luckylady131

I had my surgery on the 30th. My doc's plan is: Week 1: Clear liquids only (not Soups, just broths, Water, Jello, popsicles, etc) Week 2: pureed foods - foods have to be the consistancy of applesauce Week 3-5: Soft Foods Week 6: Begin regular foods I'm on Pureed foods. I do greek yogurt, Shelly's ricotta bake, Protein shakes, crystal light, soups, broth, etc. Yesterday I did tuna fish/mayo that I whipped with a fork until smooth, and had some on some ritz crackers that I chewed until they dissolved before swallowing. 3 crackers topped with the tuna fish made up my lunch.

My family lives in Azle!! I'm in Houston - Kingwood/Humble area.

You sound like me. I was unable to keep anything down the first 24 hours even with a anti-nausea patch, zofrin and phenergan! A couple of ice chips had me retching and puking. It was god awful. My blood pressure shot through the roof and my heart rate would not come down below 110bpm being perfectly still. Any movement at all and it would shoot up and make the alarms go off. They finally had to reset the alarms! Now I am 12 days out and feeling a lot better. I just started my pureed phase. I'm still figuring out what works and what doesn't. The gas pain in my left should FINALLY went away 2 days ago. Walking does help with that. Don't worry about Vitamins. Don't worry about Protein. Just try to find something you like to drink - preferably room temperature and just nurse it. I stuck to Gatorades the first week. I tried to get down some clear Isopure (Isopuke is more like it), but I found it barely tolerable. Could only get through half a bottle each day. I recently started drinking Crystal Light in Water, as regular water still tastes nasty and makes my stomach hurt. It doesn't help I have to crush up my medicine and drink it in plain water - so nasty and bitter. SF popsicles were also good. Hated orange but liked purple and red. Also try a bit of sugar free Jello. I usually hate the texture of jello, but I found it tasted good - kind of let it melt a little in my mouth. Hang in there, it does get better. Those first few days are a doozy for a lot of people. I took naps every day, and I never (I mean NEVER) take naps. I knew then that I had been knocked on my butt! Listen to your body...it does let you know what it needs.

Actually the Chick-fil-a Grilled chicken Nuggets Kid's Meal is not healthy, and considered one of the worst kid's meals options out there. http://www.pcrm.org/...-food-kids-meal Chick-fil-a Chargrilled chicken sandwich = 270 calories, 3g fat, 1,270g sodium VS Chick-fil-a Chicken Strips salad = 600 calories, 38g fat, 1,470g sodium You are better off just buying a plain sandwich, and eating what you want of the chicken patty. Get the Eat This Not That books - very interesting stuff in there, and some of it is quite shocking, and not at all what you would expect.

I've found that I have to "prop" the belly on pillows when laying on my sides, and then all is fine. I'm a side sleeper, and knew it would be an issue. I only took my pain meds at night to help with sleep, and slept with pillows supporting my stomach and had very restful sleep.

Wendy's has good chili bowls. Taco bell and Popeyes have beans and rice...hold the rice. If only burger joints around, get a jr burger and just eat the patty.

My postoperative diet is the same as yours. I just started my puréed foods stage!

The Friday before my Monday surgery I had a Quizno's sandwich for dinner. I did the preop liquid diet by choice for 2 weeks prior to my surgery. I gave myself that one meal. It's not the end of the world. Now if you eat peanuts and bacon for breakfast on the way to surgery - you will have problems!!

Well, I'm a mother of 2 (6 and 2.5) and a wife. My husband has always been very supportive of me, and things I wanted to do. But he was quite hesitant of me having this surgery. We actually fought pretty bad about it once. He wanted to know WHY I wanted the surgery. He never specifically told me it was the easy way out, but he did say that that's what people (who don't research) tend to think. After that I fight I thought long and hard about all the reasons WHY I wanted to have this surgery. I'd researched this procedure for over 3 years. I knew the ins and outs of it. I was comfortable with my decision to have it. So I wrote him a long letter explaining every detail of what I felt about myself without surgery, the reasons for the surgery, why I wanted to do the surgery, what I felt like my girls would learn from it, what I expected out of myself afterwards, and that I hoped he would still support me in my decision. It was about a 4 page letter by the end of it. In the end - I came to realize that this surgery was about ME. No one else. And I had NEVER made anything just about ME. Everyone else always came first. And that was something that was a little eye opening for me (and I think for him). I had surgery a week ago. He took the week off and stayed home with our girls while I was in the hospital (ended up staying an extra night). Today was his first day back at work, and he has checked on me throughout the day. After giving him that letter, he understood they reasons why, and he has been completely supportive ever since. Sit down and really talk with him about how you feel. And hear how he feels and what he has to say. But in the end, it's your body and your decision.

I had surgery on the 7/30. I am still quite sore on my incision sites, and really have zero energy. I get up every couple of hours and just do a lap around the house, or just walk around. Otherwise I am resting on the couch. And I take a midday nap (and I'm NOT a napper - so that's very strange for me). The first week you can overdo it. Don't worry and let yourself heal.

I had my surgery on Monday (30th) and I also had a large hiatal hernia. Didn't know about it before hand. Though I did have pretty bad reflux, and periodic inability to swallow certain foods. (shouda guessed!). I was VERY sick the first 24 hours. I would get violently nauseous and threw up even 1-2 ice chips. The edema in my stomach was preventing any fluids from moving through. After some lasix and steroids, that helped a lot. I had to stay an extra day and came home Wednesday. I'm trying to get my liquids in, but not meeting goals yet. Water hurts to drink. I'm drinking my Isopure (nasty), Gatorade, broth, etc. I have quite a bit of pain at my incision sites, especially the far right one. I'm slow getting up and moving around. I'm slow drinking. Yesterday I had some beef broth and it tasted good, but I think I had too much at a time (was sipping with a spoon) and my stomach hurt and felt water logged. I walked around some to try to get it moving. I get very tired very easily. Taking a shower wears me out. I have a 6 yo and 2,.5 yo and luckily my husband has been home with them this week. I'm hoping by next week my energy levels will be up.

I was sleeved on Monday, so I'm 4 days out. I also had a large hiatal hernia repair, and i was unable to keep even ice chips down in the hospital. They kept me an extra day. The edema in my stomach was BAD, and it wasnt allowing my stomach to empty. My incisions are quite sore. Only really taking pain meds at ***ht to help me sleep. I can sleep on my sides if I brace myself with pillows. I'm only allowed to have Gatorade, isopure, broth, tea, jello for the first week. The I can add in protein shakes (which I happen to like). From my highest weight a couple of weeks before my surgery (right before my preop diet started), I'm down 12 lbs. I know I have a lot of bloating in my stomach still. I haven't had gas pain too much. It does hurt some to sip. Everything is room temperature. I need to try to peppermint tea. I'm not feeling hungry, and there is some gurgling in my stomach, but not awful. It was worse in The hospital. Just pretty tired and resting a lot. Trying to get up and walk around some... Find it exhausting at this point though. Luckily my husband started his own diet that he's on, and it helps not to have to really cook food. I have 2 small children, but they are pretty easy to cook for.

I've thought this very thing! I'm day 9 of my preop diet (I decided to do 2 full weeks). But in the end, I'm sticking with the surgery because I know I can "diet". I can loose 20-30lbs pretty easily. It's getting past that and KEEPING IT OFF that I fail. So I can yoyo diet all I want. That's not healthy either. So off to surgery I go to keep it off for good and get my health back! The question is - it's easy to loose weight when all you eat is liquids and Protein shakes. But what happens when you put "real food" back into your diet?

I am a self pay and didn't meet with a psychologist or the Nut yet (I know I will meet the Nut afterwards though). I did my CXR, the H. pylori test, and all the bloodwork already. Had to figure out how to get my insurance to pay for all that though! I pre register at the hospital on the 25th, and will find out then when I have to be at the hospital. I'm so ready for this!!

I'm the 30th as well!! And I'm also doing a preop liquid diet (started Monday). It's my choice as I'm not over the 300# mark that is required by my doctor for a liquid diet. I do Protein shakes (Chike, EAS Myoplex and Muscle Milk) throughout the day, but I need to get in more Water. I switched over to Silk Soy milk to hopefully help not get a lactose intolerance. And I allow myself 1 Soup a day just to get in some flavor and warmth. I haven't gotten the unjury yet. Where does everyone get it from? I've done a juice fast (nothing but blended up fruits and vegetables) for 10 days straight before, so this isn't too bad for me yet. Today was the first day I actually missed food - but that was only because I grabbed my girls a happy meal since we were running errands all day today. And no, I didn't cheat once (not even to lick the ketchup off of my finger!).

I'm on July 30th too! Glad to have some sleevers to go through this with!!

added myself to the 30th.

I'm new here, but have been reading through this very informative forum. I plan on getting sleeved soon (I've been researching WLS for over 3 years now). I will be a self-pay patient as my insurance doesn't cover ANY bariatric surgery. But I have checked with them twice, and if any complications arise from the surgery, they do cover that. I've thought about Mexico because they are experienced, and of course, lower costs. I currently live in Houston, and we have some VERY good surgeons here for WLS. I am very comfortable with them, and as a nurse - I'm comfortable with the healthcare here in this city. But I am very curious - many of the posts I have read for people getting sleeved in Mexico said that getting sleeved here in the states would cost $30,000-$40,000. Really? Why? Is that because you have a band and are getting a revision to the sleeve? The surgeon I plan on using has been doing bands forever (he's done over 6,000). He refused to do sleeves as a stand alone procedure until the Medical Board perceived it as a stand alone procedure (other doctors basically had to commit insurance fraud to get it covered before this happened). So he's only been doing the actual sleeve for the past 2 or 3 years. But he's been doing them as part of the Gastric Bypass surgery for many years (phase 1 of the surgery). He's done 60+ sleeves (as a stand alone procedure), has zero fatalities, and only 1 leak - which happened after the patient when home and on day 2 ate a plate of beef strogaoff. He is part of the Center of Excellence, he spent over an hour with me discussing his philosophies, how he does his procedures, etc. I was very comfortable with him, and he's well known in the WLS world here. His cost for self pay patients is $12,000. That's inclusive of the surgery, anesthesia, all medications, hospital stay, nutritional consult/follow ups for the first year. So what am I missing? Why are these other surgeries 3-4x his price. And that's the price of most of the WLS surgeons around here ($12-15k for everything). Any insight is appreciated! Thanks, Laura

I've researched WLS surgery and the sleeve (and band and every other form of WLS) for a long time (years). I'm finally ready to get sleeved. I've read through this forum. I know 2 people who have been sleeved (my sister a year ago, and an aquaintance last month). I have my date for July 30th. My husbad, while supportive, is worried about the permanence of the surgery. So am I - I mean I have my doubts about the whole surgery thing too. I know that's normal to be scared. Just wondering how you move past that? I've tried all the diets, WW several times, etc. I can loose some, but then hit a wall no matter what I do and can't get past it. I think I want to move forward with the surgery. I have read a whole lot more about this and the results, trials and tribulations people go through afterward than my husband has. He knows it's my body. He's just really worried about it long term. But I am more worried about my health long term. How do I get past the doubts of surgery? What did you do to not talk yourself out of it? I'm on my last rope here. This is definitely not something I take lightly.

Has anyone here done the Weight Watchers program after being sleeved? I don't necessarily want it specifically to loose the weight, as I know the sleeve will help me with that. But I want to learn how to eat differently. I need help changing my eating habits, and I think a long term program like WW would be good to help me figure out what works for my family. My husband wants to loose some weight as well, and would be willing to be in the program with me. Just wondering if it's "allowed" to join WW after WLS surgery (not that they can stop you, but you know what I mean).

I'm on MyFitnessPal, so I may just stick to that.

Oh awesome!! I know, I can't find anyone ( in real life) that has been sleeved by him either! Do you live around there? I live in the Humble/Kingwood area.

Thanks guys! Once again, this board has put smoothed away some fears of mine. I guess I also feel like a "lightweight" and feel like I should be able to do this on my own. But then I look at what I really need to loose, and it's soooo daunting. I weigh ~255-260lbs and am 5'7" tall. I look heavy, but not overly huge. I want to get down to ~140-145lbs as my goal. I started having minor heart problems 2 years ago after my second daughter was born. It scares me because my father dropped dead of massive heart attack at 51, and he was tall and thin. I have the high cholesterol and triglycerides, and blood pressure issues. I have 2 little girls to chase after. So I know I need this surgery. I'm just letting the little gremlins of doubt get the better of me. Thanks for helping me see the light again.

added myself to July 30th!!! In Houston, Tx getting sleeved by Dr. Collier in Conroe.

My surgery is scheduled for July 30th. I was wondering about vacation travels and how soon afterward people were allowed to go. I haven't asked my Dr. about this yet. We were kind of wanting to do a cruise right before school starts for my daughter - leaving August 18th. There is a cruise we could do that we can drive to (port is about an hour from us), but we would prefer to do the one out of FL, which would be a plane ride there (we live in Tx). Even if we didn't do a cruise, we would be interested in doing something - it would be nice to get away from the heat here. We haven't had a chance to before now because we thought we were going to move across state up until a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, just wondering how fast you felt like a trip after surgery. I know everyone's different.