MinaT

MomScholar, I tried the purple (Grape) and it did have a weird taste. I will go out to GNC and pick some up. I was told since 4 of the first week of Clear liquids is in the hospital I should probably only need one large bottle, and since I really truly didn't like the taste, I appreciate the info on the MIO!!! What flavor did you get? Ask your surgeon if he has any small trial bottles to try in advance. They also gave me a small packet of unjury chicken broth that I am going to try in advance too. I was given the shakes for me pre-op (14 days worth) by them, but I will have to get the Vitamins (something from Walgreens 4x's a day) and the Isopure in advance.

Isopure has a grape (it's purple) & tropical fruit punch (reddish/pink) or something like that that is clear It doesn't have 50 grams of protein, but it was what we were told to buy. A good thing to try also is unjury chicken broth.

http://www.chipotle....calculator.aspx A great idea is to sign up for http://myfitnesspal.com - Their database is pretty good with nutrition, be careful though because there are a lot of people that insert their own calories and sometimes fudge a bit on it, but if it comes directly from the restaurant it should be okay. If you need to start a diet in advance, like I had to be on a program for six months and I had to turn in food, Water, exercise logs in once a month, myfitnesspal is the easiest way to keep track. Just remember not to follow their recommendation for carbs & Protein because it's much different than they expect for WLS. My doctor recommended to keep carbs under 70 gm carbs a day and protein 80 grams. If you know you go out to eat a lot, take an hour out of a day and looking up your favorite restaurants and favorite palces to eat online in advance and write some notes about what would be the best to order at each place. Eventually you will know automatically which is best for you. Remember that take out food has higher sodium count which can help you retain water so you may not lose as fast, but if you can learn now to keep track of things, it will help you in the long run. Good Luck!

Awe Dixie, congrats and hopefully you'll do great during the 2 week liquid diet. I'm dreading it myself a bit. I have a surgery date of June 4th. My doctor does surgeries at 3 places. He does them at my hospital on Mondays and Memorial Day is in the way.... I start liquid diet May 21st. Good luck to your daughter and good luck to you.

Today was my appointment with the surgeon for a surgery date. He was stuck in surgery so I ended up seeing his assistant. The next available surgery date is June 4th. I know most people would be dancing with joy and excitement to get their surgery date. I've been on this program for six months straight and I had my heart set on May surgery. I know you have to wait 4-6 weeks to swim and I figured I would be able to go swimming on 4th of July. Not bummed about the food aspect or anything else, I just wanted to be feeling good enough to enjoy most of my summer swimming. I don't normally get bummed easily but today I did, I should have been so excited, but for some reason I felt frustrated. I received a call from my favorite Nurse and she's going to be my pre-op nurse. Thank goodness, she's patient and she's out of the same hospital I will be having it at. May 15th we will go over the surgery again, my medicines, tell me what meds to stop and when, which medicines need to be changed out, and she will teach me how to clean the drain, give me the spirometer and show me how to use it. May 21st starts my liquid diet. 14 days. I will be doing 3 protein drinks a day. We are only allowed sugar-free Popsicles, sugar-free jello and crystal light and decaff tea & water besides the three protein drinks. Today I had an appointment with my gastroenterologist, who informed me I have a hernia. That will be fixed during surgery I was assured.

Congrats, hope you feel better soon.

Congrats!!! I was approved last week and Thursday I find out my surgery date, I'm really hoping it's in May too!

Wonderful news!!! Congrats and I'm glad you are doing well.

Good luck Ssilian. I had the six month counseling and I have been approved and Thursday I find out the surgery date. I can only imagine how you feel after going through all this a year!! I just received my approval letter today, though I was approved verbally (I had to call) a week ago Monday. Good luck, closer every day.

Ya!!! Congrats Dixie!! Tomorrow is the 2nd part of the pre-op preparation meeting where I learn how to clean the drain that I will have for a week, I will receive my spirometer and practice using it correctly and learn more about the food stages (clear - mushy's etc.) We are not to add a single thing to our diet after surgery until they tell us, but we'll have a list, we'll get actual recipes for mushy stage. I was given a mixture of shakes, pudding, Soups (42 of them) for pre-op liquid diet. On Thursday I see the surgeon and I will be given my surgery date. One week before surgery I will meet with their surgical nurse and we will go over my medications and she will tell me what to stop taking when, and she will order new prescriptions for those we may need to change because of their size. I'm hoping for a May surgery date myself, but who knows, will let you know on Thursday night! WTG Dixie, can't wait to hear your surgery date.

Wow, this topic really hit home with me. Thank you everyone for the encouragement. I have lost 60 pre-op and started thinking I can do this on my own again. I went from 330 - 128 in the past and kept it off myself for 5 years. I got sick though and had to have a few surgeries and spent almost 3 months in and out of the hospital and hit 200. After I hit 200 I met my husband and I would yo-yo from 200-250, 200 would be the "new skinny". Then wham back up over 300 again. The sad realization was then 250 became the new skinny. I can't do this anymore. It's time.

I had all the pre-op stuff done. I had an upper GI Saturday and my tummy is still sore. Last week I was given the meal replacements, Wed. I will get the spirometer to take to the hospital and I'm just waiting on the surgery date, which I get on Thursday. I got a variety of shakes, pudding & soup, I was given enough to last 14 days. I was told we get only a choice of three per day, plus liquids. I hear everyone say two weeks, but I see such discrepancy in days, two weeks are 10 days for some and 14 for others, I'm sincerely hoping it's only 10 days because i want the surgery in May not June. The wait until this Thursday to find out the surgery day is the longest part of this almost 7 month ordeal lol.

I have been up and down my entire life, high of 330 and low 128. I myself find it rude when people talk about my weight, whether or not I gained or lost weight. It's not a good feeling when someone comes up to you and says "wow, looks like you lost weight." Especially when I know I gained a few pounds. I had a doctor once say, you need to stop gaining weight, after I lost 20 lbs. Neither are good feelings. The problem with people's self image is that they depend on what other people's image of them are. You can't control what other people think about you, so why care? I learned this the hard way. There are going to be people that treat you better when you lose weight that treated you like crap when you were heavier. Are you really a better person? I know I was the sweetest person in the world before I lost a ton of weight and I became jaded. I got better tips, I got higher paying jobs, I had the door opened for me. It really made me bitter for a long time. I became a cockier paralegal, cockier waitress, I became more self-absorbed, yet I was tipped better and my salary at a law firm almost doubled! I honestly disliked the fact that people that didn't pay attention to me before treated me better, gave me more respect. I hated that after I got sick and eventually gained all the weight back that the invitations stopped, the door opened for me stopped, that I became a ghost, people cut in front of me in lines, I became the person that had to walk around others, that was getting treated like I didn't matter. I'm losing weight for me now, I am going into this surgery with my eyes opened and I'm not going to rely on other people's feedback on my self-worth or to make me feel better about myself. My parents don't care about how I look they care about my health, as does my husband and son. They all think I'm beautiful as I am, their concern is my health. The people that think I'm beautiful....but...I could stand to lose a few pounds, don't matter to me anymore.

I am on 800 calories a day without surgery and eating food and there are days I step on the scale and gain 2-3 pounds . The next day i'll be down four. I've gained and lost 2 pounds in the same day. So many variables. Good luck and don't be discouraged!

I've had several surgeries, first two times horrible gas, I learned after that, just walk, it's the best thing for you. Walk.

All insurance companies are different and all doctor's offices are different. My bariatric group requires the six month diet regardless of what your insurance requires because they found their patients do better overcoming bad habits in advance and learn to be accountable with what they put in their mouth by making them do the journal visits with the dietitian and nutritionist, meetings, psychological testing and visits with their psychiatrist. Several years ago I decided to have surgery and I went to to another place and I cried so hard and was so upset about the six month wait. I had issues with the psychological testing because I was so upset, and then I lost my insurance and quit the program. I went back to another place a few years later and another 50 pounds heavier. They said 6 months pre-op diet, etc. same thing different group. I got pneumonia that first month and dropped out because I couldn't follow the plan, I was drinking orange juice and it felt like too much to do write my food down. I gained another 25-30 lbs. I decided when I got back over 300 lbs I was done. I pulled out all the old pamphlets and the diet and I found Myfitnesspal.com and started the high Protein & low carb diet and started losing weight on my own. I finally decided to make the call and get an appointment and rejoin the program after I started losing on their plan of low carb, low protein and after I realized I could chart my food & Water. I lost weight before my first appointment. The six months went fast, I have been approved. I have my shakes for me two week pre-op Protein shake diet, I quit caffeine so I won't have withdrawals after surgery, and I know now why they make you do it. It took a lifetime to get to this point, I have learned tools over the past six months to help me through the next phase, the surgery. I am sure there are a lot of people that succeed without having to do the six month program, but in reality, we got overweight because we found ways to cheat ourselves and we always went back into old patterns of behavior (many of us are yo-yo dieters). I have followed the program through starting before Halloween on my own and through the program through Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day and Easter Dinners with the family. I'm on a better road than I was ever on. If you have to do the six months pre-op diet, don't just nix the idea like I did. I ended up gaining so much weight, and in worse health and I would have been way on the other side of surgery by now had I stuck with it. Good Luck.

Glad to know your headache went away. Good luck to you!

I was told of course the 64 ounces of water and up to 80 grams of protein a day. If you are having a hard time figuring out how much protein you get, try using myfitnesspal.com Remember not to follow their recommendation of carbs, fat etc. but if you track your food, water, etc. that way you can really get handle of everything. I had a hard time at first documenting my food but during the six months of regular visits, I had to turn in completed daily food, water & exercise journals and it made it so very easy.

I was told protein at least 80gms a day, take your bariatric vitamins and biotin.

Congrats, did he put you on a liquid diet yet?

Ha, my nurses and doctors would freak if we had caffeine before or after surgery. Caffeine is a diuretic and it's hard enough getting in the 64 ounces of Water needed for many people and there is always a risk of dehydration, which is a huge complication of this surgery and there are documented cases that dehydration has resulted in death. For me, it was hard switching to decaff and I don't even have my surgery date yet, but I thought it would be better to go through caffeine withdrawals before surgery than have to deal with that on top of everything else after surgery. I had some testing done recently that said I am dehydrated and I drink 64 ounces of plain water a day on top of my Protein shake, and my alo awaken and Vitamin water. That surprised me.

Nail polish on toes and fingernails are almost always a no-no during surgery for many reason but the biggest reason is that though they use a pulse oximeter to check for oxygen, nurses, doctor's etc. don't always rely on it, sometmies they come off, sometimes there may be an issue with it and the quickest way to check your blood oxygen level is by visually looking at your fingernails and toenails for blue pigmentation, indicating a large drop in oxygen.

My prayers are with you. I'm so sorry that you are going through this, I'm sorry about the blood clot and the way you were treated at the hospital. I hope the clot dissolves and you can get back to the business of healing, feeling better and then on your road to learning how to deal with the new sleeve.

Way to go, that sounds wonderful. I will know next Thursday when they are scheduling surgery. I'm still hoping for May and hoping that Dixie hears by May 8th!

Thanks for the information. I was given 6 boxes of New direction with seven packets in there so that will cover 14 days pre-op. I see the doctor next Thursday and get my surgery date. I was hoping for May 21st, since he's out of two hospitals, and does surgeries at my hospital on Mondays, but that would mean starting the liquid diet on Friday the 11th and it would be only 11 days of shakes (we're not allowed anything but the shakes & water & crystal light). I was 299 at first appointment and I am 240 now. They estimate most people lose 15-20 pounds on the two week pre-op shake diet. I have actually been on Pure Protein 100% Whey shakes for breakfast for six months now, and I am on a low carb diet and I keep my calories between 800-1000 a day. Unfortunately, the following Monday is probably out since it's Memorial Day, though I'd be fine having it that day. I suppose patience until next Thursday and I'll know whether it's 10 day or 14 day pre-op. (I'm really praying for 10 day).