5k/10k/marathon Hiking up that one mountain you like to look at Doing one of those "virtual walks," where you wear a fitness tracker and do a lot of walking to move a marker on a map Biking a quarter century/half century/century - or, alternately, getting fit for one of those bike tours through Europe or wine country or ... whatever place would be fun for you to bike through Competing in a triathlon Swimming a mile Doing one of those mud runs? or color runs?

Aunt Flo showed up the night before surgery, for me, so I got to wear the special underpants with a hospital-issued pad. They appeared to have been cut? at some point? when I got up to my room, at which point I changed into my own undies and pad. (My team doesn't do catheters.)

I like carving pumpkins, but I might have to carve it after Halloween is over. No lifting for me, this month, and carving without lifting is tricky. (It's OK. It's worth it. And you bet I'll carve a pumpkin four days after Halloween. I've dyed Easter eggs in the wrong month, too.) I'm hoping my incisions heal up to the point where I feel safe wandering in the dark (aka risking a fall), so I can do a corn maze this year. But, again, if not, there's always future years. We're on a major path for trick or treaters, and I don't want candy in the house. So my plan is to hand out the glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos I bought a couple of years ago for kids with food allergies or other medical issues. They seemed popular enough.

My surgeon (not my insurance) wanted me to lose 10% of my starting weight before surgery. (I negotiated him down to "what if I do my best, but we schedule at the beginning of flu season, so I don't lose my surgery spot to the case of bronchitis I catch every winter?" And then, by a single pound, I actually beat his goal, anyway, on the day of surgery.) He makes all of his higher-BMI patients do that. I'm not sure how scientifically valid that extra requirement is, but he's one of the pioneers of the sleeve procedure and has done thousands of surgeries, so I guess he gets to cherry-pick for the most compliant patients. I felt like it was kind of cruel and unnecessary, for most of the four months it took, but honestly? In the last week before the surgery and the week since? I'm grateful that I had a chance to follow the "long-term bariatric patient" diet, with its focus on lean proteins and vegetables and fruits and (if those other things aren't filling enough, which eventually they won't be) complex carbohydrates. I learned that it wasn't especially hard, and I could follow it without tracking every bite (which makes me crazy) and without spending hours in the kitchen. I learned that there was room for "cheats"--for breaks from that protocol--and as long as I kept them to a minimum, with maybe a little stricter eating before and after to help mitigate it, I could be successful at following it and not feel miserably deprived. Now, like ... part of my problem is that I am always hungry (which is wild, when you're just a couple of days post-op; the belly gurgles, but it is lying, and oh how I hope this goes away soon). And to deal with that while still following the rules of the pre-op diet, I would do the normal things--drink and see if the hunger goes away, mostly--and if those things didn't work and it wasn't time for a meal, I'd have the smallest snack I could get away with, to stave off the hunger. Maybe it'd be a cheese stick. Or an ounce of peanuts. Or a Greek yogurt. Sometimes I could get by with just a sugar-free popsicle or a half cup of sugar-free Jello. It wouldn't make me full, but it'd take care of the hunger enough that I could focus on whatever it was I was doing. If that isn't the problem you're running into -- if it is emotional, say, rather than hunger-related -- my advice won't help much. (I won't claim not to have emotional eating problems. I definitely had some cheat days that were based around the news, for instance. But other than "don't do it often; be strong," I've got nothing for you, there.) I hope it helps someone, though?

Instead of stocking up on lots of any one item, have a little bit of multiple kinds of things on hand. What you can tolerate will change. (People tell me that what tastes good to you will change after surgery, too, and while that has not been my experience yet, I'm still in my first week, pre-op, and may yet have that surprise drop on me. ) I found Jello filling during the liquid-only pre-op phase, so I assumed I wouldn't be able to eat it, post-op. I was super wrong: Jello was the only thing that didn't either make me feel sick or hurt my sternum, in the hospital and for the first day at home. Well, that and hot decaf black tea. So it turns out, it's hard to predict. I do like the individual servings of Jello, because it's easier to know, with less effort, how much liquid to count it as. I like the premade protein drinks better for the same reason. Also, the vanilla ones are good in tea. That's how I eased myself up to drinking a protein shake straight: put more and more into the hot tea I was already tolerating well.

My program only refers to three phases--"puree" and "soft" are so close, anyway, that they just lump them together. Yogurt is considered phase II, not a liquid, so that's also a difference. They apparently let us start on phase II after the post-op appointment, 10 days after surgery. I'm planning to ask a lot of questions about what are the easiest foods to start with, then. In our booklet, phase II (puree and soft) is listed as "3-6 weeks," so I guess it varies a lot by individual. I'm not inclined to push things unnecessarily, so I am just going ahead and planning for 6 whole weeks; if at my 1-month post-op they say "you need to try phase III foods now," then I will, but I bet they don't push it, either. (But then, I can live on cottage cheese, ricotta, yogurt, refried beans, lean meats, and mashed cauliflower for a pretty long while, because I genuinely like those things, which I get that not everyone does.)

The pre-op diet is hard, but it builds discipline that you will need, post-op. It also shrinks your liver, which makes for a safer and easier/less expensive procedure. The past is the past. You've got 7 days, now. Do yourself a favor, and don't cheat in the next 7 days. Not even a little. Follow the rules, so you can have the best possible outcome.

I just read this article (from the "Magazine" part of this website) today. It suggests, maybe, don't use it. https://www.bariatricpal.com/magazine/614-marijuana-after-weight-loss-surgery/

Yeah, I made it to 4 ounces in an hour on day 3 (with surgery day as day 0), but not before that. My team's goals for me are 64 ounces of fluid and 60-80 grams of protein--but they note that a more realistic protein goal for now is 30-40 grams/day. They also say no drinks with more than 15 grams of sugar per 8 ounce serving, which I guess means some fruit juices might be OK... but they definitely don't list them in their list of drinks to have. I also feel like I"m "cheating," because I'm taking one of the anti-nausea pills every morning, to help me get to my goals. I mean, they prescribed them? So it's probably fine? But it will be nice when I don't feel like I'm risking making myself sick with every beverage.

I definitely saw warnings in the forums about this before surgery, but now that I'm going through it, I find it really weird and uncomfortable to feel hungry gurgling in my stomach and not be able to stop it with the amount of liquid it will accept. I made it past 50 ounces of liquid today(!), a good 61 grams of protein(!), and there is so. much. gurgling. I'll get more protein and fluid in tomorrow, too. Maybe that will quiet the angry beast.

I can't drink water. (OK, I haven't tried today, but I sure couldn't yesterday or the day before.) When I first got home, Jello was almost the only thing I could tolerate. I have also been getting my liquids as hot tea, then hot tea with protein shake mixed in (like you'd put milk into coffee), then protein shake alone. Last time I tried protein water, that was also better than water. To be clear: I haven't hit 64 ounces of liquid. I'm on track to get to maybe 40-45 today, which is better than yesterday's 30-couple. I might see if swapping in some popsicles will help increase that, too.

My bedroom is on the third floor, relative to where we park. I'll be real: the drive home (just a few miles, though the roads here are crappy), followed by the trip up the first flight of stairs, nearly made me throw up. I didn't, but it was very close. I didn't enjoy the trip to the third floor, that evening, either. Today is my second full day home (surgery 10/3), and I don't notice the stairs especially much, now. I haven't been outside to walk yet. I just do laps around the living room and pace up and down the hall. I didn't have enough sugar-free Jello in the house when I left for my surgery. I sent my spouse to get more. I like the premeasured cups, because it's easier to know how much I'm getting. I don't have enough premade protein drinks, either, but that was kind of by design, since everyone said "your tastes will change." I also wanted to know what would settle. I'm doing well on Unjury. I haven't tried the one Muscle Milk I have left in the pantry, yet. Quest powder mixed with water might be OK, but I think it's going to be too thick if I try it with milk--I'm definitely going to hold off another day before risking that.

Eggface has some tips, including "double milk." http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2008/08/wls-on-cheap.html

My team says they usually clear people for whatever exercise they want to do after a month. So. Seconding that "don't do planks until you're a month post-op" suggestion.

My team allows it if you let it go flat first.

I haven't had any protein shake yet, so you're ahead of me! I did have some protein water today, the rest of a bottle I had abandoned in my fridge at the end of my pre-op clear liquid day. And a lot of decaf hot tea. I'm going to try one of the "thicker" protein shakes (something more than just protein water) tomorrow, really slowly. I don't like that I've gone two days in a row with basically no protein, but I did make sure to get extra before the surgery. A popsicle made me nauseated at the hospital, so it was late in the day, today, when I finally gave in and had one, to see if I could handle it better. That was good, so I see more of them in my future. If I'm feeling as much better tomorrow, compared to today, as I felt today, compared to yesterday, I should be able to get to the 64 ounce goal on liquid, and hopefully have a lot of it be protein, to boot. I'm glad you're feeling so much better already! That's awesome!

I'm not going to make it to 64 ounces today. (They sent me home yesterday.) If I really push, I can make it past half way there before bedtime. I never believed people who were like "plain water hurts, but I can do [some more interesting thing]," so karma showed up to put me in my place. I do OK with jello! Hot (really, warm) tea seems to do OK, too. Protein water I can do, but I have to go slowly. Plain water HURTS. I think I'll try my first protein shake (not just protein water) tomorrow. Anyway, I'm glad we're both back out in the non-hospital world and moving forward! ❤️

OK, this is the list for people to find their sleeve buddies, if they want. Forgive me if I made any mistakes, please -- I'm not on the fun pain meds right now, but my head's still fuzzy today. I did my best. I'll fix any mistakes I made, just let me know. (Bonus points if you do not quote this whole post, because it is huge.) Oct 1: aapb79Gmail.com chicagogirl74 chuckwalsh clara1900 cw19147 irishgal21 JennieJuniper momofmjbm Red Alicia Yare_2018 Oct 2: bmatt418 cindy t Deanayeah jgirlnyc Lizzieming Marla522 nikoleroze Oct517 Oct 3: boringtessa crankymagpie LosingLbs18 mamadownsizing sekud02 Oct 4: AriesMary25 btrfly kerbear1980 mspink702 rnchaveri1 sleevemebaby7781 swisskath Oct 5: greener pastures mommytina rafc100 Suesloosinit Oct 8: Crystalmartin82 jhojho90 Oct 9: bigcurt mailchickie76 Oct 10: busyforever fandangle MeeAhhh oct102018 Oct 11: aussie Ange healthygirl05 kathy060464 UncleBeezy willowfinely Oct 12: afer0841 Tabularasa2018 zpratt Oct 14: katiemarie22 Oct 15: allyb15 annaisbananas April1965 JessLess llrn90 MegsNiko (or maybe the 17th?) recreating_courtney redaj954 Tina6769 Oct 16: 2shea beccaconaty87 br3n Thisismytime ummyasmin Wincy Oct 17: Chello219 Fawksy Grapefruit Jlh2350 JustKeepSwimming OpsMatt Oct 18: shazz73 Oct 20: Lucybear22 Oct 22: clb164 GizzlyKitten kimberlymi laceco marciamae3474 Oct 23: emccomis kdiddle31 llhill mimi tahoegirl96118 Oct 24: Beachladee3 GirlShrinking Lovingmyselfforever tuttlemomma Oct 25: AndreaK. kiwiangel23 teenyshell Oct 26: amanda-xo carebear38 shany1567 Oct 29: 1BigHeart JadineC jflower88 Kai91 kjallen nedawson1908 notmyname Rgiannos Oct 30: sleevegirl88 wishful.shrinking Oct 31: relaxrelaterelease

OK, I'm home, after my surgery yesterday (10/3). The medical staff all said I seemed good to go home, and I wasn't going to argue, but I'll be real: getting my 64 ounces tomorrow looks like an insurmountable struggle. I nearly hurled after the car ride and the walk up stairs, but happily I did not. Also, they really wanted me to do shots in my stomach, even though I definitely warned the surgeon I wasn't going to be able to do that, so I have to walk extra to make up for not having any blood thinner. It's a little scary.

You are so cute! ??? More importantly, what an achievement!

Got my call! 11:30am tomorrow. I am supposed to show up at 9:30, and they're going to let my partner back with me once I'm wearing the surgical gown and have my IV in. That's pretty much exactly what I'd hoped for. I have class until 9pm tonight, a half hour drive from home, so I was dreading them saying "come in at 5:30am" or something like that. Instead, I'll have several hours to toss and turn and not actually sleep, lol, and my spouse will be awake enough to function, getting me to the hospital. And we don't have to do our teary goodbyes out in the waiting room, with me contemplating my fate alone in between doctor visits--he can sit with me and chat until they roll me back into the OR. ❤️ I am so nervous. But I'm ready, too. I've done all the prep, so much reading. I was perfectly happy on the three month "practice" diet for phase three, and I feel good about that lifestyle. Over the past week I've followed the liquid diet religiously, no cheats. So the parts that are within my control, I know I can handle, and I really need to stop dwelling on the parts that are out of my control--I picked a really good surgeon, I'm in the best possible hands, there's nothing worry will do for me.

I have a charm bracelet (in the Pandora style, but it isn't Pandora-branded) that I'm adding a charm to, every time I lose 10 pounds.