Arabesque

Mine are gone too. Finally back on my combined patch so actually getting progesterone again after 5+ months (though supplies are still erratic) and I’m sleeping better, my joints are groaning and creaking when I do my stretches, etc. Never hurts to ask.

Check to see if your shakes have sugar alcohols (those that end in ‘ol’ like arthritis, sorbitol, xylitol, etc.). They can cause bloating, gas and diarrhoea. Worth checking & if they do ask your team for an alternative shake that uses another sweetener. All the best with your surgery.

You may need a higher dose of estrogen &/or some progesterone too (I know you’re on estrogen only). Joint pain, fatigue are common symptoms of low estrogen (& progesterone). Wouldn’t hurt to have a blood test to check your levels or try a higher dose. PS - My surgeon said I could continue on combined estrogen & progesterone after my hysterectomy so I won that argument after she initially said estrogen only. Yay!

Glad you’ve turned a corner. We do say it gets better & easier but it doesn’t seem like it in the beginning. And it will continue to get better too. PS - Watch the calories in the shakes you’re having between meals though. They do add up. Bone broth may be a better lower calorie alternative but still giving you protein & some flavour. Or protein water.

You know I like labneh (& am getting too lazy to make my own every time) but I found this one this morning. Yes, truffle. Can’t wait to taste it (have to finish a tub of one with fennel first). Christmas may have come early. Yum!

Yes, plans can be quite different but I agree with @ShoppGirl’s suggestion to check with your team. I was told 1/4 - 1/3 cup for a meal from purée increasing slowly to a cup of food by the 6 month mark. 7ozs pureed turkey dinner coupled with the sweet potato & cobbler & you’ve way exceeded my 6 month portion recommendation. And to add to her warning also, a lot of nerves were cut and or damaged during the surgery so messages like being full/had enough or eaten too much at going to get through or will be distorted. It’s why sticking to portion size recommendations are very important: to ensure you don’t damage your digestive system or impact your healing and recovery. It takes 6-8 weeks to fully heal.

So sorry you’ve experienced ongoing hernia problems. Hopefully they’ll be a thing of the past now. Nothing wrong with going slowly as you progress through the stages. Try one or two things & see how you go. I loved mince dishes during the soft food stage: meat balls, bolognese meat sauce, savoury mince all with lots of sauces to keep things moist. Also I made chunkier soups with meat, vegetables, lentils, beans etc. Cook things long and slow to ensure everything is well cooked and soft. The changes to your sense of smell &/or taste &/or textual aversions are temporary. Did you experience any of these when you had the sleeve? Certain textures bothered me and I became very sensitive to salty & sweet. The bad breath is associated with Ketosis. You may even experience changes in your body odour too. It too will pass. I Just keep breath mints handy. I took a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, body wipes & deodorant to work when I returned to help manage the Ketosis odours. When the body odours & bad breath go and your sense of smell, taste, etc. ‘ normalises’ again differs person to person. It may be a couple of months, a little more or a little less. All the best.

I recorded mine as the weight my GP recorded when she gave me the referral to the surgeon. To me, that was when I started to make the change to a healthier me. So put that initial 421 weight @SleeveToBypass2023. Every pound you’ve lost needs to be recognised and acknowledged.

Thank you @SleeveToBypass2023 Not bad for 59 I say. 😁 Actually I think we’re all looking pretty damn gorgeous with all our beautiful features revealed.

You’re not going to feel the restriction until you are much further along in your healing (takes around 6-8 weeks) & eating solid foods. A lot of nerves are cut or damaged during the surgery so messages simply aren’t getting through or are distorted if they do. The staged return to eating is to protect your recovery and to ensure you don’t damage your healing digestive system (think of all those sutures and staples holding your tummy together- I believe it’s around 12inches of sutures+staples with a sleeve. You should only progress your stages if your surgeon advises you to. It’s also one of the reasons why we’re advised to eat slowly and are given portion sizes we should stick to. Also remember that liquids go through the tummy much more quickly than solid food so you don’t really get full in the same way as you know sipping your shakes slowly. Purées go through a little more quickly but nothing like solid foods.

October 2018 -91kg August 2022 -49kgs (included this pxt cause I like it better & you can see no more double chin 😁😁) June 2024 - 48.5kgs

It looks good @GreenTealael so what went wrong? Just too sweet?

Oh, the slumping. Yep me too. I think it was because I didn’t have a tummy to prop me up anymore. A friend told me her husband pokes her when she’s slouching to remind her to sit or stand up straight. I don’t have a husband (ha!) so it’s become a conscious habit to check my posture regularly. I even do it when sitting on the toilet. LOL! Am I sitting/standing up straight? Are my shoulders down & back? Is my weight balanced between my feet (not leaning)? But yes, as @ms.sss suggested, work on your core muscles, glutes & back. Even simple shoulder rolls can help. Takes time to relearn & retrain your muscles though.

Congratulations on making your decision to take your life back. Only those who are obese truely understand how limiting and challenging it is as well as its impact on you psychologically and emotionally. There are a number of reasons why people undergo a revision from sleeve to bypass: they develop GERD, weight regain, don’t lose as much as they hoped. Don’t know the rate of this occurring. Doesn’t mean this will happen to yiu.I know people who have had a revision on this forum and people who haven’t. Personally I have three friends with a sleeve all between 4 & almost 7 years out and no revisions. I ‘m 5.5 yrs out with my sleeve and am happy with it & my younger brother just had one done. But we’re all different & the surgeries work in different ways to different people. Sometimes surgeons will recommend bypass over sleeve because of the weight their patient has to lose, weight loss and gain history, pre-existing conditions (like GERD, etc.), etc. Are you able to ask why the surgeon/clinic is encouraging you down the path of a sleeve rather than bypass as this is less common (more common to recommend bypass over sleeve). My cyclical side wonders if it’s because a sleeve is a less complicated surgery, takes less time to perform and sometimes doesn’t require an overnight hospital stay. So do they want you to have a sleeve because it’s less demanding on their services. Ultimately it should be your decision as to which surgery you get. Have a look at some of the you tube videos by Dr Matthew Weiner (pound of cure) & Dr John Pilcher. They cover many topics so you’ll need to work through quite a list (great resources for you post surgery) & will have some on the differences and benefits of the different surgeries. All the best.

No, I’ve watch the Canadian one and the NZ one is way worse. I ran into a contestant in the Australian version last year (in our local kitchen store). Mentioned how disappointing the NZ show was and she whispered, after checking around her, that age couldn’t watch it and if it was the Aust show she would never had entered. I liked Padma too but of course she doesn’t do it any more. Don’t mind Kristen being the new host but also a firmer winner. She seems to speak from the heart especially to the chefs and understanding what they are experiencing without excusing unsuccessful dishes. My link to Top Chef is Curtis Stone. He made breakfast in our family home kitchen a few years back and is a friend of my brother’s. He keeps inviting him to his home in Hawaii. I want to go because his wife is a friend of Sarah Michelle Gellar & I want to meet Buffy. 😁 Good luck trying your first glass of wine @Chatterboxdea. Go slowly. Oh, and don’t be surprised if you don’t enjoy it as much. Took me a while to enjoy a glass as did before surgery. Actually I still can take it or leave it.

Thank you for sharing @Bypass2Freedom. Very brave to share your emotions, experiences & hopes for your future self, Have you considered writing another letter about where you are now and what you have achieved & any new dreams you may have now?

You’re looking pretty damn good @newbegining2024. You’ve done so well. I wouldn’t worry too much about the actually number on the scale but how you feel: physically & emotionally & about your health. And, as you said, if you feel you’re about where you’d like to be you’re winning.

I have the same problem if I try to sleep on my tummy or if I twist too far over when I sleep on my side. I specifically get lower back pain but yes I think it’s hyperextending the natural arch too.

What a wonderful gift. I have her Baking Bible as an e-book. I agree straight forward easy to follow recipes (not that I bake any more ☹️). Prue talks down to everyone and o don’t like her superior upper class air that actually seems fake. Excessively pretentious. I don’t mind Alison but she can get a bit loud and over the top sometimes. But oh God yes the Aust Masterchef is appalling. Watched one episode when it began and said nope, never again. Did watch the final episode of last year’s season only because I was away with a friend and she loves it. I have no words and begged her to watch the UK version to see what it should really be like. An aunt lives it the Aust version & was very upset with my mum & I when we called it very poor copy of the original. She was adamant it began in Australia. Had to break it to her that the current UK show (with John & Greg which was when I started watching it) began in 2005 but had been around for years before that in a slightly different format. Gordon Ramsay in the face with a big cast iron frypan 🤣🤣🤣.

@BigSue is right on the mark. I will also add that not everyone reaches their goal. And that’s okay. The win is you’ve lost weight and are healthier than you were. Remember that your goal weight is an arbitrary number you chose not the weight your body settles at & is happiest at as your new set point the surgery has gifted you. The point people’s weight stabilises at is different person to person. You do tend to lose the most in the first 6-12 months but people can lose for another year. Not everyone but some do. It took about 17months for my weight to finally stabilise. Though I reached goal at 6 months I kept losing for another 11months & at a very slow rate. (Took 6 months to lose 31kg then 11 months to lose the final 11kg.) Your rate of loss will get slower and slower as you near your final stabilised weight. It could be ounces a week or even a month near the end. So you may not have finished losing yet. But do check your calorie intake. If you’re maintaining at the calories you’re consuming now you’ll have to eat less to lose more. And you will have to eat fewer calories than you are now if you want to maintain at a lower weight than you are now. Another consideration is you’ve likely built up a lot of muscle with the activity you do. Muscle does way a little more than fat and it will change your physical shape somewhat too which may explain some of the clothing size discrepancies you’re noticed. There are lots of averages and generalisations around weight loss (how fast, how much, when things will happen, how many calories you need, how much activity, etc.). We’re too different for the sane hard and fast rules to apply to everyone, You just have to find what works and is right for you, your lifestyle and your body. PS: Another average, but exercise only accounts for about 10% of the weight you are to lose. Better to look at exercise for the benefits it brings to your cardiac health, muscle strength, flexibility, bone density, etc. & not so much for weight loss.

The Mary Berry era was much better on TGBBO. Mel & Sue too (though I do like Noel - think that’s tied to him being in The IT Crowd sitcom which I enjoyed 😁). Though if you want really bad watch the NZ version. The Australian one has a lot if forced laughter at very bad jokes & puns by the bakers but the NZ one is the worst. We don’t get a lot of US cooking shows here in Aust but I will avoid Ree Drummond if she ever starts here.

Bony joints are real. I had to learn to sleep with one hand between my knees because of that. Placed just below the knee as if it’s cupping the side of it otherwise my hand gets sore from the pressure of the bony knees. Or I sleep with the upper leg pushed forward so I’m on my side but more twisted over. I used to wake every 90 minutes because of pain & to reposition myself. I can go up to 3 hours on a good night now. Wait until you get pressure pain from that little bony knob on the side of your elbow though. The worst. Ouch!

Have to admit I’ve never made them either. I remember mum making toad in the hole when we were young but never plain Yorkshire puddings. Watch them making them on all the UK cooking shows and I think one day. PS. Mentioning UK cooking shows, does anyone else find Prue Leith annoying. Forcing myself to watch her Cotswold Kitchen at the moment & find myself criticising her & complaining the whole time. She’s annoying on Bake-off too. Yet I enjoyed her back in the day on Great British Menu. I’m team Mary Berry all the way.

In the two weeks before you’ll likely be put on a pre surgical diet. It may be all shakes, or a combination of shakes and a high protein diet or another plan so you can’t really prepare for that. However, nothing stopping you starting to introduce some new habits now. Start tracking your food or begin introducing appropriate portions for meals. Make sure you’re getting in 2L/64ozs of water a day. Reduce your intake of carbonated drinks. Maybe drop a snack or two. Or whatever you could start to do to modify your current eating style and food choices. If you’re not very active, try adding some additional moment or try some classes to see what you may enjoy. Post surgery, you’ll again be on a restricted eating plan which your surgeon will give you. There will be similarities with this but also some differences with what others are given. Be warned though, your taste buds and sometimes sense of smell can go haywire and there may be foods you used to enjoy (flavour or texture) that taste disgusting or smell awful. This does pass in a couple of months but don’t buy certain flavours or foods you like that are allowed on your plan in bulk - you may end up being unable to eat them. Get some small cutlery like baby spoons and forks or some cocktail/buffet forks, small plates & bowls. Your portions will be tiny & you’ll only be allowed small bites so the smaller bowls and cutlery make it easier to adjust. Buy some small containers for freezing leftovers or the small snack size zip lock bags; left overs will be common and freezing appropriate sized portions will come a new habit. If you don’t have any: a set of scales that goes down to small increments (ounces or grams), a blender, stick processor, or similar, measuring spoons and cups. Get some over the counter stool softeners, anti nausea meds & pain meds (can’t take NSAIDs), and a heat pad/wheat pack. I’m sure others will add lots of others. Congratulations on having your surgical date. All the best.

While we have a Costco in Brisbane it’s a 45+ min drive away so couldn’t be bothered but it sounds like an Australian visit to Bunnings (hardware). My sister-in-law & I went for a bag of potting mix and some of those big gardening hand rake scoop things which would have cost us less than $20 total. We came out with an overflowing trolley and had spent about $400 between us. Outdoor Xmas lights, pool inflatables (xmas presents for my young nieces & nephew), plants, dog shampoo & conditioner, microfibre cleaning cloths, silk flowers, hanging basket, … I promise we needed all of it 🤣🤣🤣