JuniperBug

Hi it's me again! In Taiwan and prepping for surgery in February. Worried that the advice I'll get for post surgery will consist of well, Taiwanese food which I hate. I want to get well stocked up on appropriate things to eat (both for liquid and purée phases) and would very much appreciate seeing examples of what western surgeons recommend. Thank you a bunch!

Hiya I'm in Taiwan and my surgeon told me I didn't have to do a liquid diet before my surgery, just that I had to *somehow* loose weight to shrink my liver. But it seems like pre surgery liquid diets are common in the states and elsewhere so I'm thinking of just doing it voluntarily. It can't hurt right? Can anyone give me the details of your liquid diet "rules" and how it works, since my surgeon doesn't have a program for it and I'm kinda on my own?

Bumping this old thread. I have ASD and I'm getting sleeved in Feb 2018.

Hey February sleevers, My date is Feb 6, 2018 and I'm looking for buddies with close dates. I'm really wanting to start a support chat group on LINE, which is a messaging app I use, because I'm in Taiwan and I little isolated from support. Anyone interested? <3

Hiya! I have a date, February 6, 2018. I'm looking for buddies with dates close to mine and I'd like to put together a support group on the LINE messenger app, because it's free, I live in Taiwan, and I use it everyday. Interested?

I'm a 28 year old female with sleeve surgery scheduled on Feb 6, 2018. I'd love someone to get to know and talk about this with. I live in Taiwan, but I'm posting here because we have similar time zone, which would lend itself well to chatting.

I'm a 28 year old female with sleeve surgery scheduled on Feb 6, 2018. I'd love someone to get to know and talk about this with. I live in Taiwan, but I use a free app called LINE to chat.

Hi everyone! I was supposed to have the surgery in august but it fell through and I'm having in in feb 2018. I live in taiwan, far from any kind of support at all. Would anyone be interested in a chat style support group on a messenger app called LINE? It might be a nice way to make friends if you're not particularly active with forums. Im 27, female, about 260lbs, into arts and crafts and birds and writing and if there's anything else you want to know about me, just ask

Anyone want to be friends? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi everyone, I'm Juniper and I'm new but I hope to be pretty active here. It seems like a good community. I'm an American living in Taiwan so I will have this surgery here which will be a little easier financially. Taiwan generally has good healthcare. I went to my first Bariatric appointment today and I was really impressed with the clinic, the staff, and the surgeon. Everything was smooth and everyone was friendly to me. The surgeon suggested gastric bypass over sleeve because I have quite a sweet tooth. I also did a psych evaluation which I think went okay. I deal with some depression and anxiety but i take medication for it already. My motivations for losing weight and being healthier are: Emotionally: feeling more confident in my body. Feeling comfortable being in photos. Medically: protecting my already weak joints, helping my migraines and lower back pain. I want to have more energy and stamina. I want to be stronger and more flexible. Physically: being lighter means I will not be subject to weight limits on experiences like zip lining or sorting. It's embarrassing to get turned away for being to heavy. It will also be easier to lift my body for things like rock climbing maybe even pull ups one day. I want to fit comfortably into seats on roller coasters and trains and airplanes. Socially: I really would love for my partner to be able to carry me. I would love to be able to buy clothes here in Taiwan ( I have order literally everything offline now) More about my body: 253lbs 5'7" Size 18 pants 42DDD bra Goal: 150lbs Anyone have similar stats or body shape? I'm looking for advice, friends, and support. Want to know more about me? Please ask away! Thanks so much. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Yep. My surgeon even straight up told me that this program never works for people who want the surgery but we have to do it if I want insurance. And also I have to fail this program for the surgery to cover it. So like, I feel like I shouldn't even try to lose weight because i really want this surgery and I can't afford it without insurance. That being said, I am trying to eat less sugar because I know I'm addicted. Trying to introduce more foods that i know I'll need post surgery. Trying to gain a taste for Protein powders. Stuff like that. I'm open to more suggestions. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

-sigh- I live in Taiwan and the national health insurance will cover part of it but only if I have had a documented weight loss attempt with the hospital for six months and failed to lose weight. So I just went to my first appointment for that two days ago. And I should be finished in June. And then I have two weeks off from work for our summer vacation in august or maybe July. So I'll do the surgery then. Maybe take a week off before so I have theee weeks to do it and heal. The weight loss counseling is a joke. They just take my vitals and tell me how much weight to lose by next time. The nutritionist doesn't speak English and all her suggestions are about Taiwanese food which is gross and i don't eat. She barely spoke English. From what I understood she lectured me on drinking sweet bubble tea which I don't drink and told me to eat half a banana....at some point? So yeah. Six more months of that bs. I'm going to need some strong recomendations for post surgery nutrition counseling because I'm not getting it from my hospital.

I'm really considering keeping my whole surgery a secret from everyone except my partner ( who is supportive ). I have a lot of feelings of embarrassment and shame about Bariatric surgery because I was very active in the fat acceptance and the health at every size communities in the past. I still believe that fat people can be active and healthy and definitely that fat people have innate worth. But I want to lose weight none the less. I want this surgery and I want to feel comfortable and appropriate in my own body. I want to be lighter and smaller for health and other reasons. But there is a stigma to this surgery. Have you experienced any negative feedback from peers? Have you dealt with feelings of embarrassment of shame about your surgery? Do you selectively not tell people? I mean, I hope I'll drop about 100lbs and I suspect people will ask how I did it. I don't want to lie. I kind of just want no one to notice at all. Thanks for your input.

Wow that was so poetic and beautiful. Thank you so much. I'm truly touched. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Primarily I'm wondering what and when you eat and drink. I'm almost a year pre-op but I figure if I can get my habits a little closer to post-op habits now it won't be as hard to transition. I know I need to eat much slower and probably smaller portions. I believe there's also a rule against drink and eating at the same time. Would anyone be willing to share a typical day of eating and life. I'd also be happy to receive links to articles with this informations. A guide to living post op. I'll also google this info but I think you guys are the best resource. I'm also curious how often you exercise and what kinds of exercise you do. Thank you so much. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

That's really awesome and a great solution! I'm getting into rock climbing but I really do need a group of people who to hold me accountable. I agree that going to be gym can be a challenge. Especially if you're like me and you used the gym to punish yourself with exercise in the past. Martial arts, a dance troupe, a group of rock climbers, hikers, bikers. I think friends and accountability are the way to go. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

To be fair, my current state is living in shame and wanting to live invisibly and not be noticed every day. I'm actually hoping the surgery will help with that. My fat acceptance activism days are back in college. Yes appearance is among them. Also I want my life experiences not to be limited by weight limits. I want to fit into seats on trains and airplanes. I want to be light and to carry myself lightly. I feel like that is my personality and presence is young, light, and gentle and my body doesn't match how I feel on the inside. Even my voice ( a soft childlike soprano) doesn't match. So because of those reasons appearance is especially important to me. Also, I want to feel good and confident in my body. I don't want to be ashamed of my own body anymore. The earliest I'd be able to have surgery is August 2017 so I have plenty of time to work through this with my therapist. Thanks for all your insight. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I can imagine because my partner has pcos and a failed WLS and she is very active. So active that she injured her knee and had to have surgery. That's part of the reason I'm doing this. I'm scared to be active and injure my joints which are already weak. I agree, this is a decision for me, and I don't really care what most of my peers think. But more than embarrassment I do fear judgement, misunderstanding, and losing friends. But then again I think that the people who would hold WLS against me probably already hold my obesity against me and probably shouldn't be my friends anyway. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

This is exactly what I say. I am not ashamed of the surgery, but I don't share my personal health information, either. If you don't need to know about my new IUD or my hemorrhoids, then you don't need to know about my weight. I don't understand why people think they have a right to discuss your medical care and status. Sent from my SM-G925V using the BariatricPal App That's very comforting. I sort of got the feeling it would have to be public information or a total secret. But I can share my healthy lifestyle habits without revealing my surgical history. I have a right to my own privacy. I think people always see weight as an issue they're allowed to chime in on. And that's really not right. It's really only my business. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Haha you make me laugh there. That's probably very true. I suppose that's a good way to quickly explain it to people like my corworkers who I'm not close to. I mostly don't want people like that all up in my business. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

That's pretty cool that we're similar. I also have a lot more appointments to go to. I have to do their 6 month weight loss course before i qualify for insurance. So I'm thinking august 2017. A long way out. Ugh, I hope I don't gain even more weight by then. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Here in Ontario it's covered by our government insurance plan but we have to go thru a bariatric program that consists of meetings and classes with nutritionist, social workers, psychiatrists, doctors and nurses before even meeting with the surgeon to get the final ok. Could take up to a year So I'm looking at early October at the latest...and I know exactly where you're coming from...really hoping I don't gain more between now and then. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App Yeah Taiwans a little backwards. My surgeon was basically like, yep let's go. But you need to do this rigamorole if you wan insurance to pay and oh I do. I also have a chance to get a few grand knocked off the price if I agree to help advertise a specific brand of surgical equipment. I think it's just letting them use my photos. I'm a little torn. Privacy is important to me to an extent but so is affordability. I'm also worried about gaining more weight before now and then. Maybe we can be surgery buddies if we have similar dates.

That's pretty cool that we're similar. I also have a lot more appointments to go to. I have to do their 6 month weight loss course before i qualify for insurance. So I'm thinking august 2017. A long way out. Ugh, I hope I don't gain even more weight by then. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App