mi75

i am a nurse and worked in surgery, so the thought of anesthesia was very real for me. however, i have great faith in the anesthesia team at the institution where i had surgery and i knew they would look after me. one of the main things is to make sure your cardiology clearance includes the topic of anesthesia clearance and it should be fine. on the other hand, i KNEW if i didn't do this i would die in the next few years anyway.

my drain came out this afternoon and i feel great! so GOOD not being tethered to something...the actual removal was WEIRD and kinda painful because it felt like it was wrapped around my guts and she had to pull a bit, but it was over in seconds. EVERYTHING so far has been great. no complications, no unforseens, no nausea/vomiting, etc. onward!

i plan to cut mine super short once it starts. i love my hair texture now, it's fine but very curly and i don't want to see it thin out more. really, i hope that i look so good that nobody really notices my hair loss and only compliments me on my loss!

i'm only 7 days post, but my nut told me that it's OK and actually good for me to continue on at least one protein shake a day, since we are eating very small amounts. it's a surefire way to make sure we are getting protein...i wish you luck! I will be about 2 wks behind you on solids.

i am allowed mashed potatoes with cheese (for some protein) on my puree phase which begins in 9 days. no rice though. my nut was insistant that rice be avoided for at least 6 months and then, only have about 1 tbsp for a serving.

i can. really no problem. i am having two 25 oz Protein shake/milk drinks every day plus these little 10oz bottles of Water, and i'm using a half of a crystal lite in them for variety. having 3 of them a day if i can but yesterday i only got in 2. i am really going beyond what my requirements are, but i am always concerned about dehydrating and such...i am 7 days out.

i agree. i had gall bladder attacks for almost a YEAR before i had it out. two days after that surgery, i had a stone which lodged in my greater bile duct. MORE pain! sounds exactly like it to me...sadly even after your gb is gone, you can still have problems with stones, a story i am all too familiar with. it's all on me though, i never followed the diet that they encouraged after my gb surgery...

my highest weight was 231. after pre-op diet my weight was 218. surgery last monday, 6/23. today scale says 215. 3 lbs since surgery a week ago? does that seem wrong? i'm not expecting to lose like 25 lbs in a week or anything, i guess i just thought it would be a bit more a week out. tomorrow i get my drain out and that might make a difference too. my weights are all morning 'dry' weights. i am happy with any loss but just want some opinions on it. and yes, i'll be staying off the scale. i'm not scale-paranoid and this was the first time i got on the scale since surgery. btw, i know that this COULD be normal swelling, bruising, Fluid retention, IV fluids, etc. would that be the case a week out? thoughts?

great thanks everyone! i hoped this was a normal pattern, and it makes sense. onward!!!

well, everyone, it's surprising that my question has gotten all the traffic it has! i'm happy to read that for the most part, everyone realizes they are human and allow some room for the occasions of eating out. i am now post op and truthfully i have ZERO food cravings. McD's still sounds good, but my hubs and kids had it the other day and it was fine for me to sit and watch! in time, i will have to face the reality of eating again and my appetite WILL return. it will be interesting to see how it goes!

i think you rock that bikini. your starting stat is very similar to mine, gives me hope!

i wonder too. i am only 6 days out but all i'm focused on is Protein, fluids. repeat. i know once my diet is advanced i'll feel a bit more human because i'll be up to things like eggs, refried Beans, etc. and more of a schedule too. right now i'm told to eat or drink practically every hour i'm awake. thank goodness i took 4 wks off work, this is a job in itself! i believe it WILL get better, and it will all be worth it. hang in there!

i seem to be doing a little better than i thought i would, having little problems intaking fluids or my Protein. yesterday i was able to finish TWO 21 oz Protein shakes by 1130 am and got all my Fluid requirements by 1pm. today seems to be a little harder but so far so good. i KNOW that what you are experiencing is completely normal. everyone does differently but i think it's more common for folks to have a harder time than not. keep it up!

right now i'm only 6 days post op and in no mood to cook. i've used a canned cream of potato with bacon and canned bean with bacon. both lowfat versions and skim milk. a spoonful of each in a saucepan, some milk, heat thoroughly, strain. done. easy! i'm getting a little bored with this option though, so i'm going to the store later today to see what else i can come up with.

i can eat the whole cup. yesterday i had two 21 oz Protein shakes (protein with extra milk added) plus 2 bottles of Water before lunch time. i am having very little problems with liquids, 6 days out.

I can't believe that June 23rd has come so fast. I am ready, but still a good amount of nerves have set in. I have had SO little in the way of calories and nutrients over the past week. My appetite has just completely vanished on the 2 wk pre-op diet and it has been very hard to intake anything. I've had mostly shakes, and now I"m hoping I haven't ingested so little that i will be in trouble. Good news is today I get to have REGULAR juices, popcicles, etc to carry my blood sugar through tomorrow. I know that there is a religious board, but there is very little activity on there. I would like to ask those who are so inclined to keep me in your thoughts, prayers and such over the next few days. I will see everyone over on the post-op board!!!!!

awesome!!!!! in my neck of the woods the big fair food is this local hot dog and handcut french fry stand that goes from festival to festival and fair to fair. it's absolutely everyone's favorite. people stand in line for up to an hour to place their orders! i'm drooling, literally, just thinking of it. because i seriously doubt my ability to walk away from it, i am skipping the fair this year but i know that the stand will be at a big fall festival nearby in october and i'm sure i will have a bite or two just to fulfill my annual fix! the best part though, is knowing that i won't have to act like i'm ordering two footlongs and two cheese fries for TWO people (when really it was all for me) and just ordering a 'junior' size will be plenty, with most of it being tossed out.

i am 5 days post and very little pain other than my drain site. nothing that tylenol wouldn't manage. try to move and walk as much as possible and stay hydrated. everyone has a different pain response. use heating pads, ice packs also. if necessary call your surgeon's answering service and run it past the on-call person. you may need stronger pain control.

honestly i am 5 days postop and it pretty much has ALL been what i expected it to be. i expected the pre-op diet to be fairly difficult and it was, and i had a couple of cheats. nothing significant enough to derail my surgery. i expected some pain post op and i had none until the day after when anesthesia wore off, then they gave me IV narcotics i expected there to be doubting thomases among my friends, there were. i think they are still all surprised that i actually went through with it and could stop eating. i guess i feel like even though this was a huge step, it was totally worth it. between my 2 wk preop and 5 days post op i am already down 20 lbs. i resolved early on to do EXACTLY as the bariatric team told me and other than the couple pre-op cheats, i have. i figure that this is a proven program and as long as i do as i'm told, it will work!

i wonder if you have a stricture in your esophagus? i have dealt with esophageal stricture for many years. i would call the surgeon office and run it by them.

it could also be you are clearing anesthesia VERY slowly. it is not uncommon. i would call my surgeons office and just run it by the doc on call...janet is also on the right track, could be a sugar issue if you aren't intaking anything but Water.

my first 2 days i was clear liquid only and only AFTER i had my leak test done at the hospital. now i am full liquids and also having Jello, yogurt, pudding, cream Soups, milk. today i managed to do TWO 21 oz Protein Shakes in the morning, both mixed with extra milk and ice and 2 bottles of Water, so my liquids are met. had yogurt for Breakfast, cream of potato Soup for lunch, sugar free pudding mid-afternoon. tonight it's more soup for dinner and sugar free jello later. i'm getting the hang of it.

i have found that-strangely- cooking for my hubs and kids post op is making my relationship with food a more healthy one. i am trying to create healthy, easy, versatile options for them. being home also is awesome and i have TIME to make them food. nothing that is complicated or hard, but just nice little meals. i'm finding that during my full liquid phase, preparing the food, smelling it, and serving them is making me feel ok with the terms i am on with food. also, since i'm not sitting around obsessing about what our next meal is, making bohemith amounts, etc is helping me rewrite my food script a bit. i thought it would be just the opposite and i wouldn't be able to cope with being around food, but i'm glad that i can do this for them AND work on my relationship with food at the same time!

i was more addicted to pop. my hubs and i actually had a routine with getting our pops, having our pops, etc. and the caffeine in that towering 44 oz of Mountain Dew kept me functioning all day. Giving up our habit was huge for me too. One day while I was pre-op and planning my pre-op diet, this hit me too. I believe I posted about it somewhere on this site. I decided that my health was far more important to me than this addiction. I knew it would be hard. i had my last pop on a tuesday, it was very unceremonious. I took a couple of excedrin the next day for the headache and switched over to a bottled sugar free arnold palmer instead. done. end. in honesty, that stupid habit was probably responsible for many of my extra pounds. in the end, i WAS able to give it up without an issue. now i'm post op and feeling great. and i don't miss it. these days, 20 lbs lighter (only 5 days post op), i realize it would take me literally, ALL DAY, to drink that crud I used to guzzle by 9 am and warmly called 'my morning coffee'...

sounds like we 3 from the 23rd are on the mend. i'm four days post op now and feeling awesome except for this drain i have to manage. it's starting to pull a LOT at the site and thankfully it comes out on monday. i am hopeful that i'll be able to side-sleep after that and get some better rest at night. walking 3-4 times every day around my neighborhood and really enjoying being home for a few weeks. can't wait to be able to meet with my nut on the 10th to advance my diet to puree/softs. doing fine with the full liquid phase, but it IS some work getting the Protein and Fluid requirements in. that seems to take up my entire day!