RainbowBrite57

I am officially 7 months post surgery and am incredibly happy with my progress so far. I'm down 122.4 lbs total, and 80.8 since surgery. A few of my NSVs:
- The arthritis in my knees causes significantly less pain
- I am walking 2 miles most days, and hiking when I get the chance (up to 6 or more miles)
- My strength and endurance is increasing. I still get winded and need to take breaks (especially on inclines) but there's no way I could have done some of the hikes I'm doing pre-surgery.
- I'm down from a tight 2X to a L or XL.
- I have collarbones again
Below pics is from shortly after I started my journey (pre-surgery) to this morning.

Does anyone have issue with loose bowl movements with the Protein Shakes? It’s almost like dumping syndrome.....

Even though it's "lactose-free," whey is still derived from milk. I ended up using pea Protein and Bone Broth protein powders, and the nausea just about went away.
If you think it's the sweeteners, you can also opt for any of the unflavored, but they're not as pleasant to drink on a regular basis without adding other things to them (which, depending on your pre-op guidelines, is usually a no no.)
I'd also like to add that whenever I eat anything super protein heavy (like Protein Bars or shakes), I *have* to drink at least a full glass of Water after or I'll get super bad cramps. Have you tried that?

Can be the whey itself as well. Quite a few people have problems with it.

There are enough carb grams in your pre-op diet to meet your needs. Trust the process. Talk to your dietitian if you have any concerns. Lots of us are in the same situation. I felt perfectly fine, and now I’m 2 mos post-op.

I had the preop diet as well was just shakes as well as being diabetic.
it took a few days but your body will adjust...

Can you try substituting Beans or lentils for your current carbs? They are nutrient-rich slow-chain carbs. My dietician is cool with it for my program.

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!

My PCP had me stop my metformin prior to starting the pre-op diet. In another month I will have myA1C checked to see if I need to go back on it. Fingers crossed for being done with metformin🤞🏻😊

I think it was around week three when I started to get my energy back... my surgery was 6 months ago so it's kinda hard to remember now lol, but I'm pretty sure it was week 3.

I'm about two weeks post op and was just wondering if it's normal not to have energy. I have some but not 100%. I don't feel like doing housework, I went to a couple stores and I had to sit a few times. When I get my walking in or force myself to do the chores, oh my, do I break a sweat quick! I'm eating broths and Soups right now. I'm drinking every chance I get, take a Protein Shake in the am, Soup for lunch and something blended in the pm. I take my Vitamins and 2 pills, too. I guess I can tell my Dr. tomorrow when I see him. I go back to work in 2.5 weeks, so I hope this gets better. When do we feel back to normal energy wise?

I used to be very afraid of anesthesia. So much so that I jumped off the table in the operating room. Of course being obese is a higher risk for undergoing anesthesia but I assume you have had all your pre-op testing and your team is aware of what concerns they need to stay on top of during your surgery. You can ask the anesthesiologist to give you something for anxiety. They put it right in the intravenous and it works in minutes. You will be wheeled into the Operating Room which will be a bit cold, brightly lit and it will have a slight echo. There will be a flurry of activity around you. I find it helpful to shut my eyes at this point and pretend as if I am going to bed for the night. Practice this if you need to. Visually see yourself in the operating room and feel the coolness, hear the slight echo but you will shut your eyes and breath in and out slowly. Another thing I do is start naming fruits and vegetables starting at the beginning of the alphabet in my head. You will likely only get to G for grapefruit. The next thing that will happen is you will wake up in recovery. You will feel a bit disoriented, nauseous possibly and you will hear the sounds of the machine beeps very loudly. Ask for something for nausea if you need it. Keeping your eyes closed and just focusing on breathing helps to get the anesthesia out of your system. Within an hour you should feel much better and then you’ll work on pain management. You can do this and you will be healthier and stronger before you know it.

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

Thanks for the recommendation. Great that you found something that suits

Right, I'm booked in for my initial discussion with the surgeon and dietician early August. Surgery already booked for early September.
I'm looking forward to the results, but not the surgery, as I've never been under the knife!!
There appears to be lots of info here which will be of great use and I'm sure I'll be using the forum to have a moan at some point.
Cheers,
Paul

Weighed in today at 199 pounds !! Can't remember when I was under 200. I am so thrilled.

Yes, my 5th
Lapband, lapband revision die to slippage, lapband removal due to erosion, gastric sleeve and now bypass. Sleeve worked great, but ended up with severe heartburn and damage to my esophagus. Hopefully this will resolve that!

Hi there! It's been forever since I've been on here and just wanted to say HELLO!!! I recently celebrated my 2 year surgiversary and am super proud to be maintaining for almost 1 year & 4 months. Would love to share a video I made of me spinning and showing my week by week 100 lb. loss transformation. Let's just say, if I can do it ANYONE can!!! Sending much happiness, love and health your way!

You can do it! I'm absolutely certain. Cheering you on

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats! Keep doing your Hoosier Happy Dance, it's a lot of work & stressing to get to this point. My happy dance was sorta robbed by Covid19 like many others, but I finally have my date & am on day 5 of my 10 day liver shrinking diet!

❤CONGRATULATIONS❤

Congratulations! I hope I get a similar kind of call in about 5 months. Haha. Well, minus the pee and the splits. 😉