While writting a letter to a friend I came across an idea. Put up a page of suggestions and tips on the Web Site. So here it is, page one of Tips!

Take a large pot and boil a chicken. Make your own chicken broth because many store bought chicken broth have sugars in them. It is used as a preservative. I was able to find one brand of chicken broth available in my area that did not contain sugar: "Swason"

Now use your blender and create your own puree delights. This is a very low cost way to prepare food.

If you like chicken and carrots, great put some lean chicken (dark meat is easier to digest), and open a can of carrots. Add the chicken and carrots to chicken broth in your blender and puree!

My doctor told me that I could add any spices including salt to season these blender delights, ask your doctor.

Now what to do with the blender left over? This is the best part, ICE TRAYS ! ! !

Pour the remainder of your blender delights into ice trays. Then when you are going to eat all you do is pop out a cube or two of your favorite blend and pop it into the microwave.

The meal selections are endless. Roast beef and any vegetable, turkey and any vegetable, or just individual things. And if you don’t want to use chicken broth water works just fine and doesn’t change the taste.

When you first get home you will be on "Baby Food" for a while. Baby Food can get expensive, especially if you buy some that you find out taste bad. But anything that has been through your blender on puree or higher and comes out smooth and no lumps is okay. Then if you don’t like it, dump it! And make something else…

This was my food list:

Did it seem like it would never stop?

I did, and it lasted several days. As a result I began to get weak. So I finally gave up and called my doctor. (Isn't there some song about calling my doctor and he said put something in a coconut, shake it all up...?)

This is what MY doctor said:

Go get some Metamucil. Take this three times a day. What, I thought that is what you use when you are stopped up and need a laxative. I ask the pharmacist and he said that it works both ways as an aid when you need a laxative and to add bulk when you can’t stop, diarrhea. He even said to be careful because you can get stopped up with this stuff if not careful. Can you believe it?

I was also given a couple of scripts in case the Metamucil didn't hold me. One was for Viokase which is a drug for something about digestion. I gotta find out more about this one. Also Cholestyramine which combines with bile acids to keep them from being reabsorbed and allows them to pass in the feces.

This was interesting to me so I hope it is interesting to at least someone out there.

This next tip is a little different, one of my friends had a problem that his wife did not support his choice to have WLS. She would not even go to the meetings with the doctor. As a result of this his doctor would not do his surgery. He was at a loss and could not understand what to do. First of all let me say that I am no skilled counselor or in any way trained in this area of problems. This is a copy of the letter I sent him. He went over this letter with his wife and I am proud to say she started going to the meetings with him and now he is set for surgery. I thought that if what ever it was that I wrote helped him and his wife, then just maybe, there is someone else out there that might benefit from this same letter.

Subj: about spouse not supporting WLS
Date: 5/8/99 12:50:09 AM Central Daylight Time
From: DarylGDav
To: ##########, ossg@onelist.com

Hi ####,

I read your post with dismay. I am, and at the same time -- I am not surprised at your wife's reaction. But I feel she will come around in time. I don't think you came to the acceptance of WLS overnight yourself. It may just take her a little longer.

Yes, there are risks involved, I have even heard of children dying from having their tonsils removed. But that doesn't stop parents from wanting their children to have the tonsils removed when a doctor says it needs to be done. This "is" major surgery.

Any time you go under the knife there are risks. But, remember if you qualify for WLS then every moment you continue at your present condition there are many risks anyway. The thing my wife and I looked at was this, my health was failing at my present condition. It had gotten to the point where every week Diane could see me getting weaker and weaker. I was going to end up home bound or hospital bound, unable to get around and an early death for sure. Maybe if I had been heavy all my life the weight related problems would not have been so devastating. Maybe they would have been hidden by the body's ability to try to adapt. Then one day -- Snap! It would have been surprisingly over.

That is what you and your wife have to think about. If you qualify for WLS and don't have a lot of related health problems showing up now, THEY WILL, THEY WILL. The stress the body goes through from obesity causes the same degradations as old age. The body wears out.

Picture this, "if" you were just 40 pounds over weight. Take your wife to the grocery store, have her pick up a 20 pound bag of dog food. Now pick up another 20 pound bag of dog food. While holding one under each arm, have her walk slowly down each isle caring the 2 bags of dog food. How many isles can she make it down? Can she manage the entire grocery store? Whatever the answer, this is the result -- It was hard! Her arms got tired, her legs felt the strain, her back may be hurting, and most likely her pulse and respiration will have increased. And that was only 40 pounds!!!

You are over 100 pounds overweight if you qualify for WLS. That is a minimum of five 20 pound bags of dog food. How much longer does she think your arms, legs, back and heart will last? It is a fact that there are risks for the obese. But continuing the way you are, there can be but one sure thing -- an early death. The option of WLS gives you "a chance to live longer" and be happier.

I feel the main reason she doesn't want to agree to your choice of WLS is that she is afraid she is going to lose you. That is love, she doesn't want to give in to a chance of loosing you early. You, that is right YOU have to understand that. But she needs to go with you to the meetings with the doctor to learn more about the surgery. The more she knows the better she can deal with her final decision. If she makes her decision without all the facts, how can she live with herself knowing she deprived the two of you from a chance for you to be together longer. (that sentence doesn't sound quite right, but you know what I mean)

If she wont go to weight loss class, will she go to family counseling? That might be your next step. The both of you have to get it together first, then WLS.

The abdominal binder is a large elastic band with Velcro closures that wraps around your abdominal area to give the abdominal wall muscles more support after surgery. They can be obtained from most medical equipment supply companies. And if you have a script from your doctor most insurance companies will pay for them for postoperative patients. My doctor insists on all his patients wearing one after returning home from surgery. In the hospital he has his patients use them with supervision due to the fact they can hinder breathing and cause pneumonia. But after you are up and around a lot he wants you to wear one at all times. He says it really does cut done on the number of post-op patients getting a hernia.

One day after I was home from the hospital my daughter came over and she was in distress. She had gotten a flat tire and could not figure how to get the spare tire out from under her Van. She was in a hurry to get to the doctors office because Troy, my grandson, was sick -- so she drove on the flat tire to my house for help. Of course this tore the tire all up. I was just getting out of the shower so I dressed quickly and forgot to put the binder back on.

I changed her flat, torn up tire, putting on the spare which was a mini tire -- not recommended for long durations of driving. I ask her if she had the money to get another tire to replace the one she had torn up? Of course her response was, No. So I went up in the loft over the garage and brought down a tire for her, carried it to the van and placed it in the back. I told her to have it aired up and put on the van as soon as possible. She was on her way.

Since this was my first week home after my surgery I went back into the house exhausted and hurting. At the time this happened I was also connected to food pumps and other stuff. I had disconnected everything while I changed the tire, now settled down in my easy chair I started reconnecting all the tubes. When I looked down at my abdomen where I was hurting -- low and behold I had caused a hernia along my incision line.

Now the binder is helping to hold back the hernia. I feel sure I might not have gotten the hernia if I had been wearing the binder as instructed by my doctor. My recommendation to you is to get a binder from your local medical supply. My insurance paid for it without any questions.