Newfoundlove

Yay New Hope! That is great news!

TJMom - isn't this weather wonderful! You and I had the same surgeon - Dr. Billing, so I've been faithfully following your posts. Joni - yay! You are doing great! Down below 200 too! Congrats! I can't wait to see that number for the first time in 13 years! Stay positive everyone!

Hello everyone! I'm now 12 days out of surgery and feeling pretty darn good! I started puree's on Saturday and have had no issue. So far I've had Amy's black bean turkey chili, cottage cheese, yogurt, cream of wheat (love this!), and shrimp salad. Everything has gone down really well. Tonight I am making a mediterranean tuna salad. I'm not minding this stage a bit. Everything tastes great and my Magic Bullet is getting a workout! It has been interesting to me how my sleeve really does tell me when to stop eating. I measured out 1/4 cup food to start and thought I would go up to 1/3 cup yesterday, but my sleeve constricted just enough to tell me it was full and I stopped. I'm getting in about 50 grams of Protein right now which my NP says is fine as long as I work on increasing every week. I am getting my vitamins in without an issue as well as my 64 ounces of fluid. I'm walking with my husband every day. Not too far as my left hip is giving me some issues, but at least I'm getting out there. Our weather here in the Seattle area has been beautiful so evening walks are really nice. I'm still not back at the office but yesterday I did start working from home. I put in about six hours and wasn't too tired by the end of the day. I could probably go back to the office, but I'm a little bit of a workaholic and don't need that stress to interfere with my recovery. My post-op appointment with the NP last Friday went well. She couldn't believe I was only a week out (first day I had put make-up on, not to mention a bra!). My incisions are healing well, I'm sleeping on my side, and just really have no issues. I am treating myself to a massage today as my back is sore since I am favoring it over my stomach muscles while I heal. My weight loss has been steady. About eight pounds lost since surgery. I will be happy if the weight comes off a little slowly as I would really like to avoid any extra skin issues if at all possible. I know some of the other 50's have had some post-op challenges. I hope you all get through them and stay positive! Personally, I've been viewing this very positively and I think that has really helped me get through pre and post-op. Have a great day everyone!

I get it at my nutritionists office, but you can also get it through Amazon.

21 grams of protein are in each scoop of Unjury Protein Powder, so it's a good amount. This calls of only a cup of water, but I actually use close to 20 to water it down a little bit.

As have many on this forum, I've been finding it challenging to get in my Protein, and have it taste half way decent at the same time. Today I found a really good mixture. Mix together: Crystal Light Pomegranite Cherry powder 1 Scoop powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury (or other brand) vanilla Protein Powder 1 Cup Water 3 Ice Cubes To me it tastes really, really, good without being too sweet!

I think everyone has their different fears and that is perfectly normal. Mine was getting the IV inserted--I am deathly afraid of needles. Here's what my surgeon did to help with any nausea. The night before surgery, he had me put a Scopalmine patch behind my ear. This is a prescription. Some people use it for sea sickness. I had to keep the patch on two days after surgery, but I actually kept it on for four days. This makes your mouth really dry but after surgery you can use Water or ice chips to aleviate that Three hours before surgery I took a pill they gave me a prescription for but can't remember the name. Maybe someone else can remember. Then during surgery they pumped me full of other anti-nausea drugs. After surgery I had no nausea at all. However, if I did they would have given me medication. Don't be afraid to ask for what you need, whether it's anti-nausea medication, pain medication, heartburn medication, etc. My surgery was 9 days ago and I haven't vomited a bit. Just take it slow when you introduce new liquids and food to your sleeve. Take a sip or two and wait to make sure your sleeve can tolerate it. Good luck. I am sure you'll do just fine.

Holy cow. This explains a lot. I have been constantly cold since surgery. I'm wearing layers during the day and it's been close to 70 degrees, and a flannel night gown at night sleeping under a quilt with another warm blanket on top. Glad to know it's normal! LOL

Yes, several of the recipes are really easy. The bean soup seriously sounds yummy and easy The shrimp salad sounds easy too. Buy cooked shrimp at Costco or SAMs that's frozen, or good quality canned shrimp might work too. If you have a library close to you, call them and see if they have it. Then you can look at it first before buying it.

I have a whole case of Premier Chocolate Protein Shakes that I am trying to use. Day two I had to really choke one down, so I switched to vanilla with orange Crystal light which was tastier. But I was feeling guilty about the chocolate going to waste so thought I would add a very small amount of peanut butter to one, blended with ice in the Magic Bullet. It certainly was tasty, but took me a lot longer to drink than usual (20 minutes is my usual time). Took me over an hour to finish. About 20 minutes after I was finished, I started feeling totally crummy. Not nauseous, kind of dizzy and really gassy and bloated. I spent the next 30 minutes running to the toilet. Apparently my sleeve is not ready for the sugar in peanut butter. I only used about a half-teaspoon full, but it was too much. Lesson learned! I'll stick to my orange-vanilla protein shakes from now on. At least I am getting in my 64-72 ounces of fluids a day so no dehydration.

Found a great book in my search for recipes yesterday as I am going to enter the Purée stage tomorrow. It's called Before and After by Susan Maria Leach. She has Gastric Bypass Surgery in 2001. The book was updated in 2007 so I felt it was recent enough to read for some ideas. I found it enjoyable reading even with some of the differences between the sleeve and bypass surgeries. The eating is pretty much the same -- protein first carbs last. There are some absolutely fantastic recipes for the purée and soft foods stages. I can't wait to try them. There is an especially yummy sounding recipe for shrimp salad I cannot wait to try. You can download this book for eReaders. I have an iPad and was able to get it yesterday.

Thanks for your replies everyone. I have my post-op follow-up with my surgeon on Friday so I'm sure he'll tell me if it's unusual or something. To answer the question about gaining weight in after the surgery. I don't know exactly how much I gained, but I know it was a good amount. They pumped me full of fluids by IV before, during, and after the surgery. I also went in the day after surgery for two more bags of fluids. My wedding rings would not fit back on my hand until 4 days after surgery.

'm 6 days out and feeling generally pretty good. I can tell that my stomach, or rather belly is still swollen. My suture sites are just fine and healing nicely. I can tell though that my belly is swollen inside as it is rock hard. I get that I just had major surgery but just wonder when others noticed their belly wasn't swollen any longer. How far out were you?

For hot flashes, I've had success with Evening Primrose Oil and I know others that have had really good results with Black Cohosh. Both are supplements. I think with Black Cohosh you cant take it for more than 6 months. If you know a good naturopath I would ask them about both supplements and you can also do some research on the Internet--try WebMD. On the sheets I received from my surgeon they say to use two forms of birth control for up to two years if you are peri-menopausal or haven't had any menopause symptoms at all. Apparently the surgery increases fertility--can you imagine? At 52 being pregnant. Thank goodness my husband was at the appt. where they talked about this!

Great job, Sandy! We're practically mirroring each other.

I am four days out and tried my first cream soup yesterday, watered down with a scoop of unflavored Protein powder. I waited for 30 minutes after I drank 12 ounces of Water before I ate it and it went down really well. Absolutely no issues. Today I tried some thinned sugar free pudding with a scoop of Protein Powder and could only eat half. My sleeve let me know when it was full. I ate it really slowly because even though it was thinned, it was still thicker than a Protein Drink so I assumed I would get full on it. I do not get full on the shakes or water. I can drink them non-stop in little sips until they are gone. I like the unjury chicken broth protein powder too but have to drink that really slowly too for some reason compared to shakes, and I wait for 30 minutes after I drink water. So far I'm not having any negative reaction to the taste of the protein shakes. I'm using Premier shakes from costco. Next Friday I am going to pick up some Peanut Butter protein powder from my NUT to add to my shakes to mix it up a little.

Did you have a hietal hernia repair? I did and my surgeon told me that's what my shoulder pain is from.

Day 4 post-op update: I am so counting all of my VSG victories! Still no nausea, although plenty of gas, but not painful. I think the gas is normal from what I've read here and what my doctor has told me. My family is really impressed with my burbs like a sailor moments :-) Yesterday I got 60 grams of Protein in, and 72 ounces of fluids. I tried some cream of chicken Soup, thinned with a scoop of unflavored unjury Protein powder and it tasted really good. The muscle pain is still present but tolerable. I am still taking a small amount of pain medicine at night to help me sleep well, but I may just try Ambien tonight instead. My wounds are healing but really itchy. That's been the hardest part for me so far. Anyone have any suggestions for how to deal with the itching? Tjmom--if you read this let us know how you are doing. I think you had surgery the day before me with Dr, Billing. I hope you are doing well!

I'm 3 days post op and no nausea yet. I am still wearing my scopalomine patch behind my ear from the night before surgery. It makes my mouth dry but that also makes me drink more water so that's good.

My surgeon used the super glue closure method so I've had no problems. Maybe you could convince your doctor to put on the super glue instead? Just a thought.

Update after 48 hours: still doing really well. Got my 64 oz. fluids in yesterday through water, chicken broth and jello. Got up and walked around the house a few times. Slept okay and was able to sleep on my right side this morning. Using a heating pad for the discomfort in my shoulders. I've moved from the bedroom to the living room sofa and am having my first chocolate protein drink and it tastes good and settling well. I seem to be able to drink larger amounts than what I've seen on here from lots of people. My NUT said it would probably take up to 2 hours to get in my protein drink, but I think i'm on track to finish it in an hour so that's good. I can drink lots of water in a pretty speedy amount of time too. The problem with that though is that I then make very frequent trips to the bathroom :-). But that gets me off my duff to walk more so that's good too! I am so grateful that so far everything has gone so well!

I'm almost 48 hours out. Had my surgery on Thursday, and got in 36 ounces of water plus 16 oz of chicken broth the same day. My doctor said it is really unusual for patients to get that much fluid in the day of surgery. My surgery was outpatient. Yesterday was slightly challenging. Lots of discomfort on right side from muscles where larger incision was made. But, I got in all my fluids through water, jello and chicken broth--64 ounces. I really took it easy yesterday, walked some, and mostly stayed in my bed watching movies. Slept pretty well last night with heating paid on my shoulders since I have discomfort there resulting from the fix on my hiatal hernia. I can also sleep on my right side--yippee!! This morning I am having my first chocolate protein drink and it tastes good and is going down great! My tummy is gurgling and gas is present, but it's not uncomfortable. I am so thankful that things are going well so far! For those of you struggling, I'm praying it gets better for you!!!

Yes a tiny bit but dissipates when I stir or twirl it for a second in my mug.

My NUT said to get a mug warmer so I did. I actually got two of them, one for home and one for work when I go back. I use the Unjury Chicken broth and actually like it just barely warm. I've used the warmer here at home and it keeps the broth just perfect. Will most likely work for thinned soups too. I got my warmers at Bed, Bath & Beyond. maybe that will help if you can get one.

Home now. Everything went great. Getting in my water with no problems. It feels really good with my sore throat. Discomfort is tolerable. I'm walking a little every hour. They had to fix a hiatal hernia so my chest between shoulders in front is slightly sore trying to get big breaths in. Husband is being awesome! Go back in tomorrow at 7 am to pump in more fluids. Nap time now :-) Stats: Pre oop appt weight 253 DOS weight 233 BMI 41.3