I'm 6 months out and here to answer questions and help if I can

[CurvyCakes 269]

You look amazing thanks for the info in the post

[snsgreeneyedgirl 65]

I have my final DR appointment on 2/20 and should have the surgery shortly after that. food has been my friend for so long...and I know my relationship with food will be very different after the surgery. Was it very hard for you to adjust how you ate and what you ate? I wonder what I will do when I am sad or frustrated and cant turn to chocolate....I cant imagine not always having candy in the house. Are your food cravings less than they were before surgery? Any insight you can offer would be very much appreciated. It is a very big scary step to take. Thank you.

Sorry it took so long for a response.

I would say for me the great thing is there is no choice. You wake up from that surgery and boom your changed for life. There's no "I hate this diet I'm quitting" its a life change. Having said that I have been very lucky in that I am able to eat whatever I want just extremely small portions. But, fatty foods and sweets don't make me feel great so I tend to stick with stuff I crave like steak or chicken and salads and fruit. I think mentally the first few weeks maybe up to 2 months it's a learning experience and you might mourn some of the foods you use to eat, for me it was and sometimes is still soda. I quit soda a few months before the surgery and from time to time I want one, the fizz feels funny on my tummy do I don't drink them. It is a great choice, and for me the adjustment was very easy. Your body will crave what it needs and when you eat a little you get full. Pretty perfect if you ask me. Its not like you eat rabbit food and starve until the next meal. Your satisfied. Remember healthy doesn't mean bla tasteless food. Congrats and good luck.

[snsgreeneyedgirl 65]

I have my final DR appointment on 2/20 and should have the surgery shortly after that. food has been my friend for so long...and I know my relationship with food will be very different after the surgery. Was it very hard for you to adjust how you ate and what you ate? I wonder what I will do when I am sad or frustrated and cant turn to chocolate....I cant imagine not always having candy in the house. Are your food cravings less than they were before surgery? Any insight you can offer would be very much appreciated. It is a very big scary step to take. Thank you.

I read back through and realized I didn't answer one of your questions.

I don't have cravings at all like before surgery. But, I do crave what my body needs now. I know when I'm hungry exactly what I want, and at this point exactly how much. Example, in the past I would say to my husband... "you know what I want for dinner... stuffed crust pizza, ooo and some bbq chicken wings, and cheesy bread and chocolate ice cream for dessert." Then when dinner got there I would eat 4 slices of pizza, a 2 liter of soda, 1/3 the cheesy bread and so on... it all tasted so good. That was my fear. Losing the taste. Post surgery follow the rules and you will be amazed at how your tastes change and how you get tuned into what you need. Now I know for dinner I want a salad and mandarin oranges... I eat, im satisfied and full. Doesn't get much better than that.

[gastricsleever 259]

My 30th bday is in April and I'm having surgery in February. I am not telling my family members about the surgery. My mom and aunts want to make a big deal about my 30th going out for dinner and what not. I'm worried about what I will be able to eat 6 wks out!

I know everyone is different but I'd love to hear how much u were eating 6 weeks out and what u were eating. Any ideas for what I could eat? Thanks!

[snsgreeneyedgirl 65]

My 30th bday is in April and I'm having surgery in February. I am not telling my family members about the surgery. My mom and aunts want to make a big deal about my 30th going out for dinner and what not. I'm worried about what I will be able to eat 6 wks out!

I know everyone is different but I'd love to hear how much u were eating 6 weeks out and what u were eating. Any ideas for what I could eat? Thanks!

Yea that's a tuff one. I have seen doctors with post surgery meal plans all over the place. But at my 4 week check up I was cleared for regular food. I remember saying, wait anything? Anything I want? My doctor said, well keep it healthy but yes. Time to start experimenting. I went home and had a tuna fish sandwich on honey wheat toast. After all the precaution I was so scared. It went don't no problems. But I made a whole sandwich and was only able to eat 1/2 of a 1/2, to a normal person, the pre surgery me that's 1 big bite. The post surgery me was stuffed. Note 6 months out I can eat about 3/4 a sandwich. I kept my surgery from my all of co workers, it is possible. What is noticeable is the portion size. Slow and steady gives the impression that you're eating the entire time. I still get asked if there is something wrong with my food when we are at restaurants, because I don't eat but 1/4 of what is on my plate. That part is noticeable. There are always options early on like mashed potatoes, Soup, steamed veggies and fish are easy in the beginning.

[BellaHugz 331]

Thank you for this post it really helps. I have a few question for you? I am curious, what was the best advice you got before your surgery? How did you handle those pesky coworkers who ask you questions about your weight loss? HO wmuch time did it take before you were able to drive?

[snsgreeneyedgirl 65]

Thank you for this post it really helps. I have a few question for you? I am curious, what was the best advice you got before your surgery? How did you handle those pesky coworkers who ask you questions about your weight loss? HO wmuch time did it take before you were able to drive?

I actually didn't utilize anything like this to ask a veteran questions. So I never really got a chance to get advice.

As for the coworkers I had planted the seed that I was having a small surgery and I wanted to get healthy post surgery, use it as a start over. So when I came back to work I kinda acted as though I was on a high Protein low carb diet where you eat small portions multiple times a day. Kinda like the 6 small meals plan. But, I would get comments that all I did was pick. They said I was like a bird, picking at my food.

In regards to driving, I think it was somewhere around day 7 or 8. It was awkward. I felt super protective of my abdomen so I think that played a role. I started driving normally around 2 weeks. I worked an hour away and I went back to work after 2 weeks.

[Jencovi 261]

I love this thread. This is exactly what I need while getting ready for my nutrition eval tomorrow morning and having a minor panic attack.

I was banded in 2009 by what I call the "chop shop" and wasn't required to do anything per-op in terms of seeing a counselor, talking to a nutritionist...

Shock! My band failed. I actually started off well. Went from 252 to 180 in a year. I did it right. Followed my diet. Had my fills. Became a gym rat! But two years in I started vomiting uncontrollably after eating. I had all Fluid removed and after that didn't help I had a bunch of tests done. No slip was found. No erosion. Nothing. I kept getting told I must be eating poorly. But I really wasn't. I gained almost 40 pounds before finding a new doc. He removed my band in March. He tried to get me to convert to a sleeve but I was so discouraged by my last MDs office that I didn't trust the new office so I said no. Now I am considering the sleeve. I have a 15 month old daughter and type 1 diabetes. My weight sits around 225 regardless of activity level. I feel sick and tired all the time and I know if I don't get a handle on my weight and blood sugars I will die.

I think the band failing is what is freaking me out. I figure I could find a way to fail this as well. But I am a healthy eater and went from hating gyms to managing one (had to leave that job when I was pregnant and miss it so much). So I feel like I should be successful in this journey.

Anyway, guess that wasn't really a question. Just a "thank you" because hearing your story and seeing your replies gives me hope that this will be the most amazing change I can make!

[MauiGirl5555 38]

Thank you so much for your help and answers. I appreciate it.

[snsgreeneyedgirl 65]

I love this thread. This is exactly what I need while getting ready for my nutrition eval tomorrow morning and having a minor panic attack.

I was banded in 2009 by what I call the "chop shop" and wasn't required to do anything per-op in terms of seeing a counselor, talking to a nutritionist...

Shock! My band failed. I actually started off well. Went from 252 to 180 in a year. I did it right. Followed my diet. Had my fills. Became a gym rat! But two years in I started vomiting uncontrollably after eating. I had all Fluid removed and after that didn't help I had a bunch of tests done. No slip was found. No erosion. Nothing. I kept getting told I must be eating poorly. But I really wasn't. I gained almost 40 pounds before finding a new doc. He removed my band in March. He tried to get me to convert to a sleeve but I was so discouraged by my last MDs office that I didn't trust the new office so I said no. Now I am considering the sleeve. I have a 15 month old daughter and type 1 diabetes. My weight sits around 225 regardless of activity level. I feel sick and tired all the time and I know if I don't get a handle on my weight and blood sugars I will die.

I think the band failing is what is freaking me out. I figure I could find a way to fail this as well. But I am a healthy eater and went from hating gyms to managing one (had to leave that job when I was pregnant and miss it so much). So I feel like I should be successful in this journey.

Anyway, guess that wasn't really a question. Just a "thank you" because hearing your story and seeing your replies gives me hope that this will be the most amazing change I can make!

That's quite a journey you have gone through already. I personally have heard and seen hundreds of failed band stories. I know that for some it was a great choice, but from my perspective I have just seen so many people have the band fail them, or fail their band.

Either way, having to start back over can be daunting and scary and I can only imagine the oh man not again apprehension. I think you are making an awesome choice getting the sleeve. I have pcos and had insulin resistance as a result. To the degree that I had what is called acanthosis nigricans. This is basically a browning and thickening of the skin most people develop it in the armpits and the neck but mine was on my sides. anyways I'm telling you this because just a few weeks after my surgery, it was gone! Something diet and exercise could never seem to do. That was the first thing I actually felt great about, this looming ever present sign of being unhealthy on my sides, gone and cleared up!

While 225 pounds is not 350 or 400 pounds it definitely is something that will cause many health problems down the road. I personally love people that are getting the surgery for health reasons, it's great to look great and feel great about how you look but what I know this surgery has given me is literally more years of life with my family and friends. And that is priceless. No amount of temporary pain, or struggling with insurance companies, fear and apprehension or anything that anyone faces as a roadblock to this surgery should ever stop them from following through with it. This is life changing and transformative and worth it.

Congrats on making that choice. Keep me posted.

[hrhlaurie 185]

Someone told my husband that I'll need to replace food with another type of crutch, like alcohol. I already had shopping for new, smaller clothes picked out as my food replacement but I wondered if you had heard of increased alcohol consumptions. Also, he thinks I wont be able to go out to dinner or really socialize. Im sure that will improve over time but I think he worries that I'll be some kind of anti-social freak.

[soflatechie 16]

hrlaurie:

I had an acquintance who did replace food with alcohol after surgery, but he was a heavy drinker before surgery, failed his psych clearance and went to South America to get the surgery anyway. Not a wise choice.

I don't think if you are not a heavy drinker you would use alcohol later as a crutch but everyone if different. This surgery is as much about our minds as it is about the physical aspects. Already on my pre op diet I have had to deal with the desire to run to food to relieve stress, and not being able to.

We will all have to find other outlets for comfort that we have previously used food for. Hopefully, we can find healthy ones - exercise, community work, hobbies, etc.

For me, food was always the main event. When the wife and I decide to go on a date night, it always started with or ended up in a restaurant, with huge portion of bad stuff. That is going to change, and it won't be easy.

But we will do it!

[Jencovi 261]

Someone told my husband that I'll need to replace food with another type of crutch, like alcohol. I already had shopping for new, smaller clothes picked out as my food replacement but I wondered if you had heard of increased alcohol consumptions. Also, he thinks I wont be able to go out to dinner or really socialize. Im sure that will improve over time but I think he worries that I'll be some kind of anti-social freak.

This is something you should be on alert for. I had lapband in 2009 (getting sleeved on 2/13) and my crutch switched to shopping! My husband and I were engaged at the time and he got deployed before my surgery. Then deployment was extended and we had to change our wedding date which had been pretty set in stone (had already sent out save the dates, lol). My stress activity became shopping. I spent...ready for it?...Ten thousand dollars in the nine months he was deployed on things I didn't need. Shoes, purses...whatever I saw in that stressful moment. So the crutch won't necessarily be booze. It can be anything. I did end up in counseling and then began turning to exercise when stressed. My next stress-related purchase was an elliptical. It changed my spending habits and I really did use it. (It's in storage for now as my husband is now out of the military and we had to move in with my parents for a few months) but it will be back in my life as soon as we find a new place.

As for socializing, coming from a band background, I just ate smaller portions when out with friends and had leftovers to feed me a few more meals. So order something you REALLY like. Lol.

I wish you the best of luck!