VSGAnn2014

Kathy, you rock. You are tremendously positive and nice to everyone. It's a joy to hear that our life is so rewarding. You sound so happy.

P.S. I will add one thing: I always go to my meetings with lots of data -- about my calories, Protein, daily weight, etc. I record all this on My Fitness Pal and print out reports / charts of these stats for the person(s) I will be seeing. They never have to guess or assume or wonder about what I'm doing. And neither do I. One PA told me that this is unusual, that many patients can only report what they ate yesterday, but before that they're pretty fuzzy. Based on this, it's clear that some patients (NOT anyone who's posted above!) are pretty dumb, pretty undisciplined or so determined "not be on a diet" that they pay no attention to what they're eating / drinking.

I'm lucky too. I love my surgeon, his two PAs, his bariatric nurses and even the receptionists. They're knowledgeable and helpful and patient. Not a single complaint here. They also have never: * Given me monthly / quarterly weight loss targets * Given me anything other than positive feedback * Treated me like an idiot * Failed to listen attentively to me * Failed to return my calls I'm not the world's fastest loser, although I haven't had any stalls either. My first three months post-op weight losses have been 10 lbs, 12 lbs, 9 lbs. I think / hope my fourth month loss (coming up in a few days) will total 10 lbs. I know that's going to slow down soon. And I would never expect anyone at my surgeon's office to give me grief. They are all about positive reinforcement there. BTW, the bariatric PA urged me last week to start moving my calories up from 800 to 1,000 as it's comfortable to do so. I'm really sorry to hear that some of your surgeons and their staffs aren't empathetic, knowledgeable and rooting hard for your long-term success. Seems like that's what their job is.

LOL! You're worried you're going to be "that one person who was regretting surgery the next day"? Honey, almost EVERYBODY feels like that on Day Two or Day Three. Until that moment this surgery is only theoretical. And then we remember WHY we let them cut 85% of our stomach out and we move on. In a few weeks we're drinking easier and eating real food and feeling better.

Change is scary. It's just part of changing.

Yup, I've seen it. Probably 30-40-50? women in Austin, TX, were all good friends and bonded through their common identity as big, beautiful women. Some of them have WLS. The movie follows closely the lives of several who do and some who don't. Along the way, there's weight loss, weight regain, weight maintained, new lives discovered, terrible emotional abuse (of one woman by her husband), even death. It's very real. But it ain't a fairy tale. And not everybody lives happily ever after. Or even lives.

It's very hard being related to some of the people we're related to. Some of them are people we would have NEVER chosen to have in our lives. But because of blood we're stuck with the relationships. So has it ever been. But that doesn't make it easy.

What are you eating that's going down so easy? If you eat Protein first and insist on hitting your 60-80 grams of protein daily target, at 5 weeks you should be able to eat little else.

In a family style or buffet situation, I don't put much "edible" food on my plate, but do put a few things on the plate that I won't eat, e.g., salad, bread. Then I push the stuff I'm not going to eat around on my plate or tear it into pieces. And I do eat very slow. I also don't mind getting "seconds" if my first serving was appropriately small. I also tend to ask people questions, and while people are talking, there's NO way they can pay attention to what you're doing with your food. Then, if the situation permits, I get up and go into the kitchen and scrape some things off my plate. People don't notice how much you eat. They do notice when you ask them to pass a dish or serve yourself food. And they do notice how long you're eating. Oh, and you have to make a big fuss at the end about being absolutely STUFFED! And about how great everything was. And you can always ask the cook(s) for recipes.

Gosh, you are doing just great! That's some serious weight loss there. Any ideas why you're able to lose so fast? Just asking due to rank envy.

Me too!!!!!!!!

I have a GREAT psychologist whom I'm seeing privately. He is also the person who did my bariatric intake interview / testing / interpretations. But I swear that some of your stories sound like there are some incompetent buffoons out there doing clinical psychology work for a living who don't know how to interpret psychometric instruments and don't understand the strengths and weaknesses of those tools. Those tests should not be used like Tarot cards. (joke) S.M.H.

@, since I'm the one who made the "... until they hit rock bottom" comment that you took exception to, I'll clarify why I said that. I wasn't being as snarky as you think I was when I made my earlier post. I meant what I said. Many of us (not all) already hit our individual rock bottoms, however we defined that. If you aren't at your rock bottom now, you may be one of those who has to do so to demand change. You're not 40 yet. You're 5'4" and weigh 270. You have PCOS. Fortunately, you can still exercise some (do light yoga, walk at Disneyland) and carry on some activities of daily living, although I bet you don't do some things you used to be able to do. Here's the problem: You won't remain 40. You won't remain 270 pounds. You won't remain as active or able as you are now. Why? Because nobody does. Unhealthy, heavy people who can't lose weight just get heavier and less mobile and develop more and more comorbidities. You could wait until you're 42 years old and weigh 300 pounds. Or 45 and weigh 350. Or 50 and weigh 450. You could wait until you're no longer able to leave your house before you are desperate to change your life. When you came here, you engaged with people who already realized they were past a point they could tolerate. Before surgery, we too were nervous, afraid, not sure what the future held, uncertain that we would be among the successful 50% of WLS patients. But we still leapt into the unknown. Most of us rejoice that we leapt, because our lives are so much better than they were pre-op, which makes some of us (including me) a tad evangelical about WLS. BTW, if I had found another solution to my weight problem that worked better than WLS, I'd be evangelical about that instead. Finally, I do agree with @@Kindle who said, "... in the end, you need to be 110% committed to the emotional and mental part of WLS or you will be miserable and the surgery would have been a waste of time and money."

All that's working for me. Good luck to you.

"They" say that many people won't or can't change their lives until they hit rock bottom. You could be one of those people. How to hit rock bottom? Keep doing exactly what you're doing now. You'll get there soon enough.

I think most patients' surgeries do go better than they expected. Mine did, too.

You're doing just fine. You could wind up losing 12 or 15 pounds next month. Or 10. Really, you are doing fine.

Protip: Yes, you can take shakes with you in your carry-on luggage through TSA. All you have to do is identify it as food. TSA will make you open the shake bottles so they can inspect the contents and you'll then have to screw the tops back on tightly. But that's no biggie. Or make it easier on yourself -- just pack all your shakes in a suitcase that you check. There are no liquids restrictions on checked luggage.

Kim, I'm sorry to hear this. You're such a smart cookie. You know what to do: Seek advice and insights and treatment from your bariatric team and your PCP. But only you can pick up the phone and make those appointments. Please do that. You've done too good a job thus far to sabotage yourself now.

Good thread! And I'd like to cast my ballot for pool work, too. Water is kind to human Beans.

This thread just reminded me that my back doesn't hurt anymore! (How did I not notice that?) I had lower back pain before surgery. The pain continued (although it changed slightly, but still hurt) post-op through about (I'm trying to remember here) ... 10-12 weeks post-op. I'm now 16 weeks and 2 days post-op. So that was my experience.

I'll bet $100 it's your gallbladder. Those are classic GB symptoms. Had the same problem 10 days post-op. Three weeks later, my bariatric surgeon removed my gallbladder. I bounced back pretty fast after the second surgery. Just got a few more scars (4). Don't dread it, because if it's your gallbladder, it's got to come out. Just do it.

Or autocorrect (finally) decided to kick in.

Hubby and I are both SCREAMING at this one. Thank you, @@LumpySpacePrincess !

@@Kindle, I love that you told the nail tech. Great strategy.