swizzly

Mine was: Don't eat or drink anything after midnight the night before surgery. Before that, the surgeon specifically requested that I not change *anything* about my eating habits (ie, no drastic reductions; no big last-supper blowouts) prior to surgery. Note that this instruction came after it was already established that I was not a binge-er and had fairly regular/good eating habits.

I didn't have a pre-op (or post-op) liquid diet. My surgeon (well, all the doctors/surgeons in my clinic) is not a fan of liquid diets, in nearly any context. (Also, I know may people allude to fatty liver and shrinking it and all that -- but it in fact takes much longer than a week or two to shrink an actual fatty liver.) I hypothesize that it's actually more to do with compliance and patient readiness than physical reasons. But this is all just my opinion and I am not a doctor.

I have no idea if your wife is addicted to food/eating or not, but never underestimate the level of threat and fear involved in depriving an addict of comfortable access to their drug of choice. Or their favorite partner and enabler in the addiction. If you want this, you need to move ahead with it with love and care and loads of affection -- but do move ahead with it if you feel it's right for you. Individual and/or marital counseling may be in order. Good luck!

I would say I've had significantly less gas since surgery (and not that much before hand -- unless you count burping, which has always been more of a problem for me, and this has been reduced by not having fizzy drinks) and notice zero difference in the smell (which is also very little -- lol, which is not to claim that my s**t don't stank or anything ). We have a running joke in my house where DH always apologises for farting (ie, when it's me that's done so) because only boys fart don'tcha know -- and we haven't had one of those since I've had the surgery.

Mine was solid foods from day four, so there is wide variety. I've been on "real" food for over a week now -- so far, so good!

Good luck -- you'll do great!!

My program seems to be by far the most liberal, and even it says no salad or raw fruit/veg for a minimum of four weeks after surgery. By that measure, you'd be okay to have salad now -- but the nutritionist just today told me to be very careful about which lettuce, picking the more tender ones and using only the green part of the leaf, not the stalky bits that are more fibrous. I would think lamb's lettuce/mache with the stems cut off would be the perfect lettuce for an early salad. That stuff melts in your mouth practically!

If I'm honest, the first 72 hours were AWFUL. I didn't have the dreaded gas pain, but my damn little tummy HURTHURTHURT. Plus, I had intractable nausea and kept violently vomiting, which made everything hurt worse. But once I got past that, I felt better very quickly -- and now just 12 days out, I'm feeling quite good -- get tired and am still obviously mending, but feel pretty well.

Salt & Vinegar potato chips, our love had only just been discovered a few months ago -- cut short by fate and a scalpel. Alas. Salamis of all kinds, I will miss you -- your fatty lusciousness will not fit in me wee sleevey. Almost everything else I like, I can still eat -- one square of dark chocolate per day seems to be doing me right. And I was never much of a bread/pasta girl anyhow.

Well done you -- you look completely fab!!

My sleeve is only a week old, so I can't say anything superlative about it yet (so far, so good). But prior to that, the hysterectomy is the best thing I've ever done. So. Awesome. Get better quickly!!

I hate that feeling!! Try to get more protein in, even in icky liquid form. Good luck!

My program has me on food from day three (for me, four) post-op. It also calls for three meals and three snacks per day (in addition to 1.5 - 2 liters of water). I believe this whole program is based precisely on what OliviaM is talking about. I haven't hit 1000 calories, but I've been hovering around 850, just about 10 days post-op. I'm not meant to be calorie-counting, but I too am concerned about hosing my metabolism (more than I already did with eating disorders in my younger days). A 1000-calorie-per-day diet is still very low cal, and I would be fine to hit 1000 and keep it there for a few months.

This is a huge ranty topic for me, so I will spare you all the long ALL CAPPED emphatic response LOL. This is my single question back to anyone who says I took the easy way out: Why should I NOT take the 'easy' way out? Seriously -- this is not a rhetorical question: Why not? Fat is not a moral failure; I didn't do anything Bad or Wrong, and I don't 'deserve to be punished' by doing it the "hard way" over and over and over again. The end.

My bariatric doctor and surgeon have no pre-op diet, move you to food (anything but raw fruit and veg) including coffee three days post-op, and keep you in hospital a minimum of five days. I've never seen anything that varied as much as pre-op and post-op rules for various surgical practices around the world. I think it matters what you do inasmuch as you follow your doctor/surgeon's practices to indicate your compliance and increase your likelihood of success. All that said, I would NOT do this surgery as an outpatient. I couldn't even have gone home (10 mins from hospital) the first three days post-op if I'd wanted to. Urgh. Good luck!!

Congrats! Well done you!!!

I was in for six days, and had to get a wee bit stroppy to bust out then. No complications or anything, it's just impossible to check out of the Hotel California a swiss hospital, they think you should stay a week minimum for *anything*. Oy. But I was glad to be there the first four days, as I really did need the help and care. I have heard of places doing this sugery as an outpatient procedure, which blows. my. mind. Call me a wimp, but I needed to be waited on and cared for when I was violently ill for 72 hours.

Thanks, and same to you! If I'm honest, I didn't have high hopes at first, as I spent the first nearly 72 hours violently ill. But when I started to feel better, it was like boom, I suddenly felt SO much better. They are simply not at all keen on liquid diets here, so food it is. I haven't been overly adventurous with trying anything super daring, it's only been a few days. But my doctor says, if you can eat it and it stays down and doesn't cause any pain, then it works and you can eat it. The only verboten things are raw fruit and veg for four weeks after surgery. Or there may be other things off limits that I've been eating without knowing it. Guess I'll find out when I meet my nutritionist next week. But it's mostly been eggs and cottage cheese and yogurt and soup and very thin, very tender meat so far -- and things like cooked beets and carrots, they are easy to eat (and they taste so good...).

I was served a small piece of crustless bread for Breakfast one day in hospital, it went down fine for me. Of course, by now I'm discovering that everything goes down fine for me. So I have a sleeve of steel or something.

I'm a week post-op and I just had about 1/2 cup of lentil Soup and 4 small, narrow, thin slices of pastrami for dinner. I do try to remember to stop drinking 1/2 hour beforehand and 1/2 hour after, as that is the rules I got. I haven't noticed much of a difference whether I'm drinking or not, but I try to be compliant. People in Europe don't tend to drink sodas as much as Americans (though they do drink fizzy Water, which I love and miss), so they're not against the rules here, but they do say to wait a while to have any and then to keep it to a minimum. Oops -- meant to add: They move you to food straight away here, so I didn't have pre- or post-op liquid diet or anything. And yes, I do often feel hungry -- but I can't eat much to fill up.

I really hope you take this in the spirit it's intended, as I have been in your shoes. I just want to suggest the possibility that you do have a "bad attitude" (though that kind of judge-y language is not productive) and that you are very angry, and you are constantly turning the rage on yourself, except when a therapist makes a convenient target of themselves as this one did. All I'm saying is, consider leaning into the negative instead of being scared of it. Running from it...or trying to suppress it through hyper-controlling your food intake, will not ever make it go away. Consider that opening up that can of worms may be difficult and painful, but it may lead to real breakthroughs. Actual happiness and self-acceptance instead of treating yourself like an unreformed criminal who can't be trusted with the silver. Hugs, you can do this.

Hey, we had surgery on the same day. Interesting how different experiences are. I didn't have a catheter (except during anaesthesia I guess?) and didn't have any problem to pee after. I didn't get morphine and had quite a bit of pain, but it wasn't the gas pain I read so much about. It was my teeny ANGRY TUMMY. I was in hospital for six days, but not due to any complications, just due to local practices. The first day without any Water was tortuous for me. The post-op barium swallow was different liquid than the pre-op one, too -- and awful tasting, your description is a good one (but mine was clear, not blue). I had a drain (not sure if it was JP -- but it wasn't coming out my nose), which they removed the day before I left to go home. Drain was sort of disgusting, but wasn't causing me any physical discomfort. Having it removed felt very odd and briefly painful, but really no big deal. The worst thing for me was that they ran my IV through my neck, and all the adhesive Patches they put on (and took off and put on ad nauseum) left a huge rash on my neck. The first two days post-op, I got nauseated and vomited violently (VIOLENTLY. OUCH. And unlike a normal tummy, it doesn't make me feel better after I vomit. Hmph.) several times. That wasn't fun. They kept giving me nausea medication, but it didn't work straightaway. They move you to food here as quickly as possible, so I had zwieback (one teeny piece on a full-size plate lol) on day three post-op. Plus tea, water, bouillion. That moved into Soup and frappes the next days. What's most interesting to me is how I felt after the first couple of rough days. Because I was HUNGRY. Super hungry. Not head hunger, but low blood sugar and rumbly tummy hungry. I couldn't wait for meal times and was disappointed when I got the zwieback on a plate and a cup of broth. I ate pretty much everything they fed me, except a wee mocha frappe that I didn't like. That said, they didn't feed me much, so I wasn't pigging out or anything. It's a bariatric center of excellence, so they have specific bariatric menus. And now I'm home, I continue to be hungry. I have no problem getting in the three meals and three Snacks on my plan, plus 1.5 liters of liquids per day. Don't get me wrong, I can't eat that much at one go, but I'm ready for it when it's time, and I'm happy to eat it. And I don't have to eat all that slow or chew things to death either. I'm torn between being freaked out by it and being quite glad of it. I will be happy to be a slow loser, as long as I'm a loser. I DO miss the clear full signal I used to get -- I used to have a very strong full feeling and would stop eating when I got it. I don't have it now, so I have to relearn what full feels like to the new wee tummy. I am learning, but slowly -- it would be easier if my stomach just felt full. I wonder if I will continue to feel hunger, or if that will fade over time? Sorry, I hope this isn't a threadjack -- I just was inspired by the details of your post! Congrats on the weight loss so far. I think I've lost about 4 kg since surgery, but I forgot to weigh right before. Oopsie.

I think that, with food AND with smoking, you really need to take things one day at a time. Or one minute at a time, when the crisis/craving hits. I have never been a heavy smoker, I would average maybe one pack per week. But I did quit for 15 years and then take it up again, for no apparent reason. Sigh. I quit again a couple of weeks ago, but I mostly miss it at work -- it's a social thing, take a nice break, see colleagues in the smoking room, have a chat. I miss that. Instead I've been having more coffee meetings. On my pre-surgical instructions here, it just says I shouldn't smoke after midnight the day before surgery. Which made me just laugh. I asked the surgeon about it, and she actually said it would be better to quit at least a week before.

I'm 42, married, no kids. I have always looked very young for my age (and been treated accordingly at work, but I digress), but OMG!!! A few days ago I was in the grocery store with a (VSG) friend who is 35 (?) and has two kids. The checkout clerk was a friend of hers and she asked my friend if I WAS HER MOTHER. Just. shoot. me. I was like, maybe I need more makeup. Yeah, maybe the 40s just suddenly all caught up to me at once. I mean, good God! Getting sleeved on Thursday, so let's all effing hope that it takes 10 years off me!!

Glad to read this update and to hear you don't have an ulcer or lingering gall problems! I hope my sleeve turns out to be as awesome as yours!! :)