vikingbeast

I'm about a week away from surgery and I know these feelings are real!
But I'm here to say I got past that. I got past that by looking at this site and at the people who've changed their whole lives. I got past that by looking at the things I want to be able to do (I have a whole list, written in purple dry-erase on the whiteboard next to my desk in my home office). And by talking to a friend who went through it.
It's normal to have the freak-outs. "Will I ever be able to eat like a normal human?" (yes, but not in the quantities you used to) "Will it work for me?" (yes, if you put in the work to use this tool) "Will I wake up a hideous half-dragon creature with a blue tongue and scales? " (almost certainly not)

I have a whole coterie of doctors at this point, as I'm sure many of us do, to fix the various systems.

One of them makes me take my shoes and socks off at every appointment so he can poke my feet to see if I can feel the poke. It drives me insane. He insists I must be at least pre-diabetic because I'm so fat, and assumes that I've just gone off and "put a bandaid on my poor diet" for a while to pass his blood glucose screenings. He also insists I tell my primary care physician that I need to be on statins (presumably also because I'm fat). When I point out my cholesterol is just fine, he comes up with some "new fact" or other; the latest was there is something wrong with the SHAPE of my fat cells or some such b0ll0cks.

Well... as part of my pre-op testing, the surgeon pulled my lipids and blood glucose. Lipids were in the bottom half of the normal range (142 total, HDL 53, LDL 67, triglycerides 94, so right exactly where they needed to be), and my A1c is 5.2.

I printed a copy of the results from MyChart and mailed them to the offending MD with a polite but passive-aggressive note. Childish? Perhaps. But cathartic. I cannot wait until they can't use my weight as an excuse for being trash people.

I have a whole coterie of doctors at this point, as I'm sure many of us do, to fix the various systems.

One of them makes me take my shoes and socks off at every appointment so he can poke my feet to see if I can feel the poke. It drives me insane. He insists I must be at least pre-diabetic because I'm so fat, and assumes that I've just gone off and "put a bandaid on my poor diet" for a while to pass his blood glucose screenings. He also insists I tell my primary care physician that I need to be on statins (presumably also because I'm fat). When I point out my cholesterol is just fine, he comes up with some "new fact" or other; the latest was there is something wrong with the SHAPE of my fat cells or some such b0ll0cks.

Well... as part of my pre-op testing, the surgeon pulled my lipids and blood glucose. Lipids were in the bottom half of the normal range (142 total, HDL 53, LDL 67, triglycerides 94, so right exactly where they needed to be), and my A1c is 5.2.

I printed a copy of the results from MyChart and mailed them to the offending MD with a polite but passive-aggressive note. Childish? Perhaps. But cathartic. I cannot wait until they can't use my weight as an excuse for being trash people.

I have a whole coterie of doctors at this point, as I'm sure many of us do, to fix the various systems.

One of them makes me take my shoes and socks off at every appointment so he can poke my feet to see if I can feel the poke. It drives me insane. He insists I must be at least pre-diabetic because I'm so fat, and assumes that I've just gone off and "put a bandaid on my poor diet" for a while to pass his blood glucose screenings. He also insists I tell my primary care physician that I need to be on statins (presumably also because I'm fat). When I point out my cholesterol is just fine, he comes up with some "new fact" or other; the latest was there is something wrong with the SHAPE of my fat cells or some such b0ll0cks.

Well... as part of my pre-op testing, the surgeon pulled my lipids and blood glucose. Lipids were in the bottom half of the normal range (142 total, HDL 53, LDL 67, triglycerides 94, so right exactly where they needed to be), and my A1c is 5.2.

I printed a copy of the results from MyChart and mailed them to the offending MD with a polite but passive-aggressive note. Childish? Perhaps. But cathartic. I cannot wait until they can't use my weight as an excuse for being trash people.

Yesterday I was hanging out talking to my husband in the front yard while he trimmed the palm trees and later he said to me that it’s funny that I am so oblivious to it but just about every guy that went by was checking me out. I said it’s probably the neighbors wanting to know if you traded me in for another woman since I lost so much so quickly and he said don’t sell yourself short, your hot. It’s also our 20th anniversary this week so thats nice to hear once in a while.

I'm about a week away from surgery and I know these feelings are real!
But I'm here to say I got past that. I got past that by looking at this site and at the people who've changed their whole lives. I got past that by looking at the things I want to be able to do (I have a whole list, written in purple dry-erase on the whiteboard next to my desk in my home office). And by talking to a friend who went through it.
It's normal to have the freak-outs. "Will I ever be able to eat like a normal human?" (yes, but not in the quantities you used to) "Will it work for me?" (yes, if you put in the work to use this tool) "Will I wake up a hideous half-dragon creature with a blue tongue and scales? " (almost certainly not)

Stop and think about this for a second.
Before you had surgery, before you started losing weight pre-op... how much were you eating? 2500 calories a day? 3000? 3500?
Now you're eating 500-600 and wondering if you can do 800-1000.
If you were at 2500 calories before and you're doing 800 now, that's still a cut of 1700 calories, or an AVERAGE (notice the capital letters!) of half a pound a day. Now, it doesn't work that way, because our bodies are not machines with standard inputs and outputs. A lot of things can change that calculus, like sodium content and bloating (hello hormones!) and your brain and even the weather.
Vigorous exercise at 6-7 weeks out seems a bit much... but are you getting out and moving? Walking? Running if your body permits it at this point? Climbing hills?
One other sense of perspective. Back when you were your pre-op self, if someone had said, "Ready21, I have a diet that will make you drop 30 pounds in 8 weeks," would you not have absolutely jumped on it?
As long as you're losing, you're good... and even if you stall, as long as you're not gaining overmuch!

I'm about a week away from surgery and I know these feelings are real!
But I'm here to say I got past that. I got past that by looking at this site and at the people who've changed their whole lives. I got past that by looking at the things I want to be able to do (I have a whole list, written in purple dry-erase on the whiteboard next to my desk in my home office). And by talking to a friend who went through it.
It's normal to have the freak-outs. "Will I ever be able to eat like a normal human?" (yes, but not in the quantities you used to) "Will it work for me?" (yes, if you put in the work to use this tool) "Will I wake up a hideous half-dragon creature with a blue tongue and scales? " (almost certainly not)

I'm about a week away from surgery and I know these feelings are real!
But I'm here to say I got past that. I got past that by looking at this site and at the people who've changed their whole lives. I got past that by looking at the things I want to be able to do (I have a whole list, written in purple dry-erase on the whiteboard next to my desk in my home office). And by talking to a friend who went through it.
It's normal to have the freak-outs. "Will I ever be able to eat like a normal human?" (yes, but not in the quantities you used to) "Will it work for me?" (yes, if you put in the work to use this tool) "Will I wake up a hideous half-dragon creature with a blue tongue and scales? " (almost certainly not)

Could be any number of things.
- The penne might be too big (are you chewing all the way to paste consistency before swallowing?)
- The Tomato sauce could be causing too much stomach acid / acid reflux.
- You might be sensitive to the Pasta now.

So glad to hear you are getting support. Maybe she can thwap some sense into her son while she's there... if he were around here he'd get the chancla, no matter how old he is.

Could be any number of things.
- The penne might be too big (are you chewing all the way to paste consistency before swallowing?)
- The Tomato sauce could be causing too much stomach acid / acid reflux.
- You might be sensitive to the Pasta now.

My surgeon was booked out 3.5 weeks. My insurance came back with the approval in 3 days, so about a month after all my i's were dotted and my t's crossed.

Y'all are seriously getting me through the stress here. Thank you so much.

That's terrible! I'm sorry.
One suggestion: at Sprouts they sell NOW brand whey Protein isolate. Orange tub with 25g protein per scoop. If you put it in Water or diet juice (you know, the 5 calorie stuff in the juice aisle at Publix) and STIR it, it mostly dissolves, it's not very thick at all. If you shake it it will foam up like crazy, then you have to either stir it back together or wait for the foam to pop.
Maybe it's time to go to your PCP and ask for a referral to someone else? You shouldn't have to be 'stuck' like this.

VSG scheduled for 14th September in Fountain Valley, Orange County, California. Still waiting to hear about what I need beforehand (EKG, bloodwork, etc.)

Oddly, there's no required pre-op diet other than liquids only the day before and NPO the day of. They did suggest trying to replace one meal with a Protein Shake two weeks before, and if possible, two meals with Protein Shakes the week before.

It seems extremely expensive for what you get—my meal prep service just started doing what could be considered bariatric portions, but it's 10 meals for $55, delivered, which is about half the price of the Bari Box. https://www.valleymealprep.com/shop/10for55/

Exactly the same as me. I’m doing the same. I’ve lost 6 lbs in a week. Obviously some of that is Water but it’s not nothing!

Y'all are seriously getting me through the stress here. Thank you so much.

If you read back through posts here, you'll see hundreds, if not thousands, of posts talking about how people were just simply... not interested in food after the surgery. Like, just didn't care about it and had to sip Protein Drinks to get their Protein in at first.
As I think I said earlier, I put myself on a pre-op diet so I didn't go from "full steam ahead" to "have a couple Protein Shakes a day" overnight. I cut out all sugar (the protein shakes are sweetened with non-nutritive sweeteners, I forget which—stevia maybe).
Last night, I held up my end of a bargain with my kid and took her to our favorite ice cream shop. I ordered myself a scoop of my favorite ice cream... ate a small bite... and went "ugh, why is this so sweet" and put the rest in the freezer for my kid to eat later.
It was a shocking moment, because I could easily plough through two or three big scoops of that stuff beforehand.
Your body will do the change. But if you think you need to test the waters, commit to two weeks' time on a pre-surgery diet. Maybe not the full liquid one, but one that's calorie restricted and very low carb. You can do two weeks. Anyone can do two weeks. But that's two weeks straight, not "I've been good for three days and deserve a little treat."
If you can't do that, then at least you'll know before you do this major, life-altering thing, and you could go seek help.
But you've got this. I'm sure of it.

If you read back through posts here, you'll see hundreds, if not thousands, of posts talking about how people were just simply... not interested in food after the surgery. Like, just didn't care about it and had to sip Protein Drinks to get their Protein in at first.
As I think I said earlier, I put myself on a pre-op diet so I didn't go from "full steam ahead" to "have a couple Protein Shakes a day" overnight. I cut out all sugar (the protein shakes are sweetened with non-nutritive sweeteners, I forget which—stevia maybe).
Last night, I held up my end of a bargain with my kid and took her to our favorite ice cream shop. I ordered myself a scoop of my favorite ice cream... ate a small bite... and went "ugh, why is this so sweet" and put the rest in the freezer for my kid to eat later.
It was a shocking moment, because I could easily plough through two or three big scoops of that stuff beforehand.
Your body will do the change. But if you think you need to test the waters, commit to two weeks' time on a pre-surgery diet. Maybe not the full liquid one, but one that's calorie restricted and very low carb. You can do two weeks. Anyone can do two weeks. But that's two weeks straight, not "I've been good for three days and deserve a little treat."
If you can't do that, then at least you'll know before you do this major, life-altering thing, and you could go seek help.
But you've got this. I'm sure of it.

I just registered my account today and this is my first post. I wanted to say hello to all and everyone that might see this. I have been an avid reader of these forums for awhile now, and just had my RYGB on 8/4/2021. There are so many posts and users here that provided me knowledge and help while I was preparing for my surgery, and since my surgery. I know it will be tough to go back and find all those posts and users and thank them, so I just wanted to say a huge "Thank You" to this entire community here in this post! You people are amazing, your stories inspire me, and your knowledge astounds me. Thanks again.

So I am still pre-op but have put myself on a pre-op diet (not required, but in mind a good idea). The Protein drinks are ridiculously sweet... but the result of them is that when I took my daughter out for ice cream tonight (fulfilling a promise), I had a bite and was done. Like... WHO AM I EVEN.

The only thing you can do is encourage the new hair to grow (the loss is because you're temporarily not growing new hairs and the old hairs are at the end of their life and shedding off). Protein and biotin...

So I am still pre-op but have put myself on a pre-op diet (not required, but in mind a good idea). The Protein drinks are ridiculously sweet... but the result of them is that when I took my daughter out for ice cream tonight (fulfilling a promise), I had a bite and was done. Like... WHO AM I EVEN.