Donna4545

I just had regular anaesthesia, so I don't know. I wouldn't want a spinal, it sounds dangerous--of course that is a completely uninformed reaction/opinion.

Call your surgeon. Mine would not operate if you had a cold, fever or not.

I went off both Prozac and Wellbutrin cold turkey before surgery, and have not missed them, and don't need them post-op. Now every situation is different, and I'm not offering medical advice, I'm just sharing my situation. After the surgery my mind felt clearer and I was more energetic and optimistic, at least so far. It depends on your state of mind. I had been on those meds for years, and I think I had just moved past them, and it was time to get off. I don't have the stress in my life that I used to when they were prescribed. But just in case your doc says "no wellbutrin", know that it can be done.

Isn't aspic insanely high in fat? If I'm gonna splurge on fat, I'll opt for the foie gras!

I love her blog, but I suspect high carbs when I look at some of the recipes. She's a RNYer I think. They don't absorb calories like us so they're not as worried about posting stats. Same with Bariatric Foodie, which is a great blog, but I have to modify her recipes to make them low cal/low carb enough. They are both great inspiration, though.

The 10 lbs is probably IV fluids. Once you're properly hydrated again, and can exercise, I'm sure that will drop back off.

Stall over!!!! I added a 3 miles daily walk (burns 300 calories), upped the fluids by 20 oz, upped the protein to 70 grams, and voila! I was finally able to use the bathroom without a laxative and that broke the stall (2 days ago). I've lost 3 lbs since the stall broke. Have hope!

I try to keep it below 30 carbs a day, but my nutritionist said more carbs from milk, yogurt, fruit and veggies were ok. No white carbs at all.

Look carefully at your surgeon's instructions. Days 1-4 are usually Clear Liquids. You can have non-carbonated diet drinks, unjury chicken broth Protein powder ( a few sample packets will do), and Isopure Plus 8 ox RTD Protein Drinks. This way you can get protein and fluids in at the same time. After that you will probably be moved to full liquids, which is cream Soups (strained), Protein shakes. This stage doesn't last very long. Baby food comes later, in the mushies stage. I wouldn't eat baby food 3 days out --you could do damage, or it too much strain on your stomach, which is trying to heal. After than you go on soft solids, and then solids. At least this is program. Did your surgeon give you a nutritional plan to follow?

I also take sublingual thiamine/B1 and prescription Vitamin D (peope are often deficient and don't know it, in addition to Centrum A-Zinc chewable, Cacium Citrate chewable and sublingual B12. You might find the archives in my blog for newbies useful (link after ticker below). Good luck!

I;ve found that VSG made me more optimistic about life, and I could see that carrying over into my job. If I'm in a better mood, I'm going to feel better about what I'm doing.

Mine are fading on their own. I don't put anything on them. I don't plan to be wearing a bikini so I don't really care.

It's day 2 of mushies, and I found out what my pouch will hold. I had bought 4 oz. ramekins pre-op. I filled one with refried Beans and put a little cheese on top to melt in the microwave. I could eat 3.5 oz of it, but weirdly I feel physically pouch- full yet hungry at the same time. It's not the kind of hunger where you must eat something, but lower than my pouch, more like in my intestines--ok I just admitted I am a freak lol! Does anyone else have this?

Probably because it's usually the week you stop liquids and go to mushies. Your body has to re-adjust. This 3 week stall seems pretty common. I did what other posters suggested (up the protein, up the exercise) and the stall broke. I wouldn't be worried about it at all.

1. According to my program, you would be eating normal foods, with 1 to 1 and 1/2 cup portions. 2. I had a stall week three. I increased exercise, protein, and took a laxative and the stall ended. 3. If you don't get protein, your body will not burn fat, it will burn muscle for energy. You will be in poor health and you won't be losing weight the way you should.

Oh, for the record, sumthingwong IS a troll. He trolled on one of my threads elsewhere on VST and was quite juvenile and insulting. So I'm not insinuating, I'm SAYING. I'll just end up blocking him.

I've added exercise to the mix, and now, at the end of the 3rd week stall, if I can trust my scale, I've lost a couple of pounds this week. I'm waiting until I get on the doctor's scale to move my ticker. My one month anniversary will be Aug 14th. I hope to have lost 20 pounds post-op, we'll see if I make it. I feel like I am losing slowly. Perhaps my expectations are too high? So far I've lost 10 lbs post-op for sure. How much are other July sleevers losing/expecting to lost in the first month? I've followed all the rules to the tee. I'm eating 600-800 calories a day, less than 30 carbs/day and between 50-70 Protein a day. I feel like I'm not restricted very much. I still feel hunger, but I guess it's not as bad because I can ignore it. I couldn't ignore it before. Liquids aren't a problem. We'll see if I can maintain this perfection after school starts. I can easily eat a full cup of soft solids.I can drink normally. I guess that might change tomorrow when I start solids. Other areas of my life are improving, and I can't quite figure out what the connection with the surgery is--whether it's just a little easier to move around after losing a few pounds, if it's an attitude change (more positive), or if it's unrelated. I seem to have more energy and focus compared to before. Anyway, that's my 3rd week update. How is everyone else doing?

Oh wow, you'll be ready for mushies when the time comes! Good luck with the full liquids--you can get through it, and you'll be losing weight without even trying. :-)

How funny you are.

I'm starting my 4th week post-op. I have never been an "exercise person" unless you count Water aerobics, which I love, but aren't available where I live. I hated exercise. I found it boring, pointless, time consuming. I don't see myself ever running a marathon, and I'm not at home in the gym, at least not yet. After 2 days with the magical intervention of exercise DVDs, I have totally changed. Being able to exercise at home makes all the difference. This is something that I can work into my daily routine easily. For me, right now it's 1/2 hour after Breakfast and before shower. I'm sure I'll work my way up to more. I know that people do scary amounts of exercise and I'm just not there yet. But the DVD I am currently working with burns the calories equivalent to a 3 mile walk in 30 minutes so I'm probably getting some benefit from it. Anyway, I posted this in case there are other exercise-phobic people out there. This might be a good option for you, too.

My taste buds didn't change after surgery. I used Isopure Plus RTD drinks to get my Protein and iquid in at the same time. These were especially useful during the post-op "clears" phase, as was unjury chicken broth Protein powder. When I graduated to full liquids, I used IsoPure Zero vanilla protien powder mixed with Water and flavored with different DaVinci sugar free syrups. I didn't have a problem getting my liquid and protein in early on, though I've read that this is a problem for others. I wasn't thirsty in the hospital (you're on an IV). They had little sponge swabs for letting us moisten our mouths. 90 grams of protein sounds really high. My doc says 60, so don't be too worried if you can't make 90, you're not gonna die lol. Check out my blog (link is below the ticker) and look in the archives. You might find something useful there.. Good luck on the surgery.

Intestinal update: For some unknown reason--I went to the bathroom this morning (and lost a pound lol). Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm going to see what I can find today to prevent this from happening again.

I just ordered a sample pack of Nectar, but I haven't tried it yet. You can get samples for $3.95 for 10 flavors on their website. Everyone's taste is different so that's probably the way to go to see if you like it rather than asking people.

I've seen several people post who had sleep apnea and got the surgery. Actually I think I had a mild undiagnosed apnea because they had me hooked up to the breathing monitor post-surgery and every time I feel asleep it started beeping. I hardly got any sleep my night in the hospital because of that.

I couldn't pee, but I pointed out to them that of course I couldn't pee--they hadn't been giving me anything to drink! The IV evidently wasn't cutting it. They called the doc, and he gave the ok to discharge me with instructions that I call him if I didn't pee in 24 hrs. I did. I only spent 1 night in the hospital. I didn't have any gas that burping couldn't cure. I had no problems with pain except in my left shoulder (and that went away when they took the drain out). That said, everyone has a different experience with surgery, and I'm sure you'll be fine.