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I had two year old twins (both somewhere around thirty pounds) at the time of surgery. My husband left to go TDY just a day or two after I got home from Mexico. I would say I had about three or four full days (between Mexico and Germany) to recover before going it alone. I did just fine. Instead of lifting the kids for changes I got on the floor to do them. I didn't carry them any more than I had to, so if you have a child that isn't walking yet I'd try to set up a station in the house much the way you would for bed rest if you were pregnant. Try to live on one floor or in one area to limit carrying and stairs. Have as much done as possible before the surgery. Stock your pantry, have your shake mixes, make some meals for the rest of the family that freeze or keep well and give your house a good cleaning before surgery. It makes life afterward much easier. I bought a few new toys, DVDs and craft activities for the kids prior to surgery so that if they got more rambunctious I could break out something new to entertain them for a while. I was never in serious pain after surgery but everyone is different. My biggest issue was that I needed to sleep in the recliner for a few nights because I'm a side sleeper. I had no lifting restriction put on me but I kept it to a minimum and spent as much time as possible relaxing with the kids. I'd say that I felt back to mostly normal (sluggish from low calories, of course) within the first week post op. I think that it's completely do-able if you are well prepared. ~Cheri

Smoking will most assuredly interfere with your healing process. It greatly increases your risk of complications post op. And I know you're fully aware of this, but fixing one major health issue (your weight and possible cormorbidities) and keeping a bad habit that can cause others isn't good in the long run. All else aside, it is absolutely imperative that you listen to your surgeon about not smoking prior to surgery, or at least being honest with the surgeon and anesthesiologist about it beforehand. That said, giving up two major emotional crutches at once will be very challenging. I agree with the previous poster - this is the ideal time to try a prescription and try to stop smoking once and for all. If you'll need to stop for a few months to aid healing anyway, it's possible to do it long term. Always assuming, of course, that your home situation doesn't provide a constant temptation (such as another smoker who isn't willing to quit). I know that there are people that didn't stop smoking post op - there have to be. They just aren't very vocal about it, probably because it's easy to be anti-smoking if you're not a smoker and nobody wants to hear more lectures when they already know the risks. But think of the impact on your pocketbook if you give up both the eating and smoking addictions at once. You won't know what to do with all your extra money! Good luck whatever you decide. I recommend heading to the general discussion board and seeking out other smokers to see what you find and to make a final choice there. You already know it's in your best interest to quit - I've never met a smoker yet that didn't know that, even though I gave up the habit more than ten years ago. The question is whether or not you're prepared for the real challenge of changing your entire life all at once. ~Cheri

Of course I'm going to say what I always say: the sleeve is NOT A DIET. All too often people approach this surgery like an accompaniment to Atkins and feel that it's the magic trick that will take them from big to small, if they can just avoid "X" food group for the time it takes to get to goal. That is exactly the issue - thinking of getting to a specific weight as the final goal and forgetting that there are all those years after goal where you have to know how to eat like a normal, healthy adult. If you can't manage to fix your relationship with food before goal, life is infinitely harder in maintenance - and maintenance lasts forever. The goal is to learn how to maintain. The sleeve is a tool and if you use it properly you can overcome whatever obstacles made you obese in the first place. If you treat it like a diet, it's going to let you down the way every diet you tried before surgery let you down. This is exactly the time to learn how to eat in moderation, how to incorporate exercise (or in my case, more activity) into your life, and how to break bad habits you've established over years. This is not the time to panic over eating more than 20 grams of carbs in a day or to lose your mind because the thought of eating more than 700 calories a day scares you. I was self pay and did nearly a year of research prior to my surgery. There is no excuse for choosing not to educate yourself about the risks and challenges of a major operation that removes most of an organ. If you can afford to finance your surgery, you can afford to make reading and researching or even paying a nutritionist part of that program, too. I know, I'm being snippy. Butterthebean and gmanbat are two very appreciated voices of reason on these boards. And I wholeheartedly agree with the surgeon in tuturunner's post. If you're preop and your biggest concern is how quickly you can eat the way you're eating as a morbidly obese person considering major surgery, you're probably not ready for this yet. I can eat (part of) a cheeseburger and (a few) fries at two years out. It's a very infrequent indulgence and one I'm happy I can make if I feel like it. But if food is still the center of your universe, the sleeve isn't going to be your magic wand. ~Cheri

Everyone is different and what/how much you can eat depends entirely on your sleeve. A soft boiled or fried egg is much easier to eat than a hard boiled or scrambled egg. And I'm not laughing at you, but will you stop for a second and realize that you just panicked a bit about the fact that you ate an egg? A whole egg? ONE EGG? This wasn't exactly Breakfast at IHOP, three eggs, pancakes and sausage. It's not going to hurt you, I promise. If anything, finding a good Protein that you can easily keep down so early on is going to help you hit your nutritional goals and recover more quickly. You're lucky! Tuna is hard for a lot of people. All dense protein is hard in the beginning. I was determined to make tuna and chicken salad a staple in my soft food diet but was unable to do it. It was just too dense and just a bite or two could fill me up and cause discomfort. You'll need to learn your body. Your doc might not want you to puree, and that's fine. But that doesn't mean rush out and jump from Clear Liquids into steak dinners. Go slowly, because your capacity is a fraction of what it was prior to surgery. Mentally you're going to feel like you should be able to eat more, but more often you'll find that just a few bites will do the trick. Pay attention to your new full signals and you'll avoid discomfort. It takes time for all of us. Fullness to me is now a runny nose and the sniffles or hiccups. If I persist, I'll feel pressure in my chest. If I continue, I'll feel full all the way up to my neck and those last few bites will come back up. It takes time to learn your limits. Start with soft cheeses, deli lunchmeats, cottage cheese, eggs, etc. Work your way into denser and more solid foods over the next week or so. And your sleeve isn't stretching out unless you eat to the point of pain and vomiting several times a day every day. Your doctor just removed 85% of your stomach and left the least stretchy part behind. What's more likely is that you'd slow your recovery if you were to continually overdo it early on. You'd be putting pressure on the staple line if you did that, and your newly sleeved stomach is still swollen and healing. Just take it slow and easy and listen to your body and I'm sure you'll be fine. ~Cheri

You're only five weeks out! Some people are able to tolerate these foods easily and early and others are not. I still do not eat a lot of Pasta, bread or rice and I avoid flour tortillas altogether. Not because I think these foods are bad, but because I can easily go from enjoying my food to discomfort in one tiny bite. I prefer to eat things I know settle well. I have the easiest time with rice now, but it took me a long time to be able to eat more than a bite of it at a time. Foods that swell in the stomach cause a lot of people issues. I would say that for the time being, either try the suggestion to puree the foods or just set them back for now and come back to them later. In the beginning I ate a lot of brothy Soups and shakes and for soft foods I stuck to things like cottage cheese or tuna/chicken salad. String cheese was always pretty easy for me, and deli lunch meat, while not the healthiest option, was easy to keep down because of how soft it is. Find what works and go with that. No food should be off limits forever, but sometimes it takes a while to eat foods we used to take for granted. ~Cheri

I ate out very little immediately post op but I do recall the experiences I had when I first ventured out there. Even now it's sometimes frustrating to eat out because I still eat so little. Every now and again I'll order my own entree and be amazed when I see that I still can't eat even half of the food they serve to people in restaurants. Keep as closely as you can to your doctor's nutritional plan. I had soup shortly after and simply asked them to give me as much broth as possible while avoiding everything else. They thought I was nuts but I enjoyed my "treat" very much, because I'd been eating the same old liquid meals for weeks at that point! These days I've learned to share. Even my husband, who has never had a weight problem, is now disgusted by the massive portions they serve in restaurants. As a family of four we'll typically share a salad or appetizer and order two Entrees instead of ordering appetizers, entrees and possibly dessert for everyone. ~Cheri

Yes - this is absolutely correct. Also, keep in mind that there is no "magic window of ideal loss" like with the RNY. Your sleeve is your sleeve and the size it is around one year out is about as large as it will get. What I eat at more than two years out is only slightly more than I ate at one year out, and it's still a fraction of what I ate prior to surgery. I'm saying this to prevent you and others from panicking needlessly because they haven't reached goal before one year. There is no rule about how quickly you need to reach goal and your ability to lose continues for the rest of your life. Even people that experience regains could rather easily go back to basics and lose weight again several years post op. I reached goal in seventeen months, at a pace of just over six pounds a month (with two nine week stalls for good measure) and found that yes, it took more time to shed pounds the closer I got to goal weight (6 months to drop the last 20 pounds) but it wasn't any more difficult than losing weight in the beginning. I simply kept up the same healthy diet plan and eventually got to my goal. Good luck, ~Cheri

Wait a second - after drinking juice or alcohol you're feeling lightheaded and dizzy? Check your blood sugars. It could also be hyperglycemia. You could either have already had a problem with being borderline diabetic prior to surgery OR if you're living on a very low carb diet your body could be totally unused to processing sugars normally. In any case, get it checked out. Without insurance, perhaps finding one of those clinics that makes it's rounds doing free testing is your best option. Either that, or call a small local clinic (not a large practice) and explain that you're self pay and need some tests done. My father is self employed and has never had insurance for anything but serious medical concerns and when he self pays he pays a fraction of what the doctor would charge an insurance company. Good luck. ~Cheri

I wouldn't beat yourself up about not taking the sublingual when you could have. It never did enough for me, anyway. You can't change the past, so addressing the deficiency now is the best you can do. I took my B12 and Iron and still experienced the same issues. I was dizzy, fatigued, forgetful and just felt sluggish for months before I finally got my doctor to do some tests. I am on B12 injections. For four months I was on one a week but then I had my levels retested and found that once a month would be enough. I am also on a prescription iron supplement (I've taken both Ferralet and Bifera) and that helped immensely. Ferrous sulfate only made me feel sick and caused terrible side effects. Within a week of starting my new supplements I felt like a different person. I was amazed that I had been dragging myself around in misery when something so simple could address the issue. I do sub-Q injections and I do it myself. It's far cheaper this way, especially living where I live. I can buy twelve doses of B12 for less than five dollars and I get syringes from my local clinic for free. Having already lived with diabetes and undergone fertility treatments, giving myself an injection was nothing to worry about, but there are a huge number of videos online demonstrating how to do it if you're nervous. Good luck. I'd check into a better iron supplement, too, if you're not already on something better than ferrous sulfate. And make sure you're taking your iron separately from your multi because calcium affects iron absorption. ~Cheri

Is it that you don't want to eat or that you feel discomfort? I still don't feel hunger at more than two years out (and pregnant) so I can relate to that. I can still easily skip a meal without intending to do so. But I enjoy food and I like eating when I do eat. It's no longer a chore to me - I feel like I have a more normal, healthy relationship with food. Whenever I get the idea that I'm eating too much food I track and realize that I'm still eating a very limited diet compared to a person with no sleeve. As for quantity, yes, I still sometimes feel as though I can't possibly eat enough food. On a very lucky day I can fit over a cup of food but most of the time I'm limited to 1/2 to 1 cup of food, and that's only if it's not a meal comprised solely of dense Protein. Or Pasta...or rice...or bread, because those foods still fill me up after a few bites! But if I allowed myself to compare what I'm eating to what the people around me eat, I would probably feel that I'm hardly eating at all. What's important is that I'm eating enough. Between regular meals, Snacks and supplementing with a shake I am still able to eat a reasonable diet and I'm healthy. Before my pregnancy I maintained my weight pretty effortlessly and wasn't struggling either to gain or losing. So I'd ask the OP to share a bit more so that we can see if this is something that needs a doctor's help (such as physical discomfort eating this far out) or if it's something normal that a lot of us experience. ~Cheri

Almost every woman here experiences hair loss to some extent. My formerly thick and luxurious long hair took a pretty hard hit for a while there. With time, it does get better. I only had a two to three month window where I was really losing my hair. After that, it was simply keeping to a diet high in Protein (I aim for 90+ grams a day, using a shake to supplement) and simply waiting for regrowth. The only time I really lose hair now is when I slack on my diet. For instance, I was completely unable to eat a reasonable diet a few months ago and was really missing the mark on my protein intake. While it was nothing like in the beginning, I really did notice an increase in my shedding. Once I corrected the issue it stopped. You can take all the supplements in the world but nobody can give you a definite answer why this happens. For some reason, between three and nine months post op, most women experience this. I can say that the drastic weight loss is a huge shock to our bodies. I don't know that this can always be tied to protein intake, either, as many women that experience this are careful to eat a protein-heavy diet. Some women choose to cut their hair. I cut mine about five inches, still leaving it several inches past my shoulders. I did this not because I had to, but because I was getting very annoyed with my hair coating everything. Well, guess what? I cut my hair and all that happened was I got SHORTER hair all over everything! The hair loss resolved just a few months later. I used Nioxin and feel that it at least slowed the loss. I never reached a point where I experienced baldness or bald Patches. My hair was definitely thinner - a ponytail was about half the thickness as before. I took Biotin religiously for months but it did nothing for me except make me nauseous. Some women swear by it, though. When I eventually transitioned back to my usual Aveda products, I did not notice an increase in hair loss, so using the Nioxin temporarily did not have a negative impact on regrowth. Some point between one and two years out I noticed my hair looked shiny and healthy again. Incorporate good fats into your diet as this will help your hair and skin, and eat plenty of protein. That's really all you can do. It will come back. As to whether or not to cut it, that's entirely up to you. My hair is back to it's former length and nobody would ever guess I had lost so much of it two years ago. Good luck. I did argue to my husband that as a big girl, I was always able to count on shiny hair, healthy nails, gorgeous skin and of course, large breasts to make me feel good about myself. It was quite a shock to me to see my skin get so dry, my nails turn brittle, my hair start falling out and my poor ladies start to shrink into a shadow of their former selves. But it all comes back, it really does. Hang in there and do what you can but try not to let it make you crazy. ~Cheri

As usual, my response will be a novella. Bear with me! I think the biggest thing to be aware of is that the sleeve is going to help immediately (and forever) with portion control. You will never sit down and eat an entire pie, pizza or box of Cookies in one sitting again. That said, the emotional and habitual triggers will not be resolved. I think a lot of people transition from binge eating into grazing because that's what their sleeve will allow. I was completely in denial about my overeating and binge eating until I was forced to confront it post op. I had really, really convinced myself that my weight and inability to lose it was entirely due to my diabetes, my hormones, my metabolism, whatever. I really thought that simply controlling my portion size would be this miracle solution and that for the first time in my life the weight would just fly off and I'd be skinny. It wasn't until I stumbled upon the book "Hungry" by Allen Zadoff that I acknowledged the behavior I'd been denying and realized why I was struggling with my emotions post op. The most important thing to do is track your food. I tracked every single bite religiously, to the point of ridiculousness, actually. Six M&Ms and a sip of soda? I'd do the math and add them into MyFitnessPal rather than ignore them. This was the first big step in acknowledging what I was eating. The next step was to force myself into a set caloric/nutritional window. If I didn't have "slack" to indulge on any given day, I did not do it. That was tough and many a night I went to bed thinking about food. But it was so important to me that I learn to control my eating instead of continuing to be a slave to my desire for food. I LUSTED after food. I had to break those habits and the easiest way was taking advantage of that window where I had zero physical hunger and using it to overcome the habit of eating. From that point, I evaluated my emotions and feelings every time I found myself thinking about food or opening the door to the fridge. Once I pinpointed my triggers I was able to stop the behavior. The sleeve made this so much easier for me, because I really wasn't experiencing any hunger. The only time I ever struggle with this is during my cycle, when my hormones are wacky and I feel like I could eat paint chips off the wall (all despite feeling ZERO actual, physical hunger) but I still keep myself under control. Once I was able to tackle those three things, I had to learn moderation. I could not treat the sleeve like a diet. I could not approach the sleeve as the other half of a life on Atkins. For me to succeed and feel happy about my success, I needed to feel like I wasn't denying myself or like I was fencing off an entire world of food forever. This is different for everyone, because some people have serious trigger foods like white sugar or white flour that make it incredibly difficult to incorporate them in moderation. My only real trigger at this point is popcorn. I could eat it every day. Every other food that used to set me off has no control over me these days. So my experience in this won't work for everyone. But basically, I found that around six to nine months post op that I was able to incorporate a more reasonable amount of carbs and good, quality fats into my diet. All at once my mood improved and I stopped dreaming about food at night. I was able to indulge myself occasionally without feeling the compulsion to eat myself sick. From that point forward I started eating about 40% Protein, 30% carbs and 30% fat as my diet. I try to make good quality food choices 90% of the time but I allow myself 10% of give where I'll eat whatever strikes my fancy. If I feel like I'm slipping I immediately start tracking every calorie again and find out if I really am slipping or if it's all in my head. Usually it's in my head, to be honest. There's a huge amount of baggage that goes with a lifetime of negative body image, crazy diets and generally poor eating habits. There were times when eating a few bites of cake could make me feel guilty but if I counted up my calories for the day I'd see that there's nothing wrong with a few extra calories and carbs. And I'll admit that those days are mostly behind me at two and a half years out. I have now ingrained the habit of healthier eating and the desire to binge and graze endlessly is gone. Most of the emotional baggage has been worked through and shelved, and I don't question my choices like I used to do. It really is a huge relief to feel this way - I imagine this is how people that never had food issues or a weight problem feel about food. It's just food. I enjoy it, sure, but it doesn't control me or make me feel guilty or send me into fantasies where I eat it all anymore. All of that aside, I did not whip down to goal quickly. I was still a slow loser, even sleeved and doing my best to be healthy mentally and physically. It took me 17 months to reach goal but when I got there I was ready for it. Maintenance was a breeze for me once I accepted my body's happy weight was going to be a few pounds more than I wanted. This is why you will see me repeat the same things over and over again here - it's important to learn moderation and stumble on your way to healthy BEFORE you reach goal. Do not save up all of the issues that caused your obesity until that point and then try to live a normal life while unpacking your baggage! I could not have done this without my sleeve. I urge anyone that's working through this to really address it as something you can fix, something you can control. You really are in charge of your body. Make the sleeve, and the fact that you removed most of your stomach, count. It is a struggle. It is hard. Those compulsions, cravings and desires are seriously hard to break, but we can do it. I'd say we HAVE to do it if we want to live life at goal as a happy and healthy person. Best of luck to everyone struggling with this. ~Cheri

Good luck to both of you! ~Cheri

Teensy, tiny bites of barely solid food are about all I could get down early on, too. Don't take this as a sign that you're stuck on liquids. Just keep trying new things until you find what works, and above all, listen to your body as it tries to heal. A lot of folks find success with thin cream of wheat as their first soft food, by the way. It worked for me. Or go with a thicker soup that's pureed and more substantial than drinking a shake. I remember being so frustrated with shakes after three weeks on them...only to discover that I was then frustrated that I could only get down two or three bites of soft foods, anyway! ~Cheri

Two and a half years out on the 15th of January! ~Cheri

My cycle regulated within two months of surgery. I have endo, not PCOS. I found that my hormones just caused all sorts of issues. I had trouble with Mirena post op because my body didn't react the same way to the hormones and I could not lose weight with it in. I had mine removed. I'd go back to it as an option after this pregnancy, because it works very well for my endo (that's the only reason I take it, surprise pregnancy is not in the cards for me) but that's only because I'm not trying to lose weight any more. So watch the bc choices post op. If you notice that you react differently than before surgery, do not be surprised and be willing to consider other options. I also had the usual bloat and weight gain even after surgery. In fact, I only lost weight during about a ten day period each month. I would stay at one weight for about two weeks, gain a few pounds during my period and then shed any weight I'd lose that month in the final week to ten days of the month. With the exception of two stalls, this was my normal weight loss pattern. I think the hormone issues caused me to lose weight more slowly (just over six pounds a month) but I still reached goal. In my time here (three years registered, three and half including my lurk months) I've seen a huge number of women report improvements in their PCOS and endometriosis after losing a significant amount of weight. Be wary, because there are also a huge number of surprise pregnancies by women as their fertility increases and they weren't prepared with a birth control option! Good luck. It is totally normal to have a wacky cycle for a short time post op, and for some even for several months as your body adjusts to the rapid changes. I've read that our fat cells store hormones and as we lose weight they are released into the body. I'm not sure how true this is, but a number of us experience hormonal fluctuations that do crazy things to us after surgery, until our bodies adjust. ~Cheri

Room temp or warm before cold for a few months, at least. Plain Water bothered me but flavor or fruit made it bearable. I drank very diluted tea (I'd make one cup of tea into a liter of tea-water) and had much better luck with that in the beginning. You have to keep trying to find a solution. Dehydration is no fun and causes a host of unpleasant side effects. Good luck, ~Cheri

Well, so long as you'll see your doc to make sure it's nothing else, I'll contribute to give you my experience. I admit that that while it doesn't make logical sense, YES, I have noticed that things aren't as comfortable as they used to be prior. I suffer from endometriosis that has improved dramatically with my weight loss but still find that things aren't as, shall we say, roomy as before. I chalk it all up to the fact that our bodies just fit together differently now that I'm skin and bones. There's not four to six inches of padding everywhere on my body, making contact more difficult. But yes, there was an adjustment period for me, too, though now I'd say that what we really needed was to just re-learn my body after goal weight and adjust. Eh, we were falling into a rut, anyway. Actual pain is always something to be very concerned about, though. I'm talking about mild discomfort that would ruin the mood for me, not serious pain. Get in to the doc, of course, because it could be anything. But I don't think you're the first person to ask this. I think there was a thread in the powder Room about this about a year ago where several of us discussed the changes we'd experienced post op. ~Cheri

It's better than nothing but watch for deficiencies. For a while it was the gummies or nothing for me, too. I finally wound up on a chewable prenatal that was complete and didn't make me ill (BellyBar Chewable Prenatals) that was given the okay by my doc even before I got pregnant. In addition to my daily prenatal I still need a prescription Iron supplement (but I've been borderline anemic my whole life) and I take B12 injections. sublingual B12 wasn't cutting it for me, and ferrous sulfate (the most common OTC iron) makes me so sick it's impossible. I also found that the farther out I got, the more things I could tolerate that weren't possible for me before. So at this point, gummies might be your best option, but keep trying other things every now and again because there really are better options out there. ~Cheri

My surgeon put me on a PPI starting immediately post op. If you're concerned, put in a call. But Tums will not do the trick while your body is trying to transition here. And Tums will also interfere with your Iron absorption, so only use them if absolutely necessary. Hopefully, like the majority of sleevers, you'll be on your PPI for a few months and then slowly wean off, without needing it for the rest of your life. For some people the PPI remains a necessity, though, so be prepared for that possibility. I started on Nexium and went to Prevacid, which did nothing for me. I finally found the best relief on Prilosec (I just bought OTC omeprazole, the generic) and was able to take that until sometime between 4-6 months post op, when I started to wean off of it. Now that I'm pregnant, I'm on it daily again, but I expect that I'll go back to life without once I evict my little passenger. I am always amazed when surgeons do not prescribe a PPI as a matter of course. I am not trying to be critical of anyone's surgeon - it's just that this is such a simple solution to a serious issue that almost every person sleeved experiences. The huge improvements in quality of life when you take this one small pill for a short period of time are so great that I'm amazed it isn't just standard practice for everyone. I hope you find some relief soon. ~Cheri

Yes, definitely pursue testing. If all else fails, it's clear the Prilosec is not doing what it's intended to do and you might be one of the unlucky few that needs something stronger, like Protonix, for relief. I understand the exhaustion with Protein and being bored with your options. I do think that compared to a whey Protein powder (or even the vegan options) protein bullets are a less quality, less-absorbable option. I might hear some arguments on this but it seems to be what I've read in my own research. This might be part of the nutritional deficiency you're experiencing. I take a prescription Iron supplement (I've been on Ferralet and Bifera) and this helps immensely with the fatigue without giving me the side effects of ferrous sulfate. I also take B12 shots because I was seriously deficient. I noticed an almost immediate improvement in my overall well being once I was on these supplements. I had memory loss and basically felt like a zombie for several months some point after one year. My hair didn't return to it's former glory until I was on supplements for a few months. And Biotin did nothing for me except make me feel nauseated, but everyone is different. The Nioxin helped slow my hair loss long enough for me to recover, I think. I no longer use it and unlike my husband (who can't stop using it or he loses hair) I haven't noticed any issues because I switched to a different brand. On one hand, taking supplements stinks, sure. But you know what? I'm not sticking my finger with a blood monitor to test my sugars four times a day any more. The trade off is so worth the aggravation, in my opinion. I think that while it's easy to get frustrated and you're clearly at a low point right now, with perspective it all balances out. I feel best when I aim for 70-90 grams of protein a day. But to do that, I try to drink one Protein shake daily (I mix mine with coffee in the mornings) that has about 40+ grams of protein in it. I get the rest of my protein slowly throughout the day. If you are not eating a good variety of foods - if you're still eating protein, protein, protein until you're full and skipping the carbs and good fats, it's no wonder you're burnt out! This isn't Atkins for life, so make sure you're getting a nice balance. And try other sources of protein, too, if you're open to other options. I like quinoa, seitan, tofu (in moderation), tempeh and lentils as sources of protein that aren't as dense and difficult to eat. I eat eggs about a thousand different ways to keep things interesting, too. This is a challenging life journey for a lot of reasons. We don't just have to learn a new way to eat and live but we have to shed old habits and ideas about our health and our bodies. It's a hard journey physically and mentally but it's so worth the effort. You're feeling frustrated and burnt out right now and this is the right place to come for support. I hope you get some help here and can get over this hump, so you can finish out your journey feeling much happier and healthier, all around. Good luck, ~Cheri

First, you will never ever stretch your stomach out to original size. Really, I promise. Your surgeon just removed 85% of your stomach and left behind the least stretchy bits. It would take real, concerted effort over a long period of time - overeating to the point of pain and vomiting for a long period - to stretch the sleeve what little it will give. By this, I mean stretching beyond the norm, beyond what is supposed to happen within the first year to two years post op. That said, in my experience, my sleeve doubled in size from immediately post op in around six to nine months. It then probably doubled in size again to where I am more than two years post op. What does that mean? It means I can eat between half a cup to a cup of food, depending on how dense the food is and how I'm feeling that day. On very rare occasions I can fit 1.5 cups in...especially if I chose a brothy Soup to start a meal. I am pregnant and have a much larger capacity than before and there is no way in the world I could possibly eat anything like I ate prior to surgery. One small slice of very thin crust pizza and a few spoonfuls of minestrone or a few bites of salad and I'm uncomfortably full. Around one year out your sleeve is almost as big as it's going to get, though you'll likely find that your ability to eat a more normal diet returns. Any food issues like eggs, beef, and even lactose intolerance are usually much improved at this point. So I can eat "normally" as in, I can eat normal foods and feel like a regular person again (I only avoid milk, ice cream and yogurt at this point) but I can not eat normally, as in, the way the people around me eat without thinking about it. Second, you will not hit your nutritional goals for some time. It's normal. Our doctors give us a guideline of where they want us to be, but it takes many of us months to reach those goals every day. Do your best, make smart food choices and yes, sip all day long. Dehydration can cause a host of side effects and can land you back in the hospital, so take care to drink whenever you can. If you're cleared to use a straw, use one. Some docs say to avoid them; mine didn't. I definitely drink more when using a straw. If cold liquids bother you, try room temperature. For some reason, plain Water bothered me post op but adding fruit or flavor drops gave me no problems. Thin your shakes out if they're hard to drink. It took me months to reach my doctor's goals for Protein and liquids. I wouldn't expect you to start hitting those goals for a while, but your ability to eat and drink should get better each day. Your sleeve is ridiculously swollen right now. Once you start on mushies you'll experience this frustration again. You'll know you should be eating more but one or two bites can fill you up completely. Good luck, ~Cheri

Everyone has their own list of foods to avoid for a while. Beef is hard for a lot of people, for a long time. It's very dense. I think I was more than a year out before I could eat more than half a burger...sans bun! With certain foods, sometimes just a few bites can do what half a cup of a different food will do. It's all trial and error and it's all up to your own particular sleeve. Keep trying new foods until you find what works. I was determined that tuna was going to be a staple in my diet post op but it really bothered me for a while. I just had to switch things up until my body tolerated it the way I expected. Good luck, ~Cheri

That's a tricky one. If you're on liquids, it's normal to feel rather empty. For me, this wasn't an issue as I had zero hunger and didn't want to eat anything. Towards the end of my rather long liquid diet post op, I still wasn't hungry but had the desire to chew food. I was tired of shakes, shakes, shakes and wanted to transition if only for variety. I think this is pretty normal. Once you're on a mixed diet of foods, hitting a higher Protein goal does help with feeling more satisfied throughout the day. I hesitate to use the word "full" because to me "full" now has a negative connotation - I associate fullness with discomfort and overeating. The best way I have found to feel fully satisfied eating a "sleeve approved" diet once I was on solids was to eat a variety of foods, incorporating daily shakes but also a high amount of protein balanced with a reasonable amount of good quality carbs and fats. That said, we're all different. A shake could make you feel "full" or overly stuffed for a few reasons. One, you're freshly sleeved and still swollen so even sips of Water can fill you up. Two, it's a thick, icy shake that consists of several different ingredients, or it's mixed with milk which is thicker and more filling. Three, if it's a feeling of discomfort that is being called fullness, lactose intolerance could be an issue. Until I realized I had developed intolerance, I dealt with an uncomfortable fullness, along with a host of other digestive issues. Good luck, ~Cheri

It takes the body a while to learn to produce less acid than our much reduced stomach needs, and the PPI helps relieve the discomfort during that phase. For the vast majority, the need to take a PPI is temporary and will resolve itself within a few months to a year post op. Tums will help address the symptoms of the acid production. But Tums will also prevent Iron absorption and should not be taken daily to resolve acid reflux. Only a PPI such as Prilosec, Protonix (script), Nexium, etc. is going to address the cause of the discomfort. Oh, and in case anyone stumbles across this thread, many people do not report relief while taking Prevacid. I had to change from Nexium to Prevacid and finally to Prilosec before I found what worked for me. Tums will work if you have an occasional issue with acid. But if you experience heartburn more than a few times a week, a PPI is a far better option. ~Cheri