Hi Seenie, I am so sorry that you are in such pain and mental termoil. About a year ago my husband and I decided that we would explore juicing. I know, that sounds terrible but darned if it didn’t work! We juiced 3 days a week with quick results. Quick results are important for staying with the program to me. I lost 6 pounds the first week and like 2 to 3 pounds in the weeks following for a total of approx. 16 pounds! It was amazing how easy it was and you can blend what combinations of fruit and veggies that you like. We found that we oddly enough didn’t get too hungry as we juiced 8 to 12 ounces 3 times a day. You even get that chewing sensation because that chewing action is suppose to aide in digestion. That being said, why not check out some of the many “juicing” information spots online? Our weight has stayed off too! I guess it’s because we were ingesting more vitamins and minerals than we could have ever CHEWED and believe me, I can flat do some chewing at a sitting! Lol.
Seenie, it seems to me that losing a good amount of weight before your foot surgery would really be advantageous to your body as a whole. I have faith that you will make the right decision. You have always been so kind and giving to us here that I wish you all the best success.
Love ya! Golfette
Sybil, is “cock and hoop unstoppable” a good thing?
I called my niece. She is the Bariatric unit manager for one of the top Programs around. She told me to tell you not just no but hell no. You could not possibly recover from both surgeries. She went on to say that if you found a center willing to do the sugery with your BMI, immediate threat of death from obesity related illness, they were quacks. She also told me her center would have you off prednisone, DMARDs, and Biologics for a minumum of 9 mos. NSAIDs were very unlikley ever again as well. She doesn't see how that would workout. Their center will only do the sleeve BTW. She told me if I were really your friend, to either lock you up until you came to your senses, or make sure you consulted with somebody she approved off, as of course she doesn't have you charts.
Lamb … you never fail to amaze me. I think I hear you loud and clear. Even without my hearing aid.
I left a word or two out ...... Unless you currently have a life threatening obesity related disease, your BMI isn't high enough...... (except for a quack)
luv ya....
God I love Lamb. Maybe he can knock some sense in your head where I have failed........<3
Well, Lamb, in this province they will do it for people with BMI > 35 if there are compelling medical reasons. Needing foot reconstruction might count, don’t you think?
Giving up NSAIDs and Enbrel would be a deal breaker for me though – they’d have to wrestle those out of my cold dead hand. And being off for nine months, I’d be dead for sure.
Luv ya too, even if you act all grumpy sometimes. 
Ahhhh a ha ha ha! He does seem that way but I believe the man knows of what he speaks. Seenie, you so funny!
Golfette
The deal breaker for me would be no carbonated beverages of any kind ever...... That meads no beer. I would never be able to play golf again. Worse is because you metabolism is altered, even a small glass of wine could render one "impaired" Our small town has two wineries and six breweries. My entire social life would be destroyed. On the other hand I could shop at the super walmart anytime of day I wanted. Peaktime for the electric shopping carts sort of limits when one can go. I dunno if your feet would do it seenie. I suspect it migh come up in the conversation your main problem is not obesity, but rather a piss poor rheumy when you needed one.......
If you were in the US, you could sue the "you don't need a biologic" rheumy, and be carried around on a divan chair by "pool boys" and fed hand peeled grapes as you recovered.......
How many calories in grapes?
Oh never mind. With the pool boys hauling her around she will forget all about eating!
Heeheehee <3
LOL! Six breweries! I might just have to visit that little town!
You’re right about the piss-poor rheumie. I have a pretty good one now, though! wink
And michael, you are a naughty girl!
Such a wonderful expression. Can’t say I’m feeling cock-a-hoop today, but this conversation has been great. Thank you, Sybil and my good PsA friends!
Oh, Seenie what a dilemma. I wish I had some words of wisdom but I don't. The only parallel I can draw is that I've piled on the weight as well and finding it nigh on impossible to shift as well. I know you will make the decision that is right for you. Sending you lots of love. J x
Thanks Jules! It’s less of a dilemma after what Lamb said. It’s just the way it is.
Yes, he's a wise old Lamb.
Seenie,
I re-read what Michal Ann wrote and I think she's on to something with the weight gain. I know I'm skinny but I get pretty dramatic (for me) weight gain when I'm not doing well with my meds. Lo and behold when things are better it seems to melt away (with some exercise).
I worry about the lap-band procedure because of the post-surgical changes it would mean: limited alcohol consumption, no fatty foods, and then the stuff Lamb said about NSAIDs is pretty scary. Also, how would you possibly help me polish off a plate of poutine and wash it down with an icy Molson after lap band surgery?
I'd take the money you would spend on the surgery and invest in a year-long pool exercise and therapy program with a personal trainer (a cute personal trainer) who will help you maximize your time in the water (and offer some calorie-free eye candy).
Seenie,
I have tried for years to lose that extra 20-30 that my last pregnancy left me with. I finally did it. For real. A few times, I have been so sick that I lost it, but I gained it right back when I felt better, but now I have intentionally lost it and I think I can keep it off. I went on the diet that I have all of my patients on: the ADA diet. That’s the American Diabetes Association. I’m not diabetic, but it’s a wholesome, well rounded, common sense approach to eating well. The information, is good and has helped me a ton. Plus, it’s free. Just a thought.
Seenie said:
Thanks, everyone, your reaching out helps, really it does. And Stoney, you are right. Been there – Weight Watchers, low carb, etc., and I do know exactly what and how to eat. (Nutrition is one of my teachable subjects.) The amounts I’m able to lose that way (being 62 and sedentary) will never come close to what needs to come off for this mission. If I could only walk my dogs for a couple of hours each day … if only there were a pool warm enough for my joints close to where I live … if only an exercise bike didn’t hurt my feet … I feel like PsA has me cornered now.
Sixty-two is too young, Sassy, and I used to define myself as a walker. I grieve that.
Louise, you make me laugh: I’m awfully good at sorting out dilemmas for almost anyone but myself!
Wow, I can whine with the best of them, can’t I?
I think that weight loss prior to contemplating any surgery is a good place to start. I understand the benefits to weight loss surgery, but also the risks. And, there is a huge-life long commitment that goes with that, just as if you lost the weight in your own. Think long and hard about it. Huge amounts of vitamin supplements daily to keep you alive and healthy because you can’t take in all of the nutrients you need from food? Small frequency meals, still watching what you eat: Doesn’t sound like a walk in the park to me, and I’m not facing it! A lot of the restrictions and needs after bariatric surgery sound just like dieting, so I have begun to look at it like a life saving measure. In another post, I recommended the ADA diet, and I stand by that as a good option. You learn about food, and your body. It is a commitment, but you will have to make one whatever the choice ends up being.
Try weight loss prior to surgery. You won’t regret it. I love you, Seenie, dear!
Great advice, as usual, Grumpy. And of course, you are right. So right. Several things motivated me to consider WLS (note past tense) –
- Sedentary lifestyle. Unwillingly, but still sedentary. Nothing I do, physically, is free from pain. Except for swimming. (As long as the water is warm enough for my joints.) And, assuming that I could find a pool that is warm enough, even swimming would involve painful walking to the car, walking into the pool facility, walking barefoot on hard pool decks, and then all that in reverse. The swimming part is a dream! I love swimming beyond belief. (I’m a water baby: in my youth I taught swimming and lifesaving, and managed a municipal pool, so there’s not much that you can tell me about the wonders of water. There, another fascinating fact that you didn’t know about Seenie, bwah ha ha)
- The prospect of enforced, no-choice-no-thought-necessary portion control and restriction. I’m tired, so very tired, of pacing myself and deciding what I can and can’t do on any given day, and dealing with pain year after year after year. Self-imposed restriction and constant calculation and trading off is just so … tiring. And, for me, another way that my life would become complicated. Another way of hurting, and I hurt so much already.
- Now I forget what number three was going to be.
Hey, the best thing about this discussion (besides communing with my PsA besties) is that it has clarified a lot of stuff that was just running around, directionless, in my head. And I’m coming to the conclusion that WLS would be a very very silly thing for me to do. Another problem, as you pointed out is the need for supplements forever. I eat real food. A very wide variety of high quality, unprocessed food. Doesn’t make sense, really, does it, to contemplate changing that. And BTW, I’m not completely out of dietary control: since getting on proper treatment, I’ve lost weight without trying. But not enough.
Thanks everyone for knocking some sense into my head. My PsA friends are truly the best.
Just remembered what I couldn't remember for my earlier post (and I thought the brain fog had got loads better?):
To try to help me lose weight I have bought some new dinner plates about 2/3rd's the size of the old ones .... so I still get a plate full of food but actually less quantity. Amazingly I have not felt hungry once so the psychology seems to work, so far. Haven't yet checked what the scales have to say on the subject!