ShoppGirl

Wow. Amazing story.

Glad to hear it. Your doing great!!

I questioned what I had done to myself for a few days after surgery as well. I was not in much pain but just the restrictions and feeling hungry for real food with the knowledge that I was months away from eating what I wanted. Day but day it just gets easier. 4.5 months out and I can eat everything I ever ate before surgery in much smaller portions of course. The only things I have not tried are popcorn and rice. I was lower BMI so I am over half way to my goal And so so happy with my decision to have this surgery.

With my surgeons blessing I tried alcohol just recently (4.5 months out) keeping in mind that it is empty calories. My preferred drink was rum and Diet Coke so I had rum and crystal light. Well, it tasted so bad that I couldn’t even get it down fast enough to get a buzz. So for me, knowing that I was just drinking a ton of empty calories that tasted bad, it wasn’t even worth it. But no, it definitely did not hit me harder or faster??

I agree with the others. I was a lower BMI too and I am losing it much slower than the average poster on here but it has been 4.5 months and the scale still keeps slowly creeping down. The important thing is that it is going down. This is a very effective tool. If you are using it correctly it will work. (That’s hard for many of us to believe After so many failed weight loss attempts in the past but you just have to trust the process).

I am four and a half months out and have this already. I know that it has to be head hunger because there is no way the hunger hormones has come back already. I am scheduled to see a therapist that specializes in disordered eating soon. Perhaps something to consider.

Another thing that might help is to watch you tube videos by dr wiener. He explains how the weight loss surgery is different than a diet and how our “set point” lowers after surgery making is more likely to lose it and to keep it off. Maybe you can show him parts of those videos to help explain why regular dieting doesn’t work once you get past a certain weight.

For anyone who has a spouse that is not on board, have you tried bringing them with you to your appointments. Perhaps meeting the surgeon and even the psychiatrist could help you talk to them to help them understand that this isn’t a decision you are jumping into lightly. What are they afraid of? For me, I feel like my marriage is getting even better but I was thin when my husband and I met and he has always been thin so I am more able to do all the things we used to do together but I didn’t enjoy as much recently because of the weight. I just hate to see any marriage end over a surgery. At least not without trying everything to help them understand how life is different for us when thin and heavier and all the ways weight impacts us. I just know that some people on here have posted that had concerned spouses and taking them to their appointments did help (others it did not but it could be worth a try).

okay now I read that some prefer not to bring them to their appointments. I missed that post earlier.

Lizonaplane has a good point. Are you the sort of person that if you went to the ER or something not life threatening that you would still need your spouse with you? I am not. I would go by myself and text him with updates and if I needed him (again for us this is just a short drive). Now if it was him in the ER I would want to go with him because I am the one who worries and if I were home or anywhere else I couldn’t do anything else anyways because I would just be too worried. He is more rational knowing that if I am at hospital I am the safest I will ever be surrounded by the people I really need right then. I did put my friends on notice that I may text them a lot if I got board but I was too sleepy anyways.

My husband just stayed with me till they wheeled me into surgery and then went to work. Granted he was only 10 minutes away if I needed him but I did not. My surgery was first thing in the morning. I texted him when I woke up (the doctor has already called him right after my surgery anf told him everything went fine) but he replied that he would come see me after work. That was perfect because I was in and out sleeping before that. I know some spouses have to be there on the premises while their spouse has surgery and I understand that too, but we are just not like that. I felt what he did was perfect for us. He also visited me the next morning just to say hi because it’s on his way to work. I was supposed to Stay a second night but it turned out I was ready to leave shortly after he got Off work the second day. For me, I needed him the most right before surgery. I was very anxious and he helped calm me down quite a bit. After surgery when you are awake there are plenty of people to take care of you. I didn’t have a lot of pain after surgery, but I still slept a lot because they have you on pain meds already when you wake up from surgery and Mine were strong.

7 minutes ago, Soonlee_W said:

Dear Brightly,

This pre-op diet is so so hard. I failed at it for almost 4 days till I got it down. Be careful what you say....people can be brutal. They'll make you feel like if you can't do the diet then maybe you shouldn't have the surgery.

I was not given specific instructions either or any why's other than the fact that they said it would make my liver shrink. Also, they didn't tell me how much -- I mean, can I have 6 pudding cups if I'm hungry? Some people were told to only have liquids, some people were allowed to have eggs. People will tell you to do exactly what your surgeon says, and I guess that's the best advice ... but I'm with you ---this is so hard. If it were easy for me to stay on something like this, maybe I wouldn't be so fat.

It feels weird to have gone this many days without anything solid. They said, "Jello, sherbet, pudding, and Protein Shakes. Strained soups." that's all my papers say. That's a lot of sweet stuff. I've been straining all the chunks out of the Soup and just drinking the soup-juice. 4 days before my surgery (so, this Monday) it will only be Clear Liquids.

I did not see the other post that you were speaking of but from my experience on here people are generally really supportive and kind. Is it possible that they were trying to say that they would wait to have the surgery until you can stick to the pre op because the post op is even more restrictive and AFTER surgery you can actually hurt yourself if you don’t stick to the plan? I’m hoping it was something like that (out of concern) and not something negative. If it was negative I hope you don’t let that color your opinion of everyone here because I have been on here over four months so far and have found nothing but absolute kindness and support.

52 minutes ago, brightly said:

Hi All, I'm new here. I still have to figure out how to enter my "stats" . I'm going in for vsg on July 28th. I have zero reservations, but this preop diet is killing me. I'm really failing at it. It's constipating and giving me severe GERD. (broth helps) I reached out to the dietician for insight on alternatives to the shakes because the Calcium is so high w 6 shakes (3900mg) and she told me to have three shakes and 3 egg whites total in a day. So it went from 1000 cals allowed to ~500. !!!??? I asked for the math on the diet--- and if the fact that it is liquid is most important and she didn't answer. Does anyone know? I'm wondering why not 9 egg whites to replace the Protein in the shakes. ? She said no steamed chicken. Isn't the point that your calories are low enough that you lose weight but keep your Protein up? If so, I do not understand why they don't give patients the tools to customize the preop diet to their medical needs, or at least offer suggestions that align with the preop diet's number of calories. The preop diet seems shrouded in mystery for no reason. It's infantilizing. It would help to know the science of what the preop diet is aiming to do. I'd love insight from veterans. Thanks!

It’s seems odd to me that she said you can have egg whites instead of shakes but not chicken. I was on a liver shrink diet the first two weeks and two days of just liquids and the point was low calories low fat low sugar (all to shrink the liver) but I was allowed chicken and even lean steak (2 ounces I believe) and veggies on mine as well as egg whites or egg beaters. If I were you and was looking for alternatives to the shakes I would call the dr and not the nutritionist. I know they ask them to go over the pre op and post op diets with us but I just don’t know that they know anything more than the one cookie cutter plan (or at least not all of them do). Anyways, like I said if it were me and I was having an issue with the standard approach looking for alternatives, I’d go to the surgeon or the PA. And if the office tries to direct you back to the nutritionist tell them you already tried and can’t get a clear answer from them. If nothing else maybe they can give you something for the GERD and Constipation it is causing you.

4 hours ago, TinDE said:

I start my pre-op diet on 7/26. I've had a couple of "food funerals" recently - though I've been able to keep my weight stable. Definitely getting nervous. Having a lot of What If thoughts. What if I don't lose weight? What if I have complications? Then there's the melancholy that comes though...am I never going to be able to enjoy food again?

Hanging in there....

I was worried about that too but at 4.5 months out I am able to eat everything I ever ate before surgery with the exception of only rice and pop corn and those I just haven’t tried yet because they say they are difficult foods. I have even had steak!!

27 minutes ago, sal-wa said:

I’m feeling really drowsy
The first 6 hours after surgery was horrible, I am still in pain , more like a discomfort pain now tho .

It gets a little better each and every day.

1 hour ago, lizonaplane said:

Yes, this is exactly why I was prescribed it. I was at a healthy weight until I was prescribed meds for bipolar disorder at age 14 and gained 100 lbs in 2 years, and my weight just went up from there. I've been able to lose 50, 80, 100 lbs at various points but I always gain it back. I am having surgery, but I have to wait for my psychopharmacologist to speak to the surgery center's psychologist to confirm my bipolar disorder is stable, and they have not connected - this "trying to connect" started in MARCH!!! After that, I can schedule my surgery. I will probably have to go back on the metformin as I will still be on the bipolar meds.

Wow. How frustrating. I had a similar issue with doctors that played phone tag for months and it drove me crazy. I get that they are both busy doctors but it seems like once the office staff realizes it’s another doctor they could take an extra step or two to help them connect. I really hope they figure it out soon.

I also take the Bariatric Advantage chewable Multivitamin and calcium chews and they are not bad at all. The Calcium reminds me of starbursts.

The nurse practitioner at my clinic said the difference between those who keep the weight off and those who gain it back is usually those who make a lifestyle change vs those who just let the surgery do the work. Those who just limit calories because of restriction by still eating the same foods as they did pre surgery in smaller portions are usually not as successful as those who make actual changes to their nutrition that are both healthy and sustainable. Makes sense…Eventually we will be able to eat larger portions again and if we are eating the same food that got us in trouble before it will probably result in regain.

1 minute ago, Jnfinney said:

Where did you find these? I’ve had the mission carb balance ones, but they’re too big and I can’t eat the whole wrap.

I have in the past trimmed the others down though. Just use a pair of kitchen only scissors of course and fold it into quarters and it’s fairly easy to do in a pinch.

Just now, Jnfinney said:

Where did you find these? I’ve had the mission carb balance ones, but they’re too big and I can’t eat the whole wrap.

Walmart believe it or not and in a tiny town so I imagine most Walmart’s have them.

Hopefully you are on the other side of this recovering well.

I am able to take all of my meds the same and pre surgery with the exception of NSAID’s (I am not allowed to have them ever again) I only ever took for occasional headache during allergy season, now I just take allergy medication and it treats my headache pretty much the same.

4 minutes ago, blackpowder72 said:

I just got some of the Quest chips there not to bad. I can't say to much for there snack bars lol

Their frozen Protein pizza wasn’t much to be desired either. The chips are still a win in my book though.

While in the hospital I was glad I brought a super long charging cable for phone and iPad. After surgery I made use of plastic portion cups starting with two ounce ones. Don’t stock ip too much on food or shakes as your tastes may change (especially for sweet things).

10 minutes ago, Started@379 said:

Surgery tomorrow at 10:00am.

Good luck 🍀

13 hours ago, dlmorris80 said:

How far are you guys out from your surgery?

About 4 months.