momof3_angels

So, fighting off the flu. Everyone at work has been getting it. I have the very early stages of it for the last couple days. Hoarse voice. A little bit of a cough with wheezing and just a tad bit of phlegm in my chest. Sitting at work, drinking mint tea. Why am I so thankful for Mint Tea? It is one of the few that I can drink WITHOUT sugar or honey! Just curious... for those who like to sweeten their teas... what other teas do you like when you DON'T sweeten them? I do not want to use Stevia or artificial sweeteners.

I don't know... for me after my 3rd child I lost all my baby weight. Then I hit 40 and my weight suddenly got out of control and spent years trying to figure out why. I had lost a lot of the weight once before... but couldn't keep it off. Yes, my mind played some headgames.... but I think I went into this determined to be successful. I knew I had been skinny before hitting 40. That was only 8 years ago, so I think I went into this with a bit more of a positive attitude than many. My doctor told me his goal weight, and I just responded... I will get below that lol. And I did! Hang in there, it is definitely possible to lose it all for those of us who started with lower BMI's!

I donated ALL my clothes as soon as I was small enough to not fit in them! I did this each time I was firmly the size below. Surgery in September. Donated my XL in November. Bought workout stretchy clothes first that were a little tight and I shrank more into them quickly. In December I had to buy a few Large outfits for work... but I bought Tunic style with stretchy pants to hold me until I was firmly in the Mediums. By January I was in mediums and got rid of my Larges. Now my closet only has 2 XL sentimental sweatshirts, 1 t-shirt, and 1 pullover that was tight and just fits loose. I also have 1 size 12 dress that was cut small that my husband bought for me and would be upset if I ever donated, even if I can't wear it lol. Everything else in my closet is small or medium! I don't foresee me getting rid of my medium shirts, but if I get small enough to wear the next size pants down I might get rid of my size 8 pants. My "normal" skinny was always size 6 pants and small-medium shirts. I do have some medium shirts that look a little too big, so I might donate those... but most are styles that won't look too big even if they are a little big. It's funny because I took 9 weeks off work post op (1 was a bonus week because they don't count fall break that everyone gets off). A week later I found an XL polo with our school district log on it sitting in my cabinet that I didn't know was there. I had ordered it before deciding to do weight loss surgery. It was a mans cut and was HUGE on my already, so I was able to trade it for a medium women's cut shirt that was too small for me. That day, I wouldn't have dared to wear it. A week later I tried it on again and it fit perfectly! And now here I am, a few months later, and dare I say it looks a little too big on me Anyhow... I refuse to allow myself to ever be bigger than a medium again! So no point in keeping the big clothing. BTW, while shrinking I only bought clothes from discount stores (TJ Maxx, Bealls, Ross, and such)... but now I am willing to shop anywhere again. And having a LOT of fun while I do it! And wearing styles that I would NEVER have worn before, even when I was skinny before. I think I took for granted that I would always be skinny once I lost all my baby weight. I was afraid to try new styles though. Now I am loving it!

Yep! And bonus is when these things happen, he is just so much more generous that I don't even have to ask lol BTW, did I mention, those "I had a cancer scare" clothes I bought were size SMALL?!?!?! And I went to buy 1-2 pairs of "I don't have cancer shoes" and wound up with 7 pairs lol. Which is good because my feet are smaller than pre-op... I had been building up my professional work shoe collection and these will fill that need, but are more playful and can be used as fun summertime shoes too.

LOL. I got those! This is the kind of trip where you where 1 outfit, carry one outfit, and MAYBE a spare and do laundry every day or every other day. Since you carry all your belongings every day for more than a month you don't want the extra clothes with. That said... I will definitely do some "Post Camino" shopping after I finish the walking portion of my trip in Spain! I should have 1-2 "touristy" weeks where I will want more clothes for sure. Shopping in Lisbon or Barcelona will be fun!

Thanks! Yes, I am definitely relieved. I will still be "tentative" until I get confirmation from the Urologist... but I feel so much more confident already. And we all know even if I have a bad kidney disease, you only need 1 good one to have a good quality of life. I have 1 good one for sure! I was telling my bosses... after the first report my husband and I went out and he bought me some cute new "you have cancer" outfits lol. You have to know my husband to know he is a cheapskate and hates buying new clothing.... but he was trying to help me feel better and distracted. After I got my CT results we were looking for shoes for me, and now because he encouraged me... I also have several new pairs of "I don't have cancer" shoes lol. And of course now the novelty has worn off so I don't get to go shopping (with his approval) for quite a while lmao. Don't get me wrong... I buy what I want, when I want to... but not when he is around because he is such a cheapskate lol. For him to buy me nice clothes and shoes means he was very worried and then very relieved.

Update: CT Scan done with and without contrast. It APPEARS that the tumor like mass that is the size of a golf ball (round too) is some ugly scarring! I still need a Urology consult so the urologist can look at both scans closely to confirm, but I am no longer thinking Cancer (YAY!). But again... if he looks and decides it IS Cancer afterall... I now also know that it doesn't appear to be a problem anywhere else. I do have some "prominent" lymph nodes... but small enough to not be alarming. So... I have bad scarring on my Left Kidney and some kidney atrophy indicating kidney disease... but my kidney related labs are pretty decent so it is probably a mild form of kidney disease (but with lots of scarring). I am guessing it was caused by many frequent UTI's throughout my life. Still, I don't know what kidney testing my mom had me do as a kid, she somehow doesn't remember me going for some testing (I certainly do). But she is a person who doesn't "remember" anything negative lol. I guess I will never know if I was diagnosed with a kidney problem as a kid or not. And the CT scan did get a look at my heart... and everything appears normal from a CT scan perspective, confirming my cardiologist view that my heart is much healthier already!!! And again... my liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, Right Kidney, and what they could see of my digestive tract etc etc etc all look good.

Glad you feel better! I still fight dehydration, 6 months out. I do ok with fluids, but I need to do better consistently. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Protein shakes, broth, jello to start. But dont stock up too much on anything... what you liked before you may not like after! Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Glad yours turned out OK!

I sort of did... I had thought about it for a whike after a friend had success, but I didnt think I qualified for it. Gast forward a bit and I had an abnormal EKG, was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, and then had an echocardiigram that confirmed my left heart ventrical was enlarged. I left my cardiologist appointment determined to lose weight anyway I can. So when I got home that day I reserarched WLS and decided I mush have it. I made an appt with my PCP and requested a referral. Saw my Cardiologist in March, my PCP appt was in the beginning of May, and started the process from there. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Had my stat CT scan yesterday. They said my results should be sent to my PCP within 2-3 hours. I waited 6 hours and stopprd at the PCP's office and they didnt get the results, so now I have to wait until Monday. I left and was so upset that I cant find out for 3 more days. *sigh* And of course now I cant help but wonder.... were they just too busy to finish the report? Of are the results more complicated and they need more time to review the images? Yes, head games have begun. I woukd have been much better off getting the resukts now, good or bad.. . So my imagination doesnt get carried away. *sigh* Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

In case anyone else needs to know... it has been 1 hour and I feel like if I drink any more I will begin vomiting. Yuck! Not done with the first bottle... will try to finish it in 20 minutes or so. Did I tell you it is nasty? Yep. Gross lol Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Had anyone here had to drink 450 ml of barium for a CT scan AFTER bariatric surgery? I have to drink one bottle tonight and one in the morning. Do you remember how long it took you to get it down? I am nervous that I wont be able to get it all in. And since it was just prescribed I cant time myself to see how long it takes to get water down ahead of time. Just trying to figure out what time to start drinking it to ight and in the AM. They do assign a time, but it will take me much longer. I didnt get help when i asked at the radiology office. The people just didnt get the problem lol Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks. Just dont want suboptimal images because I couldn't get it in. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

10 pounds in 3 weeks is great! I didnt have nausea or vomiting either. You are doing fine, relax. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Glad yours is doing OK! Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks! Just so you know, I really am not panicking. I am still hopeful that even if it IS cancer, I strongly believe we caught it early. I really am not (very) symptomatic. There are a couple things that this could explain... but when I go through the symptom list I don't have almost all of them. I also figure the U/S didn't show other masses, so there is a good chance that there is no metastasis, but they will look for that with the CT scan. And the size of the mass is large and very suspicious... but it could still fall into the "Stage 1" category. Meaning surgical removal only... and I am cool with that. I mean, obviously I would prefer to keep both kidneys, but I know I could live a long and healthy life with just one. But I am glad I could vent here... not really ready to talk to real life people I know (well, you are real people... but I don't personally know you so that makes it easier to express my frustration lol)

Less pain with sleeve than with c-section.... but I actually had a lot less energy after the sleeve. I was able to get up and do a lot of walking after all three c-sections, whereas with the sleeve I had to go to a store with shopping carts to lean on to do a lap. Weird, right? But then again... I had a brand new baby after each of my c-sections to provide a wonderful distraction. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Definitely stay the course. I am right behind you with a Sept 4 surgery date. I lose VERY slowly now... but every once in a while I will suddenly drop. Have you seen your nutritionist lately? Track your food and go see him/her. They can look at your log and help you determine if you need to make any changes. Sometime we need to get back on track and stick to the diet. Sometimes we need to increase our calories a little bit. But your nutritionist is the best person to help you figure out what you need. In the meantime, water and protein first... veggies/fruits next... stay away from carbs and fatty foods as much as you can (or as prescribed by your nutritionist)

I was allowed to eat anything that didn't have too many little seeds (rasberries and such). I also struggled with fresh oranges because of all the fibrous layers. I had no trouble with things like broccoli/celery... but couldn't eat lettuce for the longest time. Honestly, I get fruits in best when I make a smoothie. I usually try to make a green smoothie with spinach and/or kale and add whatever frozen fruit mix I buy. I like the frozen fruits because it is easy to pick my portion size and not waste anything I don't want.

It's normal! No, it will not trigger "starvation mode". Your hormones and metabolism hit a "reset" with surgery. Your body won't recognize it is in "starvation" mode for a long time. And by then, you will be eating more. Drink your water. Eat your protein. Don't worry about anything else! But... if you do meet your protein goal you can add in a few healthy veggies that are on your plan. (although at 10 days it is a bit soon for veggies).

I do a lot of beef/other meat sticks/cheese sticks. I also do the little snack bowls with nuts/cheese. I just buy a bunch of this stuff and put it in my cooler in the work fridge. I also like hummus, bean dip, fruits etc. Can you not eat ANY beef? I did quite well with ground beef in some sort of broth (Lived on homemade chili a month post op). I still can't eat steak or roasts.

I went on my stomach quite early on. Like maybe 1 week? The trick was getting on and off my stomach. That hurt a lot. But once I was on my stomach I was fine!

Yes, WALK WALK WALK! The first couple days I just walked in my house, but then I would go to the grocery store or other store... grab a cart for support, and slowly circle the store! And don't be afraid to take your pain medicine if it helps you to be able to move more. You don't want to be dependent on it for very long, but the first week or two it is fine! Then switch to a non-narcotic pain medication as recommended by your doctor. I also loved a heating pad.