karen_marie
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Everything posted by karen_marie
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Can I get by without blending foods ?
karen_marie replied to Mhy12784's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
My NUT did say that the blended/pureed stage was usually the one that gave patients a harder time. Just stick with things that are kinda mushy or soft liquid to begin with, then blending them to a smoother consistency won't be really off-putting. For instance, make a basic chili with some sort of meat (or none) and beans. Blending that from somewhat chunky to smooth shouldn't be gross haha Or even a simplified sloppy joe (sans bread) - ground turkey/lean beef and some low sugar or sugar fee sauce, blended smoother shouldn't be too weird. And both would give you good protein (you can even add some non flavored protein powder to both). I know that @James Marusek has said he basically did chilis and soups during his weight loss phase. -
Surgery is TOMORROW! It doesn't even feel real! I'm sitting here having my decaf coffee 'breakfast' and trying to just keep as busy as I can today so I can try to avoid the fact that I'm on 'clear' liquids all day today, no protein shakes
I brought chicken bone broth and chicken bouillon cubes to try for lunch, and must have brought half a pound's worth of sugar free lemon lime jello for snacks haha. Lord this day can't be done with soon enough!
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Thank you! Can't wait to get back on to provide an update post surgery
My pre-op with my surgeon yesterday evening went great. Said all my pre-op tests looked really good and he didn't foresee any issues as far as he can tell/predict.
Thanks to Snapchat filters, you can see how I'm *really* feeling about this clear liquid day LOL
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My sister has already offered my hubby sanctuary whenever he needs it lol
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I think your cat forgot how to cat lol I remember once in high school, I saw just a mouse butt sticking out from behind my hamper. I slowly crept up and moved the hamper, only to find that the butt half of the mouse was all that was there. My cat seemed very satisfied with himself for thinking to 'box up half' for later lol
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LOL my kind of humor!
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LOL I'm too much of a control freak to let him make my shakes for me - but the expletives are RIGHT up my alley haha I should have been in the Navy. I've just been playing my Sims game at night and trying to just keep my mouth shut and my rantings to myself for a few more days. I've warned family that my normally low patience is razor thin right now, so we've had a good laugh and keep the convos light and nothing that involves 'discussion' that could lead to 'disagreements' and me 'losing my sh*t' lol And congrats on choosing your surgery type! Knowing that will def help filter all the info you've researched moving forward.
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LOL I'm on day 14 of my pre-op liquid diet, so every day there is ranting (my poor saint of a husband) Tomorrow is clear liquids only (day before surgery), so I may tell him to meet up with a friend after work to protect himself hahaha
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Why are diets so different?
karen_marie replied to Neens's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Wow day 4? I'm jealous and scared of that lol. I'm pre-op, on my last day of my 14-day liver shrinking liquid diet, and tomorrow it's clear liquids all day (day before surgery). I'll share the progression chart my surgeon and NUT advise for the RNY I'm having (attached). It definitely seems every surgeon and NUT is different, not sure why that is. *if you can't see the attachment or open it, make sure you're logged in* Diet Progression Chart.docx -
Only 3 days away from this life-changing surgery, and I've started putting together a list of easy things I can do while I'm at home recovering. It has to be THE DUMBEST list of things I've ever put together, but here goes hahaha
- Do all the needed post-op stuff: go for walks, use spirometer, take vitamins on time, eat/drink right, etc etc etc etc ...
- Portion out vitamins for the week into 4x/day pill organizer
- Copy all phone contacts into a spreadsheet, remove old contacts file from phone, double check remaining names against spreadsheet to ensure no one is missing
- Pluck eyebrows
- Catch up on YouTube channels I watch
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Color in keepsake drawing of a tattoo I designed for a friend (I'll include a pic of the outline below )
- Write in penzu online journal
- Play xbox games I've been neglecting
- Prep and freeze food for first few days back at work
Anybody else have a list of mundane things they want/need to do while they are recovering at home?
And here's the sugar skull owl tattoo my friend requested I design for him. It'll be super colorful once he gets it done, and once I color in the keepsake drawing for him!
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@Sosewsue61Congrats!!! Woot!
@karen_marie Don't forget to binge watch a few series and to also watch the 1pm Hallmark Movies!
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@FluffyChix Oh I plan to be watching (while walking around my living room) a BUNCH of stuff that I've been wanting to catch up on haha
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When you update your Current Weight (My Surgery, then on the left side click Progress to update your weight), the ticker will auto update based on that
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CONGRATS!!
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Climbed to Everest Base Camp 10 months after RNY
karen_marie replied to LisaKay's topic in Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story
That's an AMAZING achievement! And now you've given me another idea to add to my bucket list Always been fascinated by Everest climbers, but too chicken sh*t to go to the top myself lol definitely would consider the hike to base camp though like @DropWt4Life said! -
Day 10 for me of my 2wks liquid diet, not including the day before surgery of just clear liquids. I really haven't had much hunger, but I've put a lot of effort into making my shakes interesting. I'll add fruit, no sugar flavor syrups, flavor extracts, etc and try different recipes. For breakfast today, I'm having a pumpkin pie flavored protein shake (pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, vanilla extract, little bit of skim milk and water, and protein powder). Throw it all in the blender for a min with about a cup of ice and voila - a nice frothy (and big) protein shake that takes me awhile to drink. Your body will get used to it!
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Writing/typing in a journal for your journey
karen_marie posted a topic in Gastric Bypass Surgery Forums
Just curious as to how many others have kept some sort of private journal (hand written or typed/online) that they use to document the progress of their journey. I know a lot of people blog and have YouTube channels (feel free to share both!) that are viewable by the public, but my journaling is done on a site called Penzu, which is a private online journaling platform. I used it when I went through my divorce from my first husband, and it was actually very helpful to get all my thoughts typed out without worrying about others reading them. I could just lay it all out as bluntly as I wanted. I may eventually share some of my journal entries with friends and family, but right now it's my space to say what I want, keep track of all the pre-op appointments I've got scheduled, and just have a place to store all of my thoughts. I did splurge and pay the $20 to upgrade for a year of Penzu Pro, which basically lets me have multiple journals (so my WLS is a separate journal of its own), and different text and background styles, as well as the ability to download/print my journal if I want down the road. What are you doing to document your journey so that you can go back and 'relive' it down the road? -
I'm extremely impatient (just ask anyone who knows me, including my saint husband lol). I found that spending my time reading through the forums here and taking notes, doing additional research, and watching documentaries and YouTube videos about the surgery I'm getting helped distract me from time slowly passing by. I also journal my thoughts and progress in an private online journal (penzu.com), so I can feel like I'm doing something in the waiting time. Luckily my waiting time is almost up, so now I spend my waiting time just getting prepped for post-op! Hang in there!
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Hi everyone I have a few questions
karen_marie replied to sarahjj79's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
My orientation was a free 1.5hr seminar that the surgeon held, going over A LOT of information about the different types of surgeries available and answering a bunch of questions from us folks there. Before we all left, they scheduled consult appointments for us with the surgeon, where we could discuss our specific needs and type of surgery he would recommend. They also gave us a packet to fill out and mail back to them before the consult appointment, which asked for A LOT of info so that they could get started reaching out to insurance and any doctors etc etc. For me, BCBS of IL on my plan doesn't require a 6mo supervised diet anymore, so from seminar to surgery date it'll be 2 days shy of 3mos. CRAZY fast, but that's also because I was on top of scheduling all of my pre-op doc appointments and tests as soon as I could, so I was seeing a different doc almost every week for awhile lol. Just had my pre-op appt with my primary doc yesterday after work and he gave his clearance for the surgery! Now I just have my pre-op appt with my surgeon next Wednesday, and I'm ready for my surgery next Friday! Good luck and definitely read a bunch of the threads in these forums! I'm a super organized researcher to begin with, but it was super helpful reading everything on here. -
Primary doc cleared me for surgery! Said my pre-op test results were perfect
1wk and 1 day til surgery!!
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I just got a really big one done this summer, but I am definitely going to get one once I hit goal Any excuse for a new tat lol but I'm thinking I'll do some sort of minimalist roman numeral thing, like HW-GW (so CCC-CLX)under one of my wrist tattoos. Please share pics of tats or tat ideas! I love seeing the artwork. This is the one I got done this summer. Watercolor style, shows my journey on where I've lived: Cardinal is state bird of VA and IL, Oriole is state bird of MD, and a cherry blossom branch for my career in DC. Got it when I moved back home to IL
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What did you take to hospital?
karen_marie replied to readyforachange66502's topic in Gastric Bypass Surgery Forums
I've posted this before. It's based on a combined document that was created in the forums awhile back that I found. I don't think I'll bring everything on this list, but it gives me a good starting place. <<make sure you're logged in so you can open the attachment>> Hospital Stay Checklist.pdf -
Learning to run after bariatric surgery.
karen_marie replied to Berry78's topic in Fitness & Exercise
I would also HIGHLY recommend watching the documentary From Fat to Finish Line if you haven't yet. It's on most of the streaming sites now, including iTunes to rent or buy. I watched that last year and it got me motivated to start interval running, and I have done a number of 5ks since then. After surgery, one of my big goals to work towards is to complete a 10k and then a half marathon -
Finally caved and bought some BariatricPal stuff from the store to try during my post-op liquid phase. Ended up ordering:
- BariatricPal Protein Soup - Chicken Bouillon
- Celebrate Meal Replacement Shakes - Tomato Soup / 5 Single Serve Packs
- Celebrate Meal Replacement Shakes - Cinnamon Roll / 5 Single Serve Packs
- BariatricPal Protein Smoothie - Aloha Mango
- BariatricPal Protein Soup - Broccoli and Cheddar
- BariatricPal Protein Soup - Cream Of Chicken
Wanted something different sweetness wise for shakes, and have been missing a bit of savory so hopefully these soups/broths are good!
Also have my surgery clearance appointment with my primary doc today after work, so excited! I did my pre-op testing at the hospital last Saturday, and called them on Tuesday morning to make sure that they had sent my results to my primary doc for this appointment. Still crazy to think the surgery is next Friday
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Pre-Op Weight Gain
karen_marie replied to hap314ness's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Logging can be a pain, but it definitely helps! You can even note just general gym activity you did that day, just so it's all in one place. I would hope your doctor wouldn't ask you to provide the actual gym logs, but crazier things have happened lol At least you know you can get them if need be. -
My revision is approved!!
karen_marie replied to vanwest83's topic in Revision Weight Loss Surgery Forums (NEW!)
Pre-op diet has been not as bad as I was fearing lol luckily I've drank many protein shakes in the past, so I like them just fine. I've been doing different smoothie/shake recipes to keep some variety going. Did a pina colada one the other day (pinapple chunks and coconut extract for the flavoring), and a pumpkin pie one last night (pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon for flavoring). Don't get me wrong, plain chocolate and vanilla are fine, but since I'm able to blend some stuff into them for pre-op, I'm doing it haha Tried having just chicken broth for lunch one day to get something more savory, but I was NOT a fan. Just tasted bland and unappealing at the same time. -
Pre-Op Weight Gain
karen_marie replied to hap314ness's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I know others can chime in that have been in similar situations. From my view, my legal background tells me ‘the one with the most paper wins’ - make sure you’re logging all of your food/drinks and your activity. You can use that as ammunition to say ‘look, I’ve been doing what you told me and still haven’t lost weight.’ It’s also a great tool if you wanted to reach out to your nutritionist just to see if they have any suggestions for anything you could be doing differently before your pre-op appointment. I’d def recommend that if you haven’t already. For peace of mind, I’d call and talk with your surgeon or their office too. Point blank ask them if they will cancel your surgery if you show to have gained or not lost weight, even with a food/activity log showing that you’ve followed their instructions. -
My revision is approved!!
karen_marie replied to vanwest83's topic in Revision Weight Loss Surgery Forums (NEW!)
That's one of the reasons I'm doing it - get healthy now before more problems surface. My surgeon said he wished he had more patients that would come to him BEFORE they collected the weight-related health issues. Easier recovery for the patient, and just better odds of success overall. I don't want high blood pressure or diabetes, and that's what I'd be trending towards if I didn't do surgery to help get this weight off.
