Papillon Princess

Hi Melissa, I will be 4 weeks post op tomorrow, I'm 23 y/o and also had a large hiatal hernia repair. I have 5 incisions with 4 of them being very small and 1 being about 3-4 inches. I totally know how you feel! I felt HORRIBLE for the first 2 weeks, felt pretty crappy during week 3 but around day 18 I woke up feeling pretty good! It WILL get better. I did not have a regretful day but I did have a few days I just wanted to sleep away. Get lots of rest and don't sit or lay for too long. Take little walks when possible and this will help. The weakness is normal after any type of major surgery and also the lack of calories and nutrients. I went back to work after 2 weeks and that 3rd week was very rough. I know it may seem like it'll never get better, but it does! I'm starting back to the gym tonight and have my first fill Wednesday. If you need anything, feel free to contact me on here. You'll get through this and it will be worth it.

I had 2 protein shakes a day and one small high protein meal. (4 oz of lean meat) It was alright after day 4, my body was finally getting used to it and I wasn't having such horrid cravings or hunger pains.

Yes they're in the baking section with the other extracts (where you find the vanilla flavoring) I'm not sure about the brand you're referring to but I think most extracts taste the same. I bought the raspberry lemonade crystal light and that's really yummy! (They gave that to me at the hospital so I got some after I came home too). I'm sure the cherry would be great in it for a little extra burst of flavor! Mmmm making me thirsty! But I just ate, still have another 45 minutes till liquids again haha.

Labs are amazing dogs! I grew up with labs (we bred labs, so I'm quite familiar with them). The yellow labs are gorgeous, but we always had chocolate labs. Did you have a lot of chewing problems with them when they were puppies? We sure did until they were all about 2 years old, then they finally stopped! Our girls all lived into their mid teens and were quite active and healthy until their last few months. I sure do miss them.

Yes they are the best and bring so much joy to my life! I have a papillon and he is what many consider a "therapy dog" ...he's not technically a therapy dog because we don't work with a medical professional. They call them "activity assistance dogs"...he is so wonderful at it too. He LOVES people (young and old), very intelligent and loves to do tricks so people enjoy that. I'm no longer in the medical field but enjoy visiting people who are sick and being able to bring a smile to their face with him. Yes I do have a papillon, they are the smartest dog I've EVER met! It's amazing how responsive they are and how fast they pick up commands. He's such a happy, outgoing little guy too. A beagle dachsund mix...yeah I wouldn't think that would be too bright of a dog. The doxie's are known to be pretty stubborn and beagles typically aren't too bright. Both follow their noses more than their ears. The beagles are typically very sweet and doxies can be sweet but have the independent streak. So I can just imagine what she's like! My parents have 2 golden retrievers...and unfortunately they're not like the normal golden - they're stubborn, crazy and don't like to do anything you ask them to do. But they're a BEAUTIFUL example of a golden and very sweet like the goldens. If you have any pix of the beagle/doxie, I'd love to see! I usually think the doxie mixes are very cute, I've considered getting one in the future but not sure if I want a stubborn natured dog. (I'm sure I could work with them, but after having a pap make life so easy, it might be pretty frustrating!)

Kitty, No problem, if you have questions, feel free to private message me as well if you'd like. Any advice on here should be run by your dr or NUT to find out what they would like you to do since everyone has different ideas on what works best. I've read a lot of people on here use sweet & low without a problem, my NUT said it was fine as long as we weren't using sugar. If you like any flavored teas, all of crystal light's teas are great! They have a peach tea, a red tea, etc and they're all very good. Full size blenders are just obnoxious unless you're having a margarita party! LoL I don't know how people use those or have room on their counters for them. I think BB&B would have more options for snow cone machines and if you get one of those 20% off coupons in the mail, even better! The chewable fiber really isn't that bad, it does stick in my teeth a little bit, but swishing with a little Water takes care of it. A person above recommended using the dissolvable fiber, I personally can't go that way! I'd rather chew it and get it done with. I don't take a calcium supplement, I'm on a bariatric Vitamin for lap band patients and my dr said if you take a high quality vitamin, you won't have to worry about additional supplements. He also does regular blood tests to make sure the levels are acceptable. Multi Vitamins this is heavily debated on here! A lot of people on here talk about taking kids chewables and adult gummies etc. If you compare the amount of nutrients with vitamins that are made for a bariatric patient, you will see that they are really lacking in some areas! My Dr is very against just using kids vitamins and the gummies but does not require that you buy vitamins from him. I go through bariatric choice for my vitamins, they have some great prices and lots of flavors and options. The dissolving Tylenol tabs should be fine! Just use the recommended amount of acetaminophen for adults on an adult package. I'm not sure of the strength difference, I just thought the liquid was slightly cheaper (had more per bottle than the package of dissolvable). I had read so much on here about people having issues with swallowing and recommending the liquid, but now I'm just using it to get rid of it. I can swallow pills just fine. The dr had me on 500 mg vicodin tabs and I'd just break them in half and I took them just fine. So if you can swallow pills after and you prefer pills, go for it! My Dr. let me go back to meds as regular the night of surgery (none were liquid or chewable, except my fiber). If you decide to just try swallowing the pills and they seem too big, break them in half or 4ths and you should be fine with 1 at a time.

Thank you for at least recognizing I meant that in a good way...reading things online, you can't always understand exactly how a person means it. Which may be why I came off the way I did and interpreted her post the way I did. Thanks for letting me know about the long haired shepards - I've never been around shepards and didn't even know there was a difference with long haired vs short haired. I definitely understand the dog being loved by you whether it's "valued" in the show ring, by top breeders or just an "oddball". Papillon's that are shown are usually chosen at 6-9 months because they can change drastically! It's about impossible to find a show prospect in a puppy. I personally didn't care whether my little guy was show quality, just as long as he was a good example of the breed (temperament & some physical qualities). There are major differences between a papillon & gsd for sure, paps are not as well known as the gsd's and I'd say it's probably easier to find a gsd, so price would most likely be lower. As far as pets just coming along...that's why we have 6 cats, we didn't go out and choose them, they chose us! So I wasn't judging you for having a coworker that just happened to have a dog that worked out perfectly for you. I think it's great that you were available to provide a loving home for her. We have a dog park here that I take all 3 of my dogs to and they love it! Let us know when you have pix, I'd love to see

Haha wow...that was not to be offensive. Glad you took it so well... First off, I did NOT say you were an irresponsible pet owner, I simply went off the information you stated. I have bred dogs, helped in shelters and training programs which is why I react the way I do. I assumed you were saying that you are just wanting someone to hand you a dog for free and not realizing that dogs truly aren't free. Some people don't think of the costs beyond buying the dog (I don't know you, so I took a moment to say my part and hoped that IF you were a dog lover, like myself, you would understand my concern with people making statements like that).

I am a new bandster but I think I can help I think it is absolutely reasonable to lose 25-30 lbs in the next 4 months. Start with a food journal and record exactly what you eat daily and focus on your Proteins and definitely go low carb. I am 3 weeks post op today and I've lost 21 lbs since my surgery (i lost 13 lbs during the pre op diet). I try to walk at least a half hour a day (I can't wait to get back to the gym and start to push myself more!) I eat about 1000 calories a day. Writing down everything will hold you accountable and will help a lot with making you realize what you are eating. You can expect to lose 1-2 lbs a week (2 lbs a week for 16 weeks is 32 lbs...so I think that is pretty reasonable to have a goal at 25 and hope to lose a little more if possible!). Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs with shredded cheese lunch - Protein shake (At least 24g protein) 100-150 calories dinner - lean chicken breast, veggie burger (without the bun)...any lean meat about 4 oz. Add a veggie if you're still really hungry or cottage cheese. I add a little shredded cheese to each meat and LOVE a little side of cottage cheese. I'm not supposed to snack - unless it's Jello or SF popsicles...so I don't have too many choices on that. My dr doesn't allow milk or any drinks with more than 10 calories. I can drink crystal light all day if I want, but look at your drinks and make sure you're not just drinking your calories. Everyone's nut may do things a little different, so go through some ideas and see what works best for you. This is working well for me so I plan on sticking to it.

I'm sorry but cheap or free dogs are not something to look for. Dogs take a lot of money to care for and if you can't pay for the dog, you might want to reconsider getting one (things come up...annual vet visits are normal but anything can happen and I'm sure you'd want to be able to pay to keep your dog happy and healthy). With that said, if you're looking for a purebred shepard that is not the price a major breeder would charge - consider looking at AKC's website and you'll find rescue groups for purebred dogs. Search anywhere online and I'm sure you can find a shepard rescue group. Rescues will charge a fee based on the dog (the more adoptable, the higher the price...so a german shepard puppy in good health could go from $300-500), a young adult might be closer to $150-300 and a sickly dog or a senior dog is likely to be free or cheap. If you are serious about that breed, I highly recommend looking into the rescues that focus on the breed you like and I'm sure you can find one that really needs a good home. (Sorry if that seemed like a lecture...I'm a major advocate for responsible pet ownership and feel some people don't realize what a responsibility a dog is. If you have any questions or want help in finding more information, I'd be more than happy to try and help)

That's a great letter! I hit a lot of those points when telling my friends and family. Mine was pretty much just "shutup until I finish, then you can ask questions...no objections until I'm done educating you though!". I had a few looks like "OMG...you're going to do what?" and faces slowly started to change as I explained more about it and how it worked. By the end, they were congratulating me on taking this step and backing me up 110%! I think it's important that they truly understand how it works and don't assume it's such a terrible thing or the easy way out.

Hi Kitty, Glad I can help (I do tend to have quite an opinion and do tend to lean towards my dr being one of the best...so take my advice as you'd like to. I don't mean it in a bad way or mean that you're wrong and I'm right! Everyone is different in what works for them. A few things...you said you got creamsicles and fudgesicles – check with your nutritionist on when and if you’re allowed to have these (even though they’re SF) they’re not a clear liquid, you would need to be on full liquids. Creamsicles and fudgesicles are also quite a bit higher in calories than SF popsicles. (Just a thought…it’s still up to you though). As far as the syrups, walmart and bed bath & beyond have sugar free snow cone mixes that are good in the blenders. (If you want a snowcone machine, go for it! I personally love my magic bullet and I can use it for lots of other stuff too!) I LOVE iced tea as well! I drink mine with truvia and it is so good! The truvia is quite sweet, so generally you won’t need as much as if you were using actual sugar. It is a little pricy but when you see how much you’ll actually use, it’s not too bad. Also if you didn’t know, crystal light has some REALLY yummy iced tea flavors (the regular is 99% decaf and the decaf is 99.9% decaf – so not much difference, regular should be okay). I love the lemon decaf iced tea by crystal light, it’s so good! Any type of stevia should be okay to try, but I do love truvia so I haven’t tried any others at this time. J The chewable Fiber is pretty good (IMO) I buy fiber choice (I’ve had 2 flavors – the orange is very good and there is also one for weight management and it’s strawberry flavored) Both of them are good. Amazon has some great deals on fiber choice if you find one you like. I get my Vitamins through Bariatric Choice, they have great prices and quite a variety of items. The liquid Tylenol isn’t that bad, they don’t have an “adult” option, just get the children’s Tylenol and calculate the dose of acetaminophen that you’ll need. I think I take 4-6 tsp of the children’s Tylenol (double check on my math for that…I use a pre measured thing and figured it out the other day). The bubble gum isn’t too bad.

Loly, You mentioned you're drinking milkshakes...I'm not trying to give medical advice but I hope your dr told you that you probably shouldn't be drinking milkshakes. High calorie drinks get right past the band and defeat the purpose. The Protein in the milkshakes does not even come close to outweighing the calories. I personally am not allowed any milk products (aside from fat free cottage cheese and some cheese added to my meat). If you are allowed milk products, I still wouldn't suggest a milkshake. If you want something of that consistency, try using your Protein powder with skim milk and some ice cubes. This will give a similar consistency to a milkshake. I'm not trying to be rude with this, but hoping that you have as much success as possible! Try not to drink your calories away.

Yeah I do! I usually buy the extracts from WalMart they seem to have the most variety (around here). My favorites are banana, Cherry, Cinnamon (adding real cinnamon tastes gritty), coconut, and root beer! I usually add these to tea or vanilla Protein powder. The cherry, banana and coconut are good with chocolate Protein Powder also. The root beer is AMAZING! I blend the root beer with vanilla protein powder and ice in my magic bullet and it's just like a rootbeer float! YUM! My absolute favorite 2 (only together) is peppermint extract with chocolate extract. I miss the peppermint mocha at starbucks and this sure does do the trick! There's no fat or calories in extracts but you get LOTS of flavor. Some of them do take a little bit to acquire the taste, but overall, it's better than no flavor. (Everyone is different, so if some of the above flavors you don't like normally, I probably wouldn't suggest them. )

Hopefully you can get a script for it, it works really well for me! I haven't actually vomited but felt so sick like I was going to and the zofran helped and it was very quick too! They have 2 different types - one is a pill (very small) that you'll swallow and one is for under the tongue and will dissolve (it tastes kind of like grape). The dissolvable does seem to kick in a little faster, they gave that to me when I was vomiting from migraines in the past and it worked very quick!

Congrats! I'm 3 weeks post op tomorrow and finally doing pretty good! Some advice - make sure someone is around to help with your kids (especially the 2 year old) for at least 2 weeks. You need to avoid lifting and bending too much during this time and make sure you heal well. Make sure you have plenty of fluids, especially if you get tired of Water quickly. I had stocked up on Jello, sf popsicles, crystal light, chewable Fiber supplements, liquid tylenol, steri strips and Protein mixes. The one thing I realized I should have bought more of was the popsicles. The popsicles have been a life saver when I'm craving something sweet. Try some different Protein shakes to find what kind you like. I would also focus on eating better, I've read some people on here don't have to do the pre op diet, but they tend to be the ones having a hard time after the band. If you don't have a pre op diet, try to work your way up to 2 protein shakes a day and 1 small protein meal everyday. This will help like no other with cravings right after the surgery. I have my first fill in a week and I'm not having major cravings and I feel satisfied most of the time. Anyways, if you have any questions or issues, jump on here and I'm sure someone will help you. If it's serious pain or problems, call your dr. Good luck and remember, this tool will only work as hard as we do with it but we can all do this! We're always here to motivate eachother.

By flavor drops I assume you're talking about extracts? I love to use extracts! It takes a VERY small amount, no calories, no sugar and very flavorful. I hope the Jello works for flavoring your drinks! I'm not allowed fruit for at least 6-9 months and I sure do miss it. But I trust my dr and know he's doing what he has found works best.

Shirley it's called zofran. It works great and I haven't had to continue taking it. You take it when you feel nauseous and it is not a preventative.

I know this is a little old but I use Seasonique and I LOVE it! I had tried a few others before it and this one has been the best. My cramps were debilitating, I would have to leave school and just had to cry in bed. They gave me pain meds to control it because nothing otc was working. I was put on BC when I was 15 because it was so bad. BC helped a lot, but I've been on seasonique about 3 years now and it's working great! I don't really PMS or have cravings on it and my periods are so light I usually have 2 light days and 1 heavy day (which isn't really all that heavy). It's only 4 periods a year which is also the greatest thing ever!

This is something to discuss with your dr. Each surgeon may have different ideas of when you should go back. My surgeon gives up to 3 weeks off. I have a desk job and planned to go back after one week but I was unable to and had to stay another week. You may need to go back to work with restrictions for a little bit (if possible). If you're not 100% sure, wait until your post op and see how you feel. That's when I decided I needed to stay home longer. Yesterday I was 18 days post op and attempted to ride my motorcycle (sportbike) and boy that didn't go well! My dr told me 4-6 weeks until I can lift heavy things and that 450 lb bike didn't qualify but it was so nice I had to try!

I have a pill for nausea, you may want to consider talking to your dr about it. I haven't had a fill yet (2 weeks till my first one) so I don't know for that but the pill my dr prescribed helped a lot about a week post op when I started getting nauseous.

I personally wouldn't look into the nestle syrups (haven't looked at the labels in a while though, so things may have changed) but I still don't think those are too good for you. I've read a lot of people on here add SF Jello or pudding mix to their shakes so you may want to try that. The pudding mixes make it thicker and creamier, but I haven't tried the jello flavors. So consider a SF strawberry jello and remember a little goes a long way with that so just try a little at a time.

We're all trying to change our lives...consider something else instead of going out to eat. Try something else that you guys enjoy, right now the weather is nice, consider a walk in the park together. I was missing going out to eat all the time with family and friends but I'm starting to learn other things that I can enjoy with them. I'm no longer eating out to enjoy it, I'm eating because I need the nutrition. If you really want to go out to eat, try going somewhere that has Breakfast and eating scrambled eggs or go somewhere with grilled chicken. TGI Friday's has an awesome sizzling cheese chicken that is grilled and if you chew well, you should do fine with it.

Ticker - try going on the ticker website again and entering your information and make sure you copy the correct URL. Paste it into your signature line and it should show. 4 days and no energy is pretty darn normal! I was 16 days post op before I felt pretty good (I had a little more pain than most, so if your pain has subsided fairly well, I'm sure you'll regain some energy much sooner). I returned to work 14 days post op and was extremely tired after work each day. I think it's going to take about a month to really feel totally energized, I'll be 3 weeks post op on Tuesday and I get worn out pretty easy but I'm finally not having the pain and I feel decent. Hang in there, walk as much as you can and drink lots of Water. You'll start feeling better very soon.

You don't have to have the biggest goal - right now you can work on "mini goals" that you know you can achieve and then when you get to a good weight, you'll know. You can look at a BMI calc for a "normal BMI" but it really depends on you and how you feel at a certain weight. Do your best, make mini goals and when you reach one, make another and keep working on it.