Creekimp13

You poor thing! So sorry for your miserable 48!

<---Fitbit fan.

If you're consuming a lot of broth...the salt will make you retain water. Try cutting back to just a little broth and more plain water...or get reduced sodium broth. My weight jumped around a lot on the liquid diet for that reason, too. Just keep doing what you're doing and don't obsess. Water fluctuates for all sorts of reasons...even your period can add pounds unexpectedly. You're on the right track!

Gotalose... I'm feeling good, and could probably handle a couple hours of desk work...but it would have to be pretty simple stuff. Keep in mind...for three days I had clear liquid with no calories, and now I'm getting about 400 calories a day from protein shakes in addition to more clear liquid. It's hard to make your brain function well with so few calories coming in. You could do some simple work, but I wouldn't suggest anything challenging or stressful. (or anything that would result in big problems if you screwed it up a little)

Jade, my incisions itch today, too:) Par for the course...the healing itch.

Just wanted to say publicly that I'd welcome message exchanges with anyone going through this around the same time I am next week:) Want to let someone know how it's going? Bored in your hospital room? Want to compare notes? Want to vent about this crazy process? Message me! I'd love to hear from you. Just click my user name "Creekimp13" (in blue type to the left of this post) Then, when you get to my page, right at the top of the page in the middle (under where is says Bariatric Pal) is a blue box that says message. There ya go:) Might take me a bit, but I promise to respond to all messages. Wishing you all a safe surgery and an excellent outcome!

Thanks Ruby:) Have to be at the hospital at 5:30am! Whew! Will update when I can:) Good luck to you, too!

Intimacy on the internet moves at light speed. Trust is impossible.

You know what I hate worse than d**k pix? Guys who can't communicate. If a brilliant conversationalist who makes me laugh wants to show me his parts...I might just want a peek. Yep, i'm bad. But you've gotta pay to play that game. You need erotic writing skill. You need a mastery of language. You need the ability to completely capture my mind....before I want anything to do with your naughty bits. And I don't just mean the ability to talk dirty. We need commonality, similar values, similar politics, similar creativity and twisted humor, compassion, intelligence, emotional intelligence. Yep, I've got a LOT of tough criteria. But if the guy fits THAT bill? They can send me all the skin shots they want. But not one minute before. If a boring guy sends me a shot of his junk, I use paint to make a weird cartoon out of it and send it back. Then, I delete them. That kinda stuff should never be a surprise.

I'm oldschool. Plain old Fitbit app. Love it.

Just write about your day. Write about your motivators for weight loss surgery. Write about supportive people in your life who will help get you there. Keep it positive and don't give him any concerns.....unless you have some concerns you'd like to have addressed.

This forum might be helpful for you:) https://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/486-mexico-self-pay-weight-loss-surgery/

The reason you have to remove nail polish is because the anesthesiologist and OR nurses will want to see how your blood is perfusing your extremities. Sometimes they'll pinch your nail beds to make them go white and count the number of seconds it takes them to go pink again. This shows how well blood is reaching your fingers and toes. If you have sluggish capillary refill in your fingers and toes it can mean anything from you being too cold...to being a sign of internal bleeding. It's a tool that gives them more information about your circulation:)

Fruit and veggies are BAD next choices...too much fiber in them. It's best to follow your doctor's advice and take reintroductions very slowly. When you need to move on to the next stage, the next foods are cream of wheat or oat meal thinned with skim milk or almond milk, sugar free pudding, creamed soups with the chunks strained out, or yogurt.

Compared to the stretch marks....the surgical scars are an afterthought. I look like a bear used my belly as a scratching post. My skin didn't care for pregnancy.

Hi Jeannie, you should be able to get your EKG done in time. The only issue would be if it had irregularities that might require a stress test or more testing...,, that could get problematic. Get on that first thing in the morning! My EKG was done at my regular doctor's office. I would suggest calling your bariatric group and letting them know you still need your EKG and seeing if they can call whatever test facility will get you in ASAP. Going through regular scheduling yourself might not get the results that a call from a doctor's office would. The endoscopy would come into play only if you flunked your upper GI barium X-ray (at my clinic, anway). If you had normal results from your upper GI (if you had to do one)...you likely won't need an endoscopy.

In this gastric sleeve surgery, the surgeon fixes the hiatal hernia with a couple of stitches (go to 7:50). My doctor said he'd be evaluating us for hernia and fixing it if he found anything.

Don't worry. I had an endoscopy and found out I had gastritis, too. I'm on Famotidine for it. I never had any symptoms, either. All gastritis is...is irritation of your stomach lining. Mine was likely causes by too much ibuprofen for my athritis. I learned that Chronic gastritis is EXTREMELY COMMON in morbidly obese people...and something like a third of women who have bypass...have Chronic gastritis (many don't know it, and it's only discovered upon examining the discarded portion of stomach). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4768929/ <---read this, it'll help. From the article: "The mean operative time was one hour and 20 minutes for all cases, including the gastritis cases, and the mean hospital stay was 2–3 days for all of the patients. Five cases developed post-operative complications (three with leaks, two with strictures), but none of them was found to have gastritis. " It shouldn't be a complication. And the medication you're taking for it will help aid in the healing of your new stomach. Seriously....no worries.

It's not world ending....but don't eat anymore. In order for your liver to shrink, you need to be off carbs. That's kinda the point of the torture diet.

I'm on December 5th, too:) Pre-op diet is ROUGH...but I'm making in. Wishing everyone a safe procedure and a good outcome!

Do your best. Best to follow your own surgeon's rules. Good luck to you...and I feel your pain.

Congrats!

Good luck, please update!

Had my last pre-surgical appointment today! Learned some really weird stuff that I wanted to share. WARNING: What i'm about to describe is unique to my particular surgery protocol. Your doctor might have an entirely different approach and you should follow the instructions of YOUR doctor, always. I'm providing this for folks who are curious about an example of what happens....not what necessarily will happen in their procedure. Your particular doctor and facility might do things completely different. I've been told to take a shower with Chlorhexadine soap the night before surgery (was given a bottle), and to get into freshly laundered bedding. Was told underarm deodorant is desirable, but any other scents should be avoided. No makeup or fingernail polish (has to do with anesthesiologist monitoring your color). I'm supposed to finish all my shakes for the day by 6pm. This is the weird one!!!! From 6-9pm on the night before surgery, I'm supposed to drink 24 ounces of White Grape Juice. At 2:30 am I'm supposed to have an additional 12 ounces. Apparently carb loading the hell out of folks in front of the surgery helps to carry them through the nutritional rut, aids in healing, and helps clean your bowels out more naturally. In the morning, i'm supposed to take 1000mg of Tylenol and my regular meds (minus vitamins and blood pressure meds). I'm also supposed to take a medicine I picked up today called Emend that helps with nausea for a few days. Additionally, i'm being put on a medication called Omeprazole for three months while my stomach heals. I'll start that after surgery and break the capsule into a blob of fat free sugar free cool whip to get it down. Surgery is at 7:30am. I'm supposed to be there by 5:30. They're estimating 1-2 hours of surgery, two hours in recovery. They said I should expect to be in my room on the bariatric floor by 11am-1pm. At that point, I start the sip/blow/walk routine. if I'm able to hold down one ounce of clear liquid an hour, after a few hours, I'm told to do four ounces an hour....with each ounce being consumed in ten sips over 15 minutes. If that works out for a while....they switch it up to protein drinks every other hour. Four ounces clear liquids...four ounces protein drinks...four ounces clear liquids....alternating for ten hours per day. The hope is 40 ounces of fluid per day in the first week. After the first week....we add some other stuff in like pudding and cream of wheat and strained cream soups. With our protocol, about three weeks out you start eating semi soft foods. Takes about six weeks total to heal and have the freedom to try things on impulse. I know a lot of folks do this different...and some have no problems jumping in to semi soft earlier....have heard all sorts of stories. (and a few horror stories) We all have.... And I know we're all interested in when solid food gets reintroduced. I'm gonna do my best to follow instructions and do as i'm told. I want the best outcome possible. Strong suture line healing. All the professionals are saying slow and steady wins the race on this one. As tempting as it will be to eat...I'm gonna do my best to follow instructions to a T. After surgery, I go back in one week for a recheck with both the doctor and the nutritionist. We'll talk about vitamins...which we start taking again after week two. Then, I go back at three weeks, and then monthly for a while...then less frequently. Again...this is just the way one particular office does it....your surgeon might differ a LOT. Follow your surgeons instructions.

7 days down, 7 to go. Having surgery on December 5. I'm the first surgery in the morning. My liquid diet has sucked. No way to sugar coat that. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I'm incredibly hungry and angry. LOL. And my brain doesn't work. Really horrific brain fog. When you cut out all carbs and sugar, your liver has to kick into gear and make sugar for your body through a process called gluconeogenesis. You NEED glucose in your blood for basic functions. In particular, your brain needs glucose to function. When you're glucose deprived, it can be hard to concentrate, you can need extra effort for decisions, your impulse -control can be worse, and your emotions can be out of whack. I can attest to all of this being true. I'm forgetting everything. I feel foggy, and like I have to concentrate harder to stay on task. Have had headaches on and off and felt really tired. And did I mention I'm really grumpy? Like...really grumpy, and weepy, and kinda...unhinged. (more so than usual!) My particular diet is 5 shakes, sugar free popcicles, sugar free jello, broth, and one 100 calorie serving of either cream of wheat or yogurt per day....for two weeks. Here's a tip: If you're on this diet? Save your one item with carbs (the yogurt or cream of wheat) for just before you have to drive. You'll be more clear headed while driving, and drive safer. I kept forgetting how many shakes I'd had, so I put five clothespins on my kitchen curtains and moved them over to the other side as I drank my shakes. No second guessing that way. It helped. You do lose weight rapidly. I've lost about a pound a day. But again...this sucks so much. LOL. My previous wonderful low fat, low carb, calorie restricted diet seems decadent and indulgent by comparison. I miss my diet food. It was delicious and I'll never take it for granted again. I do feel more prepared for the psychological effects of the post-surgical diet. I already know how hard it is not to eat anything solid...and what weird things not eating carbs can do to your brain. I know how different I feel with my liver making all the sugar I need....and that I'm emotionally pretty raw. I've never done anything like this in my life, and it's pretty intense. While I really hate this diet....there is a certain comfort in knowing I won't be facing these changes for the first time right after surgery. I think it would add stress at a time I want to keep stress at bay as much as possible. I'll have my hands full with learning to stay hydrated. Tomorrow will be the eighth day...over the first hill, and on my way down the slope to surgery...I'm halfway home. Then another couple of weeks until mushy foods get reintroduced. I really never put together that I'd be in starvation mode for over a month. This is one of the hardest things I've ever done.