Yahoo! It's been a while.

Hello all, This is the first time that I have posted since my surgery. I had my RNY on 5/24/2005 by Dr. Hong and he was fabulous! The day of my surgery I weighed 266 and as of a few days ago I weigh 220. I am extremely happy about that! I just went for my three month follow up and had my first blood test to see how my vitamins were doing and I am a little low in vitamin D but other then that everything is OK! Dr. Hong just called me in a prescription and I need to get down and start taking it! It is so exciting to see all the new surgeries happening out there and to hear wonderful success stories. I do have a question....before I had my surgery I remember reading that there is a card you can get from your doctor that shows you had the surgery so that you can order kid size portions from restraunts....does anyone have one of these or know of them and if so.....do restraunts honor them? You know the hardest part of post surgery is the psychological side of this...I did not realize how hard it would be to break old eating habits! I really mean that....I have just now pretty much stopped having my meals...small small...did I say small?!....meals come back up to haunt me....and the thing is....I know I only need "A" bite, not a scoop, or a couple of bites or a portion....I know I only need "A" bit but doggone those spoons are just made a little on the large side....and I am talking about the teaspoon! ha Anyway, it is just my...old me...thinking that I would love to have at least a bite of everything....I am just now starting to get better at that...I just never thought it would be this big of an issue! Anyway, thanks to all of you who get on here and share you wonderful stories. I know this is where I hung out before my surgery to make my final decision about if I should or shouldn't have the surgery....glad you were all there for me to pick your thoughts and ideas.

Thanks for checking in Dawn! It is great to hear that you are adjusting to life on the other side. I just love Dr. Hong. I don't know if the Oregon Health Clinic issues those cards. I have trouble believing that any of the folks I encounter at restaurants would give any strong objections to ordering a kids meal, but I guess I haven't really ever tried to. In the real early days I would order an appetizer or a cup of soup. All places are happy to give you take out containers for leftovers, and I often would share a meal with one of my kids. I really enjoy eating out, and after all of those years of cleaning my plate, I kind of feel happy to just be out enjoying the company and experience of a LITTLE yummy food, even if it means paying for more than I eat. I am not at all ashamed of being a by-pass patient, but I have preferred to learn how to integrate myself into the "normal" food world and just let go of the fact that I am probably sometimes paying for more than I consume. At buffets they more than make it up by feeding my sixteen year old son! Talking about psychological needs.....I was just noticing recently that I still feel the need to fill up a plate at a buffet or get the medium size popcorn at the movies even though that doesn't translate to eating more than I should eat. I think I have learned the "full - had enough" signal and heed it, but my head seems to need to THINK I'm really going to indulge. Weird huh? Patty

Here I am 18 months out and I STILL sometimes have a hard time with portion sizes. I think I will be able to eat more than I can all the time, and I even have a larger pouch than most. I know when I've made a couple of long road trips recently I couldn't stop at buying a little bit to eat on the way, I bought a bag of fat free chips, a bag of baked cheetos, a small tray of veggies and dip, jerky, diet soda, AND I started off with a $1.00 cheeseburger at McDonald's. I ate a handful of the cheetos, never opened the potato chips and did eat the veggies finally and a couple pieces of jerky. I am STILL eating off the last trip's food I bought and I've been back for a week! Dina