SassySenior

Cheryl ... glad you got a chance to post. I know everyone here would love to get to know your sweet self and hear your encouraging and supportive words. Sassy

Cindy, OMG, you poor thing. You're so brave. I'm gonna have to either write a poem about you or petition your town to name a street in your honor! Do you have someone who can wait on you hand and foot? I might consider sending my Shiki to you. His kisses have magical healing powers. I know I always feel a lot better after he kisses me. Don't worry about him crushing you. He's only 7 lbs. and very gentle! Don't be too brave. Gulp those drugs down. Nothing like being numb when you're feeling bad. I hope you're doing something productive while laying on the couch ... like watching your favorite shows and videos. I'm pretty much an expert on what's on TV, so lemme know if you need a detailed rundown! Get better quick, girl.

Glad you got to talk to the nurse. Now, you're all ready for the surgery. Surgery will be over before you know it. Hope things post-surgery go smoothly. Remember, better to ask the medical pros when you have a medical question. Thinking of you tomorrow.

I doubt broccoli has any carbs, I don't know about Brussels sprouts, but I guarantee you the snow peas probably caused the carb overload. I love peas, and I plan on eating them soon as I can. But they are off limits for now. Keep doing what you're doing --- good work! Keep it up!

CINDY !!! You exist!! Thanks for replying. It just does my heart proud when one of our more latent members takes the time to respond to a post ... especially when it concerns me! Ha Ha I'm not overly bothered by not having a scale, just very curious since I had surgery 1 month ago. Since I weigh over 300, I don't know if many scales can accommodate that??

Lynda, Thanks for explaining. Now, I see (light bulb turning on)! I do like lattes at Starbucks ... doesn't it seems as if they have a magic wand that makes all drinks just taste great? No, I'm not looking for the milkshake consistency ... just wondered about all the milk. Absolutely love the idea of adding Protein powder -- anything that ups my daily protein is a huge plus, since I'm getting 50 g on a good day.

Call your doctor asap. This is nothing to guess at.

Pre-op diets are hard for several reasons -- not just to torture you. I didn't realize till later that the pre-op had prepared me somewhat for what was to follow after surgery, which was not eating anything resembling food for two weeks, and then another month of greatly restricted eating. I realized then that without the pre-op I would have been dropped into the ice cold Water of reality after surgery, which would have been a nearly unbearable shock. The only thing easy about this surgery is your joy in turning into a different version of yourself ... one that's 1/2 or less of what you used to weight. Many of us had much harder pre-op diets ... like no food whatsoever, only Protein shakes or bars and water. I don't know how others managed on that. I couldn't. I had to have a mini meals of lean meat and veggies. But my total intake was probably about 700 calories. If you have a more liberal pre-op., drop everything, run to your surgeons, and give him a big smooch on the lips for letting you eat something. It's hard, but you can do it, just like we all did. Remember, it's absolutely necessary you be in this nearly starvation state of mind by the time you have surgery. What makes it bearable is that after 3-5 days your body will adjust (if you haven't cheated with sugar) and you will be able to complete the pre-op with a minimum of suffering.

Lynda, I'm a little confused. You use 8 oz. of soy milk in your coffee, along with the vanilla protein powder? It sounds more like a milk shake than coffee. Kate

Linda, I didn't realize you pureed the food. I thought you were eating it as is. Of course, pureeing anything pretty much is ok. Thanks for clarifying.

Linda, FB post 11-29.txt

THE SHIKI FACTOR Linda, You're only 10 days out and already eating real food? That, my dear, is shocking. The majority of doctors say the tummy is still in an early healing stage and it's too swollen and delicate to put anything substantial in it. Just be careful. My doctor warned me about doing something that might upset my staple line. I was on fluids for 2 weeks. Now I'm on mushies for 1 month. That may sound a little strict, but that is his protocol. I've heard of ones even more strict than that. For me personally, while I am the adventurous type, I really don't want to get sick and am sticking pretty close to the diet. As you might have guessed, I'm not perfect ... yet ... (LOL) so I have departed from the diet slightly. For example, my adventurous Thanksgiving Day was to have an egg over-medium and 3/4 strip of crispy bacon, chewed into nothingness. Shiki was so kind as to help me me from overeating by snatching up the 1/4 strip of bacon that fell the floor. He said, with the kindest eyes, "just trying to help, Mom."

Lynda, I mean how much Protein Powder do I use. I love the idea of finding creative ways like this to up the Protein I'm taking every day. Right now I'm only getting in about 40 grams. Haven't moved up to 2 shakes a day but that will hopefully happen when I get my delivery of Syntrax Nectar. I've been drinking Premier chocolate exclusively for over a month, and I'm getting sick of it to say the least. So how was your turkey day? What did you eat and do?

Sounds really good, Lynda, and I have a Starbucks practically across the street from me. How much powder do you use? And where do you buy the instant?

Linda, Re: a post you made a couple of days ago about crockpot cooking, I just love people who love to cook, especially because I don't. Lucky for me, my BFF likes to cook and even better, likes to cook for me. So I'm compiling a bunch of recipes and ferrying them over to her so she can cook the various recipes for supper and then save the rest for me. I am going to pass your post on to her so she can think about making your concoction. It does sound good. We'll use cracker crumbs because I'm allergic to bread and crackers don't have many calories. And don't worry about sodium because these are salt free. So let's fire up that slow cooker and get some yummy sleeve recipes. After all, it's just another 3 weeks till I move to the next step.

I hope you all enjoyed that long, colorful post I just wrote, replete with a creative description of all the foods I ate on Thanksgiving, and everything Shiki and I did. You know, the kind of post that you're especially proud of so you do a spellcheck to make sure it turns out just perfect. Yeah ... that one ... the one cyberspace ate for supper. YIKES. I swear when this happens to me, it'll never happen again. How I'll be sure to copy it and never, never forget again. Sound familiar? The irony is you know how your computer seems to save every tidbit of information you have no interest in .... like a gazillion copies of files with weird extensions like .zbx, .qrf, and .xl$. But can it take a millisecond to save your valuable manuscript you just sweated over? No way ... that is not how the 'puter works. Yech. Remind me to throw up. Maybe you'll see my post in your dreams! Or would that be nightmares? Hope your turkey day was fun. We ate, in this order, one over-medium egg, 3/4 piece of super crisp bacon (chewed into baby food) 1/4 piece of bacon off the floor (Shiki did this), dog food, 16 oz. of cherry flavored water, 1 Greek yogurt and looking forward to 1/2 cup of pureed soup and 11 oz. chocolate Protein Drink. And, of course .... Water and more water.

Frank, You definitely could have a career as a spokeman. Seriously! What do you do now?

GASTRIC BYPASS HAS A HISTORY OF STOPPING DIABETES Linda, I never thought I would utter these words, but have you considered a gastric bypass for your husband? The only reason I recommend it is because there is a good chance that this operation can put an indefinite hold on his diabetes. The Sleeve may do this, but there are no guarantees. However with the bypass, it is just as likely to halt Diabetes in its tracks as to not. If you haven't looked into this, you might want to ... even at this late date. I have diabetes and was hoping something miraculous would happen on my day of surgery, but it didn't. Of course, my sugars are much lower now because I'm not eating. But that's the only reason. My surgeon, who doesn't guarantee anything, strongly urged me to do this. But since my diabetes was not that bad, and has always been under control, I rejected the idea. Think about it. Best of caring wishes your way. Sassy

Ok, we need a few more details. Where and when? ... and who else was with you?

Slap your hubby into shape. If he really thinks you'll be up to giving a party four days after surgery, someone needs a reality check. Hope your pre-op visit goes well. I actually had two pre-ops because at the first one, my surgery had to be postponed because I was still taking nsaids. Didn't know I was supposed to stop before surgery. Hope everything is a go for you!

That's a great idea, Linda. I am relying on cooks like you to give non-cooks like me some good ideas on sleever recipes that are fast and easy to make. Your hubby is lucky to have his own personal chef. Can I move in? As to fruit, "they" say not to do this until later down the road because fruits aren't sleeve friendly. Speaking of Torani syrups, the Kahlua one sounds great. Have you tried it?

Welcome to anyone I missed last time around. This is a unique group that gives us of a "certain age" the opportunity to talk with our contemporaries or peers. Congrats to Cindy and others who are on the losers bench and proud to share their weight loss stats. It helps those of us who are new to believe that if it can happen to you, it can happen to us. I don't have a scale and don't know when I'll get one, so I have no idea what I weigh. The main reason I don't have a scale is because I carry my weight in my legs and haven't found a scale I think I can stand on.

I never thought of that ... neither zip lining or the line breaking. But it does sound like something I need to put on a bucket list. It will be the first item, since I haven't started one till now. For so long, I stopped even dreaming about what I might do someday. I've been bed-ridden for over a year, mainly because I don't have any furniture I can get up from. That will change soon as I lose weight and buy something new that I can sit on in the living room. Even though the weight is dropping off, I still have a hard time believing I'm actually going to be thinner. Probably lean and mean, more fitting to my personality. LOL Is your name Dema? I'd like to know more about you, if you feel like sharing. My real name is Kate, but Cheryl on this site convinced me to use Sassy. Now I'm all over it. I'm a little over 3 weeks now. Doing pureed foods, trying to add something a little more interesting. That's actually not too difficult because pureed anything is pretty boring. Just to show you what a rebel I am ... and how adventurous ... I had a couple of salt free crackers with butter today! How 'bout that? Ok ... nothing to brag about, but it was a nice change of pace to eat with my 3 oz. of pureed soup (50 cal.).

Linda, That is so sweet of you to say what you did. I don't see myself as special ... just another sleever who's had her fair share of struggles ... still having. It helps when others share their wisdom ... makes this journey so much easier.

Congratulations to all of you. What a great testament you are to what is possible when you decide to take advantage of a great tool and make a commitment to yourself to use it to its full advantage. My highest weight was 431, and I distinctly remember my doctor at the time saying something like, "well, we really need to do something about this." That may have been when I woke up and said, "hell, yes!" I had my surgery Nov. 1, just 3 weeks ago. Prior to surgery, I lost 67 lbs, and another 5 since, for a total loss to date of 72 lbs. If anyone told me I was gonna lost 72 lbs. I would have been almost as shocked as if someone had told me I was gonna gain over 400 lbs. Both pretty un-f**king believable. But it seems that once you make a commitment to go down this road, you follow a predestined path (med. supv'd diet, etc.) and next thing you know, you're dropping lbs. Beginning with the pre-op liquid starvation diet and up till now ... the "mushies" soft food diet, it's all kinda hard, but somehow I manage to do it one day at a time. The days mount up and before I know it, I'm past the last difficult stage. It's a little harder when you don't cook and have little creativity when it comes to putting a pureed meal together. In fact, I'm lucky if I can get in 300 calories a day now. A friend took pity on me and bought me a blender. She's coming over tomorrow to see what tasty?? treats she can whip up for me. Any suggestions appreciated.