sassypants

You can put some protein powder in your soup, blend it with a little milk a natural one and add it to creamy soups if you have them (its kinda gross with non creamy soups) I don’t know what you were told but I wasn’t expected to get 100g of protein in every day to start with I was told try and get in as much as you can between 50-100g a day but don’t worry. Water wasn’t my friend so I drank decaf tea a lot still do and flavoured water but check the labels on the flavoured water some are nasty buggers full of crap. I was one of the people told fluid intake was far more important than protein for the first few weeks. But yeah you do feel like your constantly drinking taking a med drinking a med drining drinking drink when you move on its then the waiting between eating and drinking too lol If you can stand like hot water with lemon in it try that warmer drinks tend to go down easier, if I liked hot water I would have sipped on that instead! Just do what you can do and don’t feel you HAVE to do what other people are or were doing at the same stage as long as your doc/nurse/nut are ok with how your going you will be fine.

I don’t do facebook so no it’s not on there but everyone knows from family friends boss to my hairdresser lol I just come back from the hair dressers as it goes and spent the hour talking about it I was 91lbs heavier last time they see me and nice for me he said my hair is in much better condition lol Due to my ibs before surgery I was losing a lot of hair because I couldn’t absorb vitamins the sleeve has cut me back on what I take and as a result my hair isn’t falling out in clumps! (not yet anyway lol) It’s a bit hard to hide you losing weight when you start at over 400lbs and you have been big your whole life. Also not one to hide it its a lot easier people not trying to cook for you or give you food and drink when you visit them they know I take my own stuff and everyone is pretty interested in the process and how I am coping etc they love the little details!

it is hay fever season....

Out of interest what were you told? For me I was told low carb and fat high protein but I was never told how much of anything I was meant to have. Like I wasn’t told less than 40g carbs or how many calories I was meant to have per day just the protein I was told to try and get between 60-100g of protein a day and of course I was told protein first. But that’s it I wasn’t told anything else as far as guidelines and how much of this or that I have to have.

Your body uses the stored fat as energy, think of it like this your body breaks down the stored fat cells as its needed by our little intake of food this goes into your blood stream for your body to extract and use as the fuel it needs to run. It breaks it down and uses it as your blood pumps everywhere you’re taking the fat in it and processing it in the relevant parts. If you eat the wrong things like high sugar and carbs your body keeps the stored fat or uses less because its running off the sugar/carbs and doesn’t need to use your storage for energy. We still eat and we still drink so we are using the bathroom but stored fat isn’t used like food, stored fat has already been processed by your body broken down and stored into basic energy cells so most of the waste and junk was already taken out of you in the form of waste. Back in the day people would naturally gain weight in colder months leading up to winter so over winter when food was harder to come by the body used the stored fat to run off that’s what we are doing now with this sleeve.

That sounds like bile I would call someone nurse/doc and tell them. Bile feels like bad acid and sicky and burning and tastes awful! Anyone who has had gall stones knows this well its painful and gross. Bile can be orange yellow or green (gall fluid makes it more green) I can’t say whats causing it that’s something you need a medical professional to deal with don’t be scared just better to be safe than sorry and let them know and have it checked out. Could be as simple as flu or a bug but better to know than worry over it.

Are you eating solid food? Or more solid food? That’s can be hard I had to go back to softer mushie food because I couldn’t handle solids yet. You might have to take it a little more easy, chew much much more and be slower.

they did have answers for me after i told them off lol i was just really P'ed off they didn;t warn or give me things to stop it before hand like i read all over this forum, or that i was told to take the wrong things that had me in alot of pain. its not like this has never been done and they know it happens so to not pre warn us or give aides or tells us what to take and me go through that i was beyond mad at them! thankfully (touch wood) it hasn;t happened to me since i worked it out with simple prune juice! the issue with the gp the hospital doc sent a detailed letter on what i can have whats not allowed so i don;t speak to people who have no clue and i can get a appointment within 3 days now if i need it!

I had one on day 3 funnily enough they give me this little cup of what looked like white glue I asked what it was they said a laxative I said oh I went 2 hours ago, they told me to still drink it, it was gross. I wasn’t too bad for a while not every day or anything then second week in july worst experience everrrrrrrrrr! I won’t TMI you on the details but get some prune juice! I have been experimenting with it, how I am if I drink half a glass daily how I am if I don’t drink it how I am if I do every 2 or 3 days. Before you go the enema route try prune juice and get a packet of glycerine suppositories it could be as simple as the prune juice maybe a little more in the suppositories and if it comes to it then use the enema kit. I kicked off big time over my issue about the gp being crap and telling me to take things I am not allowed etc so I was told I can take the following f it happened again: Lactulose but if your lactose intolerant you may not want this (which I am) Movicol Psyllium Husks Thankfully I have never been at that stage again and my prune juice does the trick if I am a few days without. Hope that was some help!

I had the choice too between bypass and sleeve I decided the sleeve and it turns out my doc said I made the right choice due to other medical issues like ibs and the fact I already was on a lot of vitamins as I have a very hard time absorbing them naturally from the ibs. If I picked bypass I would have had major major issues with that. I didn’t like the idea of moving intestines anyway the only appealing side to bypass is it being reversible if needs be and you only reveres it because of what it does if you can’t absorb enough and end up getting sick and under weight they have to reverse it. Here in the uk this is how they are ranked smallest people do lapband sleeve is second on the scale then its bypass then it’s the duo switch thing the 2 stage wls. A lot of hospitals will push for the bypass because (and I was told this by a female doctor in my deciding stages) they don’t want to have to redo the op for bands or sleevers in a couple of years time because some people don’t change their eating habits and get big again. So they go for bypass because of the mal absorption thing and dumping that makes you sick if you try and eat bad stuff. It’s a tough decision and only you can decide what you want for you I knew from the get go I did not want the bypass at all may hair was already falling out I was already on vitamins I was already puking and having issues eating food I didn’t want to triple the effect with that surgery but that was my personal choice for what fit me. I did look them both up just incase but this was better for me. On my surgery day there was a woman being changed form the bypass to the sleeve she actually started as lapband then had bypass and that day was being sleeved as none of them worked I know why but that’s her personal medical issues so I wont post it. There is a lot of medical jargon on all of them doctors who would rather do one over the other will tell you negative things on one and positive things on the other they try and sway you. You really just need to sit and think how you want to be after, yes we take vitamins but its not as many as bypass we both have small stomachs after but they work differently. I think you need to read around on both forums the good stories the bad the issues people have and see what you feel would work for you or what you could cope with if it comes down to it. Either side who had positive results and easier times will say theirs is better so have it, its your choice for you. Good luck!

I am prescribed adcal- D3 effervescent tablets I take them twice a day. Its calcium and D3 together, and they are a nice lemon flavour too! Even when I told calcium before the op I took a D3 vit because it helps your body absorb the calcium.

I still smoke my doc knows all about it we talked about it before the op he had no issue with me quitting so yes I still smoke. As for you I would say no don’t! Honestly if you haven’t for this long just don’t I know the urge to just find the comfort in the vice of smoking but it won’t be just one we both know that! yes i do still smoke so you might think oh its easy for me to say don;t but i kinda wish i was made to give up and i will be working on that very soon! Trust me I know how you feel I still don’t keep things down well can’t drink a lot or eat nearly as much as I am told too and I had the worst experience of my life for a whole week not being able to go. I almost went er I was taking all sorts to help me go and when I finally did spent the whole next day in bed in pain. Now I drink half a cup of prune juice every day over ice to help. in my food log in the top corner I keep a note of going like bm lbm bbm which stands for bowel movement little and big so I know when I am going when I am not it can be 3 days of nothing then 2 or 3 days of movement. I can hit you up with what I did but its way way too much info for this thread lol its easy to fall back on but please don't you will feel crap after for going so long without then doing it again.

You need to look up Jamaican, west indian or maybe middle eastern recipes for goat, it could be too spicy for you not sure on your palate when my best friend makes it or I used to get it from the west indian take away it has a kick I can handle but you can go easy on some of the ingredients if your not too keen on food with a kick when your making it yourself. thanks now i wish i could have some ox tail or brown chicken or maybe a little curried goat lol

Yep! But I didn’t do meal replacement I picked the milk diet and learnt just how lactose intolerant I was! Didn’t drink milk before not as a drink didn’t do milkshakes etc just some cheese now and again so never knew sure found out! I was told to stop immediately as your body will be in bad shape for the op and was told to go on the food option. If you’re in major pain and feeling sick you need to tell them it could be an issue and not have the desired effect of the pre op diet and they could have a alternative option for you.

I’m in my 11th week and I have lost 91lbs I asked if that was a lot or fast etc they said no some do less some do more some the same its fine. I also started out heavier so I dunno if that’s a factor in my more rapid weight loss. i also don’t exercise yet as in, in a gym or hardcore dunno if that slows it/speeds it changes loses because muscle is building and weighs more. I think the op and the first stages are such a dramatic shock to the body it falls off and for me I am managing maybe 3oz (if lucky) of food a day still having a very hard time with both drinking and eating and they are not too concerned I am starving or anything like that. We all react differently our bodies do different things we may have big drops now and level out and be a lot slower say 6 months out others might be slower now their body adjusts and 6 months out the weight slides off with ease. Keep a food and drink diary and see how much your doing then you have a exact log to show them I had this much fluid this much food so they know.

I also wasn’t allowed shakes or protein for a couple of weeks after the op it was more about the fluid as in hot and cold drinks and broth nothing creamy its clear broth they say to drink cream soups were next stage for me. I made my own broth because I find pre made very salty and full of additives I know what i put in mine so it was easier. Also got water nausea so I bypassed that and just drank decaf tea the warm tea was sooooooo nice it just felt very soothing still does over any kind of colder drink. Kept a thermos of broth and another of tea with me to pour out little bits and sip on. First week or 2 you’re still really raw, tender and healing so have to be careful what you expose to your stomach. Try warmer drinks see if that helps.

Never? lol for me the warmer the drink the more I burp, but then again my family are kinda burpy people anyway so I dunno if its just me or not. I think its very common for all of us to be a bit burpy for a few months it maybe a tiny little stomach but it seems to get a lot of air in it. Not really an answer but I too burp when I drink not when I eat but yes when I drink I burp.

I tried cream of mushroom soup, now beforeeeeee this was one of my fav soups also used it as pasta sauce bases or over chicken as a base sauce first try after it tasted so rank and made me feel ill. Mad me sad because its just soup but nope! I have had puking reactions to a few things tuna is one and eggs is another like I am trying to turn myself inside out its so bad shakes sweating and extreme retching. And I tired egg twice 2 teaspoons of egg white same reaction! Will not go near eggs or tuna for the foreseeable future lol Homemade soup or canned tomato soup is fine so is other fish its really random!

Just wanted to add I was sick on the second day they kept bringing me water and saying drink it then tea then water drink it drink it drink it! I was sipping and trying and grabbed the puke bowl and blughhhhhh boy was it loud and like dramatic lol Even when I was done empty I kept retching badly lol I had the blood guy and the other 3 people on my ward section all asking are you ok do you need a nurse? Between puking water and retching I was shaking my head or saying no I am fine then blughhhhhhhh lol Also never had a pain pump they would give me iv liquid paracetamol (that’s like tylenol ) twice a day one around 10am and the other around 8/9pm they did say to me if you feel pain just tell us but I really didn’t feel the need to keep getting pain meds dealt with a lot worse than this felt. I’ve made it a point to never take morphine if offered it (gall bladder op I was asked if I wanted it in recovery) because it backs you up to put it politely lol and I know you can’t leave hospital without going loo, so if I can deal with the pain on a lower pain med I don’t take it plus it makes you spacey and sleepy which to me would make you seem more tired and sick than you really are. But that’s my personal preference if I really needed that high a pain med I would take it.

More protein you take in can make your urine darker you have protein markers in it normally so we intake a lot more protein and a lot less other stuff so we have more protein in our urine which makes it darker. That’s what I was told anyway lol

As far as being able to move and pain I wasn’t too bad my gall bladder op was far worse I feel. I had my op last on the list so I got on ward at like 9pm-ish still a little groggy I was out of the bed standing by it and told them to move my bed by the window told my mum to take my pjs out I wanted to get dressed in my clothes then i wanted to pee the nurse tried to help me and get me to use one of the pans I was all NO! so she tried to hold me and walk with me but she was too slow and I just shuffled off by myself with my iv stand and come back by myself instead of calling her to get me lol I watched how they hooked up the leg pressure things so when I wanted out of the bed I just turned it off and unhooked myself and hooked it back up when I got back in lol The next day my nurse took me for a walk off the ward and down the corridor and back again I did that twice a day. But I had bad cotton mouth and was on iv fluid so I went to the bathroom a lot to either brush my teeth or use the bathroom and I get bored really easily so I would just stroll about. I napped a lot but I sleep really poorly in hospital (always too hot and noisy for me) and the lady opposite me was a moaner who wouldn’t use her pain pump and did odd things in the middle of the ***ht that would wake me up. Once home I did a lot more sleeping but moving was far easier than the gall bladder op I feel. I think as long as you listen to your body and rest when its tired or your in pain then its ok to be moving around it helps blood flow lung function and you to feel “normal” and better than to just lay there.

i smoked and still do my doc asked me if i smoke i said yes he said ok one thing at a time deal with this first then if and when you want we will help you stop smoking. It was never a issue for me I didn’t have high blood pressure or bad lung functions or a bad EKG. The anaesthetist was very very anti smoking and told me I should quit!! Now!! Never smoke again!! My doc said yeah they are like that because they have to deal with all the issues smoking throws them in surgery. I had some issues with he told me but it wasn’t too bad. I did have very low oxygen levels the whole next day which kept me on the nasal oxygen thing till the breathing exercises were done a few times clearing my lungs and me taking deep enough breaths not shallow light breathing which apparently I was doing I wasn’t breathing deep enough unless I thought about it and made sure I was taking big deep breaths. Be honest because they will know and they are more prepared if you tell them you smoked or still do they know they may have problems and its on the paperwork and they have stuff to hand to deal with it you do also need to do the breathing exercises after and they need to know like for me that low oxygen or blood pressure is due to smoking and not something else. You also take the fasttabs for longer if you smoke you take 2 a day for 6 months if you smoke then another 6 months you’re on them once a day.

I have a lower back problem and part of my notes say exercise is not really a option for several months, and even then my back will take a lot more building up and checking before I can do anything crazy hardcore. I can’t even take my pain meds to take me from a constant 9 of pain down a bit so all my doc said to do was walk around my house. I am allowed to go swimming which I did this week my back did start to hurt a lot even in the water but I just tread water fast for my legs or held on to the side and kicked my legs. If they know beforehand that its not as easy because of pre existing medical issues they won’t expect you to be hitting the gym they should tell you what you can do for you. Its not hopeless hun you just have to adjust things to work for what you need.

I suggest going to a piercer and getting the plastic ones not funky uv ones or anything these are a lot cheaper just say your going in for a op and need a plastic bar during the op and hospital stay they will do one the right size for you and switch it out. They just cut a little strip off and make a thread on each end and add the balls it’s not pre made. The rings are a pain I actually bought both a opener and a closer the little ball is such a fiddly pain in the butt to try and get right my sister and partner tried to put it back in for me kept dropping the ball so I just left the bar in and glad I did so I didn’t have to go have it removed again for this op lol Had mine for 15 years so 5 or so days wasn’t gonna close up on me lol

maybe too personal but ring or bar? i had a ring in til my gall bladder op and was allowed the plastic bar for the op and recovery they told me no in the tongue but down there was ok but no metal incase of xrays or scans etc this time i just didn;t bother to use the plastic had it so long its not gonna close up on me and its been bar since the gall bladder op so easier to put back in than the ring which you need closers for. you can always use nothing for the op get a plastic bar and have your partner or someone put the plastic in after.