TracyBar

Good idea! I'll mention it at my first appointment :-)

That's so awful! But I feel the same way so often - especially in last 2 years - I gained more weight due to migraine drugs that I've been on and just look and feel awful. We don't like to admit that appearance is important but if it affects how we feel about ourself, and our confidence, then it is very important. XO

In all honesty ...Week 1. Totally Sucks / regret Week 2. Really Sucks / regret Week 3. Sucks less / regret Week 4. This is not so bad / less regret Week 5. Things are looking better Week 6. Normal foods / less regret Week 7. What surgery? And look at all that extra money I have left over at the end of the week Week 8. Life is good. / no regrets (except I should've done it sooner) -66 total since 6/6 pre-op diet started -51 since 6/20 I don't recognize myself in the mirror, and I must say I'm looking hot!!!! But more importantly, sleep apnea, blood pressure and cholesterol are all working themselves out now. I wanted to lose 79 lbs (to get to my high school weight) ... But at this point I can't see not passing right by that. Some people have complications, one friend took 5 months to start eating solids again, and threw up constantly. Another is miserable and can't even drink Water 2 months out. Everyone's experiences are different!! I'm just lucky I suppose. (This was the sleeve btw) Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Love your list! Will be helpful to keep this post somewhere to refer to after surgery - can this be done here? Laughed about the "look at all the money I have left over at the end of the week" - I can relate!BTW - meant to ask - do you think the two people you know that are/have experienced such terrible complications did something differently than you did to prepare for the surgery?I think all of the research and stupid questions (which turned out to not be that stupid in the end) prepared me for it. One went well before and one went about 1.5 months after me. As far as reintroducing foods, I did it like going from a newborn to a child. Started off with all liquids, then baby food (literally baby food - Apple sauces only), then puréed, then soft foods, then I went with a hot dog. About 5 days on each step. I didn't vomit even once, so I must've done it right I'm not sure if I rambled or went off topic lol Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App All helpful - thanks!

In all honesty ...Week 1. Totally Sucks / regret Week 2. Really Sucks / regret Week 3. Sucks less / regret Week 4. This is not so bad / less regret Week 5. Things are looking better Week 6. Normal foods / less regret Week 7. What surgery? And look at all that extra money I have left over at the end of the week Week 8. Life is good. / no regrets (except I should've done it sooner) -66 total since 6/6 pre-op diet started -51 since 6/20 I don't recognize myself in the mirror, and I must say I'm looking hot!!!! But more importantly, sleep apnea, blood pressure and cholesterol are all working themselves out now. I wanted to lose 79 lbs (to get to my high school weight) ... But at this point I can't see not passing right by that. Some people have complications, one friend took 5 months to start eating solids again, and threw up constantly. Another is miserable and can't even drink water 2 months out. Everyone's experiences are different!! I'm just lucky I suppose. (This was the sleeve btw) Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Love your list! Will be helpful to keep this post somewhere to refer to after surgery - can this be done here? Laughed about the "look at all the money I have left over at the end of the week" - I can relate! BTW - meant to ask - do you think the two people you know that are/have experienced such terrible complications did something differently than you did to prepare for the surgery?

In all honesty ...Week 1. Totally Sucks / regret Week 2. Really Sucks / regret Week 3. Sucks less / regret Week 4. This is not so bad / less regret Week 5. Things are looking better Week 6. Normal foods / less regret Week 7. What surgery? And look at all that extra money I have left over at the end of the week Week 8. Life is good. / no regrets (except I should've done it sooner) -66 total since 6/6 pre-op diet started -51 since 6/20 I don't recognize myself in the mirror, and I must say I'm looking hot!!!! But more importantly, sleep apnea, blood pressure and cholesterol are all working themselves out now. I wanted to lose 79 lbs (to get to my high school weight) ... But at this point I can't see not passing right by that. Some people have complications, one friend took 5 months to start eating solids again, and threw up constantly. Another is miserable and can't even drink water 2 months out. Everyone's experiences are different!! I'm just lucky I suppose. (This was the sleeve btw) Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Love your list! Will be helpful to keep this post somewhere to refer to after surgery - can this be done here? Laughed about the "look at all the money I have left over at the end of the week" - I can relate!

Hi, I can't have soy or dairy - what options (that hopefully don't taste terrible!) are there for Protein shakes?

I've been small. And medium, large, xlarge and when I left those and upward and onward into the plus sizes, well I think I just gave up at that point. So many diets, so many lbs. lost and gained. Whenever I was on a diet I would try to visualize myself the way I wanted to look and feel. My outfit was always jeans and a white button-up blouse or simple white t-shirt. Now, although I want to be much slimmer, my focus is on health. I'm on a road to sure-fire chronic diseases caused by obesity. And yes, it's so hard for me to picture myself slim and fit and healthy - I had that image of me in jeans and white shirt for so long but never attained it. I left that slim girl behind in my mid-20's. The idea of being slim is vague to me now - an impossible dream. I want it, can't quite imagine it - but I'm certainly still scared of the permanency of the surgery. Every now and then I'm hit with the image of 'slim me' then on it's heels 'the surgery'. And I drop my head and think - omg. What do I do???

Doing good. Sore, but nothing too bad. I don't like heavy opiates, dilaudid just gave me headaches, so tramadol is taking care of most of the pain for me. No nausea, tolerating liquids and Protein shakes beautifully, if really slowly. It'll be midnight before I hit my Fluid goal, and I doubt I'll hit my protein goal today, maybe not tomorrow. But in the short term, I know the hydration is most important. Nice to hear you're doing well! I missed your surgery day! How were you going into this - did you have any panicky feelings of backing out?? I'm feeling that way now and working on it

A healthy mental state would be the preferred situation for surgery. I would make an appt with your psyche team and really speak truthfully about your feelings right now - holding back won't help you a bit. Best of luck!

I have a pretty bad intolerance for sugar alcohols (sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, etc.). Can't handle aspartame either. Also lactose intolerant. It's possible you reacted to all those things as some people (from what i've read in here) can't after the surgery if not before (I haven't had surgery yet). You know the surgeon well - maybe he knows? :-) Is there a dietician on your team you can speak with?

that site is pretty cool :-)

Good analogy...

Hi AussieGirl - what happened with the lap band? You had sleeve surgery so just wondering why the band didn't work?I had the lap band and it failed after a few years, it kept playing up, everything would get stuck, even Water.. i started getting really bad pain near the port site.. i had port replacement and a band change and it was still causing issues, so i asked them to take it out... i couldn't live with the pain any longer as well as starving because nothing would stay down. I waited 12 months.. and during that time i gained weight, even though i was eating well and exercising, i had my metabolism tested and because of the complications i had reset my metabolism to a low point, so the doctor suggested that i get the sleeve to enable me to stay at that lower rate without being hungry... basically i can not go above 800 calories for life without gaining. It sucks.. and i might never get back down to my original weight... but i am finally losing... i am a slow loser, but i am hoping ill get there eventually. This is why i always advise people to increase their calories and not to starve themselves, because it can really screw up your metabolism. That sucks - I keep hearing of people on here having to get revisions to sleeve. I don't think I could deal with the lapband, simply because of the maintenance on it, and the port. Then again, the sleeve is permanent - no going back. I'm about 90% there when it comes to getting used to that idea - I too am a slow loser. Always was and in fact the ONLY way in my life that I could keep my weight down at all, was to work out 6-7 days a week, most days 2+ hours at high intensity, and eat 1200-1400 calories, even with all that exercise. If I stopped for a day or two for some reason - lbs were coming back on - that quickly. And once you marry and have kids, there just is not the time to maintain that kind of rigorous schedule obviously. I could eat better than I do, eat regularly cause I don't, diet AGAIN - but I just will not go through that again and then gain it all back again +extra. So I've put on more weight. Maybe it was you in here that said to keep increasing your calories after the sleeve to a point where you can top off at 1200-1400 cals per day? Otherwise you're stuck at low cals forever. It's encouraging to hear that you're losing again though!

Sounds like workplace bullying to me. He's one guy that should never be in a higher position if he is unable to control himself. He insulted you, you got back at him (good for you!) and he went and tattled on you. Real winner of a guy...what a weasel...

Wow! 6 months - that's crazy! You look so good….

Hi AussieGirl - what happened with the lap band? You had sleeve surgery so just wondering why the band didn't work?

Is heartburn a 'for sure' thing or just for some people?

that's a worry - no fibre - that's part of the reason I question the lack of vegs and fruits in the early days

I could have written that word for word....!

Hello everyone, Today my doctor's office called to tell me that other than the Adult Bariatric Centres in the major cities in my province, there are no self-pay options. The bariatric centres are the long wait programs, dieting, psyche, etc. And about a 3 year wait. So - I'm back to the surgeon I originally was researching (a member on here told me about him and had her surgery by him recently). Dr. Michel Gagner in Montreal. For those that have read my other posts, he's a long way away from home, so added cost of flights for me and my husband, and several nights in hotel. But that isn't the real concern - it's the after-care that is, and to be frank, the before care. Due to distance it would be a phone consult with the surgeon at $250. then a one month wait after that for surgery so there's time to get required medical tests, books flights and hotel, etc. I really don't know how much education prior they provide, but I'm hoping that there will be at least something online. When I told my doctor about the surgeon in Montreal she said "why would you go so far? Why not here in Alberta? And what about the after-care? Who's responsibility would you be if something goes wrong?" I'm sure there are many Albertans not willing to wait so long for surgery and they are going out of province or country for that matter. I'm also sure that should anything go seriously wrong, I just have to turn up at the hospital and I'll be looked after there. I think she is more concerned about dietician, counselling, etc. that I would need. Plus, I don't think she likes the idea of having to go so far for an elective surgery. I'll have to make an appointment to see her again since this is not the outcome I was hoping for - even she thought there would be somebody here that can do the surgery. My other question - it's been weighing on me - I've done a lot of research in the past two months or so, but the one question or unknown that I'm wrestling with is that I don't really understand what life will truly be like after the surgery. The things that I'm most in the dark about are: 1) How many calories do you (or should you) be topping out at once you've lost the excess weight? 2) I've read a lot about the fact that your calories should come from Protein for the most part. But what about vegetables and fruit? what about a balanced diet, with nutrients and Vitamins from lots of different foods? How does one thrive on a diet rich in protein but deficient in veg and fruit and some carbs? 3) I can't quite find the answer to how much food is consumed in a sitting - i.e. if I make a roast beef dinner for my family, (typical beef, yorkshire pudding, potatoes, veg) how much can somebody actually eat in a meal? I know these questions are all about food, but this surgery is really all about food too. I'm trying to envision my life after the surgery and I can't because I can't understand these parts of it. I can envision how it'll feel to be lighter and able to do all the active things I always loved. I can see myself feeling better, etc. I cannot figure out the food part and how you get enough nutrition to be able to do all the active things I'd like to do. The other one is drinking fluids - if it's really hot out, or you've worked out and are very thirsty and just want to drink down Water fast - can you do that? And drinking and eating. Can you never drink liquid with meals anymore? What about eating dryer foods sometimes? Still can't wash it down with water? Thanks for your input - it's really the last piece in the puzzle for me that I need to settle before I make the big decision!

That's ok - you should feel you can speak how you need to in here. I've read similar posts like yours from people in the early days/weeks after surgery. Of course it gives me pause, but I think overall there are so many people in here that have had great success and are much happier now than before. Keep us posted!

Thank you ! the recipes look really great....

@@CNOEL3 - hang in there. I haven't had the surgery yet - doing my research. But keep popping on to get support and let us know how you're doing after each week goes by. You could be experiencing a hormone dump maybe as well?

that's great - sounds like a very decent guy! Are your stats updated / are you at goal now?

Ha! and counter to all my years 'joining' Weight watchers. As you lose weight, your points are lowered. But I see the importance of being very diligent with your calories - this is why a nutritionist is important after this surgery I would think