j16

Thanks all. I finally reached the doctor and found out there is evidence of some damage from acid reflex so it looks like Gastric Bypass is the route for me.

Thanks all - I'm feeling much better this morning. I guess I need to focus on each day and remember surgery isn't the goal, weight loss is.

I have tried several flavors of Isopure and hated them except for the two tea flavors. I was told they taste better if you water them down though.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing- it's really helpful to read this as I get closer to my surgery date.

I have been worried about this also as I have lost over 10 percent of my weight and am about 10 pounds away from a 40 BMI. It has made it difficult to stay motivated and stick to my diet. My insurance also requires evidence that weight-loss attempts in the year preceding surgery have been ineffective. I have not been able to get a clear answer from my insurance about whether that means if I lose too much on my preop diet they will consider it proof a supervised diet is effective.

I'm 55 and waiting to go over test results with my surgeon in about a week. I am hoping it will help me decide between sleeve or bypass. I have met all of my insurance requirements so just need to submit request and schedule surgery once I'm approved. I'm guessing I will have surgery in late May.

I had to have one a few weeks ago. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. It burned pretty bad going in but only for a few seconds. The person doing it told me to stick my tongue out in between swallows which helped a lot so it went pretty quickly for me.

I would think it would not take much time to get the approval since you've already been approved for the bypass. Since you will be stuck with the decision for life I would make sure you are doing the procedure you really want.

I'm pre op but down 40 pounds so my bras are loose. I decided for now and after surgery I am just going to wear sports bras until my weight stabilizes.

This reminds me of something that happened to me. I was overweight in high school and college. Once I was walking along the side of a road and a pickup full of guys drive by and yelled things about how fat I was. I remembered the face of one of them in particular. In my early 20s I lost weight and got down to about 135 which I kept off for 7 years. One time I was helping a friend move out of her apartment and her neighbor was helping as well. It was the same guy and he was very friendly. For the next few months he kept asking my friend to set us up and I kept refusing saying only that he had done something to offend me. This apparently drove him crazy and he kept asking her to find out what but I never told.

I've weighed daily for years. I have a phone app that calculates my moving average so I look at trends and don't get hung up on my daily weight. I find it very helpful.

I could get it down and would eat it if I needed to but in my opinion it is not even close to "real peanut butter".

Lol-hopefully post surgery my shadow will have a more pleasing shape! It sounds like you have a great doc - I'm hoping this will all be behind you soon.

If you can try to find out what type of kidney stone it is for better preventative treatment. I had a 7mm stone and had a lithotripsy but the surgeon (from Overlake in Bellevue) didn't send the fragments to the lab for analysis.

Congratulations!!

I'm so sorry you had to go through this - I hope it is completely resolved soon!

As far as questions to ask the surgeon: how many bypass procedures has s/he done, how many this year, how many sleeve procedures, how many deaths and serious complications, what percentage need revision surgery, what percentage regain the weight, what follow up is provided after surgery

It's true that they can't really understand but maybe they think they do because they care about you and want to be that sympathetic . We all like to think we are empathetic enough to understand each other's troubles.

Congrats!!

Thanks for sharing - it's inspiring me to dust off my Fitbit and give it another try!

Congrats- you are an inspiration!

That's great!

I'm really struggling (pre-op) to comply with the prescribed low carb high protein diet I've been given and am concerned about how I will do this long term. I have cut out all desserts, rice, pasta, but still am struggling. I do not eat a lot of proteins so am used to having a lot of beans. I have a history of kidney infections and stones so am worried about having so much protein. My oncologist's office told me to keep animal protein's to 14 oz per week to prevent cancer. I have always heard high fat diets cause heart disease and that vegetables, fruits and fiber are healthy. So all this seems counterintuitive. I know if I go with the gastric bypass proteins and fats are not absorbed as well so can understand having more of them and eating protein first but just can't get my head around why it is necessary or desirable to limit healthy carbs. Is it the calories or fear they set up cravings? I haven't been able to get a clear explanation from my center's nut.

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful responses - I really appreciate the support!

I think of vegetables when I say healthy carbs. Since I can't have seafood and don't like yogurt or soft cheeses my proteins have traditionally included beans.