The Greater Fool

I don't remember my tastes changing. But I'm old and forget things. Well, obviously, I don't do sugar or overmuch fat as I dump. I have moderately severe OCD so one manifestation is that if one is good ten is better. So, for me, it was about ending the binging. My favorites were proteins so I could keep most of my favorites post-op. But, folks do report taste changes, which is why completely understanding our food plans is so important. When everything you thought you liked tastes like crap what are you going to eat? If you know why your plan is your plan you will be able to identify other foods that are on your plan. Good luck, Tek

Welcome to the forums. Advice... Research all the surgical options. Make sure you understand them completely, the good, the bad, the complications, the eating plan, horror stories, and make sure you know everything there is to know. This knowledge is necessary so that you may make an informed choice about which surgery you want. Understand the food plan. Not just what you are supposed to eat and drink but WHY. Thus, if you are in a unusual place you will be able to confidently make a food choice that is on plan. Can you honestly stay on the food plan for the rest of your life? Now the the part about actually DOING stuff related to surgery. Insurance: In IRL you have government insurance (HSE?), so it's not as bad as USA. Here is something about HSE & WLS. Tests: You will be having surgery so your Doc is going to want to run all sorts test to ensure you live through surgery. Docs are such sticklers about keeping patients alive. You can't get out of the test, so just do them as quickly as you can. Surgery is going to hurt, but you'll be asleep. When you wake and likely for a week or more you will be in pain. Not only that but you will likely have trouble eating and drinking. Don't panic. This too shall pass. Now is fun times. You have to learn to eat again. No, you don't get it. You have to learn the mechanics of eating again. You must take small bites and chew it beyond reason. As simple as this sounds you'll do it wrong and it may hurt. Keep working at it, you'll get it. You have to be consistent about your plan. Your tastes may change which is why before surgery you learned every thing about your plan so that now you can figure out things you like and things you don't and the whole while you will stay on plan. Exercise. Yeah I know, I hate exercise for it's own sake. But if you're like me you can just increase your activity. I enjoy people watching so I would go places where I could walk around and people watch. It got to where I was walking 5-10 miles. If you enjoy exercise then do that. Go find your scale and lose it. Scales are evil. You don't need a scale to tell you how you are doing. So many people are doing great on their plan, then the scale doesn't change for 2-3 weeks. They panic and want to change their plan so they can 'kick start' the weight loss. Read that again. They are doing great but the scale caused them to want to abandon their successful plan. Oh, your relationships. Even without telling anyone you are upsetting the balance in your relationships. The good relationships will likely get better and the bad ones worse. Don't worry about it, you did this for you, not them. Now we're to the fun stuff. As you lose you will need to buy new clothes. Then more new clothes. You will start participating in life, doing things you weren't able to before. Pre-op I made a list of 50 things I wanted to do after surgery, then crossed them off as I did them. Little things like fitting in a theater seat. Big things like achieving a normal BMI. You'll learn that some of these things are not that interesting after all. And there are other things you never thought of that are oh so very cool. Good luck, Tek

Arabesque there is only room for one curmudgeons around here. Now, what am I supposed to say when you've hit all my standard stuff... OH, I got it. trinityjacobs get rid of the scale. It will lie to you. If you are on plan, you don't need a number on a scale. Look how you feel now about it. Worse, scales sometimes tell the truth. In this case it MAY be telling you that you are not staying on plan. Put the scale away, you can weigh at your Docs. Good luck, Tek

It may not be your Doc's practice to prescribe or discuss post-op meds until... post-op. He may want to have a sense of what happened during the surgery, and also see how your feel after. Good luck, Tek

Before I say anything, you absolutely need to focus on staying on plan. So... There are plenty of post-op plans that include pureed food starting the day of surgery. So eating mashed potatoes will probably not end the world. No matter what you do, you will lose weight for a few months. By time what you eat matters to your weight loss you'll have already built all your new habits. Once you stop losing weight it's too late to do it right. Stay on your plan. Do it right. Now. You really can do it. Good luck, Tek

Medications don't cause dumping, unless they've been loaded with sugar. Doesn't mean they won't make you sick though. Remember, all medication have intended effects and side, unintended effects. Any medication decision at 1 week post-op, or really for the near future, should include your Doc. You and your Doc are intimate with your health situation, while we are just random interweb voices. Good luck, Tek

So, you're back to dieting? The reality of dieting and diet failure hasn't changed. Perhaps you should consider returning to your post-op plan. Our post-op plans are intended to be lifelong, sustainable plans. Consistency and sustainability is the path to health, happiness, and weight maintenance. Good luck, Tek

It's been a minute since 1974. Times change. Science advances. First, you don't HAVE to tell Dad anything. You're an adult, more or less, so it's your choice who you tell what. You know your Dad. You know if telling him is a good idea or not. *IF* you choose to tell your Dad, you even know how you should do it. You have more experience in this that we do. Trust yourself. Trust Dad if it makes sense to do so. Good luck,

Surgery is harder on some of us than others. It may just take you a bit longer to get past the pain. I would make sure I am doing small sips, room temperature or perhaps slightly warmer water. Cold or hot could cause a shock to your fresh surgery and cause pain in a variety of ways. Experiment a bit with temperatures, see if it gets you anywhere. Your Doc will get you through it. Tek

Here at The Greater Fool Laboratories, we are here to serve and support you. If you carefully package this taco salad and send it on to The Greater Fool Laboratories we will ensure that it makes it over to the appropriate forum. Thank you for supporting TGFL. Tek

If you are not sure Gastric Bypass is what you want, perhaps you should cancel surgery. This is a life long choice and you need to be committed to it. Your Doc works for you. Doc is your expert. Doc gave you an educated and experienced opinion on which surgery is best for you. Doc gave you reasons for the surgery suggested. You need to be your own advocate. If you don't want RNY, don't get it. No one is forcing you to have surgery. If you want VSG, tell your Doc that's what you want. This is a LIFE LONG choice you have to live with. You better be 100% sure about your choice. Good luck, Tek

Wait for your Doc. We are not doctors, we don't know your health situation. We don't know diddly. If you don't trust the medical professional [nurse] trying to give you Tylenol, then wait for your Doc. Good luck, Tek

I hate people. I know it's hard for some folks but you need to learn to ignore them, or drop them. Talk to them honestly and tell them if they can't be civil then they can't be in your life. Then, when they are uncivil again, drop them like the plague, because that is what they are. Seriously. Don't let them poison your life. If they can't behave, you MUST take care of you and your family. You need to make hard choices that shouldn't be that hard. Grrr. Especially now, they want to be jerks? Grrr. Geez, I'm pissed off at them. Just so wrong. Keep the spouse and kids. They are the important family anyhow. It sounds like you've done your family thing right. Good job. good luck, Tek

Congratulations. Tek

Be sure to discuss this with your Doc. I would expect your liquid diet to go straight through. It's annoying, but it also allows your surgery to heal. The firmer the content the more your new surgery is stressed. I would expect it to change once you are allowed to go to food. If your Doc is not concerned I wouldn't be. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations. Can you share your answers to the below? I think it would be fun to see your experiences. Can you remember your pre-op goals? The things you wanted to do? How did this compare to the reality post-op? Did you do those things? Other things? What happened that you did not expect? Keep up the good work. Tek

My thoughts are with you and your family. On getting back to weight loss, don't think the below as a weight loss diet because weight loss diets end. Then one returns to the 'normal' diet which results in weight gain. This is just the old habits reasserting. Get back on your post-op plan. Return to the good habits you learned during the early post-op months. Whatever you do now, it won't be fast weight loss, but if you are consistent you will get where you want to be. Then you need to continue on plan consistently for the rest of your life. If you're inclined increase your activity or even :gasp: exercise. Exercise is not my thing, but I am active(ish). Good luck, Tek

I recommend you do your plan as your Doc/Nut require. Do NOT chew, chew, chew in the first few weeks because when you don't chew enough, and you won't, your food will stick in your tender surgery, you're gonna wretch, and you be in pain, and you could cause bad things to happen to your surgery. Don't do it. I thought puree would be yucky but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went for high flavor profiles. Following your Doc's plan is about both learning to eat appropriately AND actually following through on a plan. We got to needing WLS by not following plans. Invariably, if we didn't abandon the plan completely, we started making changes, which made other changes easier until we were, well, needing WLS. Losing weight by following the plan gives us positive reinforcement for good choices, and for actually following through on our commitment. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations. Now you will learn why WLS is not "the easy way out." It's hard differently. Rest, recover, and be patient. You won't be running marathons in a week. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations. When I was 30 days from surgery I started creating a list of "50 things I want to do," I added it to my WLS journal which I updated every two or three days. After surgery whenever I accomplished something on the list, I would cross it off and add a comment. For instance #1 was "wake up after surgery." On 3 April 2003 I crossed it off with the comment "I did, in fact, wake up after surgery." I included what I call odometer goals, like weighing 4--, 3--, 2--, and clothing sizes. The fun ones where things like running, kayaking, dancing, etc. It was fun. Review your plan documentation. You should understand everything about your plan. If you're doing protein drinks, what are you going to do if they don't taste right, or they make you gag. Have options available, even ones you don't think you'll like. Be ready for the worst. Then your eventual food plan. Do you understand the principles of your plan? When you are out somewhere and your normal choices aren't available you need to be able to apply the principles to make a good choice. When you post a thread here asking for ideas on what you can eat, be sure to tell us your plan so that we can offer suggestions within your plan. In the first few months you can't not lose weight. If you go off plan and make bad choices, you will still lose weight. Your weight loss will be a positive reinforcement of your bad choices. When the weight loss stops the new habits you've built will be the bad ones. if you stay on plan consistently the weight you lose becomes a tremendous positive reinforcement for your new good habits. This helps make your new habits your new normal. You have some rough times coming up. Surgery hurts. Healing takes time. It will be hard. You will get frustrated. You will have to learn how to eat again, both mechanically (small bites chewed ridiculously well) and your plan. Be patient. In a short time things will start getting better. And better. Wow, this post sorta got away from me. Enjoy the ride. Tek

Welcome to the forums. Mostly I just wanted to say "Hello" so you don't feel ignored. Hello I'm sure someone will be along that can give you feedback. Good luck, Tek

Welcome to the forums. Do your research, understand your surgery choice, understand the pros and cons, and understand completely the plan involved. Good luck. Tek

I don't recall the details, it was nearly 18 years ago. Your Doc will map it all out for you today. Be patient. Tek

Dumping is no fun. Which is why I'm glad I dump. Do you think the folks above that dumped on sugar (or fat) want to repeat the event? What better negative reinforcement for eating wrong things could you ask for? Yep, dumping helped me get where I am today. Tek

Really, we are not Doctors. *AND* our Docs tell us different things. So don't make any decisions based on what a bunch of random voices say on the enterwebs. My Doc has NO general prohibitions on ANY medication. We all have different issues and different needs the same as non-ops have different needs. We along with our medical team need to evaluate our needs, the drugs available for those needs, and the pros and cons of taking those drugs. Just like everyone else. For instance, I take NSAIDs as a backup to narcotics for my chronic pain issues. I monitor and am monitored carefully for the possible complications of each. I also have liver issues, so I must be very careful with acetaminophen but even so I do take it occasionally. If I didn't take these so called off-limits drugs, I would be in constant pain, which would be untenable. So, again, every medication for every person as possible negative side effects along with the intended effects. DISCUSS it with your Doc. If they don't give you a solution for your issue, find a new Doc. Good luck, Tek