ShoppGirl

also, not sure how many people you cook for but my husband and I pretty much eat separate now so it’s a huge waste to cook and entire pizza for just me. I have learned to get the cauli power brand crust and cut it while it’s frozen into slices and then cook that (with the toppings off course). If you cook it directly on the rack it takes a little finesse to make sure it doesn’t fall through. I always put a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any drops but once you figure it out it saves a ton of waste.

Mine hasn’t changed, really. I am not sure if this is because we just had a pretty good foundation where we have learned through counseling and many years together to talk through things or if it is because I was thin when my husband met me and I have lost a big chunk of the weight several times over the years so it’s not really that much of a shock.

Yea also use fresh bath towels if you reuse them.

I was able to tolerate cauliflower pizza pretty early out. I actually tried the toppings off a slice of pepperoni first and that was fine too but I never really tried alot of sauce because I like white pizza when I make the cauliflower pizza and that uses ricotta instead of sauce. My tummy was pretty forgiving though, I did not have any issues tolerating anything really throughout the phases. If your tummy is fussy with other things I wouldn’t rush to pizza. Everyone is different. When you do try it o would maybe try try just cheese pizza first to see how you do with the sauce and then try the pepperoni at another time so if you have issues you know which one caused it cause spicy and acidic are two things that can cause issues.

Mine was different but similar in that i did a lot of paperwork. It was in the dr’s office. They had me watch a video and fill out a questionnaire to make sure I understood the surgery. Asked if I had any questions about anything and then went over the surgical soap for pre surgery and the meds for post surgery. She talked a lot about constipation which I found odd at the time but totally get it now. I had already done my labs and they didn’t think I needed ekg at that point but the morning of surgery I think it was the anesthesiologist I mentioned I had a heart murmur when I was born and he ordered an EKG to be done pre surgery. This wasn’t a big deal cause they had to rush a blood pregnancy test anyways cause I couldn’t pee a drop for the urine test. Even still I was in surgery pretty quickly, the miracle of that word STAT.

You should be able to still contact the team. Did they give you an email or a phone number to call?? I would think that any doctor would be able to make sure that you are healing okay and know if something was wrong. I mean you are on day 17 it’s not unheard of for people to still be in pain but it should be at least getting better. ooh are you saying a text is all you can do physically or all you can do to contact them? Because if you describe what you are feeling and they just say to get your water and protein then it sounds like they think you are okay. if you just want peace of mind though your family dr should know if something was wrong.

Ooh good

It should at the very least be getting a little bit better everyday. Have you had your follow up yet? What did the dr say? May be worth a phone call to let them know what’s going on.

I wonder if it would be better to call them and ask if it matters. How much time do you have to get it all straightened out? (Awesome that your other numbers are starting to lower).

To me they didn’t cause nausea but they tasted overly sweet. I had better luck with the clear protein drinks early out.

Do you have a family dr or someone that is aware of this normally elevated white count. If so and the surgeon has issue with it maybe ask if a quick call or note from their office would make everyone happy. Or the hematologist records maybe?

I’m guessing this is because if you are not cleared and you end up having the surgery at a later date you may have to get a new set of labs closer to your surgery date. From my experience labs come back pretty quick (like two or three days my last ones took) so it’s just a matter of how far they are out appointment wise. Do you already have a surgery date to get this all done by? If not you probably will have plenty of time to do your labs waiting on your date. If your really worried I guess you could go ahead and schedule an appointment for it a day or two after your other appointments assuming you will get cleared and get the orders right away. You can always reschedule if you don’t.

Personally I wouldn’t want to try anything new on Christmas and risk spending half the day feeling sick. You can in theory puree anything though. I have a thing with consistency so I stuck to things that are supposed to be that way like mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes. I have heard a lot of people doing pumpkin purée at thanksgiving but I would wonder about the sugar in that (may want to check with your team). They also come up with a lot of seasonal yogurts and protein shakes that could help satisfy the need for something festive.

If you ever want to test this firsthand as a female just walk around a store for a while at your goal weight. Especially one with a majority of male workers like a home improvement store. it’s crazy how much more help you get. Like they go out of their way to offer help. It’s kinda crazy.

I have gone up and down in my weight soooo many times throughout my life and people absolutely treat me differently. I have pointed it out to my husband who didn’t believe me at first but now he notices it too. I notice it from both men and women. People are more helpful and likely to strike up a small talk type conversation when I am closer to a normal BMI. Having said that, I am a little on the shy side and have been told by more than one person they misinterpreted that as my being a b**** in the very beginning. Oddly enough this has only happened when I was at my skinniest. My take is that people tend to think that I am nicer or more approachable as long as I’m not too thin and hot but if i’m a little too heavy I am not even worth their time for some reason. Basically society tends to prefer me barely “normal” to just slightly “overweight” from my experience. What I absolutely hate is when it is someone that I have known for a long time that treats me differently because of my size and this absolutely has happened to me a few times. Thankfully not by any close friends but by people at like bowling league and stuff like that. I have gone from practically invincible for years to someone they all of a sudden want to talk to every week. I just want to scream from the rooftops that I am the same exact person I have always been and sorta want to tell them they are not worth my time because that’s what their actions have been telling me for so long. Of course I don’t say anything. I just hope that by me being nice to them now that they learn not to judge the next person. It can be frustrating and I definitely do vent to my husband about it sometimes but I know people truly don’t do it on purpose so I try to let it go.

I eat fruit pretty often. If I have a sweet craving I always try to satisfy it with fruit first. It usually works.

Do you have a plan in place to get your vitamins checked each year. Your family dr should be able to order the labs but you may want to ask for the order from her and make a copy So you know the family Dr covers everything.

You don’t need a lot at the hospital at all. You will need to take a shower the morning just before you leave and will change as soon as you get there so you can wear the same clothes home you wear there with different underclothes. I brought my normal toiletry kit although I left the next day and couldn’t shower yet anyways (I washed my face and brushed my teeth but that was about it). I bought an extra long phone charging cord on Amazon and was very glad to have that for my phone and iPad because outlets are sparse and not close to the bed. I also brought my earbuds and that was sorta nice to use to block out all the noise when I tried to sleep. Ooh and mens pajama pants (or just big comfy ones) to wear under your hospital down unless you want to change into pajamas. I had a heart monitor in addition to my IV so I didn’t change completely. Just slipped on the bottoms to cover my bottom when I walked the halls.

Hummmm. I gotta do more research. I swear I just read that it causes weight LOSS which didn’t make sense at all since so many people have WLS because of diabetes and he was ordering the test for ME.

Congratulations on your loss so far. Just talk to your team and get to the root of the hungry feelings. Most people really do lose their hunger immediately post surgery so it most likely is something else.

Yea I’m sure they are going to be very proud of you at your clinic. And the weight you have lost will make your surgery that much safer. That’s a huge reward. Happy birthday to your son. Lots to celebrate.

I forgot to ask, did you think of a small reward to do for yourself??

The surgery is a tool, just like using a washing machine or a calculator. It makes it easier, yes but you still have to put in the work. And the tool fades when your hunger comes back so keeping the weight off is just as hard as any maintenance plan I have ever been on with one exception IF you took the time to make real changes to your diet and habits you know what to do to keep it off this time. Having said that, this is a major surgery with real changes to you body. Many of us have chronic constipation to deal with, most of us have to take vitamins forever and I believe all of us are told to avoid NSAIDS forever (which kinda sucks when you get a headache or throw your back out and drs won’t give you pain meds for these things). These are not major things, no but evidence that this does change your body forever. The nutritionist and the bariatric therapists are two huge components to the surgery that make it successful. If you have not tried those two things you may want to consider trying those first before committing to major surgery. I had a low-ish BMI and I had the sleeve (35). I wish I had tried those things first so that I would know I absolutely had to take this extreme option. I may very well be exactly where I am but at least I would know I truly did try everything first. But ask your doctor because you have real medical issues that I did not have and maybe losing it fast is imperative. The surgery will definitely help you to lose it faster that diet alone. Best of luck in whatever you choose. And just keep talking to your wife. My husband is also someone who has always been fit and doesn’t totally get it either. He is at least supportive but he is first to admit he doesn’t understand. I once told him when he was thirsty to try not to drink anything for hours and he will have some clue what it’s like to try to ignore hunger. Not the best analogy I know but it was the best I could think of. I also recommend taking her with you to your doctor visits if/when you do decide to have surgery or while you are trying to decide. They can help explain things to her.

You are doing absolutely amazing!! Keep it up.

Have you told your doctors that your restriction seems to be more? I don’t think that is typical at all.