Sharon1964

I wouldn't take the kiddo. What if he suddenly develops a case of "mommy-and-only-mommy-will-do?" I'm thinking that happens around his age. Imagine him screaming his head off relentlessly until YOU hold him, no one else will do. Now imagine trying to recover from major surgery. Just don't do it.

My surgeon's program says no Snacks. HOWEVER, on the rare occasion that lunch doesn't agree with me (i.e., comes back up), I do have a snack an hour or so later. A wedge of laughing cow cheese. sugar-free Jello. A slice of lunchmeat. Some cucumber slices.

I think the section should be the very first one at the top of the main page. Don't put FAQs all over the different forums. When you sign up to be a member, you should receive a message and a link to the FAQs with a big START HERE notation. Make the FAQs read-only. People should not be able to post questions or comments on them.

Don't worry, you've got this! I had my gallbladder out years ago. It took a full year to get back to normal. I developed lactose intolerance, and things that never bothered me gave me heartburn (like peanut butter). Eventually all that went away. Having your gallbladder out at the same time as getting the sleeve seems like a major win-win to me. You'll be taking an acid-reducer, which will help prevent the heartburn, and you can use almond milk or lactaid milk to avoid dairy problems. If you're the cook of the family, make sure you have a week or so worth of frozen meals prepared ahead of time. Package some individual Snacks for the kids, like cheerios or crackers in little containers, so when they need something it's all ready. Put sugar-free Jello cups in the fridge, and the kids can get one for mommy when she needs one.

When I was waking up in recovery, on my back, I reached over, grabbed the bedrail, and pulled myself onto my side. It felt so much better than laying on my back. I've been sleeping on my side since the first night in the hospital.

Meh. The class was good in that they handed out the post-op eating plan, and talked about that quite a bit. They went over stuff I already knew, about reading labels and whatnot. They also stressed that the doctors in my group don't want you using Protein shakes - they want you eating "real food", and don't worry about getting enough protein in until you are eating food again. At my preop appointment the NUT gave me the diet plan for the first week (which strangely wasn't on the documents I already had) - dilute apple, white grape, or cranberry juice by half with Water, and drink 45-60 ounces of that per day. That's where the carbs are for the first week. At my one-month post op appointment, she was pretty useless. She put a set of measuring cups on the table and told me to pick out which one represented how much I was eating at each meal. I said "one-third cup". She again wanted me to pick one out even though I told her I was measuring my food. Seems like a script she didn't know how to get away from. Thankfully I don't have to see her again. When I see the nurse practitioner for followup visits, we talk about food and nutrition then.

Do you have a friend that can come over and teach you some cooking basics? I buy Swai fish fillets (it's a very mild white fish). Heat a pan on the stove on medium heat, melt a tiny bit of butter in it, put in the fish fillet, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cook a couple of minutes until the bottom is lightly browned, gently turn over and cook the other side. One fillet is two meals for me, and you can reheat in the microwave. If you want, you can put a spoonful of cream cheese in the pan after you take out the fish, melt it, stir it around, then pour the sauce on top of the fish. Ready-made frozen meatballs can be heated in the microwave. You can put a tablespoon of ready-made Pasta sauce (alfredo is usually lower in carbs than marinara) on it. I like Hillshire Farms kielbasa. They have turkey varieties if you want lower fat. Slice it on the diagonal and heat it in a pan (with or without butter) until the edges just barely start to blacken. This is something else that is easily reheated. Kielbasa is technically already cooked, I just like the texture better after it is cooked in a pan. For a slightly more advanced dish, thinly slice an onion and put it in with the kielbasa. Cook until the onions are "carmelized" - they will be completely limp and brown, and will add a sweetness to the kielbasa. I take precooked frozen shrimp to work and run them under hot Water to thaw, then mix a little mayo and a little ketchup for a dipping sauce. Edamame can be found with the frozen vegetables. You can get a cooked rotisserie chicken at many grocery stores (costco usually has larger and less expensive ones) and that will make a number of meals. I also like tuna salad on cucumber rounds.

Okay, then, color me shocked that is allowed on your pre-op diet. You did post in pre-op. I can understand it post-op as you can't eat that much. And I said nothing about chunks. Most liquid pre-op diets don't allow cream soup, which is why I suppose I was concerned you were encouraging other people to do it.

Also try different temperatures of fluids. At first, warm was all I could handle. Cold made my stomach cramp up. Thankfully that stopped after a few days.

I must be reading the wrong threads, because I don't see the meanness or bitchiness. Unless.. oh... maybe it's me. Never mind.

So, bacon, cheese, potatoes liquefied. Nope, doesn't count as liquid diet. Go back and read the documents your surgeon gave you on what you're supposed to be having and stick to that.

Okay, you have a goal. The next step is identify the obstacles, and then plan how you can conquer them. If you go through a fast-food drive thru on your way home from work, put your purse in the trunk of your car. Put a big sign on top of your purse that says something like NO! DON'T DO IT! MAKE THE CHOICE TO SUCCEED! That way, if you do stop at a fast food place, it's not as easy as it was. You have to stop and get out of the car to get your purse out of the trunk. Then you have to see that sign you put there. All of that gives you more time to rethink your CHOICE. Good luck!

Where I work, I can't see the waiting room from my office. Some patients that come in every month may not see me for a couple of months. Friday a patient came in and I happened to be standing by the front desk taking care of something. I hadn't seen this patient in a couple of months. She declared, "well hi there skinny girl!" I looked around to see who she was talking to. It was me. It's nice to be in the phase where people notice. (although I had to laugh at her definition of "skinny")

I have a full face mask, and as I lose weight, I have to adjust the straps. If I lay on my back, I wake up with my tongue glued to my mouth. It's better if I sleep on my side (and manage to stay there). I upped the humidity in my machine and I use biotene dry mouth spray. Not sure how much it helps.

The purpose is that you should not graze all day. When you get a little farther out, it will be easier.

Not necessarily. Every surgical procedure has a global period, where all normal care is included in the fee for the surgery. The only time you would have to pay would be for followup care that is not normal - meaning complications. Minor complications are included; major ones are usually not.

That's me - quashing dreams.

Deadline for what? For medical necessity, they need to show you have at least the BMI that Aetna requires with no comorbidities, or the lower BMI with the comorbidities.

You might want to check with your doctor first. Mine says no bread, crackers, or Pasta for six months. The ingredient list includes corn flour, rice flour, potato flour... kind of sounds like the ingredients for crackers to me.

If you want a smoothie, make one with plain yogurt, a splash of sugar-free flavored syrup (I like the vanilla and the hazelnut), almond milk or similar, a handful of ice, and about 1/4 cup frozen blueberries. If you have Protein powder, throw a scoop of that in. Blueberries are one of the fruits that are lowest in sugar. Just don't have a gigantic serving.

A spoon.

Perfectly normal to want the last tastes. I spent my last month before surgery having those last tastes (shockingly, I didn't gain weight). I started at a BMI of 63.1 and 403 pounds. Now, 79 days later, I've lost 74 pounds and my BMI is down to 51.5. I'm happy with my progress.

I never actually pureed any of my food. I had mashed potatoes, smooth soups, applesauce, yogurt, hummus, Jello, pudding, etc. I wouldn't puree what the rest of your family is eating if it's something that's not on your plan. For instance, if they're having Pasta, you can't have that even if it's pureed (according to my plan, yours may be different).

You should have no problem switching, and you shouldn't have to repeat anything. Since you already have approval, it may be as simple as calling your insurance company and changing the authorization to your new surgeon.

People are here for many different reasons. I'm not here to get support. I'm here to read about other people's experiences, to post things that might be helpful to other people, and to have a place to record my weight loss that shows me a cool graph. One of the major (and most common) errors in thinking regarding an online forum is that people are there for the same reason you are.