JDLane

I’m heading to the hospital soon, scheduled for 10:30 this morning. Definitely nervous and hoping everything goes well. See you all on the other side!

Excited to finally be at the point I've been waiting for but also increasingly nervous. Like I know rationally the risk is relatively low but I have a small child at home and I'm still nervous about something going wrong, or recovery being worse than I'm anticipating. I'm trying to mentally prepare to feel like crap for a week so then if it's better it'll be a pleasant surprise.

Mine is going well for the most part. I'm lucky in that my diet is easier than most I see on here. I get shake for breakfast, mid morning high protein snack, shake for lunch, afternoon high protein snack, dinner is 6oz lean protein, veggie, and small carb then another shake at night if needed. I'm super grateful I have the meal and snacks built in it definitely helps. I did have a hangry moment yesterday where I ate one of my son's 80 calorie pirates booty bags (I think it's PMS) but I'm back on track now and confident one snag won't destroy my liver shrink. I'm in a place where I'm feeling less nervous lately but we'll see how it feels when it's only 1-2 days left.

I am but it's the mini pill so there is no placebo week to skip 😫 . For now I'll just continue to hope it comes and goes before the 12th. I did ask about it during my pre-op call and they basically just said you're not allowed to wear a tampon during surgery so they would provide the mesh underwear like you get after giving birth and a pad. So it's honestly not the worst thing, just not my preference.

How is everyone doing with their pre-op diets? Mine is honestly much better than I anticipated although I am one of the lucky ones that is not restricted to only liquid. I'm definitely having some head hunger and cravings but I'm not actually hungry most of the time. Question for the ladies: anyone else due for their time of month around surgery? I'm praying mine comes soon and is done by the time I go in. I don't want to have to be dealing with that on top of everything else.

Are your kids young? I would focus on balance for them, you can incorporate some of your new healthy habits while maintaining things they enjoy. Kids need fat and carbs for proper development, plus they naturally burn a ton of energy. One of my biggest worries with my weight was passing along bad habits to my child. My mom started giving me 'diet' snacks when I was young and I think having restriction at a young age led to wanting excess. I'm all about balance for him, healthy options and fun kid snacks, eat when you're hungry and I don't force more bites if he's not hungry, I allow him to trust his body. I don't think any of changes I need to make for me should have any significant effect on him.

I'm May 12th as well! My pre-op diet officially starts Wednesday as well but I've opted to start today. Thursday I go for my endoscopy. I'm excited but I'm also super nervous especially with how real it's all starting to feel now.

I don't technically need to start until Wednesday but I'm trying to start today. My pre-op diet is not all liquid so I'm not exceedingly worried and I'm just ready to start things. It's all starting to feel very real now. I have a feeling the late afternoon and evening will be the hardest for me.

I think it depends on your personality. I find it helpful to weigh everyday because seeing and understanding that it's completely normal for your body to fluctuate within a 3-4lb range doesn't really stress me out. Like I know that maybe I just ate more salt than normal or haven't pooped yet or whatever and I'm not immediately stressed that it's 2lbs of fat I packed on somehow. But for a lot of people those normal fluctuations are stressful so it's better to weigh less often so you can see more cumulative results. Just do whatever doesn't drive you crazy or add stress.

This is interesting, my dietician told us the body cannot process more than around 30g of protein at a time so consuming more than that in one go was kind of a waste and your body will just excrete it. I'll have to do more research.

I agree with what others have said that you may want to slow down your process. Just because they gave you a surgery date doesn't mean it's set in stone. I'm also paying for my own surgery with no insurance but I still completed my program the same way I would with insurance just a little faster. I did all the pre-op classes, met with dietician, met with behavioral consult etc. I know how to lose weight the healthy way, I think most of us on here do. I've lost weight on my own several times in my life but it's very difficult for me to maintain. I don't view this surgery as a solution but it's a tool that's going to help me stick to the healthy choices without being starving hungry all the time or fighting crazy binges. If you've never even tried to lose weight on your own before you may find yourself resentful in a few years when you can eat the way you used to, wondering if you could have just done it on your own and still be 'normal'. I spent a long time looking down on WLS thinking I could do it on my own before accepting that my body simply cannot maintain that on it's own for whatever reason. You may need to take some more steps in your journey to get to a place of acceptance and not one of fear.

Thanks all, this is reassuring. It's been a rough week with the whole family not feeling well and it just unleashed a new worry about after surgery that I had never considered.

My loving toddler decided to share his stomach bug with me and I spent the better part of last night vomiting out my soul. It lead me to wonder what happens if you get sick like that post op? Has anyone experienced that? My stomach was spasming so much, can a sleeved stomach even do that?

My surgery date is May 12 but I won't start my diet until April 28th. Mine is only 2 weeks. Do you have to do liquids only, or do you have food built in as well? Mine will be a mix of protein shakes and high protein snacks and one meal.

I can't fully speak to this since I'm not in the after yet but I have one child and I plan to have another afterwards. My medical group just stressed they want people to wait 12-18 months before getting pregnant. My surgeon was much more nonchalant about it and said we just want you to wait a year so it doesn't interfere while you're still losing. He mentioned at a lower weight I'd be likely to have an easier pregnancy. And having started my last pregnancy at 246lbs I'm inclined to agree that starting at a lower weight next time will be less stressful for my body. Hopefully with a tool in place it will be easier to begin losing weight afterwards again too. And most importantly I'm looking forward to being a healthier, more active mom to my current toddler.

I'm 34 years old and have been experiencing on and off issues with my low back for the last 12 years. I have some herniated discs and degenerative disc disease but it seems like most of my pain comes from inflammation and muscles as I don't experience a lot of nerve pain. For the most part I can treat with Motrin or Naproxen and relieve my pain to the point that it isn't a bother. Occasionally I have bad flare ups that require prescriptions. Part of the reason I wanted the sleeve surgery is the possibility of reducing this pain. I know it isn't a guarantee and some people have continued or even worse pain. But I'm hopeful that removing excess weight from my spine and joints will help in some capacity. However, I'm terrified of not being able to take NSAIDs after surgery. A lot of it may be more anxiety based than body based but it's a scary thought that I won't have something that I currently rely on. I've heard from a friend who was also worried that it was a non issue post op because most of his aches and pains when away with the weight. I'd love to hear some other people's experiences, especially anyone who has also dealt with chronic pain.

I had a C-section in 2019 so I’m not terribly worried about the incisions either. It’s mostly the anesthesia, honestly I’d rather have surgery awake if that was an option. And I’m worried about recovering with a toddler at home and generally just feeling well and doing well afterwards. I really don’t want to fail. I don’t care much about the idea of loose skin now but maybe that’ll change when it’s a reality.

I’m starting to get nervous as well, it feels so much more real now that’s scheduled. I’m 5’5” and 270 also and I’ll be a week behind you in surgery. Here’s to all of us doing well!

I'm scheduled for 5/12. I'm self pay as well but through my local hospital group. I just scheduled everything yesterday and it's really starting to set it in that it's only 5 weeks away, 3 weeks until I need to start my pre-op diet.

As a newbie, even still pre-op, I appreciate the honestly and reality. I was resistant to surgical options for a long time because I did not want to make a permanent change. Never being 'normal' again is a hard pill to swallow. So it's nice to see that you can achieve a level of normal, even if it looks different than it used to. I want to be able to eat a fruit snack when my toddler shoves one in my face and giggles, I want to be able to celebrate with friends and family and enjoy a small treat and not worry about macros. My program is excellent in providing the details of what I can and cannot do and providing a plan to follow. I have a great team of medical providers I have access to. When I come to a forum like this it's because I want to read people's real life experiences the good and the bad.

Thank you for your response, I appreciate it. I'm a highly anxious person so hearing positives from others is helpful. I'll definitely ask my surgeon about it. I guess my endoscopy will show what kind, if any, damage I've done using them currently and maybe that will guide his answer. And I'm sure increasing my activity levels will help too. As a side note, we have similar starting stats and I will be thrilled if I'm where you are in a year or so! It's great to see how well others are doing and I've read some of your other posts that show how much normalcy and balance you have with things post op, its very encouraging.

I don't know medically but it would make sense to me that losing weight in your abdomen could take some pressure off your bladder and change the way you pee. For example leaning forward slightly while peeing helps compress and fully empty your bladder, your abdomen may have been applying that pressure on it's own. So that relief for some may cause less urge to go or just change the way the signaling feels. Again, definitely not a doctor but it feels like it makes sense.

My pre-op diet will be a shake for breakfast and lunch, high protein snacks in between meals from a specified list and then for dinner 4oz lean proteins, 1 cup vegetable and I think half cup carb. Apparently they used to do the all liquid diet but found that it resulted in people cheating or having a really hard time sticking to it so I guess adding some solids in allowed for a higher compliance and still achieves the liver shrink. It's supposed to hit 60g protein, 64oz liquid and be less than 1200 calories I believe.

I started my program at the end of January, I'm not sure when surgery will be. I've done a lot of things similar to your list, stopped drinking bubbles, started counting my protein intake and water, trying to focus on eating protein first at meals, chewing slowly to a pudding like consistency. The separating meals from drinking is what I'm working on now. It sounds easy but I've heard it's actually a big cause for regain because it will push food right through your system and allow you to be hungry more quickly. I'd recommend trying different protein shakes, bars and snacks so you can figure out what you like before you buy a ton of something and end up hating it. Then again for some people the surgery changes your tastes and you may end up hating it anyway!

I actually just had the goal conversation with my dietician, I'm still Pre-op so I have no personal experience yet. But he basically said they go conservatively because they are going by the statistics, which is that on average WLS patients lose 70% of their excess weight. So by using that the goal they have for me is significantly higher than I would have for myself. But he added that he always encourages patients to surpass their goal. It's totally individual but they don't want to give people false hope when the statistics show that for majority that 70% is it. And I believe it should be much easier to maintain a low weight once you reach it, so even if you reach your goal through vigorous exercise you'd probably be able to ease up after a while and maintain more easily. All that said, I'm surprised they didn't have the conversation about goals pre-op. It was definitely good information for me to have so I can keep my expectations at a good place.