momof3_angels

It is funny, I am not a vain person in the least. I don't wear makeup (partially because I don't like it and partially because I can't see well enough to put eye makeup on any more lol). I dress OK, but I don't "dress up". My clothing style is a little on the conservative side. My hairstyle is simple and functional. Most of the time I don't even blow dry it, much less style it. I normally don't care about what anybody thinks about the way I look. But this week I have been making rounds at all of my work sites. In my main office, pretty much everyone knows I had a VSG. I didn't tell them before the surgery (well except a couple), but after a week or so back to work I really started sharing. I haven't shared so much outside of my main office. Just a few select people know outside my main office. Well yesterday... I saw a lot of people who I have barely seen since my September surgery. And oh boy did they notice my changes! I got so many amazing compliments on how great I look! And of course some were brave enough to ask what's up. But... for many I just said "I had surgery to fix some problems and now the weight is finally coming off". But it felt SO GOOD getting so much attention! And it helps that I love my new wardrobe. I was actually wearing a simple black dress from Old Navy with a pretty sweater. I don't wear dresses often, but I bought 3 a couple weeks ago that I am sure I will wear with my old "skinny" body almost back to my ideal body (well, minus the boobs... they always disappear when I am skinny lol). Today I am wearing jeans to work with a thin long sleeved sweater. I must say I like the way my body looks. I also saw the nutritionist on Wednesday. She hadn't seen me since 3-4 weeks post op and she was shocked at how good I look. Anyhow, I have been on cloud 9 all this week because of these complements! And a funny aside... one of the employees at one of the sites who works directly under me who DOESN'T know what my surgery was really for told me how someone else went to her and told her how great "her boss" looks and asked if I had that "stomach tie surgery" lol. My employee texted to share, but she still isn't sure what I had done lmao. I may tell my employee the truth next time I see her, but I thought it was very funny!

I am all over the place. Some weeks I walk 4-5 miles almost every day. Last weekend I walked 10 miles and 14 miles (Sat/Sun). I haven't walked since then. This weekend I will do some more really long walks, but I do hope to walk more during the work week. My daughter can't drive to her after school activities since She doesn't have her drivers license, and it is hard to get my workouts in every day like I would like to. She gets her license next month though so I am excited. At that time I hope to go back to doing Pilates at least twice a week. Those classes are 45-60 minutes and I tend to walk a couple miles afterwards. I am not doing weights or anything right now. I MAY try to join a Zumba class, if I can get through it without my heart rate getting too fast like it has in the past.

Bariatric wise, I am allowed 1-2 glasses of caffeinated coffee in the AM, and tea is also permitted throughout the day, but they prefer herbal/non-caffeinated teas. Cardiac wise... I have given up caffeine altogether. Just as well, my biggest source of caffeine was colas which of course are NOT good for a bariatric patient!

I still have a ton of vitamin and protein samples from my nutritionist. I was very glad she gave me samples so I can experiment, but I have too many left that I probably won't use.

I stocked up too. I wanted to be prepared, especially since I knew I shouldn't be lifting big cases of vitamin water or protein shakes and things of that nature post op. Overall, I was glad I was prepared. BUT... The only caution I will give to others pre-op who are reading this thread... be careful not to stock up too much! There were several things I had and liked pre-op that did NOT sit well with me post-op. For example: Chocolate Premier Protein Shakes and Premier Protein Water. I liked and drank them pre-op. I hated them post-op. I forced myself to finish the chocolate shakes, but I gave the protein water away. And that stuff is expensive! I also didn't like the bariatric soup mixes I bought and some of the goat cheese crackers Still have them, but they aren't getting used up. The protein oatmeals are way too much for me to eat, so I don't eat those. Luckily my daughter likes some of them. I bought WAY too much jello and Popsicles. Still have the jello, but the popsicles were taking up valuable freezer space so I threw them out. Oh... and I have an abundance of tuna/chicken packets which I will use, but I was using them much more in pre-op diet mode and I am sick of them now.

Well, I thought one of my "cheats" was that when my daughter makes a frozen pizza I will eat one "actual serving size" slice of pizza. I am only 4 months out and have been doing this for at least a month. Pizza is my favorite food and while I know I can get cauliflower crust... I don't want to pay the price to eat only 1 piece lol. But I haven't had more than 1 bite if anyone orders a pizza because their crusts are usually so much thicker. Anyhow... I confessed to my nutritionist and she was fine with it! She even mentioned pizza places that have thin crust that she thinks I can eat at! So much for my "cheat".

Have to tried "under the desk" equipment before? I have a sit-stand desk at work and under my desk I have a "desk cycle" bike like thing. You just need a stationary chair (or put an office chair against the desk or a wall) and start peddling. I am looking at the under the desk elipticals and/or a little stepper that I can store under my desk for a change of pace. I am leaning towards the stepper because I can do the cycle while sitting and the stepper while standing at my desk at work, but for you I would think the sitting cycle or stepper would be the better starting point. If you get either of these devices, just make sure you don't just get the cheapest one you find. Those tend to not be well built and don't work well after a few uses. But... I bought my current desk cycle for $150 and it is high quality and works smoothly. Always look at reviews before your purchase. If you don't want to buy equipment... look for some sitting exercise youtube videos and things like that.

Gaining weight isn't the result of 1 or 2 slip ups... it is a result of not following your nutrition plan and staying on track MOST to ALL of the time. We all have a slip up... but don't let it derail you from your nutrition plan and your goals. And next time I would avoid any and all breads/rice/pasta and similar foods as well as sweets. I am 4 months post op and already at my docs goal weight, but I know that these are things I need to avoid as much as possible for the rest of my life. It isn't that I never have any of these items (well, rice I don't), but I definitely limit and control how much of it I eat. For example: I went to Olive Garden last week. I ordered meals with minimal carbs (to the greatest extent possible at Olive Garden). One of my vices is I LOVE their bread sticks. Instead of grabbing and eating a breadstick... I asked my son if I could pinch off a tiny piece from his breadstick. I did that twice. Two tiny pieces of bread (much smaller than a normal bite size). I got to taste my beloved breadstick, but I did not eat enough to do any damage. And remember, I am MONTHS out and I have reached docs goal (not my goal). I am allowed to eat most regular foods while limiting my carb intake.

It wasn't long for me. After 1-2 weeks I could physically lay on my stomach without pain... it was the getting on and off the stomach that hurt. Or if I was on my side hurt. After maybe 4 weeks it didn't hurt to get on or off the stomach. And by 6 weeks I didn't have ANY incision pain at the main site or anywhere else.

This is essentially what I was going to say. You probably aren't getting all of your fluids in and you are not eating a normal diet. Those add to the constipation. My doctor prescribed Miralax regularly for the first week or so, and if I am struggling I will still take it if needed. But when I am in full constipation mode I take Milk of Mag and it works like a charm. Always talk to your doctor, but this is probably advise their office will give. And keep increasing fluid intake as best as you can. If Miralax and MOM don't do the trick, you definitely need to follow up with the doc.

Just keep at it! I am 4 months out and just recently able to meet my goals regularly. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

So, my surgery was pre-approved. I had surgery on the day I was pre-approved for by the doc and at the hospital that was submitted for pre-approval. Hospital was paid. Doc was paid. A third doc was paid... it appears to be lab related, but I have no clue who it is. I can see all of this on the BCBS website. Today I get a letter stating that they (BCBS) have requested medical records from the doc listed below (but no doc is listed below). They state that it is to do a medical review of a service provided the same day as my surgery. They want all H&P documenting prior treatment and results and co-morbid conditions, current lab reports, height weight & BMI, copy of psychotherapy eval and documentation of participation in a weight loss program. To me that sounds like they are reviewing medical necessity of my surgery to pay either the surgeon or the hospital. But it was pre-approved and both were paid! (scratching head here) Besides the lab, the only other physician that may need to be paid is anesthesia, but it is weird that they would do a medical review of that claim. Then I go online to search for the Claim # to get more information... and nothing shows up! So stupid and frustrating. And this makes no sense. I guess I have 2 choices... wait and see how this plays out or call them. And I really don't want to call them lol. Anyone else have this sort of weirdness? I mean seriously, the hospital and surgeon have been paid according to their own claims records... what the heck?

My friend swears by it. It helps her avoid going for iv fluids. I have some but try not to use it. But when I needed it I was glad to have it and felt much better after I drank it! I prefer water and vitamin water zero.... but cant always get enough in and sometimes feel like crap as a result. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I dont follow the before rule... although I am careful to drink less or I am too full for food. But afterwards I will only take a sip if I need it (too dry)... otherwise I wait the full 30. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Mine was for 2 months. I was sleeved though.... Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Mine was done in a sleep lab. I wish it had been a home test! I really didn't fall asleep until just before I had to wake up. Fortunately in that 1 hour I did have severe sleep apnea.... but it was too late to put me on cpap for the titration so I had to go back and do it again. We are fairly certain that severe sleep apnea was probably the trigger for my rapid weight gain. I started years with of insomnia around the time I started gaining weight. Had no clue it was so bad. I still dont sleep all night every night... but it is so much better and now that I am loosing weight I feel so much better! Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I just told people that my surgery was for "stomach issues". I left it vague. When people asked about my post op weight loss... I told them, "well, surgery fixed some issues I was having and now the weight is coming off". I left it as simple as that. I still tell some people just that. But I have also now told many people the truth. Most are supportive and interested. The only kind of negative response I got was someone who is MUCH bigger than I was who asked how I was doing it... and I felt I should be honest with her... and her response was "well I am not ready to do THAT"... but then she and I moved on from the conversation and never discussed it again lol. Before surgery I only told my husband, daughter, and maybe 3 people I work with (one had the surgery herself). Now most of my office knows and have been great.

Honestly, I at the same things over and over again. At one point I made a Ricotta bake and I made homemade chili. I alternated between the two for days.... but because it had been so long since I made my chili, and it had plenty of flavor... I loved it! With the chili, I cooked the veggies and beans until they were soft. I also had ground beef in mine, but I tolerated it just fine with it was in fluid (and chewed a lot). If you aren't allowed beef yet.. you could make chili without beef or some other flavorful soup. I also loved tortilla soup (without the tortilla... but it does have all the good flavors), broccoli and cheddar soup.

I didn't miss... but they were late for me.

Honestly, I didn't use anything from my bag except my cpap (and even barely used that), my cell phone, and my charger. Plus my pajama bottoms I wore with the hospital gown. I did have a spare pair of clean underwear for the ride home, but I wore the same clothes I had arrived in. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

You know, I am four months out and when I read this, I just realized I am finally not "feeling hungry" all the time. For the first nearly 4 months... my stomach was always present in my mind with nerve endings and rumblings that felt like co stant hunger. I have known all along that what I was feeling couldn't be constant hunger... but that constant feeling sure did a great job mimicking hunger. So, after the first couple weeks I realized I needed to have regular intervals where I allowed myself to eat on a schedule. Every 2 1/2 hours I allowed my self to eat if I felt I needed to, but no more frequent than that. Lately the intervals have been further apart. But now I am realizing that constant feeling is finally gone and my real hunger is much more obvious. I guess it took my stomach 4 months to fully heal and figure out what it really needs! In the meantime, drink your water to fill in the gap between stomach confusion and real hunger. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Mine seemed to be at more regular intervals and .ore spaced out (full 28 days instead of 24), but remained heavy. I had gotten a referral to an obgyn before surgery to seek treatment for the heavy periods. Had 2 docs, multiple exams, ultrasound, pap, and biopsies done. Everything came back fairly normal with small normal cysts. Doc agreed to do a uterine ablation. Scheduled it as an in office procedure. Went in and found a huge fibroid that wasn't on the ultrasound report. Because of that he had to reschedule me for surgery at a surgery center. Turns out I had the huge fibroid that filled most of my uterus plus a smaller one behind it. They removed both, fried my uterus, and life has been great since! Ok, it has been just under a month.... but I missed my last period and doc thinks I might not have any more. I will know for sure by March. If you are no longer wanting children, uterine ablation may be an option. Or other forms of birth control if you are still childbearing years. But for me, without the uterine ablation, I may never have known I had two huge fibroids which is probably why my periods were so awful for many years. I had ultrasounds before this last one.... none ever showed fibroids. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Have fun and good luck with the food plan! I went to Disney at under a month post-op... OMG that was HARD! Went to Sea World and the San Diego Zoos for Christmas and that was a bit easier, but still challenging. But mostly because I am not able to eat much salad yet. And I kept telling my husband I needed him to order something that I can eat off his plate and he just wasn't getting it... at least, not until the last day lol. Everything he ordered was horrible for me. He still doesn't understand... lean proteins first, healthy veggies second... and extremely small amounts of everything else. And don't get me started on the portions he brings me when he gets my food! Anyhow... going back to Disney again in May, so I will have to check back to this thread to see what you founds at Disney. I stuck to soup and chili since I was on a soft diet at the time.

Yes, I have a lady that I use at my dermatologist office. I will eventually see her... just wanting to try something over the counter in the meantime.

Has anyone used a facial mask that they really felt helped to tighten that loose facial skin? Mine isn't bad, but I think doing a facial mask will help. Just not sure what to try. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app