Back~To~Amy

Thanks for the advice. I'm so excited to try all kinds of new things!

In the hospital I was given a bunch of two ounce medicine cups. They had me fill them with liquid and drink one every 15 minutes. I also had a sheet with the time in 15 minute increments on it and each time I drank a medicine cup within a 15 minute period, I marked it on the sheet. It was a great way to keep track and so the nurses could see how much I was drinking At Walmart in the paper goods section, they have these little two ounce cups with lids. They come 50 to a pack. You could get some of those and try to drink one every 15 minutes. Keep a tick mark for each one you drink. It might help the fluids from seaming so overwhelming because those containers are so small and drinking one in a 15 minute period seems easy. Good luck to you!

I made a list on my blog of 100 reasons to lose weight. I can't wait to start marking them off!

Best of luck to you on your journey. Your surgery will be here before you know it.

Pain is so individual. Some people have had little to no pain. Others, like me, had quite a bit of pain. That being said, I had a nurse "get on me" because I wasn't staying on top of my pain. She told me this wasn't the time to be Super Woman. She really was being nice and caring. I was using my pain pump, but I was also allowed a bolts of pain meds every two hours and I wasn't asking for it. At least not until the nurse got on me. Once I started asking for and getting it, my pain was under control and that made all the difference in the world. When I went home. I was given liquid Lortab. The dosage though was quite a bit less meds than what I was getting in the hospital and again, I was in quite a bit of pain. I called my doctor's office and told the, this. I told them of the name and stronger dosage of the pain med I'd gotten after my sinus surgery 8 weeks earlier amd how good it worked. Without further question, they called it in for me and it got my pain under control. My experience may or may not be yours. The advice I do offer should you have pain issues is to stay on top of it. It is better to do that than to suffer with it and then have to wait to get it back under control. It is much easier (and less painful) to stay on top of it then it is to get it back under control after you let it get out of hand. Best of luck to you!

Well, I typed a long post on my iPad and the darn thing lost connection and therefore my entire post was lost. Ugh! I'm now on my laptop. Anyway, I'm 10 days postop. I'm looking for responses from people further out in this journey who can give me some insight, advice and opinions. I've been trying really hard and doing a pretty darn good job of living in the moment on this journey. However, there is one issue I've been looking toward the future about.....the mental side of my journey. My surgeon fixed my ability to eat massive amounts of food in one sitting. He did not and cannot fix my ability to chose bad foods and my ability to "cheat" my sleeve by grazing. I've always heard "there is a reason you overeat". I'm not sure if I subscribe to that theory though. I'm not saying I don't believe it, but I'm not saying I do either. The reason is because I've had a wonderful life and don't see that I have any reason to overeat other than the sheer fact that I love food. I had an awesome childhood, raised by two parents who are still married and my adult life has been great. I am and have been successful in my life in everyway EXCEPT my issues with food. So, here's what I need some thoughts/opinions about. I've considered counseling to deal with my food issues. I've considered reading self-help books or doing an online self-guided course about food addiction that I found that gets great reviews. For those of you further out, please tell me how far you are postop and how you've delt or not delt with the mental/addiction side of this journey. Did you get counseling or do something else? Did you do nothing and the addiction part of this issue went away with your much smaller stomach and absense of Ghrelin? I really want to do this right and I want to do it right from the beginning. I don't want to get a year or so out and not have taken full advantage of getting the help I need to be successful in my battle with food. My big fear is not being successful with my sleeve because I still have the mental/addiction issues with food. Thanks in advance for your thoughts, advice, opinions. I really do appreciate all words of wisdom. ~Amy

I was prescribed an antacid pill which I began on day 2 postop. On day 4 postop, I needed a stronger pain killer. I asked for it in pill format and my doctor had no problem with me having it since I had no issues with the small antacid pill. I've just been cutting it in half. Today, I started taking my multivitamin whole without a problem. That being said, the multivitamin is a petite one.

A friend of mine who I met here went to the movies tonight. We are only 10 days postop and still on complete liquids. She is brave. No way I could do that now!

I love her site. She has so ,any awesome recipes on there.

I am 10 days postop but bought one shortly before surgery. I am planning to start using it soon. I hear it is very motivating.

If you like a little spice, try Famous Dave's Signature Spicy Pickles. Sooooo yummy!

Congrats on making it to onederland. You're looking great girl! Keep up the good work.

Hehe1......I'm so sorry you are going through this. I hope you get resolve to it soon.

I like food funeral. Before I started my preop, I felt like I was on death row having my final meals. Yes, I can still have my favorite foods but I will never be able to shovel them like I did preop.....thank God!

In already a member of mfp. Didn't know I could use it to enter recipes and get nutritional information. I'll check that out.

I have a ton of recipes from back in my Weight Watcher days that all have the points listed. A lot of them don't have the nutrition information. Obviously, post VSG, I now want to track other things like Protein, carbs and calories. Is there a website on line or a program I could buy to plug in my recipes to get the nutrition informaiton on them? Thanks!

Good luck to you on your journey. The men and women here are awesome and very supportive at all stages of your journey. Remember, if you do have hoops to jump through, you will get through them and make it to your surgery date.

I ate anything and everything I love right up until my two week preop diet started. It was kinda like having my last meal over and over. Amazingly, I didn't gain weight. On my 2 week preop diet I lost 14 pounds. Since surgery 9 days ago, I've lost another 10.

I had to do a preop diet that was a shake for 2 meals, 3 high protein snacks and 1 meal that included 5 oz. of lean protein and 2 cups of non-starch veggies. I lost 14 pounds in 2 weeks. You might try it. It's good practice anyway for the liquid diet you will have to follow postop. Good luck to you!

Good luck. I've said a prayer for you. Update us when you can.

Thanks for sharing that.