MsCook

Awesome, Crystal! Keep up the great work!

My surgeon tells me he uses a drain tube only with an "open" procedure rather than the laproscopic method.

Hi Newbie! Welcome. We all had those feelings of doubt and being unsure. The best way to overcome all of that is by educating yourself. Only you will really know what is right for you. Read everything you can get your hands on, including the Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies book, which is quite informative. Also, peruse this site and obesityhelp.com and you will get all the good, the bad, and the ugly--and the remarkable and inspiring! None of us can tell you if this is right for you. But a good conversation with a gastric surgeon and maybe even visiting support groups in advance would go a long way toward making your decisions. Yes, start with your primary care doc as he/she will be an integral part of your care and pre-op activity if you decide to go through with it; however, your primary doc may not be the best source of information about the surgery. Honestly, they seem to know what it is and that it could benefit the obese, but not much more. After all, it's not their specialty. Information is your best bet! I'll leave you with what my surgeon told me: the lap band is a slight risk, the gastic sleeve slightly more, and the gastric bypass even moreso. But the most dangerous and risky thing you can do about your obesity is nothing!

Rabrijuno - my doc said to use 3 a day of the small 8 oz cartons of pre-mixed drink. Later I learned, from the nurse in his office, that they used to say 5 per day; however, people were doing that AND cheating and that was too much so the goal of liver shrinkage wasn't being accomplished. I guess they figure people are likely to cheat a little so keeping at 3 helps to somewhat allow for it.

Are you kidding me? Why do we have Pizza Hut ads showing up on the home page of RNY talk? Saw it today on the site and thought: You know, this was the one place I thought I could go without being bombarded with food ads. And it's here TOO! I know the site has to support itself, but pizza ads?! Please don't put temptation right in front of us!

Whew! Day 12 of 17 on my liquid diet. Surgury date is one week from today. It's almost surreal to think I'll be parked in a hospital bed one week from tonight. It's been a rough week but I've done pretty well. Total of 13.5 pounds lost on liquid diet. Not as much as I anticipated in the last couple of days, but I think I might not be getting enough water. Tried to up that intake today and hope that will help the numbers drop again tomorrow. I would love to hear from anyone who is post-op about what you recommend taking to the hospital. That is, besides a healthy dose of optimism and patience. LOL!

Thanks, EEsMom! It's definitely a journey and one that will bring great results for us all. Looking forward to hearing how things go for you as well. How long until your surgery?

Ok, I have to ask: what is the 5-day pouch test?

Paul, how far post-op are you? Do you not want to eat because you're not hungry? Fear of pain? No desire to eat? Can you say more about that...?

I can tell how excited you are! The liquid diet is difficult; I won't kid you! However, it does get a little better after several days. My surgery is a week from today and can't come soon enough.

Today is day 9 of 17--made it past the half-way point of the liquid diet! It's easier than before but still not easy. Hunger is definitely there and I am learning to cope with cravings as they come up. I know that the rest of the time will fly and the big day will come up much more quickly than I ever expected. So looking forward to getting this done and being on the other side of this. And I've lost 12 pounds on the liquid diet, so I can't complain! Still, what I wouldn't do for a grilled cheese sandwich!

Don't be too hard on yourself. I'm sure it will be fine. Think of the many different varieties, and even absence of, pre-op diets we see posted here. I'm certain that all of that work from moving more than compensated for your slight indulgence. Good luck on Tuesday!

Well, I've made it to day 6 of liquid diet. It is difficult, for sure, but I find that the busier I stay and away from network television (too many food commercials) the better off I am. I can honestly say I feel great, with the exception of hunger for some "real" food. Maybe it's just my brain telling me I'm hungry and i'm really not. Sure, we'll go with that. Anyway, I'm trying to stay super positive and revel in the weight loss I'm already experiencing (9.5 lbs in 6 days). Woohoo!

The Optifast is sold in my surgeon's office for $80 per case. It isn't bad tasting,either! My favorite thing is to put a french vanilla Optifast into a cup of black coffee, with one Sweet & Low. Yum!

Time to digest isn't the point, though. the purpose of the liquid diet is to shrink your liver, which sits right in front of where the doctor has to work. So, while it might be okay to "fudge" and eat some real food a ways out from the surgery, I definitely would not do it within the last 48 hours or so beforehand. Stay strong! You'll do great! Good luck Monday.

Hi Dominique. Welcome! And congratulations on your 25 pounds already lost. That's fantastic! I can sympathize with your dilemma. My husband and teen daughter can mostly eat whatever they want and not gain weight. However, I've been thinking of it this way: If something is not good for me, it's probably not good for them either. Maybe they can eat it and not gain weight, but it's probably not truly good for them. So, I'm trying to prepare healthier things in general. There are also some ways to slim down what they are eating or even do some simple modifications to the menu to make it suitable for you. For example, let's say you want to make a pasta dish with chicken and veggies. Grill the chicken (which is healthier for everyone) and steam your brocolli, or whatever veggies and then prepare your plate with those items. Go ahead and finish the pasta, add in the veggies, chicken, and sauce of your choice (maybe alfredo) and serve that for them. You're all eating similar foods, no one has to prepare two meals, and you can still loose weight. Stay encouraged! You're doing great and I know we will all be much happier when we get rid of the "extra" we have to loose.

I know. I'm craving a good steak, but that's not gonna happen! LOL! Today, I had to push out my surgery date by 3 days due to an insurance company mistake on the procedure code. Uggh! So, I went from day 3 of 14 on my liquid diet to day 3 of 17 days. Disappointed, but the trade off is I will be able to participate in some training at work that was originally a conflict. Everything happens for a reason, I suppose.

Felt pretty good today and no headaches, as I feared. I am hungry, no doubt, but I try to stay busy and not focus on it. Got extra hungry around lunchtime today, so had an additional cup of broth than I had yesterday. Still should not be a problem. I was shocked to see 5 pounds gone on the scale this morning. Big wow!

The big day is getting close for a lot of us. I'm just on day 2 of the 14-day preop liquid diet. Lots of different topics in this thread, but I had 2 particular replies. 1. I have told several people, both in my family and at work. At work I've kept it pretty general, just saying I'm having bariatric weight loss surgery. I want my team and co-workers to know what is going on because the reality is they're GOING TO notice! I don't want people thinking (or rumoring) that there's something wrong with me (like seriously ill health) causing the weight loss. I want them to know the real story and, frankly, I don't mind the congratulatory comments and encouragement. But that's just me. 2. I was instructed on the pre-op liquid diet to avoid fruit juices due to the high sugar content. It is important to get in the Protein to maintain your energy too. You may want to talk to your doctor about it and get his/her input. They won't likely tell you NOT to do it because the purpose of the liquid diet is to shrink your liver and make surgery safer for you and easier for your surgeon. If you want to do it, just be sure to understand the risks involved and your doctor is the best person to help there. Talk to you later, everyone!

Here's the good news side of the 'great debate': They're all partially right and all partially wrong... and that, too, will vary from patient to patient. So, if some surgeons allow caffeine and you can't live without your morning cup o' joe (I don't think I could), then don't give it up as that surgeon's patients won't. Just be smart about it like using sweetner instead of sugar and low/no fat/calorie creamer if you must. It won't be the end of the world. After all, some surgeons are not limiting their patients in the same way.

Good luck tomorrow! Keep thinking positive thoughts and remember why you're doing this. Take care.

wow! 17 pounds in 8 days is fantastic! Congrats to you.