Nick'sMom

Please keep in mind that generally speaking...if you follow the rules laid out by your doctor and pulminologist, your odds of having complications is very low. Also, not everyone pukes I'm one of the lucky ones that hasn't..yet.. but I am still learning on when to stop eating and what full feels like...It seems that I tend to have that one last bite and before I know it, I'm over full and I can feel the food sitting just below my throat. If I get up and walk around, that helps a bunch. But again, that's not a complications...that's just me being stupid

My surgery was 9/24. I lost 11 before surgery and as of last weigh in 16 after surgery. I'm 1 month out and I am frustrated as well. BUT, I am going to keep reminding myself that if I take my entire weight loss so far, and look at what my average pounds loss per week. 4.5 lbs. I could never have done this pre-sleeve. I just got cleared yesterday for working out, etc so I'm going to start adding strength training, weights and harder hill walking and see if that improves things. There are many people on here and others I have talked to say to keep is low and slow so you avoid loose skin etc so there are positives to a slower loss. When I talked to my PA yesterday, she said that given my BMI, that I'm right on track. If my BMI was higher, she would expect a higher loss at this point but that as long as I'm getting in my water, protein from food, then keep moving forward. So I guess that's what I will do

How long ago were you sleeved? You are so right about the 'enriched' white flour pre sleeved. However my bariatric nurse advised me to stay away from high fiber foods, breads, rice, noodles (not including beans) because they are harder to digest and the extra fiber might make me sick. That is why I've been eating the saltines and when I'm brave enough for toast, I'm going to toast white bread. Goes against everything I've done in the past but if it keeps my tummy happy, I'm game. They have not steered me wrong yet and I have had little to no pain so far..and haven't gotten sick either When I'm brave enough down the road, I'll try them..love kashi!

I did feel a little buzzed but not overly buzzed when I finished...it felt warm going down even though it was on ice, if that makes sense...I read a bunch of threads stating that people are getting drunk faster, etc. It might be that it was a drink at home so it was not as strong as if I had gotten it at a bar. I could have had another and not been drunk. My hubby said the same thing about being a cheap date!

I also do the Premium Mini saltine crackers in my soup and chili. On my birthday the other day, I had a rum & diet coke but my husband made the soda flat for me ahead of time. It went down fine. BTW, the drink was approved by my surgeons office with the caution of remembering the empty calories and to not make it a habit.

I know this is long, but this was my list of questions when I first met with my surgeon: Experience: How many sleeves have you performed? On people with a BMI similar to mine? How often have you had to change to an open surgery? What are your personal statistics/experience for complications? Have you or has anyone in your practice had someone who died? Pre OP & Surgery: What are your pre-op requirements (diet, labs, tests, etc.)? Do you do an endoscopy? What if I currently have gallbladder issues? Do you test for that and determine when that should be addressed- either before or after surgery? I understand you have a support group but do you provide a post-op diet plan and guidance? How long is the surgery typically? How much of stomach is removed? What is the typical size of sleeve after surgery? Do you staple and sew the sleeve or just staple? How do you check for leaks? Do you check more than once? Hospital Stay: Day of surgery – what is it like? Who can be there? Typical hospital stay? Do you perform surgery on specific days at specific hospitals? Is a catheter used? When is it placed and removed? ET tube? NG tube? Drain? If yes, when are they removed? Recovery: What types of pain medicines are given? Taking one week off, then working from home for one week. Sound feasible? How long until cleared for normal activity? Exercising? Strength training? Risks: What are the most common post-op complications? Risk of Dying? Any risk of rupturing the stomach? Can it actually stretch? Chance of leak after leaving hospital? Risk of blood clots? Risk of hernia or adhesion? Any risk associated with the stomach not producing grehlin? I have GERD, will that improve or get worse after surgery? Treatment provided at discharge? Post Op (down the line): How often do I see you post-op? Goal weight?

Update your ticker with your success 30 lbs is awesome. I hope I hit the 30 soon!

Before surgery I bought a bunch of different type of protein drinks/shakes to try out. I personally can't stand the taste of any of the Muscle Milks. To me there's a funny after taste I can't get past. My dr. had us drink the Bariatric Advantage shakes for preop and those are good and you can blend them with fruit or peanut butter. Now post op I drink the Premier Protein Drinks in chocolate flavor. It's 11 oz and has 30 grams of protein, 160 calories and 5 carbs. Costco carries it in chocolate or vanilla flavor.

I get a little dizzy in the morning sometimes - a mix of dizzy and shaky but once I drink some juice or a protein drink I am fine. It seems that for me, it's low blood sugar. I would still check with your Dr. however.

I have the same problem and just increased my calories too. Going to try to get 800 in a day and see what happens. Also need to be better about getting in all my water. I usually make 50 but not always the min of 64. I will going forward to see if that makes a difference. Stay positive!

Never heard of hemp protein....any after taste?

I'm pretty new to this stuff still as I was just sleeved on 9/24...but this is my experience so far. 1. I spent 2 nights in the hospital - I was up and walking the evening after surgery. I did not have a drain so that made things a lot easier. 2. I was feeling pretty good as soon as I was released with the limitation of not lifting anything over 20lbs for 4-6weeks. However, just becuase you feel good, you have to resist the temptation of overdoing it. You will still need help. I actually made sure all the laundry was done and house pretty clean before surgery so I could rest and heal without feeling guilty that things weren't getting done. I also precooked meals and had them in the freezer so hubby could just defrost/microwave dinner, etc. 3. I'm 3 weeks 1 day out and my incisions are basically healed on the outside. There's a little pain on the inside on one of them if I press hard but nothing major. The only staples are in my stomach. My dr. put surgical tape that stays on a week and fall off once it's all healed. 4. I have a 5 year old and was able to do pick up and drop offs after I got home. The only thing I couldn't do was pick him up but at 5 that's easier than if he was younger. I know everyone is different, etc....but if you have had a c-section, this doesn't even compare. Way easier. I had my surgery on Monday and was back at work the following Tuesday...could have gone Monday but I took an extra day.

Mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes that you can thin out with a little milk. You can also add non flavored protein powder to them if you are low on protein. You can also cook cauliflower and puree them. Put it in a small bowl or ramikin, cover with a little pasta sauce (if you can tolerate) and then either shredded cheese or ricotta and nuke it so the cheese melts. Of course you can make variations of this but ths was really good and it added fiber which I was missing Refried beans are on my list too but I have to thin them out with water or the air gets trapped and can't get through. Weird. Eggs. I recently started pureeing whatever protein and veggies my family was having and it's working out pretty good so far. It's easier than always making 2 dinners. Especially with the amount of what you eat, it takes longer to make the 2nd meal than it does to eat it LOL. Also they have been great about eating soup and grilled cheese while I eat soup - thank goodness it's been chilly lately. I found that if I puree breast meat chicken, I have to add a little broth or water to it to help it along. Dark meat not so much. The moisture helps it go down easier without wanting to come back up or sit in my chest. Same when I puree beef. So far I've only pureed a roast I made in the slow cooker and hamburger meat. I didn't have a problem with either as long as there was moisture. If it's really dry, it hurst me. Tonight my husband is making meatloaf so we will see how that works...if it doesn't, I always have beans in the pantry

I'm just curious. I've read so many threads on what people are eating and when. Every dr has a different program to follow, as does mine. However, I did try food that is beyond what's listed in my program. I haven't had any trouble with anything other than swallowing air when I eat. I've slowed way down and that doesn't seem to be as big of an issue. I am focusing on protein and as long as I chew really really well and it gets a little watery, it goes down without issue and stays down. My question is..is there risk with progressing beyond the pureed/mushy stage to soon? I guess I am actually doing the work of the blender with my chewing..LOL but I don't see a down side to this. The biggest motivation for this has been getting off the shakes and working to get my protein from food instead, but supplementing with shakes when I can't. What are your thoughts on progressing to different foods?

Just to clear things up, I didn't go crazy with food or anything . I was scheduled to start the pureed/mushy food yesterday and started with cottage cheese and mashed potatoes a few days early. The other stuff were one-time events over the last couple of days and I was just curious. Going forward, I'm sticking with the pureed foods, just to be safe. Thanks all.

I dont' think anyone explained the part of the pressure but it makes sense. I appreciate your comment.

Your reminder was very helpful. Quantity wise I can't eat much but I was eating outside of the range of food - mainly for dinner and to try to get my protein in. I have tried to eat what I made for my family - even if it was 1 oz of meat, mushy veggies or part of a lasagna cupcake. I think I will back off and let things heal more. I felt so good I guess I lost sight of that. Thanks!

I ate the lasagna cupcakes last night and they were good but yes, I opted to not eat the edges just from pure panic that I didn't want to overdo it (I haven't puked yet and I'm trying to avoid it!). I chewed them really well, until watery. The rest of it went down fine, no problem. I also had cauliflower with it. I slowed way down with this meal and it's one of the first times I didn't have pain in my chest from air. If you are feeling week, however, I would try drinking gatorade or Vitamin Water. If you are having trouble getting food down, try making it as wet as possible. I started with watery mashed potatoes and that worked well. I then started adding about a tablespoon of unflavored Protein to them and that helped too. Also, strained cream soups will at least give you the energy boost you may need. I also added a tablespoon of protein to about 1/2 cup and that gave me an additional 9 grams of protein per serving. Anymore than that and it changed the flavor of the Soup too much and I couldn't stand it.

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since surgery. Yesterday was my last day of giving myself the Lovanox shots at home! Yeah!!!! I think that was the worst of it all. I also had a couple of Firsts yesterday that really made me happy and I feel alive again...if this makes sense. I went to the movies yesterday with my son and mother in law and then we went out to a late lunch. For me, this is kind of a big thing in that before surgery I worried how much my life was going to change. I worried that things would never be 'normal' again. However, I had a glimps of what my new 'normal' will be...and I like it! Instead of ordering a diet coke and a large popcorn, I brought a Vitamin Water with me. My son had a meal deal that included a small juice, package of gummies and a mini popcorn (that he shared with grandma). He gave me his gummies (ya gotta love him) and I ate a few. I also had a few pieces of popcorn (yes I know it's early) but everything went down just fine. After, we went to lunch where I ordered a scrambled egg. It came with hash browns and pancakes. I immediately asked for a box and wrapped up the pancakes and most of the hash browns so my hubby could snack on them after work. This is the kind of place where when you order 1 egg, it's a double so you actually get 2. So I ate about 1/4-1/3 of the eggs and 2 small fork fulls of hash browns and I was finished. Since I was wrapping food already, I added my eggs to my box and off we went. I walked out feeling happy that I had a great social day and didn't feel deprived of food. I hope this continues.

I am two weeks out tomorrow - I just couldn't handle the liquids any longer. I was really hungry - not head hungry - my stomach was growling and I was getting lite headed. Now with more protein, I feel great. So for the last 3 days I've been able to eat egg salad, hard boiled eggs and scrambled eggs. I have also eaten mashed potatoes thined out, hash browns and cottage cheese (ton of protein). I had pasta sauce with melted cheese on it. I tried very soft mac n cheese but that seems to go down hard and slow no matter what I do so I think I'll wait on trying that again. Either way, I have to chew everything really really good since I didn't put anything through the blender. Today I ate 1/2 piece of bacon and it went down fine but I don't want to overdo it. For diner tonight I am going to make the Lasagna cupcakes from http://www.emilybites.com/, minus the meat to see how that goes down. I think am going to hold off on meat for another week or two but we shall see. Another good website is http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ she has really good ideas too..can't wait to try them. Let me know how it goes

I was also very scared to go under and dreaded it up until the day of surgery. I had an emergency csection about 5 years ago and it freaked me out. So I asked online here what was worse, csection or this surgery. 99% said a csection was worse so I figured I made it through that, I can make it through this. I met with the anesthesiologis and my surgeon and I was completely calm then. I think trying to go into it with a positive attitude really helped as well. I think back now about all the energy I spent on worrying about the surgery and I can only smile and kinda laugh at myself. You can do this.

i have a ton left over from surgery and it never crossed my mind to try that. I will try it in the morning. Thanks for the idea!

My doctor is Dr. Peter Rantis and he is wonderful. I do think you would do great with any of doctors at the Kane Center (Suburban Surgical Care). You can attend seminars at their Hoffman Estates center and meet them. Each seminar is hosted by a diffetent doctor. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck.