MinaT

Good for you Kmoore. I have done one or two Pure Protein 100% whey shakes (Frosty Chocolate) a day since November. I got great news today though, I don't have H-Pylori!!! So Monday I start my 14 day shake, surgery is still a go on June 4th!!

Dixie, Congrats on your new grandson Eli. That's wonderful news!

Tlaff, good luck, mine is June 4th, but I have a 14 day liquid fast lol. Each doctor is so different.

PeVette, yay on your braids! I'm going to get a hair cut and my eyebrows waxed before surgery. I decided I will treat myself to a massage perhaps a few months after surgery. Congrats Givingitmyall on your surgery date!!!

Could you imagine having surgery and then barfing? That is my worse fear, after surgery it hurts to laugh or cough, I couldn't imagine throwing up. I would be so worried about getting a leak or twisting my intestines. I see you have lost pre-surgery and it just makes sense not to cheat during the fast and not to go all wild & crazy overeating before the surgery. I think about it like this...I'm having 80-85% of my stomach surgically removed. Surgery comes with so many risks, including death, if I'm willing to accept these types of risks to have this surgery, why wouldn't I give it 100% Some people will make mistakes and cheat, but don't use the cheat to continue to cheat, just move on and focus on what you are trying to accomplish here. It's not going to be all that pleasant, I myself am not afraid of the lack of food of the Protein shakes, I'm afraid that if I find out tomorrow I flunked the H-Pylori test I will be stuck taking the Prevpak for H-Pylori during my 14 day shakes prior to surgery because this cocktail of two antibiotics and other meds are suppose to be wicked and cause severe diarrhea and be horrendous. If I don't have H-Pylori, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will do my best to deal with the 14 days with pleasure, but if I have to take the pills I'll deal with it, because it's better to be safe than sorry.

You may not have to do the 14 day liquid diet like some people have to do, but it wouldn't hurt to do it for at least a week. It will give your stomach time to clean out and shrink your liver so it will make the surgery easier on your doctor. There is a reason why so many doctors do this. If you look on Youtube for the actual surgery you will see that they need to shrink the liver to be able to get full access to your stomach. Also, a cleaned out belly & intestines is much safer in general. Perhaps you should question your doctor why he believes there is no reason to go on a liquid diet prior to surgery, I can tell you most of us would love it if we didn't have to, but I would think it is safer and sets you up for a safer surgery.

How are all the June sleevers doing? Getting a bit nervous here. Tomorrow I shall find out the results of the H-Pylori blood test. If I have it, I will have to go on antibiotics for 14 days and hope it clears up. On Monday I start my 14 day shakes and surgery is scheduled for June 4th. Still worried if I have H-Pylori that will end up changing my surgery date. Everything is done, except the Type and Screen blood test which needs to be done within 2 weeks of surgery.

So very happy for you and I think it's absolutely awesome that you and your sister and mother are going through this journey together. Good luck to you all.

I'd like to add that people that overeat days before having to go on their liquid fast will have a much more difficult time with the liquid fast than someone that stayed at 800-1000 calories the week leading up to the fast. I have done a liquid diet in the past a few times and my doctor and nurse confirmed that the people that go out and overindulge days before the fast seem to have extremely hard times with the liquid diet because they are stretching their already stretched out stomach and it's a shock to their system. Clarifying it to read "liquid" fast (Protein shakes)

The Protein shakes have everything you need and your body can survive on that and live off the fat storage for a while. People that are not overweight do fasting diets that don't have such high protein intake that we will be getting with our shakes. The protein and nutrients are the important thing, the calories are not a big deal. There are people that go on medifast for months at a time, liquid diets and older people that are much more fragile that drink only ensure and live off liquid diets. It will not harm your organs, doing this for 14-1 month, if anything it will get rid of a fatty liver which is much more dangerous. Just drink your 64 ounces of Water and it will be fine.

Wean yourself off it now and caffeine, is the best advice I can give you. You don't want to do a pre-op liquid diet and have to go through withdrawals then or after surgery. It will make it worse or help set you up for more issues in the long run. I miss Seltzer Water, caffeine, but I quit it before I had to go on my pre-op diet next week and I am hoping it will help. Danity, I hope every day you start feeling better. I was told already by my Doctor and Nurse not to weight myself for the first two weeks. Why put myself through it, almost everyone gains weight at first from the IV, gas and bloating.

This is something I have had issues with all my life. Not sure what is worse, thinking you look good and then seeing you are morbidly obese or thinking you look horrible and realizing you are tiny. I've been through both. I recall after I went from 330 to 128 going to my first big party. I saw a picture and there was one of me with my back turned walking away and I was shocked that I was actually tiny. I remembered getting ready for the party and being self-conscience and thinking I was still morbidly obese. I went to a wedding a few years ago and I thought I looked great. I walked in with confidence and inside I didn't feel really self-conscience and when the pictures came out I was shocked at how heavy I was. It was like my mind didn't realize I was 300 pounds. This time around, I want to lose weight with a better self-image and have my mind, eyes and body be on the same page.

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm sorry about the loss of your mother and Pookey, I'm sorry about your loss as well.

I start Monday - we are allowed 3 shakes a day made with water, sugar free jello/popsicles, decaff tea and crystal light only for 14 days. I was terrified of this at first, now I'm afraid that if I test positive for H-Pylori that I will be put on the 14 day of two very strong antibiotics and PPI's which cause metallic taste and extreme diarrhea at the same time as I am on the liquid diet and after the 14 days they will postpone surgery. Test results aren't in from the blood test I had yesterday, hopefully tomorrow I will find out. If I have to start the prevpak I would like to get a head start on it before I start my liquid diet on the 21st.

Congrats and good for you!

Sending prayers up and hope that the swelling goes down. Dehydration is not good and it's great you are being monitored and getting good care. Seems the doctors are on top of it, which is only beneficial for you in the long run. Good luck and feel better soon.

Sending my thoughts and prayers!!! Good luck to you.

I know exactly what you are talking about. I have lost 60 pounds on my own since November and I started thinking wow, I can do this on my own. I went from 330 - 128 in 1995 five years and gained it all back. I have yo-yo'd from 300 to 200 to 300 to 250 to 300 and at 239 I am the lowest I have been since 2006. It's really hard when I realized I would have given anything to be only 250 lbs. and to think I would feel almost skinny if I could only get to 200. I haven't been under 200 since 1999. I have a bikini, a skirt that' about a size 8 (which someone that was a size 2 said would be too small for her) that I have kept since I wore it last in 1998 and the waist was smaller than my arm at one point and now it's about the size of my thigh. I am getting cold feet, but I know that eventually my lupus will kick in overdrive, the headaches will act up, my joints will start hurting, my feet will swell, my body will start freezing up on me and I'll end up on steroids, I will stop moving around and quit eating 3 times a day and go back to eating dinner only and start drinking away my calories (orange juice, Simply Lime, Cherry Juice, apple juice). It's funny that food is not really my thing, but yet here I am sitting at 239 still having issues losing weight. The one thing is curing me from not wanting the surgery is the chance that it will be postponed or the fear of them canceling on me lol. Funny how the mind plays tricks on you.

I was told today by my nurse practitioner not to weight myself for a week or two. She said after surgery there is a good chance that I will gain weight due to the IV Fluids and swelling. She said please don't obsess over weighing yourself for the first few weeks. It will come off. You are drinking liquids, which is awesome. It's most likely swelling and IV Fluid Water weight that has to get out of your system. Keep drinking and walking. Please be patient and congrats on the one week.

GNC sells Isopure already mixed in different flavors that have 40 gms of Protein. I tried Grape and didn't care for it, and today I bought the Orange and the Ice Tea with Lemon flavor. They don't taste too bad, and will do. I will be purchasing unflavored 100% whey Protein to add to foods that I eat in the mushy phase. I figured the Unflavored protein will be good in instant mashed potatoes, on refried Beans, cream of wheat, in yogurt so I am getting more protein. I have heard the unjury chicken broth is good. I was given a sample packet that I am going to try first before I buy it. Good luck to you!

I have told my parents, husband and son and one friend. Since I have been in the program since November I have lost 60 pounds on my own. I have serious scar tissue issues that need to be cleaned out and I have a hernia. That is what my parents are telling my siblings. I have told my doctors though I feel very uncomfortable even discussing with them. I felt uncomfortable telling the guy at GNC today about it, though I just blabbed it out when I was discussing the Isopure with him. Everyone knows I have been on a diet and I have lost a lot of weight and inches on my ownt. People I do not see often have been told that I have been losing a lot of weight by my parents, so it's not a shock when I do see them. I have been up and down in my life and so people have seen me lose weight dramatically in the past. I am not sure why I feel uncomfortable telling people. It's the reason I don't have a picture up too.

Congrats on the surgery. I was told today that after my surgery i am not allowed to drink until the next day and she said I will not drink, I will sip. They make us drink out of one ounce cups and mark each one down. She expects 1 med. cup every 1/2 hour the first day and 1 ounce med cup every 15 minutes the second and third day after surgery. Take your time sipping and I hope sipping helps.

Surgery is scheduled for June 4, 2012. I have kept food, Water, exercise logs 6 months, met with the internist, sat in on two mandatory group meetings, had pre-op testing, met with psychologist, had psychological testing, nutritionist counseling, sat in on two two hour meetings regarding pre-op & post op diets, had blood work, ekg, upper gi, stress test, today is my meeting with nurse to get my spirometer & go over my medications and last minute details. On Monday, May 21st I start my 14 day liquid shakes and last night I noticed a message on my cell phone from someone from the office saying I needed to call to schedule a test called the H-Pylori test as soon as possible, but I have to be off the Prilosec two weeks in advance first. That brings me to Wednesday May 30th!!! The test takes one or two days for result which will bring me to Friday, June 1st. I'm suppose to have surgery on Monday, June 4th!!!! If I have the H-Pylori bacteria I will have to take a cocktail of medications in advance of surgery. I called to ask about the test today and was given a very snippy response to my concerns and I'm so upset about it. They had 7 months....7 months to figure this out. She doesn't seem to understand how upsetting this could be to someone who has invested so much time, effort and even money into this surgery just to have the chance that it will be postponed just days 3 days before surgery, but never bothered to explain to me what happens if I DO have it. Will I have to do 14 days of some weird cocktail of antibiotics & PPI's prior to surgery or will my surgery be postponed and will I have to be retested, etc. Why wasn't this part of the pre-surgical screening, after having 7 MONTHS to worry about this. To make matters worse, they do this surgery at two hospitals, one is about 50 minutes from my home and one about 4 minutes from my home. I asked if I could have this testing done at the hospital by me, where I am actually having the surgery, and I will need to find a ride out there because my son has school. She seemed frustrated with my question and said she will have to see if the nurse that is there could do it and she put me on hold less than TWO seconds and said the other is too busy that day you are just going to have to try to find your way out here. She seemed perturbed by the fact that I am frustrated, though I was obviously not aiming at her, it was in general. As I was typing this, I received a call from the hospital pre-admitting nurse to get everything together for the anesthesiologist, and go over my history etc. and then dropped another bomb on me, that there is an order for more blood work to be done at the hospital right now and that I will most likely be told about it when I see the nurse today. Has anyone had to have the Pylori testing this close to surgery and was surgery postponed to have to have the medication first? I'm pretty upset atm and am normally upbeat and positive, and of course as the date approaches I am getting cold feet, but being nervous about surgery. I am trying to see the positive that they are really doing everything to make sure that the surgery is done safely with my best interest and they are taking many precautions, but I feel really frustrated.

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and words. I met with the Nurse practitioner today and she immediately broached the H Pylori test. She said that it is too late in the game to do the breath test. I was so grateful that I didn't even talk to her and she realized this on her own and called the snippy chick to tell her to cancel that breath test. She said I would have to be off all PPI's for two weeks first, and it would be too close to surgery and she doesn't want me off the Prilosec for an extended period like that. She sent me for the Blood Test instead. If it comes back positive, which I think it will, (I have acid reflux, I get diverticulitis, I have a hernia, and have a lot of stomach issues and in 1999 I had a adhesions that wrapped around my intestines and everything leaked into my tummy cavity.) The 50% of people having it has me written all over it lol. I will have to take the cocktail (along with my 3 shakes a day) before surgery, but surgery should not have to be postponed, she said there will be plenty of time to get rid of it before June 4th. Today she gave me the stuff I'm suppose to wash with the night before surgery and the day of surgery and the spirometer. She gave me my sheet to mark Fluid intake, she sent me for other blood work, the clotting one and a few others. Thank you all so much again for your responses. I'll update you when I get the results. I heard the cocktail Prevpac was horrendous on your tummy and I bet it will be more brutal while having to do the 14 day fast, but I think I would rather go through it before surgery than after!

Wow, nice and quick!