ShelterDog64

Immediately post-op, I drank RTD shakes and sugar-free everything, just because I had no idea what my body was doing and so many people had been successful following the standard post-op diet that I didn't really look into it. But now, 6 months out, I don't eat the way my practice's dietitian wants me to eat. She's very into heavily processed, low-fat, sugar-free 'food'. I hate sucralose, won't ingest aspartame and avoid most things labeled 'low-fat' unless they're naturally low fat. (My one exception is sugar-free popsicles. They don't taste sugar-free to me and I love them) I eat regular dairy, use stevia or monk fruit for sweeteners and try to eat only whole foods. The only advice I've taken from her is to avoid white flour and sugar.

Thanks for the spelling lesson. This is the exact catty behavior I was speaking of. Thanks for displaying it. Peace to you also. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App No, this is NOT how this works. You don't get to call people who agree with one another 'clicks' or however you wish to spell it, and then call someone else catty as though you aren't being catty as well. THIS is the problem on this forum, not 'mean girls' or repetitive newbie questions or vets vs newbies or anything else. It's thin-skinned people who can't take what they dish and can't handle an answer to a question unless the answer is presented to them on a carefully cushioned platter of fake 'support'. As usual, my hat is off to the vets who've stuck around for years.

Oh, @@Babbs, you live for the drama you create, donchaknow? And I'm apparently someone's 'dear'. Thank God for RDjr

I'm a guy. I don't have hormones. Haha, you wish!

@@Fredbear I was cleared for any/everything at 4 weeks. Not that I ate any/everything, but I was 'allowed' to.

Ha! I love your sense of humor, @@LittleBill ! And yes, Click is LOADED with caffeine, but it's GOOD. In the morning

@@Malin **I've had squirrel! I remember we had to eat it carefully to avoid the buckshot.** Buckshot? As a kid, I took squirrels out of 60 ft. pine trees with a .22 to the head...makes cleaning them easier, too

It's 'clique' and I don't think any of us are eligible until we can post in the Vet's Forum. And for what it's worth and to prove a danged point, my post was meant TOTALLY tongue in cheek. The point being that TOO MUCH IS READ INTO WHAT PEOPLE TYPE. Peace, sister.

She was trying to educate you and anyone else who sees this because you were giving out inaccurate information.Well there is a nice way to do it and a condescending way to do it. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I swear, @Gustavio....you have a serious habit of poking at certain vets on this board and if you run them off before I get through this surgery and get to my 5 year mark, I'm gonna be very, very irritated. I NEED them. You don't seem to realize that you may need them, too.

I wasn't a big soda drinker prior to surgery, and the couple of sips I've had since are even less appealing. I'm surprised by how quickly you can feel discomfort from the carbonation...just shows you how small and sensitive our new sleeves are. It was easy for me to take soda off my list, but beer...that's one I'm looking forward to a little of at some point. I've had beer once during the last 6 months and I couldn't finish the pint but the carbonation doesn't affect me the same way.

Funny, I had severe iron deficiency anemia, a vit D deficiency and a B12 deficiency BEFORE WLS. I just had my 6 month appt and my labs are all stellar. It's like I revamped my diet and started eating for fuel instead of fun...

@@Anna Nim **Even if you ignore the 60% to 70% probability of indigestion, nausea and dehydration, the percentage of occurrence of mild to severe complications is a huge collective 88.9% !!! GERD 47% Nutritional deficiency 12% Gallstones 23% Acute Stricture 3.5% Deep Vein Thrombosis 1% Staple line failure 2.4% Total: 88.9%** First, I have to say how nice it is to see someone at least try to use statistical evidence to argue for/against something instead of just emotion or "I have a friend whose son's daughter's hairstylist's dog trainer had the surgery and died". That alone deserves a big round of applause in my opinion. That said, the above is a completely erroneous way of interpreting the data he read. Probabilities don't add up to one large number, they're concurrent. You don't end up with a nearly 100% chance of some sort of complication by adding all the low incidences together Another point to make in rebuttal is that several of the risks of WLS are known risks of remaining obese. GERD, gallstones and DVTs can happen if you choose to do nothing and remain obese as a result. And there are a host of risks of remaining obese that your dad didn't consider. Diabetes, hypertension, joint degeneration, heart disease, sleep apnea, depression...the list is long and frightening. And deadly. You know that at the end of the day, you're an adult and it's your decision, but I know how hard it is to deal with complete opposition from a parent. My mom was dead-set against me having the surgery and is still skeptical and not entirely supportive. She's coming around but still says 'well, we'll see if you keep it off' and 'you have no idea how this will be affecting you in 5 years', both of which are true. I'm 52, she's in her mid 70s but she's still my mom and I do value her opinion and experiences...but she's just one source of information and support, not my entire world any longer. Good luck

Let's not start this. You weren't 'schooled' or 'drilled down', @@Babbs corrected misinformation, period.

@@Miss Rachel We were at Disneyland in October...there's a wine stand at the end of Cars land, next to the Wine Country Trattoria, that sells a nice cheese and salami plate, plus bottled Water. There are also turkey leg stands, which my boys loved and I could steal a couple of ounces of meat from them. I carried a small crossbody purse and kept a couple of Protein bars in it, and filled my water bottle every chance I got. It was a great trip with plenty of walking for exercise, have fun!

I had my 6 month follow-up (I'm at 5.5 mos) visit yesterday with my surgical team. I've lost 76 lbs, and all my labs came back PERFECT I've been using GENEPRO for supplementing and PatchMD Vitamin Patches and clearly both are doing a great job for me. When I had surgery, I was still mildly anemic from a long 5 years of severe iron-deficiency anemia and I was taking vit D supplements for a vit D deficiency. The patches have corrected the anemia and my vit D levels have stayed where they were with oral supplementation. All in all, it was great...blood Protein levels are right where they should be, Calcium and Iron were perfect and I continue to have good energy and am steadily losing still. Just wanted to share my good news

@@Nina1125 I use the multi, the B12, the Vit D/Calcium and the Iron. So far, so good

@@sugarbear234 Do you actually have GERD? You didn't mention it in the post, so I missed that. If so, definitely consider bypass over sleeve. Talk with your doc about the incidence of severe reflux in sleeve patients vs bypass. It's not a 'for sure' thing by any means but definitely occurs more often if you already have reflux pre-op.

We're KILLING this!! So happy to be on this journey to health with you, @@suzzzzz !!

@@Malin How did your pre-op appointment go?

Adding to what @@suzzzzz said....I'm 52 and chose the sleeve over bypass for exactly the reasons you mention. I didn't want to deal with malabsorption as I was already anemic and have had vit D deficiency for years. I'm post-menopausal and concerned about bone density, too. I'm using patch Vitamins and just had my 6 month doc visit yesterday. I had the best labs I've had in 10 years...everything was perfect or nearly so. Calcium, Iron, B12, vit D...all were right in the middle of the 'normal' range, my hemoglobin was normal, cholesterol ratio was amazing, etc. I went in for my sleeve surgery with bad fibromyalgia trigger points in my back and on 2 blood pressure meds. I came home with NO pain and off the meds...my BP is perfect. I elected to go the route with my weight that allowed me to manage everything...I'm taking the weight off and any 'tradeoffs' are completely manageable. Slapping a Vitamin patch on my belly every day beats the hell out of having a stroke at 60, at least in my opinion

@@kmorri Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for and inspired by you!!

I see a lot of posts here about 'don't look at the scale' and 'the scale is not your friend', but my relationship with my scale is very different. Maybe it's from years of Weight Watchers, but I NEED that daily/every other day check on my WL progress. I'm motivated by seeing a loss and more determined to stay the course when I don't see any change. The idea of NOT weighing makes me anxious! Maybe I'll drop to once a week in maintenance, but for now, me and my Aria are best buds

@@Dknal2 There's a huge support group here for you I've only been around for about 7 months and there are women and men I've met here who have become very real parts of my life! You have to make decisions that are the best for your health, and there's no question of NOT making the choice that includes improving your chances at a longer, healthier and happier life. That man will have to make his own decisions and he may make the wrong one, unfortunately. But you'll still be healthier and hopefully happier!

You're not going to feel full or feel your sleeve's restriction on liquids and mushies. Just measure and/or weigh your foods and drink/eat only the amounts you're supposed to. Are you on a PPI or acid inhibitor of some kind? Acid production feels like hunger, and then there's head hunger, when your brain is screaming "EAT" regardless of what's in your stomach. When I have head hunger, I go for a walk, or clean the house or call a friend, or ANYTHING to get my mind off food. And when you're able to eat dense Protein, you'll have the satiated sensation and will have less hunger most likely. This is a head game as much as anything, so getting your head to cooperate is key. That's where distraction and positive visualization comes in, and that's easier as time goes by and you start to lose weight. Seeing the rapid results we have is a huge incentive to not eat.

Do you have an abdominal binder? If not, even a couple of ace wraps or towels wrapped and pinned can help bind your abdomen so that standing doesn't hurt so much. I was able to stay pretty mobile but I felt much more like normal about a week post-op. Keep moving! Good luck!