3 Questions
Went to the Barix meeting on Saturday. It was nice to see everyone as we got to stay as one large group for a change. Anyway, during the meeting I had planned on asking 3 questions of 3 of the attendees who I knew had specific knowledge but all of them ended up leaving early. So I will post here and accept anyone's comments since there is so much great knowledge out there.
1. I met with Dr. Marymor on Friday. He seems to want to do the RNY open. I know all of the facts and the differences from lap surgery, but does anyone have any practical experiences to share? This is the first surgeon I have heard from who appears to prefer the open procedure these days.
2. I received an ice cream maker for Christmas and want to start using it as the weather warms up. Can someone share a basic recipe for protein I/C that I can work from? I enjoy creating my own recipes but would like to see relative proportions and ingredients to start from.
3. For those persons who are a year or so out, more or less, have you been able to enjoy your relationship with food again or is it just a chore now. I know that with my "mental RNY" it is a chore to portion and not very satisfying to eat but I also know that every month or so I still have the ability to enjoy a real meal in a more satisfying amount. I am afraid to lose this ability permanently without knowing that there would still be some similar sort of food satisfaction in my future.
Thanks to you all for your support.
1. I met with Dr. Marymor on Friday. He seems to want to do the RNY open. I know all of the facts and the differences from lap surgery, but does anyone have any practical experiences to share? This is the first surgeon I have heard from who appears to prefer the open procedure these days.
2. I received an ice cream maker for Christmas and want to start using it as the weather warms up. Can someone share a basic recipe for protein I/C that I can work from? I enjoy creating my own recipes but would like to see relative proportions and ingredients to start from.
3. For those persons who are a year or so out, more or less, have you been able to enjoy your relationship with food again or is it just a chore now. I know that with my "mental RNY" it is a chore to portion and not very satisfying to eat but I also know that every month or so I still have the ability to enjoy a real meal in a more satisfying amount. I am afraid to lose this ability permanently without knowing that there would still be some similar sort of food satisfaction in my future.
Thanks to you all for your support.
Scott, I can only address question 3.
At almost 2 years out, eating is pleasurable again. I can cook a normal meal (granted, hubby is watching carbs too and we don't have kids at him to feed). We eat out and I have many menu choices at almost any restaurant we go to.
The amount you can eat does increase, although it won't be what your pre op eating looked like. You will be able to eat a little salad, meat main dish, veggie, and occasionally a healthy carb side dish (my favorite is sweet potato).
I do have days when I fear that I am eating too much, balanced with days when my body doesn't need too much at all.
At almost 2 years out, eating is pleasurable again. I can cook a normal meal (granted, hubby is watching carbs too and we don't have kids at him to feed). We eat out and I have many menu choices at almost any restaurant we go to.
The amount you can eat does increase, although it won't be what your pre op eating looked like. You will be able to eat a little salad, meat main dish, veggie, and occasionally a healthy carb side dish (my favorite is sweet potato).
I do have days when I fear that I am eating too much, balanced with days when my body doesn't need too much at all.
Hey Scott,
I'll do question 1.
Dr. Marymor has been doing both procedures, but his decision for you may be based on size and your total weight.. Also he has many, many more open procedures than laparoscopic surgeries. Also with the lap procedure (you may be aware of this already) a fatty liver could hinder the lap instruments (make it difficult to get around the liver to create your pouch) causing him to convert to an open incision to complete the RNY.
Thanks for coming Saturday. Hope to see again soon.
Dennis
I'll do question 1.
Dr. Marymor has been doing both procedures, but his decision for you may be based on size and your total weight.. Also he has many, many more open procedures than laparoscopic surgeries. Also with the lap procedure (you may be aware of this already) a fatty liver could hinder the lap instruments (make it difficult to get around the liver to create your pouch) causing him to convert to an open incision to complete the RNY.
Thanks for coming Saturday. Hope to see again soon.
Dennis
Scot,
It was great seeing you on Saturday - I'm glad you could get there.
I'll tackle items 2 and 3.
2. I LOOOOVE my ice cream maker and have found it to be a wonderful summertime supplement to my kitchen. I've "invented" a bunch of frozen concoctions that I really love. I've found generally that the fat-free or really low-fat varieties of them freeze REALLY solid when you put them in the freezer afterward, so you may need to microwave them to thaw them back to "soft-serve" state. Adding a pinch or two of xanthan gum also makes a huge improvement in texture for ff and lf varieties. It's used a lot commercially, and is also used in a lot of gluten-free baking as a texturing agent. Just don't taste it on it's own and don't use more than a couple of pinches.
Cinnamon Peach Ice Cream - SF / FF
Ice Cream - SF Cinnamon Bun
Strawberry Ice Cream - No Cook! Fat Free! - this is my basic recipe to start from
You can easily add a scoop of strawberry, vanilla, or chocolate protein powder to any of these if you really need to boost the protein content. I generally don't, though.
3. One of the keys in this process is to deliberately CHANGE your relationship with food. If you can spend a good period of time breaking the addiction chain that sees food as an enabler of emotion (or of numbing), then you can start adding back in the enjoyment of taste on its own without the baggage of emotion. After about 6 - 8 months, I found that I was actually enjoying food more, because I was being more selective about what I was eating, was eating it slowly, chewing it more and savoring it. Prior to surgery, I "gulped" down my food, concentrating on quantity more than quality, and not truly savoring it.
I understand you when you say that you are afraid of not finding some "similar sort of food satisfaction" and all I can say is that for myself, that was a significant part of how I got to the point where I needed surgery. Finding my way out of the addiction quagmire so that I can relate to food without an overlay of baggage is an ongoing process. My caution is to work to develop a positive and healthy relationship where food is a pleasant interlude in your day, but isn't the focal point of your day... eating to live, rather than living to eat.
Hope this helps!
Karen
It was great seeing you on Saturday - I'm glad you could get there.
I'll tackle items 2 and 3.
2. I LOOOOVE my ice cream maker and have found it to be a wonderful summertime supplement to my kitchen. I've "invented" a bunch of frozen concoctions that I really love. I've found generally that the fat-free or really low-fat varieties of them freeze REALLY solid when you put them in the freezer afterward, so you may need to microwave them to thaw them back to "soft-serve" state. Adding a pinch or two of xanthan gum also makes a huge improvement in texture for ff and lf varieties. It's used a lot commercially, and is also used in a lot of gluten-free baking as a texturing agent. Just don't taste it on it's own and don't use more than a couple of pinches.
Cinnamon Peach Ice Cream - SF / FF
Ice Cream - SF Cinnamon Bun
Strawberry Ice Cream - No Cook! Fat Free! - this is my basic recipe to start from
You can easily add a scoop of strawberry, vanilla, or chocolate protein powder to any of these if you really need to boost the protein content. I generally don't, though.
3. One of the keys in this process is to deliberately CHANGE your relationship with food. If you can spend a good period of time breaking the addiction chain that sees food as an enabler of emotion (or of numbing), then you can start adding back in the enjoyment of taste on its own without the baggage of emotion. After about 6 - 8 months, I found that I was actually enjoying food more, because I was being more selective about what I was eating, was eating it slowly, chewing it more and savoring it. Prior to surgery, I "gulped" down my food, concentrating on quantity more than quality, and not truly savoring it.
I understand you when you say that you are afraid of not finding some "similar sort of food satisfaction" and all I can say is that for myself, that was a significant part of how I got to the point where I needed surgery. Finding my way out of the addiction quagmire so that I can relate to food without an overlay of baggage is an ongoing process. My caution is to work to develop a positive and healthy relationship where food is a pleasant interlude in your day, but isn't the focal point of your day... eating to live, rather than living to eat.
Hope this helps!
Karen
Everyone's answers were just what I was looking for and what I expected to hear. Even after 11 months, I can see that my relationship with food hasn't changed enough. I know that the act of the surgery will force me to break some physical eating habits, but as we all know, the surgery doesn't fix our heads. My "mental RNY" has similar limitations.
Anyone else want to weigh in?
Anyone else want to weigh in?
Well the first step is knowing that surgery will not fix your head.. I am an advocate of thearpy after surgery even before therapy. Also Support groups are vital for success which you are already doing which is a good thing.
As for Dr. Masrymor doing the open surgery don't be afraid of that and trust me he has a world of experince in doing RNY. While not my surgeon he is not my follow up surgeon. Mike M had open with Dr. Marymor so feel free to reach out to him and I think Arlene did as well.
You have gotten some good advise from out family here....
As for Dr. Masrymor doing the open surgery don't be afraid of that and trust me he has a world of experince in doing RNY. While not my surgeon he is not my follow up surgeon. Mike M had open with Dr. Marymor so feel free to reach out to him and I think Arlene did as well.
You have gotten some good advise from out family here....
hey scott,
to question one .. i did not have an open surgery but i did have 3 c-sections sections and an open gallbladder removal. they were not so bad. the lovely thing is we now have some great drugs to take away our pain.the way Dr. Marymor's patients talk about him i am surprised he doesn't walk on water so you will be ok.
to question 3 Yes it does change your relationship with food. But that is not bad either. After surgery it took me about 9 months to stop obsessing about food. There is more to life than eating for me now. yes the meal plans have limitations but you can enjoy many of the foods you like just prepared in a healthy mannor.
there is a recipe forum here on oh, and there are many other recipe websites
i like www.bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com
www.rjsdadrecipes.blogspot.com
www.bariatrictv.com has webisodes with info and some of the older episodes have great infor for before and after surgery questions. plus the shows are funny.
to question one .. i did not have an open surgery but i did have 3 c-sections sections and an open gallbladder removal. they were not so bad. the lovely thing is we now have some great drugs to take away our pain.the way Dr. Marymor's patients talk about him i am surprised he doesn't walk on water so you will be ok.
to question 3 Yes it does change your relationship with food. But that is not bad either. After surgery it took me about 9 months to stop obsessing about food. There is more to life than eating for me now. yes the meal plans have limitations but you can enjoy many of the foods you like just prepared in a healthy mannor.
there is a recipe forum here on oh, and there are many other recipe websites
i like www.bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com
www.rjsdadrecipes.blogspot.com
www.bariatrictv.com has webisodes with info and some of the older episodes have great infor for before and after surgery questions. plus the shows are funny.
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