Nancy Rivers

Congratulations on getting through the surgery! Sounds like you are doing well despite having some gas pains. I hope those go away quickly for you. Thank you for letting us know. I've been told it gets better each day.

My surgeon said they are very rare after 4 weeks. Not that they couldn't happen - just really unlikely at that point. The most frequent time according to him is within the first 48 hours.

Congratulations on getting your date! Another firecracker!!!

If you go to restaurants ask to get a cup of soup broth.

Here's what I am doing per my surgeon's office: 4 Protein shakes per day (unjury or Nectar) - 1 scoop per 8 ounces of skim milk. If I don't use milk, then add a 5th Protein shake. 6 servings from the following per day: 1/2 cup cream of wheat or oatmeal 1 cup sugar free pudding, sugar free Gelatin or low fat custard 4-6 oz of fat-free, sugar free yogurt 1 cup low-fat Soup or broth 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 1 cup baby carrots, celery, cucumber, broccoli, tomato or iceberg lettuce with 2 tablespoons fat-free dressing 48-64 oz of Water or other sugar free, non-caffinated, non-carbonated beverages each day can have sugar free popsicles. It's tough to get all of this in! This is my second day on it, and I have yet to eat everything as I'm just not hungry. Hope this helps.

My surgeon's office said we could use low - fat mayo or low - fat Miracle Whip to mix with it to moisten it up. Perhaps if you can tolerate carrots or something similar (non-starchy veggies), mix some in to make a "chicken salad".

My surgeon gave me a grocery shopping list for things to have on hand after surgery. Keep in mind each surgeon's diet plan is a bit different, but here are some things from my list: skim milk plain Greek yogurt (or CarbMaster) egg substitute fat-free cottage cheese Water packed tuna lean beef, chicken, turkey, fish (for blending/puree) carrots or green Beans (again for blending) low sodium tomato sauce low sodium vegetable Soup low sodium V8 unsweetened canned fruit unsweetened applesauce cream of wheat oatmeal (old fashioned) cream of rice mashed potatoes (made with chicken broth, no butter or sour cream) winter squash or sweet potatoes low fat mayo or low fat miracle whip crystal light sugar free kool aid sugar free hot chocolate sugar free popsicles sugar free syrup flavorings sugar substitute flavoring extracts true lemon packets Protein supplement

Congratulations on the approval and getting a date!

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on making the decision! What you are feeling is completely normal. We all go through the gambit of emotions. You're doing it for the right reasons - to get yourself healthy for you and so you can be a good example for your son. There's absolutely nothing wrong with those reasons. Since you are on the 2 week pre-op diet - it sounds like you might be going through carb detox. Some people experience headaches and such the first few days of their 2 week pre-op diet because it is very typically high Protein, low fat, low carb diet and in direct opposition to how we have been eating for years. The headache will eventually go away. Do not take Excedrin - it's an NSAID which is a no-no the 2 weeks prior to surgery since it can thin your blood. Excedrin Migraine is the only medication that seems to touch my migraines, so I'm really hoping that I don't get one in the next 2 weeks. The pre-op diet may be "torture" but it's for a good reason and it is a relatively short time in the great scheme of things. Stick to your diet as much as possible - it will help slim down your liver so it is easier for the surgeon to work around (much less chance of the surgeon accidentally cutting it). It will also give you some practice for eating after the sleeve. I'll be having my sleeve done the day after you. We can do this together!

I don't know if I will get detox symptoms with 80 g carbs. This is the 2nd day - and so far so good. It surprises me they aren't concerned that I'm getting that many carbs. But the vast majority of them are coming from the skim milk that they want me to use to mix the Protein drinks. Perhaps that's why they aren't concerned....

Now I know when I will be getting the sleeve - 10:30am! I have to be at the hospital at 9. Woo Hoo!!!!

Congratulations! I'm so glad you are doing well!

Well, I just heard back from the dietician. She told me that they do not want patients to drop too low in their calorie intake before surgery and that it was ok to only have 4 of the 6 servings of "real food" per day. Whew. Apparently the amount of Protein and carbs isn't concerning them as she told me I was doing well with the pre-op diet. I don't know if you are allowed sf Jello on your pre-op diet, but if you are, you could get some of those sf jello cups. I would just get a bag together that has bottles of Water and toss in some of your medifast. If you can have things like yogurt or veggies, have them packed into ziplock baggies for the right portion size and when you need to go - just toss them in your bag as well. It just takes a bit of planning is all.

Thanks for sharing! I'll try that the next time I get one of my migraines coming on (which are related to my monthly).

If he wants to tell people he had surgery, he should be able to. If anyone asks you - you can just say that you are doing a "sympathy" lifestyle change to support him (you decided to exercise and eat the way he is supposed to in order to make it easier on him and give him support). In a way it's not lying as the two of you are going through this together, and it is a lifestyle change.

So sorry you are still having the pain. I hope you get feeling better soon and the antibiotics do their job. Thank you for sharing your experience.

It will be $15,300 for me - that includes surgery, 1 year of followup care, 6 months membership to their exercise facility, 2 personal trainer consults, 90 days of Blis coverage. It did not include the pre-op testing, which will go through insurance (I do have co-pays on it - 20%, but still better than 100%). The Protein and vitamins were required to be purchased from the doctor's office for the first supply - that was $125 for 2 week protein powder supply (48 total shakes) and 1 month of vitamins for post-op.

Good luck Kath - your surgery is tomorrow! I haven't started stocking up yet - mainly because I'm currently in Michigan, then will be traveling back to Ohio, then MD for a family reunion then back to Ohio for my surgery. 2 weeks after my surgery, I will be moving from my friend's house to an apartment of my own.

I currently live in Michigan and will be having my surgery in Cincinnati Ohio area (5.5 hour drive one way). The surgeon wrote the orders of what tests he wanted my PCP in Michigan to order for me as well as gave me information about the letter of medical necessity he needed from my PCP. All of my bloodwork and gallbladder testing was done by my PCP in Michigan and those results were faxed to the surgeon. The letter took longer and several phone calls on my part, but it finally got sent so that by the time my EGD came around that the surgeon performed on Friday, he had everything else needed from my PCP. Monday I had my pre-op teaching and everything, so the next time I have to be in Cincinnati is for my surgery.

Also, scales are rarely ever in agreement with each other. I have weighed myself on my home scale, drove to the doctor's office 5 minutes away and hop on their scale and have had a difference of 5 pounds. I did that a couple of times - and both times it was consistently like that, so I just figured that was the difference in the scales. If you are going to track your weight, use one scale only for sanity sake. I'm using my personal scale since I know that I won't be at the surgeon's office as much after the surgery, so this way I will be able to track my weight. Officially, they go by the doctor's scale of course, but for me, I will be using my own scale.

Thanks for doing this. Wow, it looks like the big day is the day I'm getting sleeved - July 12, followed closely by July 27.

I agree - it seems like they would all have more similar requirements. I've emailed the PA and dietician to make sure I'm doing their diet right. Of course being so late, I won't get an answer until sometime tomorrow I hope. I may be over-reacting with these numbers, but I want to make sure this whole thing is going to work for me. I thought I would be closer to the 500-700 calories - I think I would feel better about that. LOL

Yup, sounds like detox. I'm sure it will pass in a few days and you'll be fine. I just did my food log for today and am SHOCKED at the numbers. Calories: 1044.9 Fat: 16.5 g Protein: 134.6 g Carbs: 79.5 g DANG.... and technically I still have 2 servings of food left to eat which I won't as it's too late now. With those numbers, I wonder if I will get to detox. Most of my carbs are from skim milk which according to the directions from my doc, I have 4 times a day - with each of the Protein powder shakes. The instructions specifically state that if not mixing with milk, then add a 5th shake. This was my first day of the diet. I didn't realize I would be having that many calories - but I suppose that's "normal". For some reason I thought it would be fewer calories during these 2 weeks. Of course, I did have 2 tablespoons of regular dressing for my salad - which that was 142 calories right there. I won't be doing that again (I ate at a restaurant while waiting for a movie - I had salad with chicken broth for the Soup - very filling oddly enough). But it's still 900 calories that will be the same for the next 10 days.

It depends on your job. If it's a relatively sedentary job, then you should be fine. If you have to do a lot of lifting, then probably not. There's several on here that went back to work a week after the surgery. There's also a number of people who went back in 2 weeks. Others take longer. Personally, I am planning 2.5 weeks.

For a couple of years now, I have really liked having the Meijer brand Crystal Quenchers Water. They have different flavors like black cherry, kiwi strawberry, lime, grape, etc. No caffeine, No Sodium, No Calories. The only problem - it's carbonated. Solution: shake the living daylights out of it so it goes flat! And, it's not sweet like crystal light is.