JamieLogical

Hahaha! Aw... I was so ready to read your rant. Hope you will get it posted today!

I would think thrush + antibiotics post-surgery would be a bad combo. Hopefully they can treat you and it won't delay your surgery though!

I really dreaded telling my parents, but they shocked me with their positive response. They seem genuinely happy and excited for me. I think they know I made a good decisions.

I'm pretty surprised that people's nutritionists/surgeons are okay with just 2 Flintstones vitamins a day. My nutritionist and surgeon want me on 3 bariatric multivitamins per day for life!

I bought a bunch of sugar-free Torani syrups to flavor my Protein shakes. Though they do have sucralose (Splenda), which I know some people try to avoid. Here's a link to all their sugar-free flavors (there are TONS of them): http://shop.torani.com/Sugar-Free-Syrups/c/Torani@SugarFreeSyrups

The multivitamin my nutritionist suggested is a capsule, not a chewable, and I'm allowed to start taking them again one week post-op.

Out of curiosity, why gummy vitamins? Do you not like swallowing pills? I know some people can't.

You can buy NOW unflavored whey Protein on Amazon.

I'm obese (not just overweight), because I love food and hate exercise. Well, I don't HATE exercise, but I love a lot of other things WAY more than exercise, so when it comes to where I want to allocate my time, exercise is pretty far down the list. I don't have any good excuses of childhood trauma or misplaced emotions. I've had a truly, fantastically happy life. I have the best parents in the world. Really, they are the BEST! There are not words to accurately describe how amazing they are. I have a loving and supportive husband. I have a good job and make enough money to live comfortably. My weight has been the only real struggle in my life. It has been a struggle from the time I was in middle school. I've always been fat, been called fat, been self-conscious about being fat, etc. Sometimes it was enough to motivate me to try to lose weight and I'm actually really good at losing weight, because I have an obsessive personality. So when I'm obsessed with losing weight, I commit to it 100% and I lose it consistently. The problem is maintenance. As soon as I'm no longer obsessed, I go straight back to eating junk and I stop exercising. I am really really hoping that gastric sleeve will make this a lifelong commitment, and not just a temporary obsession.

Sounds like your mom and my husband have a lot in common. I've heard him say the EXACT same things. And while, like your mom, he is supportive and will support me and love me no matter what, I just can't seem to make him "get it." It IS frustrating. I suppose I should just be grateful that he is supporting me through this, but I really wish I could find some way to make him understand, so he could truly be 100% on board with it.

I haven't had my surgery yet, but I will have a drain and it is scheduled to come out 3 days post-op.

I had a great experience with Dr. Carmina Cardenas of Beauty Enhance. I lost 90 pounds back in 2010/2011 and had an extended tummy tuck, breast lift with implants, and all-over lipo with her in August 2011. Unfortunately I've regained the weight, but my tummy tuck has held up amazingly well. Despite weighing 250 pounds, my stomach is flat and tight. I'm definitely planning to go back to her if I need any revisions or additional work done once I am sleeved and get to my goal weight.

Every surgeon and every nutritionist seems to have their own guidelines. The best advice anyone can give you is o follow YOUR surgeon's recommendations for YOU. You definitely have it easier than me! I have to start my pre-op diet a week from today and it's only 500 calories of Protein shakes, sugar-free jello/popsicles, and one green salad with calorie-free dressing per day for 15 days!

Have you tried increasing your calories? I see that on here a lot as a recommendation and, though I have't had my surgery yet, I know from past weight loss experiences that sometimes increasing your intake can actually get the scale moving down again.

Anyone have any thoughts on these? Clear liquids phase. I'm traveling to Mexico for my surgery and these seem like an easy option for when I'm traveling. Just need to add them to plain Water to get a little Protein in. My main concern with them is that their #1 ingredient is polydextrose, which is a "fake fiber" I try to avoid because it can cause bloating and other issues. Seems like maybe not such a wise idea right after surgery...

The Special K K2O stuff I was referencing in the first post has zero sugar. And obviously I won't be mixing anything with Mexico tap water! I was referring to bottled Water. I'll check out the Herbalife option. I can't bring anything premixed with me, because I only plan to bring a carry-on and you can't have any liquids in bottles larger than 3 or 4 oz. if I remember correctly.

I'm having my surgery on the 1st and I went through and made a calendar of August (pre-op) through October with notes about which days I can start which supplements and foods. I carefully went through the entire post-op plan provided by my nutritionist and marked down everything on the calendars. So, hopefully I'll be able to do everything right if I just follow the calendar. I'm going to tape the pages up on the cabinets in my kitchen, so I will always be reminded every day.

You have got to put your health and well-being first. If he loves you, then he will want you to be happy and healthy. At your weight,even with a successful VSG, you aren't going to be "skinny" at the end of this. On average, people only lose 60% of their EXCESS weight with VSG. I just plugged your stats into this calculator: https://www.realize.com/do-i-qualify/potential-results/comparison And it says you have an 80% chance of getting down to 375, a 50% chance of getting down to 336, and a 20% chance of getting down to 297 at 18 months post-op. If that's the case, then even the best outcome is going to still leave you plus-sized. How big does your boyfriend need/want you to be?!?!

I've seen a lot of posts on these forums from people who say they have a hard time drinking water post-op. Not just the physical restriction, but that it doesn't taste good to them anymore. I'm starting to get really scared that could happen to me. Currently, I LOVE water. It's pretty much all I drink aside from a coffee here and there and my stupid afternoon diet mountain dew (working to kick that habit before my pre-op diet starts). I drink about 14 cups of water a day now. I LOVE refreshing ice water. It is amazing. I've felt very fortunate to love water, because I know a lot of people don't and therefor have trouble staying hydrated or losing weight. It would be pretty tragic if I came out the other side of my VSG surgery hating water. It's like the ONE healthy thing I love right now!

Glad you are doing so well and had such a positive experience! How far did you have to travel when you returned home? I'm having my surgery with Ariel Ortiz on Sept. 1, but not returning home until September 5. I'm a little concerned about traveling post op. Did you run into any issues? I'm really happy there are so many surgeons doing excellent work in Mexico. It really offers a great opportunity for those of us who have to self pay.

I was just curious because my nutritionist doesn't want me using milk for my Protein Shakes. She has me using unsweetened almond milk. I have my surgery scheduled for the 1st and I was immediately thinking "I hope this doesn't happen to me!" as soon as I read your post and then I realized that a week out from surgery, I probably wouldn't even be eating anything with lactose, so I wouldn't know yet if it had happened to me. I am allowed drinkable yogurt a few days post op though, so maybe that will tip me off.

Out of curiosity, what are you eating a week post op that even has lactose?

I see my surgeon, Dr. Carmina Cardenas is on there as a "Top Doctor" with 4.5 out of 5 starts from 75 reviewers. She really is amazing! I need to set up an account on that site so I can leave my own review of the outstanding care I received from her and the staff of the recovery house.

I paid $8500 for extended tummy tuck, breast lift with implants, all-over body sculpting with lipo, and fat grafting to my butt. I had to stay two weeks in a recovery house with 24/7 nursing support and included all my food, which was another $2000. I spent probably $250 for take home meds and compression garments. Plus the cost of my flights, obviously.

After doing some research I found that Now is probably the best option. I was originally going to go with Isopure, but I found out that their filtration process can strip some of the beneficial elements from the whey. Now uses a different process that preserves nutrients better. I also ordered a couple of packets of Unjury to try and to bring with me to Mexico (I'm being sleeved there Sept. 1).