theantichick

I'm a nurse and I have yet to meet a nutritionist who was worth a darn. The absolute nonsense I've heard from nutritionists would be laughable if it wasn't so serious. If there's a conflict between what your surgeon says and what your nutritionist says, go with your surgeon. I have declined to meet with the nutritionist further because it's a waste of time and money. There are decent resources out there if you as a patient have not learned about basic nutrition that will cost less and be real scientifically proven information.

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Ditto the neti pot. It's amazing how much it helps just to clear out the sinuses. Essential oils like eucalyptus can also help open up the airways, or some Vicks Vapo Rub.

VS sucks all the way around. Back in the day when I still fit in their crud, my sister went to buy me something for a birthday or whatnot. She was large, and the lady looked her up and down and told her in a very snooty voice that they didn't have anything that would fit *her*.

I get my best fit (for now anyway) with LB. But I have friends who are very hard to fit (small ribcage, huge breasts) and they swear by Soma. Pricey, to say the least, but there's nothing like a bra that really fits. They say the Soma stuff lasts a really long time if you take care of it, too.

As for food stuff, I just got released to full diet yesterday, so I haven't had much of the "caught out, must eat something" but I don't think that's too bad. When I got released to purees I was craving refried Beans, and the texmex fast food place we use doesn't have them alone anymore. So I got a bean burrito and ate the insides with a fork. I think there are acceptable fast food options if we just stop and think it through.

I got a NutriNinja and love it.

Tylenol is generally approved for all of the WLS. However, I reiterate that if you're having to take *any* kind of headache medicine multiple times a week, you need to get with your doc and maybe even a referral to a headache specialist. It is not normal to have that many headaches and once they find the cause there are usually better treatment options than tylenol, advil, or excedrin. Too much tylenol can damage your liver.

The science says that long-term weight loss success is about 5%. Most of us are experts at getting weight off, we've been professionally dieting for decades. But it always comes back on, which is why we're here. And the weight yo-yo-ing on and off has been proven to be as detrimental if not more than being heavy by itself.

While I hope that research continues and they find non-surgical ways to help weight loss succeed for my daughter's generation and future grandkids' generations, right now the best success rates are with surgery. That doesn't mean it's right for everyone, but it needs to be viewed as one of the best options medicine can give us at this point.

My friends all expressed that they were concerned (based on people they knew with serious complications) but are supportive of my decision. They've all watched my health deteriorate over the years, and know what it's cost me to have to quit some of my favorite activities because I physically can't anymore.

Some friends will be supportive, and others won't. If you've done your research and are steadfast in your decision, ignore the nay sayers. It's normal to have 2nd thoughts and cold feet, because it's a big life-changing decision. Bet if you're married, you had 2nd thoughts and cold feet before the big day. That's normal. Hang in there!!

I DO think that physician have to vary their plan based on someone's weight in many, not all, cases. And I am not a doctor, just a layperson's thoughts. Strength and dosage of antibiotics, medication's impact on blood pressure or insulin levels, amount of pain relief needed due to issues not directly related to the illness being treated, length or time treatment is needed because the body is not at prime level of health, etc. I think EVERY BODY is due more diligent care based on their personal medical history, but I believe weight plays a large part in effectiveness of the treatment.

I'm mainly referring to the phenomenon where doctors give completely different treatment plans for the same malady, with the heavy person being told to lose weight. There are stories out there about a woman who went to her doctor and her strep screen was positive. Instead of prescribing an antibiotic, he told her she needed to lose weight. Weight has nothing to do with ear infections or strep throat, and shouldn't affect the treatment. But for some doctors, no matter what the complaint, if the patient is large, that's all they can focus on. Even when it comes to things like knee injuries - one lady tore an ACL while exercising you know, doing what all "good fatties" do, and there's only one treatment for a completely torn ACL and that's surgery. Doctor said the only thing she could do was lose weight. Another lady was having severe pain with her periods. Doc said lose weight. Turns out she had ovarian cancer, and i she hadn't changed doctors after that, she'd be dead. Those are the things that have to stop in the medical community. I don't expect my doc to quit including weight management in the treatment plan, but I do expect her to give me real, science based, evidence based treatment plans. Diets don't meet the standard for evidence based. If a cancer treatment only worked 5% of the time, and made 50% of the people worse, it would never get approved for use. But diets are still being prescribed, and they are awful medicine.

In general, I believe with the overall thought process of HAES, but not their reverse discrimination. Fat people feeling bullied or hated by HAES because they choose to lose weight, diet, exercise, have surgery...

Some people use their HAES standpoint as a weapon, just as some people use their religion as a weapon. (WBC, anyone?) I think most extremists suck and people should just let people do their own thing unless it's taking away from your rights to be happy as well.

I'm one of those dang liberals, though.

I'm one of those liberals too, go figure. LOL

I've read that we start sitting differently as we gain weight, and the trick is to learn to sit with your weight on your thighs and not on your tailbone as you lose weight. Not working for me so far, I keep forgetting and sitting back. My knees won't take a standing desk unfortunately.

I'm trying to figure out where I come down on the "body positivity" movement and the "health at every size" philosophy in relation to WLS. It's caused me to really think deeply about this, and I thought I'd throw my thoughts out and see how others view it.

For starters, I absolutely believe that people of all shapes and sizes deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. People should not be bullied for their shape or size. Physicians should not give different treatment plans for larger people than they do for thin people. The answer to strep throat is not "lose weight". I believe businesses should better accommodate people of all sizes with larger and more sturdy seating as well as better access for people who have mobility issues due to any cause. Airlines in particular. "Normal" people don't fit in those darned seats, for Pete's sake. I believe that people of all shapes and sizes should have access to good quality clothing at a reasonable price.

I also believe the diet industry is bogus. The medical field should start telling the truth about the success rates both short term and long term of the "diet and exercise" prescriptions. If the success rates for diet and exercise were given for a drug, it would be banned by the FDA for sale. We need to learn a LOT more about what drives obesity and quit experimenting without full disclosure on people who are obese, especially children. We need to learn more about the damage done to our bodies by dieting, which is likely to be worse than if we just stayed heavy and never dieted. What we do know is that weight is a complex issue that individuals have very little control over. It needs to stop being viewed as a moral issue, with heavier people seen as moral failures.

All of these things, I am in agreement with the HAES/body positivity movement. Then we get into the "health" discussion, and my stance starts diverging from theirs.

HAES claims that there is no direct causation between body fat and ill health and that the path to better health should not involve any level of focus on weight.

Well, not really. While there are some people who carry a lot of body fat and have no significant health concerns, there are also people who drink excessive amounts of alcohol and smoke daily who have no significant health concerns. No one would say that there is no causal relationship between alcohol and liver problems, or between cigarettes and lung issues just because not everyone who partakes is ill. The science is clear that excessive weight significantly increases the risk in a number of health areas. The body will compensate until it can't anymore, and then a cascade of health issues descends. I believe that to state otherwise is deceitful and damaging. And if your weight directly keeps you from being able to take care of yourself and move around, then there's no way you're "healthy", medically speaking.

That is not to say that healthcare should be denied to larger people. We still treat lung cancer, even if the patient smoked for 40 years and "brought it on themselves". But we also encourage intervention for the addiction and prescribe cessation programs. We don't have a lot of good options to offer people who struggle with weight issues, and we need to be more up-front about how well they work, but we shouldn't quit trying.

HAES/Body Positivity has and excellent observation about the health issues - it's no one's business. Unless I'm on your medical treatment team, it's not my business how much you weigh, and it's not my place to say you should lose weight. It's not my business what you do or don't eat. If I am on your treatment team, I should treat you with the utmost respect and not ignore symptoms and issues because you're larger. The whole argument about "my taxes pay for this treatment and y'all bring it on yourselves" is bogus. My taxes pay for sports injuries (caused by patient choice), car accidents (sometimes caused by patient choice), tobacco complications (caused by patient choice), and drug overdoses (caused by patient choice) and we don't see a large call for those people to go without treatment. Even if we were to start drawing lines, where exactly would they get drawn?

HAES also pushes for healthy lifestyle choices, just without a focus on weight. I'm down with that. People of every size can take steps to improve their health: make healthier food choices, exercise, reduce stress, get regular medical care. Some of these will even have more impact than the actual weight loss. Many of these will result in weight loss. People should not be discouraged from doing these things until after they lose weight. I can even (medically) support an attitude of, "I'm going to work on these other things, and I don't care about the scale while I do." (And once again, if I'm not on your medical team, it's none of my business.) HAES has the right idea about much of this.

And then I diverge again from HAES and the like when they say that being on Weight Watchers or having WLS or in any way deliberately focusing on modifying your size is AGAINST the body positivity movement. Everyone has different reasons for choosing these things, and not all of them have to do with hating your larger body. I loved myself at my highest weight and was generally okay with my body. I never looked in the mirror and hated myself. I have features I'm not crazy about, but it's at worst neutral, never a self-hatred. I didn't have VSG because I wanted to fit in a size 10 jean again (if I get there or even close it'll be a welcome side effect in my book). My decision was not swayed in the slightest by social pressures. I had VSG because I have physical health issues that are directly impacted by my weight and are reducing my mobility and taking my activity level down to practically nothing. I was lacking a quality of life and wanted to improve the things in my life that HAES talks about. Because of those health issues, I didn't feel like I had time to do it "the long way". I don't advocate WLS for everyone, and unless you ask me directly I'm not going to say whether or not I think it would be a good idea for you. But I'm not "body positive" because I "amputated a healthy organ" in order to change my size.

Like so many things in our current society, the opposing sides would have you think that it's a binary situation - on or off, good or bad, this or that. I have never embraced a black and white binary way of thinking and am not about to start now. I want to support the HAES movement, but it seems like I'm not welcome and some of the concepts they propose as near-gospel I find to be scientifically questionable. Maybe I'm trying to justify my position against what I want to believe and it just doesn't fit, I don't know. What do you think?

I would advise you to speak to your PCP. If you're having to take headache medicine almost every day, you need to find out why, and find better ways to prevent/treat the headaches. As a migraineur, I know a lot about headaches and treatments. If caffeine is the only reason you're taking Excedrin, switch to No-Doz or something for caffeine without the NSAIDs. With the VSG, NSAIDs aren't particularly off limits, depends on your doc... but it's still not good to be taking them every day.

I got popsicle sleeves (narrow, long ziploc type bags) and mixed up Syntrax lemonade flavor to put in them and freeze. Yummy popsicles with Protein. Got me through the first couple of days when it was so hard to get anything down.

This is my response to people who want to nay-say me:

Seriously, when it's someone you care about, smile, wave, and move on. It's not worth getting in a tussle, and they aren't the ones in my shoes making my decisions. If they are, then they need to pony up for rent and groceries!! LOL

It definitely gets better. Your new sleeve gets used to getting fluids and figures out what to do with it, and the swelling goes down as it heals. I could only sip about an ounce (sometimes less) to start, and the bubble sensation was way weird. I'd sip sip sip for hours and barely make a dent in my bottle. Every day my tolerance got better. Now at 3 weeks, I can drink fluids normally, though I still have to go a little slow. I can take two full swallows in a row with no problem, but if I don't wait a couple of minutes before taking the next, I'll get really uncomfortable. Soft foods are going down fine, but again I'm having to REALLY slow down.

It gets better, and it gets better pretty quickly. I'm in love with my sleeve. Can't quit gushing over it.

Good luck!!

I hadn't seen my therapist (food issues) since a week or so before the surgery, so we caught up in our session last night. She is not a proponent of WLS, but doesn't push her own agenda and is supportive to me. Here's my spare change on the matter (and pretty much what I shared with her):

We are learning so much about weight gain and loss, and I hope that for my daughter's generation they have non-surgical options that work. Surgery is certainly a drastic treatment, especially when it involves removing a large part of a working organ.

BUT.

Right now, we know surgery does some very specific things that provide a better place for getting to and staying at a healthy weight, and it's not duplicatable by other means.

Especially with my comorbidities and auto-immune arthritis, I have less than the statistical 5% chance of losing the weight through non-surgical means and keeping it off long term. I have been dieting for over 30 years, and I'm heavier now than I ever was, and with the auto-immune disorder, I no longer have the stamina to diet, period (which was probably the best thing I ever did, but I'd already topped 300 lbs before I stopped dieting).

My life and relationship with food is SO much different now than it was 3 weeks ago. While I'm still struggling to get enough food in because of the restriction (but I'm only 3 weeks out, and I see it getting better every day, so it's fine), it's so much more than the restriction.

I used to binge eat comfort foods: honey Buns and chocolate fudge poptarts were my nemisis, but anything with loads of sugar, salt, and fat were game. I didn't think it was that unhealthy because they weren't HUGE binges, and I've never purged. Just overeating to a way unhealthy point. Looking back, it absolutely was bingeing behavior. And if I went shopping, it was pulling teeth to make myself NOT put those things in the cart.

Went shopping the day I got cleared for soft foods with hubby. Walked past the Little Debbie display. Part of my brain went "ooooh, Little Debbies counts as 'soft' I want honey buns". Then the part of my brain that imagined eating a honey bun went "eh. doesn't sound that good, actually. I want Peanut Butter." Walked away, easy peasy. Repeat experience in the Breakfast aisle with poptarts. Though the fruit poptarts had a bit of appeal, I easily recognized that my body might want some fruit, and I have many ways to get that without all the sugar and fat that goes with poptarts, and that actually sounded better.

It's like a switch went off in my brain and while I'm still having the disordered eating thoughts, it's incredibly clear to me that those thoughts don't fit. And with those thoughts calming down and shutting up, it's like I can hear what my body really wants for the first time.

Combine that with the fact I'm forced to slow down my eating and chew food thoroughly (I used to wolf it down), and eat several small meals a day.... this feels like the way I should have been eating my whole life. In fact, when I was the healthiest I was pregnant and had to eat small Protein meals every 3-3.5 hours to avoid nausea.

I was sharing this with my therapist, and said "I know it was a really drastic way to get to this point, but I really feel like this is the right place for me to be in with food" and she had to admit that where I'm at right now is the goal of therapy around food issues, though she also agreed with the "very drastic" comment as well. LOL.

I don't know if this will last forever. But if it can last long enough for me to establish healthy eating patterns and learn to really listen to my body, it's SO worth it.

So for my case... drastic? Yep. And I think I'd have gotten here eventually through therapy - but it could easily have taken YEARS. This way? 3 weeks. I'm already seeing improvements in my medical conditions as well. Small, but definitely there.

I'm a nurse, and one of the things that is hammered home to us about medical treatments - every treatment has benefits and risks/side effects. If the benefits don't outweigh the risks/side effects, then the treatment is not the best choice. Here, besides some of the complications that may or may not happen, the risk/side effect is losing part of a functioning organ. But the benefits for many of us far, far outweigh the risks/side effects. Ultimately, you have to make that evaluation for yourself and your situation.

For me, there's just no question. It's premature to say "best thing I ever did for my health" at only 3 weeks out, but that's seriously how I feel.

I've had what I consider to be physical hunger pains, but it's a hollow feeling just below the breastbone. A little research told me that it could be from acid if I've forgotten my PPI pills, but also if the sleeve gets completely empty it can cause an uncomfortable feeling. I see it as a reminder to keep drinking if it's not mealtime, because getting anything down makes it go away. I also feel it when I wake up in the morning until I start drinking my Breakfast Protein shake.

I haven't lost anyone, and there have been other WLS in my group of friends so I'm not expecting to.

But it's interesting to see what other people think. My sister had VSG a few years ago. My parents were very apprehensive about me getting the surgery. Finally had them over for a chat and found out what was behind it. My sister lectures everyone about what they should do and should eat during meals and get-togethers, and talks constantly about what she can and cannot eat and why. (All the while drinking Coke... but that's another rant.) She has set the expectation that if I have this surgery, I won't be any fun to go out to dinner with or have family get-togethers with anymore. I assured them that it was just my sister... if I don't call attention to what I'm eating or not eating, it shouldn't matter to anyone. After the first couple of months, I don't need special food or accommodation, so it really doesn't need to be a topic of conversation, and I'm certainly not the food police for anyone buy myself.

I don't know your friends, but it could be as your therapist suggests. Having someone around them who has been successful with weight loss may make them feel bad. Or they may have had a bad experience with another WLS person that's carrying over. If they're close friends, reach out to them privately and ask them to lunch or something one on one and ask. If they're not close friends, do as others suggest and un-follow them on FB and move on.

Oh, my gosh... I'm post-op, but yes, when I was pre-op all of a sudden all of my f'list seemed to be posting recipes and pictures of the most yummy things. It was torture.

Though I will let you know, at least for me, once I had the surgery, it didn't matter anymore. I am not craving the same foods I was pre-op, at all. Part of my brain will see something I used to want to binge on, and think... oh, {fill in the blank} would count as soft food, let's get it. But then the part of my brain that imagines eating the food goes... eh, doesn't sound so great. And I walk away, no stress at all. I love it. Even if the effect doesn't last forever, if it lasts long enough to get some healthier eating habits in place, it'll be completely worth it!!

Good luck!!

This is a horrible habit for me as well. I used to be a Paramedic, and you had to eat fast if you wanted to eat before the next call came out. My husband is ex-Navy and he wolfs his food down too. I've been working on slowing down, but it's hard. Especially when this inevitably means that the food gets cold. I'm 3 weeks out, so I have a VERY uncomfortable 15-20 min when I eat too fast because it invariably means that I go one or two bites past where I should have stopped. I'm hoping I get better at this.

I hesitate to jump in on discussions about carbs because I feel like I'm swimming against the current.

Ketosis makes me really, really sick. I can't function in ketosis. My blood sugar drops to dangerous levels and that whole "carb flu" thing people talk about when first going into ketosis that's only supposed to last a few days? Doesn't ever go away for me.

I'm also a nurse, and my training taught me that ketosis is a compensatory mechanism. I have a holistic approach to medicine, and do not believe that keeping your body indefinitely in a compensatory state is a good idea.

I am happy that my surgeon and my NUT agree with me, so I don't have to fight a battle on that front.

That being said, refined carbs and refined sugars are problematic, without a doubt. I got to my highest weight eating lots of sugary, carby sweets that didn't hold any real nutritional value. I have to re-adjust my thinking around food choices in terms of nutritional value. "Slow" or complex carbs and some fruit are "good" carbs in my book. I also don't think that sugar and other sweeteners are evil or anything, just things that need to be had in moderation. If I can't handle sugar in moderation, like many here, then I need to cut it out. But cutting out carbs isn't in my plan, never will be. I will always work to keep enough carbs in my diet to keep me out of ketosis, now that I'm past the liquid diet phase where I found ketosis to be impossible to avoid without adding sugar, which I wasn't going to do. (And yes, while I've had a fairly easy experience, I've been incredibly weak and fatigued for 3 weeks proving that my body still can't handle ketosis.)

So there's my spare change, FWIW. I only jump into the fray because while I am definitely in the minority, I know I'm likely not alone.

Gag. Running is so not my thing but I'll applaud those who do it. I'm amazed by people who can run/walk that far! You're awesome and she's a synonym for a female dog. No offense to the dogs.

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Ditto mixing it with warm Water and adding it to your Soup our other hot liquids. Messed it up a few times myself before someone clued me in. Putting it in before heating it up made it horribly gritty.

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I live in Keene!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using the BariatricPal App

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It shouldn't really take that long, but yes a side effect of the scopolamine patch is blurred vision. If you haven't already, take it off. Let your doc know if your vision doesn't clear in a couple of days.

I'm so sorry for your struggles. It makes it so much harder to deal with the question. As an ex ER nurse, I can unfortunately attest to the sheer numbers of women who can't tell you when their last period is, or if they did or didn't use bc with their sexual encounters. Women months pregnant with no clue. So unfortunately, women like you who know without a doubt still have to pee in a cup before surgery or any radiology testing. I'm glad some places are being more progressive with the waivers, but the medical personnel have to protect the lowest denominator. I have an iud, my husband has a vasectomy. We laughed at the pre op preg test, because it would be a true miracle for it to be positive. For me it's easier to just give the pee. My 19 year old daughter with the implant and no sex for months had to pee before they'd run her CT scan the other day. She didn't think it should be necessary so I told her ER stories. It's a pain but they haven't found a better way yet.

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Did you have a patch behind your ear for nausea?

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