mousecat88

Hm. I haven't had that brought up yet (the angiogram). I did see my ENT at one point during all of this, who had performed several sinus procedures on me a few years prior, and she didn't see any issues in the MRI. I'm going to see if the weight loss helps at all, and go from there with respect to the IIH. Regardless of how the surgery turns out for me, they are ultimately two separate issues and I want to ensure I preserve my vision. The idea of having vision loss is the scariest thing to me.

It was actually pretty convenient to have one. lmao....

My psych doctor spent the first 1.5 hours just asking me about any prior mental health treatment I've had and why I want the surgery. We went over my history of anxiety. She asked a lot of questions about if I had a history of depression, suicidal thoughts, or if I had any drug or alcohol issues, which I don't. The second 1.5 hours I took a 300 question personality test, which basically tested (again) if I was depressed or suicidal or had a tendency to be impulsive or suffer from addictions. It also had some questions about if you're happy with your job, hobbies, and how supportive your friends and family are. Stuff like that.

I'm pre-op, but have had a lot of gym time in my past. I highly recommend at least one personal trainer session. It is well worth it! They can show you tons of proper techniques with the free weights, and you'll get a range of motion with them that you won't get using the machines. A trainer can show you how many sets/reps to do, too, and every gym I've been to, they've given me a printout of my custom workout so I can bring it with me each time so I remember it all. Free weights are my absolute favorite at the gym - I always feel like I did so much more when I use them, activating muscle groups that are trickier to do on the machines. But I use the machines, too! I don't know what you mean by heavy weights, but starting with 5 or 7lb dumbbells is perfectly good for a beginner. You don't want to pull a muscle. I max out at 20lbs for any given exercise with free weights.

I don't do well with therapists; I am extremely stubborn and argumentative. I have a psychiatrist I see every two months. I've been seeing psychiatrists/therapists ever since I was four years old. I am very confident in my ability to succeed at this at this point in my life. I'm not banking on the new stomach to be the only thing stopping me from overeating. I realize it's just a tool and it takes a complete overhaul on my way of thinking and my lifestyle to make this work. I've seen enough stories of people regaining and I refuse to be a statistic.

Congrats on quitting smoking! I second the opinion on switching to flavored carbonated water, like La Croix. BUT, before your surgery you'll have to stop that, too, because carbonation is a no-no. But once you get off the caffeine/sugars from the diet sodas, it'll be so much easier to stop drinking the carbonated water because there's nothing addicting about it... except that it tastes good, lol.

I had a catheter put in when I had liposuction in 2009. They put it in while I was under anesthesia. I didn't even know I had one in when I woke up! I wondered hours later why I didn't have to pee... but I had been peeing the whole time and just didn't feel it. lol. I barely noticed when they pulled it out the next morning. Just some slight discomfort and it burned the first time I peed like I had a urinary tract infection, and it was kind of hard to "get it started". Granted, I'm a female so it had less far to travel, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as it sounds!

Can you get an IUD? Your annual visit and the IUD should all be free under ANY insurance (even Medicaid). And then you'll be safe for 5 years and not have to worry about making annual visits if for some reason you couldn't (EVEN THOUGH YOU SHOULD ALWAYS GO!!)

Oh, there's nothing you could say I don't already know, anyways. I never wanted to START dating him 5 years ago... but low self-esteem/self-worth is a bee-otch.

The honest answer for why I stopped dieting was because I was on a pretty extreme diet to lose weight and it was primarily the very long stall that killed me. I got really discouraged that I was doing so well sticking to something and had such a long plateau (even gained a few pounds). So then I went off the wagon hardcore because of that, coupled with a lot of interpersonal drama which just added to the stress-eating. Since then, I've worked on those issues and don't foresee it being an obstacle for me moving forward. I know now that plateaus happen. And the new lifestyle will be much easier to maintain with a smaller stomach, than me being very hungry constantly like I was. Pseudotumor is just one of a lot of reasons for this surgery, but definitely not the end all be all. Not at all. I was just wondering if anyone had a complete resolution of symptoms. The thing with my opening pressure. My opening pressure was actually considered within the normal range for an obese person. The tech doing the lumbar puncture even said they'd never heard of someone being diagnosed with it at my level, which was 25cm. But my neuro said it's a combination of symptoms that lead to the diagnosis, and 25cm was enough to affect my optic nerve. I have a neurologist and neuroopthamologist currently. It's the headaches that kill me... I've tried a ton of migraine meds and nothing helps, and the Diamox doesn't help that. It's very frustrating. But the migraines COULD be a separate issue from the IIH, too. I could just simply have cluster headaches in addition to the pseudotumor. The world may never know. lol.

Did your doc give you any driving restrictions outside of being on the pain meds? I have a one-week followup and will have to drive myself. It's about 45 min away.

Very true. He eats far worse than I ever did. It would be beneficial to just purge the entire home of those other foods, by virtue of him not being there. lol.

I have a scale already, but I have one that doesn't just tell you your weight, but also your skeletal mass, muscle mass, body fat percentage, water weight, protein percentage, and several other diagnostics. I don't plan on using it until I am a month or two out from surgery, but I think it'll be neat to see all of the other figures changing. The scale I have is RENPHO off of Amazon. It also connects via bluetooth to your phone, so you can track the trends of all of those figures over time. I'm more curious about the stuff like body fat percentage and protein percentage and muscle mass than I am about my actual weight.

Nothing has changed regarding my optic nerve swelling/vision. Everything has been stable since my diagnosis. I don't have any vision problems (yet).

Yes, I am (and was) taking Diamox along with the weight loss, and changed my diet... which is how I lost the weight. The doctor does not perform regular lumbar punctures because they aren't good to do repeatedly. I consulted with Johns Hopkins Center for Spinal Fluid Disorders, and they do not repeat them, either. They just kept taking pics of my optic nerve to check for changes. I only had the first one done, and my CSF pressure was JUST above normal. My weight in May of 2017 was 286 and by October of 2017 it was 225. I had been having headaches around my eye since 2016, though, and didn't go to the doctor until June of 2017, which is when I had the puncture done (and a billion other tests) and the diagnosis in July. My weight is back to 280 now because I quit dieting when I saw no improvement in my nerve swelling and hit a 6 week plateau.

Oh, I know. LAST TIME I kicked him out, he had a deadline. He had a friend looking for a roommate at that time, though. I am the breadwinner in the household and he only has about 300$ in disposable income monthly, so now it's tricky. I am kind of hoping that same friend will open his door for him. I'm giving him until Jan 1st.

I wonder if it would be beneficial to take a fiber supplement during the pre-op period, if you're still allowed to eat food. Wasn't mentioned or anything to me, though.

Oh, good. I had no idea what to expect regarding needing people to get me things or help me with things after surgery. My mom intends to stay with me the first 3 days, but then she has to go back to work. I keep forgetting there won't be any wounds to clean (I had a breast reduction last year and even though I was in no pain, I needed help with bandaging, etc). Yeah, he does need to leave... I just can't be that person and kick someone out without them having a place to stay. I wish I was, though. lol. I know it's not "my problem" anymore, but when you're with someone almost 5 years, you still do care. Siiiiigh.

Blecchhh. Just imagining the taste of crushed pills. Haha. I have a nurse telephone consult on the 15th where we go over my meds, so I guess they'll give me instructions then, presumably. It's also weird to me how it's remotely possible to get enough water in, in the beginning. I've had two friends both end up on IV two or three weeks out for dehydration. Right now I sip water all day long... around 100 ounces a day!

Also, Unjury sells pretty cheap bariatric complete vitamins on their website! (I hate their protein powders though.)

Honestly, some of the pre-mixes are cheaper than the powders. You will have to look at the servings per tub versus the number of bottles in the pre-mixed and do the math. It's cheaper for me to use AdvantEdge or Atkins shakes from WalMart than, say, buy the Bariatric Advantage powder. Some of the tubs of powder are crazy expensive versus the pre-mixed bottles. Some are much cheaper. Just be mindful of the servings in each tub.

I'm allowed to have one frozen meal a day on my pre-op for 15 days. And then the day before surgery I am on liquid only. I guess it's just surgeon-specific.

Gotcha. Thanks! I'm used to taking them all at once with a big gulp of water. lol. Have to remember not to try that one! Sent from my SM-G930R4 using BariatricPal mobile app

I am preop and I once was fine with whey isolates but now I cant have them at all. Since I am fine with milk, we determined it was the protein itself. Too much of that protein was making me SO sick. I switched to soy and half soy/half whey. No problems anymore. Sent from my SM-G930R4 using BariatricPal mobile app

I did buy an unflavored rice protein. I haven't tried it yet. I figured I could add it into virtually anything for a boost of protein. Sent from my SM-G930R4 using BariatricPal mobile app