Tatt

What is your preop diet like? I am on a 3wk pre opl. protein shakes for breakfast & lunch 1st snack is 2 boiled eggs or 2oz lean meat or 2oz lowfat 2% cheese. 2nd snack is 1 serving non-starchy veggie and 1 serving healthy fat Dinner is 3-4oz protein, 1 serving non-starchy veggie and 1 serving healthy fat. I am averaging around 900 calories high protein low fat, low carbs. I have a meal or snack every 2-3hrs and that seems to stop hunger. The day before surgery I am on pure liquids. As far as cravings, it gets easier the further along you are in the process. I wont lie the first few days I cried cause my addiction is real and facing it isn't fun. Never say never again to seafood. Eventually you will be able to have healthier versions and smaller portions of them.

Winston-Salem NC

So many people have warned me against clothing shopping but umm if I can't eat I shop lol. Also Torrid had some amazing sells. Beside the first 2 dresses I can wear right after surgery and as I lose weight I can wear them with a belt.

That does sound wonderful will have to try the "frosted lemonade". Today I am going to meal prep for the week so that during the week it's grab and get out the kitchen. Most people slip up but you went 10 days without cheating ..that's great and you are almost to surgery. I have my preop stuff on June 3.. not sure why they are doing it so far out but the sooner everything gets locked down the happier I will be.

I have therapist that is helping me with PTSD who also specializes in food addiction and body dysmorphia. She is going to be there every step of the way as everything changes. Honestly I kind of expected the food addiction to pop it's ugly little head up after surgery....I just forgot the preop could have me start to face it before surgery (even though I read about all the challenges other's have had with it). Yesterday was easier my hunger is gone and I have made sure to get out the kitchen after cooking clean up is done.

My surgery is June 13th and this past Monday I started my 3 week pre op diet. From what I can tell it's easier than most but I am having a hard time with my food addiction. Dr has me on a high protein, low fat low carb less than 1000 calories a day to shrink my liver. I do my preop exam next Friday. My daughter's after school clubs are all having their last meetings which means she has brought home left over pizza, cookies, chips and soda. Now she is tired of junk but wants to save it for later. My addiction tells me one cookie wouldn't hurt and no one would know. The problem besides, being on pre op, is I never stop at 1 cookie ,,if I did I sure wouldn't be having surgery. We went grocery shopping today and I went into my room, turned on some music, and cried. Idk if I am having such a hard time now how I am gonna handle 2 weeks of liquids only after surgery. It has to get easier right?

At the end of June 2021 I started a Dr lead weight loss program as a last ditch effort to lose weight without surgery. At the 6month mark I accepted that I needed the help of surgery. Thankfully the office had a surgery division so they all ready had all my medical records. I was going to have to do 6mnths dr lead weight loss to meet insurance requirements anyway so it wasn't a waste of time. I got scheduled for surgery but it's not til June 13th.

Definitely understand being nervous. Yesterday I had my goodbye to fried foods meal. Ironically wasn't as enjoyable as I remember. Today I start my 3 week pre-op diet. Y'all I have an honest question.. what is the difference between premier protein shakes and elevation protein shakes (the aldi brand) other than cost? I did a side by side label comparison and either I am missing something (it is early) or there isn't any.

Hopefully your medical support system can help you get it stabilized quickly. I have issues with my iron (my surgeon is aware of this) and find out on Monday if I can take my iron supplements during my preop diet..(the plan says to stop multivitamins 2wks prior to surgery) if i have to stop them ..I will be drinking spinach protein shakes heated in an iron skillet lol.

*trigger warning if you are scared about gastric bypass this is not a good post to read also it is a long * (admin if I shouldn't have posted this please delete) I debated long and hard about whether or not to talk about my dad and how he died. I never want to scare anyone and tbh his death wasn't so much because of the gastric bypass he had but rather the prejudice and malpractice of his primary care Dr and the hospital he went to for emergency care. My dad came into my life when I was 28yrs old. I didn't know I needed a dad honestly. He started dating my mom and considered me part of the package. He protected her, he protected me...no strings attached totally unconditional regardless if I wanted him to or not he was going to be there for me. Turns out even at 28 I needed a dad. He was 6ft 5", almost 500lbs, tattoos, beard, and a biker. Dad never talked a lot, he preferred actions. If he agreed with something he'd say "No doubt". If he didn't well he'd just shake his head and turn away. He had had 4 heart attacks by the time he had his gastric bypass surgery in 2009, He went down to 190ish lbs. Everything was great. He did everything he was supposed to do. Crushed his meds, no alcohol, watched his food ..he followed all the rules. Fast forward to July 2021. Dad and mom had split a few years back but he was still my dad. Around July 30th, he started having abdominal pain and couldn't go to the bathroom. He did something he hated to do.. he went to the Dr. The Dr filling in for his Dr took one look him..biker with tattoos wearing a leather jacket and on Medicare and immediately ignored him. He told dad if it was so bad go to the emergency room. So dad did. Hospital er looked at dad...biker with tattoos, wearing a leather jacket and on Medicare and assumed..drug seeker! Told him there was nothing wrong with him. They did no test and sent him home. About 2am on July 31, Dad was in horrible pain and call EMS, they weren't part of the hospital he had gone to earlier, in the ambulance they did an ultrasound on the way to their hospital. One of the paramedics picked up his cell phone and called the first number on it...my mom. They told her to meet them at the hospital, it was bad real bad. She and his biological daughter got to the hospital about the same time. Dr told them there was 3 options...1 take him into surgery immediately ..he would most likely died on the operating table 2. try to get him strong enough to have surgery he would most likely never wake up or 3 give him morphine and let him die. They chose option 3 and less than 30mins later he was gone. So what did a simple ultrasound find? Dad's large intestine had twisted so badly that while he ate, food couldn't get past the twist. Imagine making a balloon animal and twisting the balloon then keep blowing up one side.. the inevitable happened. The food side popped filling his body cavity with food and stomach acid. He didn't have to die. Had the Dr listened, they could have found it and done surgery to fix it. The hospital and the Dr, naturally, claimed no responsibility it was obviously the 12yr old gastric bypass that killed him. I wish I could say they were sued til they cried but dad's biological daughter refused. Me, I wanted their heads on a silver platter but I don't look good behind iron bars. My mom isn't very happy that I am having bariatric surgery less than a year after my dad died. She is trying to be supportive but she is scared. I often wonder what advise would he have given me. I got my insurance approval letter in the mail today and said to myself "so this is really going to happen". I swear I heard "No doubt" Sorry this was so long.

Thank you everyone for your condolences as well as your personal stories. It is scary how much a health care professional's ideas on who is what plays a role in whether or not they blow you off or listen. I agree we have to advocate for ourselves and often pray we get doctors who listen.

Wow we are same day surgery buddies! My surgery is also June 13th. Tbh I am a massive control freak so I am doing everything I can to control all aspects of the surgery. I am making a lot of list and watching "things I wish I knew before i had vsg surgery" videos. My daughter's birthday is the day after and I scheduling deliveries thru out the day for her as I don't know exactly when I will be home (Dr's ofc promised if at all possible I would be going home on the 14th). She is getting a small delivery for each year...considering she is a teen ..ouch lol. I am also setting up my FMLA/short term disability case for my job. I hope I don't need it but I want it in place just in case. I am planning to be out 1-3 weeks an now I know that all that time will be paid so I am not as freaked out about taking 3wks off if I need it. My friends want to help me but I have a hard time asking for help/things. So my amazing teen gave me the great idea of doing an Amazon wish list..so I have been setting that up (I still feel like I am begging for stuff). I am reading up on protein shakes and medications. Still haven't found the answer to will I gain weight when I have to go off the Phentermine/Topiramate combo, my weight loss Dr has me on, for the 2 weeks prior to surgery? But I keep looking. I really can't imagine life after surgery so I pretty much am trying to do everything I can think to do to make whatever happens after i wake up from surgery as smooth as possible. Sorry so long winded

I love the chocolate flavor but hate the vanilla flavor.

Has anyone used Aldi's Elevation by Millville protein powder? I am using it currently but wonder if it would be ok to use during my preop diet and after surgery. It is cheap, has 30 grams of protein and 8 carbs.

My friend bought me this for my surgery.

If the patches come back not effective, have you thought about crushing the pills and mixing them in with one of your shakes? Also there are gummy vitamins available too. I use the gummy version of an off brand of Bioflex cause those pills are gigantic. Just an idea.

Have you talked to your Dr about your fears? I know there is a tool the Drs can use that will show which the pros and cons of each procedure and even compare them for you. My Dr did that and turns out the sleeve is best for me. I told the Dr I was willing to do either procedure but that bypass scared me as it ultimately was the root cause of my father's death. (I don't want to scare anyone ..he won the unlucky lottery and got a internal hernia which is very very rare and even rarer to die from) When looking at the comparison tool the sleeve and bypass were identical in results for me with only a few lbs difference.

You are correct. I need to get my case in. I am looking at 1-3wks off

Yay I got the call yesterday and got my surgery date..June 13th 2022. Tbh I almost gave up. I have complex PTSD and being in control is one of my coping mechanisms. So this whole process of not knowing when I was going to have surgery and having to wait for each step has been beyond frustrating and put me in a bad head space. I lost a work promotion because I didn't know when I would be out. The person I was going to take over for has decided to wait a year before moving up. Because of this my supervisor has decided to open up the position to everyone next year..so at min I have lost the pay increase for a year if not the promotion all together. My apartment lease is coming up for renewal and if they up the rent too much, I will have to move....without being able to hardly lift anything I had done 6 months of a Dr. lead weight loss program as a last attempt to avoid going the surgery route. Luckily the ofc I used also has surgeons so I had records already on file for the 6mnth weight loss attempt. Then I also had to pass a psych eval (150 questionnaire and a visit with their mental health clinician (to rule out eating disorders), nutritional eval, fitness eval, lose 20lbs, a barium swallow (Dr wanted upper endoscopy but had one last yr), They normally want a sleep study but since I use a apap machine that met that. My insurance made me speak to one of their nurses who could either recommend the preauthorization the Dr submits either be approved or declined. While the nurse was great, and hour conversation when all I am thinking is don't mess this up, was stressful. Every time I got one thing done I had to wait about 14 business days to do the next. I literally called and left several messages with my Dr's coordinator begging her to call me with a surgery date. So June 13..the day before my daughter's birthday. Luckily she is supportive and we are going to celebrate before I start my preop diet. I was able to call my apartment management and they are sending me the renewal documents so if I needto move I can do it before the surgery. Unfortunately there was nothing that can be done about the promotion though my job is now conducting cost of living surveys due to inflation to see if they need to raise pay across the the company. My health insurance company stlllhas to approve the surgery. But since all the paperwork is in order and the criterias are meet that will be no problem. Sorry just really needed to vent. Thanks

Thank y'all very much. Tbh I felt like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum when I left messages for the coordinator. So being told I handled it well means a lot to me.

If you have been with your company for a year or more, I would check into FMLA. My boss is letting me have as much time as I need but to protect me from corporate is having me put in an FMLA case.