Newcomer

Hello, I'm new to the site, but I have logged on several times and read some of the posted messages. I feel really happy to see such a great support system for all of us newbies! ;-) I have a surgery date scheduled for May which Im pretty excited about and nervous at the same time. I think Im more nervous about what to expect right afterwards. I have a lot of questions so if anyone is willing to answer them I would greatly appreciate it :-l

Chante welcome to the Mo. Board and if anyone here can answer your questions fire away. We will try to get an answer. I was more nervous about how to handle the food issues than i was about the surgery itself too. Who is your surgeon. All of them handle a lot of things different. So that will help in answering your questions. We love having newbies. and hope you feel safe enough here to ask what ever we have a really great group of people here. Im sure you will fit right in. Jan

Hi Jan, Thank you so much for the welcome. My surgeon is Dr. Roger De La Torre. I feel pretty good about the surgery, but Im not sure of what to expect right afterwards. I know that there will be some significant amount of pain involved but I imagine it can't be as bad as having a c-section. So my questions is.....will the pain be really that bad? I would like to think I have a high tolerance for pain but after talking to a few people it seems as if the pain is pretty bad. Also, does your hunger for food go away or is that something that is a mental challenge? I've heard different views from others who have had WLS. My biggest fear is going through all of this and gaining the weight back. I have heard it said that the weight loss in the beginning is 90% surgery 10% you then eventually it goes to 10% surgery and 90% you. My other concern is not getting enough protein in. Is 60 grams per day the maximum or the minimum amount you should get in per day? My third concern is hair loss. I've heard that some people have a significant amount of hair loss due to not enough protein. Is that true? Then there is the dreaded constipation. Are you allowed to take some type of fiber in order to combat that? Thank you so much I appreciate you taking the time to listen or should I say read ;-)

All i can really tell you is my own experience but i myself had such little amount of pain that i took no pain meds after they removed the pain pump from me. It wasnt needed. I started using protein shakes about 2 months before my surgery to boost my protein levels and healed very fast. No defininet proof that the increase protein helped but i dont think it hurt. I have had some hair loss but nothing like others have had. My surgeon wants us to get in 90g of protein a day. And that is what i get in most days now but it didnt happen right away. It waas a struggle to get in 30 a day when i was a new operative patient. Yes the hunger for food does go away and you have to remind yourself that you need to eat. But eventually it does come back , but it doesnt take much to fill you up. So you do need to learn to rethink all of your eating habits. If you havent given them up yet you need to get rid of caffinee now it dehydrates you and after surgery you need nothing extra to dehydrate you. Get all sugar out of your diet now. That is something that you will never get to have again . Replace it with Splenda if needed. Cigaretts and sodas pretty much are a no no too. the re gaining weight in the future....that is where your relearing comes in and this is a life thing. You wont ever be able to eat like you do now. So it is not something that you can do. But you can graze yourself to gain weight. Constipation , yes im afraid that is something that is a problem. Yes you can take fiber, for me i take fiber daily, plus stool softeners. plus eat 4 prunes a day this all seems to keep it half way normal let me for get tho and it isnt pleasant. Like i said this is all my problems or lack of so others will have other takes on the same things. Jan

Thank you Jan, What type of protein would you recommend I take now? I thought about doing that but I wasn't sure if it would help, so Im glad to hear someone else did. I am going to start de-toxing myself from sugar and caffeine, so it won't be such a shock for me after surgery. What surgeon did you have? Chante

Welcome Chante. I just had my surgery Thursday and came home on Friday. I am sure how people respond to the surgery is different for everyone but I found very little pain for the most part. More like discomfort then pain. I got to come home the next day and have been doing good today with fluids. YOur welcome to read my post about what I am going through. There are so many people on here to answer your questions that I am sure you will get all the answers you need. Good luck and welcome Shawn

Hello Chante and Welcome to the board!!!!! I am a newbie as well....I don't have my surgery scheduled yet but hope to have it by the end of May or so......I know what you mean about being excited and nervous at the same time.....I only like a couple more things to do that they want you to do and I will be able to get my surgery date....I can't wait to finally hear a date!!!! You are right this board has been a great support system....I have met some wonderful people on here and had so many questions answered. I hope you will continue to post and let us know how things are going for you....I wish you the best of luck....God Bless.....Hugs...Tammy H.

Hi Chante, I too am a newbie! This is (in my opinion) the best place to find out most of what you want to know about WLS. Real people thats really been thru it!! I am glad that I came here very early, (I do not have a date yet, but praying daily,lol) because I think some might feel, when you come here for the first few weeks you are kinda bothering or embarrassed to ask so many questions. Then you get to know people here and find out they want to try to help you, that they are so nice, and can answer things for you, it feels like you have a second family!!! I mean come on where else can you talk about gas and no one laughs at you. (Unless you want them to)!!! Take care, Susan

Chante.....There are alot of different protein powders & drinks you can use.....Some order them off line and some go to different types of stores to buy them.....I use a whey protien powder from Wal Mart...I only like the vanilla and I use sugar free pudding mix to flavor it with......I have found all flavors of it at super wal marts....I change it up each time I drink one to keep it from getting boring......I have...chocolate fudge..white chocolate...pistachio.....banana cream.......lemon....cheesecake.....and seems there is another one but I can't remember off hand what it is......I also use Danno's Lite & Fit yogurt to flavor them with.....I love the blackberrry and strawberry banana....... All I pay for mine at Wal Mart is $12 a 2lb jug....I have to drink 5 a day because I am on a liquid protein diet to help me loose weight before surgery...The 2lb jug last me about 2 weeks....If you drink less than the 5 a day it will last a bit longer.......But some of the powders I looked at online seemed a bit higher to me and I don't have to pay S&H on it either..... And if you have not tried it yet....be sure to try crystal lite.....they have some very yummy flavors and some of the flavors they have in the Wal Mart brand too.....My kids have even started drikning it....They never bothered to drink water before but now I can't seem to keep bottled water since they tried the crystal lite and liked it so much. It's a great way to get your water in and is sugar free so it helps you get off the surgar...... Getting off surgar was something I knew I had to start working on way ahead of time lol lol lol......I am a Mr. Pibb freak...I drank sugar in my coffee and if I don't have one of those in my hands I always had tea..... Good Luck on your search for your protein powder or drinks.......I hope you find one you like well....Take care....God Bless.....Hugs.....Tammy H.

Thank you so much for the info. I was thinking I would have to pay an arm and a leg for protein powder at GNC or something like that. I will go to the store tomorrow and try some out. I know getting off of the sugar and soda is getting ready to be a killer but I know I have to do it. I figure Id better start now than to go into complete shock after surgery. Do you have a surgery date yet?