New member says "hi"

Hi there. I just created my profile and wanted to introduce myself. I hope to get to know the group a little better over the next few weeks and maybe meet some of you at the support group in Concord. My surgery is scheduled for May 29th. Banded RNY with Dr. Bauman. I travel quite a bit in my work and had to schedule around some commitments. I guess the travel is the thing I worry about the most. Dining on the road is hard enough as it is but when you are eating a few ounces at a time, you need to be pretty selective about what's in those few ounces to get the right amount of nutrients. And I have these mental images of trying to explain ready-to-drink protein bullets to airoport screeners. :-o In high school I dropped 20lbs to wrestle at a lower weight class. I made it down to 160 at 16 years old, then proceeded to put on 10lbs per year, regular as clockwor****il I was 35 and hit 350 lbs and leveled off. I decided at that point that I would quit beating myself up and eat whatever and whenever wanted. After spending my life thinking I could not be happy unless I lost weight, I decided to stop making losing weight a precondition for my other goals. I expected to put more weight on but I wasn't paying attention to food as much and that seemed to tame that demon somewhat. I'm much happier than I used to be but never totally gave up on weight loss. In the intervening years, I topped out around 365 (usually during or after some weight loss attempt) but always settled back to a set point of 350. A couple of years ago I exploed WLS but my insurer at the time turned me down outright. Wouldn't even consider my request. After changing jobs last year I found that my new insurer (BCBS) not only covered the surgery but designated my local hospital a Center of Excellence! I ran through all the required pre-op tests and have to say I was surprised by how smooth it all went. So I have a date scheduled and am busy learning as much as I can about the process, life after surgery and how I am going to manage all this on the road. It's a little overwhelming but I'm determined and looking forward to the big day. In the meantime, I expect to be a frequent visitor here. :wave:

Welcome to the site!! I have found this site to be my best resource for answering all my questions. I hope you will find the support you will need. I do know what you mean about eating out. It is SO HARD! I avoid it if I can. Or if I do go out with my family, I won't even order anything. I will just have a bite of theirs. It's such a waste of money when you aren't going to hardly eat anything. I know it will get easier as time goes on, but not just yet. I'm almost 8 weeks out, down 45 pounds. I've hit a few speedbumps, but it's all getting worked out. My friend has the fobi pouch as well, she is happy as can be with it. I wish you all the best... don'y hesitate to ask if you have questions or just want to talk!! Kristi

Hi Kristi, I'm glad you said that about this web site being a good source of support. Since I travel quite a bit, my concern was not being able to make the local meetings so the community here will be my home away from home. Congratulations on your progress so far! I wish you and your friend continued success.

Welcome Rob, I am assuming you wish to be called Rob! I know what you mean about settling in on a certain weight. I settled in around 200 lbs and thought I would never go higher until I hit 50 and guess what? I ended up at 275 lbs before my surgery on 3/28/07. It was a nightmare that just wouldn't go away. I go back to work on April 23rd and am also concerned about my meals. Soup seems to be the only thing I can consistently keep down. Protein powder just downright nauseates me. But I am working on it. We are real glad to have you here. Feel free to post often. The group here is fantastic! Blessings, Diane

Thanks for the reply, Diane. Actually, T.Rob is my real name. Not my given name, but one that was thrust upon me 20 years ago. Seemed at the time like the more I fought against it, the harder it stuck. After a year or so, I wasn't really known by any other name so I just gave up. Now, two decades later, I've done everything but legally change it. My business cards, email addresses, user IDs, credit cards, utility bills, subscriptions, etc. all say "T.Rob". Long response to an innocent question, I know. Sorry! :crazy: Glad you mentioned soup. The first thing I thought when I read that we are not supposed to drink with meals was "where does soup/chili/stew fit into that guideline?" Having had kidney stones, I am in the habit of drinking a lot of liquid during the day, including with meals, so I need to find out what my medical team has to say about this. Would love to know what others here have to say but I'll search the forums or start another thread for that. I ordered the samplert pack from Bariatric-eating.com so I am going to find out about the powder real soon. :-) -- T.Rob

Hi Rob. Congratulations on your surgery date. There are a lot of Dr. Bauman's patients on this site and they seem thrilled with his work. Thanks for introducing yourself and please keep us posted. Take care. ~Ellen

Ellen, thanks for the reply! I hear that a lot about Dr. Bauman and it was one of the reasons I chose him. 44 days and counting! -- T.Rob

Ellen, keep you posted? Count on it! This post has been something of an epiphany for me. I was not prepared for how much and how quickly the community would welcome a new member. I guess everyone here knows, to some degree or another, about the protective walls and defenses, guarding ones emotions, balancing netween reaching out and exposing too much. Here I already feel that I've found a safe harbor and new friends. I'll definitely keep you posted.

Hi Rob and welcome. This is a wonderful site with lots of Dr Bauman's pts ( me included). I am only 8weeks post op for LapBand, but my work dictates eating out 2-3 times/week. Here's what is working for me- Wendy's small chili is always a winner, Taco bell- pintos with cheese, Any lean seafood- most of the time I simply eat off the appitizer menu- Can't beat Ruby Tuesday's crabcake and I've been known to eat the 1/2 remaining portion the next day at breakfast. Same with shrimp ****tail or grilled shrinp. I eat crazy proteins at crazy times to ensure that I got my protein- I average 80-85 gr per day. Once you can have protein bars- it makes it MUCH easier to grab a healthy snack ( while sitting in the airports....) A salad bar with a tiny baby salad and hard boiled egg and cottage cheese works too. It is managable- just very different. ALWAYS eat your lean protein 1st and then when your diet has progressed a small serving of fruit or veggie.When you are still on liquids- check out GNC store locations on line and you can always buy ready to drink proteins such as Isopure or Slam 50.It's amazing how many cities I now know where the GNC is located... You will do awesome and look forward to following your success! Sheila at The Beach

Thanks, Sheila. My strategy, so far untested, includes protein bars but I had not thought about the appetizer menu. A diet restricted to lean seafood like shrimp and crab? No, Br'er Fox, don't throw me into *that* briar patch! Legal Seafood in the Boston Airport has a nice po' boy sandwich made of shredded crab I could live off of for a week after surgery. Hardly any mayo or sauce, just some spices. Yum! Maybe I can get them to sell me just the filling as an appetizer. Thanks for the other advice as well. You can't see it from where you are sitting, but I'm taking notes. -- T.Rob