Catracks

I had my surgery on the 11 of January and my Surgeon has me on Clear liquids for two weeks. My husband didn't want to eat around me, but I keep telling him I'm not hungry. it's all I can do to drink the liquid. Seriously takes me all day to get 64 oz down. So under 300 calories for two weeks? Can that even sustain a body? I'm reading weird stories about people eating popcorn (BOY DID SHE HEAR ABOUT THAT!) and on mushies 2 weeks out. But seriously, I'm not sure I can recognize hunger anymore. Does this change? Also, I'm back down to my pre-op weight. I guess I got the extra Water out. How soon before people started losing? Yeah, I know -- Focus on healing blah, blah, but still ...

I was constanatly walking in the hospital. The nurses got a kick out of me. I feel pretty normal except that my main incision keeps opening and bleeding. So gross! I'm 4 days post-op. Oh yeah, I'm sick of clear liquids!

I couple crackers aren't going to hurt you. I think I will become my mindful of what I eat. Right now post-op, I am very aware. It might not always be like that, so they tell you about "mindful eating. When you eat, you sit down and pay attention to the food. As for the kids -- just have somebody explain that mom's got a boo-boo on the tummy so they need to be gentle.

I did the 2 weeks pre-op and lost 20 pounds, but I cheated. Not badly. but I had lean meats occasionally. Mine is 2 weeks clear, 2 weeks full and 2 weeks mushy. i can see how I'm getting enough calories for my brain to work - I mean 240 and zero carb?

I think it would healthier and cheaper to do it yourself. As far as I know you drain a can spread them out on a baking sheet and either drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with whatever seasonings you want (salt, cayenne pepper, you name it). The only think is that I don't know at what temp or how long. They are like pine nuts. They can go from perfect to burned in an instant so you have to watch them.

Found some at Cost Plus World Market. They have something called John Wm. Macy's cheese Crisps Cheddar and Asiago all natural sourdough squares. 130 cals. for 10 of them, 15g of carbs and 6 grams of Protein. You can get them on Amazon as well: http://www.amazon.com/John-Wm-Cheddar-CheeseCrisps-4-5-Ounce/dp/B000G7NI1U and Somersaults (I picked up Pacific sea salt flavor to try in a a few weeks), They are multi-grain and sunflower seed crackers14 crackers have 150 cals, 14 grams of carbs and 6 grams of protein. http://www.amazon.com/Somersaults-Pacific-Crunchy-Nuggets-6-Ounce/dp/B002DW0QAC/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1326588235&sr=1-1

You are killing me. I'm on clear liquids for 2 weeks! I'm swimming in fluids!

I'm only 4 days out i feel like I'm swimming. I have to do 2 weeks clear, 2 weeks full and 2 weeks puree. I hate to whimper, but 10 more days???? Ugh! I'm not hungry, but what I wouldn't give for a tsp of refrieds. How did you all do it? Is my doctor extra strict?

Roasted chickpeas - you know, garbanzos.

Amazon.com sells high protein low-carb crackers. I was going to check them out. Then there is something called "Just the Cheese." They are little cheese things that act like crackers. The way I'm going to go is as high protein and high fiber as I can manage.

I tend to like sashimi. I learned right before being sleeved that 3 oz of ahi tuna has 19 grams of protein. I like it when they sear the inside and leave the inside raw. I don't think I'd miss the rice much. Slices of sashimi and maybe a few slices of avocado they use on that overdone California roll would be heaven to me.

I am just a few days post-op, but it takes me so long to drink I'm thinking that I will be eating slow too. Who says we have to miss out. Since I'm a carnivore anyway, I will just eat 4 oz of steak very slowly and not miss out on a thing. Funny though. You know what I'm craving? Sweet potato. Head hunger of course because I've been trying to make my way through 28 oz of Isopure and I'm full. I too am going to stick with Protein drinks for breakfast. Probably never lunch because I like them right out of the blender. The shaker bottles don't do it for me.

I may have loose skin on my lower abdomen, but I doubt I'd ever have plastic surgery. I'm not squeamish by any means, but it looks barbaric!

So I'm sitting here typing and I look at my hand it it has blood on it. Stupid me thinks I must have wiped my nose (nose got irritated from the O2). Anyway, I walk into the living room and my husband says' "You're bleeding." Quite a lot too. So I apply direct pressure and call the on-call surgeon. It tells me to just put a gauze pad on it. Now I had noticed that there was a hard swelling underneath the big incision. That must have been some trapped blood. Now I have my period. Oh brother. Bleeding from everywhere now. No wonder my red count was low. I'm going to go eat some Iron.

Kerensa, take more time off. I suppose I could work if I had to, but you are supposed to be concentrating on healing. The morphine put me to sleep, but I didn't like it. They put some non-narcotic pain meds in my IV after the recovery room. I wasn't in pain after walking the gas out. I do notice that I get cold very easily.

I stayed two nights only because my RBC count went down. I feel normal except for some stomach tenderness and constant stomach gurgling. I couldn't wait to get out of the hospital. BORING!!!! and there was this poor lady throwing up and screaming. Crud, my broth won't stay warm long enough to eat it.

and I feel fine almost normal except for some stomach tenderness around the larger incision and some gurgling. I walked a lot Wednesday night because I hated the gassy bloating. I stopped the morphine and didn't have anymore pretty much right after surgery. Every time I pushed the button, I would go to sleep and they'd yell at me because my saturation would go down. It was a pain. Anyway, feeling fine and having some chicken broth. The broth is great since all they gave me in the hospital was runny Jello and Crystal Light. My blood pressure is already down to normal. I'm almost afraid to weigh myself because of all the fluids they pumped into me. Water weight of course, but going backwards after all that? lol!

I was told to stick mostly protein in there and then some veggies.

Actually I feel fine, almost normal except for a tender stomach and some gurgling. They kept me in the hospital an extra day due to low RBC count. I chewed a couple Vitamins with Iron and the level came back up. Be seeing you all soon. I'm going to go find my cats.

Saying a prayer that all will go smoothly. I'm sure it will. Attitude is at leat 50% of it if not more. There is one lady out there who is having a lot of trouble, and while I do not doubt that everything is as bad as she says, I think that less regret about it and more looking forward to the future would help. Like the guy in the GNC store told me when I complained about the taste of the clear liquid Isopure (40 gm. of Protein per bottle BTW), he told me, "You do what you gotta do." I have to have 2 weeks of Clear liquids and then 2 more weeks of full liquids before I ever get to mushies. I think it's going to suck, but then you do what you gotta do. Even with the pre-op diet I am feeling fantastic and not bloated.

Got the wedding ring off and does my finger look funny!

I was always athletic too. I do have to say that the desk job combined with my inability to portion control really did me in. Loved your story. i will be sleeved on Wednesday.

At first I only told my parents, husband, kids and my husband's ex (yeah, we're friends). Everyone was cool except for my mother who wigged out. Now just through word of mouth just about everyone knows. Hell, my daughter told her friends. The only people who don't know are my boss and co-workers. They only know I'm having some sort of surgery.

I'm at work and will be tomorrow as well. My friend said I should take a few days off prior. I said, "What for, so I could obsess and be tempted by the fridge all day?" No thanks. Good luck Paola! I'll see you on the other side -- the LOOSERS BENCH!!

Ixnay on the offee-cay after surgery for a while. Sorry. Pig latin.