Jump to content
×
Are you looking for the BariatricPal Store? Go now!

Recommended Posts

This probably isn't an original answer, but I was pushed to get my sleeve procedure because I was becoming a dad.

I was fat my whole childhood, starting from around age 6. In highschool it distributed a little better, but there was no mistaking the fact that I was a fat kid. In college I went on a low-carb diet for the first time, and lost about thirty pounds. I was the most fit I had ever been. But the weight inched back on gradually so that I had gained back 20 pounds of it by the time I graduated. the summer after college I had surgery to get rid of my man-boobs, which had stayed with me even as I had lost weight from the rest of me. And I felt great again! But happiness is closely associated with relaxation in my book, and I just stopped being careful. I ended up gaining back all my weight and then some, and I was big and fat by the end of my first year of law school. So I did low carb again. I lost the weight. I looked good, felt good. Started dating a girl I liked. I relaxed. I gained the weight back.

Years later, I was single. I was leaving my job as a lawyer to go to business school. Went low carb. Lost twenty pounds. Went to business school. Drank heavily, because that's a thing you do in business school. Gained back the weight, plus another twenty pounds.

Thankfully, I met the woman who would become my wife that year, before I gained the weight back. But of course, it started the same chain of events-- get happy, relax, gain the weight back. But she loved me and it didn't matter. We got married a couple of years later (and, for the wedding, I lost thirty pounds, and then, after the wedding, gained back 35...) and she got pregnant soon after, and that's when I decided, this pattern isn't healthy, and I want to be around for a long time to see my son grow up. The thing that really got me wasn't even that I couldn't keep the weight off, it's that every time I yo-yo'd, my weight would end up higher than it was before. When I was in my 20s I could go on a low carb diet and lose the weight quickly, but I'm not in my 20s anymore, and it's harder to get the weight off. It's time for a permanent solution, and some help with enforcing the discipline that I need to keep my weight under control.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Congrats on becoming a dad, and for making the decision to take control of your health!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Congrats, all sound like valid reasons! Welcome!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I completely understand. Part of my ultimate motivation is that I just became a grandmother and I have so much trouble holding my grandson. THAT is not acceptable.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, I'm two days post-op, and so, so happy I did this. The hardest part of the surgery was not seeing my little champ for two days, because my wife was worried about him getting exposed to viruses/bacteria in the hospital.

My belly is still distended from surgery-- I've got a lot of gas, and there's obviously swelling that'll take time to go down. My liquid diet for two and a half days pre-surgery was murder, but after the surgery I was on IV fluids with nutrition, so I actually felt better afterward. I was in so much pain right after the surgery, but morphine took off the edge, and by late night I wasn't even using the morphine that much. The way they constantly interrupt your sleep in the hospital left me majorly wiped out, but I was just so grateful to everyone who helped me, from my parents who sat with me until way past their bedtime Wednesday night to make sure I was getting all the tests I needed, to my wife who jumped through so many hoops making sure someone was taking care of our boy and she just came and sat with me. The thing I wanted most was to have her sitting there with me while I took a nap or two, and that would normally drive her nuts, but she just... did it. She just sat there and read while I dozed on and off. It was exactly what I needed.

The hospital staff was mostly great. The nurses were all so patient with me, dealing with all my little requests, never getting tired of all the care I needed. I had one "Patient Care Associate" who was just awful, wouldn't help me walk around even when the doctor had ordered it, got short with me several times, etc., but the woman who relieved her at 7 AM more than made up for it with how willing to help she was. I made sure to let the supervisor for the floor know the names of everyone who had done such good work for me.

And now my pain is pretty minimal. I get stomach cramps from eating/drinking, but they go away pretty quickly, and finally passing gas relieved the gas pain that was building up inside. I'm not hungry much, and the hunger is sated virtually immediately. A little puddle of butternut squash Soup was the sum total of my dinner.

I'm not worrying about Protein, because I'm doing my shakes. My wife got some flavor essences to put in them, to change things up a bit so they don't get boring, and the thing that's most important after getting my fluids is getting my Protein. I even started looking up some recipes, and I'm getting excited about cooking my bariatric-friendly foods. But I also know that I need to pull away from food as a central cultural force in my life, and one of my projects is going to be teaching myself to think about something else when my mind drifts to food. I anticipate reading a lot of comic books over the next few weeks of recovery.

Also, after getting home from the hospital, showering was a revelation. That felt great after peeing into a bottle in my bed for the last two and a half days (I didn't get a catheter).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Trending Products

  • Trending Topics

  • Recent Status Updates

    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 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. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • 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
      1. This update has no replies.
  • Recent Topics

  • Hot Products

  • Sign Up For
    Our Newsletter

    Follow us for the latest news
    and special product offers!
  • Together, we have lost...
      lbs

    PatchAid Vitamin Patches

    ×