suzcomptime

My surgery isn't until May 21 so it will be a little while before my pre-op diet but it will consist of two weeks of liquid only, then the last day of clear liquids and nothing after midnight the day before surgery. The two weeks of liquid will be 4 protein shakes and clear liquids in between. Yes, it's all about shrinking the liver I believe.

Maybe the relish/pickle issue is because vinegar is acidic and at least at first we need to avoid acidic foods. On the other hand, a tiny amount mixed with another food doesn't sound too bad but check with Doc or Nutr for sure.

A friend sent me this but I think it was just that day and the first 100 callers. You could try and talk them into it though. Bariatric Advantage free offer

OH, and I think I'll try the cherry ones, I like sweet tarts. The choc ones work if you add a little Water to them when chewing them, if not, they tend to feel like you are eating cocoa powder. I got my free bag of Bariatric chewy bites today and they taste just like a caramel chew but would be a bit more expensive than the dry chewables with my corrected cost calculations Sometimes the extra is worth it so will continue to get at least some of my calcium from the chewy bites.

Yes, those are the ones I have so after your post I went and re-read the label. AHA......Where I got confused is that typically the nutrition type labels tell you the serving size and then the nutrition based on that serving size but I just noticed on the back of my bottle it says "Serving Size 3 Tablets" Servings per Container 30 Then it says "Amount per 1 Tablet and then it lists the nutritional info with calories, carbs, Fiber, 500 calcium etc. So you are right it is 500 p/tablet not per serving. Just the label was written differently than typical. Thanks for pointing that out, I think I've been getting a bit much calcium lately!

Nutritionist said only calcium citrate so had to give up the Viactin I had been taking for my calcium (& guilt free treat). I ordered the Bariatric Advantage Choc chewables but they are like chalk. I can get them down but what I also disliked was that it takes 3 tablets for 500g calcium. If you need 1000g of calcium supplements that would be 6 a day. A bottle of 90 is $22 so at 6 a day, the bottle would only last 2 weeks. That's $44 a month for just 1 supplement (that tastes yucky). The Bariatric Advantage chewy bites are tasty, like a treat. They are 250g calcium each as stated earlier in this thread and at 4 a day, they cost about $23 a month, half of the chalky option. I will never buy the chalky stuff again!

My date is May 21st. I can't wait. Insurance approval is all set. Scope next week 4/11. Just need to get my chest xray and blood work which is walk in but needs to be closer to my surgery date, probably around May 10th, 11th. Start two weeks of liquid on May 7th. Have I mentioned I can't wait yet??

I like haddock and luckily my husband does as well. I expect to eat a bit of that during the soft stage.

If you Google it, you will see plenty of scientific articles where they discuss the connection of memory to ghrelin. It seems to be more recently discovered and I think some aspects are still in debate. The thing that keeps me OK, is the fact that they do have synthetic ghrelin which they are experimenting with for elderly patients so I figure that if there is a memory issue, I can take ghrelin supplements

Glad there is a group for the 50's My surgery is 5/21 and on that date I will be less than a month away from being 57. I've battled my weight since I was mid to late 30's. I've been over 200 several times and I would struggle it down but never less than 180 and it quickly would return to my prior high weight and then make a new high. The last time I was 220 I started on an Atkins diet I promised myself to look into bariatric surgery if I EVER got up to 220 again. At only 5'2" that is over 40 bmi. I did lose 32 pounds doing low carb but as all the times before (with WW, Nutrisystem, etc) this last winter I was at an all time high and had to keep my promise to myself. I first start looking into surgery with lapband but I later changed to gastric sleeve. I am just anxious to get started. I feel pretty realistic; I'm not even trying to hit my HS weight, but to get to a weight where I have more energy, feel like being active and can avoid some of the health issues that my mother, who had similar weigh battles, now has to deal with. Is it May yet?

Pre-surgery I have to start a liquid diet for two weeks, only Protein drinks for the 3 meals, and clear liquids otherwise. Day before surgery, clear liquids only. Post-surgery I believe it is clear liquids until I go home from hospital, from then until first 2 weeks after surgery Protein shakes and clear liquids. At 2 week post op with Dr. then you get cleared for pureed and then mushy/soft but I can't remember how long for that, I think it was until 8 weeks after surgery. Soft includes tuna, fish, eggs, cheese, legumes, tofu, low fat turkey breast or ham, canned chicken. After 8 weeks introduce new foods, doesn't have to be mushy. There does seem to be a lot of differences. I believe the liquid diet is to help shrink your liver to keep it out of the way during surgery.

I haven't had my surgery yet but this does concern me. If this side effect is real, I am concerned that I will not be able to continue in my career field. Of course, the other health issues I am hoping to avoid like diabetes, high blood pressure wouldn't be too good for my career either so I will hope that it is a minor side effect that I can live with.

I am scheduled for my sleeve May 21 so I'm using this time (while I'm impatiently waiting) to research Protein drinks. I read a disturbing article from Consumer Reports about Protein Drinks that were high in metal content such as arsenic, cadmium, lead & mercury. The article was from July 2010 so perhaps these issues have been addressed by the manufacture but meanwhile how do we know? I guess I will avoid some of the higher ones, which were ones I had tried and liked. Unfortunately they only tested 10 different companies (with multiple varieties from some companies). I think there needs to be some organizational support here. Perhaps some of the non-profits such as ASMBS American Society of Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery or whatever else is out there, should offer some type of "Seal of Approval" or something so that we can have a standard. While the average person may only consume 1 of these a day, the 3 a day that Consumer Reports used in their testing, would not be uncommon for this community. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/july/food/protein-drinks/whats-in-your-protein-drink/index.htm

I am pre-op and it was good to read that I might be able to eat spicy one day again. I do like spicy food and thought it was one of the things I had to give up with the sleeve so glad to hear that it might be in my future.

I read your blog. Thank you for posting useful information for those of us that are going on the same journey. I am curious what you used for Glucosamine right after surgery. I am pre-surgery and take it for arthritis in my knee but the tablets are large and I can't imagine that I will be able to take them after. Did you crush them or did you find a liquid form?

My nutritionist & Dr. said no straws and no gum. It is a small price to pay. There are other ways to freshen your breath and I have a water bottle with a small opening that I use for my water. For after surgery I bought some sippy cups, yes, the baby kind to help me take small sips. I think the big thing is to not use them like a straw so I'll take out the little plug. Until I am fully healed I am not going to experiment with straws but I'm sure after a few months I could use a straw as long as I was careful to not get in too much air.

Jeans, definitely jeans.

My husband doesn't agree with it but I believe will be there for me (even though he thinks I should just go back to the methods I have tried countless times that only helped temporarily and had limited success....WW, atkins, nutrisystem, TOPS, South Beach). My office people know because another lady at work has just had surgery and another lady at work was a support person for a good friend who had bypass a couple years ago. Some people at work kind of cringe about it, it sounds scary to them I'm sure. I guess I might have felt the same way a few years ago. My adult children had a fit when I was considering lapbad so I don't talk to them about it anymore. I've since decide to go with the sleeve so I am sure they would not be happy. Usually they are very supportive but I had an aunt have complications 6 years ago and so they remember that and their reaction is based on fear and not wanting anything to happen to me. I have told my aunt who has had gastric surgery but I have not told my other relatives although I will after the fact. ~Sue

I used to be a diet coke addict as well, had one going pretty much all day. When I read about some of the studies that said that diet soda actually can hurt your weight loss efforts I gave it up. It wasn't easy. I switched over to club soda which is much more pure without all the chemicals etc. Like someone else mentioned I would add a little lemon/lime or fruit juice to change it up once and a while but I no longer drank it daily. After about 6 months I tried a sip of Diet Code.....it did not even taste good to me anymore. Now that I am on the road to a gastric sleeve I have also stopped drinking club soda. I feel it's a small price to pay for a heathier me. My Dr. & nutritionist said no carbonated drinks. As far as the person who thought it could be used as hydration, if she is drinking regular diet coke (not caffeine free) than it is actually a diuretic and that is not good when you have to fight to get all of our liquids in to not get dehydrated. ~Sue