Working through the surgical approval process...

saralynn9230

Oh what a road it has been. A little history. I have in the past been quite against surgery mostly because it scares me. But 2 years ago I started working towards losing weight. I wa actually pretty successfull on my on for the first year. The second year was a total plateau. It got very frustrating because despite doing everything right and increasing my activity level i wasnt making any more progress. I have no idea why this happened but I finally decided to start the process to get gastric sleeve surgery this last fall. Coincidently about the same time I started this process i was diagnosed with 2 herniated lumbar discs that are pinching my sciatic nerve in my right leg causing constant pain. Then came the downhill spiral of emotional eating and sedentary lifestyle and I just found out today I have gained back 60 of the 85 pounds I lost 2 years ago.

I feel like I am ready to just get this surgery and get on with my life but at this time my surgical team doesnt want to risk it with my back injury. Their worry is regarding clots if I can't get up and exercise after surgery. Thanks to my back exercise has been VERY limited if not nonexistent. So right now I am struggling with the inability to exercise due to my back and unable to fix my back by losing weight without exercise. Good grief!

Anyway part of my meetings with my surgical team today resulted on me trying to get back to eating mindfully and log what I am eating. So I came back to MFP again. I am currently friendless so if you want to be my friend feel free to add me. I could use all the support and advice I can get as I am getting ready for this surgery.

Pre op ?s- How did you decide it was right to do? What sort of things did you do to get ready for it? My surgical team keeps telling me I need to start practicing things like tiny bites, chewing 20 times, and no drinking liquids before or after eating for a time. Did you build these habits before surgery or just wait and learn the hard way?

Post op ?s- How painful was it? How long was the recovery? I'm a bus driver and thanks to my back Im running on minimal PTO these days so I will need to get back to work asap. How do you fight mental hunger? How do you cope with stresses or have social times with friends? These are big eating triggers for me. I'm thinking going out to eat with friends when I can't eat will be very difficult for me.

JamesAztec

Hi Sara. Welcome. I sent friend request. Im a bus driver too! I was back to work 13 days after surgery. The better habits you develop before surgery the easier it will be.

chubby_checkers

I have the sleeve. As for your questions:
How did you decide it was right to do?: It took a long time for me to come to the conclusion that this was a tool that I needed. I spent years trying to lose weight on my own, and I was not successful.

What sort of things did you do to get ready for it?: Small bites, no drinking while eating (this was really hard for me and still something I struggle with mentally), no drinking after eating for 60 mins, lean protein, veggies.

Did you build these habits before surgery or just wait and learn the hard way?: A little bit of both. The no drinking rule is the one I struggle with the most. I've always included lean meat and veggies in my diet, I've always drank a lot of water, minimal sugary drinks, exercised several days a week. Those habits were not hard because I was already doing them. My big issue was quantities of food and emotional eating.

How painful was it?: I would say the first week was fairly painful. I stopped taking the pain meds about 5 days after surgery.

How long was the recovery?: I went back to work 4 days after my surgery. It was probably a little soon, but I have a desk job, so It wasn't too bad for me. I would say it took about 2 months before I felt 100%, but I felt better every day.

How do you fight mental hunger?: This one isn't easy. I try to keep busy doing other things and make sure to get out of the house if I find I'm really struggling. If I really need to eat something, I limit to one serving.

How do you cope with stresses or have social times with friends? My husband also had the sleeve, so I have a partner-in-crime. I think that makes it easier. It's still difficult, but we've been very open with our close friends about our limitations. We don't expect them to remember, so we've learned to just adapt. We'll generally share a meal, but have gotten over the weirdness of leaving 1/2 to 3/4 of our meal and boxing it up to take home if we order something individually.

On another note, I'm sidelined from exercise due to a ruptured disc and a slipped disc that is compressing the sciatic nerve in my right leg as well. It happened after my surgery, but it doesn't make it any better. Calorie intake is going to be key, and in my opinion, that's the really hard part.

StevenGarrigus

Hi Sara and welcome! I'm a corrections officer (prison guard) and my surgeon released me back to work after 3 weeks. My particular job has a list of essential functions such as lifting a certain amount, running, etc.

I would definitely suggest working on better habits pre-op as @Aztec4Life suggests. I followed all of my surgeon's recommendations to a T. I started on protein drinks, chewing extra long, not drinking for 30 minutes before & after meals, etc. I also didn't drink through a straw a month pre-op and for three months post-op as it can cause gas pains in your stomach (excess air).

As for post-op, I personally didn't find I was in much discomfort. It felt most to me like I pulled some muscles in my chest. I didn't have issues with mental hunger for the first few months really. Mostly, I just couldn't wait to eat something...ANYTHING solid! Eating something high protein (such as a protein shake or protein bar) really curbs the hunger.

Avoid eating sugary foods and carbs to keep hunger down. Avoid fried foods as well and go for baked or broiled. I was told pre-op to avoid caffeine and I still haven't drank any caffeine at 6 months post-op. I avoided eating out for several months, but do so occasionally now. My wife and I like the chicken breast with garlic mashed potatoes and fire grilled veggies at Applebee's. We each eat about half of it and take the rest home. About one cup of food is all either of us can eat.

If you think going out with friends and not being able to eat will be difficult, avoid it for a few months until your stomach is healed enough that you can tolerate those foods.

jcavanna2

Hi and welcome! I am 10 mos post op with gastric bypass. For head hunger I try to occupy myself but sometimes I am not successful. For your back, maybe you can work with a certified personal trainer who would know how to ease you back into the right exercise? Maybe even a physical therapist? Maybe start having a protein shake for one of your meals and increase your water intake...that may/should help get the weight loss started.

saralynn9230

Thank you all so much for your advice! I really appreciate. I have been working on this surgery process since October. I get my hopes up every month that I will get approved and then it doesn't happen which is defeating. I believe this is the tool I need to reach the goals I have for myself. This stupid back injury has kind of ruined everything. I can't blame it all on the injury. I should have been better about my calorie intake since I can't exercise so much now days. I have admittedly had a lot of that "last supper" syndrome pretty much since I committed to this process which is terrible and likely the main reason I have regained most of my weight. I know what I need to do but I am having a terrible time with follow thru. I need to get it together again. So I started my fitness pal again. I havent been logging because I haven't behaving so well yet. Hard to come up with a good plan mid week. I have a good meal plan for the upcoming week and have plans to go attempt at least upper body workouts for this week. So I am going to work on getting back to my good habits and hopefully it works well.

jcavanna2

I get the last supper syndrome all too well! For what it's worth, keep reminding yourself that post op you WILL have these things again but for now you need to try to stick with the pre-op diet pretty strictly. I eat pizza, burgers etc...just not nearly as much as I used to. Took a little while to try hem again but there are some awesome bariatric friendly recipes that are good pre and post op.

I love the Bariatric Eating vanilla custard and manicotti. The World According To Eggface has an awesome ricotta bake, and Bariatric Foodie has a taco casserole which is awesome! I highly recommend checking these blogs/websites out for some good recipes.