amylynns

Whoohoo Beni! How'd your NUT appointment go? Did you find out more about your pre-op diet? (I think it was you wondering about exactly what you could have, etc? ) I've gotten in just 64oz so far. I really need to stop my usual 2 cups of coffee in the morning--I'm going to have some major caffeine withdraw when I start my 2 week pre-op.

Congratulations! And Happy Birthday!! You look great!!

LOL Beni! :-) I'm sure the 2 pounds is water weight with all that you drank. That being said--whenever I swim (like a fish) it makes me have to pee CONSTANTLY!! Which means I have to keep getting out of the pool to go, huge pain in the rear! LOL! Great job on working ahead of time to get your water in!

Walkin onsunshine---Wow, so sorry!! It took me about 7 months back in 2008 when I had my lapband, but this time it only took about 3 months to get approved for RNY. Daronb--that's something to really look forward to! I have a wedding on Oct 4th to go to, then start my 2 week liquids the Monday after the wedding. So one more last hoorah for me at the wedding I guess. I'm not really a partier, so not much of a hoorah. :-)

It took exactly 1 week from the time my papers were submitted to insurance to get the "You're Approved!" phone call. They set up my surgery date that same day. My surgery day is Oct. 20th, with a pre-op appointment on the 14th.

Cruisinforalosin, Our surgeries are on the same day! Karen-I drink lemon Water everyday, about 60oz. You'd think my liver would be the perfect size already! Beni--Wish I could give you some water drinking advice! I drink mostly water all day already, so not something I struggle with typically. I do add fresh lemon, that helps since I can't use the crystal light stuff. Superbariatricbabe--Don't worry yourself about those statistics. They continue to improve things all of the time, and really, the bad stuff is pretty odd to happen. :-) I have about 8 ladies I know that had the surgery, 3 of them being 10 years out. They're all doing great! My only struggle right now is my surgery is too far away!! LOL! I want it now! :-)

I don't do well with artificial sweetners either, so would love some other options. I can't do Crystal Light products.

AuriP--My band had actually moved and caused a hernia and I had ulcers on my esophagus from it, so maybe that was why I was told I'd have to wait. Karen-- I did the pre-op diet back in 2008 and my only problem was headaches and feeling really shakey around day 3-4. I never had the Charlie horses. :-( Doesn't sound pleasant at all. Are you getting enough Protein in? I wonder if upping that would help.

Thank you so much for being so candid and sharing!! That is my one concern about losing weight so quickly. I had the lapband in 2008 and lost 85 pounds over 2 years. I didn't have any excess skin from that loss. I had the band removed in 2013, and of course have gained back all but about 15. I'm having the bypass on Oct 20th and you've really helped me gain perspective on my one big fear. (the excess skin) It's not about the appearance, it's about being healthy. Thank you!!

I had the same problem after I had the lapband, back in 2008. (I had the band removed in Dec. 2013) I don't know how you do swallowing capsules, but I swear by this stuff I was recommended to try by a nutritionist. If you search for it on Amazon, search for Aerobic Mag 07. It's basically a big dose of magnesium. I had to take 5-6 capsules at the beginning to get things moving, for about 2 days. Now I take 4 capsules each night. I have a BM every single day now. TMI warning.... It basically turns your bowels to liquid, but it's NOT diarrhea. There's no cramping, or pain. when you feel the need to go, you just go--and it's done! I usually got 2-3 times a day now. I used to go, maybe every 4-5 days and it was hard and painful. I'm scheduled for gastric bypass on Oct. 20th and I am concerned about not being able to take the capsules. But I've heard I might not need to either.

I must have had an odd recovery....for me, it was a lot worse than having the band put in. I had a lot of pain. BUT...I do have to say, I had pain in my port area the whole time I had the band, which was 5 years. Like painful to even touch the area. So after I had it removed, my main pain was where the port was. I don't know what the deal was, but I STILL have pain where that darn port was! (I had It removed Dec. 2013) I took a week off of work and ended needing another extra 5 days off. I'm having gastric bypass on the 20th of October. I'm taking 2 full weeks off, and my boss knows I may need longer. A friend told me to take 4 weeks off....but I don't have that much vacation time, LOL. But I can be doing some work from home too, if need be.

October 20th for me! So excited, good luck everyone!!

I had to go check out this chicken broth you mentioned. It sounds great!! I think I'll order some. When I was on the liquid diet before, I would mix regular chicken broth with tomato soup. It was a nice change from all of the sweet stuff. When it comes to social eating out, checking out the menu ahead of time and deciding what you're going to order ahead of time always worked well for me. But really, it's all about choices. We can choose the slider foods, or choose what we know we're supposed to have. It's definitely hard though! I have several friends who've had the bypass and none of them are able to eat junky sweet stuff. (like ice cream, Desserts, etc.) They experience the dumping syndrome when they eat that stuff. It'll be a learning experience I'm sure! Beni- I LOVE that part of the OR too!! Time travel, love that!! :-) I hate waking up though....waking up in pain sucks! They put in an epidural when I had my band and slowly let it taper off, so I didn't wake up in pain. I was horribly nauseated though. That was the worst. They tried 3 different meds to relieve it. With my gall bladder removal surgery and the band removal surgery, they put the patch thing behind my ear and wow, what a difference that made! I'll be sure to request that again this time!

October 20th here! I have to do 2 weeks, all liquid diet before, and 2 more weeks after, then onto pureed foods. The nutritionist I met with gave me a lot of meal ideas using different forms of the liquids for meals. It's about 1000 calories a day. I've done this same plan before when I had the lapband back in 2008 so I know what to expect. Day 3 or 4 was the worst for me. Caffeine withdraw gave me horrid headaches and was also just shaky and weak. But once I got through those first few days it wasn't too bad.

Hi Joy and AuriP! So glad I got back on this website! I had been on it years ago when I had my band done. So AuriP, You'll have the band removed and have the RXY done all at the same time? The Dr.who removed my band (Not the same one I"ll have for the bypass) said I would have to wait 6 months if I was thinking of having something else done. I wonder why? Good luck to all of us October gals! I got to spend the day with my honey, my 20 yr old daughter and her boyfriend. Her birthday is next Wed and we weren't going to be able to get together then, so we planned on going for lunch to a Sushi place and then come home. That was at noon. And we just got home. But guess what we did---something I've never done, and will never do again. Oh my. We had lunch, ate way too much, of course. Sushi--AND and a BLT AND tomato Soup. We sat there forever chatting. Then we went to get her a winter jacket. Then stood around and chatted for a while longer. It was 3pm by now.Then we decided we needed dessert so we went to Culvers. I just had a single scoop of their custard, but still....We literally sat there for almost 3 hours just talking!! So by then it was 6PM! And we were hungry again! So we drove to the next town and had dinner at a place my daughter is a waitress at. We had pizza, I had 3 pieces! (square cut, not triangles) AND a Long Island Ice tea. Oh my gosh, I am so miserable. I ate way too much for the day. I cannot wait to NOT be able to eat like that!! I too, think my kids suffer some because there's activities I either don't want to do, or can't. I'm looking forward to that changing! Anyway--looking forward to chatting with you all! But I'm heading to bed, so good night!

My goodness, what a horrible first baby experience!! Wow!! You're right, there's enough things hurting at that time without also having your belly hurting! :-( As far as cooking for the family...if whatever they're having isn't ok for me to have, I just adjust a bit. Main thing is to eat your Protein item first (my favorites being fish & chicken) and then veggies, and then a minimal carb item. but it'll be quite a while before we're eating a "normal" meal I think? You will physically not be able to eat seconds, or leftovers. I do that now too---I'll finish up what my 8yr old daughter might leave on her plate or something, LOL. But yeah, you won't be able to overeat. And if you try--from what I hear, it's such a horrible, painful feeling, that you won't want to do it again!

Yes--I agree about the skin issue. I had a friend who had the sleeve done and her face looked like that too. Once she got to her very lowest, she ended up putting back on about 15 pounds. And honestly, she looks better at that weight!

Hey, That's great you only "Have" to do 3 days! My worst day was about day 3. Bad headaches and really shakey....but after that it wasn't too hard at all. You get over the hunger "pains" pretty quick. I did get really sick of the same drinks everyday, so trying to switch it up is a good plan! I've already met with the nutritionist. I could maybe email you the sheet that shows what I'll be eating. I think it gives Protein options too. I figure if I can through the 2 weeks before and after, I can stick to it well after that. Cheating and putting yourself in danger is SO not worth it! I would be terrified of my pouch bursting, Oh my gosh!! My kids all know what's going on. My 20yr old daughter would rather I didn't do it. She's just worried, and thinks I can just lose on my own. Well, that's obviously not working! :-) We have 2 20yr olds, 2 17yr olds, 2 14 yr olds and then the 8yr old. My 8 yr old doesn't really "get it." But the rest of them know what it is. I don't mind them knowing I guess---they're good support for me. But you have to do what you're comfortable with. If you don't want to tell them exactly what you're having done, you could always just say you're going in for a procedure for something you'd like to keep private. After surgery, I didn't feel starved AT ALL~ It was SO weird to not have food on my mind all day long! In fact, I had to force myself to eat most of the time! It's hard those first several days to get enough Water in. I got dehydrated and ended up back at the hospital and had 2 bags of Fluid put in me. That was not fun. So watch for those signs. And really work to get the required amount of water in. You'll be exhausted for sure. You won't be getting very many calories, so you will be weak too. But from what I've read and people I've talked to that have had it--the first week is the hardest. I hate coming out of anesthesia---I get super nauseated. They put Patches behind my ears when I had my gallbladder out and that helped a lot! By the way, if you haven't had your gallbladder out, a lot of times with rapid weight loss, the gallbladder goes bad for whatever reason and you'll need it removed. If you want me to email that to you, let me know. :-)

I had the lapband done in 2008 and removed in 2013. I am scheduled to have gastric bypass on Oct. 20th. So I don't know a lot yet, but will let you know more as I go along here.... Recovery from my band removal was ALOT more painful than having it put in. So I am worried about pain after bypass. Along with fatigue from not having food, etc. But I'll keep you updated!

Beni-- Haha, I don't know about being a pro--but yes, I've done the pre-op stuff before so I am familiar with that. To be disappointed is for sure accurate! When I had lost the 85 I remember distinctly thinking, " Wonderful--I will NEVER be that big again!" And then stuff slowly started going wrong. I started gaining weight, although I was still eating the same things. From what I've heard from other people and my Dr., that is evidently a common problem with the band. I had chose the band in the first place because I was afraid of the gastric bypass, because it was so extreme. But now I wish I would have just done that in the first place. I am SO thankful I'm getting another chance though.. I was sinking into a very dark, lonely place (and of course still gaining..) with every pound I gained. So I see a light at the end of the tunnel now at least! :-) I am a bit worried as well. I know it's extreme. I'm worried about the pain. When I had the band removed, it seems like it was twice as painful of a recovery than having it put it in. My plan right now is to be off work 2 weeks, and my boss knows I may need longer. I can do some work from home too, so I should be ok there. We have a blended family with 7 kids total. (2 are away at college though) so I'll have a lot of help. ( I hope!) My youngest is 8, so they're all pretty self sufficient. Thank goodness! I'll let them and my man take care of me! My other worry is loosing so fast I'll have a lot of hanging skin. I haven't been working out as much as I should be--and I need to get back into that mode (I had been at a point where I LOVED working out and couldn't go a day without it--I NEED to be there again!) I know that will help with the excess skin. I think my hospital stay is 2-3 days. My pre-op appointment is Oct 15th. I think they'll tell me for sure then. I have 2 weeks of a liquid diet prior to surgery and then 2 more weeks of liquid diet after surgery...then pureed food I think for a time period, then more mushy foods, etc..I'm planning on buying a good amount of liquids that I'll need ahead of time so I won't have to worry about not having what I need on hand after surgery. What is your pre-op diet like? It'll be nice to have someone to chat with that will have a similar experience to mine!

I'm in October!! The 20th! I had the lapband from 2008-2013. Lost 85 pounds, gained back all but 16. :-( Had it removed due to it moving and every single thing I ate got stuck. Constantly throwing up, had ulcers on my esophagus. Not a fun deal. I'm so excited to the have the bypass done now!!

Thanks so much SunnyRachel! By the way, You're doing AMAZING!! Great stats!!!