Izuri

YAY!!!! I'm so glad it worked out.

I think you should try it. Insanity has been one of my goals forever, and once I've worked up to it I totally intend on getting through it.

Yay!! Congrats =)

Well, at least you are honest about going off plan. Everything zoomed by for me and I was working a lot, so I didn't get many chances to have 'last dinner' issues, but I could see myself struggling with the same. Get back on track and if you're feeling anxious just give your doctor a call, I'm sure they get this issue a lot, and they can give you a clear okay about it. If you're not feeling up to the gym maybe you could do a couple short walks a day, or just making sure you're getting up and around the house when you're not resting. At this point you're doing what you can to make sure things go well, and I think that's the best choice. You should probably go ahead and have your x-ray done, that way they can provide treatment if needed.

Could you tell them that you're having a medical procedure? If they ask for additional details you could always say it's personal and you'd like to keep it private, but it does have an extended recovery time. If you have a hiatal hernia like I did and they are repairing that too, you could just cite that as the reason. I know when I told my boss she said that she understood it was my personal business and if I decided not to tell anyone she would respect that and not say anything either. That way you don't burn through your vacation time. I just know that I don't wanna burn up vacation time doing anything but enjoying myself. I don't think I was ready to go back on day 11, but I also work a job where I walk/stand for 8+ hours. I can imagine if I worked a job where I got breaks or was allowed to sit, I would have been able to go back probably toward the end of the second week, so I guess possibly by day 11.

I'm still only 5 weeks post-op, but I still am taking my mood stabilizer. I have actually thought about increasing it. My psychiatrist said that we have plenty of room to increase since I'm on a low dose, and she would be willing to add an anti-depressant if needed. She has treated quite a few post-op patients and said she knows hormones go wacky and even if we do need to increase, she thinks eventually I'll level back out. My mood the first few weeks was pretty stable. Last week it hit a low like I hadn't had in quite a while, and then this week I'm stable again. I think my hormones are going crazy though - I have had at least 2 periods in the last month and had issues in between each (sorry if tmi) so I think this has been the culprit since pre-surgery I was stable on my medication for over a year. I would not, absolutely not, go off your medications unless you have talked to both your surgeon and your psychiatrist/doctor prescribing them. Some medications have an awful withdrawal, some can have side effects if you stop them abruptly (like rebound depression, etc), and it's never a good plan to immediately stop something without talking to your physician. Maybe you can talk to them about tapering the dose down or something, but immediately before a big surgery is not the time to be screwing with meds imo. I just don't want you to have any problems/increased depression after. Also - if you are worried about tablets/capsules/etc - many medications come in liquid/chewable/dissolveable form. You can absolutely keep taking them post surgery and don't have to crush up those tablets because they taste horrible, just ask your pharmacist, most times they will be happy to help.

I was kind of at the end of my rope for the last week. I was getting pretty bummed, on a stall, hormones going wild, and I felt like I had done all of this for a small amount and that I'd probably just end up fat again. I cried a bit, mourned food some (Everyone seems to want pizza this week and it's been something I'm craving), and had a little mini hissyfit to myself. I hit a point where I knew I was acting downright silly. I told myself the next day would be better, and it was. I woke up with a positive attitude, got my mind off stuff at work, and came home feeling good. I tried on some old clothes that had previously been too small, and I now have about 4 pairs of pants I can wear again - mostly 26s, and a few 24s. Today, I woke up and the scale was down a little. I'm sure it's not the last time I will have a hard time, but it taught me some about how to handle future hard times. Perseverance is worth it. You'll get through this and when you do, you'll be thanking your past self for having so much patience.

I'm about 5 weeks out today and I have been able to finally get through a decent amount of water quickly. I cannot chug like I did presurgery, but I can take bigger drinks now. I still can overdo it though. I have tried to take too many bigger drinks in a row and had it feel stuck behind my sternum. Most of the time I'm fine though and can finally get in water easier.

You should brag! What a stunning difference. You look incredible.

That sounds like a lot lost to me! You are doing amazing - keep it up and those 75 will be off in no time!

You can really tell the difference! Congrats! Oh...and I am soooooooooo in love with your shoes in the first picture! Super cute outfit.

Congratulations - That's amazing =) You should post some before and after pictures! I bet the difference is incredible.

You're only 4 days into being stalled, so it's possible that it won't even last a week - you will have many more 4+ day stall probably throughout your journey. Stalls happen, they're annoying, but we get through them. I am (KNOCK ON WOOD) just starting to come out of a stall that lasted 3 weeks. It started at the middle of week 2/beginning of week 3 post-op. It drove me up a wall. BUT I continued to eat right and get my walking in and there are a bunch of pants a size down that I can now wear. Have you measured? Sometimes that can be encouraging - you may be losing inches even if you're not losing pounds. For a few days I had to put away my scale (On and off I was unable to resist the temptation) because it was driving me crazy. So if it's bugging you - try to put it away! Have a family member hide it for a few days. I tried almost everything to switch it up for my stall, but nothing really helped except getting back to work. Even though I was walking, my body was not responding. I increased my water/protein/walking and decreased my carbs. Nothing helped. Now I just aim for my Protein and Water goal and hope for the best. It will get better!

I have had people tell me about the strange, creepy dreams they have had on it, and how their behavior has changed some. BUT I have also heard that cigarettes never taste the same after. It's been years since I smoked, and it's hard to kick the habit. Good job working on quitting - that's awesome! You can do it!

Just want to say you're brave for admitting to us and yourself that you cheated and made a mistake. What is it they say....that admitting it is the first step to overcoming it? I can't remember exactly, but it's true. I know that before I decided on the surgery I lied to myself and the people around me about what I ate because I was ashamed. I am trying hard to be an open book now, because being ashamed isn't productive - it just leads to wanting to eat more. Plus, the more honest I am about what I eat, the more it helps keep me on track. I doubt that you will be unable to have surgery. If you're feeling worried you could always give your surgeon's office a call for a little peace of mind. There will be many more of these challenges to come throughout your post-op life, and you did the right thing by turning to your NUT. Are you tracking your diet? It helps me to write out my day's diet on MyFitnessPal. I have added quite a few people on here (If you want to add me my username is the same as it is here), and they are all very positive/reinforcing good habits. It's nice to get feedback and to be able to see how others are doing. By the way, congratulations on your loss =) Surgery will be here quick and you will be over here on the loser's bench in no time! Lollyfidy1965 - Thank you for the book recommendation! I am really interested in this too and will definitely be checking it out.

I'm really sorry, I have never been married, but I did have an engagement fall through with a guy who was lying/cheating/etc and I know that the loss of someone you love can be an overwhelmingly hard thing, no matter how it ends. It sounds like the relationship you had was rather volatile at times. I hope you realize that despite anything he says, anything that happened, anything that does happen, that you deserve better than what you've been given. You are still very young (We're actually the same age =p), and if you think back to 8 years ago, a lot has changed from then, right? A lot can happen in the next 8 years too, and maybe in those 8 years you will find more love and respect for yourself and possibly someone who will treat you with the respect you deserve. There are days that I wonder what it would have been like if I had stayed with my ex-fiance, but I never regret what happened. I learned a lot about myself and what I want from my life, and I still have a number of years ahead of me - who knows what they hold. If you ever need a friend to vent or a shoulder to cry on, you're welcome to message me. We all need a place/friends to talk to about our hard times.

I'm so glad that they caught the clots and that you went to the ER when you did - that is really scary! I hope that you're feeling a little better today. Time in the hospital is no fun, that's for sure, but I hope you end up having a quick recovery.

Congratulations on your decision! It's a whirlwind - exciting and crazy. If you're going through insurance I would advise calling your insurance too, if you haven't already. Just to make sure there are no requirements that they require that your doctor's office does not. Most of the time the offices are pretty good about communicating the correct requirements to patients, but I've heard of cases where they have missed something - and it's better to put in one call now than to realize later that you didn't finish requirements and be set back for a couple months. Sit back and enjoy the ride =) You will be at your surgical date in no time!

That's not very small, that's huge! The temptation was right there and you kicked it's butt =) Good job!!

OP: I loved some turkey chili that I made and pureed. It was great. I didn't enjoy much else during the puree phase. I had a ton of cottage cheese. You should follow the plan your doctor gave you for your post-op eating. All doctors are different in what their patients should follow. Mine had me on 1 week full liquids, 1 week puree, then until 3 months out with soft foods. No regular foods until month 4. I've seen some people on liquids for weeks, some people on puree after days. So unfortunately no one can give you a better answer than your doctor's post-op instructions on that one. Hang in there! It will get better soon =)

14 days is getting close =) But it's still long enough that hopefully your cough will have plenty of time to stop. Make sure you're getting in fluids/a lot of rest so your body can go about getting better. Have you been continuing to follow your eating plan? There are a number of reasons your weight could be up - I know I can fluctuate quite a bit from Water weight. You could always mention it at the pre-op class and see what they say. I doubt you'll have problems if you just keep on your eating/exercising as you were directed. We can work to lose weight, but we can't always control everything.

I haven't seen anyone bully people on here about tell or not to tell, so this topic kinda surprises me. I have seen a number of opinions and advice, but on top of not seeing a lot of unsupportive comments on those threads, I also don't see how anyone would be bullied into telling the people they know irl.... This is a forum, I ask for advice, but if I don't like the answers/comments I get, I tend to ignore it. I chose to tell people and I'm happy with my decision. I know there are a lot of people who have taken the other route and are happy. I felt like people would notice, and that if I told people around me it would be easier to have a support group of my friends/family. Plus, maybe with some people they wouldn't notice, but I think over time that people would figure it out with me, I've never been any good at dieting =p

Today is day 19 of my week 3 stall and I'm trying hard not to let it drive me nuts - which is difficult because my hormones are going insane. I have not felt this moody is a long time. It doesn't help that my period has come at least three times this month for a few days each time and I think this is my second full period since surgery. There are also things going on in my life that are just not conducive to feeling good. I don't really feel like getting into them, but it's just friend stuff. I thought that getting a new scale that had a few weeks delivery that it would be long enough that my body would finally lose, but my new scale arrived over the weekend and I'm still in this stall, so I think I gave up today and put the scale away. It just makes me feel like I'm that one person who will never lose a significant amount of weight - which I logically know is nonsense. I'm sure that the added stress of it is making me retain even more weight, so at this point it's a why bother thing. I am trying my best to stay positive, but I think I need to ask my psychiatrist if I can increase my medication for a while. With all these crazy hormones I just feel like I need something more. She said that we definitely could post-surgery. She also said that I can start an antidepressant if I need to at some point, but I don't think that's necessary yet. I'm hoping a few weeks and I'll get back into school and things will level out a bit. I think it's combining with my anxiety about the school year starting. I had my first day back at work on Sunday night and it was awful. I couldn't get in any water and since we do not get any kind of break, I could barely get anything in. It was so ridiculously busy and every customer was mad. I started to get pretty painful on my side and so I took some tylenol liquid and then I think my blood sugar plummeted because I felt really light headed. I grabbed some muscle milk, which we thankfully carry and got a few sips in, which helped a little. I wish that in customer service people actually realized that we're human too. Sometimes I feel like they expect me to be a robot. I haven't felt like eating today. I know I haven't gotten even close to enough of anything in. I think I might just get in another protein shake and head to bed for the night. Maybe if I just let today be bad and get it in my head that tomorrow will be a good day, I will feel better when I wake up. TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER! I will end my rant now, but it feels good to get it off my chest.

I could start walking immediately and they wanted me to walk at least once a day. I am not allowed to do any kind of actual workout for 6 weeks. It's hard to wait that long, I'm itching to do something other than walk!

I am so sorry for what you're going through, it sounds awful. =( (((((HUGS)))) I'm glad that you have sought medical attention - what your going through really makes it sound like something is very wrong. Did they do a leak test? If you're still having problems is it possible for them to switch your antibiotic to liquid form? Many antibiotics are available in liquids It's not going to help if you can't even take the medicine, and I know some antibiotics can be like horse pills, very difficult to take. If you still cannot get them down, you should definitely let the doctors know that you are not getting them down, you may have to be readmitted to be given the medications IV. I know that sounds awful, but it will be worth it when your symptoms can finally clear up. I wish I could help with the depression. I know right now is a very stressful time, and I can't even imagine how hard it is, but you are strong and worth getting through this. Have you ever considered seeing a therapist? Do you have any family living with you or that are close by that might be able to spend a few days with you right now? You need some support right now to help get through this tough time. There is nothing wrong with needing someone to talk to. Are you able to sip on meal replacement shakes? I know that boost has quite a bit of sugar, but you might want to ask your NUT if it would be okay to drink for a few days while you recuperate. It's thin and maybe will be easier to get down than protein shakes. I'm really sorry that you're going through this, and if you need to vent or need a shoulder to lean on, we're here for you.