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Hi everyone!!! Super excited tomorrow is the day !!!! Surgery day !!!! So many emotions and did ok on my liquid diet but this clear liquid last day has been a lil rough. I think it’s bc I know this is it .. the last day of old me . And Tuesday morning is the first day of the rest of my life ... hubby is very nervous 😬 but I know I got this !!! Anyone else is having surgery tomorrow?? Excited happy nervous omg so many things going on in my head ... can’t wait 😊

Thanks, I'll check. And most of the places like these are not currently accepting donations in the DC area. Many feds are taking the involuntary time off to clean out their houses. So the charities are full.

Hey Lolo2020 The loss was quicker earlier on and has slowed down since. But I was losing anywhere from 2-4 pounds a week initially. Take advantage of this honeymoon period where you're not "hungry" so you can make better choices. For me the hunger hasn't come bk yet so I'm tstill taking advantage of that by eating healthy. I do have my mega sweet tooth that gets me. Ex Skittles. I also weigh every day bc it keeps me in check. But I know that maybe considered obsessive to some but it's what works for me. You can do it. Just focus on the prize and reward your self w a new shirt or pants. That has been very exciting for me...buying clothes. Hope I've helped. Let me know if you have any other questions I can help with.

I am still a Dr. V sub because he's honest about what he's selling (I don't need to buy it) And his advice is still spot on for most people not just the WLS community. Stop eating BS if you're gaining/regaining and he was like sure, yeah you may need to try IF to gain some control ...

We did that last year on our return from Canada in June. We ticked "yes" to the streams, farms, etc box and got taken into the other line. When I told the guy we'd been gold panning in the Columbia River in BC he laughed and sent us on our way.

Hello all... First time poster.. I have less than 3 months before surgery.. I am 34 and a mother of 2 wonderful childern. 7 yrs and 1 year old. I remember hearing women say how hard it was to lose weight after having children and I used to think BS!! This has now become me and has been me for quite some time now. It seems like if I look at food I can gain the calories from it without even eating it. My question is how do mothers with young children cope with the snacks in the house. My children are very healthy both physically and mentally both love fruits and veggies and do not have not weight issues. I pack my daughters lunch for school so I tend to keep extra in the pantry. I cannot completely remove snacks and certain foods from my home, like I have done before I had childern. How do mothers cope after surgery with having childern and staying out of the snack pantry. I am thinking of all the things that got me to not being able to control my weight and i have come to the honest truth that indulging in snacks and also eating their leftover food from of their plate contributes big time to me not being able to control my weight. Before I became a mother I rarely snacked, grocery shopped maybe a few times a month, now I'm in the grocery store at the least a couple of times a week. (I love the grocery store) any tips. Thanks in advance! Sent from my SM-G935T using BariatricPal mobile app

It has to do with the amount of tissue loss and sag. At my largest i was a 40H. So going down 3 cupsizes, and going from a 50" chest to a 4 1" chest makes the lift they have to do more complex. Also I breast Fed two kids, and this is my second major weight loss (112 pounds in my early 20s). My skin has had it. The good news is that they usually can do the lift and implant at the same time. I am just a special case. I felt ok going to bariatric pal MX. The price was right, for sure. But my family just was not in board. And it felt really impersonal. As for their work I thought their tummy tuck looked on point with what you get in the states. The breast were...um, how do I put it it...a little porn star in appearance. 😅

My surgeon uses a different pre-op diet: 2 shakes/day, unlimited veggies, 3 oz. of meat/day, and very limited other things, so it's low carb by nature and totals less than 1000 calories/day most days. I started it a week early and have dropped 15 lbs so far and hope to drop a little more this week. For my 2 protein shakes, I'm usually having Amazon Elements Grass-Fed 100% Whey Protein Isolate (vanilla) mixed with 2 tbsp PB2 and 1 tbsp cocoa and 8 ounces of almond milk (yum) for one shake and a "latte" made of chocolate equate premier protein knockoff mixed with 12 oz. of decaf coffee for the other. I don't like most pre-made shakes, but I don't mind it in coffee for now. I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy the Amazon brand protein powder, though, and I hope my tastes don't change much in that regard after surgery. I only bought it 'cause it was on sale and the ingredients look very similar to an expensive brand called Jay Robb that I've read a lot about. I'm getting about 20 grams of natural fiber/day and STILL need a fiber supplement. I'm not taking it, but I need it. Must be all the protein.

Same. It’s two weeks; 1 meal a day, low cal/low fat /low sugar/carb with unlimited protein shakes. I’m just doing salads (chicken or salmon) with skinny girl or Walden farm dressing. I suggest knowing what protein shakes you’re going to use prior bc some people are sensitive to certain ones. And heads up Costco’s premium protein shakes are on sale this month. 👍🏻

As for the hydration issue, that's true. Caffeine is a diuretic But if you're getting plenty of water (more than 64oz a day), hydration is not going to be an issue for you. You just don't count coffee towards your hydration amount and you might want to add extra water 8-16oz of water per day for 8oz cup of coffee you consume. Personally, I have been having issues with constipation, so I added one 8oz cup of coffee to my diet per day (with some premier shake in it instead of milk). It has definitely helped get things moving to the point where I am not taking stool softeners! As for your doctor's advice regarding caffeine stimulating hunger, that's absolute NOT true. In fact, it may be just the opposite. At best, caffeine is hunger neutral. In particular, at least one study was conducted to determine whether hot caffeinated coffee reduces hunger. In that study, the study, the subjects were given hot beverages and asked to rate their hunger. Each group was given coffee, tea, decaf coffee, decaf tea or just plain hot water. The study found that any hot beverage reduces feelings of hunger--regardless of caffeine content. In short, caffeine does not increase hunger and the debate is open as to whether it helps reduce hunger. It's ok, my surgeon did a great job for me, but I know some of the info his office gives his patients is pure BS. For example, the crap about never drinking from a straw and never drinking carbonated beverages against because they stretch your sleeve is total BS. You don't drink with a straw or drink a carbonated beverage because you will probably major gas pains if you do. Not a good thing!! However, later on neither a carbonated beverage or a straw is going to hurt you. Nevertheless, for many people carbonated beverages are trigger for drinking sugary drinks or diet chemical drinks loaded with artificial sweeteners that are bad for you. If you're going to have sparkling water one year post-op, you'll be just fine.

I can’t have protein shakes yet. I think I get that in 2 more days. Jello and broth aren’t appealing to me so I’ve been having popsicles, water with crystal light, Powerade Zero And watered down v8 fusion. I think I’m not drinking enough bc I’m scared to get my sleeve too full.

I am 2.5 months out and still really struggling with sadness at not being the weight I expected to be. Yes yes, "what did you expect, to lose 100lbs in 3 months?" I don't know... maybe deep down inside I had hoped I would. I can't get over my impatience. I always want instantaneous results with everything. I know and knew going into this that that wouldn't be the case here. But I still end up crying and upset since I feel like I've gone through a lot of BS since surgery and I'm not happy with the results I am getting. In this particular moment, I just feel really depressed. I feel like I have such a long road before I lose another 100lbs and then so much more pain and money with all the plastics I want. And at this point I just anticipate endless complications. It just feels like a neverending road of pain and disappointment. Sorry, feeling bleak today and just needed to get it out. Sent from my SM-G930R4 using BariatricPal mobile app

Oh J San regretfully,NO,to all 3 . I think I look like road kill, cheeks are caving in , look like 2 dead relatives I never noticed a resemblance to, my son says I look just fine and stop being so harsh toward myself. How I feel? Not great, I have what seems to be hunger but it is just probably my ulcers, my stomach pouch, the Ms Precious Pouch, does not entertain the ingress of anything hinting at solid, so am on a limited liquid diet, I have a stomal stricture, 2 ulcers in the pouch and multiple ones in the,jejunem, bad enough to be hospitalized on November 28th, on the 29th I had a PICC line installed in my upper left arm, I am fed TPN 12 hours on,12 hours off, to allow my gastrointestinal. system to heal up. I have the line still. No date of removal has been given, the feedings have a calorie count of 1430, which has caused me to go into a WL stall or close to it! Oh I feel much clearer of mind, than I did when I was dehydrated and had proteinemia, so that is GOOD. So apart from being exhausted, fat, and nearing an emotional breakdown from all that has happened ,and financial unstable, my post surgical trek has been just ducky. But you know, I refuse to let it cloud my life, I am still going to be a winner. I did not have major surgery to become a loser, I am in this to win this , and I still shall. Don't count this old red-headed broad out, I will not leave this life without a fight👈!😝👉

Hello all! I was sleeved July 23rd. Weight loss for me has slowed down here lately too. I still see it go down just not as fast as it was. Starting weight was 238. Pre op weight 221 and currently I am 165. My goal is 135. I'm only 5'4 1/2. I'm not a breakfast person so I drink a Premier Protein Chocolate shake over ice in the morning. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. My weakness is sugar in the evenings...particularly skittles🙄 Working on cutting back on that. I know the honeymoon phase is almost over so I need to get that in check and start working out regularly. My bum has become flat (which I'm happy about seeing as I've always had a big bum) but bc I don't have muscle back there from not working out and losing weight it hurts to sit bc of my now boney tailbone. Anyone else have that?? Need to get to the gym and work on that.

I got the sleeve December 28th. Successful pre-op week long liquid diet and day before clear liquids. 10.5 lb loss Successful surgery, anesthesia hit a bit hard and I didn’t end up fully waking up until middle of the night surgery night. Began walking, could hardly sip, all normal stuff. I could immediately pick myself up and didn’t require assistance in sitting up or walking around, was just extremely tired. Three days post op I began feeling what I assumed were the dreaded gas pains dead center of my abdomen. I called my doctors office, scoured the forums for advice, nothing helped. I tried the milk of magnesia assuming I was backed up, not the case. Tried gasx bc the pain latest 3 days non stop. Couldn’t hardly move, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t walk, couldn’t sit, lay, anything. So! Fast forward to Thursday (6 days post op) and I’m balling on the phone with my doctors office pleading there’s no way this is gas. So they bump my post op appointment to the next morning if I can wait. If not, they say don’t wait to go to the ER. Next morning on Friday my mother rushes me to the office, we barely get through the door and they’re sending us to the ER next door. After many tests, hours of different pain meds that didn’t work...a ct scan shows a prominent Portal vein thrombosis. A massive and extremely painful blood clot in my chest bc of the surgery. Little pre surgery info, I’m extremely healthy. I’ve never had heart burn, acid reflux, diabetes, heart problems, any issues health wise. I’ve now been in the hospital for over a week dealing with the excruciating pain, blood thinners, 6 days of NO FOOD OR WATER, not even ice chips. Talk about torture. So, just a heads up...it’s not always gas pain. This may be super rare, which is what I’ve been told, but still...it sounds like gas pains...it still may not be. If your pain is at a 10 go to the dang hospital.

Ahhh sounds like you have Blue Cross or something. I have Anthem Blue Cross and they require the BC Center of Excellence junk too. So your surgery was performed in the right place and your doctor just charged wrong? That's messed up.

My very first before/after food post! Thank you Tealael for telling me about this one! Tonight for dinner I made a new, and so awesome, meal. Chicken in a creamy parmesan mushroom sauce with veggie noodles and green beans (bc GBs are my favorite!) First one is my before photo, second is my after. I added the pic of the noodle bag just incase anyone hasn't seen these. I stopped when I felt restriction.

PS - Just saw you're a fellow fed - hope your agency has funding and you're at work and getting paid!

Bc I'm brand new at this. My Doctor never gave me much in terms of how I should eat. I've basically relied on google and pinterest to tell me what to do. I mean why are you worried specifically? Anything going wrong? Any issues?

Bc I'm brand new at this. My Doctor never gave me much in terms of how I should eat. I've basically relied on google and pinterest to tell me what to do.

Get back to doing your basics as everyone has mentioned to you. Dense protein first. Do not exceed 1 cup of food by volume EVEN IF YOU CAN! That is the kiss of death. The bitter irony is that this program/surgery only works as prescribed. If you try to freestyle and "eat things in moderation" of the craptastic calorically dense kind, we can eat WAY more than 1 cup and then we end up overeating calories. It's reward food heroine/crack cocaine to us. It's what got most of us to the Obesity Ball in the first place. Moderation? BS. What moderation?

Thank you! I’ll let you know. I paid the 500.00 then my husband had me second guessing doing it at all so now I’m into the next deductible year also and we switched from bc/bs to medica. I also am paying down the 6200.00 but they never made it clear if thaf was including insurance or that plus what’s billed. I started at a local Bariatric place here in mpls and they did the same- said I was a foot and a half taller than I have ever been lol. It was like they had no intention of doing the surgery. I went through 6 months of meds, hoops and everything I have tried all these years and only gained and figured blossom was the way to go. Sorry this is so long but I will keep you posted. 😊 best of luck !!

Well welcome welcome Lauryn, I am the OP the original poster for this thread, so it is rather my baby after all. You're doing liquid for 3 weeks? Got you beat, I did mine the entire month of August, because I wanted my liver to shrink down as much as possible, and it did. Dr Needleman , my surgeon, said it was lovely, smooth and healthy. So yes it is well worth the trouble, for every week you do your diet, your liver shrinks 2.4%. And yes it can be frustrating. My surgery weight was 319, at 4 months out I am 260-ish, probably today 263 or 4, because I haven't done #2 yet. I had an RnY, and I am one of the complications, I am strictured, and I have healing ulcerations in my small intestine. I have a PICC line, that stands for a catheter inserted in my upper left arm, 12 hours a day I am fed nutrition that way so my GI system can rest and heal. Don't be concerned, in all the people on Bariatric Pal I am the only one, makes me special. Had it since November 29th 2018, got pretty used to it by now, don't know an ending date, but I am in this to win this, so no tears, no frustration, no bemoaning my fate, it is what it is. I will heal, I have two great bariatric surgeons on my team, they say I will end up fine, I believe them And in them. Whether you are a sleeve or bypass, your surgery will be fine.

When we are in the hospital for surgery, generally we can be administered antibiotics to prevent wound infection. This is not a bad thing. There are a lot of bad bacterial germs floating around in a hospital setting. Most surgical procedures do not require prophylactic or postoperative antibiotics. However, certain patient-related and procedure-related factors alter the risk/benefit ratio in favor of prophylactic use. Patient-related risk factors suggesting need for antibiotics include Certain valvular heart disorders Immunosuppression Procedures with higher risk involve areas where bacterial seeding is likely: Mouth GI tract Respiratory tract GU tract In so-called clean (likely to be sterile) procedures, prophylaxis generally is beneficial only when prosthetic material or devices are being inserted or when the consequence of infection is known to be serious (eg, mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass grafting). Choice of antibiotics is based on the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) guidelines (see Perioperative Management). There is strong evidence that standardizing antibiotic choices and adhering to SCIP protocols or another standardized and validated protocol reduce the risk of surgical infection. Some regions of the US that followed SCIP guidelines were able to decrease surgical site infections by 25% from 2006 to 2010. Drug choice is based on the drug's activity against the bacteria most likely to contaminate the wound during the specific procedure (see Table: Antibiotic Regimens for Certain Surgical Procedures). The antibiotic is given within 1 h before the surgical incision (2 h for vancomycin and fluoroquinolones). Antibiotics may be given orally or IV, depending on the procedure. For most cephalosporins, another dose is given if the procedure lasts > 4 h. For clean procedures, no additional doses are needed, but, for other cases, it is unclear whether additional doses are beneficial. Antibiotics are continued > 24 h postoperatively only when an active infection is detected during surgery; antibiotics are then considered treatment, not prophylaxis. The Center for Disease Control has published guidelines for prevention of surgical site infections that address topical and nondrug antiseptic measures (eg, bathing, sealants, irrigation, prophylaxis for prosthetic devices). Source: Prevention of Surgical Infections The antibiotics destroy not only the bad bacteria in the gut but also the good bacteria. Therefore I feel it is important to reestablish the good gut bacteria after surgery by using probiotics. I ran across an article this morning that discusses the relationship of gut bacteria and weight gain. While it has long been known that low dose antibiotics cause weight gain in animals, the mechanism by which they do this has been a mystery. Researchers are now beginning to zero in on the effect and their work may even shed light on the human obesity epidemic. Animals, like humans, have numerous bacterial species living in their gut. Believe it or not, there are more bacterial cells in our body than human cells. Of course, bacterial cells are much smaller than human cells. But their effect on our health may not be small. Some varieties of bacteria are more likely to cause the body’s immune system to swing into action, but usually different bacteria keep each other’s multiplication rate in check by competing for the same food supply. But if the bacterial balance is upset because an antibiotic reduces the numbers of one species more than others, an inflammatory response can occur. Such a response is linked with making our cells less sensitive to insulin. “Insulin resistance” means that glucose is less likely to be taken up by cells, and since it is the cell’s main source of energy, they crave an increased intake. This translates to a boost in appetite as the body strives to meet cellular needs. What all of this suggests is that some species of bugs in our intestine may contribute to weight gain more than others, and that these may become more prevalent when competitors are reduced by antibiotics. Of course, other factors may also play a role in altering the bacterial flora. The chlorination of drinking water as well as improved sanitation may influence both the type and the number of microbes that reside in our gut. Who knows, perhaps all that emphasis on getting rid of germs may be affecting our waistline. Is there any actual evidence for this postulated link between changes in gut bacteria and obesity? In one word, yes. When Martin Blaser, a microbiologist at New York university, fed infant mice doses of penicillin comparable to those given farm animals, he found that after 30 weeks these mice had put on 10-15% more weight than those not treated with the antibiotic. Furthermore, the mice that had been treated had a different microbial flora in their gut, with Lactobacillus, one of the “good” bacteria, having significantly decreased. When gut bacteria from these mice were introduced into mice had been bred in a totally sterile environment, and were therefore germ-free, they put on more weight than mice with the regular complement of microbes in their gut. While overconsumption of food is the crux of the obesity problem, one of the reasons why we eat too much, as we have now seen, may be due to the changes that have occurred in the microbial population of our gut. A study of ancient feces from caves, as well as from the intestinal tract of mummies, has revealed a microbial makeup that is quite different from that found in our guts today. Those ancient microbial populations are more similar to the ones found in chimps, gorillas and children in rural Africa than in the intestines of North Americans who are more likely to have been exposed to chlorinated water, antimicrobial cleaning agents and antibiotics. Maybe a partial answer to obesity is to repopulate our intestines with the bacteria found in ancient poop. Source: Bugs In Our Guts

My Story I had RNY 12/21/17 starting weight 230 and Surgery weight 218. Lowest weight was in May 2017 at 173. I bounced between 173-175. Since then I’ve creeped up to 180. I’ve gotten off track. I don’t eat much in a sitting bc of the restriction. But I find nothing I eat affects me negatively (no dumping etc) so I will eat bread items and sugar and I have gotten back into the habit of drinking coke again. Even if it’s just to have a couple of sips. I need to buckle down and get back on track. My goal weight is 140. Anyone else in the same space as me?