December 2019 Sleeves

[mary77450 22]

Dec 18th and starting to getting cold feet already. Forever is forever. This has come on very suddenly for me as I have a hip injury that requires surgery to fix. I saw an orthopedic Dr. who told me insurance companies won't approve elective surgeries on people who are as overweight as I am (5'10 303) because they don't want to be responsible for post-op complications people who are as overweight as I am are prone to have after surgery (infection etc).

I have been ridiculously healthy my entire life, but am seriously overweight and started taking high BP medication about a year or two ago. I just turned 49, have arthritis in my right knee and in the past two years have been experiencing pain in my right hip and high thigh area. Walking makes it worse, and so I am limping around doing as little as possible these days. So I went to see a Bariatric specialist who was able to get me approved for surgery in less than a week. Today is day 3 of Protein Shake diet. It's not bad, I am not hungry, it's just a lot more rich and sweet tasting that I would normally eat. It is really boring and has taken all the fun out of eating. My relationship with food has always involved eating because I like to, it tastes good and eating all the wrong things (bread/pasta carbs fried foods, fast food, junk food, nearly exclusively red meat and some seafood.) I think the scariest thing for me is risking my hair falling out or some kind of internal injury to another organ, leakage/sepsis and my normal fear of needles, doctors sharp object surgery etc.

I am now starting to question if I am doing the right thing, or for the right reason but know in the long run I will be much healthier if I lose a lot of weight. Mostly I am tired of being in pain every time a take a step, but I question why an insurance co would not approve me for hip surgery why they would approve me for a bariatric surgery so quickly.

I also am concerned as my health insurance is changing companies Jan 1st and wonder if the new company could refuse to cover me if there should be an issue citing a pre-existing condition?

[CapyCapybara 107]

I’m scheduled for the 18th too so is Chubrub ...

For more savory options I have been enjoying the Swanson sipping Bone Broth - 45cals 9g P . I also make Protein Jello and popsicles so I have something to crunch on . Just trying to mix things up from just strictly Protein Shakes .

hair is my fear too ... I’ve been adding collagen to my diet and doing deep conditioning hair treatments to hopefully come into this surgery with the best hair I could have 🤷‍♀️ I don’t have high hopes it will work but hair grows back

[mary77450 22]

I have long very healthy pretty hair and would be really upset if it started falling out, I'd have to cut it and I have had really long hair since I was a kid. Long story. My mom whacked it all of when I was seven and I never got over it. I hope I have the guts to do this.

[mary77450 22]

I like the popsicle idea ty Capycapybara. Have to get on that for the illusion of solid food, I do miss food I can chew already

[Jenny867 22]

Check with your doctor about Biotin supplements. There is a sublingual sold by Vitamin cottage which tastes decent. Hair loss is usually inevitable due to the trauma that surgery is for our bodies. If I remember correctly, it starts about 2-3 months after surgery and then starts growing back 5-6 months after that. Just hang in there. 🙂

[mary77450 22]

ty Jenny. I had my gall bladder out in Feb and that didn't cause me to lose hair. I was more worried about my diet being deficient in some way. I was back at work in 8 days afterwards and healed up fine after that, but was not limited in what I could eat. I was sore that first week, and terrified to eat my normal greasy bad food diet due to all the horror stories people told me about how my body would be different when I was missing my GB and such. After about a week of eating Soup, applesauce, oatmeal and yogurt and taking it easy on my system I wanted some real food and went and got a nice greasy burger and fries and ate it just to see what I could handle (or not). Turns out having my GB removed cured my lifetime Constipation problem and made me normal. I was still able to eat anything I wanted without it "running right through me" like I was warned about.

[RobertaMSN 60]

My successful gastric sleeve surgery was Dec. 2nd and I'm doing great! No complications, little pain - haven't seen the need to take any of the pain med - and no nausea except one dry heave episode the first night, probably from the anesthesia. Right now it basically feels like I did a really hard ab workout yesterday. My surgeon has his patients continue on a high Protein liquid diet for one month post-op, the same as two weeks prior. Forever Breakfast will be a green smoothie with only two small chunks of frozen fruit, mainly spinach, Protein Powder, Water, and some kefir. I started taking Barimelt Vitamins prior to surgery and really like them. I'm losing a pound a day, though will only weight myself at home one day a week. Of course the weight loss will slow down but it's amazing right now. I have no hunger at all so have to keep careful track of when I've eaten and how much, but food journaling is an important habit to get into and keep and it's helping - once I waited too long and got a headache, probably from hypoglycemia which resolved immediately after eating. Everyone is different but so far my experience is an extremely positive one. Good luck!

Edited December 8, 2019 by RobertaMSN

[mary77450 22]

Thank you for sharing Roberta. I am glad this is going well for you! I am a MAJOR chicken, and pain is also something I am worried about. I am doing the shake diet fine, they keep me full and I am not hungry. My diet before these shakes had to be Protein deficient and very carb heavy

[Classc1 1]

Hi,

I was sleeved 12/4! No major issues except gas and nausea the first few days post op. Nausea is completely gone. Gas pains infrequently. My major issue had been trying to get down the Protein Shake. It was taking all day to get through 3/4 of one. Finally figured out that I had to cut it with milk. Now I can drink it in an hour or two. Plus I added Fairlife milk for 13g of extra Protein.< br />

Other than that, felt like I was starving or malnourished because of eating so little on the full liquid diet. Thank God my program switches to purées/soft food Day 7 post op! Wednesday can’t come fast enough!

Good luck all!

[Supervixen116 29]

Hi everyone,

Just got scheduled yesterday for December 31 surgery! I'm excited!

[Kiera123 0]

Hi all! I’m new! My husband and myself were sleeved on 2nd dec. So far we are doing really well. Actually we are quite shocked after some things we had read. We have just started puree diet for 2 weeks.
good luck to those still yet to have the surgery!

[Classc1 1]

3 hours ago, Kiera123 said:

Hi all! I’m new! My husband and myself were sleeved on 2nd dec. So far we are doing really well. Actually we are quite shocked after some things we had read. We have just started puree diet for 2 weeks.
good luck to those still yet to have the surgery!

I know what you mean. I’m doing quite well too. Good luck everyone.

[JB1 37]

On 11/20/2019 at 4:48 PM, jlb8080 said:

@JB1 That's some serious motivation getting surgery on 12/23!! That's how I feel with mine on 12/12 and starting my diet on Thanksgiving day... A new start needs to happen any time, any day. I'm ready!

[JB1 37]

Anyone else having surgery 12/23? Looking for a twin to share with. Maybe all the doc's but mine took off for the holiday :))

[CapyCapybara 107]

5:15am tomorrow... what time are all the other 12/18 sleevers that are around here? Anyone else nervous AF? Haha idk why this surgery is getting me so rattled vs previous

Hopefully I won’t wake up from anesthesia telling everyone to take Jell-O shots like I did from the scope hahaha 🤦🏼‍♀️ (never even had one before haha)