Bufflehead

A lot of times it takes people a while to get their weight loss going after surgery. Your body is freaked out and injured, plus you got pumped full of a ton of fluids in the hospital. Have patience, follow your plan, and the pounds will come off. Tip - don't be surprised if you start losing weight for about a week, and then pause again. It's completely normal to hit a minor plateau around the 3 - 4 week post surgery mark. Just keep pushing and the weight will come off.

Ugh! I had the manager at my hair salon tell me the other day how excited she was for me that I was going to be getting weight loss surgery, and how she was sure I would do great! Now, I am still needing to lose about 50 lbs, but I'm down almost 150 lbs (both the 6 month supervised diet for insurance and my surgery in June 2013 contributed to that). I'm not even eligible for the surgery anymore! Totally awkward. It did give me a bit of a reality check about how hard I need to keep working, so I guess that is good. I like that you are able to laugh at this and brush it off, that's a great attitude.

Heating pad, immersion blender to make protein shakes, mini food processor for the puree stage, big insulated mug (Bubba kegs work well) to keep your drinks hot or cold, a big variety of approved drinks (mine were G2, Powerade zero, light fruit juice, decaf tea and decaf coffee, V8, skim milk, and kefir), big variety of protein powder samples, and a digital kitchen scale. You won't need the scale right away, but you should have one eventually!

@Bellahugz she didn't say exactly how to do it. I just rubbed a little, not much. I'm glad I had the glue - easy to deal with, no itching, and my scars are close to nonexistent.

I am an every day kind of woman, at least since about five days after surgery. I think most of that is being lucky -- I've never had issues in that department, before surgery or after. But I do try to take some steps every day to, ah, keep things moving. I wasn't able to do all of these things immediately post-op, what with being on full liquids for 3 1/2 weeks etc., but I have added them in as I was allowed: chewable pro-biotic drink at least a cup of black coffee eat a couple of prunes or have a small serving of beans or both get close to my RDA of fiber, which is 14 grams of fiber per 1000 calories consumed (the widely quoted "25 grams of fiber" is based on the assumption that you are eating 1800 calories per day or something like that). If necessary I use a fiber supplement - I go with the Equate sugar free fiber powder, which is the same fiber as in Benefiber but cheaper, fewer calories and fewer carbs. I am able to do this while keeping my carbs under 60 and my protein over 75, but I have to work at it. meet my fluid goals exercise daily

Your PCP is referring you to another doctor, but that doesn't mean you are obligated to use that new doctor. Speak to your former doctor's office staff and get copies of your entire chart. Go pick them up yourself. Meanwhile ask your surgeon for a referral to some local wls-friendly PCP's. Your surgeon's office may even be able to help out and call and make your appointment directly with a new PCP - this will help get you seen immediately, to have another doctor referring you and scheduling the appointment. Your surgeon's office should WANT to help you out here - the sooner you get your surgery, the sooner they get money coming in. If you are required to see an in-network PCP by your insurance, bring a list of approved doctors to your surgeon's insurance/patient coordinator so that they know who they can work with, if they need that info. Good luck!

It's not abnormal -- some people lose a lot of their hunger, but some people don't. However, if you aren't on a PPI (omeprazole and protonix are the most common) you may want to ask your doctor about that. Stomach acid can definitely make you feel hungry!

I can't really speak to the swelling, but as to the glue: at my two week follow up, the NP told me I could help it along a little. She told me just to rub a little bit, gently, in the shower, to help it come off. Not to pick or pull at it, but that rubbing a little bit when it was warm/moist would help it fall off on its own.

My program calls for keeping calories under 800, carbs under 60, and protein over 75, until goal is reached. If you are not logging everything you eat on Myfitnesspal or a similar site, I think that's probably the best way to get started. Exercise is great but in the words of my dietician, "you can't exercise your way out of a bad diet." So, if you do exercise, don't "eat back" your calories or only eat back half of them. And you know the rules . . . protein first, no grazing, no drinking 30 minutes after a meal. Good luck to you!

My insurance required six months of pre-surgery weight loss efforts, and psychological screening (my surgeon requires the psych visit too). My surgeon also required: metabolic rate testing, H. Pylori, upper GI series, and EKG. I didn't have to do a sleep study because I have no symptoms of sleep apnea. I also had multiple blood draws to check things like pre-surgery vitamin and mineral levels and to see if I had any problem with blood sugar levels (I don't). I think that's it. Good luck!

If there is any question that your teeth might be loose or that your crown may fall out or break, you should get it taken care of before surgery. At the very least you need to disclose it to the anesthesiologist. When they put the tube down your throat, it isn't unusual for teeth to get bashed along the way and it can be very dangerous to have a tooth come out or a filling or crown come out and get shoved down into your lung with the tube. Many anesthesiologists will check your teeth right before surgery and if anything is loose or looks dangerous, they will call in an oral surgeon to remove it on the spot.

I do all sorts of things - torn up piece of turkey bacon, chunks of chicken jalapeno sausage, melted cheese, spicy guacamole (I buy the Wholly Guacamole spicy 100 calorie packs and just add a quarter of the pack), hot sauce, a poached egg. Not all at once of course but I will add hot sauce plus a couple of other things. I love my refried beans.

I'm lucky and have liked most of the stuff I have tried. Like: Syntrax Matrix (milk chocolate, Peanut Butter cookie, banana cream, orange cream, strawberry cream), Syntrax nectar (many flavors, esp. roadside lemonade, lemon tea, twisted cherry, fuzzy navel), unjury chocolate splendor, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey (vanilla ice cream, caramel toffee fudge, chocolate malt, strawberry banana), Chike (all of their flavors but especially coffee and Banana Magic). Do not like: Bariatric fusion, Bariatric Advantage, Click, Protizyme, About Time, Tera's Whey. It's really an individual thing. I recommend getting lots of samples (multiples of each sample) to find something you like. http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/protein-powders/protein-powder-samples-1-serving.html I also really like the BSN brand Protein powders but their numbers were not acceptable for my program in terms of calories/carbs/protein.

When they take you to your room post-op (not the recovery room, your real room) ask to sit up in a chair instead of getting into your hospital bed if you possibly can. The more you can sit up, walk, etc. the faster the gas will get out and the quicker you will heal. Only get into bed if you really need to sleep.

My favorite strawberry is Syntrax Matrix Strawberry Cream.

I sent you a friend request

Or you can have whoever is driving you home bring the pillow. Make sure you bring a charger for your phone. Definitely bring the lip balm. I wouldn't have had any use for a throw blanket myself. Oh and make sure you wear comfy clothes to the hospital so you can wear them home. I wore a loose empire waist dress and a cotton wire-free bra that fastens in front. Other people go with yoga pants, sweat pants, etc.

I am very much afraid of all of those things and I use that fear to keep me following the rules that my surgeon and dietician laid down for me. I also read the posts here from people who are having trouble losing weight due to their poor eating choices, or dealing with re-gain, and I use those posts to keep the fear burning. Sometimes fear is a healthy thing. I am like you and also need to lose somewhere between 150-200 from my starting weight. My terror of not doing it has kept me on track and I am down 145 lbs so far. While I am afraid of somehow stopping losing, my rational brain knows that if I stay on track and follow the very rigid rules laid down for me, I will lose the weight I need to lose. So far my weight loss has been very steady and I feel like I am getting closer and closer to my goal.

Just like Jane says, you are not in the minority - you are in the "silent majority." If people have struggles or complications, they post seeking advice, comfort, etc. I also had a recovery without a hitch and so did virtually everyone in my support group, which usually has at least 40 attendees.

I don't know if this is something you are willing to consider, but if I had to wait 8 months and then pay $5,000 for this surgery, I would take that $5,000 and go get the surgery in Mexico NOW. Of course, there are drawbacks to going to Mexico (for example, you won't get the same follow up care and support as you would with your local surgeon) but for me, that would be my choice.

I don't track sugar (I am not diabetic, insulin-resistant, etc. so no need to) but I keep my carbs to between 30 and 60, fat to under 30, and calories to under 800. This is all per my dietician's instructions.

Body Fortress is definitely on the cheap side ($16 for a 2 lb tub) and it has 30 grams per scoop. You can buy it online or at Walmart. I haven't tried it but I know lots of people love it. The problem is that it also has 170 calories per scoop and 7 carbs. I think that's the tradeoff you are going to get with most protein powders - if you want higher protein, you are going to get higher calories and carbs. So it really depends on what is most important to you. Target sells the Pure Protein brand, which is 25 grams of protein per scoop, but lower calories & carbs at 140 and 3 respectively. It is a little more expensive at $19 per 2 lb tub but that's still a lot cheaper than many other protein powders. It also has lots of fans but again I haven't tried it myself.

eh, I find that when I exercise I don't lose any more weight than when I don't. Exercise is great for all sorts of health reasons and I think it is critical at the maintenance phase but if you are doing well without it, I wouldn't worry so much. At least not about weight loss.

Yup, caffeine is a gastric irritant. I have been zealously compliant with almost all my team's rules. Caffeine is not one of them. I started having a half serving of Chike iced coffee protein shake a couple weeks after surgery. About three months after surgery I started having an occasional cup of black coffee. I was supposed to wait six months. I haven't had any problems, but I have always had a digestive tract made of steel (my whole family does - my brother in law swears we could all survive on a diet of old dirty t-shirts, rusty tin cans, and noxious weeds) and wasn't expecting any problems. So, I strongly encourage everyone to follow their doctor's orders and not my terrible example.

@JaysonGoldfarb, my plan limits meal sizes to 3 ounces per meal, 3 meals per day, no solid-food snacks - protein shakes only between meals.