ecip78824

I'm almost 4 weeks post-op and still on my soft foods stage. I'm tracking my food on My Fitness Pal and focusing on getting 60 grams of protein (which is hit and miss) and keeping under 120 grams of carbs (which is really easy, I usually do half that). However, my doctor/nutritionist never made any mention of a suggested fat intake. Almost every day I go over the My Fitness Pal's suggested fat intake. I'm eating LOTS of dairy right now (yogurt, cheese sticks, cottage cheese cups, milk, etc.) and I try to do low-fat and skim options, but day after day my fat continues to run high. I'm not sure how concerned I should be at this point. I've lost about 20 pounds post-op, but I have been stalled for almost a week. I'm not too worried about the stall since I know that it's common to stall at this point and I haven't really started exercising yet. I'm just afraid that I may be slowing myself further by consuming too much fat. Does anyone want to share their usual daily fat intake?

Thank you so much! You've made me so relieved. That's almost exactly the amount of fat I'm getting. I need to push my protein, but that's really because I can't stand the protein shakes anymore. I did force myself to drink an Isopure yesterday and I made it to 80 grams of protein, so I think I'm just going to have to suck it up and deal with the nasty taste. I'm hoping that when I start solid foods I can try to get more protein from lean chicken and fish and maybe avoid the protein shakes altogether. Thanks again!

My doctor did a drain and a pain pump. It wasn't anywhere as bad as I thought it would be. I had been told that it would hurt when they took it out and I was soooo anxious about it. I held my breath when the nurse got ready to tug, and as soon as she pulled it out I started laughing. It didn't hurt at all, it just felt extremely weird! When the doctor took out my pain pump a few days later, he told me it would hurt and I got anxious all over again. I held my breath again as he started counting to three. When he reached three, I heard my dad laughing and I looked down to realize that the doctor had already pulled the hose out and I hadn't even realized it. So, basically, I think the lesson is to not stress too much either way because your imagination is probably much worse than the reality!

I tried them on my pre-op diet because I was loving the little cups of plain low fat cottage cheese. I found them to be a big disappointment. I didn't like the sweet mixing with the savory, and it just seemed like the syrupy fruit was corrupting the cheese (and I'm someone who LOVES sweet things!). I'd say find the cups of the plain and stick to those. They taste better (in my opinion) and you can save yourself from that "evil" high fructose corn sugar!

I am just a couple days ahead of you (sleeved 9/24) and I can tell you that I've improved a lot in the last two days! I can handle bigger sips and more frequently without as much of that gurgling gassy feeling. I also had my first bowel movement just yesterday, which was quite an experience! I think I was constipated and didn't realize it because of all the gas and bloating. My mother happened to ask me if I'd had a bowel movement yet and I shrugged and said "no, but I'm only consuming liquids so I guess that makes sense." Less than an hour later, five days of BMs hit me all at once! I think she may have cursed me! I have felt much better since, though, so I would recommend taking some Milk of Magnesia and get things moving so you can feel some relief. I have found my biggest challenges now are getting in enough Protein and fighting my head hunger. I so badly want to throw out all these nasty protein drinks and take a bite of real food! Unfortunately, I still have two more weeks of liquids. I hope you find this a little helpful. At least you know you're not alone!

Personally, I think there is nothing wrong with donating your eggs. It helps desperate couples conceive who may not otherwise be able to do so. There are MUCH worse ways to make money! HOWEVER, I would warn you to thoroughly research the process before you jump into it. I read a little about the process a few years ago and I was shocked how complicated, long, and side-effect ridden it was. You end up getting quite a few hormone injections and you have everything from mood swings to hot flashes along the way. It takes (from what I remember) a few months of this process for each donation. So, make sure you're well-informed before you make up your mind. Good luck!

I feel the same way! My surgery is a week from tomorrow and I'm finally catching on that this is REALLY happening! Suddenly, the words "permanent" and "irreversible" are haunting me! I spent too much time planning this to ever back out, but I could really use some comforting words from people who have been here.

I definitely think that there is some truth in this (at least for me). I broke up with my boyfriend a few months ago and I only realized after it was over just how wrong for me he was. I'm so much happier now, and this realization made me think back to my past relationships and where they went wrong. I realized that every man I've been romantically involved with had one or more major flaws (bad job, history of cheating, drinks too much, etc.). Even worse, I KNEW this going into every relationship. It dawned on me that I have always looked for something to be "wrong" with a man because I don't think anyone would want to date me the way I am. Since I've realized this, I've decided not to do any dating until I'm at goal and comfortable with myself. I'm hoping that I'll regain confidence through this experience, and I'm determined not to date anyone with glaring flaws every again!

I had the exact same issue. I even had my first doctor stop returning my calls once he found out about the insurance exclusion. It was really heartbreaking to build up the courage to talk to my PCP, attend a seminar, and make/attend an appointment with a bariatric surgeon just to have them completely drop me when they found out that my insurance wouldn't cover the surgery. The last thing that that surgeon had said to me was to look into changing insurance plans. However, I found that paying for private insurance that covered bariatric surgery would cost about $1,000 a month. I would have to enroll for a year, so it'd cost me about $12,000 plus whatever co-pays I'd have for the surgery and pre-approval process PLUS there would be the wait for the approval. I started looking for other options and found that there are parts of the country that are more competitive and thus less expensive than others. I'm having my surgery in Plano, Texas, with a Dr. Nicholson. He is a very highly experienced doctor who charges $12,200 for the surgery, which includes all pre-surgery screening and two nights in a hotel. They work with a lot of out-of-state patients and although I have the same worries as you do about complications and their cost, I find a lot of solace in knowing that Dr. Nick has had only a handful of leaks among his patients. I know it's still not an ideal option since $12,200 plus travel expenses is no small expense, but it is so convenient to be able to just call them up and schedule an appointment within a few months and not have to deal with a huge pre-approval process and fight with an insurance company about co-morbidities. They also accept Care Credit and I've heard that they allow you to split payment between credit cards and cashier checks. However you do it, I hope that you find a way. Good luck!

The blood thinners are subcutaneous shots so you inject them into fat. The best spot is usually the belly because it's the easiest spot to "pinch an inch" and the least painful. They are used on anyone with a history of blood clots or increased risk factors for blood clots, so not all patients get them. My doctor only uses them on very high BMI patients, I think it was a BMI of 50 and up.

This is my first time posting an original thread, so please be gentle! I keep looking on the forums for a conversation discussing long-term issues with the sleeve. I'm not finding much beyond the first couple of years, which I kind of suspected since it's such a new procedure. I also tried looking for research articles discussing gastrectomy issues long term, but of course the only other reason they usually do a gastrectomy is for stomach cancer so those studies don't go beyond 5 years either since it is considered an accomplishment to make it 5 years in those cases. To get to my point here, I have this fear about the surgery as it gets closer and more real. I initially was worried about the pain or something going wrong, but now my fear has shifted to something bigger. I just keep picturing myself as an old lady with young doctors around me telling me that I was butchered by some archaic procedure way back when. I feel like someday people will tell me that this was a mistake because of X, Y, or Z and that I'm going to be sick or die because I had my stomach removed before there was enough research to see the dangers. It's made me go a little crazy looking for those possible X/Y/Z reasons. I don't mean to scare anyone else here, I guess I just want to hear what you all have heard from your doctors (I'm traveling out of state for my procedure so I haven't met my doctor yet and I feel a little silly calling the clinic to present my possibly irrational fear and ask for reassurance) or from your own research. Has anyone known (or known of) someone who had their stomach removed many years ago for other reasons? Are there reasons that this procedure may actually shorten our lives or put us at risk of other diseases/disorders? I appreciate any feedback, but please be nice! I'm a little scared of being scolded for not doing enough research and I just want to make it clear that I have researched and researched and researched some more! Thanks!

Thank you all for being so positive! I'm relieved to hear that I'm not the only one out there who worries about these things far off issues. Still, I know I want to continue forward because it's even scarier for me to picture my future without the surgery. I think about that scenario of being an old lady and having a young doctor tell me that my surgery was barbaric, but I'm not even sure that I'd live long enough to be an old lady without the surgery! So, it's definitely the lesser of two evils. I'm just hoping that once I have the surgery done and I start seeing the pounds come off that I'll stop worrying so much.

I love this thread! I had this idea to make myself a NSV Bucketlist (a list of things from my obese life that I want to eliminate). A lot of the things you guys want to do are exactly the kind of stuff I'm thinking of including. I loved the one about painting toenails! I think eventually I may forget about the little things like that and just take them for granted. I want to come up with a bunch of those sort of things so I can look back at the list when I'm trying to lose those stubborn final pounds and feel inspired. I hope someday I'll look at my completed list and think, "Wow, I can't believe that was my life!"