Tizzielish

I'm not really asking about folks who experience significant complications that lead to regret. I am wondering if I will regret that I didn't just tough it out and lose on my own. I have low 100 pounds already, albiet over ten years, and I don't want to keep that pace going -- it's up and down up and down, losing, regaining some but not all, beating myself up and then losing again. My surgery is Thursday and if I cancel, not a big deal, I have to pay a $50 fine but I am thinking of canceling. I have lost 25 pounds since September without surgery, 100 overall. So I know I can lose without surgery. So why am I having the surgery? Is it really much easier to lose with a RnY? What say anyone?

Thanks for all the sharing. I have lost 100 pounds already. I have dipped 20 pounds lower than I was and, yes, I have the ups and downs, although they aren't wild swings. Lose 30, regain 10, lose 30 more, regain 10 .. . I am well aware of the up and down weight issue, having lived it. I just wanted to know if anyone regrets the surgery. What bothers me is rerouting the way my body converts food to life fuel. A million years of evolution and we trust a few doctors -- men for the most part who invented the procedures and who are very judgmental about fat females (I know fat men have the surgery too) . . I don't trust modern medicine at all and it took about a million years for our digestive tracts to evolve to where they are and then in four decades docs come up with a better plan, incentivised to make money, push meds and suppls with their ressearch paid for by drug corporations . . I don't trust the system. I know fat cells fight hard to regain weight. I also know something not all reading know: I have Type I diabetes, diagnosed last year after being told for 10 years I was JType II. If I was Tpe II, I'd have the surgery in a heartbeat for it definitely improves Type II but it does not improve Type I, which is about the pancreas no longer being able to make insulin. My motivations for the surgery changed and I was already deeply skeptical. I don't really expect to find spuport in a forum of happy WLS patients but I'd sure like some opinoins other than pro-surgery. I was supposed to have the RnY this Thurs Jan 16 and I just got off the phone postponting. Every corner of my being says 'don't do it'. Do I listen to my inner voice or surgeons who want to cut? I don't know. My primary care doc initially pushed when she thought I was Type II -- 'type I changes things. My endocrinologist was adamantly against it. And I am not a compoulsive overeater. I got fat from a drug regimen I was on for 12 years that make me blow up 200 pounds in the blink of an eye. Another reason not to trust medicine, allopathic medicine. Where do I go for help deciding? Not a rah rah surgery forum like this . . but where?

Tick tock . . 8:30 a.m. this Thursday my surgery begins. . . Yesterday I went off my two week pre-op protein shake diet and 'binged'. I have to laugh at what is now a binge for me. I have already changed quite a lot about my eating. I've lost 100 pounds over the past ten years or so (up and down, up and down, always staying down a bit more than last time but at this rate I'll be 80 before I get to goal so I am having the surgery . . ). I eat a very careful diet. Yesterday I ate a lot of food -- a lot for me. Nothing compared to my old standards when I weighed 330 pounds and thought nothing of eating most of a pizza or a whole jumbo San Francisco Mission burrito with the works (those puppies must have 3,000 calories!). I ate some gluten free tortillas with some cooked, mashed and spiced pinto beans, some healthy vegie salsa and a few slices of avocado -- all in all, a healthy meal. Post-surgery, months down the line when I can eat real food in small amounts, one of my healthy gluten-free taco-y things (not sure what to call what I made . . it wasn't a burrito, but was it a taco?) would make a perfectly reasonable meal. I am not afraid of the surgery or of the challenges in the early recovery stage as my new stomach heals and the hiatal hernia repair hears (I guess that will add to my hurt!). I am afraid I will eat too much down the road when my new stomach is too small to handle it. I think I ate a lot -- a lot for me now a days -- because I know I won't be able to do it again. Today I am being unkind to myself, berating myself as if I had lost all control and gone crazy with food. I didn't, not really. I think I actually ate a normal amount of healthy food and it felt like a lot of food because I have been eating nothing but protein shakes and four ounces of protein and a cup of greens for months. I am not going to be going back for another surgery after losing then gaining back. I am glad folks that need to redo WLS are able to but I am 60 -- too old to let myselt get morbidly obese again once I lose the rest of my weight. I guess I am anxious. Tick tock. Congratulations to everyone who has had surgery so far in january. May the force with with you all in your recovery. And may you all reach your weight loss goals as soon as your bodies allow. It's forever. And I think there is a part of me that doesn't quite believe the surgery will help me lose.

I am going to have a hiatal hernia repaired when I get my RnY next Thurs, Jan 16th. I am very axnious about the hernia, fearful it will cause pain and bleeding that will frighten me. I want to have the hiatal hernia repaired but I wish the operations weren't combined, even tho I know it makes total sense to do them together. Anxiety. I have a gerat case manager nurse who has been pleasant all along but in the past couple weeks, she has stood out, really greatly. I just have to say "anxiety" and she listens kindly, patiently and tells me 'everyone goes through this." Do they? Like my doc had forgotten she told me in Oct that I needed a hiatal hernia and it was not on the schedule for nxt week. I brought it up cause I have questions -- I don't quite understand what it is -- but when I described to my doc what happens to me sometimes, she rushed to her office to get the rest of my file, to see my endocoscopy results and she said "good thing you caught it, you definitely need the repair, I'll have the scheduling put it on." Then I checked with my case manager later to see that it was added. . . but I am anxious that the doc had overlooked it. If I hadn't brought it up at the pre-op, I would not have gotten the repair. So then I anxiously wonder: can I trust my surgeon who forgot my hernia? She was the one who saw it in the endoscopy -- I can't see that. I knew something was wrong cause something happens. . . .. . .it's gross so I won't describe it . . . Nurse manager says it's normal jitters. Is it?

Eroper6. I know all docs and hospitals do things differently but I am curious. first, sorry you are experiencing a relatively rare complication. Second, my question: do they keep you in the hospital until you can get liquids down? I sure hope so. What you describe seems painful and it would scare me. i'd want to be near nurses until things calmed down. Prayers and love rays to you.

Big Silly -- I am sorry you have had to expeirence the unforeseen delay. I am scheduled for next Thurs, Jan 16th and if the date gets changed, I'll be thrown into quite a tizzie. I had a big panic today. my surgeon's scheduler called to chastise me for, she said, missing the pre-op required testing. But she had told me the testing was today. When she denied it and tried to blame me, I reminded her she had sent me a letter with the dates and I read her own letter. It felt good to hear her aknowledge it was her mistake . but gosh. . . .I realized I am tense, and it is basically a hopeful, positive tension but for a while, i was devastated, imagiing that I had missed the post op work, the surgery would have to be postponed and I am mentally ready for Jan 16. The administative assistant talked the lab folks into working me in. I don't think all the tests took much longer than if I had done them on the right schedule . ...hospitals, after all, have to accomodate the needs of sick people 24/7 . but I got a glimpse of the rising tension I feel. It's natural, isn't it, to be anxious about having major surgery? I felt so upset for awhile, imagiing a weeks-long postponement cause my surgeon's openings fill up . all's well that end's well but it was a hectic day. .. I was surprised by some of the tests. I knew they'd draw a lot of blood but I did not expect an ECK and an X-ray of my esophagus and stomach. I am having a hiatal hernia repaired so I guess I see why she needs the x-rays but I didn't expect these tests. The scheduler had said 'lab tests' so I had assumed blood draws. Now I see the surgeon tomorrow and barring a completely unforeseeable test result, she'll just go over any questions I have, give me last minute instructions . . . my questions are mundane: 1. what should I bring? I am going to use hospitals gowns, one front, one back to keep my backside covered and bring a thick cotton zippered sweatshirt as a kind of bedjacket in case i feel shilly in the hospital gown. I'll wear home the clothes I go in and bring fresh undies. Tooth brush, toothpaste, altho I suspect hospital would provide either of those if I forgot them. 2. but what else? I'll bring my cell and charger so I can talk to friends. 3. would it be horrible to bring my ipad? I know I'll be doped up initially, in pain and in recovery and healing and if I feel well enough to email and websurf, it might be time to go home. But I can't imagine going a couple days without checking my mail and I communicate with so many. I don't have a smart phone so if i want to get online, it's the iPad (or my macbook pro, which no way I'll bring, I knot it too big). I'll ask the surgeon. 4. I use a mouthiece for my sleep apnea, i know I have to bring that. I could not sleep with the c=pap and was so glad when medicare approved mouth devices. 5. are my belongings secure in the hospital? I have rad advice to bring nothing, not even a credit card, to just bring a little cash in case you need it. I want to bring my ipad annd of course I'll bring my phone. Others thoughts? I know I won't feel like much but surfingonline is not going to hamper healing, is it?

I have used psyllium husk daily for years, in my breakfast morning Protein shake. I am pre-op (surgery on Jan 16). I recently asked my nutritionist if I could still use psyllium and she said I could use 1/2 teaspoon -- less than I am used to but not that much less. I've been doing about a teaspoon. Psyllium is the main ingrecient in products like Metamucil with no chemicals, no sugar or sugar subs, it just softens whatever is in your colon -- no runny, not diarrhea, it gently softens. Only get organic. Most psyllium husk sold in this country is grown in India and they use pesticides even more aggressively than here and the non-organic psyllium husk is really loaded with toxic pesticides. At the rate of 1/2 teaspoon a day, it is also very inexpensive for smooth sailing. Of course, I haven't tried it with my new roux-n-y tiny egg-size stomach and I will only use it if needed and then start with teeny tiny amounts. . . . I have a health issue, unrelated to the surgery, that mandates the need to keep my stools soft. I am surprised more nuts don't recommend it. Another great way to soften stools is to add 1/2 teaspoon of ground flax seed to whatever you are eating. . with me, the day always begins with a Protein Shake and it will forever. . . except when I make savory breakfast muffins for protein and other good stuff. I bought powdered Calcium citrate and liquid Vitamin D so I add these to my shakes or protein muffins now, along with cinnamon, tumeric and ginger -- all good for my metabolism.

I have Jan 16th surgery date. I've waffled, considered postponing, but today I'm doing it on Jan 16th. I have pre-op labs on Tuesday, Jan 7 because otherwise I'd have to do the labs after my Jan 9 9:30 a.m. appointment with the surgeon. I can't fast until 11 a.m. because of my diabetes. As it is, the earliest I can get my labs is 9:30 and that will be hard. By 9:30, I have intense hunger headache, my sugars start rising if I don't eat -- I am Type I, it works a little different than Type II. My diabetes seems erratic. Why do my sugars rise when I have been fasting since midnight. by 11 a.m. I could be at risk of low blood sugar and passing out. The scheduler rescheduled but still, 9:30 is the first blood draw appointment. Duh. Lots of bariatric patients have issues like mine, related to low blood sugar if they gast too long. Oh well . . so a week from Thursday is Jan 16th. I still feel deep ambivalance. I have told very few people because I was getting so much negative push back. Fortunately my primary care doc is very supportive. She says professional doctor colleagues of hers have had it and all are very glad. I can't wait for my knees to not hurt because of my weight. That will take a while but not all that long. This evening, walking to my building's laundry room, I had a flash of seeing myself turning the corner of that hallway in the future wearing size ten jeans. Right now, 18W jeans are snug . . so a size ten seems teeny weeny. In my flash into the future, I was wearing skinny black jeans, a long sleeve black top, ordinary dull clothes but I looked awesome anyway. Soon -- within the year, I should be able to live that dream.

Does anyone else here have doubts about the surgery? I have no doubt that I want to lose 80 to 100 pounds. I have already lost about 100, although gradually over about ten years. Now I am sixty, see how the extra weight affects my knees and I'm scared. I've been scheduled for surgery two times before and backed out. Why? I don't wish to offend anyone who did a RnY. My surgeon says it is the gold standard of weight loss. And I have read about many stories of folks who opted for the gastric sleeve only to go back for the RNY. If I had WLS it's going to be the RnY. I'm not afraid of the reocvery when my new stomach heals. I can handle pain and struggle. I am not at all anxious about needing to eat small portions forever, avoid sguar -- which never crosses my lips now! and hasn't for years. I don't want my large intestine to be bypassed and for my body to be subjected to malabsorption of nutrition. I don't mind taking supplements for the malabsorption. B-12, calcium, multivitamin, Vitamin D -- I've been taking these for ayear to ready for the surgery. I've been eating the pre=op diet for about a year, too, which means two protein shakes, four ounces of protein and one cup veggies so of course I've lost a lot of weight this year. And I don't care about food all that much and I care about it less now than ever. And I want to be slim, for my health, for my knees, so I live a long time. But I have Type I diabetes, so the surgery will not cure it. And my biggest problem, and I don't expect to find any sympathy here because everyone here is readying for surgery or has had it . .. but it just doesn't seem right to me to bypass my large intestine forever, to subject my body to malabsorption of nutrients for the rest of my life. It seems wrong, like playing God. So today I called my surgery case manager to cancel -- she did not return my call. I called my surgeon's scheduler to cancel and she was off today. Are these signs? I want to lose weight but I don't want to have a RnY. I suspect many who chose the gastric sleeve had similar concerns, they did not wish to permanently bypass their large intestine and the sleeve seems less invasive and leaves the basic nutritional system intact. But the Sleeve is often switched to the RnY, right? Anyone else feel as I do? I want to be slender but I don't think I can accept permanent malabsorption of nutrition.

Big thanks again to all the supportive comments. I announced in my world that i was postponing and maybe never doing the surgery. Only one friend in my face to face life supports me having surgery. She is also morbidly obese, her insurance won't cover it and she can't self pay. Being the only other fat person in my life, she is the only one who really gets that all the good intentions in the world can't guarantee permanent weight loss. And I know WLS can't guarantee permanent weight loss either. i have ready plenty of stories here about folks who have had second and even third WLS operations. But as all morbidly obese and formerly morbidly obese know, once the body develops lots of fat cells, it gets wicked hard to keep the weight off. The body evolved to store fat in fat cells for survival in lean times and those fat cellls fight hard to get fat again. In the past 8 years, I've lost the same 40 to 60 pounds three times, only to regain. AS soon as I stop eating starvation level amounts of food and by 'starvation' I mean unless I feel hungry most of the time, I gain. And then, once I got propertly diagnosed as Type I diabetic and my insulin regimen was greatly increased, man, it seemed like I packed on weight just by breathing. In six weeks, while eating the very restsricted pre-op diet my surgeon gave me, which was two Protein shakes a day with no more than ten carbs in each shake and one meal of four ounces of protein ad one cup of green vegies. That came to about 600 to 700 calories a day. I kept eating like that, but injecting fastacting insulin before each of thesse 'meals' and in six weeks, while hungry almost all the time, I gained 30 pounds. And then I kept gaining. I won't kid myself. I am never going to not need some insulin because i definitely have Type I diabetes. I got into the WLS idea solely because WLS frequently ends or greatly improves Type II but in all the prep for the surgery, I had to see an endocrinologist who ran the simple test that should ahve been run 12 years ago when I first developed diabetes and he told me I was type I. Adjusting to being type I took a lot of emotional energy, plus by then I had been eating the pre=op diet for almost a year. I reasoned if i can eat two Protein Shakes a day, four ounces of protein (turkey burger or piece of mahi mahi, usually, sometimes salmon when I feel flush with cash!) and one cup of greens for a year, and if I have to eat very small meals for the rest of my life post-op, why not just go on dieting and do it on my own? A great plan except the new insulin make me gain gain gain. And, of course, lots of people don't believe I kept eating such a restricted diet. Many blame fat people whenever they gain, even doctors. It was obvious my endocrinlogist did not believe me when I described to him how i ate. He just said "eat less, it is your fault you are gaining, not the insulin". I have since fired him. I am sure many reading this have heard the things i hear. Well meaning friends, people who really love me, tell me "you can do it, you don't need surery to lose another 100 pounds" (as if losing the 100 I have lost, which has taken me 8 years and lots of uprs and downs -- altogether, it's more like i've lost 200 pounds -- lose gain lose gain). So with people closet to me telling me "you can do it yourself" and the insulin challenges overwhelming me, I feel so lost. and my surgyer date is now only two weeks off. Of course I have an appointment with my surgeon this week. Of course I will discuss with her. And I hope this doesn't drive the nice people in this forum who have writen such kindly supportive things, but I am back to thinking i'm going to have the surgery. If I could do this without surgery, I would have by now. No one who has not been 200 pounds overweight, at least parat of the time and morbidly obese over 20 years, has any understanding of how hard it is to get it off and keep it off. And I have no delusions. I know the surgery is a tool. I know I have much work ahead of me. I am going to lose all the weight i have to lose. I am not oging to regain. i am going to permanently change how i eat. I already have. I have not deviatd from the pre-op diet I just described since i started it in Jan 2012. Seriously. Still, I have gained. Fortunately, I am still 27 pounds below what I weighed the first day I met my surgeon and she counts that weight. She told me I had to lose 26 pounds, I have and I have kept it off -- I also lost 40 more and regained that 40 but she is only focussing on the fact that i met the goal of losing 26. thank god I kept that off -- and I didn't always. In September, when I started up the WLS merry go round once more, I starved myself for a month and crashed off 13 pounds, otherwise I would not have lost the required weight. The nurse that day asked me to lose ten more before surgery and I have tried but the cursed insuliln. . sorry for all the rambling. I wish Ihad one face to face friend who'se been through this. My surgeon's clinic offers post-op support but I can't go to those meetings until i am post op. I wonder if I could just go to the january meeting anyway, to hear, especially, from recent surgery patients. I don't personally know anyone who has had weight loss surgery. And I only have one good friend who is very fat. I take that back. I have a new friend, not a good one, too new to be close to her: she is at least 100 pounds overweight and she mostly gained the weight the same way I did: psychotropic medications for depression and anxiety caused her to pack on lot of weight. But she keeps tellilng me that holistic medicine can save me and if I believe in myself, Ill lose weight. yada yada yada. I'da had the surgery in 2006, the first time i was scheduled, if i hadn't listened to such commentary. Altho to be fair to self, two weeks before the 2006 surgery, my insurnnce company changed some criteria and i was forced to pstpone. Then I suddenly lost 50 pounds. it's hard to keep track of all the pounds I have lost, isn't it? most here know what it is like to lose, gain, lose gain. Even i can't keep track. But in 2006, I didn't know I was Type I and now I realize I suddenly lost 50 pounds in 2006 from Type I diabetes. My dad was overweight most of his life, also had undiagnosed Type I until the very end of his life. Near the end, yes, he lost a lot of weight and got thin for the first time. Then he died soon after. I want to lose weight now. I'm sixty. I was ready to do it two times and it's never going to get esaier. Today, I'm planning on having my surgery on Jan 16th. if I am going to do it, there is no point in waiting. I am merely wasting good weight loss opportunity, right? Two days ago, believing i was done with the idea of surgery i went on my new verison of a binge. I have never been a binge eater: I got fat from drugs I took for misdiagnosed illnesses I did not have and from the typical poor Am diet -- pizza every Sunday night but only two slices of highly processed carbs and poor quality cheese, stuff like tht made me fat. I didn't binge on ice cream or mass quantities. I jsut got fat the American way: poor diet. And i am a fanataical exerciser and still got fat. HERE IS MY NEW VERSsion of a food binge; I had two corn tortillas filled with obout 1/2 cup each of cooked, seaoned pinto Beans -- boiled, not fried, and some avocdo in each tortillas. Total calories? Maybe 400 with the avocado. i could not possibly eat two of those post-op but I could eat one, eventually. But then I beat myself up for 'binging'. I don't think I binged and i think i should stop being so hard on myself. i think I figured if i am not oging to have the surery, after all the restrictions i have imposed on my food for over a year, I am going to have a regular meal and feel full. No cheese, no sour cream, not even salsa. It wasn't a binge, was it? But I am berating myself and telling myself it will causse the scale to rocket up and the surgeon will tell me I gained andcan't have the surgery. Geez, if I did gain from that modest but not starvation-dinner, that sorta proves I need the surgery. It was the firt meal I ahve had in over a year where i felt full afterwards. it felt good to not feel hungry, as I do all the time. I read these boards. I want to know the feeling of not feeling hungry with my new tiny stomach the size of an egg. I know that egg size will eventually stretch out, maybe to a cup, but I am looking forward to simply not feeling hungry. right now, that seems heavenly: to not feel hungry while still gaining weight, which is the hell I am in now. so my surgery is back on. If my waffling bugs some folks, I'm sorry. FEel free to ignore neurotic me. I don't have much support in the real world for the surgery. my primary doc is 100% behind it. My endocrinologist said he would prefer not to be my doctor if i have it but he reluctantly grimaced and said he would. Frak him: I fired his ass and found an endocrinologist who specializes in diabetes AND obesity who is sympathetic to my my challenges instead of being a fat bigot. I bet everyone here has run into doctors who don't beleive you when you describe what you eat. I have had doctors bluntly tell me i must be lying when I describe wht i eat or else i wouldn't gain. One year, I literally swam two miles every single solitary day -- for about 14 months -- and i walked to the pool and back, a total of six miles walk plus the two mile swim and I did not lose an ounce and the doctor i was seeing then, a high falutin Stanford doc flatly told me i had to be lying both about my exercise and what I was eating. I was not lying. I dumped her ass, of course, long ago. jan 16: it's on. I might sound confused. I am confused but i am clear on one thing: I want to lose weight. i don't want to be unable to walk as I continue to age. And, wht the heck, I would like to go into a regulr size clothing shop and buy a pair of jens in a regulr size, now a "W". I am not a fussy woman. I want to feel better and it would e nice to look better, of course, and fun to buy regular size clothes again. I'm doing the surgery on jan 16 unless my two bean and avocado tacos caused me to pack on many pounds -- which I doubt. it just wasn't that much food -- just lot for me these days. I tend to run on, eh? big thnks for all the supportive comments. I wish I had face to face friends who said the things foks wote here. How's this for irony: my 32 year old daughter has struggled with serious anorexia for 20 years and right now she is dangerously skinny, life thretening skinny. I can't turn to her for support. I think my surgery might be triggering some of her starving because she's had her eating disorder under control. i hope tht once I get my weight under control, it will be easier for her to cope with her issues. I think she lives in terror of getting fat like her mom. And, yeah, it hurts to live with such thoughts but they are there.

The idea of taking Vitamins and supplements doesn't bother me, fyi. Eating small amounts doesn't bother me - I am attracted to the idea of having a much smaller stomach. Fod is not very important to me and I've been eating the pre=op diet for more than a year: two Protein shakes, four ounches of protein and a cup of vegies. I don't 'miss' other kinds of foods. I eat gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy-free and have for some time. I'm not losing, unless I literally starve myself. I think if I don't do the surgery I have to accept being fat, with my painful joints as I continue to age. I know the pros and cons. my resistance is something deep, visceral and it gets louder. Some part of me just doesn't want to do it and I don't think it is fear about the surgery or eating changes. Maybe that's what it is -- the human mind can be such a trickster. I very much feel gratitude for everyone who reminded me to listen to myself. When I listen to my Self, she says "don't do it', at least not now. And I am sure my clinic staff will be supportive. My nurse case manager told me, when I rejected a Dec 2nd surgery date "This is more about your head being in the right place than anything else. Postpone as much as you need to." Unfortunately, this is just me.

Thanks to everyone who took time to support me. It means a lot to me. I am still sitting with a lot of doubt. I know I would love to lose the rest of the weight I need to lose.And I know being Type I with my constant insulin rejections makes weight loss hard. I feel quite sure the surgery would make weight loss easier. I don't think my hesitation is rooted in fear. I think some part of my being, my inner voice, my goddess self, call it what you will, is unsure. I am not afraid of the surgery. It just doesn't feel right. I want to lose weight. I had a long talk with a close friend who is also a therapist, altho not my therapist.She kept telling me that she kept hearing me say "I don't want to do this, I want to lose weight but I don't want to permanently alter my digestive tract." I know the human mind is tricky. I might be unconsciously fearful, I might be unconsciously resisting. But I can postpone, In other words, I need do nothing and wait until I am sure. I have until October before all my insurance hoops have to start being repeated. I could postpone a month, six months or forever but I don't have to rush myself. Thanks, really, to everyone for their kind support.

My doc is pushing hard for the RnY, which she says is the gold standard, and so does my primary care doc. I am undecided, have a surgery date on jan 16. But I have been scheduled for this surgery 2X before. The first time i weighed 330 and the surgery was cancelled in 2006 only postponed for some insurance snafus but then I lost a lot of weight, got down to 240. Then I was scheduled again for surgery two years ago cause i couldn't get below 240 and I got down to 210 but bumped back to 240 without changing how I eat. Then I turned 60 in August and I've been pressuringmyself, telling myself "I could do it". I'm 60. If I was going to do it, I would have done it by now. I say have the surgery. But read some forums about folks who get the RnY after the sleeve. It would be awful to have it and not lose the 60 you want to lose and you are at an age where they won't keep doing such surgeries much longer. Have the surgery, esp. the sleeve, which does not alter the whole digestive track the way RnY does. How old is the person who argued against it? By age 60, if you were going to slim down, I think you would have. You know what convinced me? My knees. They hurt more as time passes, grow more and more stiff. I want to be a spry walking 70 year old in ten years.

Thanks, JeanZ, for stating 'whatever makes you comfortable'. I want to be alone in the hospital. If I can't trust the hospital staff to provide my care without guardians, well, hey, my heirs will have a great lawsuit. Seriously, I trust nurses, orderlies (do they still have those?), nursing asistants and residents. And I like being alone with my recovery. Whatever one considers right for them is the right answer. I was once in Intensive Care for three days and I didn't even tell anyone in my life until I got out of ICU and was in my room. Even then, I only called a co-worker to deal with an upcoming work deadline. Being alone was right for me.

I want folks with me when I am home and dealing with my new digestive system. At the hospital, there's plenty of help.

plain coconut milk (not the fatty stuff in cans but the light milky stuff often sold in the dairy case but which I make myself to avoid the caricinogenic carrageenan added to all commercial cocomilk, including organic products --- not to mention the crap nutrition of added nutritions which are really just added chemicals), raw chocolate powder, water/coffee/chai and, if you want thickness, some chia seeds and let them set ten minutes -- and you get a drinkable very chocolate drink with almost no carbs. The only carbs come from the chocolate and chocolate is loaded with good antioxidant. If I am going to have my intestines permanently altered, messing with millions of years of human evolution of the digestive track, I'm damned if I am going to add crap like sugar or milk into my body, my temple, post-op. There are plenty of healthier ways to get sweet chocolate yummy treats without milk or sugar. Just a banana, chocolate powder and Water makes for a very delicious drink. Try it. Yeah, the banana has some carbs but bananas have lots of compensating nutrients. and if you only do half a banana, you get the benefits of the sweet banana without much in the way of adding to your glucose load. Rethink how you eat, folks. Just changing what you always did using highly processed products is not really changing how you feed your body and that is what you really should be focussed on.

Moottopia can be bought on line, esp. on amazon but other websites. Mootopia has lots of sugar, though, and milk itself is loaded with carbs which become sugar in the blood stream. I am done with sugar and diary forever. Yuck. Sugar and milk. You can make great sugar delights with a banana, Water (or coffee or chai tea), chocolate powder and blend, then chill til it is like gelato. You can also add a couple tablespoons of chia seeds, which are all omega-3, Fiber and Protein -- no sugar, no carbs --- and it only takes ten minutes to set in the fridge into a great pudding. No dairy glucose, no sugar glucose. Who would do milk if they didn't have to? Doesn't glucose cause dumping?

ranchbrat, your point is important. All dairy has carbs which become sugar once they hit your blood stream, so it' s not just the sugar but the carb total that matters. Most NUTs talk about total carbs, not sugar grams but carb grams. lucky for me, I gave up all cow milk products some time ago for antiinflammatory reasons. I make a coconut milk 'ice cream' without sugar. And I take frozen banana, blend it with frozen berries for something that is a lot like ice cream. Yes, the fruit has some carbs and I won't be able to eat this in the early months post op. Half a banana and 1/4 cup frozen berries makes a very tasty sweet treat for me and frozen bananas taste a lot like ice cream to me. You can also add frozen banana or berries to Protein shakes to give them a more ice creamy texture.

I like natural flavored Protein shakes with raw organic chocolate powder, stevia and some coconut milk -- not the full liquid coconut milk, just some to enhance flavor and cocomilk works as a bit of sweet. Nut butter is a nice addition. I have given up peanuts, which are actually a legume, not a nut and most Peanut Butter in this country has a mold -- which might be related to why peanut allergies has risen, it might be a mold allergy. I most def am allergic to molds. But until a couple months ago, I did PB with my chocoshakes regularly. Now I am back to almond butter. I have found that the more I eat unsweetened chocolate -- sometimes I blend some chocolate powder with half a banana for a quick sweet chocolate treat -- but I am not yet post=op. I just want to say that the more unsweetened chocolate I do, the more I enjoy the taste of unsweetened chocolate. I do absolutely no sugar and I am dialing back on the stevia to keep myself away from craving sweet stuff. The more I do sugar free, the more I discover what food actually taste like without lots of sugar or lots of salt or, sometimes, both.

I am like Trever. I focus on my Protein. My sodium intake is so small that I don't pay any attention to it. I think MFP overcounts the carbs in the foods I eat -- seriously I think this. Maybe this is self delusion but I don't think so. I eat very, very carefully. Having Type I diabetes is not something I would wish on anyone, including myself, but I take what I eat very seriously because I have a very serious chronic illness. I mention my diabetes because carbs matter hugely to my glucose readings. MFP does not track insulin injections or glucose readings, two key data points for my health monitoring. I have been tracking my meals on myfitnesspal lately, to see if it is a tool that I want to use. MFP does not track some key metrics that I need to track. And I swear MFP overcounts carbs. Even if I underestimate the carbs I eat, which I don't think I do, at least not much, it shows up in my glucose readings. Anyway, I have decided MFP does not quite meet my needs. I am pre-op with a surgery date of Jan. 16th. I am aware that all my thoughts about food might be different after Jan. 16th but I am anticipating being very focussed on getting in my protein for the first couple months. I

I am not post-op but I buy turkey jerky at Trader Joe's. It is generally a little softer than beef jerky. Just to let folks know turkey jerk is out there. I like the turkey jerky better than the beef jerkies I have tried but I think what I like better is how the meat is processed. The turkey jerky at Trader Joe's is not real hard, like most beef jerkies I have tried. I love beef jerky, too. Just saying. . . .

I use natural flavor Protein powder, half a frozen banana (and u can use other frozen fruits or, i suppose, small amounts of frozen pumpkin - if Starbucks can sell a pumpkin lattee, why not a pumpkin shake?! Altho the idea of adding pumpking does not appeal to me." I add stevia, a natural no calorie no carb natural sweetner, I buy it organic at Trader Joe's. I add unsweetened cocoa powder sometimes, or fresh berries -- if I do berries, I might skip the stevia. I add cinnamon most of the time, sometimes ginger. sometimes I use chilled cofffee for a mocha shake -- with cocoa powder. I used to buy Optimum Nutrition whey isolate in five pound jugs that was much more affordable than the 100% organic raw whey I use now. I don't just want to lose weight. I don't want any more chemicals ingested in my body. My temple, right?! But I loved every shake I made with Optimum Nutrition mocha chocolate that I bought on amazon, which had lower prices than anywhere else I found. There is an expensive but really delicious organic protein called Tara's Whey. Her dark chocolate flavor is really really good. But at something like $32 for 12 ounces, and the artificial sweetner used in it and the chemicals -- I finally have realized just cause something says organic doesnt mean the food manufacturer doesn't add chemicals. "Organic" might only mean the main ingredient is organic. but if taste is your barometer, try Tara's Whey. It comes in all kinds of great flavors. I still have fond memories of that dark chocolate protein powder, low in carbs. Ohmy gosh it is tasty. I have been to many support groups and various meetings required by my bariatric surgery program. I hear lots of complaints about the taste of Protein drinks. I think most folks hate the taste of commercially premade drinks simply cause such drinks are loaded with chemicals. make your own with unflavored whey or whey isolate, use stevia to sweeten and you can make them taste like anything you want. And if you use half a frozen banana, which is about ten carbs, true, but if all you are doing is two Protein shakes a day, four ounces protein like turkey or fish and some vegies which is my pre surgery diet -- those ten carbs are worth the frothy almost-ice-creaminess you get. Same with adding some frozen berries -- which are low glycemic (lower in carbs) fruit. Try chocolate powder, stevia, plain protein . . .and some nut butter. A Peanut Butter chocolate shake! Yum. I try to savor them slowly. And with the natural powder, post op when you have to work to get in all the protein, you can add scoops of the natural unflavored protein to things like yogurt, majorly boosting your protein intake, or into chicken broth, etc.

Thanks, how thoughtful of you to share this tip. I have mentioned elsewhere that my top weight was 330 and now I am at 240. A year ago I was at 210 but a new insulin regimen changed things. I'm dealing, not 100% committed to the surgery but not yet approved, altho I expect to be this week. I wanted to share a story. During one of my big weight loss periods, I bought a new pair of jeans in a new, smaller size. Then just a few days later, while standing in line to get tickets to enter an art museum, my pants fell down. Not al the way to the ankles, just down below my panties and I very quickly pulled them back up. The new size was only a few days old but I was losing so fast that the new pants fell down. Man, that was a good time. I don't think anything (except maybe great sex) has ever felt as good as losing a lot of weight. well, holding my newborn was a nice high, too. But having brand new smaller pants fall down is right up there as fun for me.

I think it is comical that you think bariatric surgery 'fixes' your stomach. Our human bodies evolved over, what, a mllion years and then 'medical science' science comes along and permanently alters how your body works? I have backed away from this surgery twice, and renewed my efforts to lose and have lost 90 pounds. With Type I diabetes, I have to inject lots of insulin to be able to eat and that causes me to rapidly gain weight. I don't actually believe bariatric surgery is the right answer but I am 60 and I see my knees creaking under the weight (I weigh 240, used to weigh 330). Last year at this time I weight 210 and then I saw an endocrinologist who tested me for Type I and in six weeks, eating less than 1,000 calories a day but injecting lots of insulin, I ringed 30 pounds. I regained more but a couple months ago, I started starving myself. I can't starve myself forever so I asked my doc to make another bariatric referral. I trust myself. I don't trust allopathic medicine. I am unconvinced that permanently altering how my body metabolizes food could be good for me, could be healthy. On the other hand, with all the toxins in this world -- all non organic chicken, for example, has arsenic in it. Every single mass grown chicken that is tested has arsenic. And on and on but we blame fat people for being more sensitive to the environmental toxins and the overprocessed food stripped of nutrients that made us fat. My loving self never told me to overeat. If I have ever engaged in emotional overeating, and I don't know anyone, fat or skinny who hasn't, it was, as you say, because I was not listening to myself. Now is the time to start listening to myself, trusting myself, when I see my very real need to optimize my chances to be healthy as I age. We have to start sometime. Two weks before life-changing surgery seems like a good time to start trusting one's self and you say it is comical? Hmmm. . . .

Some bariatric surgeons do nothing but weight loss surgeries. My surgeon only does bariatric surgerires one day a week, doing other kinds of surgeries. She works for a center of excellence bariatric center and all the staff I have met have had bariatric surgery except for the NUT. They all seem very informative and I welcome all their advice. but in the end, I decide what is right for me. And if you can't trust yourself, how did you allow yourself to trust your surgeon?