Another Susan M rant good to read esp newbies!

http://store.bariatriceating.com/october2005.html I'm 6 months post op and I can eat anything. I do feel a little cranky and irritable when I eat something with sugar in it like a small piece of cake. But I can eat anything and not dump. I remember hearing Al Roker say that numerous times on his morning show or one of his cooking shows. So now, at 6 months out and 75 pounds down, I really need to watch what I eat. I can now eat all the foods they told me to avoid in early post-op days, and not dump. It's a little scary. I can eat more also. I wish I could go back to the days at about 1-2 months out when I could barely get down 1/3 cup of food. Now I really have to be careful. I have to really watch it because I can forget and eat fast, and not feel bad. I can eat pizza and not feel bad. I kind of wished that I would dump. At least that may be a deterrent. I guess it's all up to me again and making my healthy choices. Well, at least I'm 75 pounds down and not 75 pounds up. That's a good place to be." I am baffled at these sorts of posts and I am going to go out on a limb and give my opinion rather than bite my tongue again in hopes that some of the pre ops and early posties learn something. You are not the only one so please don't be offended. Maybe you can gather some strength from this post... as 75 pounds down IS a good place to be and you want to make sure that in FIVE years (close to) GOAL is a good place to be. Think about this... In order to prepare for a very serious and dangerous operation, you underwent a battery of diagnostic tests to assess your eligibility for a potentially risky and extremely expensive medical procedure. Your surgeon presented your case to your insurance company stating that you have no other way to lose weight and that your health pivots on your having this procedure. After all consideration for your well being and medical potential for health, you are awarded approval for a $50,000 operation as a last resort so that you can escape the disease, MORBID OBESITY. As a morbidly obese surgical high risk, you went under general anesthesia, your organs were exposed via either an internal camera or splayed open via a large incision... you had your stomach divided with multiple rows of titanium staples, then dissected into two portions... part of your intestine bypassed and then reattached so that you malabsorb what you eat and become ill when you consume particular foods. You endure several hours of surgery to create several lines of defense... physical restriction of food, malabsorption, and an additional twist called 'fear of dumping'. The amounts that trigger this induced sickness are vague so that you can have a sense of terror in stepping over that invisible line in order to strengthen the resolve of this procedure in case just having major surgery isn't enough. After your surgery you go through a lengthy recovery period during which your vital signs and blood levels are carefully monitored so that you don't suffer from any complications. ... and in 6 months since going through all of this, you have run right up to the line, danced all over it, and now declare "I can now eat all the foods they told me to avoid in early post-op days, and not dump." Pizza, cake... great you don't get sick. What are you thinking? Did you not realize that YOU have to play a major part in modifying your own behavior? That this surgery has been given to you to use as a means of controlling your eating, that it isn't automatic? I think you do realize it now, but how can you wrestle back that added control after blowing through it with such disregard. Since you are still an early post op... please make sure you are involved in your surgeons support groups, as you are in that 'danger' group that I hear from every day who don't understand why their surgery isn't working as well for them when they are 16 months post op and see an upturn on the scale. I know you are happy with your 75 pound loss, and I am happy for you, but let me tell you... you could have eaten anything in that first 6 months and lost weight. I am not trying to take away any of the pride that you obviously feel in your weight loss, but your fight for weight loss has just begun. THIS is where it gets tough and the food choices make the difference and now you are proceeding without being fully armed... you have tied one arm behind your back with your 'I can eat anything' assumption. Am I trying to scare you? Absolutely. You and the others who find themselves dabbling in cake and pizza. We are here to help you... and help you to make good choices, but ultimately YOU make this work, not just the surgery. This surgery empowers you to make the choices. We need all the help we can get and all the tools that are on the table for a lifetime of freedom from the morbid obesity we escaped. Susan Maria ~~~~~~~ jamie