The Greater Fool

"Facts!" We also get our own facts now! "Slippery food" is by it's very definition bad! Veggies need not apply. I would never go so far as accusing someone eating veggies as doing anything near unhealthy! That's just fanciful definitions that is. Cheese is gawd's gift, so that's cool in my world. Oh, we get our own "worlds" now too! In my book, yeah we get books too, if I can eat extra 'healthy' stuff, more's the power. I will not have anyone coming anywhere close to classifying it is bad. Jealousy is what I call that! Good luck, Tek

Back when I had surgery "slider foods" had a very specific meaning. They used to be generally high carb foods like pastas and potatoes, things that "slide" easily down your throats once chewed a little that were less than optimal in our plans. Chips were non-obvious because they started out crunchy but became slider foods. I forget what they all were because the one's I didn't care for I never worried about and the others, once I got out of the habit I didn't remember what they were, so I've long since forgotten the specific foods. This was one of my surgeon's rules that I've long since forgotten. My surgeon never classified vegetables as slider foods. More's the pity. Not unlike how "truth" used to have a specific meaning but now we get to have our own. Geez I sound like my grandmother. And while I'm here, get off my lawn! Good luck, Tek

'She' being your surgeon? While you believed you had your Gallbladder removed it turned out to be a small Gallstone? Please demand of your surgeon better communications and demand a course of action that will deal with your issue. If you don't make it important your medical team won't treat it importantly. It seems your Gallbladder is still an issue that needs resolving. Occasional nausea is one thing. Constant for years would be quite another. I would be raising a stink in my medical teams office to no end and then I would be dealing with a new medical team if I didn't get results. Me no peace, them no peace. I've been shocked recently to learn how sensitive medical folk are to bad reviews. Who knew? Make sure they feel your pain. Stay on them. Everyone keep advocating for yourselves. Good luck, Tek

This sounds like a nightmare! Hey, @Alex Brecher what can you do to raise awareness and action on this? Good luck, Tek

I felt like I was missing something every day. I counted that I had 12 different appointments for tests and the dates and times kept changing so I feared I dropped one or asked for the wrong test. As it happenned I got every last test correct, but the surgeon decided on another at the last minute. Grrrr. Because of my surgery being 20 years ago and the fact I had a couple of huge risk factors, Doc said I had about a 1 in 20 chance of dying on the table. In fact, his last words when we talked just before surgery were "You know you can die from this surgery?" Yes. "Do you wish to continue?" Yes. I never worried about my recovery but I did research complications and visualized how I would deal with them. I had an 'open' surgery, meaning they openned me up from stem to stern and closed me up with 30+ staples and a drain. Every little movement was exruciating pain. I knew this was a short term thing and the staples would come out at 4 weeks or so. I told myself I could do anything for 4 weeks. Pain meant eating (puree) and drinking were impossible but I kept trying. Always keep trying. As I said, I prepared by knowing what could go wrong and mentally preparing for it. Knowledge, for me, is power. Just focus on doing the best you can. Don't kick yourself for what you can't do or do wrong, it's part of being human. If you have a rough time, it's just the price of admission. If it's easy take the W and keep going. Success starts and ends in the mind. Good luck, Tek

I should have noted that I still had 35 or so staples holding my insides in and the outsides out. Every movement, no matter how slight, was a new experience in pain. I was able to move more freely shortly after 4 weeks. We enjoyed going down to the strip and people watching while we walked. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations on your approval. When it comes to choosing your surgery you are the boss. Get the surgery you want and know why you want it. Your Doc is right that relatively speaking you don't have much weight to lose, but once you cross the hurdle to choose surgery, which surgery would be based on all the same in depth decission making process we all should do. Before you choose to have GB as your husband did, note that we don't all respond the same ways to any surgery, it's a very individual thing. Medications are also quite individual considerations. Baby aspirin would very likely not be an issue as it's so ridiculously low dose. My Doctor did not declare Aspirin off limits but becasue of liver issues he didn't want me taking Tylenol if I could avoid it. If we are going to take Aspirin then like virutally everyone else that takes Aspirin, heck we should do this for any medication, we need to monitor for negative side effects and report them quickly. Other medications you would have to discuss with your medical team. All of this should be part of deciding to have GB or Sleeve or DS or Band or whatever. No surgery can be counted to remove cravings. Some people claim that some foods taste differently post-op. Don't count on such idiosyncratic results. I had GB and fortunately for me I dump on sugars and fats. It takes an amazingly small number of dumping episodes before you simply choose to avoid sugars and fats. Not everyone is as enthusiastic about dumping as I am. It is absolutely no fun and it can be very embarassing if you manage it in public. Since you have relatively little weight to lose I'm not sure why you would want to put yourself through it. The Sleeve is a perfectly fine surgery. No dumping. Good restriction. Fewer medication concerns. It is a less complicated surgery. Suppmentation, though still necessary, is less critical than with GB. You can get there from here. You can be happy with the Sleeve. Good luck, Tek

Moving from the bedroom to the living room, then back... eventually. Good luck, Tek

Over the first 6 or so months we tend to be able to eat more easier as time goes by becuase our stomachs are healing and normalizing over that period. It's not that the restriction reduces, it's that things are getting less and less sensitive because of healing. After that, generally over time most folks are able to eat more. Some of it is you've learned the new mechanics of eating so you make fewer mistakes, so food goes down consistently easier. The pouch/sleeve may also relax more and in some cases expand over the next few years. Hopefully by this time we've learned to NOT eat to satiation or fullness for most meals. The restriction is intended to be a secondary back-stop that you encounter when you make a mistake, overdo, or when your stomach is just being a brat. It's not intended to be the only mechanism you use to control your volume. If you don't have a plan, then you need to find one that will work for you. It's just too easy to eat around the restriction over time. The pizza thing seems to be bothering you, so let me say this: I could probably eat the toppings off of 4 slices of medium or even large pizza if I took long enough. If I had to guess, maybe 1.5 - 2.0 hours, not having done this personally. Also if I use fluids to move things along quicker it might even be less time. I can manage 2 slices as a normal meal in my normal way if the day is a perfect storm where my pouch is happy that day and I actually want to eat that much, which is rare unless it tasted super-duper ridiculously flavorful. On all this I'm including the cheese, because even bad cheese is good It is a cause of concern to you as now know you can eat more than perhaps you should and you don't have a plan that might stop you from reaching the restriction. You should talk to your surgeon, but honestly there is nothing they can do short of another surgery. They might prescribe pills to curb your appetite if it's not something you can do without them. What happens now is up to you. Good luck, Tek

The one thing I've learned from this thread is: Different strokes for different folks. It's a big thing to learn. There are multiple paths to success, and amazinging the same paths lead to success for some people and failure for others. To point, if I had to live my life on a restrictive, even draconian diet, or if I had to keep track of every last morsel I ate, I would have rebelled big time or just ignored the whole thing and chalked up another failure. Honestly, if the plan was not one I knew I could sustain, I would not have had surgery. But I know that on the flip side, there are people that could not thrive on my plan. The one point of commonality in all these exceptoinal exeriences is: Do what you can sustain. I can do anything draconian, or painful, or torturous for a month, even six months, or if there is an expiration date within sight. I can't, or won't, do it forever. This applies to your diet plan, exercise plan (or not), and just about every aspect of life. If you can suffer forever when you have a choice not to, more power to you. So my advice: make the post-op plan you are given into YOUR plan, one that is or can be adjusted to something that you can sustain. The first year is the perfect time to do this as you will have months of success after success as you follow your sustainable plan and keep losing weight, which will make you feel good about your plan. This success will carry you into maintenance. There has been exceptional experience and advice in this thread. Take the parts that will work for you and make them your own. Don't make promises you can't keep, do what you can sustain. Success and good luck, Tek

Princess. Enjoy your vacation. Tek

How does what you eat compare to what your plan indicates. My plan didn't really indicate how much in pizza toppings I was supposed to eat, though depending on volume and specific toppings it might fit into my plan. A couple chicken thighs, again depending on size, could easily fit my plan, so again not an instant red flag. Not saying I could always manage the quantities you describe, but I can't always manage my plan quantities either. The bottom line is: Are you eating to plan? I eat to plan, or what I am able, whichever I acheive first. If you are doing likewise you are golden. If you are doing otherwise, it's your call. Good luck, Tek

I sure felt like a whiney baby post-op. My surgeon said no baby food. Babies have different nutritional needs than adults. Pureed options are easy. Let's see, what did I puree? Prime rib, Thai chicken, Curry chicken, Chicken alfreado. The list goes on and on, I ate my favorite proteins and big flavor foods. Good luck, Tek

I'm about 20 years post-op. From 6 weeks post-op to now my meals are 3-4oz of protein, 1oz of veggies. I eat until I get full or complete my meal, whichever comes first. Forcing it just causes discomfort and even pain, so I don't do it. There are days when I take a bite or two and get the signals that I need to stop. I might try again in an hour or just say "f-it" and go on with my day. My pouch is the boss. Good luck, Tek

@SpartanMaker gave excellent advice, I do this whenever something new happens. This set of symptoms could be just about anything. It could be a Panic Attack. It could be light late dumping. This is why logging everything can lead you or your medical team to a cause. Don't accept that it's "just in your head," yet. I swear, Doctors sometimes. I get pretty much get the same collection of symptoms. It invariably means I haven't been eating/drinking well or well enough for what I'm doing or how I'm doing it. I usually feel it coming before I get the full on shakes, I usually tell my spouse "I'm getting wobbly" which means I need to eat something now. For me, I know I do this to myself. Good luck, Tek

I didn't have very many medications when I had surgery but I don't recall any special approaches or problems to taking them. 20 years later the med count has increased dramatically and still no special actions. After taking my meds I do often get the "i'm full" sneeze. No, it's not THAT many meds. Good luck, Tek

Disney rotates dining rooms because each is a unique venue, really a show. This is not so with most other cruise lines and definately not so with Carnival. I've never been on Disney and only Carnival, as it turns out, last October (and one time about 25 years ago). We've mostly done another cruise line over the years as it's my spouse's preference. Dining room fare, with varying levels of quality, are about the same across cruise lines. Carnival is the bargain end, Disney is more mid-midhigh range. I worked for Disney Studios for a while and they feel "Disney" is worth a premim. Buffets also vary in quality likely with a similar variance. We weren't impressed with Carnivals offerings, but they also weren't terrible. Carnival does have quite the variety of alternate venues, both paid and included, the variety was nice. I'm told Carnival actually has better child care / camps / etc. offerings than Disney, but I imagine it's very much in the eyes of the beholder. If you really want to explore differences, go to CruiseCritic.com, they live to compare and give (generaly good) opinions. Good luck and enjoy, Tek

When I had WLS, skin removal was the last thing on my mind. I had read about it and everything said it was worse that WLS... by far. My WLS was VERY painful, as it was open and I had 30-40 staples and a drain. I decided I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. After a couple+ years I came to the bridge. As much extra skin as I had, and the associated issues, I decided to pursue it. Think of it this way: Did you ever think you would have WLS until you decided it was time? Same thing. The price (in pain) would be high, but it seemed worthwhile. I finally found a surgeon that would entertain doing my stomach and thighs for me. He was actually enthusiastic. He had perfected a method with nearly invisible scars. I won't go into details, but for unexpected reasons it went horribly. I ended up with 70-80 staples and 2 drains. Every movement was a new experience in pain. The stories underplayed the pain. I knew I could do anything for a day, or a week, or a month. Especially since I had no choice by then. I would have done my thighs a few months later when I was able if the newly discovered risk weren't so high. Pain is fleeting. Good luck, Tek

I believe it was intended to be. When you have tens of vulnerable patients at a time, he said it happenned at least once a month. I was scared straight. But again, others have managed it without mishap. How averse are you to risk? Good luck, Tek

Generally, "No thank you" but only because I'm a curmudgeon and don't care to share my spouse time with others, nor does my spouse. Really, after the first 2-3 months I could order just about anything and play with it on my plate while eating a few bites and no one would comment. But let's face it, I was effervescant. Before that I wasn't up to playing with people. Good luck, Tek

I agree with most everyone that there is little you can do about stretched and ripped (let's get real) skin. However, don't accept that you must pay for tummy-tucks or anything else. My insurance paid for my abdominoplasty (tummy-tuck), and had approved my thighs had I continued. I wasn't worried about my arms, but I could have made similar cases and had insurance pay. Remember: "Reconstructive." Start documenting rashes, back pain, infections, etc. and your plastic surgery becomes a "reconstructive" surgery rather than a cosmetic one. Because mine were reconstructive mine were 100% paid by my insurance. Good luck, Tek

My surgeon forbade in the strongest terms possible doing anything like this. Apparently, it's ridiculously easy to swallow by accident and then you're in for a load of not fun as they stick a grabber down your throat to grab it. His imagery, not mine. I chose not to chance it. Many have without harm. Good luck, Tek

Not ever having had to worry about wedding dresswear, I have to believe there is a "rush order" possibility that would allow you to order much closer to the wedding for an additional fee. I just googled and this seems plentiful. Not everyone plans months and months ahead and companies love making extra money because of it. Good luck, Tek

I lost 40 pounds my first month. If we're looking at percent of total excess weight at surgery you blew my socks off. I lost to below a normal BMI before I was able to manage a regain to a normal BMI though it all took about 2.5 years. I was never happier each and every month. This isn't a sprint. It isn't a marathon either. It's a lifetime. Good luck, Tek

Best to sleep right through it. Good luck, Tek