wannalise

I tried quoran sp? chicken today and it was so yummy! I can't eat real chicken but that tasted delicious. And only a small amount was a pretty good protein source.

But its not like you just had your pics out there on the internet, both this and OH are specific forums that should be used as methods of information gathering and support BY THE MEMBERS! I would be pissed to see things I have said here floating around because even though this is a public forum, there is an element that we are a group and we respect one another. So sorry! But don't forget, she wouldn't have bothered if you hadn't done such an amazing job!

How crazy! Your body has been through a lot in the last few years, and your a hottie from the inside too.

I have discovered a few things that are also yummy. I don't know what your carb limit daily is, but Mission carb balance tortillias have 18g carbs per entire tortillia, my trick has been to cut them in 1/4's and put hormel hot and spicy pepperoni and mozarella cheese on them. Then microwave them until the cheese is all melty. Gives me the pizza fix. It is higher in fat, but if you aren't focusing on that then it is just plain yummy!

Yay! Yeah there is some trauma. Post op I had gone from 3-4 thousand calories of carby fatty heaven to initally about 200 cal of protein and holy **** it was shocking!

I ended up on loads of phenegran too. It works well, but I learned after the fact that it is a known anxiety causer (I mentioned it in another post but accidentally called it reglan) I also hate that it seems to "burn" my veins. Not unique to this experience, but I my one vein still feels bruised a month out. But yup totally optional. Talk w/ them in depth about it and they can better explain it obviously then you can make a great informed decision.

Be really direct with his staff about the things that make you anxious. The spinal block is optional but I did some reading on it and it really is a great thing for overweight folks. It allows them to use less anasthetic which is stored in the body's fat and makes your recovery happen more smoothly. I promise his staff has dealt with every imaginable situation. I have seizures and they had to get creative about how to medicate me because I was endlessly nauseated and could not hold anything down. Another lady who was there with me had nearly unmanagable diabetes and they found ways to make her comfortable and safe as well. Just be incredibly direct about your needs and desires. Advocate hard for yourself and you will be happy!

No Angie, it is the bomb.com! They give you an ativan, then they IV you, then when you are so far under that you don't care about anything anymore they do the spinal block. It made it so I had NO pain those first two days. My memory of the spinal block is one of those kind of memories that is foggy and you only have glimpses of it, the way people describe being abducted by aliens (hehehehe) only in the end you end up thin with a cute butt!

Oh and another weird thing, at different times of day I can do more fluid. In the mornings I can't drink very much, but in the evenings I drink almost like I did preop.

See I had some weird flukey opposite experience. On my second day home (so 5th day out from surgery) I was getting angry because I really couldn't stomach my protein shakes and broth was horrible too. So, my dear friends ran and got me a bag of sonic ice and I chew chew chewed that and it really helped me!

You are certainly not the only one! Preop I made myself pretty anxious because I thought I would never get to eat certain things ever again. You will, I promise. I am just introducing foods back in and while I can't polish off a whole plate of cheese fries, if I plan ahead I can have a few of em. Most of the time that knowledge is enough for me. I am so excited for you to be able to play with your kids and not even think about your weight! How cool for you and your family. May 20th will be here in not time!

I very vaguely remember the gauze and then I have this semi embarrasing memory and I really don't know who the recipient was, but as they were giving me my spinal block and I was leaning on someone, I think I gave them and uber bear hug! I hope I just am remembering it wrong????

I can't lie Wendy, I don't really remember anything after surgery day and had to go back and read my journal about right before it, and even most of the day after. Amnesia can be very nice.

Maybe its the pyro in me but I say BURN IT!!!!!!!!!!! Dance around its flames and celebrate its death!!!!

Wendy I didn't realize it was time yet!!!!! Yay! They will give you a sleeping pill tonight, take it. It really is worth getting some rest. You'll be in my thoughts tomorrow. Keep us posted when you're feeling up to it!

Hey deary! I was just gonna come on and post my whole on rant and I hope that I don't monopolize yours but that maybe we can make each other feel better. This will sound dumb to your preop and I hope I can even make sense. I have done really well post op having a plan, following through, staying within my goals. I have always used food the way others use drugs. I don't just like food I use it to numb discomfort, or to heighten good moods. Today I very impulsively stopped and bought a small fry and a small milkshake and then like a giant sneak sat in the back of a parking lot and ate 4 fries and four bites of that shake. Then I felt uber gross and the ice cream ended up coming back up. I felt awful, but it wasn't about what I ate specifically, I came home and entered those foods and I'm still within all my targets, it was that for a matter of a few minutes I let something outside myself have control of me. Your body woes, and your frustrations with smoking are not little. They are symptoms that you can look at and realize that there are things in your world that need to be different, and that you deserve for them to be different. Toxicity only breeds more toxicity. I once had it explained to me that you can't put an oily cloth and a white cloth in a bowl together and hope that the oily cloth will come out whiter, everything will be oily. This will be rough, I am probably going to struggle til the end of my days to use food as a thing that fuels me and that I enjoy, but not the thing that drives me. But I know that I have a team of supporters and I hope that you do to. I have no idea what pant size you are in, but I have 2 cute pairs of Old Navy 26's that are in my thrift store bag, but that I'd be happy to send to you if they'd help. Take care and let each day be a new start. I'm gonna have to keep telling myself that too.

Stacy, I still get the gurgles if I drink too quickly or if I haven't had my nexium. I don't know if you had a drainage site, but my drain incision was tender for a couple weeks, and I always made it worse because I kept falling asleep on that incision.

Where could I get my hands on it and does it come in different qualities (should I be looking for something special?) I googled it and there really are loads of recipes, I am still intimidated by tofu unless its prepped for me in a restraunt then I don't even notice it. Is it something that I could use as a filler, does it have its own flavor, or just pick up the flavor of the things you cook it in? Thanks for the tips Hathery! I really appreciate it!

Okay and one more thing.....I had my surgery done in MX and I read some people say that even after doing homework that is just something they couldn't do, that MX doesn't meet their standards, NEVER would I think that my opinion, even though I had a great experience such outweigh their opinion for their own body. I can only speak to what I know and what I experienced and I can respect someone else's desire to have the major surgical procedure done in a way that they are most comfortable with.

You just made me die! I am a scale whore of EPIC proportions. And now I have a name for my particular disorder!!!!

I think its sad that this has divided into teams and has grown ugly. I have found the support that I've received on these boards from people on both sides of this issue invaluable. And more importantly is there is someone in this specific forum who had a no fault leak, who is sad and scared and the best we can do is call people names for disagreeing with us, or saying that those who had the misfortune of complications a part of a special group. Please, can't we pull it together, say what we know about a specific situation without making it personal. If you got on here and told me that you tried my favorite protein and it made you very ill, my response wouldn't be to be angry with you. I would be grateful to have avoided the experience you did, then I would be vigilant to learn more about what could have caused your problem.

If you are exercising the same is true about shocking your system. If right now you walk 30 min a day on the treadmill, mix it up by walking 10 min running 2 walking 10 running 2. Or by using a whole new muscle group. Also, I have a horrible habit of leaving my scale in my kitchen, sometimes I will step on it 6 times a day and the variance througout a a single day is mind boggling. So hypocrite speaking here...have one day with a set time and a plan of whether or not you've eaten or drank first and then weigh!

I understand. One day fluids didn't feel comfortable when they went down and I was SURE that I had a leak. I had to get several reassurances on here and no ma'am I was okay and I'm sure you will be too!