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Pre-Surgery and need an understanding ear



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Hi!

I'm Stacy and I am currently pre-surgery... I have to lose 30lbs before they will do the surgery and they put me on a mostly liquid diet and I'm struggling. My Friends and Family all support the idea of surgery but none of them are very helpful in the understanding and encouraging department. I think I am going through withdrawals from food if that is even possible. On top of that I had to quit smoking too, whew I knew this would be hard but I didn't imagine all this at once. Sigh... anyone out there that has any advice or coping mechanisms that might help.

thanks

Stacy

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I can offer my friendship and an ear. I am one month post op and this whole process has taught me just how much I depended on food for stability, emotional comfort, etc. I had a difficult time with the liquid diet for the first 4 or 5 days. They say that there is such thing as a 'carb flu' - where your body just goes wacko from detoxing from carbs. I loved carbs- Pasta, bread! I had headaches a lot for the first few days in addition to the moodiness of not being able to eat. The social thing hurts too- so much social interaction is based around food. I totally understand where you are coming from. What I can tell you is, it will get better. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

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PS- I am in the soft food stage now and my family just had Pasta for dinner. I had a hard time with it. So I finished my meal (refried Beans for the 100th time) and went for a walk. That was a good coping mechanism that I am learning!

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Thanks I can definitely use a friend that has been there! I'm going to try walking my cravings away. :) My Mother and my sister wanted to know where I was at in the process and all about my liquid diet so they invited me out to dinner. Ugg I totally get what you must be feeling with the Pasta right in front of you.

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I remember the Saturday before my surgery my family took our son for the night so we could have a date. We struggled really hard to find something to do in the winter in a tiny mountain town that wasn't related to food. LOL. You can do this!

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Hi Stacy,

My name is Carol and I had my RNY on June 25, 2013, which puts me just over 8 months out. I lost 40 pounds prior to surgery (I have lost a total of 170 pounds as of this weekend!). If you have not found and started using MyFitnessPal.com I suggest you check this out. This app has been my salvation and was how I lost the 40 pounds pre surgery. Still it is hard when you have food around you that you love, but can't or shouldn't eat. I have allowed myself one or two bites of these foods. Having a taste allows me to not feel deprived of a food that is a favorite and want it all the more. I have to stress that I really do keep it to one or two small bites.

Losing the 40 pounds prior to surgery was a very good thing for me. It made me start to put in place new habits and strategies that have been mandatory following surgery. This is a great time to begin working on skills like counting Protein grams, separating drinking and eating, and increasing your Water intake. Make an effort to increase your activity. It's very hard at the beginning, but it really helps on so many levels.

I can tell you from the other side that this is a journey worth taking! I have my life back!! IT IS NOT EASY!! So many think that surgery is the easy way, it is not. But if you stay focused and do the work, you will have success. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

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My name is Debbie. Im so inspired by your conversation. All good advise by separating eating from drinking and Portion Control. Exercise and get sleep to add to all the comments. It truly is a mental game. My family celebrated a birthday party while I maintained my diet. It was great because everyone complained how miserable they were and I felt great, plus waking up the next morning and watching the scales pay off!!!! That is surely the best!!! :D

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
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    • bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
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