Indymom

Thanks everyone!

In my nutrition class, they recommended 'testing' foods by adding only one new food every few days, to make sure that it agrees with you. if you add too much back in at once and then have an issue, you won't know what bothered your sleeve.

Congrats!!

You're likely to get lots of votes for VSG here, just as if you were posting on a RNY site you'd get votes for that. Based upon your BMI though, sounds like VSG would be good for you. While you won't have the malabsorption you'll have the restriction . . . that's not to say that you couldn't figure out a way to eat "around" your sleeve and still take in all that junk, though. You'd be able to figure that out with RNY eventually too, though. RNY was never a thought for me because I have ulcerative colitis and wasn't having anyone touch my intestines! Good luck on your decision.

I'm going to email my nutritionist in the morning but wanted to do a quick survey here too. When I had my general pre-op class (which included DS and RNY patients) the general guide for RNY for multivites said 3xday (for the Centrum, the children's chewables, etc. - some were different quantities but none less than 3 a day). The Calcium requirement was 1500 mg of calc citrate. The nutritionist running the class had indicated that would be the same for sleeve patients, at least early on. Well, I was reviewing my discharge paperwork and on the medications sheet, it indicated 1 multivitamin/day and 1200 mg of calc citrate (and then the B12 and B1 weekly). Do any of you take more than 1 multi a day and more than 1200 mg calcium?

Thanks for sharing! I'm now on day 5 and could have almost written your post verbatim. I think I'm down about 7 lbs (am going to jump on the scale again in the morning to see). My energy is amazing now! I popped right out of bed this morning and haven't napped all day. I was a junk-food junkie pre-op, and I'm really now able to tell the impact that all that bad stuff had on my body and my energy levels. When my brain starts to piss me off (i.e. head hunger) I've been either jumping online, picking up a book or going outside for a walk. I am really looking forward to getting back to work and back on a schedule.

I actually ditched my digital scale (it never was accurate) and bought an old-fashioned one for $8. Of course it weighs perfectly!

Thanks for sharing! I had to come home with 6 lovenox shots . . . I've made my husband give them to me. Only 3 more and I'm done. I also had one of my IV's blow my vein, my forearm is still swollen and tender a bit 3 days after it happened. It was my fault though, I caught it on something in my room while I was trying to move around.

Haha! I love the chewing and spitting out thing. I may be tempted before too long, I'm on full liquids then purees for a full 2 months. I am definitely going to try crunching ice tomorrow.

Good point - most of what I am eating is full liquid (though I am allowed to have cottage cheese and smushed beans). Thanks!

I think one of the biggest reasons I haven't been shy about telling people about surgery is that I want the accountability of everyone knowing what I went through. If When I do get to goal, I am determined to not regain because I don't my close friends saying "look, all that work and struggle you had at the beginning and you're going to throw it all away?". I want them to raise an eyebrow when they see me with too much of something bad (though I'm sure I'll treat myself here and there when I get to that point).

I've never had reflux/acid issues (other than the really obvious like when I've eaten a burrito with hot sauce at 3 a.m.). I'm on carafate (I think for 30 days) and on omeprazole for at least a year. I thought I felt a pang of hunger today when I was about 4 hours since b-fast and my protein. Is it possible that 5 days out I'd feel a bit of hunger, or is it likely acid? I'm really trying to listen to my body but I'm not really sure I'd know the signs of acid overproduction even if I had them.

I'm not sure how many VSGs my surgeon had done, but he had literally thousands of RNY and specialized in laparascopic surgery. My hospital was a COE and had a dedicated bari wing. Things couldn't have gone more smoothly! I didn't even think to ask him how many sleeves he'd done, I figured that with the RNY being more complex I was in good hands.

Good luck to both of you!

Thanks for sharing your progress so far! A slow loser is still a loser, so keep it up. The above quote is absolutely perfect and something I want to remind myself of when the head hunger kicks in.

OK, update - I mixed the drink with about 5 oz decaf coffee and about 3 oz of 1% milk - got me 19 oz of liquids and tasted much better than just drinking it "straight." I am going to mix with just milk tonight and see how it is.

I'm on day 5 and still having issues with diarrhea. However, I'm sure once I'm eating "real" food things will improve. For those of you veterans, once things were working normally how frequently did you have a BM? I have ulcerative colitis so I tend to be VERY aware of what my gastrointestinal tract is doing.

I think you will be OK. I didn't have a pre-op diet and I ate really crappy right up until the day prior to my surgery. I had zero issues.

I only had a one-day preop diet - my nutritionists said my surgeon was not concerned about fatty liver. That's the reason a lot of surgeons want patients to do a 2-week preop diet. Also it's good to get in the mindset of upping the Protein and portion control. Honestly I wish I would have had a longer required pre-op diet because it's been a bit of a shock to me. That said, you need to be honest with your surgeon's office and let them know what you've been doing. They may not be concerned about it but they may want to postpone.

You look fantastic! What an adorable bump. Also, I don't think your arms look bad at all. I've already decided that no matter how bad my batwings are, I plan on rocking some sleeveless shirts!

So awesome! Congrats on your loss!

My hospital sent me home with an 8-oz sippy cup (I'm trying to keep my 5-yr-old from stealing it!) and I also bought a 24-oz Water bottle from Meijer. It has this neat 'auto-seal' push-button opening that really helps me control my sipping. It looks like this: My link I occasionally get that sharp pain from drinking too fast but it passes quickly. I'm learning my limitations quickly!

definitely talk to your surgeon's office right away, but the pain in the shoulder area can be more gas. If you're not tolerating the mushy food well, you might back off from that and go back to liquids only (and make sure you're getting your protein). Good Luck!

Do you have an abdominal binder? I left the hospital with a wraparound tight abdominal binder that I can wear as much as I want for my comfort. I don't sleep in it but it's great for when I am walking and moving around the house. If you don't have one from your surgery, you could ask your surgeon's office if you could wrap an ace bandage around?

I wish this was my meal plan! This recommends starting on purees (soft foods )a lot sooner than mine does. I'm on full liquids for an entire month then move to purees for another month.