Broove

I was diagnosed with Celiac's almost 4 years ago. That diagnosis made lots of things make sense to me. I've had lots of practice eating gluten free. It's not so bad. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I know this is not really a big deal, but to me it is. My mom is still here helping me out post surgery. I am 2.5 weeks out, doing fabulously, and talking with my nurse and NUT, they suggested I try some "real foods". I went to my mom and I's favorite chain place, Red Lobster. I had a few bites of baked fish and a bite of mashed potatoes. I was stuffed! But I kept it down. This was a big deal to me. My mom wanted to take me out and get me outta the house, and I love spending time with her. Also, I was glad to see I could eat some soft foods, as opposed to just Soup, popsicles, and shakes. Also, I was glad to see y taste buds hadn't changed .

@@dodlbug I had my surgery at Duke. Here they skip the purée stage and advance people to soft foods after roughly 3 weeks if the patient is doing well. I've seen the other threads. I didn't start anything that wasn't cleared by my team. Both fork tender fish and mashed potatoes are allowed. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi all, My surgery is in a few hours and I have a lot of feelings. I'm doing it just in case I need a kidney transplant, and my doctor is hopeful that it would actually get me off of dialysis. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder this summer that damaged my kidneys. I'd just like people to share a few ways this surgery has positively impacted their health. I need some positive vibes this morning. I think this is the right decision, but it's still tough. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Quest bars are delicious. I haven't tried a flavor that I didn't like. If you stick them in the microwave for like 15 seconds to warm them up, especially the brownie or apple pie, it really tastes like a dessert.

That's such a handy formula. Thanks for posting! I've sort of accepted that I'll lose a lot of muscle mass for a while. I've lost a bunch since I got sick in April, and once I'm able to start Crossfit again, I know I'll be able to put it right back on. I gain mass (muscle and fat) easy. For men, I think what's been said here is correct. If you're very active you might need to up your Protein to GAIN as opposed to maintain.

Hi! Feel free to message me. I'm scheduled for surgery at Duke on 12/21. I've just started my pre-op diet. The team is really great. Do you know your surgeon yet? Feel free to contact me!

My surgery is Dec 21 so I'm not sure how I'll like them afterwards, but I really like Steaz. They're canned, organic teas. They come in lots of flavors and many of them are either sweetened with stevia or lightly sweetened with real sugar for a meager amount of carbs/sugar. They also make some unsweetened. I always keep them in the house and hope I still like them after surgery.

The banana is really good. Usually I hate banana flavored things. They tend to have that chalky, artificial flavor. Their's doesn't. It's really good.

This thread made me lol. Most people on this board will post here what works FOR THEM. They're experts on their own body, but have also been around and have lots of general knowledge. If your surgical team says avoid soda, do that. When you heal and want to do your own self experimentation, do that. Soda or other carbonation just doesn't seem worth it TO ME. Maybe after I'm sleeved, healed, and I understand my new anatomy I might try a sparkling Water which is what I drink now, but is a Diet Coke really worth it? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi all!, I'll be getting sleeved on Dec. 21 by Dr. Keri Seymour. She was extremely nice and knowledgeable when I met her. In fact, the entire staff at the Duke Center has been wonderful. I think I'm in good hands, but would love to hear others' experiences.

Hi all, Has anyone used this or similar products? It looks like it's just hydrolyzed peptides. I'm trying to figure out what I'll need immediately after surgery and was wondering if this product, or similar liquid products are worth the investment. Thanks.

I'm scheduled for Dec. 21. I have my pre-op on Thursday 12/8. I'm getting my sleeve done at Duke Regional. How do I join the group?

Hi all! I found out yesterday that my surgery date is Dec. 21. Now this is strange because I just submitted the final bit of documentation that was needed to submit to insurance. So as far as I know, they hadn't submitted anything to the insurance company for approval yet. I was in seeing my hematologist yesterday, and she happened so tell me that they had contacted her about the availability of a date for me (I'm going through some not fun, non-obesity related heal nonsense). This struck me as weird, since, as I've said they had JUST received the required documents for submission... My pre-op is Dec. 8th and the surgery is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 21. Did this happen to anyone else? Were you given a slot before everything was submitted? Also, I'm a little nervous. I was in the hospital for about a month this past summer. I lost about 30 pounds, but since I've been out I've slowly gained some back. My weight was pretty stable for a while, and in these last weeks I've gained about 4 pounds. It may not sound like much, but I'm nervous they may delay my surgery due to this weight gain. I hadn't been eating really since I was sick, and have had a good appetite for a while now. Should I be nervous?

I have a tendency to overthink everything, but how do people go about buying clothes during the post-op weight loss phase? I'd imagine you don't stay one size very long, but that might not apply to everyone? How do you go about planning what to wear and how often to replace your clothes? Hope this isn't a dumb question!

Wow ladies! Thanks for the advice. I think I was trying to hard to figure out something seemingly pretty common sense. However, the skirts idea is a good one. I'm not a skirt person, but I guess I better be one soon! I'm having my surgery in December, so I still have some time to maybe catch some sales!

I'm in Raleigh. I think there are a lot of sleevers in the Raleigh-Durham area on the these boards.

Hi all, I've been lurking for some months, and want to share how I came to my decision to have VSG surgery. My life the last few months has been pretty awful, but it did make my decision to get VSG a no brainer. April 26th of this year, three days after my 35th birth day, I was the sickest I have ever been. It had been going on for about a week and I just thought I had food poisoning. I was nauseous, vomiting, and had really bad headaches. I was so sick that I decided to skip crossfit that week. I had recently started again, and I LOVE it. I decided to tough it out, and went into work. Later on in the day, I was just finishing up with a meeting in my manager's office when I noticed a REALLY strong ammonia smell. It was like someone had opened a bottle right in front of me. I leave the meeting in my manager's office, take a deep breath, and lo and behold I'm the source of ammonia. I'm a scientist, so I immediately knew it was my kidneys. I rushed home to let my dogs out, and drove myself to the hospital. I didn't really know what to think about how long I'd be there, but I told my mom who flew in the next morning to make sure I was ok. I'll save a lot of the drama (there was a lot). Funny story, they admitted me into the ICU and assured me I WAS NOT dying. I was. My BP at one point was 227/160, so I'm very lucky I didn't have a stroke. I still can't believe they tried to assure me I wasn't dying. I guess they were being nice. After days of trying to figure out why I went from perfectly healthy (other than being a professional fat girl) to nearly in the ground, they diagnosed me with an ultrarare autoimmune disorder called atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. I had never heard of this. My mom had never heard of this, and I had to be moved to a different hospital for them to treat me accordingly. Atypical HUS is a disorder that can attack any major organ system, but its favorite target are the kidneys. Before 2011, the treatment was very unsafe plasma exchanges. Now there's a new drug that shows a lot of promise. So I lost my kidneys this summer. I have been on dialysis since May. I won't go into all the psychological stuff that accompanies being on dialysis or having kidney failure, but I no longer have to go in center. That is a blessing. I am able to do it at home. So I was 35. Always fat. Still healthy and active, and then this happens. Now I'm faced with the possibility that one day I'll need a kidney. Well, my BMI disqualifies me from being listed for a transplant. I had a friend come to visit me earlier this summer and she was having the sleeve, and trying to convince me to do it. I'm stubborn. I've always wanted to do everything on my own and have done everything on my own, so I resisted when she said I should get it. My plan was to start crossfit again and just do that. Well even doing crossfit 3x a week, I don't lose a ton of weight, I easily put on muscle though and saw my body contours change. I'm already one of the stronger females in my gym. But once this happened, and I wanted to get my life back, I decided that the best insurance would be for me to get the sleeve. My nephrologists are all supportive and very behind me. So I just wanted to share what happened. I have stories about being in the hospital for nearly a month. Once nurse was convinced I was there with malignant hypertension (she didn't read my chart and I have never had high BP before this) and therefore a diabetic, and tried to give me insulin. This was my first night out of the ICU and I was on a lot of pain killers, and I still managed to set her straight. So don't let people tell you fat shaming in health care doesn't exist. She was the exception, and my doctors never brought up my weight except in the context of a transplant which I thought was fair game. They've all been really really great. I might be off dialysis soon, things are looking up and my kidneys seem to be recovering in their own time. I have a lot of emotions about what's left to come this year, but I'm excited. I may never need a new kidney, but I think I made the right choice in deciding to have the surgery. I'll post more as December approaches. This is a great forum with great people, and I'm glad I'm apart of this community now. -Broove