blashlee

Don't be scared! I'm a little nervous but mostly excited. I'm excited about what the rest of my life will be like because I made this choice. You'll be asleep. In the hands of trained and capable staff. Hopefully in a nice comfortable hospital that also has trained and capable staff. From my understanding, you'll have a yucky few weeks, and then you'll spend a little while relearning how to eat and live. But it's gonna be worth it. We're in this together!

Ladies, I'd love some input. I've been off of my birth control since I started my WLS journey back in mid january. I won't be back on it until a month post-op, which will be early to Mid-March. I've been on Ortho Tri-Cyclen (with a brief stint on Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo) for going on about 9 years. It's gone swimmingly. I have regular, brief, tolerable periods, my skin feels clear, my moods are great. Since I've been off, it's been pretty hellish. Can't predict my cycle, off the charts moody, acne like a pre-teen. My question isn't about returning to it, because until it's family-making time in a few years, I'd like to stick to it. My PCP and my surgeon state that having gastric bypass should not have any impact on the way my body absorbs my birth control because it's such a tiny pill. With insurance, it'll cost me almost $40 a month for this pill. If I go generic and have it mailed, it's free (I pay small shipping costs). I've never had generic birth control and the thought of it kind of makes me nervous. Has anybody switched from a preferred brand to a generic birth control and how did that go? I know most generics are basically the same product just from a different manufacturer to cut costs, but getting "cheap" birth control doesn't really sit well with me... Thanks in advance!

keeping you in mind @@mstee83! Praying your surgery goes well and your recovery is a smooth one Keep us posted on how you're doing.

That's going to depend on your insurance. Different doctors and insurance companies require different documentation before they will approve you. I got my date a month after my initial visit. They booked the OR and then submitted for my insurance. Not all doctors will do that; they won't go through the trouble of booking the OR if your insurance hasn't come back as approved. My insurance approved in less than a day so my given date wasn't changed.

I've been on a liquid diet for a week and will continue it until my surgery Monday. And for a minimum of a week after. Not all surgeons do it apparently.

I use both. I like Protein drinks for my lunch box because they're just easier to deal with. I find there are more flavor choices with powders. I use powders at home mostly and I find most of them have the best textures if they go through the blender.

Just had this talk with my doctor today actually. She said no straws for the first few weeks to prevent sucking in too much air. She didn't say specifically how long though, but she didn't suggest it was a permanent change to make.

@@mstee83 @@meSparkle83 It went better than expected. I took my protein and my drinks and my jello and a few thermoses of broth. And I took my dog and while everybody ate, I played with her outside. My mom ate a small amount quickly and then came out to keep me company. She said dinner seemed "off" (aka not as good as normal) so I didn't miss anything LOL Had my liver ultrasound today and a visit with my surgeon; everything is where it's supposed to be and we are on track for surgery next monday you're both right, the finish line is getting nearer. Good luck tomorrow @@mstee83!! @@Alex Brecher thank you! I certainly will! This site has been a big help. My boyfriend is staying at it. He was considering surgical options himself but if he's able to stick to eating like me he may not need to, which would be great

My boyfriend is doing it with me and he's losing like a pound or two a day. Which im super happy about. He's overweight also and wanted to explore surgery but doesn't wanna ordeal the Kaiser process. The last 3 days for me the scale hasn't moved and I was super frustrated. But then I realized, DUH, it's because of my period. Today's going to be hard too, Palm Sunday dinner at my family's. Would skip it but that wouldn't be ok. Gonna power through that somehow.

Another difficult day. I'm not sure if other factors contributed (waiting for my period to manifest, being off the pill to prep for surgery has made it random and unpredictable and just downright rude) but I was pretty miserable. I struggled with hunger and cravings and couldn't manage to stay busy enough even though I was terribly busy. I ran in the morning, cleaned 70% of my apartment, did laundry (I even folded it!) and filled up on protein, iced tea and SF Popsicles. Finally I got so frustrated that I just took a nap in the arms of my sweetie (he's doing this liquid thing with me, and thank god for him, it's been a big help). I felt somewhat better. Went to the mall. Had more tea. Had to pass on a dinner invite, which made me miserable again. Came home and had some lemony chicken broth and more damn protein, Jello, and iced tea. Glad the day's over. Only 8 more to go.

@@mercy96 I don't. I dont have many (actually any yet) other WLS friends except online. Good luck on the half! I'm a little worried about the 10K having never run one before but I'm training at 13:00/mile and hopefully being a bit lighter by then will help.

@@meSparkle83 Can I ask if your doc gave you a reason why you can't have Premier Protein after surgery? Mine is okay with the brands I've chosen but she said no chocolate or vanilla flavors immediately after surgery. I'm not sure why, but I ordered a variety of stuff because I get bored with Vanilla anyway and I don't much care for chocolate. Proteins I like: Isopure RTD (ready to drink) Alpine Punch and Coconut Cellucor Red Velvet Cake Battery and S'Mores Premier Protein Vanilla & strawberry Quest protein in Vanilla & Strawberry Syntrax nectar protein in Carribean Cooler I have some Cellucor Molten Chocolate and Syntrax Nectar in Fuzzy Navel coming in the mail soon, hopefully they're good

@meSparkle83 I feel you. Today's proving to be difficult. I had my last workout with my trainer last night. It wasn't anything crazy, but it seems like today my body is looking for something to replenish from that. And i work in an office setting, and Friday is a day people seem to have potlucks and bring in food and stuff. I've been smelling stuff all day. Sitting idle (i work at a desk) doesn't help either. I need to find a way to occupy myself when the lunches come out. 4 days down, 10 to go...Will be nice when those numbers switch places LOL Keep pushing!!

In San Diego we have a big LGBT area, and while the restaurant and bar bathrooms are marked Men's or Women's in most places, or are unisex in others, the area is mostly male frequented, so sometimes it's just a free for all. Some years later, it's no longer odd to me to see a man walk in or out of the restroom while i'm in that part of town. But when I first ventured into that neighborhood, boy was I confused LOL

I like premier Protein (strawberry) for on the go. They have a resealable cap, which is nice because I imagine once I've had my RNY i won't be able to drink them as quickly as I can now. I've tried the Syntrax Carribean Cooler. Tastes like a pina colada without the alcohol. I also really like Quest vanilla Protein powder. It's a thicker consistency than most protein shakes. It's great for cooking. If you blend it with Water and ice, it's very much like an actual milkshake. I like Cellucor whey protein. My favorite is Red Velvet Cake Batter. I've also had s'mores (yum), Peanut Butter marshmallow (bland), and CorFetti (their protein version of Funfetti cake mix, it's super super sweet I couldn't handle much of it.) I also like Isopure RTD in Alpine Punch and Coconut.

I'm in my 20s (28 next week) and I'm having Gastric Bypass on 04/06. My doctor doesn't perform the VSG. She's not convinced by the current data, and in her professional opinion doesn't feel that there is enough long term data to measure. Her words, not mine. Personally, I wasn't interested in having the sleeve because I wasn't keen on having parts of my stomach removed. A lot of people on this forum have the sleeve and seem to really love it. Every body is different. I was considering lapband, but when I read about the potential complications (they all have complications) and lower success rate than the other surgeries, given the amount of weight I needed to lose and the fact that I want children in the next 5 years, my doctor and I decided gastric bypass would be best for me. I'm not sure what age would have to do with which surgery you choose...but I'm also not a doctor

Old Navy is a great place to buy clothes that aren't too expensive. Sign up for their email/text alerts because it seems every weekend they have some kind of deal going on. Last weekend it was $2 women's tank tops. The week before that was $5 shorts. My surgery is scheduled for April 6th and i'm in Southern California. It's already summer like weather so I wear a lot of dresses. I'm expecting big shift over the summer as far as weight loss and my clothes size, so my plan is try to stay in sun dresses and skirts as much as possible. I really don't want to buy a lot of stuff and every few weeks have to replace it as I lose.

There's another thread on this topic. Most people have said that their feet did shrink. Some just a size, others up to 2 sizes. Others said they went from needing wide shoes to being able to fit regular width shoes. I'm refraining from buying just about anything. I'm only 23 lbs down and I can already feel my feet slipping around in shoes.

Day 3 (yesterday) was harder because I had a lab appt for which I had to be fasting. When I have those type of appts I try to get them out of the way, but I didn't have a choice in scheduling. They didn't see me til 12. So I had nothing but Water from rise til the appt. It threw off my day, from there I had to play catch up on my Protein intake and fluids. So in the later afternoon, I had that same low energy/cranky thing from day one. Blech. Only one more of those appointments, this Monday. Its at 9AM so hopefully that'll be a better day.

Good luck! Congrats on your big day!

@@meSparkle83 April 6th thanks for the support <3

@@meSparkle83 Day one was horrible. I had headaches and zero energy and went to bed early. Day two was better, I even went for a run yesterday evening. Today is day 3. Just counting them down...

Hormonal birth control can contribute to blood clots and disrupt your healing after your surgery. My doctor had me stop mine in February. She wanted me off of it for at least a month. My surgery is April 6 and my February pack stopped in the middle of the month. Either wrap it up or abstain. Or as someone mentioned, other ummm pathways. I'll be allowed back on mine the month after surgery.