Hi,

My sleeve will be on March 5th. I only stopped smoking on the 18th which will be 2 weeks before surgery by this coming Monday when I get it done.

I have tried to eat right and I do and I don't. I do drink the protein shakes (in the last week and Dr has the 2 week pre op diet consisting of two meals atkins style and one shake on week one and the week before 2-3 shakes and one meal)

I drink more than the recommended water, but find myself cheating and keep eating those stupid Reese Eggs or some other sweet and might skip a shake every other day.

I was going to get the sleeve last year and ended up not getting it because I had to have a total hysterectomy which I had last August and have gained weight (about 15 pounds since). I went through the total hysterectomy EASY. I was up walking within hours and went home the same day. Then I just kinda put the sleeve off debating to have it or not.

My question is - is this harder than a hysterectomy? I healed pretty quickly and although I took 3 weeks off I could have gone back to work within 4 days. I also smoked up until my surgery and my Dr. told me to because he didn't want me coughing a lot after from my body adjusting to quitting smoking and opening up the I think its called a vaginal sleeve. (I ended up anyway getting a horrible cold after and coughed and coughed within 4-5 days after and even still healed well.)

I have been reading a lot on here and this is my first post. I don't know why I am really scared to have this after reading some of these because everyone seems to follow their Dr. instructions and I have not. I smoke and have cheated on my pre-op. Putting it off would only continue my bad habits which I am positive will change after my surgery. I have mentally prepared myself for after the surgery, but NOT followed to the T what they told me to do. I have my pre-op appointment tomorrow and I am scared they will know I haven't follow instructions.

I read some on here they test for nicotine and I am hoping mine doesn't and I am not going to tell him I smoked up until February 18th. If I postpone it I will end up not doing it and I really want to, but after reading this forum I am scared about my cheating and that I smoked even though I smoked and sailed through the hysterectomy. The anesthesia was like taking a peaceful nap, waking up and being able to pretty much walk right out of the hospital (the only thing that stopped me was the nurse and the fact they had to remove he catheter. Anyway, this is too long...can you give me your thoughts? Have you all done exactly as you were told? My friend confessed she cheated on the pre-op the entire two weeks and she has lost over 100 pounds since hers a little over a year ago.

Edited February 27, 20188 yr by Prisca1

LOL. Bless your heart. You are gonna be CRAZY post surgery and I am gonna guess, suffer a world of hurt as you "attempt" to detox after surgery in addition to having to deal with the pain of surgery. But hey, you do you!

Just please do yourself a favor? Don't try to eat pizza or a couple of Reese's eggs 4 days out from surgery ok?

(My apologies to everyone including the OP, for this super snarky response! Cuz dear God, I followed the fuc*in' straight and narrow path these 6 months with few deviations well beforehand, and am like a church mouse now the surgery has come and gone--and even though I'm doing well, it has NOT been without its challenges. These kinds of posts make me jelly and crazy cuz the OP will probably skate through and pick up smoking 2 days after surgery without any kind of payback or ill-effects...) *le sigh. I'll put myself in time out. Sorry folks!*

I'll be honest with you -- I would NEVER want anyone to operate on me without knowing the true and honest picture of my health. It is too important.

You can't change what has happened. I will say that post-op, many of these decisions (around eating, drinking, and smoking) become life and death decisions. It is a very, very big deal. And aside from that, if you don't do what you are supposed to do and change your relationship with food, you won't be successful long term anyway.

I wish you luck, but you have to help yourself before the surgery or anyone else can help you...

45 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

LOL. Bless your heart. You are gonna be CRAZY post surgery and I am gonna guess, suffer a world of hurt as you "attempt" to detox after surgery in addition to having to deal with the pain of surgery. But hey, you do you!

Just please do yourself a favor? Don't try to eat pizza or a couple of Reese's eggs 4 days out from surgery ok?

(My apologies to everyone including the OP, for this super snarky response! Cuz dear God, I followed the fuc*in' straight and narrow path these 6 months with few deviations well beforehand, and am like a church mouse now the surgery has come and gone--and even though I'm doing well, it has NOT been without its challenges. These kinds of posts make me jelly and crazy cuz the OP will probably skate through and pick up smoking 2 days after surgery without any kind of payback or ill-effects...) *le sigh. I'll put myself in time out. Sorry folks!*

I have already detoxed as far as nicotine. It takes 3 days to get it out of your system and its been 8 days. I won't be eating the Reese eggs or pizza after surgery. I do eat healthy anyway for the most part (except the Reese eggs). I rarely eat bread and pizza isn't one of my favorite things anyway. I am only worried since I came on here and everyone seems to have followed it. I find it strange since my friend told me she cheated up to the day of surgery and no one has on here that I am reading.

I will do me and you made me laugh because my son always says, Mom, you do you.

Honestly, I worry about that nicotine test which they will be testing for cotinine , its by product. You MIGHT scoot by on the blood test if your drinking loads of water. Urine test can show up to 3 weeks for a regular smoker. And eat right this week. We want u to succeed so its time for a come to Jesus moment and get it together for YOU.

My insurance which is through the military from hubby, Tricare. If I DON'T pass the nicotine test , they will not let me have the surgery EVER. I don't get a second chance. I quit and best thing i have done for myself in a while.

Don't quit smoking for the surgery, quit smoking for life!

7 minutes ago, Kat0000 said:

Honestly, I worry about that nicotine test which they will be testing for cotinine , its by product. You MIGHT scoot by on the blood test if your drinking loads of Water. Urine test can show up to 3 weeks for a regular smoker. And eat right this week. We want u to succeed so its time for a come to Jesus moment and get it together for YOU.

My insurance which is through the military from hubby, Tricare. If I DON'T pass the nicotine test , they will not let me have the surgery EVER. I don't get a second chance. I quit and best thing i have done for myself in a while.

I quit smoking 4 years ago and quit for 3 years and started again about 8 months ago after some stress. I hope they don't do that test. I am also taking some supplements hoping that it helps with my liver like milk thistle. I wasn't a heavy smoker (a pack every 3 days or so)

If it were so easy to do all this pre-op none of us would need the surgery, we'd all be thin. We wouldn't have the food issues we have. I have read a lot on here and there seems to be a lot of judging from people on here and I am assuming everyone one here having the surgery has food addictions.

Edited February 27, 20188 yr by Prisca1

"Nicotine is usually detected in blood from 1-3 days after last use of Nicotine products i.e. Nicotine patches or gum, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco etc. However, cotinine stays for longer period and its levels can be detected in blood from 1 to 10 days after last use."

Is what I have found online. I quit on February 19th- 14 days before.

Not judging. Well I do have some food isssues, lol. How did you know?

8 minutes ago, Prisca1 said:

If it were so easy to do all this pre-op none of us would need the surgery, we'd all be thin. We wouldn't have the food issues we have. I have read a lot on here and there seems to be a lot of judging from people on here and I am assuming everyone one here having the surgery has food addictions.

I think you might be taking real talk and facts for judging. Yes, most people on here have food addictions. I certainly do, which is why I had to work VERY HARD to get where I have gotten. And notice that I said "do" and not "did." I do have an addiction and that is why 17 months post-op, I still watch what I eat, keep my macros in check, and track everything that goes in my body.

I appreciate people being real and honest. I especially appreciated it when I was pre-op and newly post-op and had a long, long journey ahead of me. When I hear anyone say that they'll change their behaviors after surgery, it sends up a red flag, and I am going to say something. That's how a support group (even online) is supposed to work.

The fact of the matter is that the surgery alone does NOTHING. It takes your commitment and hard work to have any success.

That is no judgment. It is a simple fact.

4 minutes ago, Kat0000 said:

Not judging. Well I do have some food isssues, lol. How did you know?

LOL I wasn't talking about you. It was on a post I posted about my sins. You actually showed some compassion, but the one person in my post acted all judgy (I know its not a word..lol).

blizair:

What I disagree with is your responses, what you consider "real talk" I consider talking down to me. I understand that you have to have the will to change, but if we all had the will we wouldn't be getting surgery. The actual surgery itself is what enables us able to lose the weight because we don't feel as hungry and although we eat when not hungry now, we have no repercussions. After surgery we can't eat the foods we want to without very painful repercussions.

I am not trying to minimize your weight loss. I am sure you feel fantastic, but the surgery is what caused your success. That little bit of success in your recovery period motivated you to continue. You have worked hard, but it sends up a "red flag" to me that you come across as someone who worked hard and did it, but act as if you did it all when it took surgery to accomplish it. The surgery propelled you into success and if you did it all by hard work then why did you get surgery when you could have done the same thing by "hard work" and not surgery. How is that for real talk??

I have had over 8 friends that have had the surgery with some 4 years ago who are still thin. The surgery was how they succeeded, not by hard work. Many don't even work out.

I guess we have a difference of opinion in what the meaning of hard work is. I think hard work is someone who eats healthy 95% of the time, works out daily and is fit through discipline, not by surgery to correct years of neglecting your health.

1 minute ago, Prisca1 said:

blizair:

What I disagree with is your responses, what you consider "real talk" I consider talking down to me. I understand that you have to have the will to change, but if we all had the will we wouldn't be getting surgery. The actual surgery itself is what enables us able to lose the weight because we don't feel as hungry and although we eat when not hungry now, we have no repercussions. After surgery we can't eat the foods we want to without very painful repercussions.

I am not trying to minimize your weight loss. I am sure you feel fantastic, but the surgery is what caused your success. That little bit of success in your recovery period motivated you to continue. You have worked hard, but it sends up a "red flag" to me that you come across as someone who worked hard and did it, but act as if you did it all when it took surgery to accomplish it. The surgery propelled you into success and if you did it all by hard work then why did you get surgery when you could have done the same thing by "hard work" and not surgery. How is that for real talk??

I have had over 8 friends that have had the surgery with some 4 years ago who are still thin. The surgery was how they succeeded, not by hard work. Many don't even work out.

I guess we have a difference of opinion in what the meaning of hard work is. I think hard work is someone who eats healthy 95% of the time, works out daily and is fit through discipline, not by surgery to correct years of neglecting your health.

You've been here 5 minutes. How dare you imply I have no discipline; go back and read some stuff and get the sense of my journey. No, the surgery didn't do it all. It supported me. And while you are at it, think about why SO, SO many people never get to goal or immediately regain. (And look at some statistics while you are at it.)

You are entitled to your opinion, but if you think that the surgery alone gets you where you need to go, we'll see where you are in a year or so.

And, by the way, I always, always acknowledge that I have had surgery. I also point out that I lost 100 pounds during my six month pre-op diet program, and lost the rest after the surgery. Read the COUNTLESS threads about people keeping it a secret where I have said that.

Please block me. I will do the same. I will have no further interaction with you.

18 minutes ago, blizair09 said:

You've been here 5 minutes. How dare you imply I have no discipline; go back and read some stuff and get the sense of my journey. No, the surgery didn't do it all. It supported me. And while you are at it, think about why SO, SO many people never get to goal or immediately regain. (And look at some statistics while you are at it.)

You are entitled to your opinion, but if you think that the surgery alone gets you where you need to go, we'll see where you are in a year or so.

And, by the way, I always, always acknowledge that I have had surgery. I also point out that I lost 100 pounds during my six month pre-op diet program, and lost the rest after the surgery. Read the COUNTLESS threads about people keeping it a secret where I have said that.

Please block me. I will do the same. I will have no further interaction with you.

I won't block you I don't do that when someone says something I don't want to hear. Congrats on your hard work, Just because I made my first post doesn't mean I am "new" on here OR that I don't know anything and just because you have been here awhile doesn't make you all knowing. I have been reading these posts for months. Like I said, I have many friends that have had the surgery. I am probably twice your age from the looks of you too, so I know a wee bit. Good Luck and no I won't block you. I am a grown woman, I can take it.

Edited February 27, 20188 yr by Presurg1

@Presurg1 If you read the forum for a while, you'll find many people that don't make their goals and/or cant maintain their weight loss. The one common thread I see in the successful members is that they stick closely to the rules, track what they eat, etc. No doubt you will see weight loss for the first 6-12 months eating carelessly, but if you aren't careful with your nutrition and supplementation, you are compromising your long-term health.

LOL. Bless your heart. You are gonna be CRAZY post surgery and I am gonna guess, suffer a world of hurt as you "attempt" to detox after surgery in addition to having to deal with the pain of surgery. But hey, you do you!
Just please do yourself a favor? Don't try to eat pizza or a couple of Reese's eggs 4 days out from surgery ok?
(My apologies to everyone including the OP, for this super snarky response! Cuz dear God, I followed the fuc*in' straight and narrow path these 6 months with few deviations well beforehand, and am like a church mouse now the surgery has come and gone--and even though I'm doing well, it has NOT been without its challenges. These kinds of posts make me jelly and crazy cuz the OP will probably skate through and pick up smoking 2 days after surgery without any kind of payback or ill-effects...) *le sigh. I'll put myself in time out. Sorry folks!*

I do completely understand your frustrations but we have not all walked in the others shoes. I smoked forever and tried and tried to quit for many years. Then one day I threw them out and was done. All the times I tried to quit and failed made me feel even worse. It is what it is and I can now say I used to smoke.

As for following the diet it is a lot harder for some than others. I am a week out from surgery and I have followed the diet and cried a lot of days. Today I ate a piece of chocolate. Again it is what it is. If I could just put food down and walk away I wouldn’t need this surgery, but I can’t so I am.

On the other hand doctors and the industry set “Best Practice” guidelines for their patients to follow. They do it because these are the best to follow. They know through extensive research that smoking slows the healing process and when you are talking about having a ton of stitches (staples) in your stomach they advise you to stop because it is what’s best.

As for “cheating” on the pre-op diet. The purpose is to shrink your liver so the doctor has better access to your stomach. They want your colon cleaned out because they don’t want you getting constipated, it is already a possibility. There is also a risk of aspiration, vomiting while asleep and inhaling it into your lungs. This could cause pneumonia.

The president-op is hard. I am still a big girl with a big girl stomach and my big stomach wants to be full.

Good luck