cookies

I guess it depends on what your doc will allow post-surgery. I have unsweetened oatmeal occasionally. The other thing I do is make oatbran in the morning. Just a couple of tablespoons microwaved with a little less than a quarter cup of skim milk in a mug and sometimes I add a sprinkle of spices and some truvia. Gives me that "warm breakfast" feeling without as many net carbs because it's a much smaller portion and there's lots of Fiber. Since it's high-fiber, make sure your doc would okay it at this stage of your diet. If you're going to do oat bran, though, start small with like a tablespoon. It definitely helps with any constipation problems.

Educate yourself as to which areas are experiencing problems. Most of them are near the Texas border...and most of the surgeons that people go to are near the California border, not that area.

My surgeon does heparin shots while you're in the hospital, and then a month of low-dose coumadin once you're at home for everyone. Blood clots run in my family (we're all Factor V Leiden or whatever it's called) so in addition, I also had an IVC filter placed before surgery. I don't think many docs do this, but at my weight and with my history I had it done. I did get a clot in my IVC filter so I did a week of Lovanox shots and I have a stronger Coumadin now. They'll try to do another filter removal attempt in a week or so, I hope.

I use mine all the time. I do a lot of stew-type foods in it. chicken Chili, Lean pork shoulder in the crock pot until it shreds and then add some sauce to it. Taco Soup. Regular chili. The moist, falling-apart meat is really easy for me to eat at this stage (I'm about 6-7 weeks out).

Oh, thanks for posting the link. She looks fantastic.

I do just the Centrum chewables. Well, actually, I do the CVS "imitation" Centrum chewables which taste even better than the Centrum ones. I love them. I always take them with a meal to help make sure there are no tummy issues, but I haven't had any problems.

Well, keep an eye on it. If it does get red and/or very warm, head on back. You know what is normal for you.

Oh yay! Scar tissue is easy to deal with...or ignore. Leaving the port in would have been a pain, eventually. Glad to hear the good news.

As someone who has/had a blood clot after surgery, let me assure you that you want to do everything you can do to avoid it. My hematologist makes me get up and walk around every hour and a half for at least five minutes. Of course, he's conservative, but thought I would pass it along ...

Sounds like acid to me, even if you aren't having reflux. If you're not on an acid reducer, I'd ask your surgeon for one and see if that helps things.

*snort* My office mates are wondering what I'm giggling at right now.

Nah, it's not bad. It's a week after I finished my shots, though, and now I have huge circular itchy rashes around each of my shot sites. Grrrrr. I would have thought if I was going to have a reaction, I would have had it when I was giving myself the shots...not a week after I stop.

I didn't order anything. I just bought regular (chewables, etc.) from my local CVS. I found pretty much everything I needed with no problem.

My Simply Smart has the same amount of carbs as regular skim milk - 13 grams. Milk is full of lactose, which is a sugar.

Check in the fridge section where they keep the "ultra pasteurized" milks. That's usually where they are. I buy "Simply Smart" fat free milk, which has 10 grams per cup. They don't actually add protein to the milk, they filter out some of the water in the milk.

I started sleeping in a bed about a week and a half after surgery, but I would try to sleep on my side. I would wake up on my stomach but it wasn't that comfortable. By week three I was sleeping like a baby.

As long as you didn't receive any blood during your surgery, there would be no rule preventing you from donating. However, if you're on blood thinners you have to wait seven days after you are off them to donate. That info is from the Red Cross site. I would think if you're still at a low calorie level there might be some concern, too, but I guess that's up to you and how you feel.

What were their recommendations for what it should say?

Yeah, Quest bars are expensive, but they have 20 grams of Protein and tons of fiber. I also buy the Fit n Healthy bars at Aldi (not sure of the name). They have the same stats as a Balance Bar (15 grams protein) , but are only 79 cents each. They keep them near the cash registers.

Yep. I was happy to have it, too, because it meant I didn't have to try to get up and maneuver with my IV pole to the bathroom nonstop. lol.

I had my surgery on May 22nd with Dr. Strickland in Lexington, SC.

I can't believe it's already been a month since my surgery. I've had my ups and downs, but I'm trying to stay positive. My surgery itself was fantastic. It went so smoothly and I was so impressed with my surgeon, the nurses and the hospital. I was very fortunate to have no gas pain, and honestly I felt so much better than I expected to. My weight loss was fantastic in the beginning, but as soon as I hit week three, I hit the notorious week three stall. I have to say that despite having read about it, I wasn't expecting it. I weigh nearly 400 pounds, and I'm losing one pound a week eating 400 calories a day? SERIOUSLY???? Stupid body. lol. Week four I managed to lose two pounds, but still I'm finding it very disappointing, but I'm not exercising (blood clot), so that's part of it. I hit something unexpected and found out I had a blood clot when they went to remove my IVC filter. Crap. I'm self-pay so in addition to being worried about that, I also know this means I'm going to have an additional $20,000 or so of medical expenses. And then I had to call my boss and tell him that I'm going to be out of work for another two weeks. Stress city. I'm not happy. BUT...that's all there is. I can't do anything about things out of my control. I'm trying to stay positive and keep myself busy. In a month or so this will all be a memory and I'll be onto something else. Month One Stats: Surgery Weight: 416 One Month Later: 389 Pounds Lost: 27 NSVs: None yet

Can your mom come to your house? The advantage of having your surgery done locally is that if there is an issue you are very close to your doc and can get assistance quickly.

Careful there. If you lose your job or want to leave your job for any reason your loan has to be paid back immediately. I'd suggest any other option out there before digging into your 401k. Been there, done that one with my lap band surgery ages ago.

I use Livestrong (MyPlate). I find it's got pretty much the same features as MyFitnessPal, but they have a much larger food database. I could never find all my foods in FitnessPal.