** WHY EAT AROUND YOUR SURGERY***

I'd call it SOLIDARITY.... at least I think that's what I mean.      

We, I mean, YOU all did such a good job of providing perfectly logical, thoughtful, sensitive answers to a difficult question put before you.  When it became apparent that there was a problem with the recipient of your posts being able to process the information properly, you remained as tactful as you could until it became apparent that diplomacy was useless in this particular case. 

I commend you and, for my own personal knowledge base, thank you for sharing again (and again) how it was going to be okay treat ourselves as long as clarity of mind in the decision to do so was present.  That has relieved my mind to no end, since I thought I would never ever ever be able to have a marshmallow ever again.  NEVER!   I still may not be able to ever do so without experiencing unpleasant symptoms, but at least it gives me hope. 

Thanks to all of you who shared your personal experiences about "normal" life after WLS!!!

Luff & Later,
Ruthie D.

I hope I was helpful. :) I'm in AZ too. Dr. Juarez for me.

Definitely your posts were helpful.  Isn't Dr. Juarez in the Phoenix area?  Although I'm 60 miles north of PHX, close to the turn off for Prescott off I-17 (Cordes Junction), I opted to go with Flagstaff Bariatric Center, which is 90 miles north of me.  I lived in the Valley long enough that I choose to go there only when necessary nowadays.  ;-)  Where abouts are you? 

I'm in the West Valley. Hubby and I avoid PHX proper except when necessary. I heard good things about your surgeon!

AHA... I lived in the East Valley when I lived down there.  Have you really heard about Dr. Berger??  That's great news for me.  All I know is he's done over 500 surgeries and is very very attractive in his scrubs.  rofl!!!   Do you remember anything in particular that was said?

One of my friends from over on the RNY forum "iisme" had your surgeon. She was very pleased with his work.

Thank you Thank you!  I'll go say hi to her!

Nothing like crazy to refine one's sense of sanity.

I feel as though it was therapeutic to share my own issues, as rare as it is. I doubt it did the OP any good, but overall I think it is a very good discussion because it IS common for pre-ops to wonder about the "junk" that postops, especially long-term postops eat. What I eat is really a lot of junk. But I eat what I can eat, and that's pretty much teh end of the story for me.

I believe that even though one person probably got nothing out of this thread due to issues with insanity and reading comprehension, there were probably a few dozen pre-ops who gained insight into their own thoughts on "why do it" or "why try it".... who will wonder "how is it so different when you are postop" or who will be better prepared for the fact that it IS unimaginably different to have your digestive anatomy altered..

Good can come of this thread. A bit of amusement too.

Perhaps when her meds are balanced out and/or when she returns to a more sensible POV the OP might get something out of this thread. I hope she DOES print it up and bring it with her to a support group and/or a therapist and/or her surgeon's office. It's informative and instructive.

I agree that there was some major great information shared.  Bottom Line, I will not beat myself up for not being perfect and will continue to strive for progress.  I know I've told the surgeon I'll be an A+ student, and so far that's been true.  Post Op I will do my absolute best to be so enthralled with being able to ride horses, hike, dance, and enjoy life in general that I'll not fall into a trap that could turn into a downward spiral.  However, if I need to allow myself a treat... thanks to today's postings... I will do so without guilt.  For that alone, it was all worthwhile!  :-D

I say it is important to adhere to the rules as close to 100% in the first 6 months. After six months to nine months the nerves in your stomach will grow back, you'll experience full and hungry for the first time (you'll experience hunger before then, but it is often habit rather than hunger****il those nerves heal back, and mine STARTED to heal at six months but weren't consistent until nine months..... you NEED the rules, because the rules are what keeps you from hurting yourself. When your nerves are all grown back, nad you are able to make off-plan decisions, you have to do it MINDFULLY.. and make choices based on what you CAN handle and what you canNOT handle. Some people find that a certain food is a trigger for them. They avoid it because they know that it turns them back into what they were pre-op. Learnign what you personally can and cannot handle is a part of the process. So if you LIKE cookies, but don't eat like a pre-op on cookies as your triggering mechanism, why NOT have one now and again. There are twelve months in a year, and I've probably had 12 cookies in that same year. They WERE one of my triggers pre-op, I could eat eat eat when it came to cookies or cake. But I dump, and even when cookies want to set me off in the path of destruction, I dump, feel awful, and avoid for a few months. If I didn't like them, I wouldn't have them again, but they ARE yummy.

It's about self-knowlege.... and when you get to maintenance like me, stepping on the scale OFTEN to make sure that if you regain, you stop it at 10 pounds and NOT 100 lbs!