Suzi_the_Q

Better to have the baby then get thin after? My hubs and I tried for a couple years then gave up. We just decided that I guess we're one and done so I had the surgery instead. I didn't want to go through the surgery first then baby, then have to lose weight again, but that's me. At least you're healthier now and have established good habits. Sorry and congrats?

Wow! That's amazing! You look great!

I know this sounds weird, but I feel like fat is *actually* coming out through my pores: my skin is super soft and it feels like I've put lotion on when I haven't. My husband noticed too. Is this a thing? I'm not complaining mind you, it's just really odd, especially given that it's winter. I know that in some extreme diets you're not allowed to use conditioner or lotions because it absorbs in the skin (supposedly).

I'm so excited for you!!! You're gonna look great! (Though tbh, you look pretty good now- way to go on the WL!) Can't wait until I'm there too! Thanks for letting us follow this journey! (Gorgeous ring too btw)

I'm 5 days post-op and I cannot stop burping! Every time I ingest anything- *burp.* It's most disconcerting! Is this a liquids stage thing or something I'm going to have to deal with forever? This is so distressing! I was raised with very good manners and right now I feel like a 12 year old boy showing off to his friends. Otherwise, the "winds" aren't too bad, I assume that's still trapped air from the surgery making its way out and that it'll pass.

Just another "is this normal???" post.

I just had my bypass last Tuesday and honestly I think you'll be ok. Yes, there is more fatigue, but you only sleep constantly for the first few days. You still sleep more (or at least I do) thereafter, but I'm up and able to focus etc. Your mileage will vary of course. Good luck!

I've been making my Protein Shakes with Fair Life (non-fat) milk which adds 13g of Protein per cup. It's a great way to add protein if you can tolerate dairy. shakes count for both liquids and protein too, so. There's also this Gelatein stuff which is protein jello- 20g per cup. It's shelf stable, so you can get it on Amazon. Protein Water too. Good luck!

Congrats ladies! I hope this is me next year!

I made it through! I don't even remember being wheeled into the OR which is nice. Overall I feel it went very well. My dr. told my family it was a nice boring surgery, lol. (She has a very dry sense of humor.) Just got home. Still some soreness/ pain in the abdomen and a little in the shoulder, but the meds keep it to a tolerable level. Feeling pretty wiped out so I'm going to get some rest. Thank you for all the well-wishes and encouragement, it means a lot!

Thank you everyone! I needed to hear this. I've been reading almost everything on this forum for nearly a year now, (among other things) so I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be. It's crazy to think that I'll be going to bed in a few hours and then I'll be up and having surgery. I think probably the hardest part will be keeping my cat(s) from sleeping on me for a month 😅

FWIW, I'm Bi and coming out in the 90s was a b***h. I've never examined particularly how this has affected my weight/ body issues throughout my life, but then my ACE score is pretty high. I'd be happy to have a LGBTQIA-specific forum, similar to "the Gals' room" or The Guys' room," I think it could only help more people have a place to ask questions or rant on topics particular to us. Generally this page is more of a "everyone in the same boat of WLS" place, all are welcome though. I'm sorry that this has been a chilly reception for you, I haven't found it to be so, generally. Most everyone here is pretty nice.

My time is nearly here andddddd..... I'm starting to get pretty nervous. I've never had surgery before and I'm worried about the pain, the anesthesia, how long will I be in recovery etc. Someone please talk me off the ledge here! I'm trying to stay focused on my goals: better health, being able to do more with my son, less pain from fibromyalgia (hopefully), looking hot again (post PS I'm sure) etc. but still it's SURGERY! Am I crazy? Is this too extreme? I check in @ 5:30 am on Tuesday (PST), surgery @ 7:30. Holy Crap that's 32.5 hours from now-- HOURS! This anticipation is killing me- AAAARGH!

I wish I had read this before re: the ice trick- I totally cracked and ate food. 😓 Ah well, back on the wagon. One of my nutritionists told me (off the record) that if I ate a little bit on xmas it'd be fine, so I think so long as I'm good from now on it'll be ok. Oof.

It's not that I'm hungry, I'm not much, but OMG I JUST WANT TO CHEW SOMETHING!!!Particularly something CRUNCHY! 8 more days of this, then weeks thereafter. *cries* I hope my surgery doesn't get rescheduled because they said I have to stay on liquid diet until surgery if it does. 😩

Yeah, you would think that, but NOPE! They already said I'd have to stay on pre-op diet because it'd be like a week or 2 extra. =(

So my surgery is scheduled for 12/29 and I'm feeling all the feelings: excited, nervous, concerned etc. But the worst thing is that because of Covid-19 my hospital is reviewing and cancelling/ rescheduling elective surgeries on pretty much a daily basis so that I won't know if I'm actually going to have surgery until xmas. I have 3 more days until my pre-op liquid diet and I'm not looking forward to the possibility that I'll have to stay on that without the surgery well into January if I get bumped. I'm also scared that I might get Covid while I'm there. This is so ridiculously stressful! I should be excited that I'm getting what I worked so hard for. Just gotta keep my fingers crossed I guess. =(

I'm 41 and about to have bypass but I'm already planning for my PS. May as well look as hot as you want to!

I'm having mine on the 29th of this month. I'm down. 😃

Thank you for both of your responses, I'll address them both separately here:

Grace: The pain clinic is one of the very few that take medicaid in my area. I tried getting in with another one a couple of years (YEARS) ago and they took my paperwork then never called or returned calls. This one has their own review process for referrals and another pain clinic in town recently closed so they've received a lot of referrals recently. So it'll be (at least) 2 weeks until they call me to put me on the schedule, so who knows how long until my appointment. It's very frustrating. I have gotten myself one of those full back heating pads that goes from my neck to my hips and it helps (you can do wet heat with it too) but I've noticed that all of it doesn't seem to heat up at once unfortunately. My (new) GP is a naturopath, which I'm not into but I really like the clinic and she's both very on the ball and easy to get same or next day appointments with if it's urgent. She will not prescribe pain meds at all. I don't think my therapist is a pain specific specialist, but we vibe pretty well and she helps me. Mental health professionals are hard to come by in my area so when you get a good one, you stick with it. Being touched like that (massage) by strangers has always triggered anxiety in me, it's just too intimate. My bathroom with a tub has no doorknob/ lock right now, so that's not good either. I appreciate your advice and kind words.

NovaLuna: Thank you for sharing your story with me; I can never remember the name of your condition, just that it's "the suicide pain." I'm so sorry you've had to and may again go through that, but I'm glad that there's at least some form of treatment. Chronic pain is so very isolating and limiting. That's why I'm getting bypass so that hopefully some of it will alleviate but if its fibro (which, the more I learn about it, that seems likely) it will be a lifelong thing regardless. You're young, so you get what a scary barrel to look down that is. I'm 41, so another 40ish years of this? Oof. My new GP is the first one to really acknowledge my issues and put a name on it. Everyone else just wrote it off. Hell, my last gp wrote in the notes that I had pain because I'm fat when the reverse is true: my loss of mobility and the extra depression caused my weight gain. (It was fun hearing the judge at my disability hearing read that out loud. I lost, go fig.) Reading and Netflix are my current go-to's, so I guess I'll be sticking with that. ❤️

51 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

You're not alone! The (current 🤣) love of my life could breathe the wrong way and instantly I'm annoyed.

Same girl, same.

Hi all,

I'm about a month and a half from my bypass surgery and I'm struggling to be good on my food. My partner is an alcoholic and decided to go off his mental health meds a couple weeks ago without consulting his therapist or me. I've managed to get him to start them again a couple days ago, but it's been rough. Additionally, my special needs 6 year old has been home from his special needs "school"/ therapy center over insurance issues that won't resolve until at least the 30th. His being out of school coincided with my partner starting a new job, so suddenly he's not home with us and my son has been acting out a bit. To top it all off, my chronic pain has been flaring up and I have no medication to treat it. I use heating pads etc. but it's debilitating. My PC thinks it's fibromyalgia and I've been referred to a pain specialist but they won't be calling me to schedule for another 2 weeks. Meanwhile I can barely get out of bed and when I do it's excruciating.

So my question is: what do you do for stress relief that doesn't involve exercise or alone time? I have a therapist I talk to once a week and I'm on mental health medication already.

So, your fat stores estrogen and when you lose massive amounts of fat in a short period of time your body dumps a massive amount of estrogen into your system. This often causes depression or mood swings. This is a known side-effect of WLS. You may be experiencing something related to this. Talk to your doctor about it. You may need medication to help, temporarily. Good luck.

Hola Mary, Lo estoy haciendo bien, creo que estoy lista, pero estoy un poco nerviosa porque es mi primera cirugía. También estoy nervioso por Covid y por quedarme en el hospital. Ya alcancé el peso objetivo de mi médico y tengo mi último pesaje en 2 semanas para que puedan enviarlo al seguro. Espero que me aprueben la primera vez. Mi cirugía es el 29 de diciembre, así que técnicamente estaré tomando líquidos durante las vacaciones, pero le preguntaré a mi nutricionista si puedo comer con mi familia cuando celebremos. Todavía no he recibido la dieta líquida de ella.

Tengo todas mis vebidas y algunas de mis vitaminas. Tengo algunos de ellos en Amazon, pero escuché que tienen problemas con los productos counterfit, así que compro mis suplementos en Vitamin Shoppe. Todavía no he pensado en qué artículos personales necesitaré en el hospital, solo trato de concentrarme en mi dieta y ejercicio.

¿Como estas? ¿Estás emocionado, nervioso ?, ¿Te sientes listo?

¡Hola, bienvenida a los foros! Mi español no es muy bueno, pero me someteré a un bypass gástrico a finales de diciembre y ¡estoy feliz de poder ayudarte!

Welcome and congrats on taking the first step! The people here are amazingly helpful and nice. Personally, I read through just about every day to learn as much as possible and help keep myself focused. And I swear I learn something new almost every day!