NickelChip

February 22 for me.
Here’s to the first day to the rest of my life.

Feb 5th!!!

Hi I am new here. My surgery is on February 5th.

After having my surgery cancelled last month due to the abrupt closure of my hospital's bariatric practice, I have a new date at another hospital in the area and can hardly wait for the time to fly by. I'm scheduled for gastric bypass on February 21. Any other February peeps out there?

My sister is going in for her sleeve surgery tomorrow. I’m praying everything goes well, and that God blesses the doctors and nurses caring for her. Our poor mom is a wreck worried about us having wls two weeks apart.

What does your pre-op diet look like? Mine will be 2 weeks of full liquid, so basically Protein Shakes, Water or sugar free flavored water, Decaf coffee and tea, sugar free Jello and pudding, sugar free popsicles, broth, skim milk, Greek yogurt, unsweetened applesauce, and cream of Tomato Soup. I think she said up to 5 shakes per day but I need to clarify at my final dietician appointment on Feb 1. Not gonna lie, I am not looking forward to this part. My previous clinic only did a 2-day liquid diet. But I can survive!

Hey, February surgery buddies: February is next week! If you haven't already, this would be a great time to take your "before" photos and measurements. I see so many posts from people who wish they had remembered to do it before surgery, and lots of others who are so glad they did because it gives you a great non-scale victory to focus on during the process.

Tips:
Choose something form fitting to wear, such as exercise clothing, and plan to keep it so you can take your photo wearing the same thing once a month for the next year or more. Try to take the pictures in the same spot each time and choose a background without too much distraction, like a blank wall. Use good lighting. Get front, back, and side angles. No sucking it in or tricky poses to make you look smaller. Let it all hang out! As hard as it may be to look at the photos now, you'll appreciate it later when you can compare the results and truly see your progress If it's too hard to look at photos, don't opt out! Have your spouse or a best friend, someone you trust, take the pictures and keep them for you to look at later. For measurements, make sure you do the standard chest, waist, hips, and also get help doing your right and left biceps and thighs, plus calves and neck.

Mine says the same, although I can have them post-op. Pre-op I am allowed cream of Tomato if it is made with Water or skim milk. Post op I can have cream Soups and cream of wheat Cereal, and also V8 juice (no other juices). Mine has a bold warning on the pre-op diet to tell you it's similar but not identical to post-op.

Just got my surgery scheduled for Feb 7th. Start my two week liquid diet tomorrow.
My first weigh in October with the Bariatric center was 363 lbs. I weighed at the Surgeons office today at 310 lbs. Ready to get this done and move on.

Hello, I am new and want to introduce myself. I’m Gina and I am 13 days post op. I had the SIPS procedure and hiatal hernia repair. I had Gastric Sleeve in 2019. Reached a plateau, switched from Kaiser to United Health Care - Sutter Health (N. Ca). Five years ago my pre surgery weight was 286. My pre-op weight on January 10 is was 230. When I was still under Kaiser, I contacted my bariatric team about having revision surgery and they advised me to just stick to a thousand calorie diet and that I was not eligible for revision surgery. My family and I had to switch healthcare providers and I joined the weight management in nutrition program at Sutter Health, and I was immediately referred to a Bariatric surgeon who recommended a revision! I was pleasantly surprised, because I was not even going to ask because of my experience with Kaiser. So here I am 13 days post surgery and looking forward to reading about your experiences. 🙂👍🏼

I'm curious if you've had any discussions with your surgeon about converting your sleeve to a duodenal switch if your weight loss continues to be disappointing from the sleeve. I've heard there are some patients who just don't see the results they need from the VSG alone, and that might be an option for you.

I highly recommend checking out A Bra That Fits calculator. I was recently pointed in this direction as I'm having bra fit issues as I'm losing weight. Band size I've always been spot on, but cups are always too small. Turns out I was wearing a bra 6 sizes too small in the cup!!! YES 6 SIZES TOO SMALL And I'm not the only woman that does that... I'm apparently a 44H right now, not a 44D/DD. Go figure. I went to the reddit for that website and the FB group, learned a lot about my breast shape, and ordered 6 bras through the "Amazon Prime Try Before You Buy" thing. 4 of them were too big and awful looking, apparently the calculator can overestimate cup size for my breast shape. I could see that the bra shapes would be horribly wrong if the cups fit correctly, it seems my breasts sit high and I have breast tissue under my arms that migrated there from wearing too small bras for 25 years...plus I have breast tissue way up high to almost my collar bones... I did eventually find one that fit amazingly! The women in the FB group advised me to go down one band size smaller and up one cup size (maintains the same cup volume) and to use an extender on it so I'll get 2 months out of my bras, as I'm currently dropping a band size a month, but my cup size isn't changing. I thought that was a great tip for making my bras last longer, since they are so damned expensive. In this properly fitting bra my shoulders don't hurt because there is no pressure on them! The band is actually carrying the weight of my breasts, like it is supposed to. And the wires are wide enough they aren't sitting on the breast tissue under my arms that I had just assumed was fat!
As for other clothes, I've found the best way to stock smaller sizes is Ebay and Poshmark. I search for lots/bundles a few sizes smaller than I currently am. These are often listed by people losing weight and changing sizes, who want to clear out their closets fast instead of list item by item. I plan on selling my clothes this way too as I outgrow them! I recently got a bundle of 5 leggings in an XXL from really quality brands. Almost brand new. Since they are different brands they'll fit differently and probably last me a few sizes... I also found a tank top lot listed that way, and since I'm a leggings/tank/cardigan woman, these should last me a while. I have also picked up a few aspirational things on deep discount in a Large, so I can have some pretty things at that size for cheap, even if I don't end up staying at that size. I can't even fathom I could be that size by the end of this year! Anyway, this is how I'm saving money clothes shopping online!

Interesting. That's right within the daily protein I've been told, and only 4oz short on the Fluid. I'm not sure why they would want to make you feel you weren't doing well. It sounds like you're doing just fine.

Well, I don't like that dietician. That was just unprofessional to comment on your weight compared to other patients. And also a load of garbage, as there are plenty of people your starting size who seek out wls every day. As for why you've struggled with your weight, it's the same reason we all have: genetics plus environment. Your body is very efficient at storing fat for survival and your current environment offers you the exact kinds of foods your body is best at converting to fat. It's not your fault. Are there things you can do better to keep from returning to where you were? Of course! Learning to resist those simple carbs is going to be very important to longterm success. But it's not a moral failing or lack of willpower that made you obese, and you can definitely make the changes you need to make with the surgery to help you. Good luck!

Having to reschedule is such an ordeal. I was supposed to have mine originally in late December and had to switch programs because mine closed. I hope your new date will go smoothly!

Hey, February surgery buddies: February is next week! If you haven't already, this would be a great time to take your "before" photos and measurements. I see so many posts from people who wish they had remembered to do it before surgery, and lots of others who are so glad they did because it gives you a great non-scale victory to focus on during the process.

Tips:
Choose something form fitting to wear, such as exercise clothing, and plan to keep it so you can take your photo wearing the same thing once a month for the next year or more. Try to take the pictures in the same spot each time and choose a background without too much distraction, like a blank wall. Use good lighting. Get front, back, and side angles. No sucking it in or tricky poses to make you look smaller. Let it all hang out! As hard as it may be to look at the photos now, you'll appreciate it later when you can compare the results and truly see your progress If it's too hard to look at photos, don't opt out! Have your spouse or a best friend, someone you trust, take the pictures and keep them for you to look at later. For measurements, make sure you do the standard chest, waist, hips, and also get help doing your right and left biceps and thighs, plus calves and neck.

The biggest thing that has helped me with being better (not perfect!) about foods was getting all of the temptations out of my house. I went through every cupboard. When crackers or chips were gone, I did not buy more. I've also started ordering my groceries for curbside pickup. I hadn't realized what a huge help this was until this morning when I had to run in for a few things last minute. It was all I could do to walk past the bakery without buying a loaf of fresh sourdough or to keep myself from throwing a bag of Christmas candy into the cart. Shopping online from a carefully curated list is so much less dangerous! At least for me, removing the opportunity to easily access Snacks makes a big difference.

I went through all my "small" clothes too. I was able to wear the smallest ones until about 10 pounds from my goal. When my pants fell down walking up the stairs with my arms full, I knew it was time to buy. I like Ross and thrift stores. I also bought from TEMU, though I return half of what I buy. TEMU ships from China and takes 2-3 weeks, so I had to predict my size or order something that would look good a little tight. My daughter in law and 2 of my friends are thrilled with their "new" wardrobes too. One of those friends is right behind me in her weight loss, so she really needed the clothes I gave her.

One of the things I sorely missed when overweight and homebound was thrifting. I had plenty of old clothes in various smaller sizes I held onto that I have been fitting into over the past 9 months since WLS. I have been having the best time buying new to me used clothing and bagging up the ones now too big and donating.
I'm just so happy to finally fit back into stylish clothing again instead of tent dresses and elastic waistbands. I love vintage clothing and have no qualms wearing used except underwear. LOL
I guess the thrill for me too is finding expensive items for practically nothing. Also it's just not practical to pay full price for clothing you will outgrow in a few short weeks.

My surgery date is 02/02/2024 excited and nervous thanks for the tips didn’t think of that!!

Hey, February surgery buddies: February is next week! If you haven't already, this would be a great time to take your "before" photos and measurements. I see so many posts from people who wish they had remembered to do it before surgery, and lots of others who are so glad they did because it gives you a great non-scale victory to focus on during the process.

Tips:
Choose something form fitting to wear, such as exercise clothing, and plan to keep it so you can take your photo wearing the same thing once a month for the next year or more. Try to take the pictures in the same spot each time and choose a background without too much distraction, like a blank wall. Use good lighting. Get front, back, and side angles. No sucking it in or tricky poses to make you look smaller. Let it all hang out! As hard as it may be to look at the photos now, you'll appreciate it later when you can compare the results and truly see your progress If it's too hard to look at photos, don't opt out! Have your spouse or a best friend, someone you trust, take the pictures and keep them for you to look at later. For measurements, make sure you do the standard chest, waist, hips, and also get help doing your right and left biceps and thighs, plus calves and neck.

After having my surgery cancelled last month due to the abrupt closure of my hospital's bariatric practice, I have a new date at another hospital in the area and can hardly wait for the time to fly by. I'm scheduled for gastric bypass on February 21. Any other February peeps out there?

.......... I "think" I broke the stall ! * knock on wood* 😁 Yes! I've been at 192 for months and nothing I did would break it. Finally ....I am gradually going down and as of today I am 185 ! It's the weirdest thing - all summer I was exercising and walking and the scale wouldn't move. Now that it's winter in Wisconsin , I haven't been walking at all except for grocery shopping and the weight loss started again. The only reason I can think of why I was stalled is,I must have been gaining muscle . Well - I'm not going to question it .... I'm just going to enjoy it I'm so happy to be a "loser" again..... LOL

Hey, February surgery buddies: February is next week! If you haven't already, this would be a great time to take your "before" photos and measurements. I see so many posts from people who wish they had remembered to do it before surgery, and lots of others who are so glad they did because it gives you a great non-scale victory to focus on during the process.

Tips:
Choose something form fitting to wear, such as exercise clothing, and plan to keep it so you can take your photo wearing the same thing once a month for the next year or more. Try to take the pictures in the same spot each time and choose a background without too much distraction, like a blank wall. Use good lighting. Get front, back, and side angles. No sucking it in or tricky poses to make you look smaller. Let it all hang out! As hard as it may be to look at the photos now, you'll appreciate it later when you can compare the results and truly see your progress If it's too hard to look at photos, don't opt out! Have your spouse or a best friend, someone you trust, take the pictures and keep them for you to look at later. For measurements, make sure you do the standard chest, waist, hips, and also get help doing your right and left biceps and thighs, plus calves and neck.

I have my meeting with the surgeon on Tuesday as well, although for me it is 4 weeks pre-op. I believe the 2 week liquid diet is a given for me, but I've been getting used to the idea by replacing Breakfast and lunch with a Protein Shake several times a week for the past few weeks. It's not too bad. I haven't gotten really hungry during the day, although getting to have a regular dinner does make it easier, so I'm not looking forward to the real thing.