Bryn Dawson

My surgeon is kind of the same way. He put a negative-ish (not totally negative, but not really positive) spin on his opinion of VSG vs RNY. He likes to point out that RNY has been around for years, has over 40 years worth of post-op data, will make you lose more weight, etc. But I am very afraid of dumping syndrome and having the intestinal reroute done - it just seems like too much to me. I want the VSG because I know it's right for me - it will help me to get close to where I want to be (which is bigger than the stupid BMI says I should be anyway - BMI says I should weigh 144, I want to be around 175.) When I told him that he really pushed me to do RNY - he says I'll only get down to around 200 with VSG. I just can't see that as being true when so many people here have said they got down to their goal weight. Surely an extra 25 lbs isn't an impossibility. I think if you are set on VSG then either you need to find another surgeon who is more of a proponent of it, or decide that your surgeon's personal opinion (not professional opinion) doesn't make a difference in your decision. It hasn't in mine - his professional opinion is that it's a good surgery, just kind of an unknown in the long term.

Ugh, I didn't even think about that - sodium being too high = Fluid retention. It's amazing - I went through all this nutrition stuff in health class in high school and sure, I learned it superficially, but now it's sinking in how everything is linked to everything else! Oy! The nutritionist and surgeon's office gave me a binder - this GBMC-COMP program really is comprehensive as all get-out - with all kinds of resources, sample diets, etc. It also has all the rx forms for my preop testing and explanations of what each test is, plus information on the postop diet that doesn't even apply to me (yet!) and stuff like that. The numbers I should be meeting are: <200g carbs, 70-90g Protein, <60g fats, 1800 cals. Right now I'm meeting the carbs and cals and working hard on the protein. The fats is still high so that will be my next big focus, and, of course, the sodium. (Goodbye my best friend salt, how I will miss you...) Haha. I haven't had soda in a whole week. Nothing carbonated at all. It's been surprisingly easy after the first couple days, but I am drinking a lot of mix-ins - Crystal Light and stuff. Maybe that is not helping the sodium - I'll check into it. I'm starting from 'scratch' - no lap-band before sleeving, so I don't know how my weight loss will go. I expect it'll be quick for a month or so and then will start to slow down - hoping that I'm wrong. Thanks for your support here. It means a lot, even though I'm so far out from a surgery date still. Just gotta walk the path and make it there - the gateway to the rest of my life!

Thanks for the responses! It is definitely exciting, though sometimes I do get discouraged. The 'what-if's' sneak in and start asking me questions - what if I can't keep up with the eating requirements, what if I can't do the exercise as much as I should, what if what if whatifwhatifwhatif. I hate the whatifs. I just keep reminding myself to take it one day at a time - to really be present through the process, learn all I can from the nutritionist and the groups, and from resources like this forum. Nice to know there are others in Baltimore too, thanks for the info! Today I had a small serving of Pasta - the nutritionist said to go as low carb as possible but I figured this small serving couldn't hurt and am still under 200 for the day (not that I'm counting.) I have a calorie counter I signed up for free on caloriecount.about.com and it also counts all sorts of other stuff. The only thing that alarms mea little is how high the sodium is. I am going to have to start making a point to get low sodium items.