New To This23

Well I had my surgery on the 27th at 10:30 am. I was told it went well with no complications. I was pretty tired afterward. The only pain I had was from laying flat on my back unable to move during the operation and my period started the day before, ugh. I spent one night in the hospital with the option to stay another, but I was really only struggling with nausea and wanted to the 130 mile drive back home over with. today is day 4 feel great, I was feeling pretty good on day 3 (only one nap that day) but I feel even better today. I have not been hungry at all, but I have been following the diet schedule the clinic gave me for the next two weeks.

I just get the GNC brand normally because they cost the least per scoop in a 5 lb tub.

I put sugar-free coffee syrups in mine. I like the taste of coffee so sometimes I add dehydrated decaf coffee to my chocolate shake powder. I really like to make this shake, 1 cup almond milk, 1 scope chocolate protein powder, a few shakes of dehydrated decaf, shake it up, then add using your intuition as a guide coconut syrup, amaretto syrup, hazelnut syrup, chocolate syrup (smaller amount on this one because it will make it taste very sweet) and heavy on cinnamon syrup and toasted marshmallow syrup. I also make a lot of other drink variations with those syrups as well with and without the dehydrated coffee, If you can have salt, then 1 cup of almond milk, one scoop of vanilla protein powder, caramel syrup to taste, and a dash of kosher salt, is pretty good. If you like peanut butter, consider adding peanut butter powder to your shake as well as chocolate syrup and maybe some bananas. Unflavored protein is great too, but if you have vanilla and adding fruits and/or veggies tends to cancel out the vanilla taste.

Did my shopping for my 2 week post-op diet today. Surgery is on Friday and I am so excited to get to have creamy Soups after two weeks of nothing but Protein Shakes and Jello.

It's probably the strength training, you will still lose the weight doing strength training, but slower than if you did cardio. Strength training, however is perfect for building muscle, which will ultimately change your metabolism for the better, it just takes time. You are likely building muscle and and losing fat at the same time, but due to the muscle increase the scale numbers are showing no weight change. Consider getting a scale that measures fat and muscle as well as weight. Are your clothes getting looser? if so that is your sign that you are in fact, building muscle. I was running into this problem as well when I had to meet weight goals pre-surgery because I prefer weight training to cardio. So I would stop doing weights and start doing cardio and the weight started coming off faster. After my surgery, I will be going back to weights.

I just want to add in my binder from my surgeon's office they gave me a huge list of protein powders and pre-mixed shakes, and they also gave me a guideline regarding calories, sugars, and carbs for any protein source I find that is not on the list. I can share it with you if you are interested.

For me it was cold turkey. I found that fake sugar/sweet while trying to cut back only made me crave it more. Now I can have the fake stuff and not start thinking about how some chocolate sounds good, lol.

Sounds like a ploy, if you have to do it pre-op then do it. I get whey protein from GNC, even this site sells whey protein. I know that after surgery some people struggle with whey, there are so many options on the market, that you are not corralled into buying from just them unless you signed a contract that states that.

Just talk to your doctor at the next appointment and let them know you would prefer to do a bypass, the doctor will let you know if they think you are a good candidate for it, and then it should be no problem, even for the insurance. I am getting the roux-en-Y bypass for those same reasons you stated and because I want to lessen my chance of revision, one and done with surgery is what I said to the doc and he said I get it.

@Libra3636 Thanks for joining. My surgery is not until the 27th,but I know you are not alone there is a ton of info on this site, including rants and raves page. I hope you get to feeling better tomorrow.

My first one at the clinic (I had 12 prior as an insurance requirement) was just myself and the Dietician he asked me how I was currently eating, and told me he was glad my insurance required 12 prior visits with a dietician before getting to him, then he went over what eating after surgery would be like, showed me a portion size shot glass. Told me about vitamins, and recommended I try different kinds of protein shakes, so I would know what I liked when I got to the 2-week full liquid pre-op. He explained the order to eat my foods in, and to try and get a little of each, after the healing period, during the healing period he said it was more important to focus on protein. lasted about an hour My second visit was virtual, went over the full liquid pre-op diet and was given my start date. My clinic gives you a book on your very first visit that has all of the information, so I was reminded what page the 2-week full liquid pre-op diet was on. lasted about 30 min My third visit was virtual and in a group, we again went over the 2-week full liquid pre-op and over the 2-week post-op at which point there is an in-person visit, where we are evaluated and will be told how to proceed next with our diet. Again we were told what pages to refer in our book. lasted 1.5 hours

This is freaking me out, I keep seeing people post about how they are cold now that they lost weight. My surgery is not until Oct 27 and I am always cold. I feel like I have been colder as a fat person than I was as a thin person.

I think this is a great idea! I have been considering starting an Instagram page myself. So far I have watched 11 minutes of your video, I'll finish the rest tomorrow. My suggestions are: 1.Play with your light source, it casts a shadow in the center-left (yours) on your face. Just turn your camera on and change the light(s) to see how others will see you. 2. Write yourself a script or an outline, just to help better organize your thoughts, you do say "right" a lot. 3. I think your background is great, but in case you change it, just remember people online will zoom in and scrutinize everything, so make sure nothing you want shared with the general public is in your background. 4. Do not let the music keep coming in and out. Either use it as just the intro and outro or you can additionally use it as a transition for a topic change. 5. You can if you want get into color theory and wear colors that make your skin tone and eyes pop, a ring light with RGB or light filter functions can aid with this too, but that can also be later down the road, when you start getting more traffic. Otherwise, I think you are off to a great start, you have a nice speaking voice, and a friendly demeanor, and your way of interacting/talking is like having a casual conversation with a friend and that comes across as relatable and friendly.

How did your consult with a new surgeon go? where you able to get a new surgery date?

I just picked up the meds they ordered for me to take after the surgery today. I was told to get a heat pad.

Honestly, I hope so. Thank you for being so honest and bringing this up. I was not always overweight and now that I have been on both sides of the coin I have noticed how differently people that I know and don't know treat me. It has also affected my confidence at work and in making friends or even enjoying hobbies and life the way I used to. I do think that it (the surgery) will help a lot, therapy is great and I have done a lot of it, but I have yet to rebuild my confidence with it and I do think seeing my body physically change will make that difference, I know others will not agree, but we are all different people with different perspectives and we may share similar experiences, but we do not all process them the same.

I officially start my Pre-Op diet tomorrow, but since my consultation on Monday, I have been replacing meals with shakes, in the hopes that this will allow me to ease into the Pre-Op diet. I just picked up all the meds that they sent in for after-surgery today.

Just to clarify the Bariatric program at the hospital you are going to does not require a sleep apnea screening? But your insurance wants you to have a sleep apnea/sleep study done? I can tell you a lot of insurance's require a sleep apnea check and if you meet the requirements the sleep study as well. I myself had to do a sleep study as part of an insurance requirement, and I scored a 10 (I was told this was the lowest score) however this meant my insurance now wanted me to be CPAP compliant in order to pay for my bariatric surgery. I know that having deeper better sleep will aid in the healing process, so that is a positive. For me, I feel no different wearing the CPAP versus not wearing it. But a good friend of mine was also diagnosed with sleep apnea around the same time as me, and he told me it is a night and day difference for him and that he feels so much better now. In the end, if your insurance wants something done and you want them to cover the cost of your surgery, then you are just going to have to do it. You might find out everything your insurance is going to require and go ahead and get appointments scheduled before they ask you to do it. You can always cancel those appointments if you do not need to do them. Pre-scheduling what you can will guarantee you are in line and not waiting longer.

I guess I should have clarified, I meant a spot for people having RNGY this month. There is an October surgery buddies topic in the general forum, but again most of those folks are having VSG and going on about that, which is great, but there are some RGNY differences.

@SarahP1220 Congratulations! only 7 days to go!!

It can work like that in the US, especially if you go to the specialist your surgeon recommends. For me, my surgeon is 3 hours away and I just went to the specialists in my area. Generally, everything will get sent to your Primary doctor no matter what, even if you are in another state. My surgeon had me sign HIPPA releases for my primary, my GI, and my pulmonary Dr., but my ultrasound and EKG were done by specialists I do not normally see, so I had them fax the results to the Surgeon, and my Primary got them anyway plus they are all linked in on MyHealthPortal (so I could see results, notes, and recommendations right away from my phone and make requests for my results to be sent where ever. However, my Surgeon uses MyChart similar but different system.

When I got my tests done I requested they send the results directly to my surgery clinic(while I was actively getting the test or blood draw). I even brought the fax and phone number with me in case they did not have it lol. They were able to look up the information they needed by the name of the surgeon and the clinic and my info was sent directly to them. On top of that the information was automatically sent to my Primary care and his nurse sent them directly to the fax number the clinic gave me as well. If your info was sent to your Primary contact them and ask them to send it. Do you have a myChart or some sort of messaging/results/records information management system with your Primary you can access and see if the info was sent to them?

You got this, I was concerned about Vit D deficiency since that is something I have struggled with my whole life, they told me to make sure and take a supplement before my labs. However I had been spending several months tanning at the time before my labs, and my Vit D was excellent (for the first time ever). So smart choice for the supplement, you could add a multivitamin. After I had my labs and saw the surgeon the nutritionist told me to start taking a multi-vitamin because 1. it's not going to hurt and 2. to get in the routine of taking one, since that will be the new normal after surgery.

I do not think so. I know that vitamin levels being too low may delay your surgery at least with my surgeon that is a thing. My insurance will not cover surgery if your blood work shows nicotine or cotinine a chemical produced by nicotine in blood/urine that sticks around longer. If you have Hep B they will very likely still do the surgery, they will just monitor your labs more closely. Fatty liver should not be a problem. If for some reason you are turned down because of your labs, make sure to ask why specifically and if there is anything that you can do to improve your labs for surgery.