KarenLR75

Hey, thank you. Do you know James' last name? I typed in '@JamesM but came up with only ones with full last name..

I'm so bummed now. I thought we would have less ACTUAL physical hunger as some of the hormones like Grehlin (sp) are eliminated? Am I having 85% of my stomach removed to be just as hungry as I am now on an all liquid diet at almost starvation level calories? Is there some sort of known % that get NO relief from true physical hunger pangs (not head hunger, not stomach acid, not cravings and not from someone who has stretched their pouch out)?? I'd rather know the unvarnished truth rather than be looking at surgery on the 1st thinking I'm...going to get one thing and yet, not be getting it at all in the end.

I think you should get yourself one too! I was trying to think of finding water bottles that aren't so obviously meant to be used with a straw. I've been trying to drink out of my 'Yeti-like' cup and it just dribbles all over me. I love it because it keeps stuff cold and I live in TX but I feel like a toddler who needs a sippy cup because I've obviously forgotten how to drink stuff without a straw!!!! Was hoping to also find those little container/cups that most ppl find at Dollar General only because with work at a high peak with ppl worried because I'm having surgery wow...this coming Monday...I need to spend as much time working as possible.

Amen! I think it was Mom_of_Chaos..oh my gosh I need to verify her name but she was starting a list of everyone in July by date which I thought was really cool. I'm on July 1st in TX. I'm 50 but if you ask me in public you may hear me say 49..LOL Welcome! We are all going through this together!! We'll be in very close stages of recovery too!

Can someone tell me what a 'super sleeve/sleave' is? Is it your doctor's terminology for a special process that he has come up with /developed or is using?

Congrats! I'm having mine on 7/1. Now that I know they may weigh you before you are leaving, I'm going to close my eyes..I don't want to know. Each time I've been in the hospital, if I'm on an IV, I swell up like a balloon.

Oh my gosh - totally in my prayers! My orthos said both knees need to be replaced and urged me to get bariatric surgery to get my BMI lower (I had already been planning to get surgery)..and I have a long way to go, but hopefully in next year or 2 I will hit the right BMI. When my Dad was alive he did both knees at once. I've considered doing the same but my Dad had a huge tolerance for pain and it was..interesting. I think I'll only do one at a time. What an accomplishment! Lost your weight and now on to one of your key goals! You go, MstressB69!!!

Oh my gosh...you have the BEST IDEAS!! LOVE IT!! 1- @KarenLR75 (VSG)

I am 50 and did keto this past year. Well, when I intensely focused on it, in about 9 months and NOT being able to exercise at all due to torn knee and it had not gotten warm enough to get in pool, I lost 45 lbs in that 9 months (although keep in mind I weigh a GREAT DEAL more than you so consider your possible loss on more of a % of ttl basis & if you can manage some things at this time of year like getting on pool, I still think you could lose a nice amt of weight...but I'm also so angry/frustrated on your behalf..but want to encourage you as well if Keto is your only option left) My primary dr. is huge fan of keto but my bariatric dr is not. I actually do not have cholesterol issues but my primary, who I have known now for over 20 yrs, has had other patients whose cholesterol,diabetes, etc. improved. However, I think 'impact' of keto on things like cholesterol can be very individualized. Also, my bariatric dr said if people didn't go to the 'extremes of keto' like eating a ton of beef each and every day, if they limited some of the things that we know often impacts cholesterol, then he'd be more a fan of the general approach. So yes, even at 50, I lost 45 on Keto and that was not working as hard as I could. 18 yrs ago, I lost 80 lbs on Atkins and kept it off for over a decade as I was finally able to be active and yes, was MUCH younger at the time, but hey, I did lose on Keto. I'm torn for you though and I apologize if you've answered this 100 times...does your insurance not have an Appeals process??

Anyone who thinks that WLS is the EASY way out has no idea of what they are talking about!! EASY?!?! I also referred to it as the 'nuclear detonation' option...because of what is involved and the impact. It is not the first easy 'go to' thing for "gee, I need to lose a few pounds". It is something that I imagine NONE of us would have opted for and I'd guess 99% of us are 'experts at losing weight'. It IRRITATES the crud out of me that people seem to think that we just woke up one day and said "Hey, I wanna run through the whole messy gauntlet, pre-requisites, counseling, fighting with insurance, hunting for a doc to trust, losing weight before surgery, pre-op diets, knowing what this does to our insides, knowing and accepting how our lives are going to change"..and just said "oh yeah, SIGN ME UP FOR THAT CUZ IT IS EASY!! You got this, girl! Your name 'CelfLove' says it all. Can't always make ppl understand but those that love us are the ones that we ask to at least accept the decision (acceptance doesn't mean they have to like it..last time I checked...my body is still my own). Go get 'em!!

One of my "new friends" on this board and I were chatting via posts and they made a comment that made me question something on the 'clear liquids' portion of the pre-op diet with is coming up in a day or 2 for me. I have on my list that I can have sugar free popsicles and even jello. I remember though when I was getting an upper GI and a colonoscopy several years ago, they required the popsicles and jello to either be yellow or green in color. I've looked at the list from my nutritionist AND my list from my doctor and they do not stipulate a color restriction (i.e. no red, orange, etc.) but I know they are going to do a leak test. Has anyone been told that they need to stick to greens and yellows for popsicles and jello?? I'd hate to just keep eating red/orange items and THEN find out this was a big no-no!!

I so get this! Yes, Mexican food is the same for me...and alcohol..not like I drink a lot, but it has been a part of the 'kids are out of the house'..let's go to a winery, etc. type thing.. Basically what you said. Um, after hearing about your experience with trying Saki, while i hadn't planned on trying anything alcoholic under 6 months (I'd love to tell all of you that I'll wait until I have a year under my belt but I don't feel the internal conviction on that point yet)....I definitely will keep your story in mind if I start thinking about it. I DO NOT want to crave anything if i can help it, but especially NOT CARBS

Sometimes..it would be nice if we could get consistent answers from our care team (hospital, nutritionist, doctor, etc.) I just did my pre-op appt at the hospital and asked them the question about the popsicles (didn't mention jello) but stated that I had red and orange popsicles. They said "not a problem"....but when I look at the number of people who have replied that said "no red"...I've got to take that into consideration. Kroger had NO Sugar Free popsicles that were only yellow and/or green...like literally..NONE. Tried TWO stores. I can do lime sugar free jello but of course I stocked up on not only the lime, but also many 'variations of red' OK, when I go to clear liquids on um..the 28th or 29th (surgery is July 1st), I'll remove red jello for sure. Guess I'll have to send family out to try to find green/yellow only popsicles. I'd call my dr's office as well but one member of his staff, the person who most often answers, is so hard to talk to/deal with that I hang up feeling completely stressed out - even if it is a simple inquiry. Feeling a bit confused...concerned and all of a sudden..frustrated (not at y'all - I appreciate your input)..this has just been bad work day and bad personal day. No worries.. ??????????????????

Seriously? ARGH.....um...heck.. But they didn't specify like..no red popsicles? is it a 'red dye' thing you think or ??

YAY! Getting close! You know we are all hyper-focused as my other thought after being excited for you was 1) What are CHG wipes and...um...Bowel Prep and 2) Am I supposed to be doing that (since that hasn't been mentioned I presume I either don't have to do it or 'Bowel Prep' = liquid diet??

LOL..no worries! Ah, adding Benefiber. I think I'd rather have the issue you mentioned...than well..ya know? You have to do an ENTIRE MONTH!!!?? 😮

LOL - Go get 'em Boudica/Boudicca. My eldest named her cat Boudicca and as she took 7 years of Latin and other assorted things, I learned the correct pronunciation too. People spell it differently but I am sure you know who I'm talking about which is why I love the Celtic warrior queen reference. That name, of course, sprang directly into my mind. My eldest is an uber nerd and used to compete in a lot of academic competitions in high school so I have loads of random info in my head (although as I read a lot, I knew of this famous warrior queen quite some time ago). You show them, girl!!!

I looked for a "smacks sibling" emoticon but alas, there was none. I've made it clear to my family what foods I consider to be 'trigger' foods - ones that either tempt me...or for now, ones that are just hard to see someone else eating. I seriously have tried to assure my family they don't need to be sneaking their food into other rooms...LOL. We all have to have some version of a 'new normal' life together. If I AM the one having a bad day or whatever is going on in my head, then I will excuse myself prior to the meal and they are not to take it personally. THEY still need to eat. What I do draw the line on in my own house (kids are technically out of the house) is any foods that were not part of the keto way of life my husband & I were followed up until my pre-op. As he has stated he will continue on keto, that is fine. My family knows the things that do NOT tempt me like ice cream or pie. If any of the miscreants bring in cake or cookies, there will be a brawl but it's not because of this surgery, I'd have had an issue with it when I was doing keto. Most of the time even that stuff no longer bothers me but like someone new in recovery from let's say 'alcohol addiction', people who are near and dear should not be drinking around them, especially not when someone is new in recovery (the exception here is that my family needs to eat to live so I do not expect them to abstain, just to be thoughtful). I see the surgery and the first few months after that as being new to a different type of recovery. Recovering from food addiction but NEVER cured just like AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and NA (Narcotics Anonymous) treat addiction. Everyone is hopefully on some path of recovery but you are never considered 'cured' which keeps you on guard against relapsing although it can happen and you just get back on the proverbial horse. LOL, maybe next time you are presented with a temptation, imagine drinking or eating it in front of your doctor...I was going to say 'in front of a mirror' which is something I've used before when I was...eating WAY too much and that mirror thing has stopped me quite a few times. Whichever would deter you the most...LOL

Welcome sibling! We are just 2 days apart. I wonder if the liquid diet..and number of days is related in any way to a person's BMI or ??? Within the specific 'Sleeve' and 'Bypass' surgery forums I think there are topics for 'July 2019 surgeries'...but as the gastric sleeve one is not super active yet, I had thought...why not start one for all July people regardless of which surgery they are having as we surely share the same anxiety, hope, nervousness, fear, etc. Guess we'll see if anyone else joins in here, if not, we know about each other now...lol

Umm...anyone doing the pre-op diet and having an issues with bowel movements (sigh, just look @ the things we talk about). I went back through my paperwork but didn't see anything about adding any fiber products like BeneFiber or MetaMucil...anyone been told to take either of those?

OUCH! I have tried caramel before (not this brand) but as far as a 'chew' went...I didn't care for it so I ordered 'chocolate' for the Bariatric Advantage ones come from bariatricpal. I'm so sorry you got the wrong ones...I know that blows...

LOL, they are SO good....and I can CHEW! I got 2 different kinds. LOL, I said 'stare' because I suddenly now have a 'new option' I haven't been eating/drinking for the past few days. I felt like a dragon with my horde... I got the "Outshine" brand (sugar free) that has 'tangerine', 'raspberry' and 'strawberry'. I will caution that each one actually has 25 calories each. They ironically have 6 gm of carbs, 1 gm of sugar (which meets my restrictions) and 1 gram of fiber. Then I also got the "Popsicle" brand - sugar free - grape, orange and cherry. They have 15 calories each and 4 grams of carbs (no fiber). So the Popsicle brand is definitely less calories. I guess it would come down to how many Popsicle a person is having during a day as to which is a good choice for them. For ME, TONIGHT, I'm having the Outshine brand.

Oh Frustr8, was sitting here mopey with a bad headache...and you just had my whole face light up with a smile...I have never heard it stated that way before but I LOVE IT!! LOL..thank you so much!!

Love your haul! I'm waiting for a shipment from them right now with my vitamins and looks to be the same calcium citrate chewy bites. Going to shower and then come back to stare at my newly bought sugar free popsicles!

Oh wow, great to hear from you! Ironically...we are at the same point but I noticed today I was foggier than I expected (although yesterday I was LESS foggy than expected..LOL). I have had a bad headache all day today. I did not give up caffeine until..well, I guess since I had 1/2 cup this morning I haven't given it up yet. I'm used to 4 to 5 cups a day though...so that probably has something to do with the headache. I noticed my dr's list is different than the nutritionist he sent me too. They both had soft foods @ first start of the 7-10 days, but since I didn't start until 'Day 8.5', I went ahead and started full liquid diet today (regarding Day 8.5 - on the way out of my doc's office last week, I teased him about being grumpy about 10 days and he said "7"...um...ok, maybe he was kidding? When I realized I should clarify, it was already the weekend so I'm taking a day of soft foods out. I've noticed some interesting variations - there are a few ppl I've seen on here doing a full FOUR WEEKS PRE-OP....I just shudder..LOL. Guess it was good that I already had given up sugar/carbs/etc as I was doing keto. I did something similar last week - one night I went out for Mexican and one lunch at a Chinese place. But it was just 1 meal each day...not the entire days. I did have a drink '11 days' prior but I have not had any alcohol since the 10 days started even though I didn't do the pre-op diet until day 8.5 (that sounds so weird!). I feel the same..nervous..anxious..and right now...a bit hungry..lol. Best of luck to you as well! Stay in touch. I know we have lots of other early July peeps out there!