Creekimp13

PS..sorry if that sounded judgy or bitchy...but truly...this is one of the few things all doctors agree there is no middle ground on. Not meaning to pick on you. Just don't want anything to happen to you.

You smoke and you'll swallow nicotine laced saliva that goes straight to your stomach. It will impede healing, it can cause ulcers, leaks and massive problems for you. Don't do it. It's not worth it. Talk to your doctor about it. If you're hell bent to smoke again, I wouldn't even think about it for at least six months. Your stomach has to heal. And even then? You're taking major risks of big problems. It was explained over and over and over...that you had to quit for life. If at any point in the process you recall a doctor saying to you that "just one cigarette a day" was ok...you need to find that doctor and have them put that in writing....so you can sue them when you end up on a feeding tube for weeks. You are playing with fire.

I really do agree with what you're saying here....but your partner is a little bit different of a relationship than your mother in law, no? I dunno...I couldn't look the other way on my spouse treating me like this. My mom in law...sure. Hubby? Nope. But to each their own. Takes all kinds to make a world:)

You can tell them anytime that is right for you. You can opt not to tell them unless you absolutely have to. it's all up to you.

Drink more water. If you "just went nuts on water" and it still didn't change urine color....you're probably very dehydrated and your body was sucking that water up like a sponge and not sending it to your bladder. Ask your doctor's office...they will tell you what I'm telling you. If you want, you can have them check a urine sample, but very concentrated urine results most commonly from one cause: Dehydration. That said... a bile duct issue could cause dark urine, too. Best to make that call.

Danny...psst! (waste). dragging myself away from keyboard...... Must....not...succumb....to red-penning the internets!

The show has come and gone. I don't think reruns are as interesting as the first time it airs. I had no idea I was being unoriginal. Poop! *hangs head...does the walk of shame*

My nutritionist is a dietitian....and she's nuts. The woman has a million unicorns in her office and is so damned happy all the time I think it's feasible she eats pot brownies on the sly. My surgeon is extremely type A, and I think he's a little nuts, too. A little madness now and then is relished by the wisest men. ---Willy Wonka.

Two weeks of liquid diet. Pure hell.

Good job Matty! Well done:)

It'll get better each day. Don't panic. Take a breath and do a million teenie sips. You've got this. Within a few days the inflamation will be down and you'll be able to drink more freely.

Try slowing your drinking down. Pour four little one ounce medicine cups of water. Try to drink only one little cup...one ounce...over 15 minutes in 12 teenie tiny sips. Breathe deeply after each sip. You'll be taking teenie little sips all day...but I'm guessing it will help you....and you can get 64ounces a day in this way. Make sure the water is room temperature or even a little warm...cold water can cause spasms and restriction at first. If you're already drinking teeny slow sips like this...and you're still having these issues, call your office.

Surgery should always be looked at as risk -vs- benefit. If you don't believe that the benefits justify the risk....you shouldn't do it. If you do believe the benefits justify the risk...you should. It's really that simple. To me....this looks like you're not yet ready to accept the risks. About fatty liver disease. Most people getting surgery (greater than 75% of obese people) already have fatty liver disease. I'm guessing the biopsy would be to stage it, if you have a particularly unhealthy looking liver at the time of surgery. Weight loss surgery generally helps to treat it. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5061986/ If you have questions about any of this....talk to your doctor. It's what he/she is there for. This surgery is safer now than gallbladder surgery. Particularly, with the preventative labs and imaging you'll be doing, (chest x-ray, ekg, imaging of your stomach, lab work)...there shouldn't be too many surprises. At a major hospital like Mass General, you'll be in good hands. When weighing your benefits vs risks... make sure you include the risks of obesity: increased risk of heart attack and stroke, increased risk of several cancers, increased risk of loss of mobility, increased risk of cellulitis, diabetes, sleep apnea, etc...etc... You really do need to be 100% sure that you're comfortable with the decision you're making. My first bariatric surgery consultation was almost 20 years ago...and I had my surgery almost 4 months ago:) Part of me wishes I'd done this years ago...because I'm feeling fantastic and believe I made the right decision. The other part of me is glad I waited because time and research opened up more options, and I found a group I absolutely love and feel comfortable with. What ever you decide....best wishes:)

I do think that bariatric surgeons should make one of the prerequisites of surgery....having a clean dental bill of health at the time of surgery. Mine never asked me about my teeth, nor did he ever look in my mouth. I was kinda...shocked...by this. I think this is important because tooth infections are dangerous. They can migrate to your heart valves and kidney and cause life threatening infections. And while I don't think that bariatric surgery by itself will cause catastrophic dental issues, I do think that more care needs to be taken with dental upkeep in the years following bariatric surgery because our mouths are exposed to food more often and we don't always brush after our many tiny meals. Emphasis needs to be placed on the potential of tooth problems if you fail to take your calcium and D. Emphasis should also be placed on increasing routine maintenance....brushing more often with more little meals. Would be really cool if dentists offered a bariatric surgery consult to give advice about increased dental hygiene and the importance of resolving any existing issues before surgery and about taking calcium. I just had a check up and my teeth are healthy, no issues. But I know a lot of folks neglect their teeth for one reason or another and it would be wise to provide some education at the bariatric surgeon's office.

And Matty? A LOT of people beat the average weight loss:)

It's all you can do. And I truly believe you're gonna make it Mattymatt:) Stay strong!

And here I was hoping for a juicy infidelity thread... LOL Missy...you need a new man. Or you need to firmly educate the one you have. That kinda talk diminishes your extremely hard work...and it's demoralizing. Let him know it's inappropriate and he's sabotaging you.

Depending on the state a "nutritionist" doesn't need any special training to hang a shingle and tell people how to eat. A "dietitian", however, is the legally protected term of a medical professional with a four year degree. https://www.nutritioned.org/dietitian-vs-nutritionist.html

I think it's interesting that therapist quite literally spells... the rapist. LOL. Talk about disrespectful!

Our bodies have thousands of years of evolutionary defenses to help us survive famines, bad hunting, poor conditions, injuries. There is nothing more outrageous or disheartening than to be eating so few calories each day...and not lose weight. But it happens....to nearly everyone. On the plus side....it's good to know that if we ever find ourselves with an arm wedged under a boulder, or in a concentration camp....or hopelessly lost in the woods....our chances of survival would be greater because our bodies adapt so readily to starvation. Eventually, though....coping mechanisms aside....calories in -vs- calories out will eventually overtake our body's best efforts to keep us from losing. Will take some time. Patience and consistency are the key. It's maddening....but I promise, eventually the scale will move. People are always taken off guard when I tell them that my group pushes us to eat 1000-1200 calories per day as soon as the third week. Seems contraindicated, like you should be taking advantage of that lack of appetite in the early days. Why return to normal calories so soon? I think this issue with metobolic reaction to starvation levels of calories is the reason my group does this. We return to normal levels of calories ASAP...and nuture a vigorous metabolism. Supposedly (and a couple of studies support this)....eating more calories sooner is correlated with slower weight loss....but an almost identical total weight loss at 18 months... with less regain at year 5.....as folks who have very restricted calories in the first 6 months.

My silly reward for Onederland was going to a trampoline park with my bestie:) Which we did tonight:) So hear ya go....all 199 pounds of me flying with the girl I've known since I was six. Sorry for the blurry pix...neither of us thought to switch our phone cameras to sports exposure. For anyone who has a Sky Zone near them....this is an AMAZING work out! According to my fitbit, I burned 450 calories in half an hour of jumping around like a maniac!!!! And way cool discovery.....they do a fitness class on Wednesday nights! An hour of jumping aerobics for ten bucks! Woot!

We've always celebrated Easter in the Americana....egg dying, Easter basket sense. I grew on the Claymation Peter Cotton Tail, and filling up tons of little cups with vinegar and the fizzy dye tabs for eggs (and the multicolored egg salad that ensued). And long bizarre egg hunts with scavenger hunt clues nerding it up. I always liked making the cake with green coconut that looks like grass and bunnies and peeps. And I went nuts making cool baskets for the kiddo. And ate way way way too much candy....because candy... *le sigh* Anyone having stress about huge family dinners or desperately wanting to bite into chocolate ears? Hubby and I have decided to get outta Dodge, take a long drive to my daughter's college (she can't come home due to finals), take her to dinner, and take a long hike in the arboretum and walking trails by the Huron river. If it's too cold, we'll swing out to the Botanical Gardens and go suck up some oxygen in a mini rain forest. And yep...I got her a chocolate bunny. (it's actually a chocolate dinosaur in an egg) But instead of going crazy with candy, I got her some fancy hair conditioner, a tea cup with frogs and dragonflies on it, and some weird little stuff for her apartment. More of a spring trinket Easter basket. She thinks it's crazy I make her a basket at 21....but she secretly loves it. (and has admitted this) And I made her pet dragon a rabbit costume. LOL Hubby and I will likely make an appearance at my Mom's place for Easter dinner, too. (We'll see the kiddo on Saturday before) Do ya'll have any big plans for Easter?

I felt rough on my liquid diet. I was pre-diabetic at the start of my journey. But by the time I did my pre-surg diet...my sugar was normal. I felt like my brain didn't work well. Difficult to concentrate. Tired. Grouchy as all hell. Felt like my head was full of cotton. It was the worst part of the entire experience for me.

You get a short acting "twilight" medication...not true anesthesia, but sort of. You probably won't remember anything about the procedure cause it affects memory. My doc routinely does barium x-rays....but if you flunk, you have to do an upper endoscopy. I flunked...so I got the endoscopy. I do have a couple of vague memories of the nurses patting me and telling me I was doing great...and kinda gagging on the tube....very vague. (and I'm a weirdo and made an effort to remember anything I could) Took all of twenty minutes...and I was awake and ready to go have lunch in within a half an hour. You do need a driver that day. I had some gastritis and they took a biopsy of it to make sure I didn't have the bacteria that causes ulcers. If you happen to have that...it's a much better idea to treat it before surgery than after. I also got some medication to treat the gastritis. Had my surgery about 5 weeks after my endoscopy.

Too many to count. My body likes to maintain. I'll go three weeks sometimes...with no change....then boom! I'm down 5 pounds within a couple days. It's bizarre. I've tried it all. Reducing calories, upping exercise, even upping protein and lowering carbs... nada. For me...it's all about being patient and consistent with my plan and waiting for the sudden drops. I know that's boring....but it's the truth. Seems to be the only thing that works. Patience and consistency. One thing that seems to coincide with my recent little drop...and this might be coincidence....but I stopped eating anything after 8pm. Herbal tea only. I'm working on sleeping better.