joatsaint

Welcome aboard. And congrats on joining the Loser's Bench. Things will get better, I promise. My 1st 7 or 8 days, I ate nothing but sugar free Popsicles and drank Crystal Light. On day 11 I was able to tolerate Cream of Mushroom Soup and lived on that for a few weeks. No matter how bad that sounds, it was worth every minute of trouble I went through.

This is a link to my favorite Mexican food recipe. It got me through the puree stage and beyond. I wasn't able to eat full foods (even though I was allowed) for weeks - Frankensleeve didn't approve. My Favorite Mexican Food recipe http://www.bariatricpal.com/blog/9018/entry-31168-my-favorite-mexican-food/ Here is one link to Eggface's ricotta bake http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2009/01/ricotta-resolutions.html And here is a link to other puree safe recipes on Eggface's blog. http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html If you find her recipes useful, please let her know that Frankensleeve sent you.

Wow, that's a long pre-op diet just to lose 10lbs. I lost that much in the 1 week pre-op diet I had to do. Just to be certain, I'd call my doctor or NUT and verify they really wanted you on a pre-op diet for so long. When I was first starting this "adventure", there was so much info coming from my doctor, the hospital and his assistants, that it was confusing and I forgot anything I didn't write down.

Welcome to the forum. I've never noticed how many teens are on this forum, but I wish I had been able to get WLS back then. It would have saved me years and years of misery. Welcome to the Loser's Bench. You have any NSV's yet?

I had to drink barium. I don't know if that is the standard for a leak test. But it was served to me in one of those paper cups they use when bringing a patient their meds. It wasn't very much, maybe a tablespoon or 2. I had to drink it in 2 swallows. I drank the first bit, had to wait a few seconds and then drank the other half. It was tough, but I got it down.

Did they say why they wanted you on such a long pre-op diet? And how much do they want you to lose pre-op? Hopefully, they have a good reason.

Refried beans were my soft food of choice. Everything else, besides Cream of Mushroom soup, would make Frankensleeve very cranky.

My new sleeve was so swollen, that there wasn't room for water. I drank 1 or 2 ounces right after my leak test and threw up immediately - that was the only time it happened. There just wasn't room for that much water.

Quite by accident, I found that writing a letter to the person (I never sent it!) outlining how I felt and how I felt I was wronged made me feel much better. Once I had released it into the universe, much of the anger and frustration went away. I got past the need to repatriations and I no longer cared about what had happened. I'm now trying to live by this motto: Lessons from my dog - When life gives you hardships, just kick some sand over that sh*t and move on.

It took me quite a while to really see the weight loss... even though my friends could see it right away. I think I was at least 60 lbs down before I could really see a change.

A few things it would have been nice to know. 1) I had to sleep propped up, like in the hospital bed. 2)Sleeping on my side was OUT, for the 1st 3 weeks. 3) I hated the world for that 1st week. I wanted to fight everyone and everything! 4) It's going to be a struggle to drink enough. Just keep sipping all day. 5) Wear the elastic support band, all day every day. I wore mine for the 1st month - I was just a little OCD about it. 6) By day 10 most all discomfort was gone and I was out and about. Went back to work on day 11. 7) And most important - I no longer had food craving or really even cared about food anymore! Goodbye head hunger!

Hang in there. All the hassles, trouble and pain is worth it to get a 2nd start on life. After just 6 months, I had gotten past all the initial adjustments - gas, diarrhea, constipation... ect and it was like I'd been living this way my whole life.

Thanks for posting the link to your new blog. I'm looking forward to reading your posts. I've been watching a twenty-something girl on Youtube and she is fun to watch and has a way of putting what I'm feeling into words. You should check her out. Tell Clusie L that Frankensleeve sent you! Clusie L https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJGHPqGhf1TOLpJ4hUVF08w

Thanks for posting the link. I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts.

1 bite of anything isn't going to cause weight gain. The main thing is to be vigilant in the future and not let 1 bite lead to a 2nd, and then to a 3rd. (I can't claim to be completely perfect about this, so I'm not throwing stones, just a handful of of Nerf rocks. ) You might call me lucky/unlucky because I wasn't able to tolerate much of anything my 1st month. So I wasn't tempted and was really forced to change my eating habits. I ate only the few things Frankensleeve would put up with - Cream of Mushroom Soup and Peanut Butter. I kept testing new foods, but it was a long time before I could eat more than a tablespoon full of anything.

My first impressions out of surgery was immense pressure in my chest. I never really felt any pain in my sleeve or the incisions. But the gas pressure had me hitting the pain meds button like I was trying to win a prize on a game show!!! Until I had done the leak test, they didn't give me anything to drink except ice chips. When I did start drinking Water, I could only drink a thimble full at at time. I was in and out of the hospital and on the way home in about 30 hours.

Yes, it does get better and eventually you'll feel completely normal again. It was 6 months before I could eat "most" foods again without getting some kind of sign from Frankensleeve that he wasn't happy. I tried to take advantage of this time to keep my calories down, train myself to eat slowly and not eat when I wasn't truly hungry.

That is the best advice! I know it can be frustrating when I'm the one caught in a stall. And all those little voices of doubt are asking me if I'm eating the wrong things, eating too much, not drinking enough.????? It took many stalls before I was comfortable in the belief that if I just stuck with the plan that was working, it would start working again.

Here's a couple I took just a week ago at my favorite Mexican restaurant. Everything was some form of chicken or pork. Before After But normally Monday - Friday this is my normal meal and portion size ~ about 1 cup of food per meal. I think this was a mix of turkey hamburger and black Beans.

During my puree and even into the full food phase, Frankensleeve would only tolerate Cream of Mushroom Soup. It took him a while to readjust and heal from surgery. I would try different foods during that time, but the bites I took could be measured in teaspoons. One or two teaspoon full would be all that I could eat before Frankie started acting up and it felt like rocks in a garbage disposal - the way my stomach churned and cramped.

I too wanted the Lap Band - in the beginning. It seemed like the perfect blend of restriction without the permanence of stomach removal. But I watched a friend get the Lap Band (about 5 years ago) and for a time it worked. He was in the 400 - 500 lb range and lost over 100lbs. Then he found a way to "eat around" his band. He started having problems with the band slipping and getting the fill size right. Now he's bigger than ever and may have to have the band removed for health reasons. After watching his journey, I ruled out the Lap Band. Everyone is different and has different reasons for being overweight - but in my case I believe my head hunger was cause by the hormone ghrelin. And once my stomach was reduced, the production of ghrelin was drastically reduced and my constant hunger and cravings went away. The Lap Band wouldn't have fixed my problem.

Being so soon after surgery, I believe you'd be in terrible pain if you stretched your sleeve. You've only started healing. Plus, from what I've researched, it takes a lot of deliberate effort to stretch your sleeve permanently. You didn't say what you've been eating, but different people have different "slider foods", meaning, the food doesn't seem to be very filling. salad and Peanut Butter are slider foods for me. But chicken and hamburger fill me right up quick. And some foods like rice, Pasta or anything with sugar in them, cause me to get hungry again in about an hour. So I have to avoid them or just be aware of how they will affect me. One last thing. Since you're still healing, your brain may be making you hungry to get more nutrients for healing. If you're losing weight at the rate your doc thinks is healthy, then I'd say you're on track.

I can only tell you about my experience. And I went through the same nervous/excited feelings and thoughts. As far as food and drinks and alcohol go, I was able to eat anything and drink anything I wanted at 1 year. Up until then, I could eat and drink anything I wanted, but Frankensleeve was still adjusting and would grumble and complain sometimes. My hunger feelings went away, starting the week after surgery. I only feel real hunger now - meaning I can feel my stomach complaining it's empty. But daily head hunger and food cravings are a thing of the past. I'm now in control of my food and for the most part, really don't care what I'm eating. The hardest part was getting out of old habits, eating when I'm bored or eating because I think it will taste good. I've had a few moments where I'll pass the donut tray at work and just have to have 1, but it's only 1, I don't have to eat 4 or 6 to be satisfied. Or during the holidays, I'll allow myself to over eat a bit on all the goodies. The difference is, now I know I'm in control and can easily go back to my regular eating and drop the weight. I'm in control now. The hunger no longer controls me.

Hate me if you want. But, sometimes a bad example can be a good thing. It reminds us of what not to do if we want to be successful.

I was allowed string cheese during my pureed/mushy food stage, along with sugar free pudding and Jello. As far as to count it as a meal or snack? I was only eating a tablespoon or 2 per meal at that stage. And I could only eat about once every 1/2 hour - so everything was "snack size" for me.