Bufflehead

Honestly I would have three meals consisting of lean meat and veggies. You'll have enough protein shakes post-op and you'll need them, but you don't really get any benefit from drinking them now IMO. Another behavior you may want to get down cold before your surgery is tracking your food intake. So, if you don't have them, I would say get yourself a myfitnesspal account and a digital food scale and start working on that practice. Does your surgeon require you not drink for an hour before or after eating? If you aren't positive about that, I would say just work on not drinking with meals or for 30 minutes after. That is a more common instruction. Finally, incorporate some daily exercise, even if it is just walking. It will help you be healthier as you go into surgery.

Don't do any tests until you find out whether you can actually be covered. Find a bariatric center of excellence and see if you can schedule an initial consult and have their insurance coordinator review your coverage. That is the person who needs to give you definitve information on whether you can be covered, and, if so, what kind of tests would need to be scheduled. Even if bariatric surgery is not covered under your policy, there may be other options such as picking up secondary insurance from a spouse, or doing self-pay, whether locally or pursuing a cheaper option in Mexico.

Lip balm, an extra long charger cord for my phone, and a comfortable, cotton sports bra (no underwire) that fastens in front. Everything else I needed, the hospital provided. IMO don't worry about stuff like pajamas or slippers -- the hospital will provide gowns and no-skid socks for you. The hospital gowns are designed to accommodate things like IV poles and drains, which your own clothes are not. Plus, let the hospital deal with any laundry issues if you happen to bleed or puke or dribble IV fluid or wound drainage all over whatever you are wearing. Just be sure to put an extra one on, facing backwards, when you go out walking. Have whoever is picking you up to drive you home bring a pillow to tuck between your abdomen and the seat belt. Wear loose fitting, comfy clothes (empire waist dress or similar) to the hospital and plan to wear the same clothes home. If you wear glasses, bring a case for them. Good luck!

@@northstar9148 I get the frozen grilled (cooked) chicken breasts. I am way too lazy to spend my mornings cooking chicken! You can also just use the fresh grilled chicken breast in the deli area -- very tasty. I stick with frozen because in addition to being lazy, I am cheap, and the frozen is cheaper.

You likely don't need as much variety as you think. Don't overshop -- most people find themselves chucking large amounts of food/drink at the end of various stages because they really overestimated how much they'd be taking in post-op.

Because your stomach has excess acid sloshing around in a tiny space that used to be five times bigger. It makes a rumbly sound.

For a low carb lunch, get some of those 8 oz plastic gladware type containers. Chop up some chicken breast and green veggies, add a small amount of salad dressing, shake, and there you go. I usually make my lunch in the morning and use frozen chicken breast and veggies (I live alone and can't get through fresh chicken breast or vegetables in large enough quantities -- they would go bad first). I get frozen grilled chicken breast from Trader Joe's. Frozen green veggies such as grilled asparagus, green beans, and artichoke hearts work well. I defrost the chicken and veggies about halfway, put them in the container, and add dressing. I do not refrigerate -- by the time lunch rolls around, everything is completely thawed and delicious, and the lunch took me all of about 3 minutes to make. My lunch is usually under 125 calories and 5 carbs for 3 ounces of chicken + 1.5 ounces of veggies and about a half tablespoon of Trader Joe's champagne vinaigrette dressing.

That sounds like gas pains or stomach acid, not hunger.

You may not be able to eat that much, depending on how far you are out from surgery. But in any event, I think the real problem is that most wings are dredged in flour and dipped in a high carb sauce of some kind (BBQ, honey chipotle, etc). And then most people will dip them into a super high calorie, high carb dressing or sauce of some sort. If you are going to a restaurant, look up nutrition information in advance and make sure it fits into your daily goals. For example, 3 standard wings from Hooters (no dips or crumbles or anything) will be: 375 calories 24 grams of carbs 22 grams of fat 20 grams of Protein

Don't stress yourself out by setting numerical expectations for how much weight you will lose in a given month. Work at following your team's plan for hydration and protein and stay off the scale for now. Your body is in recovery mode from major trauma and you can't expect it to behave rationally. And you really, really can't expect to lose 30 lbs in a month. Not saying it is unheard of -- but it is very rare, and more likely to be done by a man with a BMI of 60 or something like that. It's really not reasonable to expect that of yourself and you are only setting yourself up for disappointment. You know that a stall is coming your way, right? Third week stall. Do not freak out when it happens. Even better, stay off the scale and you won't even realize when it happens. Good luck!

Don't rush yourself. I know you want to eat solids, but it sounds like your stomach doesn't want you to. 10 days is very early on. If they are giving you trouble, switch back to purees or full liquids for a week or so before trying again. It isn't a race.

It changes a little, not much. Try to slow down your eating and stop before you get that sensation. If you "barely" get in a half cup of food before getting that feeling, next time measure out a third of a cup and stop with that.

Two weeks out, you shouldn't even be on the scale right now. It will drive you nuts. Your body is in recovery mode and will do weird things. Seriously, stay off the scale for at least a couple more weeks and just focus on following your program and recovering from surgery.

Try eating less and eating slower. If that doesn't work, definitely contact your medical team about help with acid reflux -- PPI's or other drugs may be in order. Good luck!

That depends. If you can currently eat less than 1,000 calories per day for a sustained period of time and you are gaining weight on that, then probably no or not much. You'd be better advised to look into gastric bypass or DS, with their malabsorption of calories surgical components. If you can't eat under 1,000 calories for sustained amounts of time (most people can't choose to do that without surgery), or you can do it for moderate stretches and find that you do lose weight then, then yes, gastric sleeve surgery will likely help you. If the meds are affecting your metabolism, or causing you to retain tons of water, the surgery may not help as fast as it helps other people, but it should help. These are all definitely issues you would want to talk about with your surgeon when looking over your options. Good luck!

Get a digital kitchen scale and a Myfitnesspal (or similar) account and get in the habit of faithfully and accurately logging everything you eat (assuming you are not already).

Yes, at least to a great extent. I mean, I am not a medical professional and I can't see what you are talking about but lots of painful bruising is normal. But if you are uncertain, definitely get in touch with your medical team!

At worst your surgery would be postponed, not canceled. I think if God wanted you to not have surgery, She would send a more definitive message, possibly killing your surgeon in a wreck on the way to the hospital, or magically erecting a giant neon flashing DON'T HAVE SURGERY OR YOU WILL DIE @@kgarrettsatx sign in front of your house.

If you are growing white stuff on your tongue or the back of your throat, that is likely oral thrush and you do need meds for it. Just having a bad taste in your mouth (or bad BO, bad smelling pee) is the classic symptom of ketosis, which is completely different and you do not need meds for. If you are unsure, check with your medical team!

Don't let them put you in the hospital bed when you get moved from recovery into your hospital room. Instead, have them put you somewhere you are sitting and can more easily get up and down. A rocker or glider is ideal if there is one in your room. If not, go for the visitor's chair or loveseat. You will be more likely to get up and move if you aren't struggling in and out of bed. Also, when you are sitting, cross your arms over your abdomen and rock back and forth, pressing against your abdomen with your arms as you rock forward. This helps get the gas out. Again, it's ideal if you have a rocker or glider to do this in, but you can use a chair or sofa if you have to. You should only be in bed when you need to nap/sleep.

It should be safe in general but you'll need to pay extra attention to hydration and make sure to stop the car and get out to walk every couple of hours, due to the risk of blood clots so soon after surgery. This isn't optional, it is crucial. Many surgeons won't like you leaving the area so soon after surgery because you are still at risk for a leak, and they want you to stay near so that they can care for you if you develop a leak or other serious complication. I am sure if you explain the situation no surgeon would tell you not to go, though! Perhaps your surgeon can give you a referral to another bariatric surgeon near your brother in law just in case something goes wrong. I am so sorry about your brother in law's cancer -- that is just awful.

They -- like most insurance companies -- have many different plans. Whether they cover weight loss surgery depends on the options your husband's employer selects -- they have to affirmatively choose a rider to cover weight loss surgery. This is true for just about all insurance companies and plans though, at least employer-based. At least as of a couple years ago, the basic, standard Cigna policy on weight loss surgery was a 3 month supervised diet prior to surgery, but there are all sorts of variations. I had Cigna but had to do a six month supervised weight loss plan because my employer had a separate insurance plan administrator and that was the requirement they tacked on. It's pretty impossible to know what you will get until you see all the plan documents. Good luck!

sounds like ketosis . . . it is nasty but it means you are burning fat quickly.

I take Trader Joe's High Potency chewable multi-vitamins. For about the first six months after surgery I took one in the morning and one at night, both with meals. Then I switched to one per day. My labs have always been great. At my Trader Joe's the cost is $7.99 for a 90 count bottle, so either 11 cents per day or 6 cents per day depending on whether you took one or two. These vitamins never made me sick -- be sure to take any vitamins either with a meal or immediately after eating a meal.

1. Exercise 2. Do something that requires using your hands -- crafts, woodworking, home repairs, I am sure you can get creative here! 3. Allow yourself unlimited dry chicken breast and broccoli. Then you can tell yourself, if you are really hungry, go eat some chicken. And if you don't want that chicken and broccoli, you aren't hungry and your mind can move on after acknowledging that. 4. I know this sounds a little masochistic, but . . . make a list of the most painful physical, emotional, and psychological things you have ever experienced in your life. When you start to feel hungry and sorry for yourself, go review the list and ask yourself how bad your hunger is compared to what is on the list. Remind yourself that you got through those things and you can get through your hunger. 5. Plan your eating in advance, at the beginning of each day. Whether that is writing a schedule or pre-logging your food in MFP, once you have it written down, it is easier to commit to. When you start to feel hungry, bored, cravings, you can remind yourself that you are scheduled to have a snack of apple slices at 4 PM (just as an example) and that it is fine to wait until then.