ready2B

@@Shell88 - When is your surgery? Soon? You sound like you have your head in the right place and your priorities in the right order. Good for you!! My surgery is tomorrow and I've thought a lot over the past four months how life will be for me without food having such a focus. Somewhere along the way someone said "what is your relationship with food?" and that question really threw me. It seemed "relationship" should be a word to describe how I interact with my children, my family, my best friends, my husband - not a cheeseburger! That was an "ah ha" moment for me - I don't have a "relationship" with something inanimate. I might enjoy the taste or the full feeling in my tummy, but it isn't my best friend, pizza doesn't have my back when I need it to. ice cream doesn't let me cry on its shoulder or give me a hug, and Cookies don't laugh with me till my sides hurt. Only PEOPLE do those things. Food is fuel. Events that are centered around food are really special events centered around special people and the food is just something to do while we enjoy each other!

Yesterday I went to GNC because I'd heard a lot of people talk about how great the Quest bars are there. So I bought a few different ones and saw these Reese's Cup sort of things they make too so I bought a couple thinking they would be a nice healthy treat. OMG!!!!!! I had never had anything with Stevia in it before and even though I have never minded artificial sweeteners and have used just about every kind ever made, that stuff tasted like bug spray!! It took hours to get that horrid taste out of my mouth. I will definitely be reading labels a lot closer now and not buy anything that contains Stevia. So, I wondered if others here have the same aversion to it or if it is just my taste buds that find it so revolting.

Hi y'all. In about 36 hours, I will be in the OR. Seems really surreal after all these months to finally be near the finish line. I had my last solid food for a while tonight. I only have one day of liquid preop diet, so I get to start that tomorrow. I don't know why some doctors require 2 weeks or more and others don't? Maybe they go in a different way and so some need the liver smaller? Or maybe my doc just figures people will cheat anyway so why bother? Who knows? Anyway, I feel for those of you who have to do it for so long. I am sure the postop diet part will be hard enough. I am strangely calm about things now. I already had my panic attack earlier in the week so I hope I got that out of my system! @@ptksmcc - glad to hear your surgery went so well! Feel free to friend me if you want a buddy. I will be joining you very shortly! Any last minute words of advice?

I am preop still, but had lost almost 100 lbs in the past to my goal weight and frankly being called names related to my weight (fatso, skinny, chubbs, beanpole, etc) are all offensive to me. Why do people think it is okay to call someone by a name based on their physical appearance, especially when it might be something they are sensitive about? I don't go around saying "hey baldy!", "zit face", or "Dumbo ears". To me, it is all just plain rude. I also think in some cases it's a passive-aggressive way for people to tell you what they really think about you under the guise of "I was just kidding".

@@NewJeffrey - Congratulations on getting to go home! Did you get your blood pressure medicine in a liquid or chewable form for when you go home or will you have to crush it? How did they give it to you in the hospital?

I chose gastric bypass for this reason - my comfort foods are the type that will cause dumping, so that's a good thing. It will keep me from going back to that old habit of running to food when I am stressed or upset. In the past few years, I've found other ways to comfort myself when I need to. I found I am very sensory oriented - and things like lighting a scented candle and watching the flickering flame, playing relaxing music, wrapping myself up in a fuzzy blanket, etc all help me tremendously to comfort myself when I need it. Food was really just another sensory thing when you think about it, but I have 4 other senses and I've just found ways to soothe myself with them instead. These are all things I can do that don't have bad side-effect on my health!

My PCP was the one who suggested WLS to me and I shot him down! I had gone to him to ask for prescription diet pills to try since nothing else was working, and he suggested WLS. I told him no way, it scared me to death & I wasn't doing it! A week later I was back in his office telling him I'd done some research and realized it really was my best option. I say go ahead and tell your doctor what you are thinking. If he thinks you shouldn't do it, listen to his reasons - he might have some valid concerns that you need to consider, such as conditions you have that might contraindicate surgery. If he is just anti-WLS in general, then it's good to know that now because you will want a different PCP then who can support you! Either way, talking to him honestly is a win-win. You should never be afraid to talk to your doctor about ANYTHING. If you are afraid to be honest with him, (1) he can't treat you in the best possible way, or (2) he may have given you reasons not to trust him and he's not the doctor for you. I hope you will be very pleasantly surprised and find that he is quite supportive and was just waiting for you to ask!

It's not unreasonable at all to want to decide who you tell and who you don't. I've purposefully not told certain people too. But on the other hand, I do understand a little why a spouse would want to tell a few people, because your spouse will need support too! This will be a very big life change for both of you. Your wife probably has some fears about your surgery, the risks, how it will change your lifestyle together, how you might change as a person, etc. So, she likely needs people she can talk to about all that. Because of this, I haven't put any restrictions on my husband as to who he can tell, I just asked that he be respectful, treat this as he would any other medical condition, and only tell others on a "need to know" basis.

Not with every surgeon. Mine requires that you have insurance approval before they will schedule you, but I've seen some here who get a tentative date before their stuff is submitted to insurance for approval.

@@ThinnerMe2015 - Yes, I had a referral coordinator too who submitted the paperwork to insurance. I think most people do, though it may be called different things. Surgeon don't usually handle any of the paperwork themselves other than signing something maybe. Good luck with your approval process. You'll get there eventually! In the meantime, you can already start your new healthy life now! Start using something to journal what you eat if you aren't already. My Fitness Pal is a great app you can use on your computer or smartphone. Begin weaning off carbonated drinks and if you smoke, quit now. I've lost 25 lbs already (pre-op) and it's been great having better mobility & less pain with just that amount of weight off. I've used Pinterest to find recipes that might be good post-op. Find things to do to keep you busy and the time will go by a lot faster!

Thanks ladies! I really should be focusing more on all the reasons I am having this surgery and all the benefits I will get from it, some very soon! The stories of complications are terrifying, but I know you are right, statistically they are rare. However the complications from me NOT having the surgery are already here and more will be coming with near certainty. I need to find some fun distractions for the next few days.

@@NicoleSW & @Dabliss111114 - I am struggling today with bouts of panic too. I am trying to stay focused on all the GOOD things that will come out of this surgery, but man, this is scary! The permanence of the change is what is so frightening, but of course, that is also exactly why I am doing this! I feel like such a wuss for being so nervous. I hope I can find distractions too for the next few days. @Dabliss111114 - so sorry about your father-in-law. I hope your visit is comforting to you. Hopefully this will be the last time ever you will have to worry about fitting in an airplane seat!

@@ptownkween - You might find that for most doctors and insurance companies, a BMI of only 32 isn't high enough to qualify for weight loss surgery. If you don't have any other comorbidities other than asthma, it will be especially hard to find someone since asthma isn't generally considered a side effect of obesity. There are other more effective treatments for asthma. Have you talked to an allergist?

I agree - that was incredibly inappropriate. The tech is NOT a doctor and has no business at all giving you any medical advice! He way overstepped his bounds. Even if he were a full-fledged doctor, he isn't YOUR doctor and was only there for one specific purpose, to hook up some wires to conduct your sleep study. He isn't there to comment on your weight, your surgery plans, your finances, your job, your dog or anything else. He was just a smart-ass punk giving his unsolicited opinion about something he was clearly ignorant about. I would disregard anything he says to the same degree as if it were the cashier at the grocery store trying to give you medical advice. You know what they say: opinions are like buttholes, everyone's got one!

I grew up with a horrible self image from as long back as I remember. SIt began with my family - always referring to my sister as "the pretty one" and I was the klutzy, goofy, homely one. I was teased and laughed at in school for having ugly haircuts, glasses, braces, weird clothes, etc. My first husband was extremely critical of me and even though I was actually 30 lbs UNDERweight at the time, he told me on our honeymoon how fat & dumpy I was! The list goes on - and before long, I didn't need others to insult me, I did it quite effectively to myself. It is still very difficult for me to find anything that I like about myself physically. I am less than a week away from my surgery and though I hope to look a little more attractive when I lose weight, I am mostly focusing on the things I will be able to DO. I've accepted that I will never look like a fashion model or even someone who will turn a head (in a good way!) but I very much miss being able to do a lot of the things I really enjoyed when I was healthy.

Yay!! Congratulations!! That waiting is definitely the most excruciating part of this whole thing. Now that I am less than a week away, I realize how much the extra time helped me prepare emotionally and mentally, even though it drove me totally nuts sometimes! This next month will go by a lot faster than you think.

Congratulations to all of you who have already had your surgery this month! Here it is only the 4th and several of you have already blazed the trail for the rest of us. Hope all is going well for you. I'd love to hear how you are going and also if you have any advice for the rest of us. I had my final preop appt today and I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared! My husband went too which was nice because now he also knows a little more what to expect and how to support me. My doctor is incredibly sweet though and didn't make me feel stupid at all for asking questions. I guess I am as prepared as I can get, now I just need to distract myself for the next 5 days so the time goes by quickly and I don't have too much more time to think about things.

I am still pre-op but I've had a ton of other surgeries and I can vouch for the IV fluids causing a LOT of water weight gain! I've gained as much as 15 lbs from a surgery. You might also have some swelling inside, Give it time, that surgical water weight should come off very easily in the next week or so.

It varies so greatly, every practice is different, every case is different, every insurance company is different and every doctor's schedule is different! My insurance had no diet requirements, so I thought my surgery would be scheduled really fast. But my surgeon required a bunch of different appointments & test first, then once I finished all that & they submitted to insurance (they took their time getting things submitted) I got approved almost immediately. It was still another week later before I finally got the call to schedule me and by then my surgeon was booked up 2 months out! So, you just never know. Best advice is just go with the flow. There's not much in this whole process that is in your hands or under your control, so you just have to be patient. It was very agonizing me to wait at times, but it is what it is. Now I am only a week away and it feels like it is coming way too fast!

Glad to hear someone else say they didn't like the Peanut Butter cups but loved the bars. I bought a bunch of different bars and some peanut butter cups at GNC a few weeks ago and thought I'd give them a try. I tried the pnut butter cups first and OMG, I thought they tasted like bug spray!! Bleh, bleh, bleh!!! Couldn't spit it out fast enough and couldn't get rid of that horrid taste for hours. So, maybe it is just those and I might like the bars if I give them a try. I'd been scare to taste them actually. :-)

I am less than a week away too now and also trying to get my ducks in a row. What is the wedge for your bed for? I have a big wedge pillow - will that do?

@@Time4ChangeNY - welcome! My surgery is the same day as yours. I am having an RNY - what are you having done? No liquid diet for me preop except for the day before. I don't know why some docs require that and others don't. I figure I will be way too stressed out the day before anyway to eat!

@@Dabliss111114 - Congratulations on losing all that you had gained when you quit smoking - and more! Your doctor didn't have to be such a jerk about it, but I am sure he will be very pleased and this also gives you a running start!

@@cholliman - Welcome! My surgery is the same day as yours. What are you having done? I am getting an RNY in Tenn too. I am really excited but also getting nervous and a bit overwhelmed at time when I think about how BIG of a change this will be in my life in so many ways. Most of them are really good ways though so I try to focus the most on those. In a way, it isn't too different from when I was about to give birth for the first time. Nervous and scared about the actual event, but also really looking forward to the new life! Also the long wait building up to everything and not believing the day is finally almost here. Of course, no one threw me a shower this time, but hey, maybe they should!

@@Dabliss111114 - sorry to hear how brutal your doctor was! I would have been in tears! I imagine you will lose those 8 lbs easily on the liquid pre-op diet though. Do you have to go back to weigh in before surgery? If not, I doubt he'd cancel if your already at the hospital! Congratulations on quitting smoking and caffeine! Those are huge. Kudos to you. I still need to wean off caffeine and soda. Ugh.