nallygirl

Hi Jennifer! Congratulations on your surgery!! I agree with Reverie in that you should be focusing on healing right now. Its all too easy on this site to compare ourselves to someone else's journey which always leads to frustration or guilt that you may be doing something wrong. Its amazing how different everyone's body reacts to the surgery and from the 8 months I've been on these boards its hard to find two people with the exact same experiences. Its really important right now also to make sure you are drinking your protein. In the days after my surgery it was the first thing I drank in the morning. Even if it didn't taste so great I knew it was what my body needed and I believe it has helped me tremendously. Now that I'm on mushies I track all my protein and calories on a website like FitDay and it keeps me accountable for what I'm putting in my mouth. I also make sure to measure my portions. While I could easily eat more than a cup of food at a meal I haven't broken from it since being banded. Not having restriction makes it so hard on everyone at this stage. Just stay focused on why you decided to make this change! Good Luck with your journey!!

Hi Renee! I had my surgery on March 16th and I didn't have any issues at all with my surgery or recovery. On day three I was sweeping my floors and day four I was out walking at the outlet mall with my friend. As for the gym, I was back in the gym walking on the treadmill within a week. After two weeks I was cleared to run but still no weight training. The surgeon said I cannot do weight training or core work until week 6 just to give myself extra time to heal. It seems like every surgeon is different though so you might be able to weight train sooner. For the pre-op diet, I did still workout but I noticed a huge drop in energy. I was only able to do an hour max and that was just walking, zumba or kick boxing class. Now that I am able to eat actual food again my energy has returned and I haven't had any issues in the gym with long workouts. Hope that helps! Good luck with your surgery!!

I've been on mushies now for four day and some of the things on my list from my nutritionist are banana w/ peanut butter, fat free refried beans, chili (blended a bit to take out the chunks), hummus, tuna fish, canned chicken (like for chicken salad), mashed sweet potatoes, oatmeal, yogurt, sugar free pudding and any fish w/ cooked veggies. So far it hasn't been too bad and I'm so thankful for anything other than soup!! Good luck!

Hi there...my surgeon warned me that having any type of surgery can alter your normal menstral cycle. He didn't explain why only said that I could start early or it may be delayed. I started a week early but other than that its been normal. Probably a good idea to check with your GYN just to be safe.

Congratulations on your band!! My port is also near my belly button. I didn't realize it though until today when I went for a post op appt. Its just under my belly button to the right. Almost two weeks out and I haven't had an issue...didn't even know it was there lol Good luck! Wishing you a speedy recovery!!

Hi Karen...I am 12 days post op and even though it did take a few days I was definitely hungry after my surgery. Once the swelling goes down from surgery I was told to expect to be hungry. I didn't feel like I was starving but I could tell I would have a little rumble here and there. I just progressed to mushies today and it did help with the hunger. Good luck and Congrats on your surgery!

Yay! Congratulations on your approval!!

From what I've learned at my support groups, with sleeve and bypass it is only temporary that the hunger hormone is reduced. The hormone itself is called ghrelin. Eventually your body will begin to produce it again and with that the hunger will come back as well. Just passing along what I've been told by the hospital's nurses/nutritionists.

I was wondering the same thing when I had to start my liquid diet! I read a lot of information online but found it to be very complicated and overly medical. I did find this article though and thought it had some great information. Hope you find it interesting: http://www.nutraingr...-suggests-study

Hey teachkins! It's most likely due to your increased protein intake. If you Google ketosis you'll see one of the symptoms is bad breath. I had the issue before when I was doing Atkins and now that I've started drinking the protein shakes again I've noticed the issue a few times myself. Hope that helps

Hi There, I completely understand what you're feeling right now! I am one week post-op and had to do a two week liquid diet and had the same fears you do. It wasn't easy but it wasn't torture either. For me the key was constantly drinking. I never went anywhere without my Water bottle and I also drank a lot of decaff tea/coffee to help me through. The first few days were hard to get used to but eventually the hunger pains weren't too bad. You're going to be hungry but trust me, after that first week when you step on the scale and see you've lost weight you'll be motivated to continue...at least I was! Also if you can, try to get all your tempting food out of the house before you start the pre-op diet!! I didn't have anything in the house so it made it easier for me not to cheat. Post op hasn't been to bad either. Because of the swelling I've just started to get my hunger back. I'll move to mushies next week and I'm looking forward to it but honestly being on liquids this week hasn't been bad at all. You can do this! Don't give up before you get started! There are a ton of people on here to support you! Good Luck!!

Hi Kelli! I'm 5 days post-op also and still have some pain in my biggest incision which I'm assuming is where my port is. It is really uncomfortable to sit in certain positions for too long but it seems to get better every day. Hang in there!!

Good luck!! Will keep my fingers crossed for a speedy approval!!

Hi Justin, I'm so proud of your accomplishment!! It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to stay clean for 2 years. You are on the right track and making good decisions. Take your time withdrawling from the methadone...No one else will know what's right for you other than you! As for the 3 month diet, in my personal opinion its just a hoop the insurance company makes you jump through. They are hoping you won't go through with it or you will look at self pay options. Like Shirley said though, I would find out what their minimum BMI is for approval and stay above that. For example, my insurance (Cigna) requires a minimum BMI of 40. Since my BMI when I started my 6 month diet was very close to that I only lost about 8 pounds in those 6 months so I could stay above the minimum. Losing weight did not affect my approval. Good luck with everything! Natalie

I know how you feel. I had to do a 6 month medically supervised diet and exercise program per my insurance also. At the time I was so upset about it. I had done all my research, decided this was the right choice for me then finding out I had to wait was so upsetting! Now that I've gone through the process, taken all the classes, researched and researched some more, I feel like I am somewhat grateful for the time I've had to fully prepare myself for this change. Don't get me wrong, I would have been all too happy to have my surgery the month I had my consult. Time flew by though and I'm ready for surgery! Stay strong, you'll make it through! Good luck!

I am on week 2 of my liquid pre-op diet. My surgeon makes us use the Optifast products. So I have Optifast shakes 4 times a day, one Optifast bar and one Optifast soup (powder soup mix - chicken and tomato). The shakes are tiny, only 8 oz and the soup isn't much either. The one thing that has kept me somewhat full though is constantly drinking water and if I'm super hungry I'll have some coffee with splenda.

Hi Jennielee! My surgery date is March 16th and I'm on week two of my pre-op liquid diet. My bmi is only 40 but my surgeon said everyone has to do it to shrink your liver prior to surgery. I was required to use Optifast shakes 4 times a day, one Optifast bar and one Optifast soup. The first few days of the diet were a struggle but after that I guess your body gets used to it and I didn't feel as hungry. I was more a mental battle of wanting to eat than it was being hungry. I've noticed that drinking a lot of water has helped a lot also. Good luck! You can do it! Hang in there!!

Hi Justin, For me personally I had to do a 6 month medically supervised diet and exercise program per my insurance (Cigna). I did mine through my surgeon's office but others have done their's through a Primary Care Physician. For mine I went to a group meeting once a month at my surgeon's office. They would record my weight then we would have a class on a nutrition topic (reading food lables, importance of exercise, healthy options for eating out). Some in the class also had a weight loss goal set for them by their surgeon that they had to meet before the end of the 6 months, my surgeon did not have this requirement. At the end of the 6 months I had to get all my pre-op testing done so my PCP would write me a medical clearance for surgery. Not everyone's PCP made them do this. Some didn't do their testing until they received insurance approval. The testing included blood work, chest xrays, Upper GI and gallbladder ultrasound. Once that was done, my clearance letter written, the surgeon's office submitted all my paperwork to the insurance company for approval. I received an approval in a few days and my surgery was scheduled for the next month. From start to finish this process took me 8 months and I have my surgery on March 16th. Since you only have to do a 3 month supervised diet yours may take a much shorter amount of time. But I would plan on it being at least 5 months before your actual surgery date. As for the psych eval, mine was very quick. It was a 30 minute session with a psychologist. She asked me questions about myself, what I do for a living, how long I have considered weight loss surgery, what else I have tried, why did I decided to do it now, have a researched the surgery. She also asked me questions about my history with weight, was I over weight as a child, what are/were my exercise habits. Then she asked if I had told anyone about wanting surgery and if they were supportive. Basically to me it seemed like they were trying to make sure I was aware this is a life changing decision, that I wasn't making an impulse decision to have it done and that I have a good support system in place after surgery. It's really not that bad at all. Like you I was really upset when I found out I had to wait so long for the surgery. Once I decided this was right for me I wanted to have it done tomorrow! Looking back though and seeing how much I have learned over the past 8 months I am grateful to have had the time to prepare myself for this new lifestyle. I hope that helped to answer some of your questions. Good luck!

Hi gregt...While I haven't had my surgery yet that is actually something I asked my nutritionist about. She suggested I just add an additional scoop of Protein powder to my shakes. So if my brand says a serving size is 1 scoop, I will just add 2 scoops for the extra calories. I'm not sure if you are using RTD or are making your Protein Shakes yourself, but if you are making them yourself you might want to try this out and see if it works for you. I'm sure some people in the post-op section would have some great ideas as well. Good luck to you!

Congratulations on your surgery date!!! You're being banded the day before I am

Hi Justin, If you are planning on using insurance to pay for surgery you may want to start there just to see if they cover the gastric banding. If they do, then you can ask about your specific situation as well. Have you gone to a seminar yet or met with a surgeon? This would be a great question to bring up with the surgeon during your one on one consultation. It would also be a good idea to discuss alternatives to narcotic pain relievers after surgery. My sister was on methadone when she had a major surgery and they were able to give her non-narcotic meds that still helped with her pain. Congratulations on seeking recovery! Stay strong and good luck with your journey!

LoL I am right there with you!!! I'm on day one of my pre-op diet and what does my department decide to order for lunch...PIZZA!!! I just made up an excuse as to why I couldn't join them in the conference room for lunch and sat at my desk drinking my tiny little Optifast shake. Good for you though for resisting all that delicious temptation!

Hi Sombra! I have an issue with only one of my knees also which has made it hard to walk on the treadmill at times. I took my first water aerobics class ever and I loved it!! You still get a great workout but without all the pounding on your joints. Swimming laps is also a great cardio exercise. You may want to think about asking one of the trainers at your gym if they could recommend some strengthening exercises for you as well. Good luck with everything!

Congratulations on your approval!!!

Thank you for the info. That was my concern, is I'm only going to be taking in 800 calories so if I'm buring 200 on top of that am I going to keel over and pass out on the treadmill? lol! I think it will be ok though and I really don't want to break this streak I'm on....cause let's face it...if it were easy to work out I wouldn't be in this position! lol! You should definitely try swimming! The first day I was very very sore but it was a great workout and something different.