VSGAnn2014

@@jewelski ... how are you doing these days? Getting your feet under you a little better yet?

In my youth and middle age I was a hiker, backpacker, trekker, climber. I want to return to some of those activities. For example, there are some treks around the world I have never done that I want to complete. I've discovered that having BIG GOALS makes this whole journey much more interesting. Thanks for this thread.

More importantly, I hope they didn't spring leaks eating like that the morning after surgery. BTW, I'm not fat shaming those three people. I'm nominating them for a Darwin Award.

SEEN ON ANOTHER FORUM: A woman who recently had VSG surgery in Mexico saw three of her fellow patients -- the morning after they all had surgery -- mixing up and eating their prescribed chicken broth with scrambled eggs and refried Beans. All the patients had been given written instructions on what to eat and what not to eat post-op.

Doug! You are one lucky duck! And that's the biggest one I've ever heard of, too. Years ago, a radiologist "saw something not right" on one of my hubby's x-rays. Lucky, lucky day.

Capegin, I feel for you, girl. I start my two-week pre-op diet tomorrow morning. If you were in a Zen spa'ish pre-op retreat center now and could stay there with folks who wiped your brown with cucumber-scented cloths for the next two weeks, you might like to explore what these feelings you're having "mean." But that's not gonna happen, eh? The good news is that I hear that Day Three is the worst and that by Day Four or Five, things get better. I've also heard people say that Week Two is a piece of cake, compared to Week One. I'm looking forward to Day Four and Week Two. Last week I told my shrink (with whom I have an appointment this coming Wednesday) that he was the lucky duck who has a session with me on Day Three of my pre-op diet, but that if he was up for it, I would actually show up. He laughed and said it's tough, but so far as he knows nobody's died yet. Yet.

One thing's certainly true ... tools like My Fitness Pal and Fitbit make it a helluva lot easier to track your food and exercise than it used to be "back in the day" when we all just hand-wrote this stuff in little Weight Watchers diaries. Technology has many benefits for humans, and for my money these tools (some of them free) are wonderfully beneficial.

I can’t imagine that any WLS patient could be 100% educated about the complex causes of obesity, weight loss surgery, or WLS post-op care. It’s a very complex subject. I usually learn something new and useful each time I come to this or another WLS board. I chose the “Rants and Raves” forum for this thread because in the last eight months I’ve felt both concerned and exasperated about some questions I’ve seen posted here that stand out from the majority. Some questions come from people who seem to have zero grounding in how to care for themselves. Others come from folks who seem to know the guidelines, but don’t believe those apply to them or acknowledge the dangers to them of not following the guidelines. As I’ve learned today on this thread, some people actually don’t receive any instructions from their surgeons about recommended post-op eating stages or behaviors – not even written handouts! The National Institute of Health, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric surgery all state that bariatric surgery can be an effective treatment plan for obesity, “… when combined with a comprehensive treatment plan.” This is defined as “… a multidisciplinary team of experts for follow-up care. This may include a nutritionist, an exercise physiologist or specialist, and a mental health professional ….” I realize some patients have surgeons who only do the wet work and don’t offer comprehensive treatment. But to hear that some surgeons don’t even advise patients about after-care and that their patients must educate themselves solely using books bought on Amazon and from advice handed out by other patients—whether good, bad or indifferent—makes me ill. It’s no surprise that WLS still has a bad reputation in some quarters.

GREAT thread, MissMac. Thanks. How about these comments? How would you respond to them? 1. You're losing weight so fast! Are you sure that's healthy? 2. You've lost too much weight. You're starting to look gaunt! 3. Come on, tell me the truth ... did you have WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY?! (The last three words are either spoken louder than the first part of the sentence or stage-whispered.)

To Always Vegas, the OP of this thread ... Now THAT is what I call a helpful post. Thank you so much. Those are some excellent lab notes. You're a scientist.

Hmmm ... never thought to blend Protein with ice. I think that might work for me when I get to your stage. Thanks.

LOL! That's exactly what "they" do call it: the dreaded three week stall. You can google it: dreaded three week stall You can also use this board's search function to find posts about the dreaded three week stall. People have been doing WLS a long time. Eventually, most of us all discover the same things.

@@labwalker said: There is a big difference between folks who didn't receive guidance, and need advice from others who have shared the same journey because they have no where else to turn. I think the first poster was upset about folks who were told what to do by their doctors (such as no alcohol for six months) and then come here asking for some sort of validation for doing exactly what their doctor told them not to do. @@labwalker, it's a bit of both. Yes, some people seem committed to recreating their pre-op lifestyle as soon as possible. I sense that some patients would never have been approved for surgery if they'd had to jump through any hoops at all. But I've been puzzled that people would commit to this surgery -- no matter where or at what price -- and not be prepared either by their surgeons or, in lieu of that, self-education about what they can expect and how they will live. As @@tkauhi has just confirmed, some surgeons simply don't educate their patients about post-operative behaviors even a little bit. Mind-boggling! I have to wonder how those surgeons' patients' complication rates and long-term success rates compare (on the whole) to those of patients whose surgeons prepared them better for post-WLS life.

Just to clarify -- I'm NOT talking about things all new sleevers want to know, like tips for getting all your Water down, which Protein shakes taste best and where to buy them, what are some safe, early exercise regimens, what does "the new full" feel like, etc.

Glad you had such a good time, CGJane. We all deserve good times.

Call your surgeon. Stat.

Today, you have learned a lesson, young grasshopper. (Seriously, congrats on your new underwear.)

Great thread! MFP or My Fitness Pal at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ is a super tool. I've been using it for months to manage my calories, Protein, sodium, Water, etc. It really is a great help.

BeccaS, I would suggest that your fear you will be judged by others about your WLS is not misplaced. Some (many?) will and do judge us. That's why the issue of "to tell or not to tell" is such a hot one on these boards. There's no single best answer, but everyone's decision needs to be right for them. IMHO.

It's easy ... riiiiiiight! Think of it this way ... we're special. At the end of the day, fuck 'em. Some people have multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, Alzheimer's, clinical depression, and scores of other diseases that Joe and Suzy Dumbass probably think are "just in our minds" or caused by "eating meat" or some other wrong reason. Here are the facts: The odds of obese people losing and maintaining most of their weight loss lifelong through dieting is less than 5%. The odds of our losing and maintaining most of our weight loss lifelong through WLS is 50% - 60%. Given those facts, only Joe and Suzy would choose dieting.

Bob, thanks for that explanation of the hiatal hernia surgery. My husband has one, and its effects are getting worse (he gets food stuck every other day, while he's eating). He thinks the surgery is very complicated and dangerous. I expect he "learned" this information about hiatal hernia surgery about 40 years ago. From what everyone else is saying here, the HH surgery is a piece of cake these days. Comments?

No. This is just wrong.

I don't think "ice cream" is on any surgeon's list of permitted foods during the "full liquids" post-op stage two. Anybody know different?

Timothy, surgeons' instructions vary considerably about what is permitted on the pre-op diet and the length of the pre-op diet. You shouldn't be distracted by what "everyone else" is eating. What do your surgeon's written instructions say you should (and shouldn't) eat during this time?

What in the world is a "mushy" food? And why is it bad?