Miss Mac

A year ago, I couldn't have tied my own shoes. trimmed my own toenails. rolled over in the bed without getting exhausted. walked around the block.

My mother was not a bariatric patient, but she became pregnant with my youngest brother when she was 44. For the first five months she thought she was going through the change. Then the change started to kick!

In my puree stage, I could have both fruits and vegetables, but baby food was recommended. Anything else had to be pureed to a smooth baby food consistency anyway. It was only temporary. At week three I started soft foods. Follow your teams instructions. The stomach is so brutalized by bariatric surgery that it just cannot be asked to process anything with bits in it for a while. The could get hung up in your staples or stuck in the stoma. It is not worth the risk.

Caffein?

My nutritionist told me that if I concentrate on getting my Protein requirements from regular food instead of smoothies, the carbs will take care of themselves. At 70 grams of protein, two servings of fresh fruit and mostly non-starchy veggies, I come in around 1,000 calories and 50-75 carbs. Also, at two years, I am drinking 100-120 ounces of Water every day. You will find your own pace soon enough. When you can contact your own NUT, they will be able to clarify your guidelines for you. Most of our teams present us with similar concepts, but the specifics may vary from practice to practice. I wish you an easy and pleasant recovery.

Then make simple dishes. Get a Foreman Grill so that you can grill meats easily and quickly - and it drains the grease off. Then all you need is some plain meat and keep a small assortment of condiments, herbs and spices. Really, just salt, pepper, minced garlc in the fridge, onion powder, paprika, cayenne if you like hot stuff you know the deal - just a few that you like more than others. Do get a food processor, a crock pot, and a blender. Right now is the best time of year because every place has them on sale. You will not get a better price all year. A processor makes small stuff out of big stuff and mixes stuff better than you can by hand. A crock pot is great for people who are gone all day. Just throw a buch of stuff in, put it on low heat, and dinner is done when you get home. You will find a ton of recipes online for stews and casseroles. I use my blender almost everyday to mix up smoothies. Here is the principal on processed food: as much as possible, do not eat anything made in a factory. You can have quite a variety with grilled meats and fresh or frozen veggies. If you can, pick one of your off days and make up a couple of batches of food you can pick all week on. If you want something like a roll-up made with deli turkey and swiss cheese, make several at one time, enough to last a few days. Get a Betty Crocker or Good Housekeeping cookbook that has basics for beginners and learn to cook. It will be much more rewarding when you can function with some basic kitchen knowledge. This new way of eating is important enough to learn how to sustain it on your own. Besides, a man who can cook adds several points to his "sexy" quotient. Now , it is just as easy to fall in love with a partner who cooks, as much as it is to fall in love with a partner who can't cook. I can cook, but my companion of nine years is a much better cook. So, we settled into an arrangement where he cooks and I clean up. Fair enough. If you work in a full service restaurant where actual food is cooked from scratch and fresh ingredients, befriend the chef and pay attention to what they say. Cooking is not that painful or scientific and can be an outstanding means of personal expression and creativity, but you gotta start somewhere. So....Basic small appliances, non-stick pots and skillets, and Betty Crocker. My grown daughters (ages 38 and 40) still call me once in a while just to clarify favorite recipes from their childhood. My personal favorite resource on line is the website for Taste of Home. Also, keep this in mind to make kitchen clean-up easir. It is the primary rule of custodial science: Get it before it dries! Good luck. You can glean some usable knowlege from us kitchen veterans, too.

I had nausea for a couple of weeks, but it cleared up when I stopped taking all those meds and pain killers they sent me home with. Two years out, hydrocodone still does me in. One pill makes me sick for three days, so I avoid it as much as possible. Come to think of it, that is when that bitter taste left my mouth, too.

It's too bad that we don't know when our expiration date is. I figured mine would be age 67, because that is when my mother (5'2" and 320 pounds) suffered a fatal abdominal aortic aneurysm. I was 63 when I had the surgery. If your doctor told you that you have only four more years to live unless you have bariatric surgery, you wouldn't hesitate to speak up for yourself and get the deed done. Thank goodness that you are a woman 'fully growed" who can make her own decisions about her health. I agree that he probably feels threatened. But you can't let him make this about himself. This has to be about you and getting healthy. Losing this extra weight makes all the difference in your quality of life. Married or not, you shouldn't let anyone steal your power or hold you back. I wish you the best. Hugs from Chicago.

I have had many different surgeries in my lifetime. The anesthetic itself has never been my issue. I just never liked the idea of not being in control of myself. It also the same reason I never took up drinking or recreational drugs. Sometimes people say pretty ridiculous stuff coming out of anesthetic. When I had my first c-section, I came to while mimicking the sounds of the monitors in my room. Dit Dit Dit oint. Dit dit dit oint........over and over. I am sure doctors and nurses have some very amusing stories about us.

My sleeve was my 12th surgery. It was the easiest recovery of them all. Just think of it as a nice nap and when you wake up you will be on the way to re-inventing a new you. I only took pain meds at home for two days and was started on pureed foods as soon as I got home from the hospital on day two.

Let the little dogs bark. They can't make you un-do your surgery.

#5 Here is a list of comorbidities (additional conditions or diseases) related to obesity which MAY help you in qualifying for weight loss surgery. From NIH.gov · Family history of heart disease · Family history of stroke · Family history of diabetes · Family history of heart attacks · Hyperinsulinemia · Diabetes · High blood pressure · Coronary-artery disease · Hypertension · Migraines or headaches directly related to obesity or cranial hypertension · Congestive heart failure · Neoplasia · Dyslipidemia · Anemia · Gallbladder disease · Osteoarthritis · Degenerative arthritis · Degenerative disc · Degenerative joint disease · Recommended joint replacement from specialist · Accelerated degenerative joint disease · Asthma · Repeated pneumonia · Repeated pleurisy · Repeated bronchitis · Lung restriction · Gastroesophageal reflex (GERD) · Excess facial & body hair (Hirsutism) · Rashes · Chronic skin infections · Excess sweating · Frequent yeast infections · Urinary stress incontinence · Menstrual irregularity · Hormonal abnormalities · Polycystic ovaries · Infertility · Carcinoma (breast, colon, uterine cancer) · sleep apnea · Pseudotumor cerebri

At three months I was advised to get my protein from real food and only use protein drinks if ready food is not available.

I make my own guacamole and serve it on my plate with a hamburger patty, roast chicken or turkey, or ham and cheese roll-ups.

My boyfriend and I (in our mid-60's) have been together 9 1/2 years. He has been a supportive gift from God. If I had this done with I was with my mean ol' rotten ex-hubby, there would have been psychotic episodes of the worst degree. Maybe you can get your partner to see that this is not about being a trophy wife, but about being healthy so that you can be together for a long, long time.

From mid-August to 12/23 in 2013

The only one I had trouble with was the Bariatric AE Multi-Vitamin which would choke a horse. I cut them in fours and tried to mash it up in cinnamon applesauce, but the bitter taste made me puke. So, I ended up switching to a Walgreen's Women's Over 50 multi and take two instead of one. Some folks have even taken Flintstones Chewables until they got past this hurdle.

I had my right knee done in 2007 and my left knee in 2011. I do not see how some people get both done at the same time. The pain is considerable until the staples com out, then you will notice an immediate let up. Do take advantage of pain meds and keep ahead of the pain. It's called Better Living Through Chemistry, and you will be glad you did. So what if you will be groggy. I can give you advice in this respect: Get chair exercise videos by David Stamps, or follow him on You Tube. I have Chair Salsa, Chair Boxing, Chair Tai Chi, Chair Beach Oldies, and Bedfast. That way you can exercise the limbs that you can move so that you won't feel like you are losing ground. Plus, he is easy to look at. Even the Bedfast exercises are helpful when you are having a bad day and can only make it to the bathroom and back. When you have a therapy session, take a pain med about an hour before. It will make a difference. I too, had a week in a rehab facility with the first knee replacement, as I was living alone and had no one to help. With my second one, my boyfriend took two weeks vacation so that he could help me through the worst of it. I wish you a speedy recovery. Hugs from Chicago.

I had four incisions and two of them got blisters the size of a dime where the tape and band-aids were. As soon as I could change over to gauze and bandage tape, I did.

Miss Tummy has given me some lessons along the way, too. A doctor told me once that "pudding is for little children who need to gain weight!" My post-op weakness is fresh bread out of the oven. It sits in my stomach like Play-Doh It is my substitute for Krispy Kreme Donuts, but every now and then I cave in, and Miss Tummy makes me miserable for hours. At two years out, she is still the boss of me, especially when I behave like a petulant child.

No drain for me.

I totally felt like a noodle until I started regular foods at one month. The only time I passed out from weakness was six months out and I was sick with the flu.

Welcome aboard. Just keep in mind that opinions and tact will vary, but we mean well.

Healthier

Normal. As I went into regular foods at one month, my limit was 1/3 cup. Now two years out I can eat one cup of something dense like beef stew, or two ounces of meat with 1/2 cup of steamed veggies. If it's fluids, I could only drink about four ounces in an hour. Now I can finish a 10 ounce bottled Water and half of another one.