New to Group under Luton and Dunstable Hospital

[Devine Debbie]

Hi There,

My Name is Debbie and i live in Bedford, 46 Single mum of two and carer to my 22 year old with learning needs, ( I do have a boyfriend i see at weekends) I was refered to L & D by my GP as i am a yo yo dieter and emotional eater and all diets i end up gaining, i also suffer with depression (not helped by weight gain) and anxiety,,

I had my first appointment with the consultant this Tuesday and took all my details down, i go back June 16th where i will see a Nurse and possiblly put on a Milk diet, trying to find out as much as i can about it as it seems scary, just milk,,

anyway Hello all

 

[FeeBee]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[Ian2Big]

Hi Debbie,
Welcome. I am also at L&D and there are a number of others us on this board all at different stages, so feel free to ask us questions. The L&D milk diet is different from many "milk diets" used by other hospitals. It is not as scary as you think, takes a little time to get your head around it, but it does work and is easy to follow.
Regards
Ian

 

[Devine Debbie]

Thank you Ian2Big and FeeBee ,,, only on my first few days on the diary filling, i have filled everyday from Tuesday with what i eat, feel and do once i got used to the whats happening section, I see Dr Zen at present but he said i will see the Nurse next time ,, 16th June regarding the Milk diet, not sure if i start it then or not, will have wait i guess, but even with filling the diary out i am trying to be good and not even had a take out this week or a greggs which is good going for me, I suffer with PCOS and have IBS -C i did loose 3st with SW once but gained it all back and more, ,,,, ,, I just not sure what to expect with the programme... a little daunting

 

[Bling Babe]

Hi Debbie welcome to the forum, this has been so beneficial for me as there is so much help, support and encouragement, as Ian says ask any questions someone will usually have an answer but we are all here for you to lean on at any time.

I'm also with L and D, you will with be assessed for 6 months or 1 year depending on your BMI/co-morbidities (my assessment is for 1 year which is up in June) after your assessment period you will see a hospital doctor who will purely assess if he thinks your fit enough for surgery and he will put you forward to have an MDT meeting, meet the surgeon/consultant, see a psychologist and anaesthetic, all of this I (hopefully) will start after June although the did allow me to see Hospital doctor early so it's one less hoop to jump through after June, following this once you have been accepted for surgery I believe it's anything between 4 to 8 months until you have surgery, it is a long journey and there are many hoops to jump through but hopefully it will be worth it. I ate as usual whilst doing my diary as I wanted them to get a true picture of my eating habits. You should start your milk diet after next appointment it is indeed 4 weeks of semi skimmed milk, 4 pints a day, 2 oxo or bovril drinks (to replace electrolytes in your body) and your allowed 3 little pots of sugar free jelly or 1 sachets sugar free jelly made up, 1 multi vitamin and 2 sugar free gums and unlimited free fluids (sugar free or water) I used chicken OXO in hot milk, it's delicious, almost like chicken soup, I also made my sachet of jelly with just 7 fluid ounces of boiling water then made it up to 1 pint with milk Mmmm again delicious, raspberry was my favourite. The reason for this diet is to 1) prove commitment 2) show you can tolerate a high protein diet and 3) to help you lose 5% of your body weight which you must lose before you can continue with the journey, the rest of my assessment period has just been seeing dietician at each appointment, being weigh and talking about what your eating. I lost 8kg on the milk diet and have continued to lose 2 and a half stone but like you I wouldn't be able to maintain this and would eventually put it all back on and more. You do have to keep that 5% weight loss off throughout, the milk diet isn't so bad, I found it better because it removed all food choices, we do have to do it again for 2 weeks (I believe) immediately before surgery as it shrinks the liver, this is important as they need to be able to move the liver during surgery and I've heard that if they get inside and find it hasn't shrunk they will close you up and won't operate
I hope this is of some help to you, I may have forgotten some things but I'm sure others will let you know, they really are a great bunch on here wishing you much luck and look forward to following your journey x

 

[Bling Babe]

Have just looked at your statistics and your initial assessment period will be 1 year X

 

[Devine Debbie]

Yes Bling Babe Dr Zen said it would be 12 months, my BMI is about 42....it seams each time i lost weight something was against me if it wasn't stress and depression caused by kids dad (now my ex causing me hassle) having a Hystorectomy caused me to gain again, then a umbilical hernia repair and not forgeting have a child with special needs thought his life the ups and downs, I kind of get slated by people as my dr has refered me this route and told me to stop slimming groups as they are bad for a person like me, i am pretty scared of the thought of an op but not sure what options are open to me, yes whilst i am just over 17sr i feel like i am an elephant or when ibs bloat kicks in i look like a melon on Legs,. I however i know i am not the biggest i have been in the past but i don't want to get there again, but the Dr did say that the body gets used to the smaller stomach after about 12 months then it can grow again, (thus gaining weight) kinda worrying really, I am under going therapy with the freedom programme as i was mentally abused by my kids dad (taking 30 years to realise this) then going on to a freedom forever programme followed by a confidence course in september ,,all ourside of the hospital.. But i am doing this for me.. and my confidence and the peri menopause sucks so does being vitamin d deficient and the anti depressants (which gains weight again) ... Best i start eating like i was so they can see what a eater i can be .. had 4 days of salad so far which some days i do some but not most days,, sorry for the waffle but feel a failure as i am here in the first place, xxxxxxxxxxxx anyway away at my fellas this weekend with kids and he can make me laugh again

 

[Devine Debbie]

Thank you for replying

Hi Debbie welcome to the forum, this has been so beneficial for me as there is so much help, support and encouragement, as Ian says ask any questions someone will usually have an answer but we are all here for you to lean on at any time.

I'm also with L and D, you will with be assessed for 6 months or 1 year depending on your BMI/co-morbidities (my assessment is for 1 year which is up in June) after your assessment period you will see a hospital doctor who will purely assess if he thinks your fit enough for surgery and he will put you forward to have an MDT meeting, meet the surgeon/consultant, see a psychologist and anaesthetic, all of this I (hopefully) will start after June although the did allow me to see Hospital doctor early so it's one less hoop to jump through after June, following this once you have been accepted for surgery I believe it's anything between 4 to 8 months until you have surgery, it is a long journey and there are many hoops to jump through but hopefully it will be worth it. I ate as usual whilst doing my diary as I wanted them to get a true picture of my eating habits. You should start your milk diet after next appointment it is indeed 4 weeks of semi skimmed milk, 4 pints a day, 2 oxo or bovril drinks (to replace electrolytes in your body) and your allowed 3 little pots of sugar free jelly or 1 sachets sugar free jelly made up, 1 multi vitamin and 2 sugar free gums and unlimited free fluids (sugar free or water) I used chicken OXO in hot milk, it's delicious, almost like chicken soup, I also made my sachet of jelly with just 7 fluid ounces of boiling water then made it up to 1 pint with milk Mmmm again delicious, raspberry was my favourite. The reason for this diet is to 1) prove commitment 2) show you can tolerate a high protein diet and 3) to help you lose 5% of your body weight which you must lose before you can continue with the journey, the rest of my assessment period has just been seeing dietician at each appointment, being weigh and talking about what your eating. I lost 8kg on the milk diet and have continued to lose 2 and a half stone but like you I wouldn't be able to maintain this and would eventually put it all back on and more. You do have to keep that 5% weight loss off throughout, the milk diet isn't so bad, I found it better because it removed all food choices, we do have to do it again for 2 weeks (I believe) immediately before surgery as it shrinks the liver, this is important as they need to be able to move the liver during surgery and I've heard that if they get inside and find it hasn't shrunk they will close you up and won't operate
I hope this is of some help to you, I may have forgotten some things but I'm sure others will let you know, they really are a great bunch on here wishing you much luck and look forward to following your journey x

 

[Bling Babe]

Yes Bling Babe Dr Zen said it would be 12 months, my BMI is about 42....it seams each time i lost weight something was against me if it wasn't stress and depression caused by kids dad (now my ex causing me hassle) having a Hystorectomy caused me to gain again, then a umbilical hernia repair and not forgeting have a child with special needs thought his life the ups and downs, I kind of get slated by people as my dr has refered me this route and told me to stop slimming groups as they are bad for a person like me, i am pretty scared of the thought of an op but not sure what options are open to me, yes whilst i am just over 17sr i feel like i am an elephant or when ibs bloat kicks in i look like a melon on Legs,. I however i know i am not the biggest i have been in the past but i don't want to get there again, but the Dr did say that the body gets used to the smaller stomach after about 12 months then it can grow again, (thus gaining weight) kinda worrying really, I am under going therapy with the freedom programme as i was mentally abused by my kids dad (taking 30 years to realise this) then going on to a freedom forever programme followed by a confidence course in september ,,all ourside of the hospital.. But i am doing this for me.. and my confidence and the peri menopause sucks so does being vitamin d deficient and the anti depressants (which gains weight again) ... Best i start eating like i was so they can see what a eater i can be .. had 4 days of salad so far which some days i do some but not most days,, sorry for the waffle but feel a failure as i am here in the first place, xxxxxxxxxxxx anyway away at my fellas this weekend with kids and he can make me laugh again

Your definitely not a failure, obesity is a disease and anyone who slates you has absolutely no idea whatsoever what they are talking about, they obviously, like many in society, think it's an easy way out, how WRONG are they, even though I haven't had surgery yet I know by reading this forum, websites and books that this is far from easy, let them think whatever they want to think, they are obviously very narrow minded and to be honest aren't even worth talkingi about. Give them a book to read or signpost them to a website (probably not this one as it's nice to have private thoughts, but that's your call) if they can bring themselves to do some of their own research they may just change their mind, wls is only a tool to help us, it's a lifetime lifestyle and diet change which takes a lot of hard work and determination for life!! And there will be many tears and hurdles to jump along the way Xx

 

[Bling Babe]

what I meant to say was I think your assessment will be for 6 months but if he said a year then I could be wrong

 

[witchlady]

Good luck!

 

[Devine Debbie]

Hi Debbie,
Welcome. I am also at L&D and there are a number of others us on this board all at different stages, so feel free to ask us questions. The L&D milk diet is different from many "milk diets" used by other hospitals. It is not as scary as you think, takes a little time to get your head around it, but it does work and is easy to follow.
Regards
Ian

HI Ian, can you tell me, at present i have to fill out a food diary before i go back in June, I have done 7 days so far but my book only has 11 more pages so maybe enough for 11 more days, now am i to do a diary every day for 6 weeks till i go back or a few days here and there, if i need to do it every day then i best get photo copying the empty sheets in book. ..

 

[Ian2Big]

Hi,
I did mine for a week, been very honest not trying to diet just following my normal food intake. It helped highlighting where I had issues with food. You need to be honesty and recorded everything and what you where doing. This identifies if for example you eat when stressed or bored.

 

[Lottiewishes]

Hi I will be under Luton when I have my op-I saw my go last Nov and got an appointment at the Norwich hospital in Jan still waiting for my second appointment. Xxx

 

[Maria61]

Hi I will be under Luton when I have my op-I saw my go last Nov and got an appointment at the Norwich hospital in Jan still waiting for my second appointment. Xxx

Welcome Debbie and good luck. I have my op date for 19 September, nervous but excited. I am also at Luton and the staff have been fantastic to me. I am under the excellent Mr Jain. The best thing about this forum is the great support and making a special friend of Bling Babe who I was lucky enough to meet in person at Luton on 15 June. Good luck to you xxx

 

[Lel71]

Hi all. I'm doing the milk diet in 2 weeks time to then go back and see the dietician in December. I've met with the anaethetist and had bloods done,ecg,echo gram requests done also. So not really sure where I go from here!

 

[Bling Babe]

Hi, good luck with the milk, you’ll be fine, I’m not sure of how they work at Luton now because things have changed since I was going through my assessmen, it’ll be interesting to read your journey x

 

[Lel71]

Thanks. I'll keep everyone posted.x