MinaT

Congrats and I'm glad you are doing well and every day is better than the day before. Good luck and welcome to the loser's bench.

I was told at 4 weeks I could walk in my swimming pool. But not to actually swim where you use both arms and legs and twist your stomach muscles. I was told I could float and walk. I went yesterday and it was AWESOME, but I have my own pool. Public pools I would wait it out a little longer because you have zero control over the chemicals in the pool and the people swimming. Older swimmers and younger swimmers could pose a risk to a skin that is not completely healed, and I belong to a health club with two pools one used for therapy and is warmer and one that's a swimmers and believe me the therapy pool that have much older patrons and younger children...has some questionable levels at times. Public pools can be a VERY dirty place. I would definitely avoid a hot tub for a while too. The chlorine can only kill so much.

Bring some Mio and get a plain sugar-free snow cone. The sugar in the regular would probably make a bit of an impact on your carbs. http://www.thatsfit.com/2007/05/16/how-many-calories-in-a-snow-cone/ What's a health-conscious person supposed to eat at events like these? I've always assumed that Snow Cones were the closest thing to being a dieter's friend, since they're mostly just ice. My body is working so hard to warm up that ice in my stomach, it's probably burning almost as many calories as the Snow Cone contains, right? Well, that's not quite true. How many calories do you think are in an average 12 oz Snow Cone? A) 75 calories 150 calories C) 300 calories D) 550 calories The correct answer is D) 550 calories! That's an average amount, assuming the person making your Snow Cone is generous as they usually are with the syrup. Each ounce of syrup contains almost 100 calories! Realize all 550 calories is carbs.

I'm a belly sleeper and I'm 4 weeks out and I can't do it. I had some complications plus hernia surgery so maybe it's just me. I can get onto my sides now, but sometimes going from side to back still hurts me.

I have Lupus and a brain tumor and a neurological condition. I had surgery and I had a pretty serious complication. The day of surgery the complication was explained to me. It was pretty big and even that day I would do it again. I had about an hour of regret that was not complication related and that was an allergic reaction I had to the stuff I had to drink for the leak test. I hate my shakes I used to like, my taste buds changed and I hate the smell of chocolate now. I don't know anyone else that had this happen to them. I would still do it all over again. Stop reading the horror stories and start spending your time writing all the reason why this is important. Live it and learn it and when you go to the hospital, I went in with a smile on my face, I hummed and made the nurses hum the same song, and I smiled until i was knocked out and woke up to find out about the complications and when my doctor came in to see me and tell me a bit about the complications, I said to him...how are you? Are you doing okay and I smiled at him. Positive attitude goes a long way. Good Luck. If you are to the point you are having anxiety attacks and can't take it, then by all means, maybe this isn't the best option for you. But since November 2011 when I started the program to June 4th, the day I had the surgery I decided to put 100% effort into it and it's paying off. I would do it again.

Isn't baked lays a slider type of food, so you eat it, and it crunches and disintegrates and slides right on through, so it's not going to "fill you up". Monday I was at 4 weeks and I'm still on full liquids and I am not allowed Pureeds yet. She said she will see me July 9th (my surgery was June 4th) and we'll discuss going to Pureed then. I will be on Pureeds for probably a few weeks before I am allowed soft then regulars. She kept warning me about being careful because of leaks. I read so many people eating way before me and obviously my doctor and group is extremely conservative, but please just be careful with what you eat, just in case some of these conservative doctors are right.

When I joined the program November 16th 2012 I went into it with 100% determination that I was going to put all my effort into it. I tried to follow the rules of the 64 ounces of Water, the 10k steps a day, I failed at for months, I did the 80 grams of Protein, I worked at lowering my carbs and I held off on quitting my coffee until closer to getting my approval. I lost 60 pounds then I lost 10 pounds pre-surgery. I had a hernia and I also had adhesions that were causing me some issues. Everyone knew from November - June I was on a diet. I lost 20 since, and many people haven't seen me since then. Unfortunately, dieting through winter most people are used to big clothes and I guess luckily I was able to get away with using a safety pin on my pants and just layering clothing. Now it's summer and everything hangs on me and it's extremely noticeable so when I do see someone I haven't seen since March or April they are shocked. I just tell them, I lose about 10 a month on Low Carb, High Protein and I exercise a lot, but recently had a hernia repair and adhesion removal. It's the truth, the omission is the sleeve. My parents and husband and son know and the doctor's that's fine with me. I don't have people asking me daily how much weight I lost, I don't have people judging me and I don't have to raise my blood pressure or hurt someone's feelings that may just be a moron by telling them they are stupid and rude. It's a win win situation in my opinion. If I run into someone that seems like they are really truly interested and I believe could benefit, of course I would share with them.

Physical addiction lasts 3 days. Mental addiction is 28 days so they say. Remember the reason why you are doing it and you can do it. My husband smoked for a year after I quit. I made him smoke outside. It's the best thing I have ever done for myself, the 2nd is this surgery.

Both are a tool...I took in two separate ways and I'm laughing my butt off right now. People do get jealous and people are afraid of the unknown and people are biased on their doctor's, their surgery methods, their way of thinking. Obviously being big we have learned to have thick skin and sometimes it's hard to keep quiet when someone is rude. Just be proud of what you are doing and the reasons why are you are doing it. Gastric Bypass does work for some people, but there are people that try to buck the system and find ways to cheat, and if she's mentioning donut, that means she's looking for the out and I have seen people have Gastric Sleeve and gain all the weight back. Same thing can happen to us, it's a lifestyle change. Good Luck to you and try to keep a positive attitude, it's almost your time!! Best wishes.

Congrats, keep the positive thoughts and remember when it gets tough, every day gets a little easier than the day before.

Nope, luckily I didn't have to do that, I quit a while ago...cold turkey no help. I smoked 2 packs a day too. Keep in mind your Mom and your little brother. Use this lesson of quitting smoking so your brother knows you are doing everything you can to be healthy so you can be there for him. Also, if he sees you smoke, chances are greater for him to become a smoker. Most people emulate those they look up to. If you want a cigarette, go for a walk, brush your teeth, drink a cup of skim milk. All things that don't go well together. Try some sugar-free Vicks cough drops...sugar-free Refresh mouth lozenges. Use the 22 days before surgery to make a healthier you, so your brother and mother won't stress so much about the surgery. You can do it, you are worth doing it, and be proud of what you are doing. You have been through the hardest things you have ever had to deal with in your life and that's losing a loved one. This should be a piece of cake when you put it into perspective. Sending my thoughts and prayers and best wishes.

I spoke to nutritionist on the phone. I'm over 4 weeks out and I'm still on liquids. I called to beg to be moved to pureed because I'm at a loss on the getting in my shakes. It took me 4 hours to get down the Pure Protein frosty chocolate this morning. She declined me moving to pureeds until my next appointment on Monday, I was hoping to have some pureed tuna tomorrow. So I called to order the sampler and nobody answered at Syntrax twice and I looked up Vitamin Shoppe and there is one near me and they sell Syntrax nectar. It's on sale on their website for $33.49, which is $26.00 cheaper than buying it from the company. The consensus I have read here is the Fuzzy Navel is one of the favorite flavors and I went and picked some up. I really truly hope that it's doable because I am Done..with a capital D of chocolate anything for a while. I'll let you know how I fair tomorrow.

Congrats to you. I am so looking forward to that day. I haven't been under 200 since 1999. I hit 200-201 in 2006 and something happened and my foot and leg swelled up and then the other one did and I started packing on the weight again. I am praying to hit it before my father goes in for cervical spine surgery on July 18th. I told myself I would be happy if I hit it before my birthday the following month, but now my goal is to tell him I hit it at the hospital before surgery. 8 pounds in two weeks and 1 day may be pushing since I'm 4 weeks out, but I am definitely going to try.

Johnathon, my heart, prayers and thoughts are with you, your little brother and your mother. Time is the only thing that will start to heal the pain, though it never really goes away. Go into this surgery with a positive thought, have your brother see your positivity and as you get wheeled into surgery think positively. When your brother sees you come through this surgery and you are doing well, he will feel more secure. It will also help in another way. He obviously associates hospitals with death or dying and he will perhaps learn that hospitals are a place of healing and well-being. Your Mother, bless her heart. Of course she is worried, but you decided this surgery was important for your health and in the long run, if you follow the plan, and put 100% effort into it will be doing your Mother and Brother so much more good by extending your life and getting you healthy to be there for them both in the long run. My deepest condolences on the loss of your brother. I know that you are worried about hurting your mother and brother by putting them through this surgery, but you stay positive and let them see the positive side of this and keep proving to them afterwards it was the right decision. My father was in support of the surgery until a week before. It was so bad, he could barely come to see me at the hospital it tore him up seeing me there. He was terrified. I saw him 2 days ago and I said well Daddy, did I do the right thing and he looked at me with pride and love said, yeah you did. He really wanted me to call it off. Again, my prayers are with you.

I was on Lovenox while in the hospital for 5 days. The problem with surgery is you don't move around much and it's very easy to form a blood clot. It's the reason for compression stockings, some people have gotten them from the IV's themselves but deep vein thrombosis - blood clots can be serious. The shot they give you goes into your stomach (lower abdomen) and the needle is so extremely small, sort of like the needles for diabetes - or like an epi-pen. It doesn't hurt (unless they hit a bruised area). My entire lower abdomen was bruised from one side to the other because I received so many but though I gave myself byetta, and victoza shots for years, sometimes you can't even tell you had shot there and some areas, just seemed to bruise up. They don't hurt and the benefit outweighs anything. ps - some people that may have a higher bmi may need to take the shots for a short-period of time when they get home. Seriously, it's not bad, and when you think that there are young children with diabetes that give themselves shots daily, you learn to get over your fear of it daily. If a 10 year old can deal with it on a daily basis for life, then as an adult you can deal with it for a few weeks.

Steroids can cause hunger, but if you are getting steroid injections, there's a good chance you have an issue with inflammation, which could cause Water retention or swelling. Let the steroids do it job and wait a day or two to weigh yourself. I have been on and off steroids most of my adult life. I receive injections and I have taken steroids orally. Normally when on them, I know it causes hunger and I have done very well not to eat, and I have lost weight with them. There was a full moon recently and that does cause me to hold onto water. I weighed 208.2 for a few days, and yesterday I hopped on the scale and was 211. Today I'm back down to 207.4. Not sure why the increase, I knew I didn't gain that much weight on my 450 calories and I know I had expended 450 calories alone in exercise the day before. Sometimes these things happen. Let the injection help and make sure you get enough water in. I also use Rhinecort & Ventolin which is steroidal based.

Are you getting your waters in? It was a full moon the last few days and I always weigh more. I am not big into astrology, but I have always had Water retention during right before and after the full moon. I was 208.2 for a few days and yesterday I hopped on the scale and I was 211. I had 450 calories the day before and I pretty much exercised all my calories away. I got on the scale today and I'm 207.4. Could be a little constipation, could be water weight gain, too much sodium, your body holding onto calories because the meals weren't paced (6 little meals) and you may have had 2 medium/bigger meals and your body decided to hold onto the weight. Change things up a little, add some extra carbs and do a little more exercise, or revert and go two days of full liquids, 3 shakes and sugar-free popsicles etc. Sometimes these weird things happen to women for weird reasons.

The drain out 9 days after surgery was the biggest relief. I could actually catch my breath. It was pressing up against my diaphragm and since I have lupus & issues with my nerves my body was in constant fight against it. Every day from here on out gets better. Today is week 4 and I have one more week until I move to pureed food, oh gosh, pureed Tuna, here I come. Juggling Protein shakes and Isopure to try to get protein in and both actually do gag me. I can drink Water all day, but something happened to my taste buds. I really hope the Tuna in my head tastes as good as I think it will.

Make sure you tell them now that you don't want to be asked when you come back to work how much you lost. Some people aren't that bright and will expect you to be down 50 pounds by the time you get back to work. Make sure they know it's a slow process, and that you still have have to modify your diet, and change your lifestyle and you didn't gain it in a day and it's not coming off in a day. Set boundaries now before the surgery. I didn't tell anyone, but I also had hernia repair and adhesion removal done which was very much needed.

You guys are just out from surgery. I had surgery June 4th. Sip as much as you can rest, and walk. I was in the hospital for 5 days so I can't imagine being home so soon. I literally sipped, walked, slept for those 5 days. When I came home, I sipped, walked, slept. It took me until the drain came out to feel almost human again and that was on the 13th. I was almost 2 weeks out when I quit the naps. I still sip, walk and try to keep busy and still struggle with my protein, but every single day I feel better than the day before. Good luck everyone, and feel well soon. I can't wait until my next Doctor's appointment. I'm still on Full Liquids and I'm 4 weeks out!!! I am so looking for Pureeds.

Ah but there is another story to this too...the 12 year old boy.

It does get better. For the first 10 days I mostly drank Water, decaff peppermint tea with truvia in it cause it tastes good warm or cold and it settled my tummy. My first priority was 64 ounces of liquids. I did have some sugar-free popsicles too. I had a rough time drinking out of a water bottle. I still can't do it without causing too much gas and bloating in my esophagus and I'm 4 weeks out today. I still revert back to using the the one ounce med cups (or a shot glass and throughout the day I try drinking out of a regular glass. I drink my shakes out of a regular glass and I am still struggling getting shakes down. They fight me. I drank these shakes for 7 months before my surgery and I loved them. Now they give me issues. Most important thing is to stay hydrated, walk when you can, sip and rest. I took a nap every day for 10 days. I sat in a rocking chair, walked. To see how far I was walking, I basically walked in my living room into kitchen then dining room in a big circle and I would try to get my walking up to 20 minutes and I did that 3 times a day. I started doing it outside when I felt like I could walk far enough away from home. (liquids in liquid out) Cut yourself some slack, you just had surgery, this was a major surgery and you need to focus on healing, that's the main focus...healing and you can only really heal if you get in enough fluids. Proteins while important is not that important the first two weeks. Do the best you can with them. Best of luck and I hope you feel better soon. Take it from someone who had serious complications during surgery which extended my surgery another 5 hours...after it was already in programs 1-1/2 hours and I have Lupus and mixed connective tissue disease, a 3mm brain tumor, Glaucoma and I will be 49 years old soon, every day is a little better than the day before. I spent 5 days in the hospital and I would do it all over again.

I used to take omaprazole but the pill is too big and I'm not allowed to take because it could get caught between the esophagus going into the stomach. I will go back on it when I can find something I don't mind taking it in, where I can break the caplet and pour contents into. I was served it with apple juice in the hospital. Now they have me on pepsid because it is a lot smaller. It's working fine if I take it twice a day. You are not that far out from surgery. The Hunger pains you feel all the time can be hunger, can be fullness, it could be acid reflux and it could also be your stomach healing. The almost all feel the same to me. The doctor and many others have reminded me that the wave feeling, or tightening or flipping or gripping feeling could also be the inside and outside of the stomach healing. That's what I always thought it was. I also get it if I didn't drink enough Water. Like a cut on your finger that throbs, your stomach was cut from the bottom all the way to the top. The inside and the outside needs to heal. If you know you haven't eaten in a while, then think it's hunger, if you have eaten enough and drank enough water, then realize it could be the acids in your tummy, it could be gas and bloating and in the middle of the night, I realize it's healing, it helps me go back to sleep without getting head hunger.

What kind of shakes are drinking? 6 days out I was still only allowed clear liquids, like sugar-free popsicles, clear broth, sugar free Jello. I am not allowed pureed food until July 9th. I understand my Dr. is a lot more stricter about our stomach healing before food allowed in, but 3 shakes (if they are full shakes) are from 140 calories - 200 calories each - which is putting you at already close to 600 calories a day, and maybe more Protein, I think your stomach is not getting a chance to heal up before you putting so much in. Are you able to get in 64 ounces of Water a day yet?

I'm 4 weeks out and I don't eat 3 meals or 3 Protein Shakes a day. Maybe you are overly full. I can only get in one Protein shake a day, 1/2 sugar free pudding, 1/4 cup of Soup, about 8 ounces of Isopure, and 3 ounces of plain yogurt and some tea and maybe a few teaspoons of something else. At 6 days out I was only allowed Clear liquids...I wasn't even allowed shakes. Gosh doctor's are different, I think it's time you speak to your nutritionist.