SuzeMuze

Aww, thanks Jonathan- I'm thankful for you too for giving me this creative opportunity

Aww, thanks Jonathan- I'm thankful for you too for giving me this creative opportunity

Best wishes for a smooth surgery and wonderful recovery- we're all rootin' for ya!

Welcome to the boards! You'll meet lots of great people here who are more than willing to share their experience and offer advice. Feel free to take a look around, or ask anything that's on your mind

Ahhh, just saw that you're "Sleeving" and I had the Bypass. I don't know if your post-op diet will be as restrictive as mine was, but good luck either way!

For the hospital, all I really needed was my cell phone and the clothes I walked in with. I packed all sorts of stuff (I talked about this on another post) but I stayed in my gown the whole time and slept for most of it...a waste of time to really pack much. For the full liquid diet when you get back home, your options are pretty limited. My "Can't do without" list included: Beef & chicken stock, French Onion Soup (with the onion pieces strained out), sugar-free popsicles (by the boatload), and Crystal Light. That's about it.

Welcome to you, Phil- and congratulations as you start this journey towards a healthier you! Looking forward to hearing about your progress

The process for working toward WLS can definitely be a long one. Insurance companies are very specific with what they require of their patients, as bariatric surgery is costly and requires a lifetime commitment on the part of the patient. Many of us have problems that could easily be related to our weight, but I'm not surprised that insurance companies want to have documented medical files that these issues factually exist and that other measures have been taken to try and resolve them. It can try your patience with all the steps you have to take, but you're on the right path to a better overall health- keep us posted & feel free to ask your questions

Surgeons are different in what they require and what they perceive as adequate healing time. In my surgery binder/bible, it listed approximate time frames of how long each food stage would last. I was on liquids for 10 days before moving to mushy foods. Mushy foods now for what will be 18 days, then hopefully to soft foods after my appt on Friday. They also stress not to move yourself from stage to stage- let that be their decision.

I would never want to categorize anyone here- I'm so happy for every one of us here who's decided to take this journey toward bettering their health! What I seem to find though, is a high level of discouragement from folks who, while they may indeed have that lifetime of attempts to lose weight, their attempts were made independently (even though possibly with accredited weight loss companies like Jenny Craig or WW). When they do decide to have WLS and begin all of their scheduled clearances, they contact their insurance only to find out that there's a period of physician supervised weight loss/documentation that has to be attained. It's true that insurance company reps read off of a script, and that they're not perfect. In fact, I was told multiple times by multiple reps that my particular policy didn't require physician supervised prior weight loss attempts. I got to where my surgery date was scheduled, and was then informed that in the interim, the policy had changed and I did now have to have 6 months of documented weight loss- talking about running a race to be tripped at the finish line! Fortunately, as part of my "am I really sure I want to do this" preparation, I had worked with my physician & dietician for well over a year before deciding on WLS. My surgery date remained what it was, and everything turned out fine...but that was a terrible week or so when I was scrambling to get the paperwork turned in- stress no one needs to have! Everyone should make decisions in their own way, but to toss my proverbial 2 cents in- I would recommend going through the physician supervised weight loss attempt before diving headfirst into the WLS surgery world. Most insurance policies will require it anyway, doing it first may save you some heartache in the long run, and who knows- following a diet plan that's been tailored to what you need may be enough to lose the weight without surgery.

I think everyone has very different outcomes for a similar experience, Homecie. I'm just shy of a month out and have experienced hunger too. However, I also realize that a lot of it was "head hunger"- hunger that we perceive because our former lives had us eating at certain times or in certain instances. For example, night time is very hard for me, because I'd been accustomed to snacking while I watched TV or did work for my job. I can't/won't do that anymore, and find myself thinking I'm hungry, when actually pouring a glass of iced tea does the trick quite nicely. (I read somewhere once too that our body can't tell the difference between hunger and thirst- try a drink first. I don't know how much or if I believe this, but it might be worth a try for you) Being so soon out of surgery, (and I'm in no way a doctor or qualified to give medical advice) I'd suggest eating something small, low-calorie and tolerable when you're actually physically hungry. When we're healing from the recent procedure, many surgeons focus on just getting in enough Protein, which works out well, since protein is what satiates our hunger anyway. It's hard to go through such a lengthy process, a nervewracking surgery, and possibly a painful recovery, only to find out that you're ravenously hungry and "can't eat anything". Getting in my liquids, taking deep breaths and getting out for walks (and away from food) helped me a lot in my first few weeks- I hope it will for you too

Walking has been the best exercise for me so far, and probably will continue to be for a while. Oddly enough, when I don't feel well (read: bloated, too-full) walking seems to help move things along better too. I don't know of any products that would help with loose skin, nor am I in the market to find any. The propensity for skin to sag is based on a number of things, none of which a drugstore cream can help.

Ohhh Liprippa, I feel your pain! I'm 3.5 weeks post op and never thought I'd miss chewing something so much! However, the post operative diet is there for a reason, and it's really not to test your fortitude. You may only have a few small incisions on the outside of your belly, but you've had some major rearranging on the inside. It's going to take your body a good 6-8 weeks to heal from what's been done, despite how you may think you feel. As hard as it is to stick with the program, I would follow your surgeon's advice to the letter, remembering that each surgeon is different in what (s)he requires as post op food "stages". There's no sense in making yourself sick, in pain or dumping because you moved yourself ahead too quickly

Hi Asher! One of the best things I did to prepare for my surgery was to take off the day before the procedure. I gave myself the full day to run errands, do some laundry and make sure the house was in order before I headed out. I also made sure my bag was ready for the possibility of staying at the hospital more than one night. However, when you get your hospital bag ready, I wouldn't advise packing for a vacation- truth be told, I wore my hospital gown the whole time (they'll be in to check you so often & for so many things, my pajamas would have gotten in the way anyway), and went home in the clothes I wore the morning of my RNY. I wasn't able to get a "real" shower while I was there, and honestly, I didn't care enough about hair and makeup while I was there to use anything I packed anyway. Something else to keep in mind is your surgeon's directives as far as eating while in the hospital. The person who brings you your "food" brings standard portions- it's up to us to remember how much we're supposed to try and handle (and don't use that straw- I got one with both "meals" I was served!) My last bit of immediate post-surgery advice would probably be to take it easy on yourself, especially when it comes to the protein/liquid amount that will be suggested to you. Depending on your pain and tolerance levels, you simply won't be able to get that 70some grams of Protein and 64 ounces of Water every day, and that's ok. Concentrate on your protein as much as you can, and as your body heals, the rest will fall into place. I'd stay off the scale too, for the first few days- from all the liquid they pump through your IV, you may appear heavier than when you went into surgery, and who needs that kind of discouragement?!

I took two weeks off, and am doing fine at work, but get very tired by the post-dinner hour. As long as I can get to sleep at a reasonable hour, I'm ok with getting up and starting it all again. It may also depend on the age(s) of the special needs students you work with, as younger students can be more physically demanding than secondary age students.

It's really hard not to compare ourselves with other people or with what we've heard/read about potential weight loss after surgery, isn't it? (this reminds me of the blog entry I just sent to Jonathan Blue last night!) I know I've caught myself doing that very same thing- wondering how with so few calories a day just why the weight wasn't simply falling off of me. While I'm no doctor, I've read a few other things (in addition to talks with my surgeon) that have made me feel a bit better. First, from what I understand, how quickly you lose weight is based partly on your initial metabolism, health, and BMI. In other words, a person who has 80 pounds to lose will generally lose it at a slower rate than someone who has 200 pounds to lose. Makes sense to me- if I'm not as heavy as someone else at the start of my weight loss, I'm not depriving myself of as many calories as the other person- hence the slower weight loss. Second, expecting 5-15 pounds a week is just unrealistic (in my non-medical, unsolicited opinion). Chances are, you didn't gain the weight at that rate- losing it won't happen that way either. Plus, once your body gets over the shock of surgery, if you don't maintain adequate nutrition as suggested by your surgeon, your body can switch into "panic" mode where it will actually burn fat slower as it's convinced your body is starving. (which it kind of is) It may be hard to get in all of the calories/nutrition suggested by your surgical team, but they really do know best, and will be saving your health in the long run. Just my two cents

Hi Marie, You'll find tons of answers to your questions all over this forum- everyone has a different experience and story to tell. It's important to remember though that what works for one person might not work for you. I stayed in the hospital only one night, but have a friend who stayed for 3. I drink the Premier Protein shakes- she can't stand them. I've never had much of a problem with getting fluids down, while others take quite a while to retrain their bodies. As far as "what happens after surgery", there's tons of personal opinions and experiences for that too here- each surgeon has some different requirements, just as each body heals differently. Gathering information is very smart, bearing in mind that this is your journey to take. Keep us posted

<snorts laughter> Yep.. I tried to tell myself to only get on that scale once per week. Riiiiight. I've found that if I weigh myself at nearly the same time every day and only once a day, I won't drive myself crazy. I can't speak for anyone else, but first thing in the morning works for me- I'd found that the later in the day I stepped on that glass scale (which I'm still not convinced won't crack if I'm not really careful), the more I weighed. Who needs that?

What motivates me? That's pretty easy- I've got too much left that I want to do & too many people to annoy Seriously, if I'd have answered these questions 20 years ago, my answers would have revolved around wanting to prance around in a bikini and step over all the fellas that were falling at my feet. Vanity is what initially drove my weight loss attempts, as I had no symptoms or ailments that impeded my life. As my half-hearted attempts never really worked out for me, I realized that maybe I really was ok the way I was. I was a big girl, get over it. You can't look past that? There's the door- heck, I'll even hold it open for you. Forwarding ahead those 20 years... and my reasons have completely changed. Sure, I'll love the imminent weight loss I'll have from my RNY- I don't remember the last time I've bought clothes that didn't have an "X" in the size, but prancing around in a bikini at this point in my life wouldn't be a comfortable option for me regardless of my size. My motivation now is to resolve my diabetes. Period. Well, that and the annoying pain in my right hip that's developed over the last year or so. Anyhow, I still took my sweet time to make this decision- I talked, talked, talked and read, read, read the good, bad and the ugly about WLS before committing myself to a whole new life. And you know what? It's been pretty good so far. Sure, I'm looking forward to actually chewing some food in the future, but all those things I thought I couldn't live without (like soda, ice cream and anything bread-related) really hasn't bothered me so far. Why? Because my glucose readings have been around 100 since the day I came home from the hospital. No better motivation than that for me. My weight never controlled my life. No one forced me to eat anything- that was my doing. And now it'll be my undoing.

Yay- that's fantastic! Here's to another amazing 6 weeks!

Wow, lots of new chapters starting this week! Best of luck and wishes for a complication free procedure and a very speedy recovery- keep us posted!

Pre-op (and still sometimes now) I also drank the Premier Protein. Chocolate's pretty good, but my favorite is the Vanilla- believe it or not to me it tastes just like yellow cake with frosting! Now that I'm post-op I still find the convenience of "protein in a bottle" very convenient with my work schedule & have been spending time finding alternatives to the chocolate/vanilla humdrum. Everyone's tastebuds are different, but there's a lot of options out there if you're willing to experiment. Best of luck to you!

Hi All! Have any of you out there purchased/use a movement tracker device? Right now I use a couple of apps on my smartphone, but I have my doubts as to how accurate the calorie counter & step trackers are. I'm considering a Jawbone UP, but would rather hear from "real" people who have used them to help make a decision. Anyone have some words of advice? Thanks!

That's fantastic! What a great inspiration!

Hi Deedee, and welcome to the forum! The idea of loose, hanging skin is one that many of us fret over, and many of us have to deal with. Rapid weight loss (plus age, though I don't know how old you are) can be contributing factors to why skin loses its elasticity. I don't want to have to deal with it either, but some hanging skin is a much better alternative than a belly covered in a thick layer of fat! Many insurance companies don't cover the cost of cosmetic surgery, however, depending on your circumstances, it is possible to have skin removal covered if your doctor deems it medically necessary- for instance, if the folds of skin are causing a serious irritation and/or rash or infection that doesn't clear up. Not that I would wish that on anyone, just passing along some things I've learned. I'd also recommend keeping up with your exercise. Exercise is very important not only to helping the weight come off, but it can (depending on what you choose to do) help reduce the amount of loose skin you might have to deal with. Good luck to you!