Wish I knew "what" before surgery....

Hello Fellow Junners, I wanted to share this with my Juners as well as the NY board....wanted to start a thread that would get us all thinking of things we wish we knew about BEFORE having WLS. I know there are many things that I "knew" about but it really never sank in until AFTER the WLS. One of my major things was/is: Dealing with the food demonds...I knew it was going to be an issue after surgery but right after surgery it seemed like it was going to be ok with some work but NOW 10 months out those bad eating habbits want to peek back in and take over. I am starting with a phyc next week so this will NOT take over again. BUT wow I wish I would have taken this a little more seriously then I did even right before surgery. Ok that is one of my things I wish I would have "known" more about BEFORE WLS.....come and list if you have anything you would like to add... Debra P

Well for me this has been harder then dieting. Only able to eat such a small amount and still not lose because now my body is in starvation mode. This has definitely not been easy by any means. Monica

Monica, Yes it is a struggle to balance getting enough calories with not eating to many carbs and fat. THIS IS HARD WORK!!! We will figure this out before long hun...hang in there! we learn every day and I think that will be how it is forever..... Debra P

the weird thing is, i never gave a single thought to the psychological part of this BEFORE surgery. but it seems like ever since very early post-op, the idea of not wanting to stop losing or ending up with an eating disorder of some sort, has haunted me. it is not that i think i have an eating disorder. i DO eat and i don't binge. but i have reached my goal weight (119lbs for 3 days now!) and i am afraid that i won't want to stop. for the last 10 months, i have obsessed so much about seeing the scale drop, it just feels like it should just keep dropping. BUT i know that i have to be healthy. since i lost my job (and medical insurance) yesterday, i may depend on this board a little more for support! i can't afford to go to therapy out of pocket. i guess i wish i prepared myself a little more for these feelings. i don't ever remember reading or hearing about people feeling this way. hugs~mary jo

MaryJo, Yes that is a BIG part of it....I really did not think about that and just thought I would be so happy to lose and not really worry about anything else...BOY was I wrong. I worry about everything now. Yeah you can get that good feeling from losing and I can see not wanting it to stop! Face it....it IS an eating disorder!!! We ALL have them or else we would NOT be here. I can not do this alone and need help so that is why the phyc will help I am sure... Please I understand about the money right now for you so ask away, all these great people will be willing to help! Take care Debra P

Congrats Mary Jo!!! Wow- Still so far to go until goal for me... And Debra- I am so proud of you for nipping this thing before it takes control of you! your psyc visit will help you a lot! I was thinking back to before the surgery and I remember thinking that It would be a lot easier than this because of the dumping, etc. I heard so much about how you couldn't eat sugar, or even drink milk, etc. and that has not been true at all for me. I can eat nearly everything. (except ice cream thank goodness) It is just as big of a struggle as it was before (if not harder) to continue to lose weight. And, now that I have gotten used to losing weight over the last 10 months or so- It is very hard when these plateus come. Each pound counts now! There is no truer statement than when someone says this surgery is "just a tool!!!" Because now the strength must come from within. Second, I thought that after dropping from 400 pounds to 235- I would be looked upon so differently by everyone. That is only partially true. Yes, Things are much better, but I still have those rotten people who will crack "fat jokes" about me, etc. That stinks! I guess I thought that part of it would go away, but some people will always be rotten no matter how good you look. I suppose I could loose 100 more pounds and there would still be someone out there calling me names. That's just the way it goes... but it's so discouraging at this time when we are trying so hard!!! Anyway- hang in there everybody! We are all doing so well- I am proud of us all. Stacy

Stacy, Thanks for your kind words hun ~hugs~ You are so sweet! yeah we can have "those" foods again but only very small amounts, well if I had control then I would not have needed the surgery so I need to deal with the problem! I know it will be hard work but I HAVE to do it! I did not go through all of this to let this stop me now... Yeah many people no matter how "thin" you are or how pretty you are, are going to poke fun because they are just that way! So be it....you know you look good and feel good so screw them. Some people will have to always put others down to make them selves feel good, poor people! WOW 165 lbs loss is AWESOME! You should feel and be so proud of yourself!!! Take care Debra P

That I would not dump. I thought I would atleast a little, which I counted on to help me make good choices. I am still happy I had it, but honestly, I wish I dumped.

me too, girl! me too! although i think i did dump the other night. i took the kids out for ice cream. i got a kid's cone, black raspberry custard. honestly, it wasn't as good as i remembered it being, but i still ate almost all of it. then like an hour later, i felt nauseous while i was putting the laundry away. i was sitting on the bedroom floor with my face in a plastic bag. as soon as i lifted my head, i was light-headed and felt hot. this happened to me only once before when i was about 3 months post-op and ate pineapple. i had like a low-blood sugar reaction. my doc told me that was probably me dumping. but it has only happened those 2 times. weird... sure didn't happen a couple weeks ago when i ate 1/2 hot fudge sundae! dammit!

Girl..after I put that post last night, I had like 3 bites of ice cream last night and got sick. But my extent is like mild nausea. I told babygirl don't ever let me eat ice cream again. She was like yea mom, like that will happen. And ya know what, today, I don't think that episode was half bad. Only lasted like 5 minutes. So she's probably right. Yea, the first time I ate pineapple I got sick too, about 2 months after surgery. I don't get sick now though. I can eat almost anything. I just can't eat high fatty foods (which I never ate much of anyway). I suppose if I did violently dump, then I might wish I didn't, but it sure would dissuade me. Take care girl!