RainbowBrite57

My cousin had surgery with Dr. Todd Foreman at Alabama Surgical Associates in Huntsville. She said he did a wonderful job & he's very to the point. She does feel like he could've provided her with more guidance though. He seems to have good reviews online. Good luck with everything!

I'm grew up in Athens so hello former neighbor! I'll ask my cousin where she had hers done. She lived in Athens at the time.

OK, I feel silly. It just hit me that as soon as my doc upped my diabetes medication is the same time I started trying the protein shakes. I'm going back to my regular amount of medication so I'll try the shakes again in a few days. Hopefully that'll do the trick!

I haven't tried that but I certainly will! Thank you!

Even though I've been experiencing nausea, I can say that the self-made shakes are so much better tasting than the ready-to-drink ones in my opinion.

I had my pre-surgery blood work & tests at the hospital this morning. I also received the 2 week pre-surgery diet I will need to follow. Of course, it follows a very low carb path. I was diagnosed w/diabetes in January & I feel very nauseous if I don’t eat enough carbs so I’m not sure how this is going to work for me. I plan to ask my nutritionist about this but I was also hoping other diabetics could weigh in with what they did. My diabetes is controlled with Metformin. Thank you!

Thanks y’all! My doc may end up lowering my Metformin some or stopping it. I love beans so I’ll try that! I’ll follow the plan & see how it all turns out. Thanks again!

That makes total sense, thank you! It would be SO nice to kick the metformin to the curb. I’ll keep my fingers & toes crossed for you!

I can’t provide insight because I haven’t had my surgery yet but I’m curious about this as well! I hope you gain more energy every day. Nap if you can, that helped tremendously after my hysterectomy! 😃

I'm so excited! I bought some unflavored protein powder to up my protein intake before surgery. Since I have diabetes, I drink the Boost Glucose Control for now but I know that will change after surgery. Anyway, I added the protein powder to my Boost shake and it made the shake taste better! I mean really, really good. It was almost like a vanilla milkshake! I'd recommend this stuff in a heartbeat! Yay! 😀

Hello, I wish you the best of luck!

Cream of wheat comes in those instant powder packs like oatmeal now if you ever want to have it again. It tasted just like stovetop cream of wheat!

I certainly won't judge you!!! I'm not to that stage yet, but I can only imagine drinking liquids only for days when our stomachs are still regular sized! As long as you keep to liquids only now, I think you'll be a-ok as long as you don't have a fatty liver. Otherwise, I'm not so sure. Good luck! 😊

That's wonderful, congrats! I can't wait to celebrate that milestone! 🎉

I love this! Congrats!

Last Monday I had my final dietician appointment & my paperwork was submitted for insurance approval. I was told it would be 2 weeks before I knew anything. So, I wake up this morning in terrible pain with my back completely locked up. I have no choice but to call in to work. I end up leaving a voicemail so I’m waiting for my boss to call me back. That’s when I noticed the accident my pup had on the floor (stupid bladder cancer 😞). I’m trying to gently get down on the floor but my slippers end up forcing me into a very awkward version of the splits. (ouch!) Now I’ve got my hand full of tinkle-soaked paper towel, while doing the splits, when my phone rings. I don’t recognize the number but it’s 7:30am so it has to be my boss. I answer & it’s not my boss, it’s the surgeon’s office. The lady says very blasé “I’m calling to let you know your surgery has been approved, congrats.” I proceed to internally freak out & start doing a happy dance, or I guess I should say happy wiggle since I’m still doing the splits. 😄 I try to remain calm & take in everything she’s saying since I can’t take notes because I’m still holding tinkle-soaked paper towel! I finally get off the phone, ungracefully remove myself from the floor, WASH MY HANDS, then I do a proper happy dance all over the house!!! (to the extent my back will allow, anyway) This was my very long way of saying I’VE BEEN APPROVED, Y’ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, @mattk53! I'm so excited & nervous! I can only hope to be as successful as you! @mil_unloaded😋 I'll have my fingers crossed for you! @GreenTealael Thanks! I hope my results rock like yours! I know I've got to get my mind in the right place immediately so that's what I'm focusing on. @HcatOh wow, the days are ticking down now! Surgery day will be here before you know it! I'm sorry about your delay, the world is so wild at the moment. Maybe soon we'll both be doing our Goal Weight Hoosier Happy Dance!!! 🤩

Thank you both! I haven’t been told a particular protein to use but from what I’ve been reading around here I’ll do the whey protein isolate in the beginning. Maybe farther down the road I’ll try Apollo’s sample pack for curiosity’s sake! Thanks again, y’all!!

Does anyone use Unico’s Apollo pure protein powder? I’ve been searching through previous posts & I haven’t seen that brand mentioned. The reviews are great but it’s a little pricey. The flavors sound phenomenal though! 🤩

Thanks, y’all! I feel better now. I’ll have questions ready when I have my pre-surgery nutrition class then I’ll be sure to listen to my body after surgery. I’m a natural worrier so I really appreciate y’all’s input. @mattk53, I can easily see your experience happening to me! I’m happy everything went good for you despite the curveball!

Hello! I’m currently waiting for insurance approval for gastric sleeve surgery. The dietician gave me the post surgery food guidelines from week 1 through 18 months+. Weeks 1-4 are listed as pureed foods. Almost every article & forum post I read about this topic says puréed foods don’t start until week 3 in order to let the sleeve heal. I’m really worried that my stomach is going to stretch out right away. Can anyone else who’s been told to immediately start puréed food tell me how your recovery went? Thank you!

Thanks for the advice. I’m taking steps now to try to understand how my current relationship with food got me to where I am today. I’ve found a very well recommended book to read that will hopefully help with that. I know I’ve got a lot to do mentally before my new tool is in place so I don’t ruin this one opportunity. Thanks again!

I can’t believe it but my last dietician appointment is in the morning! My insurance required 6 mo. of appointments before anything could be submitted to them. I’m so happy & so nervous I won’t get approved. I’m trying to get to sleep but had to come tell y’all this first! 😴

Hi! I've only been here for a few months but I've gotten so much fantastic information. I'm a 100% emotional eater and I don't have a surgery date quite yet. I've been taking notes & one thing I've seen mentioned several times is "head hunger". I think that's going to be something I need to be as prepared for as possible given that I am an emotional eater. I know this isn't a support group comment, but I think knowing about that is going to be really helpful for me & hopefully you. Good luck!!!

So, I've come up with a silly plan to encourage myself as I lose weight. I just had to share the idea with somebody because I'm excited about it! I have a ton of clothes in all different sizes, from 26 all the way down to a few size 6's. I'm wanting to buy a few of those rolling clothes rack and set up a little "shop" for myself in my basement. Each rack would contain a different size and would only include clothes that I'm really excited to get back in to. For X number of pounds I lose (enough to make a difference in clothing sizes), I'd reward myself with a shopping trip! Sounds fun & encouraging, right??? 😃