Search the Community

I soo wasted 30 yrs and self denial and sick for 25 of them yrs. yo yo dieting all them yrs. the more I lost the more was gained each time! by 50 yrs old 2 specialist sent me to WLS I had hit over 270 pds and 30 of it in 1 month. I have ended up over these yrs with over 12 dx's. thyroid disease and prediabetic as 2. If I hadn't done this and it was strictly my decision and being sick and tired of being sick and tired and the buying the plus size numbers just kept going up and up!! ugh..truthfully disgusted and angry with myself bc of being sick. I was NOT a binge eater. emotional crutch sure. love eating?? no..I ate to fill a void that I had finally come to terms with and got to the bottom of the issue. when I reached that peace out of the blue both these dr's in the same week directed me to the sleeve. my endocrinologist said I would continue to just get bigger and bigger even only eating less the 1000 calories a day that I was consuming. I refused to end up a couch potatoe and miserable and hardly getting up and down and wasting another minute of my life being obese. I said enough was enough for me. this was my life saver. I didn't tell but a select few which was my hubs which is my biggest supporter and he looked at this as being able to not only get healthy but to help him as well he is diabetic yet watches his diet. before I knew it I filled out the surgeons questionnaire was called within 5 days had my 1st app was enrolled in all required preop classes had blood work, already had the required tests done a yr earlier by my internists so the surgeon already knew what was going on with me..I was 3 months from 1st app to surgery day and now I am reaching my 9 month PO in another wk and over 100 pds down I swear its the best thing I ever did. my extended family and friends still don't no and that's cool with me. it was hard enough mentally and emotionally going through the withdrawals without others giving their uneducated opinions. that worked for me. but the benefits sure does outweigh the risks. I was already on the wrong path we stopped it dead in its tracks. yea I second guessed my decision till the night before surgery its normal..I was scared but excited for a new body and life and I was willing to turn my life around. soo happy I did this. do your research. I don't use food. it doesn't control me. I control it to live. I have replaced food with other things. these positive changes you can use to benefit your immediate family. I love the restriction this sleeve does. I watch what I eat. I had to change my thoughts our society has us programmed and slammed with commercials on food and out of controlled portions. my choices on my plan has worked and the baby tummy has been a blessing! I am glad you found this site. you'll learn alot...you'll find the good/bad/and the ugly to all sides. everyone is different and have their personal struggles. but in the end this site is for ones who are either thinking about or are veterans with yrs of wisdom and experiences that has helped me tremendously! I'm thankful for this site and I am thankful for my dr's looking out for my welfare and directed me to the right place ..my surgeon. I am 51 and my life now is better then ever despite my diseases! there is hope and I am living and active and sitting on the way side watching my life go by and I am not having the pity party I was in for yrs no more! I have cleaned out my closet 4 times already and luv shopping again! 27 yrs have gone by that I can not get back. wish you the best sorry I'm so winded! lol..I walk with my head high now and not hiding on the sides... keep us posted dear..

I had the esophagus spasms for 2 wks. I had my hernia repaired. had no issue with the stomach at all it was sipping issue. it was awful! for this reason I told my surgeon I was staying in another night to get the fluids I needed through the IV bc I knew if I went home I would end up in ER with dehydration. so I was in over 48 hrs hooked up. it helped soo much! yes I still sipped. but I was grabbing my chest with every dang sip! I ended up getting a script for liquid nova-cane. my internist gave it to me. it didn't take much and he told me to make sure I put the spoon as far back as possible then swallow I didn't need my whole mouth numb! lol..it wasn't bad at all the med but it did help. speak up if your able to stay another night do so. I did and it helped. I had taken my heating pad with me to the hospital also so I kept the heating pad on my chest on low I still had the spasms but it felt good to have the pad. I feel for ya I went through this.

please update as soon as possible because I am also waiting for a response back from BCBS fed emp and I was told that as of 2015 a lot of the requirements had changed since I originally started this journey in Nov of last year. I feel frustrated for you.

let me know how you did that because I am waiting for BCBS fed emp too....

Hello all I've read a lot of you all saying that you can check your claim status to see if your surgery is approved or not how would I do that? I have finished all my requirements for surgery but haven't heard anything from my bariatic coordinator

Not sure what the generic would be for that BC but generic is all I've ever been on! It is free certain generics because of the law Obama put into place. I've been on Necon for 2 years I can't remember what I was on before that but it was also a generic.

There is a lot of negative comments about this subject for sure. You see entire threads where people state how wonderful and perfect they were on their pre op diet, but cheated once and had one almond and felt horrible. I kind of call BS on this, one almond fatty? Its forced compliance after surgery, you will just be better off if you learn good habits first. I ate like a total fat a$$ up until the day before surgery. Night before I took an Ambien and ate 2 candy bars from the mini fridge in my sleep haze...my shame. Just glad those suckers had digested when they cut me open 10 hours later.

How long was it before you were able to get a good work out in? After my gallbladder surgery I had to wait 4 weeks to get a good workout in and after both of my c sections it was about 8 weeks (bc both were horrible emergency c sections) so I'm just wondering the time frame.

@@McButterpants Yes, I agree. I should perhaps edit original post bc I think I am not asking what I want answered correctly. I am going to talk to my doc and nutritionist tomorrow (and before eating anything new) but was curious if others were as hungry as I am and craving real food this early.

@@CanyonBaby I understand this because I used to post here when I had lapband often, but regardless wording can be a bit more sensitive/less accusatory. I completely agree with what Bufflehead posted, but it was indeed a harsh way of putting it and it was misconstrued bc I was just asking for other's experiences (not asking for permission to eat what I want) and this is discouraging because i feel misheard.

My boss is a guy. He was concerned of course, and I just said it's ok, don't worry... just "abdominal surgery", nothing "major". Kept it light. (my first thought was to say it was girlie stuff, and he'd run away, lol) I did file FMLA in case there was a complication and I needed more than the two weeks I put in for. Otherwise I wouldn't have told anyone about anything, and left it at that. But I felt better knowing I would have had the FMLA to fall back on if I needed additional time. HR just files it away - claim they don't even look at the form. So who knows. All I do know is that I've never heard a peep from anyone. And just FYI - big picture, I REALLY don't care who knows. There's no shame. I just have enough going on in my life that I don't need to deal with someone else's BS over my choice to have WLS. All of my family, and tons of folks out side of work know. It's all your choice.

I didn't read all the comments but any loss is celebration!! just thought I'd share what helped me..protein 1st, drinking my fluids staying hydrated, I know everyone's differant I was 4 or so months out before I even ate any fruit bc of the sugar/carb content any sugar slows down the loss..that's how it affects me even before surgery I don't even do natural fruit juices but very seldom when I do its very little, my diet guidelines were no breads, pastas,white rice. crackers, potatoes, starchy veggies till I reach goal and I am 8 months out I figure I have a few more months before I add a little of something like these. the less sugar or even artificial sweetner the better I do. I use stevia as my sweetner or a little raw sugar. I was even out to 4 months still doing the pure protein shakes or chike my tummy was very sensitive for the longest time even eating a scrambled egg I did good to get 2 or 3 bites in at 1 seating. I do eat healthy full fat , I eat the regular cottage cheese and I think the kroger carbmaster or something like that yogurt is the only thing I eat that has an artifical sweetner other then the plain chobani yogurt, I always eat my proteins first then I'll fill in with a green beans or roasted brocolli or grilled zuchinni as my veggies with lunch or dinner when I end up not drinking a shake. I do meals moslty. just don't beat yourself up! any weight loss is success!! hang in there! just wanted to share whats helped me don't compare yourself with others

Almost 5 yrs post op, now I have lots of pain in/around my port. Nearly any type food brings it on. Even water. Coffee doesn't. I don't get fills anymore bc I wasn't losing weight. Has anyone else experienced this?

One of the best purchases I've made to help in eating well is a food Saver. I love wild-caught salmon but it's quite expensive here. My local grocery store, however, has a very good sale on it about every 3 months. I buy a lot then and package it in small portions, vacuum seal and freeze it. I have completely quit eating any farm-raised fish, as they are usually fed a corn-based diet and probably medicated as well. I live near the Chesapeake Bay, source of great seafood, but I am not convinced the Bay is all that clean anymore, despite the extra surcharge that goes on my sewer bill every month for that! So, while I love shrimp and clams, I eat them less frequently - they are bottom feeders so who knows what they are picking up.

I recommend waiting a little longer to drink your first cup. I started coffee back up 2 months after the BS and now drink it every day with no problems.

I can talk to you. I live in BC. PM me if you want my number. I used Elias Ortiz and was very happy.

Thanks, as I am allergic to cheese I have to cut that out of everything. I am fed up of just eating soups at the moment so my motivation isn't what it should be. Any tips are appreciated

@@My Bariatric Life. I mostly agree with you. And KNOWING exactly where your food comes from is definitely the way to go. I try my best to buy local from producers I feel comfortable with. As you can see from my previous post, not all of them are ones I would patronize. I shoot my own deer and elk. My beef is local grass fed angus. My turkey and pork are purchased from 4H kids. Fresh trout comes straight out of Jackson Lake or the Snake River. Clients give me more free farm eggs than I can possibly eat. If I could stand the taste I could have all the goats milk and goat cheese I want, but...Yuck! Being in Idaho, I am, of course limited to seasonal fruits and veggies. The rest of the year I buy whats commercially available in the grocery store, but don't always go for the organic. Seafood, of course, is the big missing link and, again, I'm stuck with what's commercially available. But all in all I'm much better off in knowing the exact source of my food than I think a lot of people. And from what we've both shown, unfortunately there is rarely a perfect choice.

@@Kindle no apologies needed. The conversation takes us where we are meant to go. When I went organic, I lived in NJ where I had access to lots of quality locally grown organic and raised on pasture without hormones or antibiotics food sources. I got my veggies and fruits and herbs from my CSA where I could go into the fields and picky my own or take what was already picked. I got my fowl and eggs from the farmer's market butcher who sourced it from farm in NJ and surrounding states. I got my fresh fish from the farmer's market fish monger who sold only wild caught fish. And in time one of the things I noticed was how incredibly my sense of smell increased. I also noticed a huge improvement in the flavor of these foods. Commercially prepared chicken and eggs, even if they are organic certified, simply do not compare in taste. Additionally there is so much scientific evidence that links chemicals in our food and environment to very serious diseases. Do you know that cancer is caused 90-95% from environment and lifestyle. Every single one of my dogs died from cancer. My daughter had thyroid cancer. To me, this all the warning of the canary in the coal mine. I do not shun pharmaceuticals. I have working in pharma marketing my entire career and I am honored to market products that improve quality of life, extend life, and in some instances save life. I've also worked at Merck AgVet the world's largest animal health company, which includes products for production animals. What I am against is the greed of corporate food manufacturers who, for example, cram dairy cows into unnatural living quarters so that they are standing knee deep in the feces of hundreds of cows, at the same time being injected with growth hormone so their udders grow super-sized filled with milk, and then these same cows have to be prophylactically over inoculated with antibiotics and parasiticides because they now have big teets dragging in piles of sh*t and at risk for developing coliform mastitis. I am against, for example, Purdue who genetically modifies chicken so that they develop unnaturally large breasts, so large in fact that the chickens fall forward onto their breasts because they are top-heavy. I am against, for example, eating grain that has been grown from round-up ready seed so that crop dusters can plaster it with herbicides that kill everything but the grains that have been engineered to withstand the poison. Personally, I do not want to eat frankenfood. I don't want to eat food from a manufacturer. I want to eat it from a farmer... unless it is fish, which I then want to eat from the ocean or stream. Most of America has an illusion of where their food comes from. We see rolling pastures with a small herd of cows or cattle and we think it goes from there to our plates. I have yet to drive past the feedlot, the middle man between that rolling pasture where the cattle spends its first 6-mos of life before it is shipped to the deplorable conditions of the feedlot where it is essentially force fed an unnatural diet of GMO corn so it fattens unnaturally quickly (cattle do not eat corn, they eat grass), and barely allowed to move because it is standing in pens that are as crowded as a NYC subway at rush hour (in dung as mentioned earlier), for the next year of its life until it goes to the disgusting conditions of the slaughterhouse. And BTW if they weren't slaughtered at 18-mos their stomachs would soon explode from the corn and silage they are fed. And all of this process is done to keep a few food conglomerates rich at the incalculable expense of our health. So now we both have ranted!!! I value and respect your opinion and do not want you to think I am arguing with you. For years I have been passionate about this topic of our food sources and chemicals in our environment because of all the research I've done since having my gastric bypass in 2003 and having to learn what it means to eat healthy. I was shocked (horrified) when I learned the truth about factory farming and CAFOs and corruption within the government and food manufacturers and chemical companies! With the examples you've cited it certainly shows that there are many flaws with organic food, too. And we haven't even discussed the food conglomerates who are now capitalizing on the organic food movement! A rant for another day, perhaps?

Thank u all. I unfortunately am really scared to actually drink anything lol bc I hate the idea of discomfort! It's just not getting easier and I just wish I could gulp! Taking it one step at a time!

I know the feeling, I kept thinking of all the good that is going to come my way with this decision and all of the BS I went thru before making the choice to do it. Now that I am 1.5 day past my surgery, I can honestly say, relax and keep the good thoughts in front of any of your fears. Good Luck, you got this.

I had my 4 week post op appointment today and something's just have been piling up and after just a 1 lb loss in 2 weeks I cried all thru my appointment. Part of it is just the emotional roller coaster this surgery puts you through and then the scale not moving. Apparently it's normal. My dr is so awesome and took almost an hour with me. She told me to hide my scale, not to look at how many calories I'm burning on the machines at the gym, and to just relax. She said my body is going thru the WTF phase and is holding onto everything i am putting in my body. I mean I understand that I get it but my only source of support is this forum. My best friend turned her back on me when I was in the hospital- she has her own issues-- my mother has Altheimers.... I return to work next week and looking forward to it. I try so hard to be positive and hold my head up, but it's all hitting me today. I'm sad and feeling depressed. I've tried reaching out to my sister but she is too busy. How do you explain or help yourself thru times like this? I just feel so angry... And I never feel like this. Going to the gym didn't help... I took something for my anxiety and it's not working. I just feel lost. I'm not sure if this relAtes to anybody else? I don't want a therapist bc it's too expensive. The support group doesn't meet for two more weeks and it's kind of out of my way but I'm willing to make the hike. Sorry to unload on here... Didnt know where else to go.

At the beginning it seems extreme I am having a little trouble getting fluids in i too only get about 2-3 full cups a day your goal is not to get dehydrated take a sip even if small of water,sugar free crystal light, propel anything every ten minutes! My favorite thing is sugar free Popsicles they are my life good luck and be happy u can at least get in a lot Bc im having the opposite issues! I have a question for u are u still experiencing any soreness or pains at all?

I grew up (and survived) the 60s and experienced EVERYTHING it had to offer, and I mean EVERYTHING!....in 1970 I went into the military and did 2 tours of Vietnam...when I got out i went to college and got my degree... I have been to just about everywhere in the USA, (and around the world)...lived in a few different areas including California, Oklahoma and others...I quess that's why people say I don't talk like I'm from NJ.... I quess what I'm saying, there is not much I have not seen, or experienced. have/had known many good friends and families from every different race, culture ethnicity, etc... I've been rich as many times as I have been poor...Spent nights in 5 star hotels, and on the floor of home made cabins in Colorado or the cliffs in Baha..... I am now in the medical field, and without to much detail I see new patients and their families 3-4 days a week...people say, and comment on how I can immediately make people feel at ease, and get their trust as though we grew up together...people are simply looking for someone to help them, not BS them.... Life has taught me a lot of things....most of all, LOVE! Life can be very miserable if you don't have some love and genuine interest for everyone and everything around you. And learn to laugh!!!! If people don't accept you, then F*** em if they can't take a joke!

Oh, and hate to burst your bubble about organic food, but after my experiences with actual organic farmers, I'm reluctant to support them. Here are some examples... 1) two separate clients contracted worms from eating unwashed organic vegetables. We know this because they came to us to have their dogs dewormer, thinking that's where they got the worms. We directed them (and their physicians) to the CDC website where it clearly described that this type of worm is NOT contracted from animals, but instead, from oral-fecal transmission between people. In other words, the organic veggies they were eating were contaminated with human feces. 2) organic dairy farmer had a cow trying to give birth but the calf was presenting breech. The only option was to perform a C section, but the farmer wouldn't let us use the local anesthetic required to do this. Instead, both the cow and calf ended up dying 3) a DIFFERENT organic dairy farmer had a cow with a torn teat that had become infected. He had been feeding garlic to the cow to try and treat the infection which obviously wasn't working. Since we couldn't treat with antibiotics, the teat and part of the udder eventually became gangrenous and the cow was sent to slaughter (and subsequently sold locally as organic beef) 4) an organic farmer who doesn't treat for weeds produced a crop of hay that was infested with a poisonous weed. The hay was fed to a herd of 10 horses, 7 of which ended up dying. 5) an entire farm's pigs died from a preventable disease because the farmer wouldn't vaccinate. The owners actually asked if it would still be OK to butcher them.....REALLY? The neighbor's pigs, who were in contact with the sick ones were vaccinated and none of them even got sick I was raised on my mom's home garden produce and our neighbor's home-raised chickens, eggs, pigs and beef, but when it comes to today's commercial organic food, I'm a bit leery. We see a lot more sick and parasite-ridden organic animals than non-organic ones. For me it's a matter of weighing the alleged potential of harmful chemicals in the food I eat vs animal welfare. (Sorry about hijacking this thread with my rant)