Miss Mac

Hospital - Clear Liquids Home - full liquids one week - purees two 1/2 weeks - soft 4 1/2 weeks - regular 3 months - raw fruits and veg

The pre-op phase is a tortuous rite of passage, but will get a lot of adjustments out of the way. Then, all you have to worry about post-op is your recovery. Your new good habits will already be in place. I was 62 when I had my sleeve. There are a lot of us old birds on here, so you are in good company. I wish you good luck and good health.

I was eating ground beef with the soft foods stage, and steak at six weeks. So long as meat is very moist, I do pretty well with it. Early on (like the first four months), I did put it through the blender to break it down before I chewed it. The meat I had the longest problem with was fish. The flakiness seemed to get hung up in my throat and did not want to go down. At fifteen months, the only meat I have had trouble with recently was corned beef for Saint Patrick's Day - it was just too stringy to deal with.

I have been on Omeporozole for years, and have a small hiatal hernia that the surgeon said was too small to fool with. I had a sleeve fifteen months ago. The reflux issue is resolved as long I keep taking my Omeprozole. The only time I have a problem with reflux is if take a hydrocodone for orthopedic issues, or I overfeed Miss Tummy - then she makes me miserable for a least four hours.

Being on the far side of post-menopause, I did not have the emotional surge, either, but I did have significant issues with anxiety - enough that my surgeon double my anxiety/depression meds. I just recently (after my first year) was able to come off that one. At fifteen months, I am off seven pre-op meds I was taking (and have two blood pressure meds reduced) and am just having my daily supplements.

My man is not concerned about floppity skin. We are "lights on" in this house. However, since my insurance will pay for a panni at two years post-op, I will probably do that, but no way am I spending limited retirement money on a tummy tuck or other skin reductions. At 64, it is not worth the bother.

I lost 22 pounds pre-op and gained 12 pounds from IV fluids in the hospital. I spent my first two weeks just getting back to where I started, lost a few pounds, then hit the third week stall. At the end of that first month, I started losing about three pounds a week for a while. After I hit fifty pounds down, the pounds lost changed to grams. I am a slow loser and it may take me all the way to my second year to get to my goal, but that's ok. My orthopedic issues make exercise challenging, and I do have to be creative about it. My pace is not your pace. My metabolism is not your metabolism, but I am so much healthier than before. I will take this how it comes. Hang in there, friend, and follow your plan.

Make sure you mention all of the co-morbidities that you can think of. Here is a list from NIH.gov, the National Institute of Health. It helped me that my brother died of a heart attack at age 47 (6'2", 420 pounds) and that my mother died at age 67 of an abdominal aortic anyeurism (5'2", 320 pounds), plus I was pre-diabetic, had high blood pressure, already had a stroke, two knee replacements, gallbladder removal, spinal collapse - everything counts. Here is the list: Obesity Comorbidities To follow is a list of comorbidities (additional conditions or diseases) related to obesity which may help you in qualifying for weight loss surgery. 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 Depression Psychological/sexual dysfunction Social discrimination Premature death in the immediate family

It is so much fun to be able to re-invent yourself. Congratulations!

There is some discomfort with the VSG, and I took hydrocodone for a couple of days and slept in my lift recliner to avoid pulling on my belly muscles for a few days. Compared to two c-sections, gallbladder surgery (back when they still cut you half in two), appendectomy, knee replacements, etc - a total of twelve other operations) the VSG was the easiest recovery of all. The worst part of my VSG was the pre-op liquid diet. It was not physically painful, but the psychological mess of breaking eating habits and finding new ways to sooth the hungry monster while still having a full-sized stretched out stomach - that was the worst part for me.

So.........sweat is fat crying.

Wasn't it Eistein who said that matter can neither be created nor destroyed? Makes you wonder for sure where all those fat molecules go when we are done with them.

You are doing right to not give away your power to her, but I would suggest holding off social circumstances as much as possible until you are a little further along, or at least on regular foods. It is a lot easier to control your food in your own environment.

I don't go out to eat very often, but when it is necessary, I head for a place Baker's Square, Panera, Bob Evans, etc., for lunch or dinner (large variety for everybody) or anyplace I can get an omelet or eggs for breakfast. Also, I agree that anyplace that offers chili or a hearty soup is ok.

I don't think I get any more or less, it it is definitely waaaaaay better because I have more confidence, energy, and flexibility.

The more newbies, the merrier. That means more folks are getting the boost they need to get healthy. The other rants I avoid are the people who think they are English professors grading papers. If you want grammar police, go to Marksdailyapple.com. It is a Primal/paleo website (which I have recommended for content), but the forum contributors tend to be West Coast elitists who can't handle typos, misspellings, and colloquialisms (y'all, y'uns, you'se guys). One thing I like about Bariatric Pal is that the community seems to be mostly "just folks" looking for support, not correction and coercion.

Drmeow, Thanks for the reminder about Chris Kressor. I have not read any of his materials for a while. It is kind of late to get into it tonight, so I will follow up on your response tomorrow. I do have some of his info downloaded into a primal/paleo folder on my laptop. I just neeed to review it.

My taste preferences changed, too. I used to be a tuna salad freak. I still make some up at least once a week, but it just taste fishier than before. However, I can eat salmon patties and filets with no problem. I totally gag on most attempts at bread. The yeast is just overwhelming and smells like a brewery, plus it sits in my little tummy like a wet brick. Biotin is one of those hot topics that inflame a bariatric civil war. Even though I take a heavy dose of it every day, it may just be that I was genetically lucky and the biotin is just expensive pee. Who knows? My hair and nails are healthy, so I will keep it up, along with Gelatin several times a week.

As soon as I got home on day three, I started full liquids. At one week, I started purees, mostly baby food, and soft cooked chicken run through the blender with tasty bone broth. At week three I started soft foods just regular cooked food from the kitchen like refried Beans with cheese and a little sour cream, cooked chicken, ground beef run through the blender to make it smaller, with a little melted cheddar, mashed green beans, stuff like that. At 4 1/2 weeks I got the all clear for cooked foods as tolerated, so I stopped by Wendy's on the way home from the doctor's office and got chili with cheese. It lasted me four days! I had an early disaster with steamed cauliflower, so I stayed with softer veggies for another month. I coud eat applesauce and banana, but raw fruits like apples and greens like for a salad, I could not tolerate until three months. I am still scared to try popcorn, even at 15 months.

I have tried following paleo post-op, but even though most of my one-year labs were great, my cholesterol was alarming. I am still going to avoid so-called "foods" made in a factory, but the yummy bacon, coconut oil, and nuts are going to have to be severely reduced. I love fruit, but it escalates my carbs so quickly. For the most part, I will have to stay with high Protein, non-starchy veggies,and a few berries now and then. Because of orthopedic and reduced post-stroke mobility, a thousand calories or fifty carbs throws me into maintenance.

I chose the sleeve because I did not want my gut rerouted with a bypass, and did not want a port in my belly with a band.

Ditto what CanyonBaby said. I would like to add that my sleeve was my 13th surgery, and also the easiest and least painful of all. When the nurse gets ready to insert your IV, he/she will probably tell you that you are going to feel a little prick. You can tell the nurse that Miss Mac's ex-husband was a little prick! Then just let them give you a nice nap, and when you wake up, your surgery will be all done. You will hear on this forum that a lot of people have trouble with "shoulder gas" for a few days after their surgery. That is because our surgeons put CO2 in our abdominal cavity to expand it. That is so that they can see more easily what they are doing with their tools, and helps elimninate accidental nicks to the liver or other organs. At my final pre-op visit with my surgeon, I asked him how he handles pain management and the shoulder gas that I was hearing about. He said that he extracts as much as possible. Guess what? I had ZERO pain from shoulder gas. If you do get gas pains, walking is the best remedy as it helps the gas to rise and dissipate. Also, I did not have any unusual hair loss, and I don't know why. My regimine was similar to most others: 60-80 grams Protein and 60+ ounces of non-caloric fluids. Biotin supplements were optional. Walgreens had 350 mcg and 10,000 mcg, so I take two of the 10,000 mcg every day, and still do at 15 months. The liquid diet is most unpleasant, indeed, but it is a rite of passage to find the new you. You will live to tell about it, otherwise, none of us would be here. I wish you good luck and good health.

I had to stay away from the food Network and cooking shows during my pre-op, and petend like everything else was fatal. McDonald's was McPoison's, Burger King was Poison King, Taco Bell was Poison Bell, pizza Hut was Poison Hut, etc., etc.

It only took the first thirty pounds to make a comfortable enough difference for me.

At 16 months out, I still have not tried popcorn. I am afraid the hulls will get stuck along the way. Also, carbs are not my friend, I am sure that even if I could tolerate popcorn, it would have power over me. When I over-do anything, Miss Tummy punishes me for at least four hours, and she is the boss of me.