Creekimp13

Yay! Great work!

Personally...I eat a lot of fruits, beans and squash. I don't eat much fat. What fat I eat is usually olive oil, avocado or nuts. My meats are crazy lean. I don't think it's going to be a huge deal to transition fast or slow...but you know your body best. If you run into discomfort or digestive issues, go more gradually. I do whole grain bread in limited quantities, protein pasta, brown rice and potatoes. Lots of veggies. Fish, chicken, Mycoprotien, yogurt, kefir, etc. To each, their own. You have to figure out what's right for you. Discussing it with your nutritionist is a good plan, too.

If a near death issue is still haunting you...talk to a therapist. Post traumatic stress is real and it can mess with you. I nearly died in a tornado. Only time I've ever experienced the strong copper taste in my mouth from adrenaline...it was pretty crazy. I was in a van, driving down a country road on my way home. It was raining...but it rains a lot here...thought nothing of it. Pretty dark and sinister looking...but again...common here. Hail hit very suddenly and just as suddenly there was zero visibility as the air filled up with leaves and insanely strong winds. Pulled the van off the road and watched little windows of visibility out the window in all that opaque green wind. Huge tree bending over one second....then a Broken pencil stub left, the entire tree carried away. Flying crap from God knows where. The van was pushed all over the road. I was fairly sure it was going to roll, and it did get up on two feet...but it didn't roll. Wind let up and it banged down and woke the baby. If it had rolled, it would have rolled into a deep swamp...which would have been problematic. Everyone asked...what did you do? What were you thinking? Honestly? I sat there with my seat belt on and hoped for the best. You're supposed to get out of vehicles and find a ditch. Yeah...right. No way to find a ditch with no visibility. Happened so fast, no way to get the baby out. The debris outside was incredibly dangerous. power lines were falling. I remember thinking..."Huh. This is a surprise. What a weird way to die." And then it was over. BOOM. Sun came out. I drove the van over a downed power line...(not smart...did it before I realized it was there) and made the first tracks through a road covered in golfball sized iceballs with a broken windshield. Had to drive around many down trees. Home was just a few miles away and I decided the thing to do was to take the baby home and see if our house was still there. House was fine, save some missing shingles and siding. Power was predictably out. The garden was weird. I'd just planted the whole garden in little foot tall plants....and they were all missing. Ripped out and gone. Some rootballs were left, some were blown away with the plants and the entire garden had a million little craters from the ice balls. BBQ grill was in the pool. Dog was hiding in the basement. Smart dog. I expected nightmares and stress about it...but I mostly just felt shocked and happy to be alive. I did have some post traumatic stress from some other events....but the tornado just made me feel grateful and stunned.

Thin cream soup with the chunks strained out. Thinned oatmeal and cream of wheat.

Baritastic is popular.

I'm oldschool...I like my fitbit food tracker.

They might and might not detect it on the endoscopy. Mine wasn't detected and it was huge. Probably the result of bad falls off horses..or crappy genetics...or a combination. Don't worry...it's not complicated to repair and most bariatric surgeons have a ton of experience fixing them if you do happen to have one. Piece of cake. No worries.

Keep track of your temperature and heart rate. If either or both are up...go get checked out at urgent care. If not, call your surgeon's office in the morning.

He sounds like a jerk. That said....if he wants to eat crap, he can. You can't make him cook if he doesn't want to. His body. Let him kill himself with garbage. No skin off your nose...so don't worry about it. No, it's not very supportive to eat crap in front of you....but it doesn't sound like he worries much about how you feel. By the way...if you're 4 days post op and have a headache, a cough and chest pain...why in the hell isn't he taking you to urgent care immediately? Because he doesn't care. That's why. Learn from this. Lose weight and find someone who actually cares about you. Life is too short to play martyr.

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/low-carb-wheat-thins-352162

No. Neither of those recipes would be allowed. The point of your presurg diet is to severely restrict carbs to shrink your liver. Fruit is carbs. Pumpkin is carbs. No and no. If you eat carbs and your liver doesn't shrink your surgery can be canceled. (even after they start it ) I know drinking protein shakes sucks. In my opinion, the presurg diet is harder than surgery. But you have to do it by the book for the best results.

Give them a year or so...the purple fades a LOT over time and they're barely noticeable. Comparing my sleeve scars to my gallbladder scars from over a decade ago....I can hardly find my gallbladder scars and i'm actively looking:)

https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/ketorolac-oral-route-injection-route/description/drg-20066882

It thins the lining of your stomach systemically and can cause ulcers on the surgical incision that is trying to heal. Even when used IV or IM, it's a bad choice when other choices are available.

PS...congrats on your surgery! Wishing you a rapid recovery and a successful weightloss journey:) At my hospital, they sold the damned green jello as "a lovely citrus jello"....I was thinking orange... Nope...green!

Toradol is an NSAID. It can cause all sorts of unpleasant GI side effects including vomiting, bloating, stomach pain. NSAIDS...even injectables...are associated with marginal ulcers in bypass and sleeve. They used to be used, but are very rarely used anymore because of emerging data about this problem. It's a wonderful drug for pain. Works great. But the pain from gastric sleeve is minimal and the risks do not outweigh the benefits. I would not take Toradol, I had a perfect recovery, too. Walked over two miles in the ward the day of my surgery and couldn't stop smiling. Felt terrific. I took as few pain meds as they would allow. Had no problem drinking and progressing. Was released about 24 hours after my surgery. Regular over the counter liquid Tylenol worked great for me at home.

Dude...you need to DRINK MORE. You're going to end up in the ER with dehydration. Very seriously. Pour four little one ounce cups every single hour. Drink one every fifteen minutes in ten little sips. 30-40 ounces of fluid per day is NOT ENOUGH for a 6 foot 2 man. You are endangering yourself.

As long as you're drinking enough...you're fine. If it persists, ask your doctor. Drink water. And then drink some more.

There will be no remarkable differences between sleeve and bypass. Just personal preferences. Advice from dozens of different doctors who have absolutely no consensus. LOL:) Bypass folks will have a harder time with refined sugar...but both camps should avoid refined sugar. At 3 months, I ate 1000-1200 calories per day. I got 60+ grams of protein per day. Kept my meats low fat, use olive oil, etc. My carbs were not refined, but I do eat carbs. Whole grain breads, beans, protein pasta. I follow the Mayo Clinic diet....which is kinda like the Mediterranean Diet. Lots of whole grains, veggies, fruits, beans, nuts, fish. Some meat. 1200 calories looks like whatever you want it to look like. Many people will eat significantly lower calorie amounts. My group does not advise to do this based on long term studies of weight regain. We are pushed to get to 1000-1200 calories as soon as possible...the idea being a strong metabolic reset. (this is all emerging information and emerging theory....so time will tell)

There was no IQ test involved in my psych eval. Just a big profile of the same ten questions written 30 different ways that amounted to: Are you suicidal? Do you have compulsivity issues? Do you have issues with addictions? Do you have a history with mental illness? Do you treat your mental illness? How bad are your depression and anxiety? And YES, your psych eval can stop the surgery...if you ring the bell for certain conditions/behaviors. (happens VERY rarely) In the meeting with the psych....Mostly, they're going to ask you questions relating to the stability of your life. Are you financially stable? Do you have emotional support for the surgery? Are your relationships stable? Are you going through major life events? And why you're having the surgery. What are your expectations? What is your history with obesity? How is your diet going so far? Do you understand that the surgery won't fix the situation, and that you'll have to work hard on lifestyle changes? It's not a big deal. Be honest. Be positive. Don't overshare. Relax.

It's irritating, isn't it? You'll get a lot of advice. Cut carbs. Increase exercise. Etc. etc. etc. I've tried them all. LOL. Guess what works? Patience and consistency. Just waiting it out. Some people just plateau for a while. I'm sorry you do. It's a pain in the arse. I'll go 3-4 weeks sometimes of losing and regaining the same 2 pounds....then one day...BOOM...I lose 5-7 pounds and I'm on my next plateau for 3 weeks. No damned rhyme or reason to it. Drives me nuts. Crazy stuff I'm trying, currently: Doing burst exercise...getting my heart rate up as high as possible for a few minutes, then doing a more moderate cool down pace...then another burst of maximum exertion...then cool down pace. (over and over for 30 minutes) Supposedly, this increases metabolism for 48 hours. Do I believe it? Not sure, but it's something to try. Green tea is supposed to boost metabolism a bit. Switching up my exercise routine. Your body gets used to the same thing and you won't reach the higher heart rate you need to boost metabolism. I'm swimming more in addition to walking. Fiber. Good for pooping, burns more energy in digestion, is correlated with supporting fat burning healthy gut microbes, and makes ya regular. There are some folks here who have reported constipation so bad they've lost 3 pounds when they finally get the pipes unplugged. Being regular is a good thing. Best wishes, and heart felt empathy.

Here's the thing about Pedialyte.....it's expensive for what it is. it's really no better than a sports drink. But distressed moms and dads like to buy special things for sick kids because they feel helpless and spending the five bucks on a bottle of it....makes them feel better. It's placebo for parents, essentially. If you look at the labels....Powerade Zero and Pedialyte are almost the same product....except that Powerade Zero has no calories and is about a fifth the cost. Also...there's no reason you should get dehydrated if you follow instructions and drink tiny amounts very frequently after surgery. Water works great. So does herbal tea, sugar free jello, decaf coffee, flavored drinks and no cal sports drinks. Could you use Pedialyte in a pinch? Sure. It's got 25 calories per quart...so the calories aren't terrible. But there's just really no point in paying that much for something that won't be any better for you than Powerade Zero.

What you're describing is completely normal. Some people have a tremendous reduction of hunger after surgery...some DO NOT. I could have chewed my own leg off and eaten it the week after surgery I was so freaking hungry. I didn't get un-hungry until I was eating about a thousand calories a day. Be consistent. Stick to your program. It gets better.

Walking helps:)

I have BCBS of Michigan. Got all my requirements done November 3rd....my bariatric office submitted everything and requested a surgery date of December 5th. BCBS of Michigan gave them the go ahead and had an approval letter in my hands within three weeks. I was extremely happy with my experience with my group...who did all the paperwork and communicating with my insurance....the insurance company paid the claims promptly after my surgery...and the hospital treated me very well and continued to follow up and check on me even after I went home. Just a great experience all the way around. PS...I did have to do 6 months of dietitian visits, but my BMI was lower. I didn't mind at all.