Search the Community

I am flying to my surgery in a few weeks and the thought of asking the flight attendant for a seatbelt extender is MORTIFYING. So I bought one from Amazon and I will discreetly click it into place when I sit down. I also got an aisle seat so I can kind of lean into the aisle and not squish the stranger beside me.

I have PCOS and I had my sleeve surgery on the same day as you. I also think I hit a stall, but everyone says you start to lose weight again after a couple of weeks. I’ve also been struggling with water intake but it’s slowly getting better. Glad I’m not alone, and I hope everything is going ok with you.

My bypass surgery date is May 18 and I just started day 1 of my 3-week liquid diet today. For whatever reason, my surgeon decided to torture me with an extra week of the preop diet. I am paying privately because the wait time for bypass surgery in my area is 5-7 years. There are also no private clinics available here. So I am flying to Montreal from Vancouver, Canada which is a 5-hour flight. I am not nervous about the surgery but I am nervous about fitting in my plane seat (I bought a seatbelt extender just in case). I am also nervous about blood clots so I have planned to get up from my seat every 30 minutes and stroll the aisles. I am also anxious about getting covid before my surgery. I will get tested 2 days before my surgery and if it's positive my surgery will be postponed for 3 months, which would be a total nightmare. So, I decided to quarantine for the 3 weeks before surgery and literally never leave my house for any reason. That has also been a bit stressful, but I know it will all be worth it in the end. Best of luck to everyone! I am so glad we are all on this journey together.

It's like we are twins...For the past 5 days I have gained and lost the same 0.5 lbs. I had surgery on March 3rd and have lost a total of 37 lbs (12 lbs during pre op diet and 25 lbs since surgery). It is very frustrating but I figure I am in another stall (I had one about 2.5 weeks post op that lasted for about 6 days then I started losing again). Keep following the plan...we will get through this!

My discharge paperwork specifically says no submerging in water for 3 weeks. After 3 weeks with surgeons ok. Ive been wanting to go out and ride my jetski and of course i sometimes fall off my jetski and the water is not the cleanest so i am waiting a couple months to be on the safe side

Well...I'm going to give you the bright side... My pre-op diet was 5 weeks, with 5 Boosts everyday. No veggies, meals, protein, meat nothing. 5 Boosts and 1 cup of broth a day. 5 weeks. You got this girl! We are here for you!

It's only two weeks of your life. You can do it, we believe in you. All good things come with a price and this is the price.

So crackers are on my three week plan and digested ok! I made a justification on the french fries because they're soft, but you're probably right. I'm just frustrated because my doctor doesn't want to seem to schedule anything, meanwhile I literally can't eat or drink anything. I see her Thursday but it just sucks in the time being. Sent from my LE2125 using BariatricPal mobile app

I dont think that I would feel comfortable going home the same day especially having the RNY. My surgeon said that I would be in for a three or four night stay. I mentioned that to the dietician and she said it may be even longer as they need to get my blood sugar level down. I am no fan of hospitals. If I need to stay I will.

1) probably a stricture. Once they get it cleared, you'll be fine 2) you shouldn't be progressing on your diet like that. Goldfish crackers and French fries during week 3 is on no one's plan. You'll eventually be able to eat stuff like that again (although in controlled amounts), but right now you should be focusing on following your plan. You don't want to sabotage everything when you're right out of the gate. This will all work as long as you follow the plan. Don't be one of those people who never loses very much weight - or worse, gains it all back. You've been through too much for that.

sounds like you're in a stall. Those are very common and it'll likely be the first of many while you're on your journey. They typically last 1-3 weeks. Just make sure you're following your plan to a "T" and stay off the scale for a few days. It'll break and you'll be on your way again. oh - and as others have said, the fluctuation (up a lb or two, down a lb or two) is very normal. Probably water retention and/or having fuller intestines some days than others.

I have been allowed 100g of Chicken or fish Per day. Also lots of vegetables. I just had a sugar free pineapple jello that I made last night. Working out what you can eat and when is a distraction. Last night I had a protein vegie soup with 100 grams of poached fish and with extra vegies. That was a satisfying meal. Tonight I had chicken stir fry with garlic and ginger and a bit of soy. I have used a nutri bullet for the first time yesterday - that was fun. It has been so long since I have looked after myself properly that it's nice and somehow exciting to finally be actively working towards the Op. I think the best way to get through this is to keep busy. Write journals - I started one last night. Set goals. Plan for the Food that you can have after surgery. I did that today. Also writing a list for what you need in hospital. Take it day by day of hour by hour if you need to Diva, Kick this preparation week to the curb. You got this. You need to do this. Your surgeon is counting on you. And You are counting on you too. Show up for yourself. Think of the thousands that have gone before us and got to the other side who are now living their best life. We got this. ☺️

a 10-20 lb rebound weight, usually during year 3 (although it can be earlier or later for some) is EXTREMELY common. A dietitian who gave a presentation on one of Unjury's virtual support groups a couple of weeks ago said they don't even consider it regain until you gain more than 15% of your lowest weight (so for you, that would be slightly over 15 lbs). Under that, and it's just your body settling in to a weight it feels comfortable at. you can always lose weight again by cutting your calories - although weight loss is a struggle for those of us at or near a normal BMI.

Words are powerful, if you tell yourself its going to be a hell week, it's very likely to be exactly that. Change your words, change your thinking and things may turn out a lot better than you think.

I know!!! Exactly 1 week away from surgery day!!! And I'm not even a little nervous about it. I'm more stressed about this stupid pre-op diet LOL

I’m 3 weeks out from surgery. May 16. Gastric Bypass. I’m 60. 5’6. 43 BMI. With so many co-morbidities ! Diabetes, high blood pressure. Arthritis in knees and ankles. Last weekend I got very down, thinking if I hadn’t been successful before long-term how was I going to be able to do it now. If I had slowly been losing since this whole process started last July when I had my first consult I would weigh less now as I know wls is just a tool and not a magical solution. I talked about my fears, ordered a bariatric cookbook and got on here to read to see if anyone eles was going through something similar. I didn’t find anyone who wrote word for word what I was feeling but I read supportive things, really just what I needed to read, to think that yeah ok I got this. My daughter said that she’d be worried if I felt invincible beforehand because acknowledging my shortcomings beforehand seemed more healthy. It helps not to keep things bottled up because that’s when the fears snowball for me. I had my doctor phone appointment last Thursday. I forgot to ask how long they recommend being off work. I was readying myself to have to do a 2 week liquid diet but doc said it wasn’t necessary, just for me to lose as much weight before surgery as I could. Which lead to me thinking about how I hadn’t lost anything really during these months of pre-op. and self-doubts. I appreciate all y’all writing about everything. The good bad and ugly. The overwhelming sentiment seems to be: why didn’t I do this earlier. That’s where I want to be. Now, working on tapering off of caffeine! Thanks for being my buddies.

Nope, 1 week of all liquids only I have 20 minutes until it starts, so I'm eating an apple, a banana, and a few grapes lol

There are several variations of what a surgeon may require you to do pre surgery. I had an easier road as I was on keto for two weeks (I did almost three because of when I saw my dietician). Some do two weeks of nothing but shakes. Others, two weeks of shakes for two meals & one of protein & vegetables/salad. Some do a day or two only. I did discover my surgeon recommends different diets for different patients based on their weight loss/gain history, starting weight, health status, etc. The purpose is to shrink your liver which is likely fatty & enlarged therefore clearing some of the abdominal field so they can better see what they’re doing during surgery. Some use it to see if you can manage a restricted diet before surgery because of the restrictive diet to support your healing after surgery. But I do agree. Wait until your next appointment before buying anything for your pre & post surgery diets.

It’s a mind set change about solids vs liquids. Doesn’t make it easier but … The liquids will have all the calories you need so should satisfy a lot of your real hunger needs. Though unfortunately for many of us a lot of the satisfaction of eating comes from the actual crunch & chew of solid food but suddenly that’s gone so you start to crave them & feel head hunger even more. And the cycle & hellishness begins Are you allowed any solids? Many have two or three shakes plus a solid meal of protein & vegetables/salad at night which is easier to handle. I did that diet years ago for about two months & I swear I fantasised about eating that ‘real’ meal all day long every one of those 60 days. 😁 All the best.

No fun. My surgery center did not have this diet, I think it was higher protein for three or four days before hand. Good luck, you will get through this, and it will all be worth it. Hopefully there will be some things that can distract you. going online, doing some sort of craft, binging shows, catching up on sleep….

Honestly, this 1 week pre-op diet is seriously stressing me out. I'm not the least bit nervous about the surgery, but HOW is a fat person with a big stomach supposed to live with no food??? I get it, when I have the surgery. Most of my hunger hormone will be gone, my stomach will be super small, it'll be easier. But I have ALL my hunger hormone now and my stomach is anything but small. I'm eating tonight, but starting when I wake up, no food. None. Nada. Zip, zilch, zero. Oh boy... *sigh*

Mine starts tomorrow, and honestly, it's the part I'm dreading the most. HOW is a fat person supposed to get through a whole week with no food??? lol

Just as a preface, I had the sleeve in Dec. 2016 and dropped about 120 lbs in 6 months, then screwed up and slowly went back up almost to where I started. I had a revision to bypass in Nov. 2021 and have been doing very well, about 80 lbs down so far. Last week was spring break for my kids so we decided to take a vacation, my first since the most recent surgery. We went to Virginia (drove from NY). I was very worried for a few reasons. First, I weigh myself every single day (yes I know some recommend against it, it works for me). I didn't want to bring my scale so it would be a week without monitoring my weight loss (or gain). Second, I rarely eat out and I weigh everything I eat when I make it. I wasn't going to be bringing my food scale and I knew I'd have to eat out more than usual. Finally, we were going to a lot of places where there weren't the healthiest options to eat. So I resolved to try my best not to blow it and see what happened. We stayed at a timeshare resort which had a full kitchen (stove, oven, microwave, utensils, pots/pans, etc) which was fantastic because we were able to go shopping for a lot of stuff to make in the room so I knew exactly what I was eating. I was able to make my usual breakfast (2 scrambled eggs with shredded cheese) almost every morning. I bought a few pre-packaged salads and some other stuff for the room. I only had to actually eat out 4 or 5 times the entire trip, not counting during the drive to and from VA. When we ate out I was able to check the calories for what I was eating to make a healthier choice, and made sure to stop when I was full instead of cleaning my plate. I was able to find something to eat at both Waffle House and Cracker Barrel that wasn't too horrible. Even at Busch Gardens we went to the German area restaurant and I got something called a German Chef Salad that was pretty good and not too heavy or unhealthy. Bonus at Busch Gardens: Last year (pre-surgery) we went to an amusement park and I wasn't able to ride most of the roller coasters because I just couldn't fit - no problem at all this time, got in with room to spare! I stayed away from snacks and desserts (I got Halo Top ice cream for the room to have at night). When we got back I was concerned what the scale might say, but I was down 2 lbs from when we left, so I'll consider that a win! I had a nice NSV before the trip too - I was looking for clothes to bring and found a bunch of shirts I got when I lost all the weight the first time, and they all fit comfortably and looked great. Before the surgery I wore XXL shirts, and even those were getting a little snug, I even had one XXXL I think. Lately I've been wearing XL's which were getting roomy, all the shirts I found were L and fit great, so that was awesome. I also had to buy a new pair of jeans that was 4 sizes smaller and fits great. I found my old bathing suits which were too tight last year, now half are too big and the rest fit OK (almost too big but not quite yet). So it's been a good week, hoping to continue on my path to onederland again! Here's a pic of the family having fun.

I work 7 days a week mostly 12 hr shifts. Nights. So I honestly don't exercise. Work is my exercise. (not making excuses). I'm just wore out from working. I eat a lot of soup, meats, and veggies. My weakness is my coffees I do used fat free creamer now. My eating could be better. I don't have the time to meal prep like I used to. Just very worried.

I just started the pre op diet for two weeks yesterday. It's not too bad. My surgery is the 9th of May.