Dearjanna

Well, obviously I'm in the minority here, and that's fine.
I do feel like corn tortillas may be getting a bad rap?
While they certainly aren't the most nutritious food in the world, they are a whole grain complex carbohydrate that contains Fiber, as well as several Vitamins and minerals. They are typically low in calories (roughly 50 per tortilla), low in fat and are especially high in zinc.
Compared to plain flour tortillas, corn tortillas are definitely the better choice.
Note that some of the most Protein rich dinners I'm eating right now are tacos and enchiladas, so I don't see a problem with them at all as long as you eat them with protein.
I also don't get the safety concern. They are made from ground hominy (typically finely ground), and are pretty homogeneous. They are also easy to chew. Also, unlike wheat flour products, they don't tend to "gum up" in the guts. Maybe I'm missing something there, but these should be fine?
For the record, at 4 weeks, my plan said to: "focus on low-fat solid foods". A corn tortilla is certainly a low-fat solid food. I was also supposed to eat "protein first, then vegetables and fruit, and limit grains and starchy foods". No foods were specifically off limits at 4 weeks or later. Tortillas definitely fall into the "grains and starchy foods" part, but I probably only eat a few tortillas a week. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as "limiting them".
As far as I'm concerned, it's all about balance and these work for me.

Recovery is going well so far! I am still on the liquid diet and very excited to add more food to my diet.

I lived in Indianola for 11 years and just moved to Silverdale this last year! I will be having surgery with Dr. Clive in October. I hope your journey is going well!

So, we’re jumping forward to May 2021. Picture this: I’m about to talk to my cardiologist at my 1 year surgery follow-up and am getting nervous. Mentally I’m going through all the things I’m going to say to convince him I’m fine, and that he should definitely approve me for WLS.
Turns out, I was worried about nothing.
He went through the standard checkup stuff and at just about the point that I was ready to go into my well rehearsed sales pitch, he actually asked me if I was still considering bariatric surgery. Imagine my surprise at that one! When I said yes, he didn’t hesitate to say he was fine with it and didn’t see the heart surgery as an issue at all.
He just became my new favorite doctor. I walked out of his office ecstatic and ready to call the bariatric center to get the weight loss surgery scheduled right then. I mean if they would have taken me in tomorrow, I was READY. It was late in the day though, so I decided to wait.
Turns out waiting was a bad choice. I woke up the next day with horrible back pain. I’d had back issues for many years, but it had been mostly stable for a while. Now I was experiencing a bout of sciatica that was so bad, I had little to no muscle control in my legs.
Great, more health issues to deal width and once again bariatric surgery would have to wait.
Let me jump forward a bit here. It took a few months, some new meds, some injections, and some aquatic therapy, but the back was feeling tolerable, at least. I was finally ready to call the bariatric surgeon’s office.
Remember me saying I should have called sooner? It turns out they had a 2 month backlog for “new” patients. You see, because I had been out of the program for almost 18 months at that point, I basically had to start over.
Fast forward to September 2021 and I finally get to meet with a PA and start the “intake” process. I then did the standard psych evaluation and 6 months of dietitian visits required by my insurance company. The surgeon also decided that I needed to do an abdominal CT scan with contrast. Not sure if this was typical, or something “special” just for me.
Unfortunately, once again something wasn’t right. This meant the surgeon wanted a closer look, which meant more testing.
Pro tip, if you ever get told you need to do a fluoroscopic swallowing exam, see if you can get out of it. Seriously. This was probably one of the top 5 worst exams I've done. I went in thinking it would be no big deal and was much more worried about the endoscopy they also were planning. Turns out, I had it completely backward. I slept through the endoscopy, but the swallow study just was miserable.
After a few tense days of waiting for results, my surgeon’s office said they found a couple of issues, including a hiatal hernia, but I was okay to proceed to surgery! Now it became a waiting game for insurance approval and surgical scheduling. (Apparently they are still way behind and not able to accommodate a full surgical schedule due to a COVID-19 induced backlog.)
After an eternity waiting, I finally, finally got scheduled for September 20th. I just thought I was anxious before. Now the waiting really begins!

I just was sleeved on 8/16. I have been over 300 pounds for YEARS… but as long as I was able to do what I wanted and needed to - I didn’t see the need. Last year I hit my heaviest weight ever at 382… and I was like NOPE this isn’t happening. I worked my butt off to loose weight and had a good start. Then I got sick and we found out my liver was enlarged (like 3x the size it should be) and my fatty liver was progressing to NASH and my liver function tests were concerning my drs. Finally I was ready to consider surgery.

I lost about 55 pounds from my heaviest leading up to my pre surgery diet (over about 9 months). I had a few set backs with having covid during that time. My endocrinologist was pleased with my liver reduction (through palpitations) and knowing I was scared about surgery told me if I kept making progress I could hold off on surgery if I wanted. But I was to worried that there would always be another “set back” and my liver wasn’t anything I wanted to mess with. I lost another 12 pounds on my pre op diet.

I asked my surgeon how my liver looked after surgery (there was a chance I was also going to end up with a liver biopsy in addition to a hernia repair) and she told me my liver looked fantastic and to keep doing what I was doing - no need for the biopsy.

There’s no guarantees that weight loss would reverse my liver condition - but it was my best shot. However I was told if I did nothing it certainly would continue to deteriorate.

I’m not quite a week out. I’m sore - occasional movements hurt, at times a bit nauseous (not horrible) and I’m sick of the liquid diet … but I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. I have confirmation I’m on the right track and that means the world to me. I’m not looking to be a particular size or weight, I’m working towards being healthy and that includes my liver, joints and over all well being.

My husband was supportive right from the beginning to do whatever I wanted to do. At times I wavered because I was scared - but he was my rock and honestly I think not doing something scared him more that the surgery (he was scared too). He sat in my drs appointment when the dr explained what the progression of my liver from NAFLD to NASH meant and what to expect if I didn’t make some real changes.

My only advice is find a bariatric program you are comfortable with. It took me two tries. Have your boyfriend come along if he’s able and if not take someone you trust to be objective and SUPPORTIVE. Having that support helps. Also if you have a therapist talk to them about it - your concerns, fears, hopes for the outcome. And if you don’t have one, consider finding someone who deals with bariatric health. I see mine every two weeks and we always touch on where I’m at in the process - it has helped.

No one can tell you what the right decision is for you, but I do hope you have support whatever you choose to do. Best of luck and please update how you are doing no matter what you decide.

I got a stronger Stick Frother. Its great for quickly blending in the Protein powders, especially the Isopure into Soup and stuff. It was $5.... That is all I have needed,

I bought a thermos cup. I was so fed up of my coffee going cold before I had more than a few sips of it. Now its summer I just drink cold coffee.
I needed a step to get in my bed the early days after surgery. We had a bed wedge already and I still use it.
If I could have afforded it, I would have bought a recliner chair for the first few weeks after surgery. I would have slept in it. I had terrible nausea and GERD
Another thing to consider - I had my surgery in very cold weather, end of November. I very quickly found as I lost weight that I was freezing cold all the time. 100lbs + later, I am ready for this winter. I have lots of fluffy blankets for the sofa and fluffy slippers. My husband spent the winter in his underwear, he couldn't stand the house so warm.

I second the immersion blender. I love mine and how easy it is to blend things. smoothies, homemade Protein Shakes, Soups especially for the soft and puree stage.

My current favorites:
1. Air fryer. Crispy yumminess without a lot of oil. I love air frying all kinds of veggies.
2. Denzin mini electric hot pot 1.5L sauté pan because it is tiny and easy to clean, make eggs, steak, Soup, everything in it.
3. Hotlogic mini portable oven. Keeps food warm up to 12 hr. It also cooks many things, like salmon perfectly.

I know this post is pretty old but I was diagnosed with abdominal lymphoma about 3.5 years after I had my gastric bypass surgery. I had to go through 6 months of chemotherapy

I am in the pre-op stage (October 10) and am wondering what kitchen equipment or tools people find most helpful in the general diet stage. Do you keep it simple (good ol pots and pans) or do you use an air fryer or instant pot, ect…?

Thank you all for the great input!

I guess everyone has their opinion on this but I think everyone can agree that being hydrated is good for the body and good for weight loss. I drink around 90-100 ounces of Water a day and I credit my water intake for the weight loss I have seen. If I drink a lot of water I rarely if ever get hungry between meals. Remember that water also:
1. helps keep the skin hydrated which will help the skin contract so you do not have a lot of loose skin after the weight loss. I lost over 100 pounds and my skin is nearly back to where it was 30 years ago on my stomach.
2. Reduces water retention which helps keep weight off.
3. Dehydration slows down metabolism....scientific fact....so if you are trying to lose weight, that is something you do not want to happen.
4. If you are diabetic, plenty of water helps flush out waste and keep your numbers under control.
5. More hydration keeps the joints lubricated reducing inflammation and making it easier to walk and move which will improve weight loss.
My advice to anyone that has WLS is to continue to force fluids until it becomes second nature to you. I do not think 64 ounces is enough, but that is my personal opinion on my experience. Most people are up 16-18 hours per day, so based on 64 hours, all you have to do is drink 4 ounces an hour....4 ounces....to get 64 ounces in a day. Challenge yourself and go to 6 ounces and you get up to 76 ounces of water. Anyone can force down 4-6 ounces of water in an hour...that is a one ounce shot every 10 minutes to get to 6 ounces.
Force yourself to get this done and you will be glad you did.

The only thing I bought was a immersion blender with a food processor attachment. I wanted the immersion blender for be able to blend thicker or chunky Soups for the pureed phase. I bought one with the food processor because I ran into a few times when I needed one before surgery and it was a good deal.
Turns out, I didn't use the immersion blender at all and blended my food in the processor. I used the processor 2 times and haven't used any of it since.
Long story short, probably didn't need it. Probably didn't/don't need anything extra than normal kitchen accessories.

I honestly don’t know about the pain. I had very little post op so I can’t say but i can tell you that liquids go right through you plus you had alot of nerves cut that take time to regenerate. Many people do not start to feel restriction until they get to more solid foods. The best thing to do is to measure out your food and just eat what you are expected to at each stage.

Getting sleeved tomorrow 8/23/22! I'm so excited!!!!
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