Hi all

I have booked my op for 18th April 2016 with Beautiful Beings in Czech Republic. Nervous, excited and scared are just some the feelings I'm getting.

I've had relatively little information from BB, they've just said 'eat healthily' until I go and to take Omeprazole twice daily. There's loads of silly questions that keep popping up, like:-

• What should I pack?
• How will I get my bag in the storage unit above my head on the plane on my way home?
• Is there a shop in the hospital, how much Czech money will I need?

Has anyone else been who can answer these for me, any help appreciated.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the op but truthfully, I think it's a positive thing I'm doing. Whatever the outcome, I can't be any more miserable than I am now. I can barely walk couple of hundred yards without huffing and puffing, my knees are killing me, I go up and down stairs like a two year old, one at a time, nothing fits me and when it does, I look horrible. Everything I own looks like a huge black bin bag etc....

Two years ago I lost five-and-a-half stone on the Cambridge diet but I've put it all back on in less than half the time it took me to loose it. I'm so angry with myself but I'm sure a lot of you have been there.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about the op and am raring to go.

Hi @@RosieCheeks,

Just wanted to say a quick hello as I was sleeved with Beautiful Beings on 17/5.

How have you found things so far? How quickly were you able to progress to the mushie/puréed stage of their diet and have you had any difficulties?

Thanks!

MB

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Hi MB

I moved on to mushy after two weeks and have been more or less introducing 'normal' stuff slowly. I found chicken hardest to digest so thought I'd just leave it for a bit a try again.

I felt fine more or less from day one, a bit of 'gas' discomfort for a few days and a bit more tired than usual for a week or so but since then I'm ticketyboo apart from my wee wobble the other day. However, feeling upbeat again and getting on with it. Having half a M&S Count on Us Cottage pie tonight - yum yum and my Friday treat, 50g Yoo Moo strawberry Swirl Frozen Yoghurt.

I found BB information sadly lacking, they could provide a lot more than they do.

How you doing MB?

Well, I think I'm doing pretty well. dinner this evening was 50g of smooth mashed potato with some soft cheese mixed in.

I'm a bit daunted by the amount I'm expected to eat going forward though, it seems like a crazy amount considering what I'm putting away at the moment- I'm going to struggle next week!

Glad to hear you're feeling better too- I keep reading really inspirational posts about it being a lifelong journey, so don't get too disheartened! I've been pretty much fine since getting home. As nice as the clinic was, there is no real substitute for your own bed!

My stitches came out this afternoon, so already excited to be fully healed. How long did you wait before going back to work?

Just trying to find some food ideas for the mushie stage as I don't eat meat (but do eat fish).

Agreed on the BB info, I'm planning on identifying a texture of food I can deal with and sticking with it for the next couple of weeks until I'm ready to think about "new" food!

Thanks,

MB

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I'm lucky with work as I work for two multi-millionaire tax exiles who are only in the country infrequently and I'm based from home so I manage my own workload. My job tends to be all or nothing, so I took a week off and the following week was pretty much nothing, so wasn't an issue. I didn't drive until my stitches came out and I got the ok from the doc.

Your job sounds pretty sweet- I'm just about to qualify as a solicitor so give me a shout if it ever goes a bit pear shaped for them

The doctor has signed me off for another week- no work until the 6th June! I don't know what on earth I'm going to do until then!

So glad to have found someone else who used BB- it's reassuring that there are others out there as I hadn't found many reviews/progress updates from other people.

MB

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I was pretty unimpressed with BB overall. Whilst I can't fault the clinic and the op etc, I really thought BB let the whole thing down. For instance, I asked if there was anyone else flying from Manchester at the same time as me and she said she would let me know; she didn't and I went on my own only to find two others had arrived together earlier in the day.

I also wouldn't use that particular clinic again, purely down to location. That extra 2 hour car journey on the way home nearly did me in. By the time I arrived home I was completely exhausted. I'd choose somewhere closer to an airport if I were to do it again.

Your job sounds pretty sweet- I'm just about to qualify as a solicitor so give me a shout if it ever goes a bit pear shaped for them

The doctor has signed me off for another week- no work until the 6th June! I don't know what on earth I'm going to do until then!

So glad to have found someone else who used BB- it's reassuring that there are others out there as I hadn't found many reviews/progress updates from other people.

MB

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You are going to relax and let your body heal itself! Take this opportunity to do what you want to (I don't mean extreme sports either) and chill. Right, that's you toldx

Thanks @jintycb- I shall stock up on books then- considering myself well and truly told!

@@RosieCheeks Did you fly into Prague then? I went direct to Brno airport with Ryanair - although I suppose they only operate that route from Stansted?

Although my experience with BB this side wasn't great, it does sound as if you were messed around a bit- it must have added to your stress, which at a pretty stressful time is awful.

I pushed it too far this morning and tried one egg (scrambled). It did not go as planned.. Back to liquids for me!

MB

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I live 10 mins from Manchester airport and they only fly to Prague. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I didn't think too much about the journey home at the time.

Trial and error is the only way to go. Try but if it doesn't work leave it for a few weeks then try again - I'm sure we'll all get there in the end.

@@Lulu hope you had a great birthday yesterday. x

Thanks my dear- I shall give something different a go tomorrow and see how that goes..

After this morning, I'm just frustrated I think- I want to get on with eating healthily and planning meals and I can't even eat a blooming egg! As you said, trial and error!

MB

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I'm struggling with chicken. I'm not sure whether it's because I'm eating too fast, not chewing enough or it's just too early but I'm not going to stress, I'll just give it another go in a couple of weeks.

I'm into my new Soup maker at the moment. Mushroom is my favourite. Pack of mushrooms roughly chopped, 2 stock cubes in 1.5 pints of Water, roughly chopped onion. 20 mins on smooth blend in the soup maker and it's scrummy. Best £65 I've spent in a while.

Off to paint my cat's kennel bright green to brighten up my garden.

Ooh thanks for the tip! I've got a pretty nifty blender that does Soups.. Maybe I should investigate that for the next few days!

Best of luck with the cat kennel- I desperately need to get out and sort the jungle that used to be my back garden, my speciality is killing everything in sight- my other half has the green fingers unfortunately!

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I remember that first scrambled egg. It was like a real from heaven. I savoured every delicate, tasty mouthful. You will find that gradually you will be able to manage most foods but it will take as long as it takes. Soups are a brilliant way of getting nourishment quickly and easily and home made stuff is far, far better than any ready made-although there is a place for the chiller cabinet ones when you are out of your own concoction. I used to make a pressure cooker load and keep it in the fridge-the soup, not the pressure cooker-do keep up at the back there-and dipped into whenever I felt the need. I also still do that with turkey mince chilli and I'm now onto seafood stew/soup for a go-to Protein hit. Very yummy into the bargain.

As someone who does not want to be caught out for being a hypocrite I think I had better own up to my DISGUSTING diet yesterday. There were extenuating circumstances (deciding at the last minute to drive two hours up the M40 to go to my pal's birthday barbecue) but that's no excuse really. I ate (head hanging in shame) 3 drumsticks, a load of grapes, handful of cashew nuts, handful of toffee popcorn, half a mini baguette with butter, cheese and ham (that I took for the husband for the journey but that he didn't eat), pack of Waitrose mango pieces, about 10 fruit pastilles, 1 large latte (whilst doing a four mile walk with the dogs), I Starbucks skinny cappachino, few cups of tea and to add insult to injury to my poor stomach, one Diet Coke! Phew.......that's better now that I've confessed. I shall be back on track today I can assure you. Just shows how easy it is for me to have a slip and slither back to old habits. My excuse, for what it is worth, is that I am seven months out from surgery and my brain is still catching up with the rest of my digestive system. It's a bit slow on the uptake. Either that or I can use the excuse of early onset senior moments!

Anyway, enough waxing lyrical and confessing, glad to hear that my (tongue firmly in cheek) order Miss VSG has been duly noted! R&R for you. TLC for the self.

As for you Miss RosieCheeks, I trust that the cat kennel painting was a triumph. You don't want (free of charge) two rather resplendent four poster, fully furnished with mattresses, bedding, curtains etc, cat beds? We made them a few years ago when we had numerous mogs but now that the clan is down to two they prefer our bed.

Off to make another cuppa so wishing you all a lovely day. Don't know about you lot but the sun is shining, sky is blue and the birds are singing their socks off. Bliss.

@@jintycb, So you had a blow out, well it's allowed every now and again, I hope you had a great time. Thanks for the offer of the beds but my cat, Toots, has had more beds than you can shake a stick at. She lies on them for a few days then goes back to the bottom of my bed, so I've decided there's no point in having one, taking up space. Get them on Ebay and add some coffers to your Brand Alley fund!

I've had a bit of a spending spree this weekend, I've bought a new Dyson and one of those super dooper Bean to Cup coffee Machines. I don't drink a lot of coffee but when I do, I like good coffee. Talking of drinks, I'm really missing my Irn Bru, being Glaswegian and not drinking Bru just isn't natural. I used to drink about 2 litres a day (diet of course) but haven't had any since my op. I might have to apply for special dispensation from the "Being Glaswegian" Club in order to preserve my membership.

Today is a lazy day, may paint a bit more of my new fence but it's boring painting on your own. Will go to Waitrose for some coffee Beans so I can have a play when my machine arrives this afternoon.

Hope everyone is enjoying this gorgeous sunny bank holiday.

I was a bit gutted yesterday because egg was such a nice change from protein shakes and yoghurt, and then my tummy decided that change was bad. I'll give it a week or so and try again.

As much as you feel your diet yesterday was awful, I would imagine comparing it to a bad day pre-op will make you feel a little less guilty about it?

I find I'm struggling with getting calories in still- yesterday was a huge day eating wise (protein shake, weetabix and a bit of banana twice, not counting the egg as it wasn't there for long enough!) and I'm still only managing less than 400 cal a day. Is that fairly normal?

Going to seek out some more mushie foods to try today- fingers crossed! Have lovely days both!

MB

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