PatrickG

I am in my 5th week post-op and my body is starting to grudgingly give up the weight after stalling at 3 weeks. I increased my protein intake and walking time and I am losing about 1-2 lbs per week. This morning I saw 239.

I got my surgery done by Dr. Rosen and Dr Mikhail also.

I am a side sleeper, but the first week after the operation I had to sleep on my back because it hurt to lay on my sides. I also raised the head of the bed with some 2x4's because I had acid reflux. After the drain was out I returned to sleeping on my sides.

Friday marked 3 weeks since the surgery. I have lost 30 pounds since starting the pre-op diet and 20 pounds since the surgery. I have hit my first plateau this last week. I have been moving up and down a few pounds but no signifigant loss. I plan to increase my exercise and hopefully move past this stall.

Sounds like acid reflux.

I am in my third week and I have been getting abdominal pains as well. Mine seems to be around the incissions so I just assume that it is healing pains. One tylenol is enough to get rid of the pain so I am not worried.

I pureed a can of chicken with some ranch dressing. I filled up a 1/4 cup container. I tried to eat it slowly but I still have problems with that. I ended up "finishing it" and was uncomfortably full for about an hour. I should have stopped at 1/8 cup. Can't wait to see what solid food will be like.

I tried another 1/4 cup of the pureed chicken again tonight. I really took my time eating over 40 minutes. I did not get the uncomfortable full feeling this time. I am slowly unlearning my bad habit of wolfing down food. I would rather eat 1/4 cup of pureed meat than gag down another protein shake.

Your stomach probably shrank a little bit when you were sick and not eating as much.

I tried lentil soup yesterday and it tastes pretty good. Much higher protein and lower carbs. I will stick with that for now.

I have been trying the pureed foods and I find that some go down far easier than others. I have been eating warmed up ricotta and yogurt without blending them. They don't go down so easy. I can eat maybe 1/4 cup before I have to stop. A few days ago I started pureed chilli (red beans, tomato and turkey burger) which goes down easier than the cheese or yogurt. I eat 1/4 cup of that and I am full for an hour or more. Today I tried pureed Progresso light chicken dumpling soup. I ate 1/4 cup of that and I was back for another 1/4 cup within 15 minutes. The soup seems to clear my stomach a whole lot faster than the other foods. Now I am worried that I will get hooked on the things that go down easy and side track my weight loss. I guess I will need to have some will power and keep it to one can of soup (2 cups) per day. Good thing it is only 160 calories.

Just picked up some Gatorade G3 at the supermarket. It has 16g protein per bottle for 120 calories. At $2 per bottle (on special at Jewel) it is certainly cheaper than the GNC fruit flavored protein drinks. It seems like a good choice for me when I am out and don't have my Special K protein water mix with me (or a bottle to mix it in).

You're right, at 14g carbs per container these should be avoided. I guess a carton of non-fat milk would be better if you can stand it.

What is your target BMI? My doctor said that I should expect to reach 30 within the first year, from a start of 42. I have to laugh when the Wii Fit game tells me that my target BMI is 22. I haven't weighed that much since junior high school, i.e. not full grown. If I can get to my high school weight (full grown), that would be a BMI of 25. I will be happy if I can get below a BMI of 30.

I am sitting here with a crick in my neck. I cannot find the pre-op instructions the surgeon gave me but I think I am supposed to wait 6 weeks after the surgery to use NSAIDs like Motrin or asprin. Tylenol is just not helping. How long did you wait before you used NSAIDs? I guess it is time to lay down on the heating pad.

Hmm. I have a sample of topical salicylate patches. I will have to try those. If it doesn't go through your stomach it should be OK.

Yes I was told the same thing too. I am not even supposed to have regular Slim Fast because it has too much sugar. I am just saying the Gatorade G3 is probably OK in a pinch if you cannot find anything else.

The flavors are lemon-lime/orange or strawberry/kiwi. I have only tried the lemon-lime/orange so far. It is sweetened with glucose so it tastes a little sweet to me. It is less "salty" and more sweet than regular gaterade.

I lost 10 pounds on the pre-op diet. The first few days the cravings for carbs were pretty bad but I got over it.

I guess you might lose a little muscle mass if you are not getting enough protein from other sources.

It has been pretty bad for me too. Although I was notorious before the surgery so nothing has changed for me.

From a guy's perspective, I waited about two weeks. I had to give my abdominal muscles time to heal.

I had a gout flare-up two weeks before surgery about the time I started the low calorie diet. I was OK the first week, but once I had to stop ibuprofen I was in hell. I finally went to urgent care after two days of tylenol and got a prescription for 3 colchacine pills. This stopped the flare up temporarily. The night before surgery I could not sleep because of the pain. The surgeon prescribed a three week dose. I took it the first day home and then forgot it for three days. I finally got back on it , starting with 3 pills the first day and one a day after that. I was on the pain meds for longer than needed because of the gout flare-up. Two weeks out and the gout is finally settling down. The surgeon said the gout flare-up was probably from dehydration.

Just thought I would stop in and say hi. I have posting in the post-op forum and finally scrolled down to find this forum.

I started yogurt 5 days after my surgery (2 days early). Just go slow. The first few times I ate too fast and got bad hick-ups until the food went down.