The Greater Fool

I could never have sustained so few calories. I don't know how y'all do it. Talk about strength of will! Very admirable. Good luck, Tek

Listen to your medical team. They know your medical situation while no one else does. If you don't trust them then change them. This applies to your medical team, your friends, and your strangers. My doc allowed NSAIDs for me. Acetaphetamine (Tylenol) was to be avoided. My doc was more adamant that internet med lists, supplement lists, and plan rules were to be ignored. His rules, meds, supplement were based on my needs and to ignore the rest. I suggest you do the same with your medical team. Good luck, Tek

Just do your best. That's all anyone can do. I didn't get near my fluid goals for three weeks. My doc told me what I told you... do your best. What I did or didn't do, what other over or under achievers did or didn't do, is about as important as your pet's view on the subject. I may sound testy on this, but when I have just had surgery and am in reasonable pain, I'm less inclined to put up with this sort of support. Good luck, Tek

What do you like? That would be my only criteria. Good luck, Tek

Honestly, there are worse things. Congratulations on your succeess. Good luck, Tek

I can't help but wonder why all the "what ifs?" are anti-success? It's as if you only want to consider reasons to... what is the word I am looking for... quit? Why not what if... I succeed beyond all reason? ... If life is wonderful post-op? ... my husband loves me more than ever? Well, it's your life. Make your choices. Our experiences won't likely convince you. Good luck, Tek

I never found CBD to help with pain, at least not enough to get it to a tolerable level. There are other issues with CBD that make it an unwise choice for me. I know this because I discussed it with my medical team before trying it. You should let your medical team know every prescribed medication and over the counter supplements you take or intend to take. If it has an effective ingredient then it can interact with other medications/supplements in often dangerous ways. Knowledge is power and safety for you and your medical team. Good luck, Tek

Like others, my rules were only 30 minutes after but even then it was variable based on patient needs. I take meds that cause dry mouth, so eating with saliva can be problematic so I was allowed sips when necessary, along with sips during the 30 minutes. There is so much unfounded 'common sense' when it comes drinking. The whole 64oz thing is something that is a myth from about 100 years ago, where it was made up. Interestingly, even then it included the fluid within food which accounted for most of the 64ozs. This idea has been debunked time and again but it persists. Studies indicate drinking when you are thirsty is plenty healthy enough. But... if your surgeon or nutritionist say 64oz then I'm all about following our medical teams' rules. It's not like it will hurt you... probably. After 18 years I don't particularly pay much attention to when I drink, it's all habit at this point. I still sip during meals when necessary. I was never one to drink much during meals. Good luck, Tek

I still enjoy cooking BIG special meals for the family at holidays, which is about the only time everyone shows up. If it's something I like I can eat my small quantities of it and be satisfied. If not, I'll do something else on my own. We also do the gourmet outings occasionally and I'll eat a couple bites of the courses that appeal and talk during those that don't. One of my daughters loves cooking and like you went to culinary school. I spent a lot of time with her honing her skills and I pickup up a lot of techniques that I still employ when I cook. During this period she and I did a lot of cooking for the family together. Good times. Now the kids are gone and my spouse can't really do much physically so I do all the cooking and house duties. She did it for our first 25 years so I'm taking care of it from about 15 years ago on out. I so enjoy cooking for her that it's not a chore and get to employ the skills I learned with our youngest. I find I enjoy good food every bit as much as I did when binging was the order of the day. If I feel compelled to binge on something wonderful, I do it over the course of several meals, and still follow my rules. TL;DR: Yes, you can still enjoy cooking and enjoy eating. Good luck, Tek

Found in a fortune cookie: "Never trust friends advice or knowledge." Good Luck, Tek

oh... and fitness, and exercise, and rate of consumption, and contemporary food, and... Good Luck, Tek

I would not say that for me that dumping is random, just that there are a lot of variables that can affect whether I dump or not and if I do, how much. A partial list of things that affect dumping: Fatigue, sleep deprivation, medications, pain, stress, anxiety, illness, allergies, hunger, time of day... It's often hard to even know when I am in the throws of some of these things let alone how much some are likely to affect me. Which is why I generally leave a fair amount of wiggle room to spare on the occasions I choose to risk it. And even then oops every now and again, generally several months apart these days. It's usually easy to figure out the contributors to a dumping episode after the fact. The worst reason is just plain stupidity. I think I missed that on the contributors list above. Maybe that's why stupidity is the cause most often Good luck, Tek

I was in such a position early on. I had had a couple bad experiences eating in public, so it was not something I was interested in repeating. Still not, really, but that's neither here nor there. I played with the food on the plate, whatever it was, and if anyone asked said "It's just not agreeing with me. It tastes great, but I just can't manage it" and shrugged. Then ate what I could when I got home. Of course, it helped that I'm just a delight and a conversationalist extraordinaire at parties (huh) so that everyone was just intoxicated with my patter. Good luck, Tek

Let's see... I had chicken curry, chicken alfredo, there was Thai something, even did Mongolian BBQ. Basically I pureed my favorites using the meat and a little sauce for moisture/flavor. Protein first, in quantity at least, it's hard to tell once it's pureed. I always went for big bang for meals: big flavor, big spice, big heat, small quantity. Good luck, Tek

Which surgery did have you have? It will be a big part of the answer on sugar. Another part of the answer is what does your plan say about sugar. I recommend being a plan nazi for the early months. That is, if you have a plan, not everyone does. November is a long way away and no matter which surgery you will be able to have your cake in moderation. "Stuffing yourself" is possible but it will have a completely different meaning and it likely won't be pleasant. You'll find out. As for work, how are you feeling now? Plan for meals you will have at work. Planning ahead is always important. Good luck, Tek

More like a fan club for me Tek

I'm one of those dumpers that @catwoman7 mentioned. I've never been a big cake fan, though I've always been a frosting fan . I'll generally eat a bite or two of my spouse's cake and suffer no harm. A whole piece looks dangerous to me. I can generally eat a snack-size candy with no ill effects while two could be a problem in the right/wrong circumstances. Ice cream I can manage a couple scoops safely, though I generally eat slow enough that the last couple spoons full are ice cream soup. Again, more feels dangerous. To note, I have dumped on cake, ice cream, sweets on very small amounts when hunger, meds, health, fatigue, or any number of things enter the picture, so I have to assess where I am when I do eat such things. I'm still wrong, but rarely. Pizza is no problem, though I abandon the crust somewhat quickly, as it fills me up. I eat some perhaps once every four months. It's not what it was pre-op. Honestly, these foods just aren't as much a part of my life as they were pre-op. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations. As always, enjoy your vacation. Good luck, Tek

Talk to your medical team. If it matters to them, it matters. If not, well... Good luck, Tek

From my experience with my youngest with BPD, there are also self-destructive behaviors that can be part of the deal. I imagine that could be a show stopper for WLS. Good luck, Tek

I miss that when walking in crowds everyone used to just organically get out of my way. Now I have to trudge through like everyone else. There are times I miss being able to eat some particularly wonderful food in ridiculous volumes. Now I enjoy what I can and move on satisfied. There's a lot more I definitely don't miss. And even more I don't remember. Good luck, Tek

Wow, I am precisely 7,000 days post-op today! Thanks for noticing, you're too kind. Calories per day? This will be the 7,000th day post-op I haven't counted calories. Good luck, Tek

Honestly, it depends on the bed and recliner. Since you don't have a recliner you can test drive it pre-op to see how easy it is to get up. [ETA: I didn't have a recliner. I had an open surgery with all the staples and drains that implies, along with new and exciting adventures in pain with every movement. A recliner seems like it might have helped, but I'm not sure it would have been worth the expense or trouble of getting one.] Good luck, Tek

T'was the night before surgery, And all through the house, Not a morsel was safe, Not even something that rhymed with house... Good luck, Tek

Thanks for indulging my curiosity. To [hopefully] clarify the conversation, black are my original questions, red are your replies, purple my feedback. Just to ensure everyone is on the same page, Dumping Syndrome is typically related to consuming sugars and/or fats, as has been previously mentioned. Dumping on other foods is exceptionally unusual. How often do you dump? If it's responsible for the majority of your weight loss as you claim then you would be dumping pretty frequently. If it is actually dumping you wouldn't likely be dumping enough to impact weight loss. So I never said I was losing weight because of this. I think I lost weight just from keeping on the proper plan initially. I would say I get sick at almost every meal, regardless of the ingredients, but it's severe with anything carb or sugar-related. Sorry about my misunderstanding. I inadvertently connected two unrelated thoughts. I apologize. The fact you get sick at almost every meal would tell me you aren't generally dumping. It's not to say that you are never dumping, just that it is not generally what is going on. What actual foods cause you to dump? Pretty much everything but it's particularly horrible with carbs, sugar, and greasy/deep-fried foods. Again, "Pretty much everything" would indicate that much/most(?) of what you are experiencing is not dumping. Dumping is in response to specific foods rather than most foods. In what quantities? I don't measure anymore but it doesn't take much. A few bites will do it, or even a small square of something sugary. I understand that you don't measure, neither do I. "A few bites" does answer the question, though. A 1.5" x 1.5" square of fudge or comparable sugar dense candy can easily make me dump. How soon after you eat do your symptoms appear? Within 10-15 minutes. What are the symptoms? It feels like my heart is going to pound out of my chest, feel dizzy, head pressure, brain-fog, and overall sense of anxiety. I also get reactive-hypoglycemia...but not true hypoglycemia. My body just responds very poorly to blood sugar drops because they happen so fast, but rarely have I been in hypo numbers. These comments add I think what are the more important pieces of information. If this were dumping, you could simply reduce the sugars or fats that might be causing distress. But when it's almost everything, frequently, then it doesn't sound like just or even mostly dumping, if it's dumping at all. If you are, in fact, over consuming sugars and/or fats over frequently then your initial steps would be clear: stop doing that and see if this fixes your issue(s) in short order. If you've tried yet continue over consuming sugars and/or fats frequently and unable to stop yourself then were I in your shoes I'd get myself to a therapist post haste. [ETA: I have not gotten the impression you are out of control in this way. Quite the contrary.] This is not a diet or nutrition issue in my opinion. It's not that you're not working to eat the correct foods, it's that eating any foods too often cause physical distress. Were this me, I would have long ago become a squeaky wheel. I would be camping in my surgeon's or PCP's offices until I got a resolution, or at least significant progress, in fixing whatever is going on. I would not be put off. Bottom line: Get your medical team to work helping you. Be your own advocate. Good luck, Tek