I am having my surgery next week so I am on the liquid diet.
Today was not a good day. I had a lot of problems to deal with. Things that hurt me, frustrated me and made me down right furious.
These are things that would normally send me straight to the nearest buffet.
Today because I have to prepare for this surgery and shrink my liver I was not able to attend the buffet.
I thought about this because this is what it will be like for a very long time.
I will no longer be able to turn to food to cope with all the problems in my life.
I will have to face my problems with more honesty and stop burying them.
This is not a bad thing, it is a good thing and it is a healthy way to live.
So for myself I think I may miss a few things that I once liked to eat but I will survive it with no regrets because I will live a healthier happier life.
I just know it.

My biggest regret is that I didn't have the surgery when I was younger (I had it at 53). I feel like I wasted many years feeling crappy and unable to do many things I can take for granted now that I have lost 180 pounds. I also wish I could get rid of the extra skin I have everywhere, but I would rather have the extra skin than the extra fat, high-blood pressure, pain when I walk, and lack of confidence.

No regrets. I would do it again tomorrow if I had too. Now that being said... the first few weeks I cried at least once a day and thought did it have to come to this?? WTH did I do to my body? fast forward about 7 weeks got into a system w/ food, water, started getting close to my Dr's protein goals, started seeing scale #'s drop, life got better... fast forward a year... I would proclaim to the world that having wls was the best gift I ever gave myself. Now: 3 1/2+ years later... still feel it was the BEST GIFT I ever gave myself.

Soda: I don't drink it but I know tons of post-ops that drink soda. Some Dr's don't allow it... some don't restrict it. I've had a few bubbly things post-op and carbonation makes me uncomfortable so I avoid it.

Coffee: I drink 8-10 cups a day of fully leaded coffee. I drink espresso based drinks too. My Dr restricts coffee for 1 month and then after clears you. You'll have to see what your Dr says about it. Generally the first few weeks they want you to avoid caffeine and coffee as it can aggravate the new pouch (ulcers), it also can be a diuretic (jury is out on this) and since we can get easily dehydrated in those first few weeks best to avoid.

I think you will be happily surprised at all the foods you will be able to eat (albeit adapted) you are welcome to check out my blog www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com I post the foods I have eaten/eat since I had RNY in '06.

Best wishes to you. Be prepared for those first few "hell weeks" but rest assured it does get better and then it gets GREAT :)

~Michelle "Shelly"

No regrets here i am 6months out lost 77lbs... You will do great!

The only regret I may have is that I didn't do this when I was younger...but then, I was NEVER going to have this done because I was convinced the problem was self control and determination. I now know i was exhausting my self and working very hard, but because of the diabetes I had, and no thyroid (surgery to remove most of it years earlier), I was fighting an uphill battle.

To have lost over 100 lbs, with more to go, I am blown away that my body can do this, after years and years of limited success.

As for carbonation....my dr. also says NO. Something about the carbonation can stretch the pouch. There may be other reasons too. I know artificial sweeteners can "confuse" the blood sugar and increase appetite in some of us.

My original goal was to "take up less space.:" I have met that goal. My next goal is to get into the 160 range so I'll be "overweight" and out of the obese range for my age and height....

Good luck to you. I'd definitely encourage you to accept the limitations before surgery, not try to work around them. It will only sabotage your success.
Cindy

I have found this thread fascinating and have deliberately held off posting my thoughts until I had a chance to see how others here responded. Thank you, Kristy, for posing the question.

Rest assured that you are not being 'ridiculous' or 'petty' because you are anxious and expecting to mourn old enjoyments. Very, very normal. I felt this same way too. So have many others here. And, at times and to a lesser degree, I still do. Success with GBS definitely requires you to continuously work on changing the way you think. That does not happen overnight. I am constantly looking at how the people here - those much farther along than I am -- are handling that - and adopting their techniques where appropriate.

But the mourning for me is much less intense today, less important, occurs less frequently and passes quickly these days. Smells are still huge triggers for me and two smells I try hard to avoid are bacon and barbeque. They immediately sends my brain back into my past life. It is a place I just don't want to go.

The short answer for me is no, no regrets at this point. I'm 5 months post-op, down 90 pounds and my diabetes is in remission and I know that as long as I stick with the whole program - exercise, proper nutrition in proper amounts, I have a very good chance of keeping my diabetes in remission. Doing that means I'll dramatically reduce my chances of serious complications related to my diabetes. And doing that means I'll have more quality time with my wife of 30 years - that is by far the single most important thing in my now. We do not have children, but if we did, I know that would also be extraordinarily important.

A few people do end up regretting GBS surgery -- and for very good reasons. Most common complications from GBS are not terribly serious if detected early and treated. But in a small percentage of people, there can be very serious complications. While the risk of these serious complications decrease over time, they do not go away. When I read here from people who have experienced these horror stories a year or two post op, I am very glad they have taken the time to share their painful and difficult stories here on this forum. It is vitally important that people considering GBS have a full understanding of what it means when things go horribly wrong. If there were no risks, having GBS would be a no-brainer. But GBS is likely to remain a "full-brainer" for a long time to come.

At 5 months out, I do not consider myself "out of the woods" with respect to serious complications. As a GBS patient, I know I must make vigilance for such complications a part of my thought processes. Ignoring the potential could be dangerous. But being hyperfocused on them to the point of constantly frightening yourself is not healthy either.

That is why the decision to have GBS is highly personal. Only you and your doctors can decide if the very real risks of this surgery -- and specifically, your own personal risk factors -- are outweighed by the potential benefits. I looked at gastric bypass for 6 years before committing. For me, the odds of living even another 10 years the way I was going was about zero. I am 52 years old. I am not even close to ready to 'throw in the towel'. In short, I want to live as long as possible and as healthy as is possible for me.

I feel that I went into GBS being as fully informed as possible. I feel like I selected a facility and program that had demonstrated a track record of excellence and lower than average complication rate. In the end, I accepted the risk. So far, so good.

Coffee - prior to surgery, coffee was a major functional component of my life. My GBS team does not encourage coffee but they also do not prohibit it. Consequently, I do still drink coffee, though I drink much less (typically no more than 16 oz/day and often less). I have it black-only these days, no sugary, fat-filled foo-foo drinks. There are good options if you want flavored coffee drinks (e.g. Torani sugar-free syrups). But it is always best to follow the rules laid out by your own GBS team - and your own specific needs.

Wow, very good post, Jerry.

I wanted to add a footnote to my previous post that outlined all of the reasons I was glad I had the surgery.

I had my surgery on 11/24/09 and everything went well. Once I was able to start eating soft foods I had trouble keeping anything down. I got to the point where any food I ate I 'burped' back out.

I got concerned when, on Christmas Eve, I wasn't able to keep any fluid in either, so I called my surgeon. He told me to switch to warm liquids only for a few days, and blew me off, blaming me for probably eating something I wasn't supposed to have. So I did this, and then on Christmas day I told my boyfriend I was going to have to go to the hospital because I couldn't keep any fluid in and was afraid of getting dehydrated. As I was getting ready to go, it miraculously cleared and I was able to drink again and everything was fine until 2 days later when it started again. Again, I called my surgeon and expressed that I was concerned that I might have a stricture, and should I come in to see him. And again he said no.. warm clear liquids and it'll be fine. So that's what I did.

Well, over the next 3 weeks I steered away from solid foods and ate 'sliders' only.. soup, yogurt, etc, because I was afraid I would block myself up again. On 1/14/10 I had my follow up visit, saw the surgeon and nutritionist and explained to them that I could barely keep liquid down at this point, and FINALLY they agreed that I might have a stricture, and scheduled me for an endoscopy with dialation to open it back up. The procedure was scheduled for the following Tuesday 1/19. On 1/15 I tried my best to get warm fluids in, and could barely get 24oz down. On 1/16 I told my BF that I was going to have to go to the ER to get an IV and get rehydrated because I couldn't drink anything at all at this point. It was quite miserable.

So we went to the ER, and they hooked me up to an IV and then admitted me. I stayed overnight and the next day, 1/17, they did the endoscopy and dialated the stricture, and I was able to drink again, and even eat a little food. I still stuck to sliders because I was afraid of food getting stuck again.

Anyway, I was discharged that day, and had to go back to the gastroenterologist the following week to have it done again, and once more the week after that to have another. 3 times I had to be put under and have this procedure done. Not to mention, my insurance changed on Jan 1st and all of these procedures ended up costing me around $700, whereas if my surgeon had listened to me on 12/24/09, I would have paid under $100. And that burns my butt!

However, since then everything has been fine, I'm able to eat and drink, and I haven't had any problems since then, though I'm still kind of careful because that fear of something getting stuck comes back very often.

I know this is long, but my point in this whole thing (including my first post) is that it hasn't been a walk in the park for me, it's been kind of hellish, not being able to eat for weeks and all.

BUT STILL I have NO REGRETS and would do it again in a New York minute. I've lost 75 lbs and am thrilled with my results so far.

Wow, very good post, Jerry.

I wanted to add a footnote to my previous post that outlined all of the reasons I was glad I had the surgery.

I had my surgery on 11/24/09 and everything went well. Once I was able to start eating soft foods I had trouble keeping anything down. I got to the point where any food I ate I 'burped' back out.

I got concerned when, on Christmas Eve, I wasn't able to keep any fluid in either, so I called my surgeon. He told me to switch to warm liquids only for a few days, and blew me off, blaming me for probably eating something I wasn't supposed to have. So I did this, and then on Christmas day I told my boyfriend I was going to have to go to the hospital because I couldn't keep any fluid in and was afraid of getting dehydrated. As I was getting ready to go, it miraculously cleared and I was able to drink again and everything was fine until 2 days later when it started again. Again, I called my surgeon and expressed that I was concerned that I might have a stricture, and should I come in to see him. And again he said no.. warm clear liquids and it'll be fine. So that's what I did.

Well, over the next 3 weeks I steered away from solid foods and ate 'sliders' only.. soup, yogurt, etc, because I was afraid I would block myself up again. On 1/14/10 I had my follow up visit, saw the surgeon and nutritionist and explained to them that I could barely keep liquid down at this point, and FINALLY they agreed that I might have a stricture, and scheduled me for an endoscopy with dialation to open it back up. The procedure was scheduled for the following Tuesday 1/19. On 1/15 I tried my best to get warm fluids in, and could barely get 24oz down. On 1/16 I told my BF that I was going to have to go to the ER to get an IV and get rehydrated because I couldn't drink anything at all at this point. It was quite miserable.

So we went to the ER, and they hooked me up to an IV and then admitted me. I stayed overnight and the next day, 1/17, they did the endoscopy and dialated the stricture, and I was able to drink again, and even eat a little food. I still stuck to sliders because I was afraid of food getting stuck again.

Anyway, I was discharged that day, and had to go back to the gastroenterologist the following week to have it done again, and once more the week after that to have another. 3 times I had to be put under and have this procedure done. Not to mention, my insurance changed on Jan 1st and all of these procedures ended up costing me around $700, whereas if my surgeon had listened to me on 12/24/09, I would have paid under $100. And that burns my butt!

However, since then everything has been fine, I'm able to eat and drink, and I haven't had any problems since then, though I'm still kind of careful because that fear of something getting stuck comes back very often.

I know this is long, but my point in this whole thing (including my first post) is that it hasn't been a walk in the park for me, it's been kind of hellish, not being able to eat for weeks and all.

BUT STILL I have NO REGRETS and would do it again in a New York minute. I've lost 75 lbs and am thrilled with my results so far.

Sorry about the double post.. the site crashed right as I was submitting and everything went wonky.

I'm with Shelly09, I just don't know yet. I had my surgery 11/9/09, and although I am happy with my weight loss..I feel pretty awful most of the time..I still can't really eat anything, and I'm tired all the time..I've heard from many people that you are not truly happy that you've had the surgery until you are about 5 months post op, so I'll wait and see. As of right now..I wouldn't have had it..

krimicri, you raise an very, very important point that should not be dismissed by any of us. It is necessary for us to take responsibilty when things are not right. Sometimes, we have to keep insisting when have good reason to believe it is necessary to do so. Thanks.

I am only in my fourth week post op and I do struggle with regret. I had talked to many people before the surgery, some who had severe complications as well and none of them had regrets. Yet, I have had so much pain, a very hard time getting fluids and food down along with my medication, and am still not having regular bowl movements. I keep hearing everyone say that it will get better and I will feel better about later, but I can't even imagine it getting better right now. I have lost 40 pounds already, but don't feel that it is even worth it due to dumping syndrome and horrible heartburn sometimes.
I hear what others are saying, and I hope that it will get better in time. Still, I wonder...could I have lost the weight myself? I mean DID I do everything I could?
Just know that the beginning is very hard and healing (inside) is slow. Regarding diet soda...I was a Diet Pepsi addict and drank it up to three days before my surgery, but I do not want for it now at all. I just want to get water down.