Butch Luce

Thanks Heather, don't worry about the name, believe me, it's a common occurrence. I'll be praying for you. Thanks for the advice Ojibway. My brother in law had the surgery about three years ago and he said the same thing when I talked to him this morning. Thnx everyone! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Good luck Heather. Prayers for you. Let's stay in touch! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Sounds like you are progressing nicely except for the cold. You're almost over the two week post surgery hump and can begin soft foods! My surgery is tomorrow so I appreciate hearing about your success. Let's stay in touch! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

My surgery is scheduled for Monday 19th. It's is Friday 27th today. I am on a liquid only diet. The first two days were pretty rough but since then I've tolerated it. I don't see how you can prepare meals for your family because I have tried to stay completely away from cooked meals. Anyway in 3 days this torture will be over. I understand once you have the surgery the food cravings decline. Anyway, if I can do it without cheating, anyone can do it! Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Make that Friday the 17th. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Bird Dog, your posts have been extremely informative and reassuring. They reinforce what I learned in my classes and what my surgeon says. I even had my wife read them to kind of know what to expect. She went to the last class with me. My surgery is in Monday the 19th. Thanks so much for documenting your journey. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Very interesting. Thnx for the pics of your guidebook. Extremely helpful. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Today is the 7th day of my pre-op liquid diet. Maybe my thoughts may help others. First, I'm proud to say I did not cheat. I was tempted a few times when I was around prepared food such as at a meeting I attended. Fortunately the meal was at the end of the meeting so I made an excuse and went home. Also, I did not go to Lions Club which has a buffet meal during the meeting. I followed my Drs. guidelines religiously. Generally I would have a Protein shake with almond milk or skim milk for Breakfast, then a half cup of Greek yogurt for a mid morning snack, then a premier Protein Shake and another half cup of yogurt at lunch, then drink an Isopure in the afternoon, 32 oz of cold Water in the late afternoon and early evening, then broth for supper. Supper was what I looked forward to all day because it was hot-my hot meal for the day. I alternated among chicken, vegetable, beef broth and then a couple of times had canned tomato Soup with powdered protein added. I usually did not add protein to the broths. I kept track of my "meals and snacks" and ranged from a low of 83 gr. Protein to a high of 164 gr. For calories I ranged from a low of 445 to a high of 978. I tried to hit 60-80gr. Protein and 700-900 calories/ day. I highly recommend keeping track of everything so you can compare meals/days. It has worked for me. As everyone says, the first 2-3 days are the toughest then I sort of got used to it and fell into a routine. Finally, I am retired so it is much easier for me to control things-I know it would be much more difficult if I were still working. Feel free to ask questions. Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I think it's sad so many of you have spouses who are not supportive. I hope you aren't offended by this, but it makes me wonder how strong those relationships are in the first place. Most marriage vows have some wording to the effect of "in sickness and in health". To me, this is a Health issue just like any other surgery except maybe cosmetic. It's YOUR health. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I started my 10 day liquid only diet yesterday. I did get hungry but nothing I couldn't handle. My sweet supportive wife has cleared out the refrigerator and cabinets to ease the temptations. At my age, this is my effort to improve my quality of life for whatever time I left on this earth. God willing, I'll be successful. My wife took a couple of starting day pics as a reminder to me of my obese self! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Well I'm on day three of the pre op liquid diet and the hunger seems to have eased up as everyone said it would by day three. I'm sort of getting used to having a smoothie for Breakfast instead of bacon and eggs! Only 11 days to go! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hey Hellya. Good luck and give us updates on your progress. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Thanks Ganic. Looks like you were about the same size as me when you started. Hopefully I'll be as successful as you soon! Good luck with the remainder of your losses. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Don't worry about what anyone may think as to how you lost the weight. Bottom line is you lost it and you look great! (Especially with mud all over you-are you a mud wrestler now?) Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Thnx for the encouragement! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I will turn 70 this year so I'm not getting any younger. The last 10 years or so have been really difficult physically because of my size. I am an outdoors type person, love to hunt and fish and each year it has just became more difficult. I fished a bass tournament with my grandson who is a teenager and I could barely get in and out of the bass boat. All of my life I've been active, played sports, climbed ladders to work on my house, cut firewood, etc. but my extreme size plus age has pretty much ended all that. Frustrating to say the least. At one time a couple of years ago I thought, "well, I'll just give up and become a couch potato." but the more i thought about it I figure- that was just an early death sentence so here I am, 3 weeks from surgery, one week from beginning the pre surgery diet and realizing if I don't do it properly, this is probably my last chance. Would appreciate your prayers.

Hang in there. I've had a lot of delays mainly because of my heart. I did not have a heart attack thank goodness but was close to it when they discovered an 85% blockage in a coronary artery. Anyway, they placed a stent in the artery in July 2015 and my cardiologist just now released me for the gastric sleeve surgery. I'll turn 70 this year so my time for doing something is running out. Good luck.

Well, it seems I can identify with DUB. I'm 6'3" 365 Lbs. Male. I start the pre-op liquid diet next week. I'm nervous as I see many are, but I'm determined to make it work. I'll turn 70 yrs. old this year so its really a last chance for me. My age coupled with my size has made it extremely difficult to do even the most most simple physical things that I've been used to doing most of my life.Finally got clearances from all my doctors to proceed. Had a coronary artery stent a year ago so that delayed me for a year. (no heart attack but close to it at the time) Anyway, glad to see that people are willing to share their stories here, especially you, Dub.