Roo101769

I have been having trouble hitting anything. I eat, but not a lot. I don't feel deprived, I am not hungry. But I eat three times a day. I don't get in Snacks. I need to learn the fine art of adding to for more Protein. Right now I will eat one scrambled egg. Takes me about 40 minutes to eat it. But my WLS handbook suggests cheese with the egg (for more protein) and 1-2 tablespoons of cooked Cereal or yogurt. I can't do that much at one time. Not yet anyway...So I am still a work in progress. Even working on fluids. (doing better there)

This is an emotional rollercoaster. I do not regret getting my sleeve at all. It is just the process that is a bit hard to deal with. I am 2 weeks 4 days out. My surgeon said I could have purees early out ( after 1wk 1day) so I have been slowly experimenting. Last night I bought a small Wendy's chili and took it home, put it in the food processor with some unflavored protein powder, wizzed it up and then warmed it a little. It was so darn good I thought I had died and went to heaven! But I will admit it has been tough. Between being a single working mother ( I went back to work 1 week 2 days) and not having a lot of money, it has been hard to be creative. I would rather just not bother at some points. But I remind myself I have to, so I get it together and find something. Yes, I "wish" life had been different. I wish I could have been one of those who could eat anything and never gain....I wasn't. I wish I could be filthy rich...I'm not. I wish a lot of things, but doing something is the only way to get results. Getting the sleeve is one of those ways. Today I am tired, it has been a long week. I look more forward to going home with my daughter and curling up for the evening than anything else. Because at the end of the day that is what is most important. The food.....is just food.

How much weight have you lost?.. I get asked that all the time. Stupid thing is I am only two weeks two days post op! Do people honestly believe I will lose all my excess weight in a couple weeks? I am not dropping rapidly, in fact I have held 270lbs for a couple days now. Whoopie. I am not worried or stressed by it. I know it was my decision to be open about having surgery. I have been lucky that the majority of those who know have been supportive or at the least curious. (only a couple jealous Negative Nancys) But come on peeps- it didn't go on overnight and it will NOT come off overnight. I lost around 30lbs on my own before I had surgery. ( From the first of August) My highest weight was 316lbs this past summer. So right now 270lbs feels much better. In fact, I haven't been this in over probably 8-10 years! I had the surgery. I am following the plan. I do need to exercise more, I will give that. But I do not expect magic and know it will happen when it happens. I am confident in what I am doing and what the results will eventually be... Yet daily being asked how much have I lost, this soon after surgery, well it is kind of aggravating. I know they can tell I lost weight since summer, but I haven't changed drastically since 10/21. I guess I will just chalk it up to a positive and try to let it go...At least they can see I am reworking this old body of mine!!!

For the record I went to my first WLS seminar end of July. My first surgical consult was 8/6. Everything else was done and paperwork submitted by first of October and I was sleeved 10/21.

Nothing out of the ordinary. My surgeon's office does a mandatory 10 day pre op liquid diet to shrink the liver, but that was all. In fact I saw the nutritionist once and she said I knew what I was doing! Of course back in August I decided to start eating high protein, low fat/ low carb/ low calorie on my own. I wanted to get used to that type of diet before the surgery. But I had nothing additional put on me by the NUT or my surgeon.

I have Anthem BCBS of Ohio and I went through the same runaround concerning medically supervised diets. When I first called to ask about coverage ( this past summer) I was told we did have coverage. I asked about the diet because my old insurance required 12 consecutive months!!! I was told there was no medically supervised diet restriction. So I proceeded on. Before I went to my first consultation with the surgeon his office called and told me I wasn't even covered per what insurance told them! It was a matter of my company had bought into a standard plan, but had chosen to INCLUDE WLS as a covered item. Sort of an a la carte item. Anyway, as I began jumping through the prerequisite hoops the surgeon's office said they were told by my insurance I had a 6 month diet requirement, not the information I was told. I had to go back and forth between insurance and the surgeon to get it squared away. After several phone calls it was FINALLY determined ( after getting a manager involved at BCBS) that the plan states I had to follow any medically supervised diet restrictions set forth by my surgeon or nutritionist. Well that is an entirely different thing than it being an insurance requirement!! So after some trial and error I got through it all and was sleeved 10/21. On the plus side..My approval took less than 24hrs to receive so kudos to Anthem for that!!! Good luck!

I was on the shots for about ten years. During that time my weight did increase, but I cannot say it was from the shots. I didn't eat well, I moved less and less. It all just fell in line together.

Ooops, posted my response on your quote. That kinda day!

Yep, you may need to up your intake. I have read that time and again on here. I am only two weeks out and have struggled to get in enough daily. But I keep trying to increase it daily because I KNOW my loss will be greater if I hit the target range rather than fall below. Your body holds on for dear life if it feels starved. So making sure your not going to that extreme is important. So get to the grocery and be creative to be sure you stay on track...Good luck!

I am two weeks post op and I am now starting to drink normally. I did have issues the first week +, but now it has pretty much evened out. ( No huge gulps though) I cannot drink alcohol. Not only because of the sleeve ( absorption issues & empty calories) but because I am blood thinners. Never a big drinker, I did enjoy it once in a while. But since earlier this year that has been cut from my life. Pre op I gave up soda because I knew post op they say no carbonation. I thought it would be harder than it really was. I have had one soda since August. Took a sip or two and thought "yuck". Now, if I had to give up ice tea I would be in trouble. (non sweetened) I also do not have a lot of caffeine. It messes with vitamin absorption so no-no. So far none of it has really bothered me nor have I missed it.

Oh no....If our fat cells store emotion or stress or whatever, in addition to fat, I am in serious trouble. I have had these puppies for a loooong time now, and a LOT of negative has happened in that time frame. Yikes. I too have already been on an emotional roller coaster, but thought it was from having the surgery two weeks ago. But to be fair I was taken of Tramadol cold turkey for the surgery, and it has mood altering properties. Also "that time of month" here too. All I know is if things get worse I will seek out happy pills. I did it before in my life and will do so again if needed....

They do test frequently, but as long as I maintain a level for a while they will space out the time between. Right now I am spaced at a month because my INR didn't change much while I was off it for surgery. ( which is good) My only problem is my hematologist and my PCP (who manages my warfarin) have differing opinions on what level my INR should be. My hematologist wants me at a higher INR. He said because I continued to clot while being treated he believes I need even "thinner" blood. But my PCP does NOT like me at a higher dose and thinks it unsafe. I will say when I was put on a higher dose I bruised quite badly (worse than usual) and had other stuff happen. So I feel better at the INR level my PCP has me at, although I guess I could still clot.

Unless I am wrong and missed something the pre op liquid diet is not about weight loss, but shrinking fat in your liver. Weight loss is or is not a side effect. Do not worry about the scale at this point. If you are this upset now, then get some help before surgery. Because you aren't always going to lose weight post op. Will you lose? Yes. Will it be what you want? Only time will tell.. Will you lose all the time until it is all gone? NO!!!! There will be stalls. There might even be times you gain. But if you stay the course you will get there. Do not be discouraged so early out. This is a LONG HAUL deal. Re-evaluate if you are truly ready if you are so heartbroken at such and early point... And I do wish you much luck and success if you continue!

I changed my diet in August and was sleeved Oct.21. My change was totally voluntary, not doctor ordered. I just wanted to lose what I could pre op, and to be in a better place handling eating high protein and low fat/carb/carb. I lost about 33lbs on my own this way. It was hard to switch. I struggled at times. I found I am a carb-aholic. Once I start eating carbs I lose control and crave them. But overall I did ok and I am glad I did it. I needed the mind reset before I had the surgery to make it forever.

To be honest my surgeon has advanced me fairly quickly. I went to pureed foods at my week and a day post op check up. I ate creamed soup ( no chunks) jello, broth, and protein shakes mainly. And I was very happy to move on to purees..I eat yogurt, pureed refried beans, pureed can chicken, even had some scrambled egg. Very small amounts and take it slow. But being able to increase my variety of foods has made it much easier and I "feel" better.

Yep..My 10 day pre op diet put me into ketosis. It was pretty obvious when it happened too. One day I simply wasn't that hungry. In fact I don't think I consumed much after because 1)didn't want it and 2) was tired of my options. I will say the further out I get post op, and the more I can start experimenting with (taste wise) the better. I am still very restricted, but it is so much easier to get what you need (protein wise) when the taste is good!!! Best of luck to you!

My hematologist is planning to put me on Xarelto too. I think it will be much better than warfarin. As good as a blood thinner can be I guess! LOL They are an adjustment, but it all gets better with time.

That is awesome, congratulations. Can I suggest you do the "post op" diet, unless your doctor already has you on something. In August I started eating lots of protein and cutting back on carbs, fat and calories. Sort of like how you will eat after surgery. Anyway, I lost about 30lbs on that diet before my surgery. Then I did the pre op liquid diet and lost another 7lbs. Good luck!!!

Happy Birthday and you look mah-volus! That is a very attractive suit. I was on my 10 day preop diet on my birthday, sort of put a damper on things...LOL But today I am two weeks post op, down 13 lbs ( 46 lbs from highest weight) and feeling so much better! Enjoy this next year and savor 47 being even better!!!!

It is completely normal to be nervous. Just make sure you hang on to the things that got you to this point. You may find yourself questioning it, but I will assure you it does get better. I am exactly 2 weeks post op today and I feel SO much better than I did the first week and a half. Each day is a step in the right direction. Just follow your bariatric team's rules and plans and you will do great!

My last pre op appointment with my surgeon consisted of him asking if I was ready and had any last minute questions and me asking what I still wanted to know. Then they gave me the time to be there for surgery...That was about it. But as stated before, every practice is different.

I am so sorry to hear your journey has been so difficult so far, but very glad to read your story knowing you are still here and able to write it! I too have blood clotting issues. The problem, no one knows why. I too have been tested for any blood clotting disorder under the sun with negative results. It all started years ago when I developed a superficial clot in my right leg. It wasn't a DVT, but it DID hurt the same. I spent a week in bed and then weeks recovering. Years went by and it was forgotten. Then in 2011 I had knee surgery to clean up some arthritis. Surgery went fine, but two days later I developed a DVT behind my knee. I was hospitalized and a day later had and embolism that resulted in blood clots in both of my lungs. I too spent a few days in ICU. That DVT was determined to be because of the surgery, so I spent 6months on blood thinners then went back to my normal life. Early this year I started having problems with my right leg. I feared it was another clot, so I had it checked. In March they said no clot, but probably vasculitis. About a month after my leg was worse, red and swollen from mid calf to my foot. I was checked again and this time a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) was found in my upper thigh. Since there was no known cause, this is what set off the first round of testing. I was put on Lovenox injections for about a week, followed by oral warfarin.(Coumadin) It takes about 3-4 days for warfarin to reach full effectiveness in your system. Anyway, I stayed off work a couple weeks to allow the swelling to go down. I returned to work and on the second day my leg ballooned up and was bright red. My doctor had me sent back to the ER to have the leg rescanned. This time they found the clot had grown larger, and had started to move further up in my vein. A small piece had broken free and I had a second pulmonary embolism. Given the fact I had been under treatment for several weeks when this occurred, that set off alarm bells. I was now being seen by a vascular doctor and a hematologist. I was fitted with an IVC filter to catch any further clots before they reach my heart/lungs. The hematologist ordered every other test imaginable to determine why I was clotting like this. To this day the answer is still unknown. The reason I decided to have WLS in part was to help improve my circulation. I had to clear it with each doctor who treated me for the clots, as well as the other clearances needed. I am on blood thinners for the rest of my life, with surgery I just had to switch from oral to injections for about a week. Since I have the filter already in place, the risk of another embolism was much smaller. ( If I did develop more clots) I walked into surgery a very high risk patient. I took every precaution I could, but knew it was a gamble. And luckily I walked out fairly unscathed. I do have some issues with a couple incisions due to the blood thinners effecting my healing time. ( and the tissue is a bit "mush" ) Other than that I was fortunate that I did ok. Sorry for the long story, but wanted you to know I feel for you and have an idea how you feel. Good luck, speedy recovery, and hope it is smooth sailing here out!!!

I already informed my family that I will NOT be preparing Thanksgiving dinner this year. I have been the hostess, cook, financer, and clean up for 12 years now. Since I will only be about a month out I won't be able to eat and enjoy everything I usually fix, so I am on strike. They can have tv dinners, or turkey sandwiches. Next year will be a different ballgame, but this year I am playing it lazy. One year I can sit and watch parades and relax...sounds ok to me!!

I am sort of looking forward to the three week stall, in a weird way. That means I am three weeks out from surgery. My body is really healing and adjusting. I am ready for that. I start week three next Monday. ( Meaning it is two weeks post op- starting the third) I have only lost about 10lbs since surgery, but I am down 43lbs from my highest weight so I am still happy. Just taking it all one day at a time. I am following orders best I can. Each day it gets a bit easier. One day I will have a "normal" day (the new normal) and it will probably shock me. So ride out the stall and keep on keeping on!!!