Beck90

Mine isn't so bad. It's not liquid until the last day before surgery. Until then it's just restricted 800 calories with low fat dairy, Protein shakes, lean meat, and veggies. I start that on Wednesday. Pretty scared about how hungry I'll be. But it's gonna be worth it Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Oh. I would pack pajamas and a robe. But I'm a weird one. I'm very uncomfortable in hospital gowns and just need my own clothes to feel at ease. I'll be asking to change as soon as I wake up lol Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@losingtheselumps no idea about what they meant but I'm on bc and was not told to stop it before surgery in fact we were told to get on it before surgery if we weren't already. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

You'll do great! Have a speedy recovery Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm may 31st and just had my pre op today. Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Generally about month 3-4 of your diet they start doing any testing required by your insurance company such as blood work, psych evaluation, thyroid etc when all those tests are done plus your six months then they submit to insurance and it's just waiting then. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm 25 and due for my sleeve on the 31st of May. I'm so glad I'm doing it now and I actually wish I had done it two or three years ago! I know it's going to be the best thing I've ever done for myself. Ignore what others say and do what you know is right for you Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm slightly afraid to start another topic in this forum but here goes... okay so when I went to my teach I was told my sleeve would hold 2 oz. period. and that's all I should put in it at one sitting.. but then I read another post by someone here at the forum that was two weeks out and could drink far more than 2 oz of her Protein shake, Water, etc at a time.. and someone said it was because the swelling had gone down and liquid runs right through the sleeve so this is normal.. So then.. how much of my shake should I be drinking once I'm post surgery.. I had planned to make it in 2 oz increments... but apparently this may not be necessary? 0.0 *bit confused*

That makes sense! Okay I understand now - and I'm also glad that Protein shakes count in my liquid. LOL Thank goodness..

This is interesting.. so if I drink slowly - I'm allowed to drink my entire Protein shake in one sitting? (it's anywhere from 8-24 oz depending on how much fruit, ice, greek yogurt, etc gets added) or is that a no no?

Oh boy.. Well this thing exploded while I was away So I've tagged some people but really everything is for everyone to comment on if they want.. @@Cari Dickenson - Thank you for caring and warning me. I will definitely be careful. My plan now is to wait until at least 3 months out if not longer. (Sidenote: This thread will probably still be going by that time and I can tack on how it went for me at this rate.) And Thank you And for understanding how upset I am that I really never had any opportunity to find a surgeon I mesh with.. This is the root of why I'm choosing to do most of my own research, talk to my PCP, ask here, look for studies... and GASP not always do what my "personal" surgeon recommends.. because.. if I had any realistic choice I'd like to have found someone I mesh with better but since I don't.. I'll make due! I've also been warned that the post op and hospital stay can be kind of traumatic.. Thank you for warning me. I'll probably be here looking for support.. I'm planning on taking my laptop just in case I need to reach out for reassurance. @@ladyinsouth - a lot of different programs have differing rules about carbonation (like in perrier seltzer Water for instance) and caffeine.. Some suggest to limit them or cut them out and others don't say anything. I was actually suprised to see the caffeine thing because the materials I was given may say diet pop is the devil but they only ask people to limit caffeine to a reasonable level - i.e. two cups of coffee per day - and they can do that right up until surgery and then as soon after as they feel their stomach can tolerate it.. I will look more into the caffeine thing.. it's good to know that might also be an issue I need to consider. I can always choose non-caffeinated diet pop if it becomes a concern @ - THANK YOU. I couldn't have said it myself.. people have a misperception that I put what I did on the thread because I only wanted people to agree with me and that wasn't it.. it was more I know a LOT of what people have said about NOT drinking diet soda and why.. and I just wanted to know some of the other side of the argument from people who do (Dr. consented or not). I really do try to learn and improve and make good decisions.. And I was hoping for a non-debate so that later if people wanted to use this thread as a resource they could find the information within. Now it's hard to do so because it became a big debate. THAT was why I asked for only nice responses.. @@LondonHawk - So far all the studies I've found aren't specific in that matter.. but I do figure that as careful as doctors are today about CYA (covering your ass) there wouldn't be very many who permit their patients to drink diet pop if they were finding that everyone who did failed later on... because again CYA I do know that the Michigan doctor's video mentioned that there wasn't a lot of difference in sleeve size (on endoscopy) from those who had surgery and kept the weight off vs those who had the surgery and didn't.. I think that's fairly telling.. I'm not saying the sleeve doesn't grow at -all- but.. apparently the sizes were negligible difference. ALL - Remember.. There is a big fundamental difference between a pouch and a sleeve. Pouches are partially made of the fundus (the stretchy part of the stomach and the part that produces the hunger hormone grhellin and are used in bypass.. - pouches therefore can and do stretch far more easily.. Sleeves on the other hand take out the entire "stretchy" part of the stomach, all of the fundus, and most of the ghrellin producing stuff.. this makes them pretty difficult to stretch much at all.. (At least that's how I understand it) .. I also see merits in pointing out that... the amount of gas required to stretch the sleeve would need to be much more than contained in a can of pop... I would think.. that does make sense to me.. Especially since sleeves are not particularly stretchy.. but even more... If you think of it as common sense.. if drinking pop continually had the ability to stretch the stomachs of everyone who drank it (sleeve or no sleeve) then everyone who drank pop would have a gigantic stomach and be overweight.... and that's not true.. there are many extremely fit or thin or average sized people who... drink pop.. whether a lot, a little, or medium amount.. I mean I know not everyone has a sleeve but it does sort of make sense.. gas is expelled from the stomach - if it's there by burping and then the stomach goes back to its usual self.. the mechanics of that - as I understand it at least.. don't change just because you get sleeved.. @ - Preach it please... This is supposed to be a place of support.. We all have things in common... we all want each other to succeed maybe we could try to be kinder to each other.. it's well known what works for one person doesn't always work for another and it's one thing to want another person to succeed so you tell them your opinion (even if they don't want to hear it) and another to try to say your way is the only right way and shove it down everyone's throat.. Let's support each other and be nice to each other. @@VSGAnn2014 - I think it might deserve to be submitted for an award -.- @@Alex Brecher - I absolutely know this isn't a diet.. It's a lifestyle change.. and it may well be different than other diets I've been on in the past.. I.. wasn't in particular saying I didn't expect that.. More was looking for information from people who do drink diet pop because I know there are people whose doctors allow that and many many of them have posted in this thread. @@LondonHawk - I'm afraid I have to respectfully disgaree with what you say about following your own doctor's plan instead of someone else's.. if i hit a stall or need advice it won't be my surgeon I'll go to for advice because he and I don't mesh... which is why I don't feel bad following someone else's doctor's advice.. if I need advice I can come here or if it's really serious I'll go to my PCP who is experienced in bariatric matters.. once my surgery is over and I've completed the necessary requirements I'll be asking everything medical to my PCP and the nutritonist that works with him.. who I mesh with MUCH better (and he for the record didn't have an issue with my drinking pop - he just didn't give me much info on it which was why I asked here. @@LipstickLady "You're popular when you have as many haters as you do fans." --- I'm pretty sure I'm well on my way with this thread.

@@Marissela @@Kla77 - how are your nerves doing? Mine are ramping up a bit now that the day is getting closer and closer.

@@MCSleeve81 good luck to you as well!

TWSS (JK LipstickLady - I couldn't resist though) I put the warning I did on it because I had hoped that this thread could be information containing for those who do want to drink pop rather than becoming a thread about the merits of or non merits of having it post sugery which.. as it turns out doesn't appear to be possible.

I mean make make it sound pretty, but he stated as a -fact- (a fact being something repeatedly medically proven by testing) that drinking pop would stretch the sleeve and sabotage the surgery.. He never talked anything about how unhealthy it was (which certainly has its merits but wasn't something he even addressed) In any case.. he stated this as -fact-.. but it is not a fact.. it's actually been proven that that's a complete myth.. so.. to me.. if you perpetuate your OPINION and BELIEF as a FACT rather than your own opinion - that is a lie. That said.. I don't distrust him as in like... an incompetant surgeon.. I don't distrust him to handle any complications that come up or advise me on those - he has a great record in that regards.. I just don't trust him to distribute nutritional / eating / sleeve / food / how to live after surgery advice.. which is fine with me.. I can live with that.. I can talk to my PCP (who knows a great deal about bariatrics, has doctored me for a decade and who I would trust unquestioningingly) . I can read medical articles.. I can come here to the forum and find very knowledgable people.. but I really don't have the option to seek out another surgeon.. So I'm making due with what I've got and making the best of the situation. The only other way I could fund my surgery would be to go to Mexico and self pay and I'll just say that's not.. even an option at this point so.. I just have to make the best of the situation and look out for myself. In terms of what you said about alcoholism - I think that's a good comparison - for a lot of people it is.. for others its not.. I don't think you're in the minority in wanting to choose ONLY healthy things for your body because that is the way you feel safe.. and that's GOOD. I believe everyone should do what works for them and feels good for them personally. In my case.. I don't feel like my relationship to food is an addiction that I have to be wary of (i.e. that's not how I became overweight) so I don't fear that drinking some diet pop or what not.. will draw me back to the state I'm in now. But for some people that may not be true.. I can only state what I believe to be true in my own personal case.

So .. I have to confess that I'm terrified about the amount I have to drink post surgery.. 64 oz.. right now I drink maybe.. half of that.. MAYBE. And I tend to have the reaction that if I drink much more, I'm constantly having to pee.. like.. every 10 minutes.. I have the feeling that if I drank 64 oz a day I would need to come HOME from the hospital with a catheter because pee would just be constantly coming out XD Does anyone else have this problem? How did you handle it?

@@Cari Dickenson - I accept your apology. I would like to hope that almost everyone who's gotten to the point of being cleared by insurance and is days away from beginning their pre-opp diet really understands what they're getting into and is willing to make the necessary changes (Now I'm sure there are some that.. aren't.. but I hope most are!) Part of the reason I don't follow everything my surgeon says to the T is because frankly... I don't.. trust surgeons who lie to their patients.. To explain further: My surgeon had a teach just a couple of weeks ago that all of us being sleeved this month had to attend.. and stated quite plainly that drinking diet pop and using straws will stretch your new sleeve and ruin it.. careful research is telling me this is not true. Granted.. there may be any number of reasons why diet pop isn't that great for any of us - sleeved or not. And there has been (arguable) research about whether the artificial sweeteners in diet pop make you crave sugar more, but there has been absolutely no research showing that straws or diet pop can hurt your sleeve in any way... And I would think as a surgeon specializing in the area... if I can find other surgeons pointing that out.. and read the studies they cite... my own surgeon ought to be able to do to the same.. which means that he either doesn't bother reading recent research (which isn't good) or more likely knows he's lying to me and the rest of us but finds that acceptable if it means that we do what HE thinks is the best course of action.. perhaps he has our best interest at heart.. but lying is still unethical.. So now I don't trust the guy and I'd rather do my own research and ask people here... To be fully honest.. I don't like my surgeon.. and now that I found out he has no problem lying to patients.. I don't TRUST him either.. which is worse.. but I'm stuck within my state because Medicaid is paying for my surgery. (This is a problem because I'm right on the state line and some really amazing hospitals are less than an hour away from me just across state line.. but I can't utilize them).. the oher potential hospitals are up around Chicago.. 4+ hours from me or in Springfield 3+ hours from me (and that one requires a mandatory weekly support group in person.. ) So I was really only left with one single hospital to go to.. and at that one single hospital... they don't give you any choice or say about what surgeon you get assigned.. For the most part 1 surgeon does about 80% of the sleeves and if you don't like him you aren't allowed to request the other... Same thing with the nutritionist.. They only have two.. and if you don't like the one you have.. too bad you're just stuck with her.. So.. in this cruddy situation.. I don't feel like I have a lot of options. But I DO feel safer researching on my own and asking people here than I do trusting a surgeon who I didn't mesh with to begin with but who then really broke my respect by being willing to lie to his patients :\

OMG that app is so cuuuuuteee I have to have it. Now. What is this!? The Water in our food counts too? How do we count fluid when it comes from water.. I mean a Protein shake is pretty easy or coffee.. or low cal juice etc.. it's just the fluid ounces but how do you count the fluid from food!? Also even though it's hard isn't it like absolutely vitally important to be able to drink the 64?

Congratulations on your approval.. I know how you feel.. I was very nervous waiting on my approval because I'm bipolar II.. and a lot of us get turned down because we're all painted with the same brush. And I'm glad you decided to switch PCPs it doesn't sound like if she didn't understand that 100 pounds overweight and pre-diabetic with a family history was medically necessary that she's a good fit for you.

@@LipstickLady - First off.. I was going to have to say a lot more and it would have been a lot less nice than you said it so THANK YOU very much for sticking up for me. I appreciate it. As a new sleever and fairly new to the forum it's not fun to come on here and get information and get hate and judgment instead. You ROCK. You are AWESOME. Keep preaching it, sister!!! @@Cari Dickenson - I'm going to be as nice as possible about this.. but I feel the need to stand up for myself about a few things. I started researching the surgery just over a year ago. I went through six months of physician supervised dieting and a -ton- of (extra) clearances that a lot of people don't have to have because of my bipolar and anxiety issues. Trust me.. if the powers that be didn't think I understood and was capable of and able to commit to the changes being made - they would not have cleared me for surgery. I also don't think that this is a light thing..I'm agreeing to let someone cut out 80%+- of my stomach. You better believe that I take it seriously and that I took a good hard look and did a LOT of research before I decided it was what I wanted to commit to. I've never done or indicated anything that suggested I'm not able or prepared to make a slew of changes to my life to make this surgery work. And work it will. I am determined to make this new tool work for me. If something I try doesn't work then I'll do something different. Seeing as how I'm not a masochist, if I try a sip of pop a -few- months out (certainly not one month out) and I'm curled in a ball in gas pain then I won't try again and will blame no one but myself considering I know that's one of the possible things that could happen, and if it does.. I'll live (and learn). I absolutely can stick to the diet. I'm not faint of heart. In fact, I have every single meal planned out for the entire 13 days of my pre-opp diet. So, I can follow the rules. The difference is that the pop "rule" is not a hard and fast rule. It's an opinion and not all surgeons agree with it... so I'm merely choosing which side of the debate I agree with. It's not like I'm saying "I'm not going to take my protein intake seriously" or " I'm going to go out and have a steak the night I get released from the hospital." I'm advocating that there are legitimate arguments for both sides of the debate and came to get information.. not validation.. I don't need validation because plenty of doctors have already given that. Please don't make judgements or predictions about people you don't know anything about. Especially about their worthiness to have surgery or their ability to succeed after having surgery. I'll be happy to tag you very first in the thread I WILL post in a year or two that says I made it to goal weight and again in the thread I post a year out from that that says I'm happily maintaining that goal weight. I will succeed. Notice, I didn't use a question mark. I used a period. I'm not asking a question, I'm making a statement. I will do whatever it takes.

HA I think it hurt because the band size got too small because I got fatter but I definitely do need to get remeasured.. and if my cup size goes up I'm getting a reduction. The stupid DD is already bigger than I want -.- I wish I was one of those girls with small ones.