Kia kaha

Soo, I’m pre op and today is my husband’s birthday, so I’m doing the last supper thing and sitting down at a fancy place for a lovely lunch (venison salad so not too bad…until the tiramisu…but anyway) we were chatting about the journalism course that I have applied to start in July….there are so many options out there for writers….and I suddenly had a brilliant thought “ wow…I could be a food critic”….husband looked at me sideways “if there’s one thing that you won’t be able to do…” “oh, yes. Dam”
Anyone else got any funny stories to make us all smile?

Hiya TamTY mine is on the same day! 😁 Excited, nervous, confident…can’t believe it’s actually going to happen….I have all of the emotions going on at the moment! Still seems ages away at the moment though. When do you start your pre op diet?

❤️💕 there are so many amazing people on this site. It’s very heartening.

Soo, I’m pre op and today is my husband’s birthday, so I’m doing the last supper thing and sitting down at a fancy place for a lovely lunch (venison salad so not too bad…until the tiramisu…but anyway) we were chatting about the journalism course that I have applied to start in July….there are so many options out there for writers….and I suddenly had a brilliant thought “ wow…I could be a food critic”….husband looked at me sideways “if there’s one thing that you won’t be able to do…” “oh, yes. Dam”
Anyone else got any funny stories to make us all smile?

1. Did you feel the same way?
Yeah, it took about 1.5+ years of indecisiveness and 3 postponements on my part before finally going through with it (read: I chickened out 3 times total during the process)
2. Are you glad you did it?
Hecks yeah, 100000000000000%
3. Do you have any regrets?
Only that I chickened out those 3 times and that I didn't do it earlier.
4. What’s one thing you wish someone had told you before you had surgery?
I've often been asked this, but TBH, there is nothing that I found out afterwards that would have changed anything or made me regret anything I did beforehand or during....sorry not much help here.
Hope you find the decision that you are happy with ❤️

I do weigh daily. The team I work with recommends against that. Last week at my 1-month follow-up both the nurse and the nutritionist urged me not to do that. I still do it because it helps me be aware. However, I will hit a new low and then bounce back up a bit. Earlier on the yo-yo up and down was a bit more. Now it is about a pound though it can be two pounds by the end of the day (I don't often weigh more than once a day).
At first, it was very disconcerting when I would see the the weight jump up a bit. After weighing daily, I can kind of sense when the weight is going to be a little higher or lower.
It depends - did I drink all of my Water and get in all of Protein? Have I been regular or constipated the past couple of days? Have I been able to exercise and adequate amount?
Also, the bounce-ups have gotten to be less as time goes by.
So, yes! It freaked me out. I thought I must be eating way too much etc... However, I refocused, and I used an app to track daily calories etc...
The weight loss is not linear. Yes! I have felt like I was going to fail, and that I must be doing something wrong. Yes, I feel like I need to work on being better about somethings.
So, you are not alone in bouncing up and down. You are not alone in feeling like this won't work.
At my one month check-up I asked if my weigh loss was on-track - and the nurse moved the screen to show me where I was and where they would like me to be - and yup - I was on-track.
I wish you the best on this journey - it isn't easy!

Soo, I’m pre op and today is my husband’s birthday, so I’m doing the last supper thing and sitting down at a fancy place for a lovely lunch (venison salad so not too bad…until the tiramisu…but anyway) we were chatting about the journalism course that I have applied to start in July….there are so many options out there for writers….and I suddenly had a brilliant thought “ wow…I could be a food critic”….husband looked at me sideways “if there’s one thing that you won’t be able to do…” “oh, yes. Dam”
Anyone else got any funny stories to make us all smile?

Soo, I’m pre op and today is my husband’s birthday, so I’m doing the last supper thing and sitting down at a fancy place for a lovely lunch (venison salad so not too bad…until the tiramisu…but anyway) we were chatting about the journalism course that I have applied to start in July….there are so many options out there for writers….and I suddenly had a brilliant thought “ wow…I could be a food critic”….husband looked at me sideways “if there’s one thing that you won’t be able to do…” “oh, yes. Dam”
Anyone else got any funny stories to make us all smile?

Hiya…from what I understand ‘filling up’ is going to be pretty easy as one’s sleeve is about the size of my index finger. My surgeon is using a 32 french bougie…it’s pretty dam small. I’m advised that 2 teaspoons will max me out to start with 😳

❤️💕 there are so many amazing people on this site. It’s very heartening.

I’m 6 weeks from surgery and the wait is killing me! I decided to start lifting weights 🏋️‍♀️ so that I can start the healthy lifestyle process now.

Hello!! My sleeve surgery is scheduled for April 11. I’m very excited! 😊

I had sleeve and I feel that my team prepared me for the surgery pretty well. The one thing I didn’t really absorb (although I know that they told me) is how easy it is to “eat around” the sleeve. In other words it truly is only a tool. If you wanted to you could eat a little bit every hour and still get in a huge amount of calories. It really is up to the individual to make better choices. Wish I could explain that to all those that think this is the easy way out.

I found the books and online resources of Dr. Matthew Wiener to be helpful.

So important to be well informed about the surgery, life post surgery, nutrition etc. Best thing I ever did was research.
I’m sure others will list other resources they found helpful & informative. My surgeon actually gives all his patients a book before surgery: Your Complete Guide to Nutrition for Weightless Surgery by Sally Johnston. It became my big hard covered bible for a while.
I also found the videos on you tube by Dr Matthew Weiner great too. He has several books as well.

Hiya everyone! I’m so excited to have got my date! April 11th! I was feeling pretty unsure and nervous, but I’ve got to the ‘bring it on’ mindset now! No easter eggs for me then!
Re. the pre surgery diet I have to do 2 weeks on Optifast, I actually really like the shakes. I might start Optifast early to give myself a head start!

Hiya everyone! I’m so excited to have got my date! April 11th! I was feeling pretty unsure and nervous, but I’ve got to the ‘bring it on’ mindset now! No easter eggs for me then!
Re. the pre surgery diet I have to do 2 weeks on Optifast, I actually really like the shakes. I might start Optifast early to give myself a head start!

youtube is another good source of information. Tons of people post videos of their journey from pre op, During surgery and after surgery. Great resource to see how others do.

Such an interesting thread. I’m pre op and obviously my husband knows, I have one daughter aged 26 who struggles with her weight and she is totally encouraging, and one daughter who has never struggled with her weight who is less than enthusiastic! I have lost both my parents in the last couple of years and, to be really honest, not having to tolerate their judgement is really freeing. Whilst I’m all about being honest, my weight and my health is my business so I’ think I’ll just let folk ‘go figure’ when the weight starts dropping off! I guess dealing with others is all part of the great journey of life

Such an interesting thread. I’m pre op and obviously my husband knows, I have one daughter aged 26 who struggles with her weight and she is totally encouraging, and one daughter who has never struggled with her weight who is less than enthusiastic! I have lost both my parents in the last couple of years and, to be really honest, not having to tolerate their judgement is really freeing. Whilst I’m all about being honest, my weight and my health is my business so I’ think I’ll just let folk ‘go figure’ when the weight starts dropping off! I guess dealing with others is all part of the great journey of life

Having doubts! I have my last meeting with the surgeon March 4, then we will set a date for surgery. The thing is I’m still having doubts about whether to go ahead and do this crazy thing to my body, or whether to cancel and stay on the diet roundabout for ever! Is this normal? Should I be 100% sure or not go ahead at all? I flick flack between being sure I should go ahead, and being sure I shouldn’t. I’m worried about having a long recovery, I had an awful year last year with two seperate accidents (horses!) where I broke 4 ribs then broke my back (wedge fracture L1, not wheelchair territory fortunately but dam painful). To be deliberately putting myself through more pain and another recovery feels difficult. But I know once the weight starts coming off I will feel good! I’m also worried that I will put myself through this and then just gain the weight back after a couple of years, this has been the pattern before and somehow I can’t see it being different again. I have fought hard with my weight since I was a child, I’m now 57. I guess I would like to be free of this struggle, but does this surgery really free you, it seems as hard as any regular diet?

It’s the beginning of examining what we eat & looking for healthier, more nutrient dense food. But yes, it can be an emotional roller coaster as you realise certain foods you enjoyed (offered comfort?) may be off the menu for a while, and your stress levels are already up as you near your surgery date.
But there are a lot of things you can eat at 1300 calories. It’s about what I eat to maintain (3 meals & 3 snacks). Look for foods with similar flavours, textures & ingredients. Love your granola, try rolled oats (not instant) with some seeds, nuts & blueberries. (Granola is often high in sugar & fat too so another reason it would be off your plan.) I’ve snacked on things like cheese, high Protein yoghurt (look for low added sugar or naturally sweetened with fruit), multi grain crackers, hummus, vegetable crudités, fruit, etc. It’s often easier if you make your own favourite treats as you choose the ingredients & how it’s prepped/cooked. Like you can make a low fat healthier guacamole with avocado, herbs & spices to taste, diced Tomato, celery, a little grated red onion & lemon/lime juice. Lots of recipes about for healthier options. Look for alternatives like cauliflower rice & zucchini noodles instead of highly processed rice & Pasta.
One of the challenging things is reducing your sugar, salt & caffeine intake. Their addictive nature makes withdrawal hard.
It will be all worth it. All the best.

Now that I'm calming down from the initial rush of finally getting a surgery date, I'm in list-making mode. (I'm really big on lists, because what I don't write down, I tend to forget.) Which questions to ask my surgeon at my pre-op appointment, what to pack in my overnight bag, how to arrange transportation to and from the hospital, etc. One thing I really want to do is take (or ask my sister to take) some pre-op photographs of myself so I'll have some to compare as I lose weight. This one's hard for me, because I've avoided cameras for decades. But I'm sure I'll want to see the difference as my inner sylph emerges! (See my screen name? Does it make more sense now?)

My pre-op appointments have begun! I had my pre-op physical with my GP today. She was super happy for me, which was so nice to experience since the GP I had when I had the sleeve 7 years ago wasn't happy for me at all. My current GP made sure everything was ready to go and even asked if I had post-op food ready. I'm not expecting a ton of weight loss but I know I'll have some just because of the food restriction the first couple of months. My surgeon has her patients see their GP 2 weeks after surgery for a general wellness check. I always enjoy seeing my GP because she's so good and her nurses are awesome too.
Next up is fasting labs at 7:10am this Thursday morning. ugggg, I am not very nice at that time of the morning. LOL I see my therapist at 9am so no real chance to go back to bed. I'll be taking myself out for steak and eggs, the one meal I've been craving for ages. More like 2 or 3 since I won't be able to eat it all at once. No pre-op liver shrinking diet for me. I'm not going crazy with food. I'm eating up the food in my fridge and freezer, which is mostly healthy anyhow. I may order a small pizza from a local pizza place, but that's it as far as anything special.
Next Thursday I see my surgeon's nurse for 1 hour then I'll see my surgeon for 1 hour. I hope I get to enjoy these long appointments this time. When I had them 7 years ago my homecare client who I was VERY VERY close to died that morning so I was beyond sad.
I have zero anxiety about surgery day. The pre and post op nurses and anesthesia are WONDERFUL. I'm not looking forward to waking up after being knocked out for several hours, but after I finally wake up it's usually smooth sailing for me. I'll be in the hospital for a day or two then get to go home to my 2 kitty nurses.

Meg3722 said everything I’ve been thinking in such a poignant way. Good luck and may God be with you! My gastric bypass date is 3/7/22. Please everyone, keep me in your prayers. God bless and keep each and every one of you-those who’ve had surgery and those with upcoming surgery!