DonRodolfo

You are a rock star. That was pretty insensitive what was done to you and you prevailed. You're an inspiration.

Call your surgeon now.

Has you surgeon cleared you for full foods yet?

These are really good - and they're made from beans! http://www.amazon.com/Beanitos-Variety-Pack-Each-Flavor/dp/B0084HNA80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374032329&sr=8-1&keywords=beanitos

Hi Casey. I dropped >10% of my 416lbs preop so it can be done and you won't have to kill yourself doing it. Start walking everyday - if you can only walk 10 minutes that'll do. But you have to do it everyday and increase it every month. Your surgeon should give you nutritional guidance on how to eat healthier. My advice to you - whatever you're eating, take a bite and chew it 20 - 30 times and DO NOT swallow until you have. keep doing this until you get tired of eating that particular meal. Also, stop drinking fluids with your meals. Eat, wait at least 30 minutes, then you can drink. Doing both these things will get you ready for life after the sleeve.

You can walk and do light cardio right now. You should have weight limitations that limit you on strength training.

Do NOT hesitate to ask for pain meds if they haven't given you any!

Best of the best to you, please check in as soon as you can.

I'm 7 weeks tomorrow and I can only eat about a half cup of food so I'd say yes it's normal. It'll increase to a cup in a few months. Your doctor should have given you specific instructions on how much to consume how often. If I were you I'd call tomorrow and demand he tell you - he owes you that. I nourish 5 or 6 times a day. I usually start out with a Protein shake made with no-fat milk that I drink on the way to work. As soon as I finish it, I set a time for 2.5 hours. When that timer goes off, I do my next nourishment. This is usually a half cup of food, be it egg salad, chicken salad, etc. I set the timer again for 2.5 hours. When it goes off again, I'll either have a half cup of food or a Protein Drink (the kind made with water). Set the timer again when I'm done. I don't think I've hit 1000 calories any day since surgery.

Tomorrow will be 7 weeks postop for me. A few weeks ago, I had issues with a scrambled egg and also with lentil soup. I seem to be fine with beef and everything else I've tried.

I know two people (one on this board) who don't exercise and are successful and maintaining. You have to do what works for you. I'd recommend exercise - as you said yourself, you already know why.

Can you post a link to a reliable source that says this?

Thanks for this post Laura-ven. My surgeon has me on Ursodiol 300mg twice a day for this very reason. As I recall, it's only for about 4 months.

Isopure is one of my favorites but I'll be the first to admit it has a funky taste to it. I think you should try a variety of different brands and figure out the one you like best. Best to do this before surgery. Here's a good start: http://bjsbariatrics.com/product/synSamplePack.html

Well done! Rootin for you here also!

This is no joke Ellie - I had very detailed instructions and knew exactly what I needed and when after surgery. If your doctor doesn't think this sort of thing is important, I'd refer you to my doctor.

Praying for you.

The only use my CPAP machine got in the hospital was when a tech did a test on it shortly after I got to the hospital. Otherwise it sat in the chair. The nurses were in my room practically every hour so I barely slept anyway. That and I was put on oxygen for some reason.

Ellie, you should check out support groups in the DFW area. Here's one of the ones I go to: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/58641-dallas-texas-sleevers/page__st__280#entry898245 There's another one at the Weiss Auditorium at Methodist Hospital (the one on the corner of Colorado and Beckley). It's every third Tuesday of the Month at 6:30pm. This one is run by one of two bariatric nurses (and former patients) so it's a great place to ask questions.

Fantastic job on the weight loss, keep up the good work! Congrats on meeting a man, happy to hear the good news. Tell him that you are conscious of your skin until it catches up to your weight loss. You don't have to go into more detail. Keep the lights low/off and some clothes on if you're in intimate town. Once he's felt around he'll have to know about the sagging skin and he's either going to be okay or not about it. If he can't deal with it, not your fault. Bring up surgery soon but casually at dinner one night and see what he things about it. You probably already realize this, but you need to overcome the self-image issues for your sake, not his. Even if a guy rejects you, you have to be able to carry on. The right guy for you will accept you for who you are, faults and all.

http://bjsbariatrics.com/product/synSamplePack.html You can find

Two different products, the Isopure and the Nectar sample pack. Try getting yourself some of the unflavored Protein powder and mixing it with crystal light maybe? People here have had good luck with that. Syntrax makes an unflavored power, I don't recommend Unjury's unflavored for this as I tried it recently and it was anything but unflavored! Unjury's unflavored is good for warmer foods/soups/broths as long as you keep the temperature under 140.

GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, and 24Hour Fitness sell the individual bottles as well.

My NUT said 20g per meal but I found out later that there's a formula that will tell you exactly how much depending on body weight. People who are working out harder could probably do 30g in general. Molly is not a fan of that unique taste.