butterfly23

I am already 6 months post-op but just wanted to wish you the best @@katie456! This is a great forum for support. Hope the pre-op is going ok thus far, it gets easier, especially after day four (for me). Take care and good luck!

@@Namaste6 sounds like you are ready! I saw in another post that you have been submitted for approval - fingers crossed! What are they having you do for pre-op diet? Kaiser has us do Optifast, which is mostly Protein shakes, a couple of Soups and one Protein Bar a day. I was on it for 30 days, but glad I did it as my surgeon said my liver was small and easy to manuever, which is the main point of the pre-op diet. I am happy to share any lessons I learned but don't want to overburden you, either. The biggest thing I suggest is finding a lot of your items online as it was cheaper for me than the high prices here (except for my premier Protein Shakes from costco) for Vitamins and such. I also found my taste changed after surgery so not to load up too much beforehand. Hope the wait to hear about approval isn't too brutal!

@@cathyz you are not alone and it is great that you reached out for support. Are you taking a PPI? I ask because after my surgery, I thought I was starving all the time too and it turns out it was excess acid and once I took the PPI it mostly went away...and I was convinced it was hunger. I am now 6 months out and was able to stop PPI a couple of months ago. It does get better, I was were you are and by 3 weeks was feeling much better - I hope that is true for you as well. Best of luck!

@@Orlando79c I had my surgery at Kaiser, I have platinum and the surgery itself (and hospital stay) was $50, although I also had to pay $500 for materials and about $200 in pre-op classes, lab co-pays and office visits. Best of luck to you!

@@Elode I love Cerave. Glad it works for you too....they also make fantastic sunblock, the only kind I will use. Congrats on the increase in Water as well!

I'd love to hear how people stay motivated during a stall. I have been in one for about 3 weeks and was doing well and just focusing on my Protein and Water until the last few days. I am so tired of seeing the same number on the scale (I know, put it away already!) Plus, has anyone else noticed how a stall always seems to occur around milestones when you just cannot wait to get to the next number? A few months back I posted a thread on embracing slower than expected weight loss http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/345678-benefits-of-losing-weight-slower-than-expected/ and I keep wondering if this is my karma coming back to me to see if I can walk my talk. Anyway, besides changing up my diet/exercise and focusing on NSVs and other benefits, I was wondering if others have tips for staying motivated during a stall. Thanks in advance for sharing.

@@Inner Surfer Girl, thanks for the link to your really helpful post and @@Babbs, it really helps to hear from maintainers like you (although seems like you are still losing!) because you are right, the hardest is yet to come and I may look back to these times of "stalling" and wish I was was stalling instead of struggling with maintaining. @@mrsbailey921, hopefully I can model your healthy coping as stressing about this hurts no one but me!

I appreciate everyone's comments - thanks for taking the time, especially since stalls are discussed on here ad nauseam! While I know it is not a race and it is my lifestyle now, I think because I am a pound away from a major milestone I over-obsessed, but @@BeagleLover is right, it is just a number and in my heart and soul I already know I have been successful and do not need the scale to do it for me. @@TakeitorSleeveit, thank you for the distinction between determination and motivation - I think you are right on and you also reminded me that I will break the stall eventually, and if I am not determined I may break it by gaining, not losing. That is super motivating, so thank you!

I am 3 months post-op and am tired of focusing on how much I have not lost. I’ve been eating 80-100 g of Protein, drinking at least 70 ounces Water, staying under 1000 calories and am active. I started at very high weight and expected to lose more than 45 lbs my first 3 months, but I am tired of focusing on what I have not lost instead of what I have gained. I am so grateful for my sleeve and my chance to live a healthier life. This is my ode to losing weight more slowly than expected and the benefits: More time to develop healthy eating habits before maintenance Skin has more time to catch up (more time to lotion!) Shifting focus to NSVs like sitting in booths and chairs with arms Less chance of gallstones Opportunity to practice loving kindness towards myself and being grateful for any positive change Chance to manage expectations – if it wasn’t for WLS, I’d be thrilled with my loss, so why not be thrilled now? Practice focusing on my own wins and not comparing self to others Not having to explain to others since loss isn’t dramatic (yet) Chance to trust the process and not focus on the end (self-care, water/protein/low-carb/active) Redefine success as how I feel, not numbers on scale Understanding this is not a diet, this is my lifestyle now, so what is the rush? Have you had a benefit to a stall or slower than expected losing?

@@HealthyRN good luck to you on your surgery, before you know it you will be recovering and thankful.

I wish I had asked for a PPI because I suffered with what I thought was intense hunger, but was really excess acid for the first two months. I wish I had gotten all my prescriptions AHEAD of time instead of dealing with them and confusion when being released from hospital. Finally, I wish I had asked about how the body loses weight (stalls are normal, even gain a pound sometimes before it comes off etc) so that I was not so anxious and scale-obsessed. Good luck!

@@Namaste6 I got my surgery at Kaiser in Moanalua yet I have heard great things about Castle! Hope the pre-op is going well for you? Congrats on the loss thus far. Let me know if you have any questions, I cannot believe how fast the 6 months since my surgery has gone.

This is the title of the article I just read in the LA Times. The sample size as small, but thought I would share an exerpt from the article (and see the link to the actual study at end of my post). "The authors of a study published Thursday in the journal Cell Metabolism conducted a high-tech throw-down pitting a carbohydrate-restricted diet against a weight-loss regimen that reduces dietary fat. Confined for a total of four weeks in an NIH metabolism lab, research subjects got equal calories in each condition (low carb, low fat, each for two weeks). The subjects in each condition also had equally scant opportunities to cheat, shave or misremember what they ate. Night and day, machines measured not only how much fuel their bodies were burning, but what kind of fuel. In the end, the obese subjects lost weight regardless of which diet they were on (and low-carb dieters lost a little over a pound more than who adhered to a diet that restricted carbs. The differences were barely perceptible over a subject's two-week stay in each of the two diet conditions. But the study's authors devised a computer model and projected that over six months, subjects who stuck with a low-fat weight-loss diet would lose 6.5 pounds of body fat more than those who adhered to a diet that restricted carbs." Original study abstract: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413115003502

It is totally stressful waiting to find out if/when you are going to have surgery that will change your life! Be kind to yourself, that is one of the most important lessons I have learned thus far. Best of luck to you.

Congratulations! Hope you get approval and your surgery date soon. Best of luck!

Aloha @@Namaste6, I live in Honolulu - where on the island are you? How has it been going for you thus far as you prepare for surgery? I am almost 6 months post-op and while there have been bumps and unexpected turns, overall I am thrilled with where I am today and am so grateful for my sleeve. I still have many more changes I want to make (exercise more, cook more) yet I try to take a moment everyday to notice how far I have come and how healthy I eat now (high Protein, low carb). It feels amazing to finally take control of my eating and my life and focusing on this helps since I still have so far to go. Feel fee to message me if you'd like to talkstory and/or get together. I wish you the best in your journey!!

Good luck tomorrow! I am 5 months out and cannot believe how quickly the times has gone. May your surgery go smoothly and hope you have a quick recovery. It was eaiser than I expected, hope that is true for you too.

@@undeserving777 - that is horrible about the pain! It sounds like something did happen, glad you are seeing the surgeon to get to the bottom of it and hope you have some pain relief soon. I had pain until about a month out myself. Re: your weight loss, it sounds like you hit the stall that most of us get so remember it is normal to stall (on this site they call it the readed 3 week stall), it is your body's time to reorganize and let go. I was really worried too, now I am 5 months out and I find the stalls much more mangeable, and always I drop a lot quickly after they are over (although I realize that is easy for me to say now, but really, it gets easier). I just focus on high Protein (at least 80g for me), lots of Water and low carb and move my body and trust the process. There are lots of threads on here about stalls, slow losing etc if you want more info. Here is one I wrote to help me during the times my loss was slow or non-existent. http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/345678-benefits-of-losing-weight-slower-than-expected/ Maybe something will resonate with you. Best of luck to you!

Congratulations on your success! You seem to have a great, positive attitude which I personally feel is one of the most important things on our journey. Best of luck as you continue on your path

Congratulations on your success with your pre-op! You have gotten through the hardest part. I am 5 months post-op and my team also had me on full liquids by the time I left the hospital two days after surgery and I was fine. I was on full liquid for a week and then puree for two weeks and then some soft foods, by a month was eating most foods (although I stay away from most carbs other than those already in my Protein, fruit or veggies). Best of luck to you!

While I am not a healthcare provider, I work in liver disease. The goal of the pre-op diet is to help shrink the liver and alcohol is the worst toxin for the liver (and causes inflammation of the liver). I hate to tell you this but I'm worried that drinking could affect your liver and therefore the ease of surgery. I'm not saying I was perfect on my preop, but I was really careful the last two weeks and my surgeon said that he could tell by my liver. I don't envy you, this would be a tough decision for me as well. Best of luck

Penumonia sucks! I am so sorry to hear you are sick and it can be especially hard to be sick on top of what you are already dealing with. I know you are only 3 days out but I hope you can have some Soup or other healthy nourishing drink. Please rest and take care of yourself, your body needs it. Best of luck

I hope you do celebrate, you deserve it! Congratulations!

Super yay!!! Congrats on your success

I just got out of the hospital for two days due to cholecystitis and gallstones. They say I need to have my gallbladder out, but I have to wait until the inflammation goes down as it is dangerous right now so they gave me two days of IV antibiotics and another 10 day take-home course. Wow it hurt. I am just under 5 months post-op, been following directions the vast majority of the time and find it ironic that now I have this issue when I've spent the past year eating as healthfully as ever in my life (and ultrasound showed no gallstones prior to surgery and massive ones now). Anyway, I have read a bit about this here and am seeking others experiences post-op with their gallbladder. I have a surgery consult in 10 days after my antibiotics are done to schedule surgery, but I am hoping to push to December as I am in graduate school school full-time and work full-time until then although obviously I'll follow the surgeon recommendation if need be. Thanks in advance for any experiences or insight - also for pain management options etc. I am so thankful for this community and knowing I am not alone in whatever comes my way on this WLS journey.