Lissa

Well said, CLK! I've only had problems when I drink/eat straight dairy...and then only the non-cheese stuff. Cottage cheese still gets me, but yogurt and regular cheeses are fine. Milk/ice cream both send me to the bathroom immediately. Heck of a diet plan, hmmm?

Especially in the early post-op stages, it's hard to stay hydrated because of swelling in our sleeves. Caffeine is a diuretic and pulls water out of our system, so it's best to avoid it. Some doctors only require that you avoid it for the first few months (like mine). Others ban caffeine completely. I had such a hard time breaking the diet coke addiction that I avoid caffeine completely.

I love to exercise now, too! It IS easier without hauling all that extra weight around! I feel out of sorts now when I don't get my exercise in every day.

I think that, barring complications, a positive attitude makes this whole experience easier to bear. Good luck and welcome to the loser's bench!!

Congrats and good luck!!

Great job!!!

I truly sympathize with you, but you had me cracking up from "did what every good nurse does and ignored it". LOL My friend is a nurse and this is how she deals with stuff with herself!

This is a mental health journey just as much as it is a weight loss journey. Good for you for grabbing the reins and saying Whoa! Now, get to rocking that sleeve! BTW, how were your calories after you added in the extra food? I'm betting you were still well under what you could/would have eaten pre-sleeve.

If you search this site for complications, you'll find complications in all their gory details. If you search for success stories, you'll find them as well. I think those who are having complications stand out more because they are so unusual. We have over 1,000 members here and I can name less than 10 that I know of who have had complications related to surgery. There are probably more, but those 10 stand out because I actively look for them, and have actively looked for them since I saw the first complication post from each of them. Of those 10, ONE says she wouldn't go through the surgery again after she is healed. All of the others have said they would do it over, even knowing they'd have the complications they had. That speaks volumes to me. Any surgery is risky. But, statistically, getting in your car to run to the store for milk is way more dangerous than the sleeve surgery. This is what I kept in mind when I decided to be sleeved. Maybe it will help you make your decision. Whatever you eventually choose, good luck!

What can you do? Take the Zofran! Right now, you're very early post-op and your doctor wants you to avoid further problems by taking the Zofran. I hope s/he eliminated the possibility of a leak before prescribing the meds, so you want to prevent an ulcer or other problems by using the anti-nausea meds. Most likely, the Zofran won't be permanent. If it helps you finish healing, though, it's a wonderful thing.

You have done a fantastic job of toning yourself! You look wonderful!

Oh, that's a great NSV!!! Enjoy it to the fullest!

I have extremely oily skin and my acne has never stopped, although it was better than my teenage years pre-op. Post-op, I've had a few of the cystic acne places I remember from high school, so I've been carefully treating those places. It's nowhere near as bad at 10 months out as it was at 3 months out, so I think it's finally calming down. I'll take some acne over the 100 pounds of fat any day, though!

I've been really lucky on the hair loss front. I've lost some, but not as much as I anticipated losing. I started taking biotin at 2 months post-op and I've been religious about my protein intake. OTOH, my nails are brittle and, despite gallons of lotion, my skin on my arms is super dry. I'm fully hydrated, so I just keep pouring on the lotion.

Are you taking an acid reducer? I have moron brain this morning, sorry if you posted it earlier. The acid reducer will help with the urge to eat and will help with the acid reflux. Drink your water. It will help with some of these issues. Are you eating cottage cheese every day? It's pretty high up there on my list of NO foods since I'm lactose intolerant post surgery. The lactose intolerance is getting better, but it did a number on me early post-op.

Do you sleep in clothes? If so, put it on the collar of your shirt. I hated that arm band myself.

Here's the nutrition info on the Profect protein shot. Note that the first ingredient for protein is hydrolized collagen, which is not readily available to our bodies as sleevers. I also see that pure cane sugar and citric acid are ingredients in this. Both are things I avoid. There are a ton of threads about protein shots and how they aren't useful to us. Why choke down a nasty protein shot when the protein isn't usable by our body? Protica - Proasis All Natural Protein Shot Clear Fruit Punch Supplement Facts Serving Size: 2.9 fl. oz. (86 ml) Servings Per Container: 1 Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 120 Calories from Fat 0 Total Fat 0 g 0% Saturated Fat 0 g 0% Trans Fat 0 g 0% Cholesterol 0 g 0% Sodium 64 mg 3% Potassium 31 mg 1% Total Carbohydrate 5 g 2% Sugars 5 g ** Protein 25 g Actinase 25 g ** Patent pending blend of enzymatically hydrolyzed (predigested) collagenic protein isolate, whey protein isolate (milk) and casein protein isolate (milk) Stevia extract 10 mg ** * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. ** Daily Value not established. Other Ingredients: Pure deionized water, pure cane sugar, citric acid, natural flavors.

This is such a wonderful tool for us. It's normal to be excited! I'm excited for you!! Can't wait till you're posting your great progress pics!!!

Go, Lulu, Go!! Good luck tomorrow! Please post when you feel up to it and let us know how things go!!

If you were early post-op, I'd think it was gas. Since you are a month out, call your doctor. Good luck!

Congrats! August is a good month for us Lissa's.

LOL, Dorrie! Sometimes tag team is how it goes!

Jeff (may I call you Jeff?), It is frustrating to only be able to eat a tiny amount of food. That restriction will ease up as you heal, although never to the same volume that you could eat before. Take a few deep breaths and focus on why you had this surgery. That should help with your immediate uneasiness. As you progress through the stages, you will soon come to the solids phase, where you can eat whatever you like ... and all of your favorite foods will be waiting for you, just in smaller amounts. I can eat anything now that I enjoyed pre-op, including steak and veggies and taters and ... the list goes on and on. I make very different choices now than I did pre-op, but that's part of working with the tool (my sleeve). I'm going to my family reunion in a few days and I anticipate having a biscuit and gravy. One of my cousins makes them just like my granny made them, which I cannot do. I may only eat half a biscuit and one spoon of gravy, but I'll enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed a full plate back in the day. You will enjoy all those foods you liked before again, just in smaller portions. What you're feeling right now is normal. In a few days you'll be feeling much more normal and you'll be living as if you'd never had surgery. As long as you keep up your Protein and Water intake, you'll do very well. Good luck!!

You'll be sedated, if not asleep, for the endoscopy, so it's not a big deal. I suspect that your brain is just in panic mode right this second and is focusing on the endoscopy because that's what our minds do to us. They play games with us! Everyone goes through some form of doubts and second thoughts, especially at BIG moments in the journey. You've just set a date and made a big decision, so naturally your brain is reeling from trying to absorb all of that. Give it a few days and see if you don't calm down some about the whole situation. if you still have worries, do all you can to minimize the risks from them, then turn the rest over to your higher power if you have one. Good luck!!

Suggestions? Yes. Stop it! Easier said than done, I know. You're going to have to really watch yourself when you eat. You need to eat until you are satisfied (not hungry) rather than until you're full. You already know that you will get sick if you eat too much, so slow down, chew (purees, I know) well, and taste your food. Try waiting a minute or two in between bites so that your sleeve will have time to let you know that you've had enough. There is a lot of head work ahead of you, but some of the things I've discovered are: I don't have to eat the whole serving. I can put the food away and have some more later if I want it. The food WILL be there later. I don't like being sick, so I try to stop before I'm hurting. If I'm hurting, I'm probably going to be sick, not something I like. You may want to talk to a therapist about food issues, even if it's only a couple of times. Just laying it all out on the table and looking at the issues can help you move past a lot of those issues. Also, especially early post-op, it's easy to miss the cues that tell you that you are full. I've heard of people whose full signal is now a sneeze, a runny nose, or a burp. Mine is a burp. If I eat enough that I burp, I immediately put down my fork and push the food away because I've actually eaten too much. I will literally spit out a bite of food if I'm chewing at that burp because I know that bite will not go down and I will be uncomfortable for hours. It takes awhile to transition to the "new" version of eating, but you will get there. Good luck! I don't know whether you're eating too much because you think you're hungry or if it's happening accidentally, so I've tried to address both sides of that coin.