Wife of Soon To Be GB Patient, NEEDS YOUR ADVICE!

Hello all, first I applaud all of you for your courage.  You are all SUCh an inspiration to my husband and I. I thank God for this surgery. My story is a bit different. My husband is the patient. He is scheduled to have the surgery on March 16th, 2009. Dr. Denham is wonderful. We are so excited!!! When I met my husband he was almost 500 pounds. We met back in December of 2007.  We fell in love immediately! Though he seemed to be very active for someone his size, I knew deep down he had to have some health issues. After a few months of dating I learned that he had many health issues including heart disease. When he ended up in the hospital and a cardiologist telling him he had a 50/50 chance of surviving another 2 years....that was a wake up call. My heart broke. I leaned my head against his big belly and cried so hard. I knew at that moment that I was deeply in love with him and no matter what I would be by his side. But I knew in my heart something had to be done, and fast! This was April of 2008. We met with Dr. Denham in July of 2008, and began the journey towards the GB goal. We were married in Oct. 2008 and it has been quite a journey. He has been hopsitalized twice within one year. It has been a scary, emotional rollercoaster and hard work to get to this point, but we are finally here. I am seeking support from all of you. What can I do, as a wife and partner, to help him on this hard journey ahead. Please post your advice. I love him so much and have handled most of the coordination of his care. I encouarged him to have this surgery, though I will greatly miss the big teddy bear I married...but I know he will be the same sweet and wonderful man inside. He is so jolly and positive and doesn't complain about  having to do the liquid diet for a MONTH prior to surgery. We have 3 weeks to go! Any advice for him and me? Thanks in advance!

PS: I am taking a weight loss journey with him. I need to lose 40-50 pounds, so I am changing my eating habits to support him and help us both. He inspires me.

Well, as a former almost 500lbs guy I welcome you and him to the forums.

The surgery was actually a lot easier then I thought.

I have lost a ton of weight so far. I got my surgery on Dec. 10 of last year.

I have a Doctor's appointment tomorrow for a follow up appt. I am excited to see how much I lost so far.

Some things didn't realize how little I would be eating. People are different, but I can only eat about 1/2 cup of food at a sitting, and I have to eat it really slow.

So I would suggest going out and getting a bunch of little (like 1 cup) storage containers. That way you can make a pot of chili and store individual servings.

He is going to have to take protein shakes after the surgery in order to get his protein in.
Find a good tasting Protein. I bought the Chike sample pack for like $6? I think? It is in the pop ups on the side of the boards once in a while. Or Google search it. It is a little more costly then the Walmart or GNC brands, but it is waaaaay better.

I found out I love the Chike Orange and the Banana flavored shakes. SO I bought a bigger container of them.

I didn't have to do a liquid diet before surgery.  I didn't have to do any diet. I went out to the Golden Corral 2 days before surgery.

I am happy for him.

Get him on here to chat with us. There are a couple guys on here about his size.

Dave, thank you so much for your support! Cory is right here by my side (I type waaaay faster so I am his personal secretary...not to mention his healthcare coordinator, cook, foot massage therapist, counselor and ...heyyyy....I want a RAISE. LOL) and he says thank you for responding and giving such great info. He says he looks forward to keeping you all updated on his successes as he stays tuned in to yours. I have a question...how do we do Roll call?? LOL. Also, he loved the tag about you being in the 3's. Let me get this straight, you lost 100 pounds in 2 months??? WOOOOW! You did mean Dec 2008 right???

Hi and welcome the the best OH board, you will fine everyone here is very helpful,
I had my surgery Oct, 30, 07 and have lost 197 lbs as of today, I had my TT Jan 9,09 ,
Dave is right he will be need protein drinks some places you can get is
www.Bodybuilding.com and  www.bariatriceatting.com  and www.bariatriceadvantage.com and www.vitalady.com   .I also get one at Woodman's APC Whey protein Chocolate,
He will also need to take Vitamin's every day which he can get at that Bariatric  advantage with free shipping if you do the auto fill,
I ate RF beans, egg beater's, SF jello, pudding, baked Sweet Taters are also good, the fresh ones' not Canned, cottage cheese,
But now almost 1 1/2 years out I can eat most everything, just small amounts,
I want to wish you and your Hubby all the best in your new life style it sure is a fun ride, for me it has been the new clothes .and seeing my body change ,
It is good that you will be losing weight with him I am so lucky that my hubby did the same thing and I do think it makes it so much more helpful when everyone is eating about the same thing, that way I don't feel like I am on a diet it is a new life style for both us,
Take care and please stop by everyday for our daily roll call would love to hear from you ,
Hugs to you and hubby
Janet

 Hi

Your hubby is lucky to have such a great cheerleader and supporting wife.  Being there for him is the greatest support you can give him.  Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions the first few months of surgery.  I dont know if it is as bad in men as in women but it was quite a ride!  

I invested in an ice cream freezer -- mine is a cuisinart and I love protein ice cream.  It is basically a protein shake that is processed as ice cream.  You can find a variety of recipes at    www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com     She has protein ice cream plus many, many more weight loss friendly recipes.  She is a member of OH and has had the surgery as well.  

We really have to work at getting protein in so anything tasty that you can prepare that is high in protein is great.  Also encouraging exercise such as walking and building up to working out is highly important.  It is VERY important to walk a lot immediately following surgery to prevent blood clots in the lungs.  

There are some excellent books out there.  I really liked  "Weight Loss Surgery:  A Lighter Look at a Heavier Subject:  I bought it at Amazon.  It is written by a Weight Loss Surgeon and answered lots of questions.  Also Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies is good.  

We have meet and greets for Illinois people so plan on joining the daily roll call with your hubby and come to our meet and greets and share your successes, problems and frustrations.  

Yes, I lost 100lbs in 10 weeks and 2 days.  (From December 10, 2008)

We are having a get together on March 7th in Elgin. There will be about 7-8 of us from on here there.

I will post some stuff about it as time goes on.

Wow, that's great Dave, you are really an insipration for Cory.

We would love to come to the meet and greet. That's actually a little over a week before his surgery. That's awesome because he woulkd get to meet everyone before his surgery...then maybe there will be another one afterwards.

Ww will keep an eye out for the details.

Hello

My name is Crystal.  I'm waiting for insurance approval.  I don't have any advice as I'm like you just waiting to have surgery.  I just wanted to welcome you to the board and I hope you will join us on our daily roll call.  Everyone is really nice and are great cheerleaders.  Welcome

Thank you! We are glad to be here! I will try to make the roll call every day.