Sajijoma

I like syntrax twisted cherry(tastes like coolaid), wild grape(tastes like flat grape nehi), and crystal sky which is a bit tart and acidic and such a refreshing change from the chocolate and vanilla shakes everyone makes. I came out of surgery lactose intolerant, so beyond the syntrax line, it was hard to find a protein powder I could use.

Mine didn't kick in at the normal time it should have....i drank it at like 4:30pm and it didn't start working until 1am. All the time inbetween I was just in cramping pain. I kept going and going and going clear up til the time I left for the hospital. The last time I used it, it was a lot more sudden.

As long as your liver shrinks enough to perform the surgery, the surgery itself and the diet after surgery will definitely reduce your liver even more. It's a matter of getting it down enough I guess. I didn't have a pre op diet and my liver oddly was not a problem, but I hear the liquid diets before hand can be hard. Just stick to the plan. ???? it's so much better on the other side!

My surgeon required a bowel prep before surgery that consisted of a clear liquid diet and then magnesium citrate the evening before. The stuff is aweful, but it did the job it was meant to do. My intestines were sparkly clean!

The last thing I remember was the mask on my face and the anesthesiologist touched my shoulder and told me it was ok. I made it now I needed to go to sleep. The first thing I remember waking up was the pain and someone saying "she's waking up should I take it out now?" And then feeling something being pulled out of my mouth. I assume it was the breathing tube thing. Then they gave me pain meds and I went to sleep and woke up later in my room.

Congratulations on your decision. So much of what you said resonates with me. I have always been the fat kid too and I have 7 kids I love and want to be able to be the mom they deserve. I had rny in November and it was the best decision I ever made. I can do so much more now than I used to be able to. I would get winded walking to the kitchen or from the kitchen to the bathroom and forget the stairs! That would be a lay on the bed huffing and puffing unable to breathe event every time I had to go upstairs. Fast forward to today, and I not only can walk up the stairs without being winded, but I run up the stairs and don't double foot each step. I dance with my kids, I walk around the neighborhood and I wear clothes that 6 months ago were nothing more than a distant fantasy. It really is the best decision I made and I know you won't regret it either.

Congratulations! This is going to be an exciting journey for you! ❤️ I am 2 1/2 months out and it really was the best thing I've ever done for myself.

@@frankenstein what you are experiencing is normal. This is a big deal! About a week before my surgery I became preoccupied with the thought of "what if I die." It got so bad that at one point I did call the office about cancelling, but the receptionist who I had become friends with over the months of prep told me they hear this all the time and to just ask myself what I plan to do if not this, because my weight was going to kill me if I didn't do something. I knew this. I knew I had no other real options and that I needed this. I was just afraid of leaving my kids behind. I thought about it and prayed about it and I decided I would rather die in surgery showing my kids I tried to get my life back, than to die in my sleep from sleep apnea, a heart attack trying to put my shoes on or a stroke from trying to make it down the drive way. We all have our reasons that brought us to this point and you really need to focus on those as the time for surgery nears. For me, I prayed to God to give me strength, peace, and to keep me safe and bring me home to my family. On the actual day of my surgery I was zen. After all the tears and fear, the day of surgery I was almost stoic! Fast forward to almost 3 months out and Imm so glad she talked me down from the ledge and I had the surgery. I don't regret it at all and I haven't felt this alive in a long long time. My kids are getting the mother they deserve instead of the mother they had to settle for because of my weight.

resale shops and thrift stores as well as clearance are my best friends right now. I'm down 60 lbs since surgery, but 100lbs since I attended the wls seminar. I've gone through so many sizes so far from a 32/34 down to a 22/24 and dropping. Wearing clothes that fit really make me feel better and makes me proud of what I have accomplished with my new body. It deserves to be out there saying "I'm kicking butt!" Not hiding under ridiculously big pants and baggy shirts. The way I see it, if someone wants to give me clothes and I can use them, I'd take them. It's just a short stop on the way down the weight ladder, but it does many things. It helps you see your body as the smaller vessel it is becoming and it makes the giver feel good too. ????

I take probiotics daily. It really helps to keep your gut bacteria healthy. Surgery, antibiotics, the large amounts of sugar free products all wreck the natural balance of our flora and fauna. I get mine at Sprouts Markets. I get the Quattro and it runs about $45 a bottle I think. It's in the refrigerated section. I wouldn't trust a probiotic that wasn't refrigerated.

I talked a lot with my NUT about regaining weight before I had surgery, because I absolutely did not want to go through a major surgery just to end up back at my old weight or heavier. Some of the things she told me were that some people don't follow the plan even from the get go. She had one guy try to eat a hard shell taco in the puréed stage and nearly killed himself. Then when he got out of the hospital, within a week he had eaten a whole king size snickers bar. His total disregard for following the rules meant he not only didn't lose weight, but he gained weight. The guidelines are given for a reason. Part of it is so your body can heal, but part of it is also to change the way you eat so that you are successful long term. If you start out eating the insides of a soft taco today and in a year or two progress to just eating the whole damn taco and then down the road to two tacos...there are extra carbs and calories in that. To be successful we need to be as vigilant at day 100 and 900 as we are at day 1. Dumping is also not a given. I have had dumping only once and that was from Protidiet vegan chili. I honestly don't know what if anything it would take me to dump, but I'm so afraid of the idea that I'm not even going to try to find out! lol we need to keep that mentality going forward even after a year or so has passed and our bodies adapt to the ability to process fat and sugars again. The biggest reason people regain weight, though, is from failure to change their original bad habits. They go back to eating candy because they find out they can and it's what they always did before, or they start eating potato chips before bed again, or eating cake with gobs of frosting. It's a very short time really to put all your demons to bed and pick up new habits for life. It helps to have a good accountability and support including a NUT and psych should things goes in a negative direction so you can course correct and get back on track. You can be successful, but this operation is a tool and nothing more or less. You get out of it what you are willing to put into it.

I'm 2 1/2 months out but so far I cannot tolerate chicken in any form, pork in any form, only beef I can handle is a fattier tender cut like ribeye or tenderloin. I can't tolerate bacon, or protein bars, lunch meats, beans, rice, bread or crackers, um pretty much all I can tolerate these days are fish, shrimp(which I just became able to eat this week), eggs, salad as long as the lettuce is tender, and cheese. I jokingly say I've become a lacto pescitarian since all I eat is cheese and fish. ????

I am 2 1/2 months out and I get so cold it's unreal. I have always been the person to walk out in the snow without shoes on or a jacket or long pants for that matter, and now I spend my nights under an electric blanket with socks on and slippers and a big full length sweater...I keep mittens stashed in my chair and my desk drawer, and everywhere else. I even wear sock hats around the house. I used to laugh at people who wore sock hats. How could anyone possibly have a head THAT cold...well, now I do! lol the fact my hair is thinning out probably helps too. I have gone from super bushy hair to very fine limp stringy hair. It's weird for me.

I just had that exact same experience with my collar bone! ???? I was like holy mother of God! What is this lump and then I saw it on the other side and after a bit of poking discovered that OMG! I can feel my collarbone! I cannot remember when was the last time I felt them!

I went through this with my husband too in the beginning. He didn't understand how much pain I was in on a daily basis or how much torture I went through on a daily basis from my weight itself and from trying to diet and being so hungry all the time it hurt too bad to sleep. I sat down and poured my heart out into a letter and gave it to him. I even linked to a bunch of different YouTube videos for him to watch both from Bariatric surgeons and from people just like me who have had the surgery. It helped him wrap his mind around why I wanted to do such a thing. We still had bumpy patches throughout the whole process including him refusing to read my post op care book to see what it was I needed him to do since he missed the class. Since surgery though, as he's seen me gain back use of my body that I had lost and to see me smile again and be happy and active, he's good now. He was afraid in the beginning that I could die and that this was just another in a long list of "lose weight schemes" like all the pills, the various diet companies-weight watchers, Jenny Craig, nutrisystem that we poured so much money into with no real results, and that I was putting my faith in a surgery because I was out of options. Now he knows better.

I've never heard of needing another surgeon. When I had my surgery, there was a surgical assistant that was used who was not covered and that cost me $500, but I've never heard of needing a second surgeon. In fact, some places are doing the sleeve via robot now, so needing 2 surgeons does seem a surprise. Are you going to a Bariatric center of excellence? If not, you might want to consider transferring to one.

it means it's full of bile sludge and that is causing the pain. There could be some small stones in there too. It's not uncommon after wls to have gall bladder issues. That's why some surgeons take them out as part of the wls procedure.

I haven't gotten a card, but I will have to ask. I would love to go to Sweet Tomatoes, but I refuse to pay 8.99 with a coupon to eat 1/4c of lettuce and maybe a tomato if I'm lucky.

I am 2 1/2 months out and have no appetite at all. I have literally forgotten to eat all day on several occasions. It's hard. You really just need to tell yourself that this is what you have to do when I get up in the morning I make a protein shake...usually like a syntrax nectar and I'll fill it with ice and sip it off and on all morning. Then at lunch time, since I'm still not hungry, I might nibble a piece of string cheese or a baby bell or sometimes nothing at all. Then at dinner time I try to force myself to eat even though I'm not hungry and sometimes I just can't. It's just miserable to even be there at the table, so I'll make another protein shake and sip it over the next couple of hours. It helps me get close to my minimum without feeling like I'm being forced to eat against my will.

I stopped drinking soda July 4th of last year. I had just been to the seminar and was trying to discern if this was really the thing for me(although I knew it was). So I told myself that after surgery I couldn't have soda ever again, so I better leave it behind now to see if I could. I set July 4th as my Independence Day. The first day instead of 2 sodas each time, I'd go for just one. Then after a few days, I went to 1 soda a day...then 1 soda every other day and then to half a soda every other day and then at that point it was an easy jump off. Iced tea was harder. I was a mean ole bear for about 2 wks before I managed to get over the addiction to the caffeine in tea. It's worth it though. Now I only drink water and protein shakes at 2 1/2 months out.

Congratulations on your NSV! I just reached a point where I can buy clothes in stores with a plus size dept and it's exciting! I've been reduced to buying online and accepting whatever could fit for so long, that it's now so much fun to go to Lane Byrant or Nordstroms and walk in and get to choose things that look good on me or make me feel good! I also just made it to zulily sizes 22/24 so now I have a new favorite online store. such a big change from the 32/34 I was wearing in July!

I don't measure often, but I am to the point that I really need to because I have body dysmorphia and I cannot tell that I've lost any weight when I look in the mirror. I still look the same to me visually, so by measuring, and weighing on the scale, I find it is helping my mind understand that I am changing.

It may come down to your surgeon or insurance. My surgeon doesn't do DS because he says the complications risks are too high, for the payout. My insurance also wouldn't cover it pretty much siting the same reason. I went with rny because it seemed like the best option for me at 429lbs. I'm only 2 1/2 months out, but so far, I'm totally pleased with my results and I know it's only going to get better.

It depends on the hospital and surgeon. I had to remove all my piercings. I ended up losing my cartilage piercings on my ears, and my body went into rejection mode and I lost 2 other sets on my lobes. I'm fighting to keep the 2 I have left.

I have had anemia all my life. Although I am in the low end of acceptable range currently, I can only get there by cooking all my meals in black non enameled cast iron pans. If I eat a few meals completely not cooked in the black non enameled cast iron pans, my iron levels dip down in the unacceptable range again. I don't know if you've tried the pans, but it does help. Post op I was severely anemic due to surgery and the fact that I was on liquids and then puréed foods and didn't cook those meals in cast iron. After I made it to soft and started cooking in them again, it went back up to a low normal.