Engteacher

That's what I thought, too. I'll let you know what I think once I get started a bit. It's a new way of looking at clothing, to be sure!

I was sleeved on June 9th. I'm down 17 pounds as of today and am mentally prepared for the soon-to-come stall. I just got the okay to move on to soft foods - chicken, fish, eggs... The only big no-no he gave me was raw vegetables/fruit, bread, and rice. I notice that when I'm hungry, I have to eat NOW. When I'm tired, I have to rest NOW. Other than that, I feel great. ...NSV include no longer snoring. My beloved husband is sleeping much better. AND, being able to push to a stand from my weeding stool when I garden. I pray that I can take full advantage of the honeymoon stage in order to make the major changes in my relationship with food so that I can make this new tool work for me for the rest of my life. P.S. The veg in my garden have never looked better. I will be able to eat it in about six weeks.

I'm eleven days post op and was craving savory - so tired of all the artificial sweeteners - so I made hummus for the family, reserved the liquid from the can and thinned it down more. I blended the heck out of it so no little pieces remained. Oh, it was bliss as I ate it with my tiny, tiny spoon. 1 can chick peas (reserve liquid in the can - use it to thin to proper consistency) 1/4 cup tahini juice of 1 lemon 1 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp corriander 1 clove garlic minced salt

Poaching or soft boiling an egg is far less fat but still softer than scrambled.

Just home from the hospital. Surgery went well and now just need to focus on healing.

Me, too! Liquids only on Monday, and surgery on Tuesday. Guess I'll get some groceries on the weekend, just to be sure I've got what I need for the next week or so.

No pre-op diet here, except for the day before surgery. I'm very happy about that.

Only my husband and adult children. I'll tell my mother after I recover. Maybe. ...My bigger challenge is weaning myself off coffee. I love, love, LOVE coffee and have been drinking it since I was three years old. I'm down to half cup of regular cut with half cup of decaf for my Breakfast. In a few days, I'll cut out the regular and have just a cup of decaf. By next week, I want to be off coffee completely so I won't have a caffeine withdrawal headache on top of the post-op pain. I've been substituting with herbal teas, just for the pleasure of holding a warm cup in my hands. Coffee is a diuretic and can work against us when we're trying to get enough Water into our system post-op. It's also the most lovely beverage ever, and I expect I'll miss it every day for a good six months. Sigh.

My date is June 9th. I'm too busy with the end of the school year stuff to think much about it.

You're one day ahead of me. I'm on June 9th. I know this is what I need to do, and I'm confident I'm in good hands. I will be thinking of you as I prepare myself. Wishing you a quick recovery!

Hi, all - I'm scheduled for VSG on June 9th and am planning ahead. I love to cook, have a freezer full of meat, and am wondering....did anyone else make their own stock for the liquid only phase of recovery? My thought is to make up some Protein rich stock, especially chicken since I have some old stewing hens I've been saving, and freeze the broth in ice cube trays for easy thawing and heating. Good idea or am I just over-thinking this. Thanks for the feedback!

My surgery is June 9th, and it's a relief to hear that you've had smooth sailing so far. I swing between uber excitement and sheer panic. This calms me more than you can know. Keep us in the loop as you progress...

I'm cooking this weekend in preparation for my June 9th surgery date. I have so many stewing hens in the freezer, I need to use them up before they get freezer burned. I figure that homemade chicken broth will be healthier and tastier when I'm on a clear liquid diet. I heard a tip to freeze broth in a muffin tray to have portion sizes of 1/4 - 1/3 cup. Pop them out once frozen and keep in a ziplock bag. Then they are quick to thaw in microwave. They can also be used to add flavor or make a quick sauce to other dishes. In other news, the vegetable garden is planted. I'm wondering how much of it I'll be able to eat by harvest time. At least the rest of the family will eat healthy greens, beans, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. I know veggies are hard to digest, so it'll be July/August before I'll be able to tuck in and eat a bean. If it's a good year, maybe I'll be loading up the freezer for winter just like my grandma used to do. Here's hoping!

In addition to what others have already mentioned, here's my list. Pulling weeds in my garden. Sitting on the floor and easily standing up again. Wearing my wedding ring. Tying my shoes. Walking up stairs without getting winded. Bending down to pick something up.

I make stock with my roasted birds - chicken and turkey - whenever I make that sort of Sunday dinner meal. I simmer the bones, skins, feet (if I've got them), neck, and add some onion, carrot, celery, and a bit of thyme. The slow cooker is great for this. This broth is a great starter for Soups or sauces especially when it's Protein rich and gelatinous. A spoon should be able to stand in it when it's chilled. Store bought can be so salty, and I'm not a fan of the fake color, either. I've used ice cube trays to freeze it and then pop the cubes into a zip top bag to add to my cooking when I only need a bit. I love the idea of the muffin tray, though. Quarter cup is about right for so many things. Thanks for that idea!

Be aware of any family history of blood clots. My surgeon asked if anyone in my family has had a problem with thrombosis, and I recalled that two siblings have had blood clots after commercial flights. It was enough for my doc to order an extra blood test to check for a common inherited trait called factor V leiden, and sure enough I've got it. It's pretty common among European Americans, 3-8% of the population carry it, but it means that they'll take extra steps to be sure I don't have a pulmonary embolism after surgery. Always better to know before than to deal with complications later.

Just confirmed my date - June 9th! It's getting very real all of the sudden.

I just looked at my on-line medical chart and was surprised to see that my insurance company has already approved my sleeve. Yup. At 10:35 am today there was a phone call with my insurance company, and it says that "Patty" has approved my sleeve. I keep logging in and looking at it just to be sure it says what I think it says. I had no idea that the paperwork had been filed already, but then again, I've heard that my insurance company is very easy to work with. Clearly.

I had a consult yesterday with the hematologist at my surgeon's request. The results of the tests will be back in just over a week. With those results, we should know if extra precautions need to be made before my surgery date. I would expect we will be able to schedule our June date in the next few weeks. Antsy? Heck yes!

I just came home from my consult with my surgeon. He asked for some extra blood work to be done due to a family history of clotting issues, so once that's done, we should be able to schedule.

Hi, everyone! I am 55, married 32 years and have two children. I am aiming for June so that I can be out of the classroom while I recover. The other reason for a June surgery date is that I'm planning on keeping this private. During the school year, FMLA time is a possibility, but all the school board minutes are published in our local paper which means names of teachers who are on medical leave get printed. I had surgery a few years back during the school year and had to answer well-meaning questions to people around town about whether or not I was okay. Let's just say I won't repeat that experience, thank you very much. In other news, I went shopping today for a new pair of jeans and said to myself, "Hopefully this is the last time I have to buy clothing this big."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm so aware of this decision I've made to the point where I'm probably clinically obsessing. I read more, I check out youtube videos of the procedure, I read posts, I look at before/after pictures, I even read recipes. I'm so anxious to get on with it, on the one hand, and terrified on the other. Maybe terrified is too strong a word...sobered. I'm sobered by the seriousness that this change will mean for me for the rest of my life. If I didn't have so much grading to do, I would have gone to my first support meeting tonight. I'm eager to meet others who are further down the road than me. I have nearly everything in place, but haven't had my consult with the surgeon yet. That's going to happen in early April. I've circled June 9th on the calendar, so here's hoping that's when it turns out to be!

I'm crossing my fingers for a June sleeve. I've completed psych, sleep study, nutritionist visits, and will meet the surgeon for the first time in April. At that point, everything will go to the insurance company for approval.

Avoid offending those who stick needles in our arms. If only they would do the same for us. You came away with a great story, though. I've enjoyed reading the responses. Is your surgery date set yet?

Hello, Everyone! I had my first visit with a dietician yesterday and am on track for a surgery date by mid-January. I'm 54, have been married for 32 years, my husband is athletic and maintains a normal weight. He's very supportive, but is worried. It is, after all, a very big step and my weight has crept up five pounds a year for the past two decades. Dropping twenty or thirty pounds every few years, just to have it creep back up, no longer is possible given the arthritis in my knees, so it's time to try a new tool now that I have a BMI of 40+. I have always done the cooking and meal planning during the week and have seen myself as a bit of a foodie - a proud member of the whole slow food movement. My husband enjoys cooking on the weekend. We raise our own chicken for the freezer and have friends who sell us lamb and beef. We love being in the kitchen together and after more than thirty years, we worry about how that will all change. Traditional family meals and favorite recipes may or may not be foods I can tolerate well. My guess is that I'll be able to eat part of the meal or else will make something that I can eat. We grill a lot, and steak with baked potato just won't fly with my new stomach, for example. In our discussions, this is a big concern for my family. Will I still feel good about cooking when I can't/won't be eating the food I prepare? I saw a similar thread, but it was last active more than a year ago. Time to ask again, will I still enjoy cooking for my family post surgery?