Thank You All !!

Hello Everyone: Thank you all for the many responses I received from my cry for help. All the things that you suggested were very helpful. I plan to attend support group meeting on Saturday and will introduce myself. This web-site is a God-send and it is comforting to me that I am not alone. I didn't want to scare anyone who may not have had surgery yet. I suffered with depression long before surgery and that was of concern going in. I am also receiving help in therapy. Thanks for the suggestion of rolled lunchmeat and cheese. I can definitely do that!! Sandy - I am the Ruth Kelly who coordinated bingo at Kentmere..I left DuPont in June and now work for Christina School District. I miss you and all the residents!! I hope someone is keeping this activity going. Ruth

Ruth, baby!! Tis you! Wow! Abt. the Bingo, Mark H. is keeping it going. It has always been such an added feature of fun for our residents. And you were great, Ruth! All those years of dedication! So here we are...you and me in a similar boat ...hooduh thunk it! Geez, if I had known back when we talked on the phone, I would've asked questions. (Only thing is, you still were months away from your surgery, too.) At any rate, my bingo bud, let's keep in touch. I'll be going in to get my "axe" for the next leg of the journey on Monday (wow!) Take care, dearest! Sandi

Ruth, I agree ... this board is truly a Godsend. You will find, many, many wonderful people hanging out around here. So glad to hear you are going to the meeting on Saturday. Wish I was going to be able to make it to meet you in person, but I have a prior commitment. Be sure to go up and say hello and introduce yourself to the group of people who are ohhhhing and aaawwweeeing each other. You will recognize some of the pics. I think you will agree with me, that you have found a safe place, full of wonderful people who care about you and will do their best to encourage, support and when necessary, sometimes even throw that hard to swallow truth out there with a swift kick in the butt when we need it!!! *ouch* No need to worry about "scaring" the pre-ops ... truly we all need to know all possible sides of the post-op life to better help us prepare and succeed in our journey. Knowledge is power ... IMHO!!! About the lunch-meat roll-up ... when I got a little further out, I found that I LOVE adding fresh spinach, or bean sprouts in the middle of mine before rolling also. Every little bit helps! Plus I feel it helped the way my tummy accepted it. I do better when I mix my foods rather than just eat one kind of food, so this really works well for me. I was also told to try spreading a thin layer of ff cream cheese on the meat before rolling. I don't really care for this, but I know many that love it. Another thing you may want to try. Get some prepared chicken (those cooked chickens in the grocery work real well, or something like the Perdue boneless cooked chicken pieces, or even pressure cook your own chicken and remove the meat from the bones) or tuna. Chop up finely, add a bit of salad dressing (not mayo type, but ranch, Italian, ginger, bacon, whatever suits your desire). Mix well. I know this sounds so simple, but I never thought of it ... someone shared this idea with me. You can even puree your meat with the dressing if you are still finding that meat does not sit real well with you, sometimes that helps. I found that mayo does not sit well with me, so this was a great way to help me keep my meat moist to better help it to sit well. I have also found that when it comes to chicken, I do far better with pressure cooked chicken or the roasted chickens at the grocery than any other kind. Guess it has something to do with how the cooking process breaks down the meat? Another thing that helps is adding ff broth or gravy to it when you puree or chop. Very early on, I also bought the cans of chicken or used my other chicken and added a can of cream of chicken soup to it and cooked that. That helped to get in a "hot" protein meal. Sometimes I put this over just a bit of mashed potatoes, but don't do this anymore. But it did really help me when I was early out and having some problems with chicken. Just now started to be able to do Tuna ... most everyone else loved tuna early out. If you can do it, it is a GREAT power packed protein. Remember that we as RNY patients also are looking at least some malabsorbtion with our intake ... so we really don't know how much of the protein we are eating is being absorbed (it takes a while for out bodies to leach the nutrients out of food - and since the food passes through so quickly - less intestine to leach the nutrients??? Who knows for sure? But it is my understanding that malabsorbition is different for each of us personally, and we also have to consider whether we have been bypassed proximal or distal.) Anyway, since we NEED protein for our bodies to heal, lose weight, for general good health and to keep our muscle mass including our heart, I felt that I had to do my best to find a way to make sure that I was going to get as much of my recommended amount in as possible. It is for this reason that I really pushed Whey protein shakes early on also. From what I could tell, they are the most bio-available form of protein for us. Our bodies assimilate the needed nutrients much faster from this form of nutrition than any other form. Thus enabling us to gain the most benefit from it. PLUS, it counts as part of out fluid count as well as protein. Thus doing double duty!!! This was REAL important to me especially in those early months when it seemed my tummy could not hold much of anything. BUT something that I found right away after my surgery ... sometimes, you just have to do what you can do. Don't beat yourself up ... just do your best to get your protein, vitamins and fluids in and walk, walk walk. The better you can do this the easier your recovery is going to be and the sooner you are feeling up to par and the less chance of complications. (Personal opinion only -what works for me- ... no MD after my name ) Guess I will quit rambling on ... glad to have you here and posting. Hang in there and keep trying ... it does get much better real soon and you will find stuff that works for you to help get you through this rough spot. If there is anything I can do, please do not hesitate to let me know. I can be pretty dense at times so please just be straight forward with me. Hugs, Tammy

Ruth Glad to hear you are on the right track. Keep up the good work. Dianne

Hi Ruth! I am so glad you found the board! It is wonderful, isn't it? You sound like you are beginning to "work" this new tool. It is a process and you should tell yourself every morning that you are going to be gentle with yourself and take it one day at a time. I am available by phone as always. It really does get better with time! Take care, Terre G