I was going to call this Break On Through To The Other Side (thank you Doors). But I figured I'd get sick of it after a while. I'm going to use this space to keep track on the 2 week march toward surgery and then to keep track of the recovery and progress. That way I can keep it all together and if I just do one thread, it's all in one place without clogging up the Blog Area. I'm sure it's gonna be excruciatingly boring to everyone--me included! I'm a list and minutia kinda gal. I like tracking and counting--although I can be equally lax about crap. So I stop just short of OCD town (not that there's anything wrong with that).

My official 2 week liquid diet starts tomorrow. I decided to jump on it today because Sunday feels like a great place to start and because it's hard to do better than yesterday as my last food day before surgery. I'm a Texan, born and raised, and yesterday we had a fairwell to my ass and thighs via a Texas BBQ tour through Houston and Tomball. I ate so much brisket, sausage and ribs, I can honestly claim to be over it. Growing up in a BBQ family, slow smoked meats is almost in my blood. So it was only natural that I would choose that as the last rights.

I'm having RNY on February 20th and as I understand it, moist (fatty) brisket might not be my friend post surgery. Supposedly high fat foods (which moist brisket is) might cause a sort of "dumping" in the poop department. So I figure my future, once healed, might only include lean cuts of brisket and smoked meats. It's a choice I will readily make to lose weight and get my health back.

So the morning Day 1 hasn't been very difficult--a little hunger and growly tummy, but nothing that makes me feel anxiety. Protein drinks on board and this afternoon will shop for SF popsicles, SF jello and bone broth. I think I'll stick to packaged bone broth so I can get the actual nutritional information from a certified source. There's no real way for me to tell how many calories and carbs are in the bone broth I make here at home.

My Pre-Op Plan includes: 80-100g of protein; low fat; 60g carbs and somewhere around 1000cals per day.

4-5 Protein Drinks containing a minimum of 15g of protein per serving. They must be low fat and low sugar and can't contain over 4g of sugar per serving. I can have clear low sodium broths, sugar free drinks, sugar free jello and sugar free clear popsicles (no fudgsicles or ice cream based pops).

I will do this from now until February 20th.

I'm pretty sure I will be doing plenty of the following:

Edited February 4, 20188 yr by FluffyChix

He's a lucky man -- my husband and son (he's 23) will be on their own for the first month or so after my surgery. They get a small break because I don't have to do the protein shake thing pre-op.

1 minute ago, Apple203 said:

He's a lucky man -- my husband and son (he's 23) will be on their own for the first month or so after my surgery. They get a small break because I don't have to do the Protein Shake thing pre-op.

LOL! Yes, he is damn straight up lucky! LOL. Wow!!! You don't have a liquid pre-op diet? What does your pre-op diet look like? What's your post op plan like?

I'm not too worried about afterward. I have stuff for at least week 1 and maybe week 2 in the freezer. This coming weekend will make a pork loin roast and chili, so he'll have that as well. And my bone broth is already made. So all I have to do is sip, walk, and nap...and work about 1 hour per day. I work part time from home, so expect to be back at it within a day or two of coming home. But the RD keeps telling me that afterward, I will have very little interest in food and no hunger. So you know, I'm sayin', "Word". I'm sure she's lieing.

LOL, I hope she isn't lieing -- I have 5 weeks before I eat solid-ish food.

My pre-op diet is a super-basic, low-carb, 1,200 kcal diet. Carbs are limited to veges and 3 fruits a day.

Post-op is pretty much what everybody else does: 1 week clear liquids, 2 weeks protein shakes, 2 weeks shakes/softs, then until 3 months: 4 meals with 2.5 oz lean protein + 1/4-1/2 cup fruit or vegetables, 65-75 g protein.

LOL! IKR? I will call her on it!

Your diet looks like a joy. A pure joy!! No daily carb limit? And 3 fruits? Holy hell. Throw me in that briar patch! You will do swimmingly on it girlfrien'!

So you have 3 weeks on liquids essentially--that feels like it's gonna suck. I have 2 weeks, but advancement is up to the doc. So you know, she could keep me there longer. Other than that it looks a lot like mine. Maybe a 1/2oz more protein per meal at 4months lol.

Do you think we'll one day be able to eat a lovely grilled ribeye again?

Edited February 12, 20188 yr by FluffyChix

4 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

Do you think we'll one day be able to eat a lovely grilled ribeye again?

I pray to god we will, lol, just a small piece, occasionally. That is all I ask :-)

15 minutes ago, Apple203 said:

I pray to god we will, lol, just a small piece, occasionally. That is all I ask :-)

OMG! I swear last night, I had to literally spank my hands, cuz I just wanted to lick my fingers from the juices running down as I transferred the steak from the platter to his plate. I salivated like a mad woman! And then I looked ahead into the food abyss and felt stark terror and sadness at my future. Satan is one bad dude.

Edited February 12, 20188 yr by FluffyChix

Hello there southern ladies. I enjoyed reading this thread tonight, especially given its 2:30 am, I’m 5 days into my liquid diet and I’m wide awake with illicit fantasies of crackers and hummus. I was a little cocky about this phase and it’s kicking my ass. 9 days to go.

Keep on sharing fluffy chic!

@DianeH I was deliriously right there with you! Could you feel me? I was the one with cold feet...

It's an ass-kicker, right? We can do this thing! Camp out here with us for a while whydoncha?

Day 9 - DONE! Stay Down B-I-O-T-C-H!!!! Stay Down!!!

WARNING! This post is likely to contain huge amounts of wailing, gnashing of teeth, bargaining, and cussing. Abandon hope all ye who enter...

Holy crap! It was all going moderately well until 7pm last night! WTF???? For real? I have just been through all day and I only have 3 hours until bedtime. Why am I about to cry like an emotional wreck? WTF???????????!!!!! What is wrong with me, that it's so difficult? I have one job...(ok, I have many jobs...)

I made it through making Mr. F's meal fairly well. Then I made my strawberry banana protein smoothie for my late 8pm dinner. I used a little coconut milk and 2oz of Fairlife Milk in it to get my calories up a little bit for the day. And I was doing fine, but an hour later, I started feeling my feet and fingers and lymphedema arm swell. And I'm all, "Whah?"

f**k me! That's when I did the unthinkable. At 10pm I got on the scale. What in hell got into me? Have I LOST my mind? I got nekkidy, pee'd and stepped up on the mother f**king scale! That morning I'd weighed 225.4lbs. And at 10pm I weighed 229.2--a whopping 3.8lbs. WTF? WTF? WTF? From where? I had 466 f**king calories yesterday! This is beyond frustrating. I'm not purposely keeping my calories at around 500/day on this liquid diet.

But here's the deal, I am swelling after every protein drink. My body does not like protein isolate. So I don't want to load it down with 80-100g of protein. Instead, I'm trying to hit around my goal of 74g/day. I'm also getting asthma from milk, so I don't see any purpose in going out to get regular skim milk to replace my Fairlife fat free high protein milk.

So I've just completed 9 days in the hole with the liquid diet and lost 8.6lbs, 3.8 of those pounds have been wiped away by 10pm. I was just devastated with worry and I can't emphasize this enough, my ears were ringing so badly I wanted to drive an icepick through my head to get them to stop. And then I made the mistake of looking at the next 3-4 weeks on liquid protein and lost it. I just felt like an emotional wreck. And I am worried the doctor will believe I haven't been trying--that I've been cheating. But f**k me. Not one single cheat--only impure thoughts.

Ok, so this morning dawned. And now I'm only up .8lbs from yesterday--my typical stairstep while losing weight. But again, come on. It's 500 calories. I should be gellin' like a felon and be losing craptastic amounts of weight. It's not as if I'm eating my 1500 calories and 70g of carbs! Right? Am I f**king right? Can I get an amen???

So, I talked myself off the ledge. Did not use an icepick (although it has a catchy ring, maybe I need to change my name?), and am determined to follow the plan without calling my RD or doctor and whining. Today is my pre-op interview at the hospital. I was moved to the first surgery of the day on 2.20.18. This time next week I will be gettin' gassed and a new anatomy. I can DO this. I GOT this. Afterwards, meh, well I will worry about that tomorrow, eh Scarlett?

Day 9 Food Log:

Edited February 13, 20188 yr by FluffyChix

Please talk to the dietician on your team about your protein drink and try something different. There is no reason to have to swell after each drink.

Fluffy can you go to something more plant based or vegan? As you know I am also a friend of Lloyd J Lymphedema and i wish he'd leave me alone also. Praying an answer will come, I've been proud of how well you have been doing . Non carborendumn illegittemti, don't let the b******* grind you down.

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7 minutes ago, Diana_in_Philly said:

Please talk to the dietician on your team about your Protein Drink and try something different. There is no reason to have to swell after each drink.

Thanks. I will send an email to the RD now. Am seeing the doc on Thursday. So even though the swelling is mostly coming back down overnight, you don't think I should just suck it up? I can't have any other type of protein powder because of hormone pos BC and asthma. I tried so many different kinds including the chicken one (horrible), egg white (bad asthma), a ton of diff wpp (asthma, ear ringing, swelling). I almost feel like I need to quit whining , suck it up, and just get through it?

I'm ok drinking the wpp 1 time per day--don't seem to have the overwhelming symptoms I do after having all 3 meals of it for 9 days...

Anything that triggers lymphedema is never a suck it up situation. Plain and simple. Call the office. You are going to need to find a protein powder that works without doing that because for the first few weeks after surgery it is going to be your source of protein. Don't mess with it.

Also, stay off the damn scale. There is no reason to weigh yourself daily if you cannot brush off the 4 pound swings. I still get them and I'm down 110 pounds. If you are going to make yourself nuts, there is no point, unless you like torturing yourself - at which point - go for it girl.

Keep up with the water and other liquids, keep moving it out and diluting in your body. Did you hear about the sleepy new father who gave his baby 4 oz of straight formula, doctor told him just give him 4 oz of water. See there's an answer, we just gotta find it.

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Bummer, Fluffy

Dr. Weiner suggests an alternative online: 1 c. yogurt, 1 banana, 4T PB2 or natural PB (http://drmatthewweiner.com/a-better-protein-shake/). Maybe you can run that by your dr? I personally like sfh Pure from Whole Foods, but if whey's the problem, its not for you.

I've always wondered about the non-whey powders -- now I know I don't need to try them!