Inner Surfer Girl

Happy Birthday!????????????????☀️????????

Congratulations!

This is something you need to ask your NUT. I didn't have a liquid diet for pre-op. Mine was high Protein, low-carb (with absolutely NO starches). Each surgeon is different.

Good luck. I know some people have difficulties with egg, even when on soft foods. I was able to eat them pretty well. Just try to make them really soft and on the runnier side. My first soft food was refried Beans on the way home from one of my post-op check-ups.

Wow, you have had a rough time of it. It is so good to hear that you are doing well and sound happy with your success! Thank you so much for sharing your story.

I am not a big drinker so can't give you advice there other than to find something else to drink like Water. But, this post made me laugh because when I think of preparing for New Year's the FIRST and LAST thing I think of is still food: I already have black-eyed peas, greens, and okra at the ready for New Year's Day!

I knew that as a culture, we are very low on Vitamin D, especially with the increased use of sunscreen. I also knew that low Vitamin D is a critical factor for weight loss patients. It makes sense that weight loss patients get the double-whammy of low Vitamin D. I assumed that was why my program advised all of their patients to start taking extra Vitamin D from day 1 of even contemplating surgery.

I need to check this site online more. Since I use my phone 99.9% off the time I never see signature lines and status'.

The clearances are designed so that the surgeon knows what is going on with you not necessarily to keep you from having surgery. The more information, the better prepared and safer your surgery.

I am really concerned about you based on what you wrote. Please call your NUT first thing tomorrow and make an appointment. I would also highly recommend you make an appointment as soon as possible with a therapist. See if you can get in to see the therapist who cleared you for surgery or see if they can refer you to someone who is experienced with working with weight loss surgery patients. The fact that you consider yourself on a diet and are restricting calories is a major red flag. Also, your emotional turmoil although understandable is not healthy. You deserve to be healthy, happy, joyous, and free. Please let the professionals who have the experience help you. We are here to listen, but we can't take the place of the professionals. In the meantime, please make sure you are getting in all of your fluids and Protein. Keep us posted on how you are doing.

You can always wear two hospital gowns. One the regular way and one backwards.

If something doesn't seem right the first call to be your surgeon. We want to help but we aren't physicians.

Oh, I am so sorry! I feel your pain. It is hard, but hopefully, with some patience and lots of work you will get to the point where it won't be appetizing. I like to remind myself that the best part of that crap is the smell anyway. Eating it won't add anything but calories and make you feel like crap. You can make it!

A WLS word for the day.

Try searching "Bariatric Center of Excellence manual" or "Bariatric Center of Excellence Food Plan".

That's Ms. ISG, to you!

I am going through some old magazines and came across this essay. It really captured what I am going through, especially since I spent so many years not being able to dress relatively-stylishly. The challenge for me mentally is balancing my fantasy life and my reality when it comes to dressing. http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a10722/coming-of-age-0515/

Congratulations! I know you must be excited!

You have to take what personal trainers, even nutritionists, say with a grain of salt. As bariatric patients we have special needs. A personal trainer has not had training in what a bariatric patient needs. He can tell you how to work out and use good form using weights, that's about it. He cannot and should not give you nutritional advice unless he's been trained to deal specifically with bariatric patients. Unless a nutritionist specializes in bariatrics, they will tell you to focus more on veggies and grains than protein. Wrong. We have a lot less room and NEED protein. Also, my weight stalls when I don't eat enough calories. Thankfully my primary doctor is smart and told me at a year out for my height I should be eating at least1,200 calories a day. I was still eating 800-1,000. I increased calories and weight started coming off again. I know your doctor was a jerk and your personal trainer sounds like he knows what he's talking about (he doesn't) but all you have to do is the basic rules we were given from day 1. Have you been tracking calories and macros? I suggest getting MyFitnessPal and seeing exactly how many calories you are eating so you can see if you need to increase them. it was the dr that told me to put down the food, I was just thinking about my dr's appt was I was working with the personal trainer.With the little amount of food I eat I have never tracked or keep record of it. I know that I get the 50-80 grams of protein in and that is what my nut was worried about. I am going to start tracking so just invade I decide to go back to dr that did surgery I can tell him look, this is what I am consuming. So, if you aren't losing as rapidly as your surgeon was expecting then it's possible you aren't eating enough. I would have asked him why he was unhappy with my weight loss. Definitely talk to your NUT and start tracking your food so you KNOW you are getting in all of your protein. It is such a paradigm shift between pre-op dieting and post-op nutrition. For me, it's no longer an assumption that cutting calories will automatically lead to weight loss. If I am not getting enough nutrition, especially protein, then the scale will not go down as quickly as I like.

Fluid fluctuations are completely normal right after post-op. Between IV fluids, swelling, water retention, dehydration, the scale is measuring everything. The best thing to do is to stay off the scale and only weigh at your doctors appointments.

I think you have seen from the responses here that it's not weird at all, but perfectly normal. Most people's loss if graphed looks more like a stair step pattern than a strait line.

Congratulations! This is so awesome. I know how great it feels to go from being basically immobile to being able to MOVE! It only gets better!

Welcome, Social Introvert. You are in the right place! My insurance didn't cover WLS. My psych and NUT were covered by a required program fee that no insurance covered and everyone had to pay upfront (they allowed us to pay in two installments). My insurance did pay for some of my pre-op tests. Just having insurance helped because those tests were billed at the insured rate rather than at the higher non-insured rate even if I had to pay for them (if that makes sense). I don't know your physical situation since you have a lower BMI, but I am disabled and was able to go through my State's Voc Rehab program. They paid for my surgery so I only paid for my program fee and pre-op testing which really helped financially.

Congratulations! It is so great to hear you happy and confident! Self-confidence is the biggest bonus. This is so great to hear.

I was farther out when I had my birthday and actually contemplated getting a cupcake. I thought if I do, one of three things would happen: I would love it, I would hate it, or it would make me sick. I figured that none of those options were good so I skipped it entirely. It's great that a couple of bites got you through.