swizzly

I have (had?) IBS too (C or A, not D) -- aside from a wee bit o' the runs post-op, things firmed right back up, as I suspected. Even though I still have the C from time to time (not as often as before, I don't think), I do NOT have the bloating and abdominal pain anymore. I am SO touching wood that it doesn't return!! Good luck on your pre-op!!

*snerk*

I know!! This dumb little thumb-size tummy of mine makes me lose all sense of proportion!! An over-attended organ has taken over the driver's seat from my brain...makes me feel a bit of sympathy for men if I'm honest.

I should have mentioned that I didn't even get any good pain meds while in hospital either -- no morphine pump, nothing but paracetamol in my IV, and then later the effervescent version for my water glass. And yet my pain wasn't bad at all, so I can't be too bitter. (After my hysterectomy, which was a major surgery due to complications, I had a morphine pump for the first day or so, then also got switched to paracetamol and ibuprofen...both in suppository form. So I'm glad they didn't go that route [lol] this time!)

I'm hypothyroid, it runs in my family as well (most of them who have the problem were never obese). I have been taking synthroid for many years (can't even remember the dosage right now lol), and it lands me well within the normal TSH zone. However, being hypothyroid didn't really seem to affect my metabolism at all, as I have a pretty good one. Being hypothyroid didn't make me gain any weight that I can tell (other reasons for that, nothing to do with thyroid); being treated for it (while helping other symptoms) did not help me lose any weight either. It's quite possible that the synthroid helped me to stay the same weight for the past >10-years prior to VSG, though. No real way to tell. I'm still on the same synthroid dose post-op as I was pre-op, when I get my next labs I'll be interested to see where the TSH is now, though I don't expect anything to change on that front, frankly. I have heard of many other hypothyroid people who've had loads of success with WLS, so I definitely think it's do-able.

I don't have any kids, but I felt really guilty pre-surgery because I never even told anyone in my family that I was having it (still haven't). I figured if something went wrong and I kicked it, they would be doubly pissed and upset that they didn't even know I was having an operation. But THEN I figured, well hell, I live very far away from them and only see them every couple of years usually, and in the between times, anything could happen to any of us, at any time. Surgery in a nice hospital with good doctors and surgeons should be the least of my worries, but somehow it crystallises as this big scary thing. I think it's just because it's entirely out of our control. I am agnostic, so I just focused on the skill of the surgeon and anaesthesiologist and knew they would do their job well. I told my husband I loved him, but no big speeches lol -- I just told him to tell my family I loved them if anything happened to me. No new wills or just-in-cast letters though. I got more worked up about it all when I had my hysterectomy a few years ago, that was a 'bigger' surgery in many ways. Fact is, just like fearing flying but reaching your destination with no problems, the vast majority of people will also come through surgery just fine as well. So statistically, you've very, very little to worry about. Maybe that's not comforting to anyone else, but running the numbers like that always makes me feel better.

You know, I don't even have a clue how many carbs is too many? I count calories and Protein just to keep track that I'm getting enough of both, but the program automatically counts carbs too. I have zero bloody idea what is meant to be low? What is high? I love cake sooo much. Luckily there is NO good cake here. Seriously. Also no Chipotle or Taco Bell or aisles of yummy junk food at the shops. I am perhaps doomed if I ever move back to the US.

Great job!! I love these pictures where people are in front of the door...and more and more of the door keeps showing up in the photos.

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy getting the new makeover as well.

The baby and her mother are both so beautiful! What a happy story, I'm all choked up.

On this we can certainly agree. I am often far too wordy.

Oh god, I had the worst lower back pain and sciatic nerve inflammation post-op -- lasted a good month or so, too. UGH. Had to get special permission to take NSAIDs starting just a week post-op, but they did really help. The good news is, once it went away, it was just gone -- no lingering or coming and going. Whew.

"Whoever" posted just a couple of posts above yours, as I think you are referring to me -- "swizzly" or Dee, per my signature. Nice to meet you, NtvTxn. I agree, OUR country has plenty of good physicians and programs, as I said in my original post. However, in this other country where I reside, there are also very good physicians and surgeons, some of whom run the program I am working with. I'm not sure how ignorant or untrained you think people are, but I can assure you there is no one eating chicken or steak right out of the gate, nor any doctors, surgeons or nutritionists in the program encouraging this. We have tons of pre-op one-on-one nutritional and behavioral testing and counseling, so people are well-prepared for life post-op. Also, perhaps my terminology is unclear, but I was specifically referring to there being no all-liquid phase, but there is definitely an emphasis on soft foods, "well chewed of course," for the first few weeks. meats that are not VERY soft and/or chopped finely/pureed, and raw fruit/veg, are only cleared a few weeks after surgery. And they have just as much success (and as few leaks) as any of the other top programs do. They do keep people in hospital as well for a week for this surgery, so that they can be closely monitored and guided in the first days after the operation. They serve specialised bariatric menus to WLS patients that entire time. This means nothing on the first day post-op, until the final leak test is passed. Then liquids for the next 2-3 days, depending on how the patient is tolerating them. (I didn't get off my IV till day five because I was having a hard time to drink water, it was making me vomit.) Then soft solid foods, like zwieback and mash and soft-cooked veg. They also do not give pre- or post-op antibiotics automatically -- they are only given if an infection presents. Again, this is different to the US, but there are some very good reasons for not overusing antibiotics, which is just how things are done here. This is my second major surgery in this country, and I've not had an infection either time, so antibiotics were never needed in my case. So they do have good reasons for doing things the way they do -- and every time I questioned them, based on my US perspectives and paradigms (and things I learned on the boards), they were very good about explaining their rationale, data, and perspectives to me. You may reduce it to quackery because it differs to your experience, but you can't (reasonably) deny scientific data. Though it is a private clinic, they partner with the university hospital to conduct a number of WLS studies, some of which you are likely to have run across in your extensive pre-op research. Similarly, you must know based on that research that leaks are very rarely caused by patient non-compliance (eg, eating something 'wrong') and are more often caused by things outside the patient's control, and even often outside the surgeon's (assuming a minimally skilled and experienced surgeon of course) control, such as infection, scar tissue, previous tissue damage, completely random chance, etc. I never said or implied anything like that. And one thing I have definitely noticed is there is nothing like "nation wide" rules. The programs are so different, it is frequently driving patients nuts, which we can see from all the posts on the boards saying different and sometimes completely opposite things. So a conspiracy is something I never even thought about, let alone implied. As I'm sure you know, the "Center of Excellence" program is a US-based rating system. They don't have such a thing here, to my knowledge -- or if they have an EU-based equivalent, they probably wouldn't use it in this country anyhow, as it is not part of the EU. To assume this also means that there is no quality care outside the US is just absurd on its face. There is a definite bias against dieting already in the culture here. They think everyone should eat sensibly and in moderation. So this is the entire basis of their post-op approach. They don't say it like that or at least not that explicitly all the time, because it is already a starting assumption. There is nothing like a "Bible" related to it, because the Bible idea reinforces the notion that there is One True Bariatric Way, which there is not. (There are some guidelines and handouts, which I refer to from time to time, but I'd rather just ask my dr or nut, as I see them frequently and can call them anytime and get a same-day conversation, this is not a problem.) Again, my whole point is that the approach is flexible in a way that recognises individual differences, which I found comforting when I was having post-op difficulties and could then find things to eat which worked for me. I feel this helped me personally to recover very quickly physically, and it was also comforting on an emotional and mental level as well. Incidentally, I have heard that a few true 'food addicts' have been diagnosed as part of the program. I was told they are given a different set of rules, follow-ups and guidelines according to their specific needs. But treating everyone as though they are one simple carb away from a dozen-doughnut-quart-of-ice-cream snarf-fest is just not a helpful approach, and IMO causes undue anxiety and stress for a population that is already anxious and stressed about food -- and trying NOT to be. As the nutritionist always says, roughly translating: A little of this or that will never hurt you; having too much or having it every day is a very bad idea and will not help you be successful.

FWIW, I had insomnia pre-op too, though probably not as bad as some of you here because I didn't ever take any medication for it, except half an ativan sometimes because of the accompanying anxiety, just muddled through it somehow. And then after surgery, as I said, it got worse for a while. But I also wanted to add that, a couple of months later, I am sleeping MUCH better than I did pre-op. So it might get a bit worse for a while, but there's a chance that it could also then improve a lot over what you already experience. In GENERAL, I slept much better when I was thinner than I did after I got heavier (even though I didn't have any sleep apnea or any sleep disorders). So, hope for the best!

I had nausea first two days post-op, but very little pain at all. Felt quite good from day four onward.

Mine was caffeinated, but don't have coffee mate here -- it just had a pot of hot milk to go in it.

I had a lot of insomnia post-op -- but not the kind where you can't fall asleep, the kind where you wake up at like 2 or 3 am and can't go back to sleep, and just think odd or anxiety-ridden thoughts. It has gotten much better the past month or so, I think it was anaesthetic hangover and hormonal wackiness from surgery. I hope yours resolves soon.

I had coffee a couple days after surgery, it's okay on my program, it was served to me already in hospital. So from my perspective, no problem.

LOVE your post, thanks for writing all that out. I could really relate to a lot of what you said.

I have worn a tankini with bikini bottoms all along, even when I was heavier. I am just more comfortable in a two-piece, and the skirt or shorts on the bottom just seemed to accentuate things instead of actually 'hiding' them.

I had to do the heparin shots for four weeks after I left the hospital, and my stomach really started to look like I'd been savagely beaten. It was sooo ugly and tender to the touch as well. It all cleared up after a week or so after the shots ended.

I'm the same -- I didn't hate PB pre-op, but I didn't really like it and rarely ate it. Now I LOVE a spoon of PB as a snack. I can't get the natural kind here, so I use the normal bad one too.

The lowest fat milk I can routinely get here is like 2.7% fat, so I have been using that all along, no problems.

Congrats on the loss! I think maybe you should try increasing calories just a bit, and see how that impacts things? If you're working out a lot, you might be undereating and getting in a bit of starvation mode? Anyhow, well done you!

I hesitate to add anything unhelpful...but I'm hoping this could maybe add a new perspective. In this small European country in which I live, I am part of a bariatric practice that is very academically respected and one of the top clinics in Europe. They are not only treating many, many patients over the years, they have also conducted a number of studies -- they know what works and what doesn't (this is why they discontinued doing the band already since a couple years ago). As with most practices, they do a lot of testing up front. This includes measuring your basal metabolic rate and extensive research into how you eat, drink, exercise, and what caused you to get fat in the first place. Then they treat everyone according to those differences. One size does NOT fit all, indeed. However, some things are pretty standard: There is no liquid phase, before or after surgery. People don't live on shakes or supplements, ever. Everyone moves to solid food (well, well chewed of course -- this was a major part of our 'training' lol) on the third or fourth day after surgery. Though they sort of encourage using diet products with artificial sweeteners, they are not at all insisting on it -- because there is general dislike of artificial sweeteners here anyhow. They do warn the GBS patients to avoid dumping by not eating more than 15g of sugar at one go. Nothing is forbidden, but things that are empty calories are recommended to be infrequent and in small amounts -- ie, moderation. Carbs are required on the eating plan -- Protein, fruit/veg, + carbs (pasta, potatoes, bread). Calories are not counted, nor are grams of anything. Just a well-balanced eating approach, which is pretty closely supervised, so they can see if someone's missing something important. Bottom line is, they have a very different approach. Where you wouldn't be stressing so much over whether to use sugar -- many patients here do, in their coffee and jogurt, etc. And in the end, they have just as much success with their patients as the US and Mexico practices do. There is more than one way to skin a fat cat. I understand the strict plans and the people who follow them religiously. I get that, I really do. It's just not the only way. I think the best thing about this more holistic, flexible approach is that it can deal with difference -- it can handle that someone's not tolerating carbs, for instance, and just do a work-around. It doesn't say try 15 different shakes or supplements and just pound sand if they don't work, because you can't eat anything but these clear things for three weeks. That's not an approach that is going to help someone who's having difficulties, and that's exactly where I part ways with the strict/religious approach. There has to be a way to accommodate different needs -- because having different needs doesn't make you wrong or bad or defective, it just means one size doesn't fit all. Hell, we fatties should know that more than anyone. MeggieP, I just hope you find something that works. And I hope you trust your smart brain, your new angry tummy, and your body, enough to hear what it needs to help it through this rough patch. Feel better, and take it easy.