I am scheduled for VSG with Aceves October 10th, so excited!!! I have a couple things I want to discuss with you all that have BTDT. First of all, how will I function without caffeine?? I'm afraid I will be feeling horrible without it and Dr. Aceves says no caffeine for like the first couple months I think.

Also, I have only told my husband and my mom about the surgery. My mom is worried for me, I knew she would be. My husband thinks it's a crazy idea. I am really having to stand my ground and insist I do this not only for me but for him and our 5 children as well. I purchased our plane tickets last night so there is no going back. We talked a little while ago and I was telling him how I am so uncomfortable going in public since I've gained weight and that I wish I could go into hiding for the next year until I've lost most of my weight. He is naturally thin so it is very hard for him to relate to my weight struggles. He said he is worried that I will never feel good about myself, even after I have the VSG and lose weight. I just don't know what to say to that.

Hmmm... is my profile pic showing up?

Hi,

Congratulations on your decision, you won't regret it. Dr. Aceves sleeved me July 12th! It was a wonderful experience. If you read under the Mexico forum, I was just sure all these people on here were paid off to say nice things about Mexico doctors. But they weren't. Everything I read was true. You will be in great hands. I felt very safe the entire time. So far I have lost 31 pounds and feel great. I was a diet coke junky, couldn't imagine life without it. But i figured if I was going to spend over 9000.00 to get healthy I would follow all doctor's orders. I gave up the diet coke 3 weeks before surgery. I drank tons of crystal light those three weeks. The first was the hardest. I was irritable and had headaches. Second week was much better. Now since surgery I can't stand the taste of ANY crustal light flavor and live on Chick-fil-a diet lemonade. You can do it! Just make up your mind. Keep us posted. Cathi

I drank decaf the first month and then (horrors!) I drank regular coffee--I justified it to myself by saying that because I put cream in it, I was diluting the acidity, but basically I needed the jolt in the am. I haven't died so far or had any problems whatsoever. As for feeling good about myself, I feel GREAT! I was so embarassed by my obesity that I shut myself off from lots of things and now I accept every invitation and feel loads more self-confidence.

Yes, your profile pic shows.

OK, good to know! I drink organic coffee with organic cream, can't be that bad, right? I will try to hold off for the fist few weeks though.

Yes, that's exactly how I feel now. I don't want to go anywhere because I'm so embarrassed and uncomfortable at this weight.

I am not going to lie...drink REAL coffee 1 cup in am. Was coffee junkie before surg. 3-4 cups a day. Now one (and maybe drink only 3/4 of it) in am and take my Vitamins with it so I am not going to fuss at myself too much for drinking it.

My hubby thought I was crazy too. His mom is really heavy and has developed diabetes and he is scared of loosing her and I think that was the only thing that kept him from telling me no.

Good luck! One of the best decisions I ever made. Sleeved in May down 56 lbs...

I was a regular- full sugar- coca cola drinker. Up to 6 cans a day!! I was sure I couldn't live without it. I cut I down to 1 a day for a week- that was hard but doable. Then I cut it out completely. I did this a month before my preop so I was fighting one problem at a time. Worked wonders!!!

Now I'm down almost 90lbs and I haven't gone back to caffiene- I'm not planning on it either. I find I have SO MUCH more energy than I used to. Just TRY to hold out and see how it goes.

Hi,

on a scale of 1 - 10 for coffee freak I was a 13 !!! I could not go without coffee, typically drinking 4 cups b/4 leaving house for work, then 2 pots of coffee @ work through the day... I LOVE COFFEE.

I gave it up... I wanted this surgery so bad and I wanted it to work and to lose weight, I totally and faithfully followed everything my doc & nut said for the first 4 months...then summer came and I figured I have went this long without coffee why go back to drinking it now... my husband does have coffee on the weekend and OMG, it smells so incredibly awesome... I feel once winter comes I will have a cup of coffee, or maybe two.... but I will not go back to being a coffeeholic like I was! LOL...

Set a short term goal...comitt yourself to following all your doc & nut recommendations to the letter....and you will see better results...

Good Luck!!

Thanks for the responses! I'm afraid I will be really hard to live with sans coffee...... I don't want to be a grouchy wife and mom.

Speaking of being a mom, is it hard preparing meals for your family after VSG? Knowing you can't eat it or maybe only a tiny bit?

I was a total coffee hound before surgery. I drank a pot before work, drank Diet Coke all day, more coffee for the commute home, diet coke all evening, then more coffee just before bed. It was nothing for me to go into Starbucks or other coffee shops and get 6 shots of espresso with a splash of cream.

Coffee tastes gross now and I don't miss it at all at 3 1/2 months out.

It was VERY hard for me to give up coffee, but I did. I weaned myself off before my surgery and started drinking decaf. After I was able to comfortably get in all of my required fluids so that dehydration wasn't an issue I slowly introduced coffee back into my new sleeve. I had no problem with irritation, so I started drinking a cup a day in the morning. I'm 3 months out and I drink as much as I want now as long as I get in all my non-caffienated fluids. I will tell you this...I loved cream in my coffee and post-surgery I had a very hard time finding something low in carbs to add to my coffee because I try to stay under 30 carbs a day. After trying everything I could find...International Foods sugar free liquid coffee creamer came in at 1 carb per tablespoon. However...a tablespoon isn't nearly enough for me, so I was still getting 3 carbs per cup, and at 3 or 4 cups per day that was way too many calories and carbs. Sooo...I have learned to drink it black. Good luck. It probably won't be as hard as you think to give it up for a while.

Coffee is not outlawed on my post op diet. The surgeon reccomends no more than 2 cups a day thats all.......

I, like many others, was a caffeine freak. I drank 3-4 lattes a day and at least 64 ounces of sweet tea. Ahhh sweet tea. Anyway...I quit around a week before surgery. I just didn't want to deal with the withdrawal while I was recovering.

For me, it hasn't been that bad. My b12 gives me an extra umph during the day. I switched to warm apple cider, warm pumpkin spice decaf tea, or any other flavors of decaf tea. Even warm apple juice with cinnamon and a teaspoon of Torani SF caramel syrup. I am only 10 days out and haven't had a craving for it yet. I am one of those people who has Murphy's Law carved on her forehead so I would rather not tempt fate than have it.

(Now if someone could please stop the Subway roasted chicken sub sandwich commercials from airing, then I would be a much happier lady!)

It isn't too hard to cook for my Peanut but it is just the two of us. I have freezer portions of food for her, so usually as I am nuking my broth or Soup I am also warming up her dinner as well. As long as we are eating together, it doesn't bother me that I am not eating what she eats.