topgun

Thanks to the computer age we all live close to you! If your mixed emotions aren't normal, then you and I are both a little nutso. I'm having surgery next week and I have my brief moments of doubt but they are always followed by hours and hours of determined, confident resolve. I know I've made the right decision and my reasons for doing so are a mirror image of yours. You and I WILL succeed... Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Best of luck! We're all rooting for you!

Congratulations! I'll be just 1 week post op when you have yours. Your mind's probably going a mile a minute, now, because mine sure is! Don't lose perspective and keep your goals in sight at all times. I really believe you and I have made the right decision and we have nothing but a brighter future to look forward to (oops...ended in a preposition ) We'll all be waiting for you in the recovery room!

You may be able to avoid the dreaded "2 week liquid" pre-op diet if you lose weight prior to surgery. I have a surgery date on 3/28 (next Wednesday) and I've lost 57 pounds in the past 4 months since starting the Options program with Kaiser. Because of the weight loss, my doctor is not concerned about me losing any more weight prior to surgery and I only have to go on a modified liquid diet 5 days prior. "Modified" means I'm going to be able to eat a limited amount of low residue (low fiber) foods along with any liquids and my protein shakes. So, I'm not only avoiding that 2 week starvation diet, I don't have to do the clear liquid diet 2 days prior, either, like he normally requires. Now, I can live with that pre-op diet so the effort expended to lose the weight was all worth while. I think it is really going to help with head hunger issues post-op, as well, since I've already had to come to terms with those during my pre-op diet. It's all about losing weight, anyway, isn't it?

It's too easy for other people to make uninformed decisions about what we do with our lives. Stick to your guns, Honeybear, and be assured you are taking control of your life in a very positive way. Many of us choose not to tell others about our surgeries for reasons much the same as yours. There are many differing opinions about that, too, and I hope I didn't open a can of worms by saying it. Don't let anyone rain on your parade! Best wishes for a great recovery.

Good for you! We know it's not easy... I envy your tenacity and I applaud the effort you made to attain such a wonderful goal. You give hope to many of us who are just setting out!

For every insurance company there is a different set of requirements. It appears to me that yours is not so demanding because you've already got your surgical consult. At your consult, your surgeon will disusss your options, answer questions and let you know what he wants you to do pre-op. No 2 surgeons are alike, either, because there is no consistency from one dr to the next, so it's hard to predict what your doctor is going to want. I think, tho, that you may be on the verge of setting a surgery date! Be prepared with a list of questions to ask your doctor and this site can be a good source of suggestions for that, too. Best of luck!

ANother forum member recently posted a comment about hoping to be able to drive by the following week after havig recently had surgery. I hadn't really thought about it until I read that and I was wondering if there is a general rule of thumb about being restricted from driving. I'm still 10 days pre-op and I had thought that I would probably be able to drive just a few days after surgery, providing there are no major complications, but now I'm starting to wonder. What have you been told by your surgeons?

Just remember that the sleeve doesn't work all by itself, you make it work! Set your goals, make a plan, follow it and I guarantee it will work for you! Best of luck.

Very well said. Me, too!

Your blog is a testimonial to the benefits of walking after surgery. Keep it up!

I'm allowed to have 2 boiled eggs and 2 pieces of string cheese each day until midnight the day before surgery so I think a little cheating won't be a disaster, but be very careful. I'm not advising you to go off the diet but, if you do, do it wisely and do it minimally. You may have to do a significant bowel prep prior to surgery to make sure you're cleaned out, but then I've heard that many doctors don't even require this. There is no consistency in the medical community about pre-op diets so it's hard for us to understand the necessity of it all.

Wow, your plate is full enough without all of these complications. You are tough, tho, and you will get all this behind you, soon. Best of luck!

Remember, your sleeve is just a tool to be used wisely, not a cure-all. If not, its benefits can be undone and a significant percentage of sleevers regain all or much of their weight. Get back to the basics and just do what you have already proven that you can do and I'm sure you will prevail. You know what to eat, you just strayed off the proper nutrition path briefly. 20# is not a catastrophe and it's great that you are getting concerned early on. You can and will succeed!

Look at you! Wow, and especially in light of the fact that you work daily surrounded by calories and carbs. Great will power! Congratulations.

Best wishes for a complication-free surgery and speedy recovery. The odds are on your side that you should do very well. I know you must have pre-op jitters and I do, too, because my surgery date is 3/28. Keep us posted!

It's not that protein is unimportant, it's because liquid intake is vital to survival whereas protein can be put on the back burner for a limited time if need be. Your initial capacity is very limited immediately after surgery because of swelling so you may not be able to ingest all of your fluids and protein, too. If that proves to be the case then keeping yourself hydrated is job 1.

WTG!

Be sure to set some reasonable interim goals to attain along the way to keep up your motivation. Way to go on the weight loss so far!

Keeping it simple, when I was speaking to my surgeon about much the same questions I had about long term effects, he told me to keep in mind that really all I was doing was reducing the size of my stomach! That made good sense to me.

Joni said it quite well. If you've got to eat, so be it, just make sure you eat the right stuff and you'll be fine.

Best wishes for a speedy, painless recovery!

Whether dieting or - in your case - a post-vsg stall, we all know the frustration when the scale doesn;t agree with our efforts. We just have to remember that the key to weight loss is mathematical and proportionate to the number of calories taken in as opposed to the number of calories burned. Even if the scale doesn;t agree from time to time, you ARE losing weight as long as your calorie intake is as low as it shoud be following surgery. Keep the faith, the stall is a common event and one of the most common comments on the forum.

Congrats, Stacey! I hope to join you and all of your loser friends on the 28th of this month.

Good for you! And, by the way, you are absolutely correct about discrimination against overweight people. It is highly documented.