I waited for this surgery now for nearly 2 years and this was after dedicating a year plus to getting qualified 5 years earlier only to be denied due to the immense amount of "hoops". Now I've gotten to the finish line so to say and I've got more emotions creeping up as the day nears and the classes and appointments add in details.

Well I've never seen so many different methods to one procedure in my life. Can eat this, can't eat that. This portion that portion. Protein supplements, no protein supplements. Sex after 6 weeks, sex after a week or two, sex when you can tolerate it. Straws vs. no straws. I mean you look online and there's a different approach to the "post operative" eating for as many places that conduct the surgery.

How is this helpful?

Protein first? Love this idea since I love meat, fish, and chicken.

But 60-70 grams of protein isn't coming from 12 - 16 ounces of meats, eggs, fish, yogurt, etc in a day but I'm told by my facility that protein supplements are a no go (but their dietician says 4oz is ok as a meal replacement) - so not sure why I read other facilities encourage 8oz of protein drinks 30 minutes after meals and mine is conflicted between nurse and dietician on use of it at all.

A month ago I was 350 pounds, I'm down to 323 by increasing activities, lowering portions, and eliminating most carbs during the pre operative diet. It's not been easy but I feel it's best to listen and do as I'm told by the facility that's doing the surgery. I'm just so tossed on when to "not listen".

I enjoy protein shakes and during Syntrax Nectar zero carb ones that give me 56 grams of protein to 16oz of water. I'd say that's a massive PLUS as I've already got to consume 64oz of clear fluids so wouldn't this be a positive for any one of these surgeries?

And when it comes to straws vs. cups for drinking due to "air" give me a break. I have tested this theory for months now and unless your gulping the air (like some kids do to force burping) then neither approach adds more or less air to the belly. Now true I'm no scientist or surgeon but it's the same feeling either way i drink. So why the straw requirement? What proof do they have that more air comes into the stomach with a straw vs. without?

Yes I'm a "proof" guy. I need to see it to believe it or at the very least be shown an example or two that makes sense.

Sex.

Well I'm a guy, so I honestly can't see how ANYTHING besides incision pain could affect sex. I mean I'm not talking rough, throw around, animalistic, multiple partner, drunk, 50 shades of grey, sex.....I'm talking married with children, we have finally got the kids to bed, I had a long day sex.

So why the blanket 6 weeks answer I was given?

Why the range of when your feeling up to it all the way to 8 weeks post operative?

And the drainage tube. Well I'm NO GOOD with blood. And in the teaching class I went to it was explained that some people go home with this and need to empty it. Screw that, doesn't insurance cover home care nurses to come empty that stuff and check for issues? When does buying a new car require me to physically change the oil and transmission fluid?

Man when I'm nervous or anxious I ramble and when I'm scared I tend to analyze, so about now I'm going into a a combination of asking, talking, and answering all in the same sentences when I'm around people.

I'm used to laughing off pain and hiding behind joking and kidding around when I am uncomfortable. I've never really been me. I never felt like "me" was what people would like to be around.

I feel trapped in my own body. I always have. I have always rather stay away from people then to work so hard to hide how uncomfortable I was around them. I was always great at that though, no one has ever realized how fake I was. But the real me, the true me, the big guy who still remembers being an 8 year old in Sears with his mom being told i needed the "husky" pants well that person has been hidden pretty well.

Gosh can't believe I wrote that.

Can't believe I'm scared to have this surgery, but scared to fall asleep and forget to have a CpAp mask on too. Scared I'll forget I took my insulin and take too much. Scared now that I'll eat too much and give myself a heart attack,my it scared after surgery I'll eat too much and vomit or have dumping.

I've weighed the risks out, I really have and I KNOW this surgery is my last hope and my best option. Being analytical intend to really look at every choice and resulting tree from those choices. I've heard some people in my lifetime state how racism is the worst thing in the world because it demoralizes and is easily passed on thru generations from a racist parent to their child. Well while I agree that racism is horrible, i believe obesity is even easier to pass down to our children.

I am a fat, over eating dad who watches TV and plays video games most of the time because it's easy to do and my weight has made me so uncomfortable in social settings. Because it's easier to eat more while at home close to the food. Therefore my young kids play video games and watch TV, and eat junk too. I push them to eat healthy but they see dad. They see mom too. They do as we do. I'm going to risk it all to have these doctors tip the odds in my favor so my kids start seeing daddy going for walks, volunteering at their school, swimming when we go to a hotel, eating smaller and healthier portions, and sure I'll still watch TV and game (but less time and not while eating - drinking water surely lol).

I'm hoping when I go to bed at night that I can put my arm around my wife without a hose attached to my face. I hope that the pills I take are limited to vitamins and I can eliminate the diabetic medication. I even hope that no matter how much exercise I add into my life that I can eliminate the workout I go thru to shower, all the lifting of the belly and reaching for areas that have become harder and harder to reach as my arms must have shrunk (lol) over the years. Yes humor as tears start to swell in my eyes. Humor to try and hide the pain I feel daily when I realize my stomach has reached a point where my arm length is barely long enough to wipe my own @ss. When I reach a new level of humiliation because my male parts are buried in a mound of fat and only usable when I'm aroused. Peeing has become a drop and hold then wipe so it stays clean. I feel like my bathroom routine has become more like a woman's than a mans. All this hidden inside me, feelings that fat has overtaken me.

Yes I'm anxious for the next 11 days, I'm certainly nervous of what's to come during the surgery and after, and I'm scared. I'm scared something will go wrong, something will prevent the, from doing it, I'm scared I will screw it up afterwards, I'm scared I'm too weak, I'm scared I'll get thinner and I'm scared that I won't.

But I want to live healthier, thinner, and pass on better eating and excessive habits to my children. They more than anyone deserve their dad to be there for them in the best way possible.

11 days and counting. My daughter of 8 years old wants to go on a Rollercoaster with daddy, she wants her daddy to be able to fit on one so bad, she wants to show her daddy how brave she is......

Her daddy looks forward to it.

@jdc how did the surgery go??? We were bypassed on the same date 7/28!hope u r doing great!!!!

Awesome attitude.

This has been a motivating thread in every way.

I hope it went well and you are doing great.

God Bless you on your journey. Much love an prayers.

Omg everyone I was out of recovery in under 30 minutes and I forced myself to walk the moment I was put in room. I was walking the entire floor 12 times or more Before the evening of my RnY procedure. By day 2 I probably walked a good mile during the day before they pulled the drainage tube, IV, and released me on no diabetic meds at all.

Since then I decided to buy a Fitbit (yeah no shit I was the guy that wouldn't turn of the video games or TV and only paused them to talk to kids from the couch or jump up to grab some food and by some I mean a portion suitable for King Aurthurs Knights - all of them)

Well now I'm walking 10,000 plus steps a day and trying to bike about 4 miles a day. Holy shit right? I'm just over two weeks out now and my July 1st weight was a whopping 348 pounds, as of this morning my scale had me at 289.8!!!!!! I'm busting my ass, pushing limits the surgeon has told me I shouldn't be pushing, and I've had INSANE energy since I came out of recovery. The tell me that in itself is an anomaly because most all people are weak and tired after a major surgery like this, but I haven't felt weak or tired. In fact I wake up at about 7:30am and bed at midnight on average. I'm eating by the clock, I don't really care for food anymore. Wife makes pizza it doesn't bother me at all. Tacos, couldn't care less. I make kids pancakes and they seem like a waste of time to me. I eat a single egg made into a cheese with salsa, pepper jack cheese, salt, and pepper. Or a filet of tilapia. A couple slices of Deli meats makes a meal for me now. I use the half of the tilapia filet fork shedded and mix it with an egg the next day and that makes me two meals of a mock fish patty (tastes awesome). But food is boring now. I toss more on my plate than I eat. I've been drinking 100oz plus of fluids since a couple days after surgery which I've gone against the dietician guidelines and have a 16oz protein drink (syntax nectar chocolate truffle) which gives me 46 grams of protein.

It's not all great though. My wife and I are drifting apart. She sees it and I see it. I'm not the same lazy guy I was a few weeks ago. She isn't an active woman. She tries but I'm going for 4 mile bike rides with her and kids and then coming home and saying lets go for a walk I want to get in 6000 more steps......I'm becoming the guy who actually enjoys walking and basically beating my previous day's mark. It's sad really because no matter what she looks like I love her and am attracted to her. I just can't see it continuing like this and not having major issues down the line, I have to face it - she married the guy that was a home body not the get up and go for a walk guy. And especially not the guy who is going to walk miles and miles every night. My steri strips haven't even all fallen off my stitches and I'm going a mile a minute.

Heading to six flags great America tomorrow with my son and his friend, their 5 so no major coasters (that's next week when we take our 8 year old and her friend) - season pass holders. I want to test myself under the worst possible conditions. At a theme park as a dining pass holder surrounded by fried and massive portions, junk foods galore, soda, and just about all the rest of the no no items possible......can I do it? Well I've got my water bottles, my lemonade crystal light, a half dozen sergentto snack packs I found that are new to market (cheese nuts and dried fruits) not all of which I am supposed to hAve yet but under a dire situation they will be handy. I've also looked over the dining pass options and I can get a deli wrap (take out meats toss the rest) and they also have a chicken Caesar salad in a taco shell bowl (grilled chicken meat is doable) also for a buck extra charge I can get a turkey leg (not the best as far as two weeks out from surgery but I'll try it well chewed and see)......snacks will not work, free refills in our sports bottle will go filled with ice for me so I can have my crystal light ice cold. I'll manage because I'm preparing myself for success. And boy oh boy will I get the steps in lol. Even a fish taco is doable if i scoop thru the fried outside and scrape out the fish part lol toss the rest of the crap.

And I'm gonna try some tester seats I couldn't dream of getting into a month ago and see if I am any closer to riding those coasters - I see surgeon a week from tomorrow (or today - Friday) depending on time zone. And hopefully he clears me for coasters so if I fit I can go on some with my daughter next week :-)

All in all I'm doing GREAT!!!!

And anyone that's got a Fitbit - I'm new there OBVIOUSLY but my email is jdc121975@gmail.com and I'd love to have some friends on that to keep me motivated and to motivate so add me!

I hope everyone who is pre op takes this advice - push yourself! No one else can and it may hurt to push yourself but the pain in only temporary and in days you will be asked stuff like "did u really just have major surgery????"

And to those of us that are post op my advice is - keep on track! Don't listen to the 1 and 2 and 8 year post op people who say "yeah I can eat a jimmy john unwich" fact is they have forgotten the whole reason we all gained weight to begin with - we pushed and pushed more and more in! Stay under 4oz of food people. Stay away from breads and crap. Processed food is a waste! Remember we all got fat not all at once but with that first bite of junk food.

We were all given a a pair of die that were weighted for us to win, but we have to do the work with the winnings so we keep winning!

Congratulations on your recovery. You sound like you are doing great and I love your enthusiasm.

I would caution you to listen to your surgeon and maybe not push yourself too hard. You are still healing, especially internally, and you don't want to injure something that might put you in the hospital and set back your surgery.

As to the snack packs at the amusement park, those would be a great idea if you were farther out post-surgery, but even though you are tempted, stick with your post-op plan. The texture of your food is critical early out (see my above comment about pushing yourself). Why not take some extra Syntrax packets instead of the nuts, etc.?

This is the first time I read your post. I don't generally read all the bypass posts and appreciate your honesty.

Best of luck with your further recovery.

Thank you. And yes the nuts are a little early I agree. I have an ability I have had since I was a child to basically do what birds do. To be a little more visual I can chew, swallow, and before food is down i can smoothly regurgitate the food which at that time has the feel of almost a lubricated ball but allows for further chewing and this lubrication adds to an extreme break down into a mush. Now I realize this is very detailed and visual and may seem disgusting but there's no different taste. Imagine a post nasal drip being pushed into your mouth from your throat. This process has allowed me to eat most whole foods like brats, chicken, etc non puréed as soon as I was off liquids. And yes with this process I actually showed my surgeon the consistency by giving him a quick 30 second "show"