sunmeadow

I with you on the 17th. I nabbed the first appointment so I plan to be in recovery before I have time to really wake up and let myself get too anxious. They also said they'd give me something to relax as soon as I get the IV in as it also helps transition to general anesthesia. I just hope my surgeon has had his morning coffee by then. Lol. I've been focusing on my to-do list to distract me from getting truly nervous yet. Projects I've been putting off for 2 years suddenly need to be done by Monday. :-) I'm also trying to get everything **** and span so I have a clean environment to come back to after surgery.

I'm on day 12 with surgery scheduled Monday. I lost 6 and I've gained back two. I followed the instructions I was given and I'm eating less than 700 calories per day so I'm not sure what else I can do. I did lose over 40 in the 4 months prior, since I started the program so maybe I'm just stalled? I'm trying not to obsess about it, but I am a little disappointed. I was hoping to go into surgery 10lbs lighter than I am (though I am already 10 lbs lighter than my initial goal for surgery)

Thank you for posting this. My surgery is scheduled for Monday and our numbers are almost identical. I was 286 at my first nutritionist appointment and I'm currently at 242. I'm only 5' 1/2" though. :-) I'm impressed with how much you've lost. They say the average is 66% of your excess weight, so I've been thinking even 130 was a pipe dream and 150 would be a stretch. Below 120 would be incredible even if it takes a few years! I lost rather quickly when I started the program, but have slowed significantly in the last while. I'm on day 12 of the two week pre-op diet and, after initially losing 6 lbs, I'm now up 2! How anyone can gain weight eating less than 700 calories seems really strange to me, but I'm not sure what else I can do except continue to do what they told me to do and hope for the best. Thanks also for sharing about your skin. As you obviously know, it's a big question for most of us.

2 whey protein isolate shakes and 1 premier (plus one serving each of vegetable, fruit, and starch). For breakfast, I make a shake with cashew milk (unsweetened vanilla=25 calories). For lunch, I have a premier since I'm at work (usually the "opposite" flavor from what I had for breakfast/chocolate or vanilla). For dinner, I put unflavored whey protein isolate into broth for a change from all the sweet. (I've been using different kinds of broth for variety. I usually mix low sodium veggie with regular chicken or beef to cut the sodium without having it taste like dirty water). I usually have my fruit as a morning snack, a SF jello (considered a liquid) in the afternoon. I'll either have my "dinner" shake or my veggie when I get home to get something in me since I'm usually feeling pretty empty by then. The order of things depends on timing and what I'm having. I often have a SF popsicle in the evening. All of that totals between 600 and 700 calories.

Also, as a manager, we were given training how to handle employee leaves, including what we couldn't say or ask, etc.

I told my boss I was having surgery and would be out 2-3 weeks and notified our disability insurance/leave administration company. (Approval of the disability claim automatically approves the leave of absence). I work for a larger company and they have a whole packet explaining what you have to do. There are certain requirements they have to follow to comply with FMLA requirements (FMLA is the Family and Medical Leave Act in the US). I haven't told anyone what I'm having surgery for and they can't ask. Even the person at the call center that took my initial call didn't need to know. Only the case manager handling my claim knows anything because they have to verify everything with my doctor's office. If you're in the US and don't work for a tiny company, notifying your boss or your HR rep that you will be out should trigger all the right administrative activities to provide you with short-term disability and any other leave benefits/provisions if available and you want them and protect your job with FMLA.

I will be going home to an empty house after surgery. The surgeon said it was ok (though he won't let me drive the 1/4 mile myself so I'll have to call a cab for the 1 minute ride). For those of you that had to take care of yourselves after surgery, did you have any problems? Do you have any suggestions? I plan to have everything set up so I don't have to lift anything and easy access to my fully stocked liquids and protein, but I'm wondering what I might not be considering. My neighbor's kids are feeding my cats while I'm in the hospital and she's offered to help if I need anything. Between that and living 1/4 mile from the hospital, I'm not worried about an emergency. I can also walk to the pharmacy or downtown fairly easily once I'm up and about. I'm more wondering what support I might wish I had day to day as I recover. Will I be able to bend over/down? (If I drop something or to clean litter boxes)

I'm a very private person (even posting in these forums feels a little weird to me). I told a cousin because she had the sleeve almost 2 years ago and is my official support person (my program requires one). I told my aunt with whom I'm very close, but only because she asked me outright if I had ever considered having the same surgery as my cousin and I couldn't lie (she's been very supportive so I'm glad I did). Last week, I told one of my best friends because I have her listed as my emergency contact so I thought she deserved to know. My boss knows I'm having surgery, but doesn't know what it's for (male bosses don't ask a lot of questions when a female employee is vague about medical issues. Lol). We're very close, but I'm afraid he'll actually be mad that I'm leaving the department in the lurch during major reorganizational upheaval. I'm probably being super paranoid, but he's a bit of a narcissist and can sometimes react badly to situations that affect him in a negative way. I plan to tell people who ask that I'm having a midlife crisis (I'll be 48 next month) and decided it was time to get my act together. So, it's not really a crisis, but the rest is true. And I have been watching my diet and moving more (down 44 lbs since March 2, 4 of that is since I started the pre-op liquids 6 days ago). My weight and other medical issues are no one else's business, so I'm not worried about "lying" to anyone gauche enough to ask directly. After the surgery, when things are settled and ok, I may tell my other 2 best friends (we're getting together for other reasons a month after my surgery and they haven't seen me since last year so I'm expecting my weight loss will be noticeable) and possibly my dad (why make him worry needlessly?) So, I understand why some people want to tell everyone, but I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping it to oneself or a limited number of people.

I'm also scheduled for the 17th. Initially, I was told 2 weeks, maybe 3 so I've been assuming 3 (also a desk job), but I just got the FMLA paperwork yesterday and it has a return to work date of 7/30. I assume that's just preliminary based on what the surgeon's office said, but since my follow up appointment isn't scheduled until 8/1, I can't imagine I would have to go back before then. I'd think he'd have to see me before authorizing me to go back to work (and the company nurse also has to approve my return after she gets his return to work paperwork)

I'm on day 6 and hunger isn't too bad. I've never noticed how many references to food I encounter in an average day. Every tv show, website , Facebook, etc. Plus people seem to love to talk about food. One woman told me how hungry she was because she ate her wrap for lunch too early. In my head, I was like "oh, honey, you don't even know..." I read that day 3 or 4 is the worst and I made it through ok, but the morning of day 5 I was hungry. Those were also the 3 days I worked on the liquid plan and I don't think I brought enough to get me through the day. Today, I'm at home and I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all in. I just finished my "lunch" shake and it's 7pm. I still have another shake and a serving of vegetables to go before bedtime. For "dinner", I've been having unflavored protein powder in broth and it's pretty decent, a nice change from all the sweetness. I don't want to cheat because of my head both because I want to watch the numbers go down (lost about 4 lbs in 6 days), I want my surgery to go as well as it possibly can (with a smaller liver), and I want to be ready for another extended period of liquids only (and zero servings of food to chew) after the surgery when I'll be feeling much worse and much weaker. I'm not a fan of jello, but that and sugar free popsicles have helped a lot to feel like I'm having something tasty. I'm averaging just over 600 calories per day and was very tired during the week, but I don't want to do anything to mess with the success of this program.

Isolate Zero (Inner Armor is the company) was pretty good, in my opinion. It's still expensive, but I got it at Vitamin Shopoes in sale. Even not on sale, it's cheaper there than on Amazon, but you can read the reviews there. I've tried the Berry Punch and the Red Raspberry. They were out of the Pink Lemonade, which sounds pretty good too. I hate coconut so I haven't tried the piña colada. There are 20g protein (whey protein isolate) per scoop/serving, which makes a 20oz serving for 90 calories. I'm planning to try making popsicles with it for after surgery when I may be struggling to get the protein down. (I'm on the pre-op liquids now). I also think it will be more refreshing on a hot day than thick/milky shakes. The other product I like is Trimimo. I found it in the grocery store with the vitamin waters/sports drinks. It's only 7g of protein per bottle, but only 28 calories. Before I started the pre-op diet, it was a way to get a little extra protein and fluids in for not many calories and also seemed like a treat. Normally, I really like berry flavors, but not so much on these. I now only buy the strawberry lemonade, which is pretty decent. They also have a peach and a pina colada flavor, but I'm not a fan of peach flavor either. I got a deal on a case of it from Amazon, but the price went up so it's cheaper at the grocery store, especially on sale. If you live in the eastern US, it should be in sale at Stop and shop or Giant until the 19th. I think it's 3 for $5. Not cheap, but nothing is these days.

Wow! Good for you! I pretty much did that when I turned 40, but I am hoping that being more "normal" will help me feel more confident and enabled to do and go for the things I want, like look for a new job without being embarrassed about my appearance or feeling "less than" because of it.

Thanks! That's reassuring. I'm pretty self-sufficient and would rather take care of things myself whenever possible.

Do you know why it didn't work for you?

I sought out a therapist a few months ago primarily so I would have support with the food issues, but since reading a bit more, I know that I'm likely going to need help with the identity/self-image stuff, especially since I think that had a lot to do with how I got so big to start with. Thanks for calling this out.

Eek! I'm 47 and thinking I was one of the young ones! I know what you mean though. Good to hear it went so well.

Thanks! That's good to know. I'll plan to ask the neighbor kids to help out with the kitties instead of trying to do it myself.

Oddly enough, I'm more worried about the dry mouth/sore throat than a lot of the other stuff. It's something that really stands out in my memory from my appendectomy, probably because the morphine took care of most of the pain. Your description above did make me remember the incision pain when moving about or worse, coughing/sneezing. I was able to get an Rx for liquid versions of my medications so that shouldn't be an issue for me.

Thanks for the detail and congratulations on the quick weight loss.

I was thinking the same thing. How can we only sip water, but be expected to drink contrast stuff down?

I hadn't even started thinking about the testing afterwards. I know they test for leaks, but hadn't thought about the details. Thanks for the heads up. If it's anything like the "orange juice" they gave me before my appendectomy, things might get interesting.

Thanks everyone! I figured that was the case, but wanted to check with those who had been there.

I stayed home as well. I wouldn't have caved, but I wouldn't have enjoyed being around food at this point. Sugar free popsicles are a nice treat though.

We've made it this far. I'm sure we'll be fine. I have to go back to work tomorrow and I'm hoping it will be a good distraction. I've been doing two shakes plus berries and a cucumber on most workdays for the past few weeks so I really should be fine. I will say that I've never noticed food online or in movies/tv shows as much as I have the last 2 days so I'm trying to limit my exposure. I have plenty of broth and popsicles on hand and they definitely help.

I weaned myself off of coffee when I started the program back in March. I like unsweetened iced tea so I bought decaf teabags and made some for a little variety in the liquids. I live alone so I purged pretty much everything I can't eat on Sunday night, including pickles (they were really old anyway). I figure the better I am during these two weeks, the easier it will be after the surgery. Eating eggs and yogurt again is going to feel like a party. Lol.