Berry78

I'm with larta on this one. Tell them that you've had a change of heart, that they are right. Once they are like, "Oh, well.. OK then! Glad you came to your senses"... then proceed to do what you want to do. At least they'll not continue ragging on you.. which is exactly what is going to happen as it stands. Sorry you didn't get the support you were after {hugs}, you are a strong, independent woman, and you can figure out what is right for you.

Woo hoo! Sounds like you are doing great! congrats, and welcome!

Adding some G2 to your water might help make it more palatable. I love your pics.. so true! Congrats on getting through the first couple days.. every day should be a little bit better than the one before, and before you know it you'll be a couple months post op, and all these early concerns will be behind you

To continue vomiting for hours after consuming something isn't something to take lightly. Take a couple more weeks off of eating those foods, then try again (but next time, try pureeing them into a liquid consistency). Grilling and broiling meat with no oil.. nope nope. It has to be soft and lubricated. Gravy and mayonnaise are your friends for the next couple months with meat. Think about the meat you feed a baby.. your tummy needs it like that. And if you don't know... go to the baby food aisle and buy a jar. You don't need to eat it, but it will show what your tummy wants. Revisional surgeries don't give the bang of original procedures. It may take more work and a longer time, but you'll get there even so. I can't do protein shakes either.. but cottage cheese and yogurt are nice and smooth, eggs might work for you, refried beans, soft cheese (like fresh mozzarella). Tofu if it's soft (I don't know anything about it, really ). You can even try a few cashews. It's still a little early for nuts, but if you eat them one at a time, and chew it to paste, it might be ok for you. Cashews are the softest nuts, without skins, so start with them. Limit nuts to 1oz a day because they are so calorically dense.

Wow, your plate is FULL! The bypass does tend to change a whole lot of hormonal issues, and can give a "reset". Here's hoping it'll do just that for you! It sounds like your doc is hoping to "bypass" the parts of the stomach with impaired motility. Seems like a reasonable hope With your whole host of problems, I'm just wondering what sorts of diets you've tried in the past to try and manage those issues, and whether anything seemed to help...

If "fear of failure" is your biggest concern, then that's a relatively easy one. You currently "didn't have the surgery". You are heavy enough to be thinking of getting it.. so it sounds like you are currently in a place of "failure". (I don't think you're one, but I suspect you do). Once you get the surgery, there is almost no chance that you won't lose at least some weight over the first year postop. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get on the board and say they lost 5lbs and never lost another ounce. 40lbs, maybe. So, I feel comfortable guaranteeing you will lose at least 40lbs over the first year. Even if this doesn't get you to goal, it will be better than where you stand right now, correct? Ultimately, the weight loss right after the surgery is the easy part. You don't have to do much, and it kinda just falls off. After 6-8 months, you'll have to actually start working at it. BUT, by then, you have already lost some weight, so moving around won't be as hard, and you've already been practicing eating small quantities of (hopefully) healthy food. "Working at it" will kinda come naturally in a way that is hard to imagine now. Choosing the surgery (for me) was my first step in becoming 'NOT a failure". I'm only 4 months postop, so we'll see how things go long term. But for now, I took that step to change the path I was on, and my new path IS leading me in the right direction. The easiest way to know if you are one of the super-rare cases that doesn't lose weight postop.. if you were to go on a diet right now, and start working out at the gym, would you lose weight? If you would, (but would regain later), then join the rest of us, because that's how it works for the vast majority of us. If you have never been able to lose even 5 lbs on a restricted diet and exercise program, then you may want to have some additional tests to find out why not, because that would indicate that surgery may not do what you hope.

Hernia repairs are MUCH worse than the surgery. You can expect to have abdominal pain for a few weeks But, at the moment, that does sound like gas, and the more you can get up and move, the better off you will be. You will need to be extra vigilant about not bending over too far or lifting weight... but regular walking will do you good. You get to be a delicate flower for a while! {Hugs}

Her own history of scarring will tell you more than anyone else's experiences. If she weren't already scheduled so soon, I would tell you to go with Dr. Illan in Mexico (he was my surgeon), as he has a technique where he only goes in through one incision through the bellybutton. Of course, there are BMI requirements in order for him to do so, so it's possible she wouldn't qualify anyway. You can always speak with a dermatologist once the skin is healed over, and they may have ideas for minimizing the scars (laser treatments, vitamin E, keeping them out of the sun or tanning beds.. etc.) Ultimately, a few little scars are nothing compared to the aesthetic and health improvements made possible with surgery.

You are right on target for weight loss. If the scale has you down, I give you permission to take a month-long vacation from it

To go from a BMI of 45 to 31 is actually amazing And, if you continue a healthy lifestyle, you should be able to keep it off. Did your diabetes improve at all? Eating small meals is good, but it would be nice to have more info about what an average day looks like, maybe we can help you tweak your diet.

Glad they figured out the problem. Keeping my fingers crossed you don't have a stone.

If you were my family member, I would tell you to eat the same way you would post op. See if you can drop those extra pounds on your own.. and if you make it a permanent dietary change, then you likely won't gain it back. There is no harm in trying it this way. Surgery really is designed for people that have closer to 100lbs to lose. The complication rate for the surgery is low, but complications can be severe.. so a basically healthy person with only 50lbs to lose.. it just may not be worth it... Just because you aren't exercising with a unit anymore doesn't mean you can't join a gym on your own (you'll need to post op anyway...) The thing with surgery is, yes, it knocks off the excess pounds in short order.. but you'll still have to watch what you eat and exercise forever afterwards. So why not just do that now? Sample menu: Breakfast: 4oz. cottage cheese and a piece of fruit Lunch: 2 eggs and 6oz black beans with salsa (can change type of beans as you prefer) Dinner: 4oz of meat or fish, unlimited non-starchy veggies Snack: 2oz salted nuts or seeds Drink at least 64oz of non/low-caloric fluids. Low sodium v8 and/or coconut water will give additional potassium. Take a multivitamin, because this diet is lacking sufficient B-vitamins and calcium. My husband (who has not had surgery) started eating this way, and has already lost 23lbs on it, without exercise. It's simple and effective.

I think you should visit a chiropractor. Chiropractors don't always just pop necks anymore. Find one that has a nice selection of supplements/vitamins and the like in their practice, since those are the types that tend to think holistically. Your physician can look in your nose to see if it looks like allergies. Otherwise, you can try taking something like Claritin to see if allergies are playing a role.

Warm tea went down easiest the first week for me. Maybe try making some herbal tea.. just be extra certain it isn't the least bit too hot. Don't want to scald your baby tummy!

It sounds like your job may be on the line. Try to get the doctor to write another note that says you need 10 minute breaks at 10:00 and 3:00, and lunch should be at noon. Something that specific may help HR understand that your requirements aren't excessive (like breaks every half hour or some other craziness). It might be best to take off as long as possible, so you are more able to withstand working with only occasional breaks. This early out, every week will have you feeling much better and stronger, and able to drink more at a time. At around 5 weeks, much of your tummy swelling will go down, and you'll be able to drink much more at once. (For this reason, 2 more weeks of down time might be helpful). At lunch time, avoid solids. Drink milk or diluted protein shakes instead (knock out fluids and protein at the same time).

Ideally you'll leave to "visit the hall" about every 2 hours for a drink or snack. For an 8 hour work day that starts at 8, you'd leave at 10, 12 (lunch), and 3, going home at 5. If your day is longer you'll need to squeeze an extra break in there. But on this schedule, you're not going out much more than you have been. And if you drink, and have a couple bites of food, then that will help tide you over in case of late lunches. Drink all the way in to work, and all the way home.. and you should be ok.

How often can you stop and go to the restroom or take a smoke break? (I hope you don't smoke, but what if you did?) Those types of breaks are your opportunities to get something to drink. In a few months, you'll be able to drink enough at a time to really make it possible to stay hydrated with relatively few breaks.

I agree with you that it's not from the surgery directly. Did they do the full panel of tests for your nutritional status? (There are a lot more than the 3 things that need to be checked) Tell us more about your diet.. what are you eating, how many calories, etc...

If the scale hasn't moved, and your measurements haven't changed for 2 months, this IS something to be concerned about. (The scale can hold still while your clothes get looser, so if this has been happening, then it's not a concern). If you aren't near or at goal, then it's time to evaluate what you are doing and make changes to get things happening again. Even though you are within bounds of the chart, your own loss (or lack thereof) is of more importance.

JohnnyCakes does have a point. You're, what.. 10 weeks postop? Some gym time is probably ok, but you probably have bitten off more than you can chew at this point. There is SOMETHING physically causing your issues.. but the cure may well rest partially in more REST. Talk to your doc, make a plan.

Sleeves are lower maintenance than bypasses, but they can have complications (leaks are more common with sleeves than bypasses, GERD is also more common, and strictures and "kinks" can happen). Long term malnurishment is probably more of a concern with the bypass, but we don't have solid numbers on that. (Strictures, issues with the intestines, etc. are also potential complications of bypasses). In general, bypasses are great for people with preexisting GERD, true food addictions, resistant to weight loss (those that diet, but don't lose much weight), type 2 diabetes, PCOS, etc. Sleeves are good for the generally healthy people that just tend to "eat too much" without severe food addictions. (of course the food addict also needs therapy.. the surgery won't cure an addiction.. but the bypass can give that little extra ooomphh for if/when they are struggling).

The low carb, low fat preop diet was the pits. I was constantly crying! Postop, once I got onto full liquids, it was much better

You might always need to drink a smidge slower than preop, but now at 4 months postop, I can drink about 6- 8 ounces in less than a minute. Not quite chugging, but not sipping either.

There is someone running around here with a BMI of 21. I forget if she has the sleeve or bypass... hmm.. but she wants to be that weight, and is happy about it. (And it's still within healthy limits). But, anyway, the body is an amazing thing, and it almost never lets you go below a healthy limit. Those that do almost always have something wrong.. either physically, or psychologically (anorexia). As long as you heal normally, and you develop healthy eating habits, you don't have much to worry about. Do keep in mind that many of our family and friends kinda freak when we start getting near a normal BMI, because they are so accustomed to us looking plump. It doesn't mean we ARE sickly looking.. the way to tell that is by asking someone who has never met you before if you look sickly.. and you almost never do. That said, at around a year postop, bypass patients CAN get a little pinched-looking. And it's just a consequence of their ultra-rapid loss. By 2-3 years postop, their bodies adjust, and that look goes away. I think of it in the same light as hair loss. It's unattractive while it's happening, but it's ultimately temporary. (And don't go to tanning beds, it compounds the "pinched look" a heck of a lot!!). Sleeve patients lose a smidge slower, so not sure if they go through a phase like that.

I can't do artificial sweeteners either. I add milk to my tea and coffee, and the sugars in the milk make them sweet enough. I think it's because our ability to taste "sweet" has increased drastically, so the artificial sweeteners and sugar are just too much. I was eating some unsalted almonds the other day and realized they taste sweet! (I usually eat salted nuts, so that was a new thing).