katiecem

Went back half time on Day 6. It was fine. Day 7 I had to work 5 hours and I was tired when I got home but otherwise fine. However, I had to give a presentation on Day 7 and I sounded like an idiot. My brain was not fully back in gear .

Another option with restaurant meals is to order one meal that has something you can eat and then extra sides for him. You really won't be eating that much so he'll still get enough. It would be great to find away to get him excited about some different, healthier choices. Maybe by you ordering so there's something for you, he will learn to enjoy some different things. Good luck.

@@katieroybal have you tried adding a probiotic? I have a chewable one from Bariatric Advantage. It may help with the diarrhea.

HopeandAgony Do have a current psychotherapist? If not, I would suggest trying to find one that uses Internal Family Systems. This is what helped me to understand the part of me that sabotages and how to find out what that part really needs and wants. You can go to centerforselfleadership.org and there is a "find a therapist" function.

Losing a parent is very hard and really affects every aspect of one's life. I lost my mom in February and the grieving and transition has definitely impacted my weight as well as many other things. Glad you are re-inspired and have a plan.

I had my band unfilled 4 years ago due to complications. I gained 60 lbs. I had my band taken out and the sleeve done on August 17th. I was able to lose 15 lbs pre-op. Looking forward to getting healed and really using this new tool.

I'd say you are lucky! I was able to get 4 ozs of Water down on day 1 before they made me stop drinking because they wanted to do some xrays with barium to see if there was a blockage. Day 2 they found there was no problem and I got about 8 ozs in that day. Day 3 was at home and I got in 20 oz of liquids and 18gms of Protein. Today was Day 4 and I've gotten in 33 oz of liquids and 53 gms of protein. I'm improving every day but still struggling with pain, spasms and feeling stuck on liquids.

Remember you have a choice about your surgery date. It's not now or never. You could ask them to give you a couple more weeks to prepare yourself. I had 7 weeks to wait when I got my date. Those weeks were super valuable to me for getting my head in the right place for this huge life change. I put myself on a pre-op diet when I found out that my surgeon didn't require one. If you go ahead with your current date, I would put yourself on a pre-op diet to shrink your liver, lose a few pounds and prepare yourself. If you plan to do that then have a small amount of a few of your favorite things probably won't hurt.

Haha

The only way I know to get carbs down is to cut out grains altogether. I do no grains at all. My carbs come from fruits, veggies, nuts etc. Also, no sugar except fresh fruit. I use a little stevia when I really need some sweetness.

Hope that HR can reassure you. It's seems very wrong to be able to fire someone for having a medical procedure.

The nutritionist at my hospital recommended Journey hair Balance at BariatricEating.com. It's a supplement, mostly B Vitamins and minerals.

Yay!

I shoot for under 50g of carbs. That is working well for me pre-op.

What have you been trying? I've been supposed to lose 10lbs since January but gained 10lbs instead. I have been trying everything I could think of since April and I finally think I have it right. I've lost 6lbs in 3 weeks. Here's what's working for me. Following my nutritionist's program with some adjustment: 60+gms of Protein, then veggies. I can't do the carbs, I just don't lose if I do. I'm trying to keep carbs under 50gms, all fruit and veggies. 64 ounces of fluids. No carbonation, no alcohol, no caloric drinks. 1000 calories a day or less. My program says 1200 but I just can't lose on 1200. Believe me 1000 calories is not much food. I'm hungry all the time but I just drink Water until my next meal. I can't exercise much due to my arthritis but I added a chair yoga class and an arthritis-focused water aerobics class and I'm trying to increase my average daily steps to 5000 (from 3000). Here's a day's menu: Breakfast- shake with a scoop of chocolate Designer whey and 1T PB2 (defatted Peanut Butter powder), 4 strawberries. Snack- half of a Nugo Slim Protein Bar lunch - 1oz of tofu, 1oz of almonds and cashews, half a cucumber, a few bell pepper slices Snack- 1/4 apple with 1 teaspoon almond butter dinner - Same shake as above with 1/2 a frozen banana, a green salad with homemade low cal, low carb dressing. Snack - my special treat- 1/2 of a homemade chocolate peanut butter cup made with stevia, cocoa, Protein powder, peanut butter and coconut oil. This is 115 of my calories per day but it's worth it as it keeps me from feeling deprived. Hope you can find a way too.

I am also addicted to sugar and all simple carbs. I love Cookies and potato chips and bread. I went totally off simple carbs after my Lapband surgery for quite a while so I know that when you get them out of your system, the cravings slow way down. This time I went off them before surgery by allowing myself as much as I wanted of a replacement. I make a Peanut Butter cup type treat with stevia. It has lots of Protein (and fat) but very few carbs. Yes, artificial sweeteners can trigger cravings but it was much easier to wean down from the stevia than sugar for me. I'm down to one a day and will go to a half soon. Not having trouble with cravings. Today I had to pick up muffins at a bakery for work. No temptations.

My surgery is scheduled for 8/17. I stopped drinking on 7/12. My reason is I want to lose as much weight as possibly before my surgery to make it safer and I can't lose if I'm drinking. Just a fact for me. I also wanted to eliminate the inflammatory effect of alcohol on my liver.

I am going to say I don't think you are ready for the surgery but from a different perspective than most. I had WLS 7 years ago and I was not ready. I think I knew it at the time but I was desperate. I chose the Lapband because it was not permanent - first red flag that I was not ready. I went through all the classes and support groups telling myself that I didn't really have to follow the rules because the rules were all made for the bypass not the band- big red flag. Of course, I didn't see the red flags at the time because I was not being honest with myself. Despite the lack of full committment, I did ok with the band at first, lost 60 lbs but then between complications and lack of committment, over the last 4 years I gained all the weight back and then some. Then I got to the desperation point again and began to think of WLS again. I started the process with the same blinders on but fortunately between therapy and just getting really real with myself, I am now committed to whatever it takes to be the best sleeve patient ever, to be honest with myself and get help from my team when I need it. I hope you can get to this place too.

Congrats all you 26ers! Please keep us updated on how it goes for you.

Onmyway, I don't have any advise for you, just my story which is not complete yet. I too hesitated to get a revision because of my experience with the band. My current doctor told me in January, "it's not your fault. The band doesn't work". I didn't believe him because I knew I had eaten around my band at times, was totally out of control with cravings at times. But I started the process toward revision because I knew I had to do something. I was desperate. I lost 60 pound slowly with the band and have now gained it all back after having an empty band for 3 years due to complications. I was very conflicted, trying to figure out what to do. I had to go to a nutrition class once a month for my insurance to cover revision and I started going even though I wasn't sure I was going to have surgery again. When I got there, I thought "I've been through all this before. I know all this". And I thought "I don't have to practice. I can do it when the time comes. If it comes". By the third class, something changed for me. I started believing that there was a chance I could be successful with the sleeve. I got 3 books about the sleeve and started reading. The truth is that I am a carb addict and when I am able to stay off of them for a period of time, I don't crave them as much. I just have never really committed myself to staying off of them before. Now I have. I need to. I decided to go for a sleeve. I took an optional fourth nutrition class to finish learning implementing all the new behaviors I would need to follow after the sleeve and I would need to start practicing now. Stopping alcohol was hard as it had become my replacement behavior after the band, one thing that went down easy. Getting down to 1200 calories was hard. Cutting out carbonation was hard. Increasing exercise with my arthritis was hard. But slowly I have implemented everything including going down to 1000 calories a day and 50 gms or less of carbs from veggies and fruit. I'm not losing an ounce yet but I am sticking to it for the first time because I have committed to doing this. I need to lose some weight before surgery to make it safer. I am hoping for the experience that a lot of sleevers have: not being hungry and not having cravings. But even if I don't get lucky with that, I'm going to be as good a sleever as I was bad a bander. All that said, I haven't got my sleeve yet and haven't been successful with it yet. But I think if I can start to believe in myself, you can too.

I really like the veggie "Better Than Bouillon" It comes in a jar and you add hot or boiling Water to it. It also comes in various other flavors including Roasted Garlic.

I had to do 3 months of nutritionist visits and then meet with Dr again and then wait for insurance approval. I'm waiting now for insurance approval. So minimum length of time for me would have been about 4 months. However, I did 4 nutritionist visits because I was wavering about whether to do the surgery or not. And I didn't start them immediately after my first Dr visit so for me it's been Jan 19 to (I hope!!) August 17- 7 months. It can take a little longer if you have to reschedule appointments or your insurance takes a long time or your doctor has a vacation planned etc.

Stephy Glad it went so well. Thanks for the "step by step". It's very helpful and reassuring. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Yes. Me too. Thankful for this thread. I was 269 at my first visit in January. 280 at my highest. 277 at my last visit on 7/12. Waiting for insurance approval. Doctor told me he would do my surgery if I continued to lose . They must know that we wouldn't need the surgery if we could lose well on our own, right?

Good luck! I'm in a similar position. At my last doctor's visit, he told me he would do my surgery on 8/17 IF I continued to lose weight. They were supposed to submit for insurance approval right after that visit. They told me it took about 2 weeks which would be up in 4 days. Anxiously awaiting news on the approval. Desperately trying to lose a few more pounds. Worried that if I don't they will delay the surgery. Also the coordinator told me the date was tentative because the doctor might be going to take a vacation! I'm acting as if surgery will happen 8/17 until I hear otherwise but I go back to work 8/23 and change insurance companies on 9/1 so it all becomes very complicated if I have to delay. Also, of course, no guarantee that they can do band removal and sleeve in the same surgery.