Miss Mac

You apparently have access to the internet, so go on youtube and watch a video of a sleeve surgery. It will remind you of the actual condition your new tummy is in. It is raw - with staples. Please please please walk away from the food and the smells - reduce the temptation and stay on plan. Listen to RJ's advice. She has been through so much and has your best interest at heart. Unless you want to spend the rest of your Cancun vacation in the hospital, stay...on...plan.

I remember the day after I retired. I had to MAKE my own Breakfast, because i was used to stoppng by McDonald's on the way into work and get an Egg McMuffin, hash browns, a cinnamon bun, and a large orange juice....which I ate all of while driving. I had to make my own lunch. I was used to picking up something in the cafeteria. Then I had to make my own supper. I was used to stopping by Burger King two blocks from the parking garage to get a chicken or fish sandwich, fries, and a large DIET (ha ha) coke. Then.... a mile from home (this was a 22 mile trip) stop at McDonalds and get a ice cream cone, then stop by the McDonalds two blocks from the house and get a salad for dinner. Now I look back and see how rediculous all of that was....an oh my, the calories...no wonder I was big. I was clearly addicted to the grease, salt, and sugar infused in the food. It certainly wasn't the ammoniated slurry that the burger meat is rinsed in at the processing plant. I am so glad that my daughter does not feed that crap to my grandkids. I was as much addicted to the habit as I was to the food itself. I couldn't eat a Twinkie - it had to be at least four. A cookie - no, a dozen with tea and sugar. One of the biggest adjustments I have had to make is to break old habits in how my day was scheduled. This walk is hard - real hard, but I do not regret my surgery, either.

Hopefully, you are beginning to learn that your new tummy is the boss of you now. You have to listen to your inner "tummy whisperer". Cramps, and the runs, and foamies, etc. can be ways that your tummy communicates with you that it is disagreeing with a choice you made, and please don't do that again for a while......please.....give me a chance to heal already. You will know you are making progress when you have more good days than bad. This doesn't have to be all trial and error. Our care plans are based on what our doctors believe will work, based on past precedence and best practices in bariatric medicine. Although our plans can be different in many ways, there are enough ways in which they are quite similar: Your procedure can be damaged or undone through either carelessness or medical mishap. Eat Protein and plenty of it, then veg, then minimal fruit. Drink Water until your eyeballs float. Starchy, sugary carbs need to be drastically less than you were eating before. Take small bites....chew more than you think you have to. Space out your eating and drinking so that you do not drown your food and have a total mudslide. Call you medical bariatric support team for immediate and /or painful issues. Feel welcome to come here for emotional and practical "been there, done that, got the shirt" support. When you are tempted to fall out of line and you know better, do better. It is easier to do the right thing than to undo the wrong thing. Don't ever feel ashamed to come here and tell us that you had a bad day. There are enough folks here that are far enough ahead of you to give you some good advice. Sometimes the advice isn't pretty. We do all come here for the truth, right? Then, soon enough, you will be able to pay it forward to someone else.

Like when you are driving your car down the road and the engine cuts out, and there you are on the shoulder of the road waiting in the hot sun, or wind, or rain, seems like FOREVER for a friend or relative to pick you up so you can get the car towed, then fixed, so you can finally be on your way. Whew! That's what it feels like.

Yep, that about sums it up! You have to trust now in cause and effect. You had the surgery, now follow the rules and work it (emphasis on work). The weight will eventually have to come off in spite of stalls and set-backs.

Our journey is all about small successes and more good days than bad. Aside from your new tummy, your next best tool will be preparation and planning ahead. If you must do fast food and business lunches, plan now for what you can safely order too keep you successful. Sitting at the table with a boss or client is not the time to agonize over a menu. I wish you good luck and good health.

That's a lot of loss for your little angel. Maybe you could come at it from a different direction. Maybe ask her if you fell and broke your leg, wouldn't she want you to go to the hospital to get it fixed? Could you explain to her that doctors and nurses go to school for lots of years to learn how to help people feel better? And when people feel better they live longer and are happier? And that happy healthy Mommies are able to do more with their children? Hopefully you can explain that your new remodeled tummy won't be near as hungry as the one you have, and by the time school starts in the fall, you will be thinner and feel so much better. If you can explain this process on her terms, to a seven year old's understanding (and not a grown-up's) maybe she can relax a little. Just make sure that you validate her concern. I think a child her age can readily grasp the concept that hospitals are full of people who care about getting you out of bed and back home.I wish you the best.

This is definitely a polarizing subject. I did a self-serving cost / benefit analysis before I committed to surgery (like a pro/con list). One list concerned financial cost, risk, expected lifespan,possible medical complications, etc. The other list concerned financial relief due to better health, expected lifespan, improved mobility, reduced inflammation and pain, etc. The Bariatric Center at Loyola University did not shield me from the harsh possibility of complications and regain. They were very open and answered all 17 questions that I pounded them with on my first visit. I feel like I was very well informed. The risks to not having surgery were greater than the risks of following through. One of the concepts discussed in my college statistics class was that you could prove anything with statistics. The result was just a matter of where your personal bias was coming from. As a matter of fact, one of the books on our recommended eading list was "How to Lie with Statistics" by Darrell Huff. So....I think one thing we can all agree on is that each individual needs to research the subject of weight loss surgery very well and make the best informed decision that they can. One of my resources for being educated on this subject was this very forum. The forum presented me with real people having real outcomes, and put a face to the experiencing I was considering.

For me, I could have full liquids as soon as I got home. At 1 1/2 weeks I could have purees, and at 3 weeks soft, and at 4 weeks could start testing tolerance for whole foods.

Hey Bruce, that's O K, we'll talk to you. I also recommend the guys' forum.

Same here.

That rash will turn into the grown-up equivalent of chicken pox and will be contageous until the blisters break. I had shingles a couple of summers ago. The nerve pain was significant. Get some cotton balls and a 50 gallon drum of calamine lotion. (Well, have plenty on hand) Don't let anyone touch your blisters. Follow general care as for chicken-pox. You may indeed have to delay your sugery for three or four weeks. Make sure you have good pain relief on hand, and tell the family not to touch the blistered area. I hope you get over this quickly as it is a lot to bear. On the up-side I suppose, is that your surgery will feel like a day in the park after this. Sorry, but there is no happy way to prepare someone for shingles. I wish you the best of recovery.

Per other comments on Lyrica and stalling. I have been on Lyrica since summer of 2010. Since that time I gained 50 pounds and never made any connection. I definitely will research this one, because I need every advantage I can get. I have lost those extra 50 pounds, now I need to lose the other 50 extra pounds that contributed to my stroke in September 2010. Oh man, now I have to research if there is a connection between Lyrica and stroke. For sure, I am not stopping half-way. Stalls are so exasperating, but every couple of pounds, it finally breaks out and I lose another two or three and then stall again. Oh well.

Baby spoons...yes. They will slow you down considerably. Also, if you are not doing so, weigh and measure your food before you eat it. A long-standing business pricipal is: You cannot control that which you do not measure. I have found that if i try to guess what something weighs or measures, I get off the mark real quick. 1/3 of a cup of something quickly becomes a cup of something. Two ounces of meat becomes four. So, measure, measure, measure. Annoying, but it helps, and makes you more concious of what you are eating. Having said that, keep that food journal going, too. I long ago tired of myfitnesspal, but I still keep a journal by my bed, where I account for things as the day goes on. If I don't track, I lose track.

I was sent home with all kinds of meds, with no instruction as to swallow them or not. Added to my blood pressure meds, I just swallowed everything from the start (with some of my proteinshake) with these exceptions: There was one tablet that was large enough to break in half. I swallowed it with a Protein shake. I had to get a smaller fisf oil capsules, and even still, Miss Tummy will give it back most days. I stll eat fish twice a week to compensate for the fish oil rejection. The down side of swallowing pills is that if they get hug up in my throat, I have to be careful not to drink too much fluids to get it down. I had to look up Levofoxacin to see what it was....looks like the normal course is 7 - 10 days and then you will be done with it. My best hope is that if you must spill it into a drink or Soup, try something with a flavor to distract. I know we are not supposed to drink much fruit juice because of the sugar, but there was one liquid med that I followed with a little prune juice with some sweetener in it. I guess we all cope in our own way. Good luck and good health.

My bariatric team was spot on to reply quickly to my questions and emails.....same day. I agree with SherB, An effective team will not leave you dangling in mental anquish and worry. Be proactive.

I had success with sweet almond oil. Just FYI in case this would work......when my daughters were little kidlets, I would use Peanut Butter to get gum out of their hair. But I believe the concept here is that something slicky will do better than something soapy.

To give yourself a headstart, reduce carbs drastically, eat Protein - then veg - then very little fruit. You will be surprised what a difference it makes to cut out anything made in a factory. Just go for the fresh foods along the perimeter of the store. Here's wishing you a sucessful journey.

Isn't that nice when you start having more than one good day at a time?

Originally, when I asked my doctor if I was a good candidate for a lap band, he referred me to the bariatric clinic at Loyola University in Chicago. When I went for my first appointment, the staff explained the different options for weight loss surgery. I went with the sleeve on December 13, 2013, because I did not like the idea of a port with a lap band. I had no idea that you were left with a port. I have had a couple of dark days where I have wondered what the heck did I do?, but overall, I do not regret my sleeve one little bit. I am halfway to goal and feel better in many ways. Also, my primary doctor has begun the process of eliminating medications. I am sure that you will make the best decision for your particular medical needs. I wish you good luck and good health, and welcome to the forum.

My first onery thought was just take a little "vacation" to Tiajuana, and don't even mention surgery. My second more sane thought was tell her you'll think about it, and go ahead and have your surgery. Unless she lays down in front of your car, she can't really stop you. So here's to your health. Clink.

Hmmmmmmm......26. Your skin looks flawless!

At two weeks I had cabin fever, but it took a month befor I felt like any kind of normal.

At six months out, mine have faded fairly well and just look like old bruises. I have had larascopic surgeries for other reasons, and the scars are minute and faded to white on my already paleface skin. You have to know where they are to see them.

Take Chapstick. You won't regret it.