Holly5.3

My surgeon gave me some info today as I started phase 2 liquids: inadequate protein intake may cause: more prone to infections; thinning and loss of hair; muscle wasting; weakness, fatigue, loss of concentration; and edema. Recommends 60-80 grams per day.

Amen sisters! As I was praying about, meditating on, and researching information it hit me- I thought my obesity and weight issues was just my cross to bare in life-It became clear...I believe and love Jesus -he died on the cross so we didn't have to carry our own! I think my weight was one way that 'evil' (hate to say the devil-sounds hokey!) kept me from loving myself, therefore I can't love others and it was continually pulling me further from God-feeling like a failure as a woman and in not having the strength to take care of my body. Thank you, God, for my surgeon and his staff! I praise you for helping us all!

My fav. Pre-op dish was this omlette. I had a shake for Bkfst. snd lunch, this was dinner at least twice a week-so delish: 1 egg plus 2 liquid egg whites (3 egg total) 3 slices turkey bacon 1 cup fresh baby spinach Nice size 'pinch' of grated cheddar cheese Pam cooking spray Heat skillet. Spray w/ Pam. Add turkey bacon. Cook 3-4 minutes, turn. Cook another 1-2 minutes. Cut bacon slices into pieces, return to pan. Add spinach, comer pan. Stir bacon and spinach til spinach is all wilted. Pour in eggs. Scramble or make omlette whatever you wish. Cook 2-3 mins till eggs are almost done cooking. Top with cheese. Cover pan and take off heat. Once cheese is melted...dinner is served! Lots of protein-very satisfying!

My quick 2 cents... C-section deliveries! Woman died in childbirth for centuries before Dr's. realized they could save the baby and the mother by cutting open uterus. No one chooses this route lightly either! Just like my recent VSG-it was necessary to save my life! Gid blessed our surgeons with skills to help people! Ok, I'm done!

Yum! Craving FOS now! Delish!

Have you tried GasX strips or chewables? (I should buy stock in the company!) Helps me when eating (sipping I should say, only on stage 2 liq. as of today) something that I feel adds more gas (broth gor some reason). Not looking forward to going back to work next Monday sounding like a percolator!

Funny! Thought the same myself! I would never tell anyone to not do it. Everyone is different in healing, expectations, etc. Information/knowledge is the key. I would not recommend the lap band since I know 2 women, same surgeon as me, who are stll losing-then gaining-then losing! This has been the story of my life! A permanent change like bypass or sleeve was my only options, unless I wanted to stay obese -killing myself slowly one bite, and another poor food choice, at a time!

One last thought... I started really reducing my calories and replacing 1 meal a day while laid up before surgery. The last thing you need is to gain weight during this time. You'll feel more in control of your body if you can focus on your nutrition - reminding yourself you're doing everything you can to heal from back surgery to prepare for sleeve surgery. Yourbody does need to repair itself before you do this. Good luck, sweetie. You WILL do it!

For me it's due to the tiny sips you need to taketo avoid adding more gas. Also, on stage1 you can't have milk so protein powder mixed with water is rough enough - couldn't finish serving. Yesterday I finally tried adding unflavored protein (11 grams-1/2 scoop) to 3/4 cup ice water with Crystal lite raspberry lemonade and 4 ice cubes (melted make 8 oz. beverage total)- 3 of theseduring the day -33 grams and it was delicious and I drank every drop.finally made protein min. req. Thanks to Crystal Lite!!

Hi there! I am on day 5 post-op and really had a hard time getting protein in 1st 3 days. The Unjury chicken soup and unflavored added to crystal lite saved the day yesterday! Ive made 2 batches of Jello adding the unflavored protein. First batch can't eat-made cherry and Dr's. orders no red dye. 2nd batch-orange-OMG went to have a little last night-gross! The jello never firmed-up and the protein settled to a silicone gell-like coating on bottom of the bowl! Soaked the bowl for over an hour and the fell never melted! Thank God I didn't try to eat it! Wow! Soup. Crystal lite. Shakes. Period. No more 'cooking experiments'-it's too expensive and discouraging when it doesn't work! Can't wait to eat a plain yogurt already! Never thought I'ld say that! 

Miss "GasX" here... Question... what have you found better for your stomach (as far as generating less gas/gas pain)- sipping or using a spoon? Like my hubby reminded me, my stomach was always sensitive giving me problems my whole life post VSG, so... I'm only on day 5 hoping to move to stage 2 liq. today, but still belching like an Irishman a day after St. Party's Day for the love of..

I was just sleeved 10/11/12- also had hiatal hernia surgery at sane time. Was nit really prepared for level of pain I was in, but was released a day early from hospital. Cried day home and next two days from unending gas pain! Walking around house every 2 hours trying to work it out. Little sleep. Low tolerance to Protein powder. Boy did I think and say, what did I do to myself? After a few mini pity parties and a couple of rough days, it was like the sun broke through the clouds this morning! Finally got min. Protein in. Off pain meds-was making me depressed I realized!, taking Tylonol. 85 o/o less gas pain and belching (my family is done with that too! So unladylike and gross, but you can't help it!) Today I focused on how I'm changing my future-how I'll never feel as bad about myself at the beach as I did this past summer. Positive thoughts. Positive words. Focus on eating to live - not living to eat! The post I quoted my have all the negatives listed, everything has pos. and neg. Just keep reading posts, asking questions and listen to your heart. Also search Utube for VSG success stories. Thats what really helped inspire me! good luck whatever you choose!

Please don't be hard on yourself! You have an average loss of over 5 lbs. a week-that's a terrific average! I'm hoping to lose 4 lbs. a week on average, so that's 16 a month. If I lose more one month-terrific, but I know another month I may not meet my monthly goal....so... I've computed my month to month goals and if I could lose 16 a month I'll be almost at goal in a year. Remember, slow and steady wins the race (and has nicer looking skin and hair!) 

Any 10/11-ers have post-op dr. appt. since going home yet? I'm hoping to move on to stage 2 liquids tomorrow after my appt. tomorrow morning. Just wondering how everyone is doing. Today I felt more myself and it was the 1st day I met protein min. requirement. Yaa!

I stopped my prescribed pain meds. as it was making me hyper so I couldn't sleep, and switched to Tylenol Extra strength rapid release gels. They're pretty small and I can manage 2 sips of a drink to get them down and they worked wonders for pain. I also had hiatal hernia repaired so I was in pain since release from hospital Friday. Tylenol worked better than Percocette-go figure!

I was sleeved last Thurs. 10/11/12-I've been in clear and see my surgeon tomorrow. I'm hoping I can go to stage 2 liquids. All my nut. paperwork has a vague (2-4 week) duration noted for each stage. I guess just as each patient is different, each surgeon's diet is different. As long as our health is the primary concern, I can do what he says. I can't imagine having to have surgery again to repair a leak 6 weeks from now! OMG -nightmare!

Since surgery my shakes taste aweful! The protein chicken broth is ok (Unjury brand)-but tastes salty and it cools off before I can finish! Finally today I tried unflavored whey (Unjury brand, again) with my raspberry lemonade Chrystal Lite-Bingo! Delish! The trick is only make 8 oz. at time w/ 1/2 scoop, 2-3 ice cubes- shake in shaker bottle. 11 grams. I had 2 today plus soup and 1/2 choc.shake! Finally met protein goal 1st time since surgery. If you like CL you should try this.

weigh in 10/15/12: 248.5 (ya! Just 8.3 to make goal)

Weighing myself every day messes with my head! When I think I'm positive ive lost-nothing! When I weigh myself expecting no change for whatever reason-bam! A loss! I'm sticking to every 3 days (only 4 days post-op) then will go to 1X a week - fluctuations are to beexpected. Address what you think is the problem, not enough water or protein, and try to correct it. You'll be fine! Ps-love, love, love Dexter. While in hospital night after surgery Stephen King's movie, Thinner, was on! Sooo appropriately gory and campy! My nurse kept was like, I can't believe you are watching that!

It's a shame how people treat obesity yet there are 'rehab centers' etc. for under-eating, bulimia! I truly believe obese people also suffer from body dysmorphic disease yet no one addresses this psych. factor of weight gain! They think and say, "move more, eat less!" (duh!) But do they say to anorexics "move less, eat more and you'll be fine!" of course not. Our society and culture's obsession with physical beauty is to blame! Anorexics can hide their skeletal frames under clothing, hair and makeup! Obese people can't hide-they do so by avoiding social interactions where they feel judged and less than everyone else. Don't get me started on drug addicts-in snd out of rehab -mostly on taxpayers dime, they can't work (or won't!), free housing, etc. our culture is warped! In the 60's women burned their bras as a symbol of freedom from male oppression and to be proud of our "natural" bodies! -FF to the 2000's and women must have huge breasts to feel beautiful, so they have augmentation! Why hasnt Gloria Stineham addressed this flip-flop of women's lib! Sorry for the rant! I feel better now! Peace!

I'm sorry, sweetie, feel better! I have pain, but it's a burning under my right breast, not left. (Where is our stomach anyways? So confused! The gurgling and bubbling brew sounds eminating from my torso has left me confused -and a little worried- about my anatomy!) I love that you were told 'inflammation' but no cause-really? 2 days b4 surg. my dr. informs me of the hiatal hernia repair he's doing at the same time. I was already consumed with fear and worry about the VSG alone, now this! He never explained the details of my hernia or how this would alter my recovery-I never asked either! Now I feel so stupid that I didnt know what was actually being done in the OR! As if I had a choice! But at least I could have been more psych. prepared for this level of pain and misery! Pre-op all I read was posts by people who had little to no pain, a little gas fir a day or two, and returned to work a week after surgery. RU kidding me! I'm supposed to go back next Monday-all my fam./friends better step up their prayers for me, cuz I can't see that happening the way I feel right now! Sniff, sniff, tear... Oh no, here comes my pity party! Just kidding-I'm in very good spirits, considering! Peace!

You are my Angel! Real answers-fast! I know everyone's healing and pain threshold is different but I got myself in a tizz worrying about protein grams! At this point with all the gas, I'm lucky anything will even go down my throat to begin with! It's 4:30 am and I just did about 5 minutes of marching in place while pumping my arms toget some more air out-it seems like an endless battle! Just my regular breathing is adding more gas! WTH!?! I feel like once I can tolerate reg. Liquids or yogurt the burping will simmer down. I need more info on my hiatal hernia surgery. I didn't even know I had one (I had a total of 3-hiatal, belly button and lower ab -c-section area! I'm like a can of biscuit dough bursting through the seams!) he could only repair hiatal, I get to have the others repaired when I've lost weight (he said 100 lbs.!)-can't wait for more surgery, this is so much fun!! Peace, doll!