kgb

Rosy, Are you allowed anything besides clear liquids? Applesauce, cottage cheese, etc? Try changing up and having some Soup. I ate the liquid from a bowl of egg drop Soup very early post op and it was divine! LOL
When are you allowed mushies? Probably in 4 days? Just hang tought and it will be worth it. Every surgeon is different, but the rules are in place to help keep us from damaging the sleeve. It's hard waiting for the next stage, but it's worth it to avoid a leak.
I have seen some posters say that they chewed on ice at this stage, just to have something to chew in their mouths. Would that be a solution for you?
Good luck!!

In my experience, the first 3 days of low carb diets are the hardest. I don't know if yours is low enough to get you into ketosis, but a side effect of ketosis is nausea.

I think tracking is key. We all stall now and then, but usually not for many months on end (although weeks on end for me). So you have lost 45 pounds in a year? Thats not terrible, but I'm sure you could tighten your habits up a bit and get back on track. The sleeve helps a lot, but you have the responsibility to watch what you eat, get more active and follow the rules most of the time. Do you have the option of getting a scan of your stomach and see for yourself whats up? Is your Doc near you- what does he say? That must be frustrating for you... come here and hang out, this forum has lots of support for those that reach out...if you post what you are eating and doing, we can take a look and give some ideas?

Getting back to basics would be a start. Protein first, not eating more than 3-4 oz at a time. Using a food tracker such as myfitnesspal on your computer or phone is the easiest way to track your calories, carbs, protein, etc.

QUESTION:
"I'm having surgery soon, what will I need for my hospital stay or for shortly after???"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, ladies and gentlemen, this question comes up here so much - I felt it would be a great idea to start up an official thread. My plan is once I think the list is great enough, I'm going to create a checklist for all the folks out there that will be sleeved shortly and have the above question. Then if you are around long enough and as much as I am, and someone has that question you can just lead them to this thread. Fair enough?
Sometimes it's just nice to have everything all in the same place, kinda following the Walmart rule of thumb. They are very successful, aren't they?
Anyway, please start with your suggestions and I'll get my MSWord fired up. I'll also start with the first suggestion:
Comfy Pajamas, underclothes, and slippers or warm cozy socks...
Hospital Stay Checklist.doc

That was beautiful and very complete, thank you.

I thought this would be a good prayer to pray, for you to bring comfort and peace doing this time, God bless you!!!
Father in the mighty name of Jesus, I ask you Lord to touch the mind and hands of each surgeon, nurse, anesthesiologist and caretaker who will come in contact with me during my hospital stay. Lord, I pray that my liver is small enough so that the surgeon could work around it. Lord I pray that there would be no complication during or after surgery. Father, Allow no hurt, harm or danger to come to me. I pray for minimal pain, minimal gas and no mishaps. I pray that I will return home as scheduled, and that my recovery will be an easy one. Lord, I know that I am in your hand and it’s You whom I put ALL my trust in and that You O’ Lord have control over everything and I am glad that You are my keeper and my safety place is in You Lord where I hide myself and find rest.
Thank You, Father for being the Creator of all things and creating me, NO ONE knows this body better than You.
Lord, I also ask in the name of Jesus that you would watch over my children, while I am in the hospital, place Your Holy Angels around them, for You, O’ Lord am their safety nest too. Thank You Father.
Amen.

That's so true. It's hard to say certain things out loud, and if you do, it should be to people who you KNOW got your back.
Everyone at VST's got your back.
PM me anytime and I'll give you the real deal on WLS (the way I see it anyway) :wink1:

Wow! I know he didn't mean that the way it came out, because you are pretty already!!
Awkward comments come along with telling people. Just try to remember that most people say it from concern FOR you rather than something AGAINST you. I've posted before about my friend's sister in law who had WLS and is not compliant with her diet, Water, or exercise regime. She has lost her weight, but at a tremendous cost to her long term health. The sister in law is actually my inspiration for working my sleeve correctly.
When I first mentioned WLS to the friend, she was horrified and made comments about it being a lot of work and not a magic wand. At first I was somewhat offended, but I finally asked her what she meant by that comment. Once I knew where she was coming from, the sting went out of her words.
Maybe we are so over-sensitive from our years of dealing with negativity surrounding our weight that it's difficult for us to see that people do mean things in a positive manner. We're just not used to assuming the best of those comments. That's my thought process anyway.

Dear Golden,
I am second day post op. The only support I received and do receive is from some wonderful people on these boards. It's all the support I needed and then some.
I told no one in my life about my surgery. Not a soul. And I pulled it off.
Do your thing girl. Just do your thing.

Hugs sweetie!

Thanks for the support, guys--glad I checked in before leaving the office I will just focus on the positive and give her a knowing look when I start to melt before her eyes!

A lot of the stigma with weight loss surgery is that someone always "knows" someone who knew someone who died from surgery. I think people are more worried than anything, especially the ones who care about you. Then again, if she's trying to sell you some miracle product, she's probably against WLS only because you'll be one less person for her to make money on.

No one knows like you what you need to do. They will understand better when they see the 100 pounds gone.

Hugs, hon!! Only one person knows I'm having the surgery. Part of mine is because it's a revision from lapband. I know ppl are going to think if lapband didn't work, what makes me think the sleeve will. Admittedly, I think I have some of those same thoughts, too.
Bottom line, not everyone will understand, and not everyone will be part of your support system. As you mentioned, you are convinced that you're doing the right thing because you know your struggles, and you have done your research. You have some ppl at work to support you, and you have this forum. You'll do just fine!! :-)

Wow, you're beating yourself up over cheating and munching on celery sticks? I wish my cheats were celery sticks. Unfortunately they tend to be more like hersey bars. At least celery is low carb! You're doing great, just keep moving forward.

I was a volume eater and I prayed I wasn't put on a liquid diet. I was hovering around 40 BMI and luckily for me wasn't. Torture is the right word. That is exactly what it would have been. Fast forward 8 days after my surgery and it was Thanksgiving. I was (and still am) on full liquids. I had a house full of family and I did great while sipping my Protein Shakes. I would have NEVER been able to do that before surgery. By your post I can tell you will do great! :hug:

^^^ Yep, what she said. It's all low carbs that exits the fat out of our liver, making our surgery more safe. I seriously doubt you harmed your progress at all. That said, do your best to stay on track from here though. Keep in mind too that if you are in the norm, you won't even have any type of appetite post sleeve. So try to look forward to that.

I doubt many of us have NEVER cheated on our liquid diets. And, it doesn't sound like you aren't capable of handling the after surgery requirements. You are hungry now, and you are losing even with the cheats.
You need to buckle down and follow the diet from now until surgery so that you get the maximum benefit from the liquid diet. After surgery you won't be hungry and following the diet will be much easier.
Good luck on your journey!!

Okay, i will say it - I am not sure why some docs make people go on these torture diets! Liver shrinking is done by going really low carb for 2-3 weeks before. I think some surgeons want you to lose a bunch of weight too so that is why they put you on these super restrictive diets. What is crazy is that i am eating real food and eating lower carb then some of thise "all liquid" diets are! Now, it isn't easy either because having 20-40G of carbs a day, including carbs in Vitamins and all sorts of things you would never think about having carbs is also rugged. I take this preop diet very seriously and you should of course follow your surgeons instructions, just bear in mind low carb is what shrinks the liver.

You can handle this journey! It is so much more manageable once you have been sleeved!! You will not feel like you need to chew your arm off. Is it easy? Nope...but as you learn to embrace your "new normal" for how little you will need to eat it will become easier. Plus give yourself time to heal after your surgery. Just remember that the sleeve is a tool. If your follow your Dr.'s diet plan you will loose weight once and for all. Just hang there and remember we are here for you!