Macy6

I had what I would consider a VERY easy recovery. By a week I would have been OK but exhausted. At 10 days I went back to school, which consisted of a 5 hour class where I sat followed by a 4 hour lab where I stood a lot and by the end I was completely wiped out.

I'm post op and I do. It's a process... I struggle everyday with the self sabotaging failure thoughts. I stress because the scale has only moved a couple pounds in the past couple weeks, but I'm 3.5 weeks out and lost a lot of weight in a very short period of time. I obsess over every piece of food in my mouth, input everything and stare in awe that I'm taking in a fraction of my normal calories.

I love my ninja. I use the individual piece 99% of the time and have never found it to be a hassle. The large part is easy to clean the blades a little more difficult because there are so many, but nothing hot Water can't take care of. I bake and I use my ninja to make frosting, batter, fillings. Easy peezy. Love it!

The soup isn't too shocking, it's liquid, similar to yogurt. I can eat far more yogurt than dense protein. I ate a 5.3oz cup of yogurt this morning and was still hungry. For lunch I ate 2-2.5oz of meat and was full for hours. I can drink way over a cup an hour of water and I don't eat soup but if I did it would be the same. If you are following your "rules" sticking to the consistency recommended, starting with protein and eating vegetables if still hungry, taking your time, drinking a minimum of 65oz of water a day and taking in a minimum of 60g of protein a day and most importantly avoiding sliders than you are good. Maybe your loss isn't what you hoped for, but even if you are losing 2# a week you are doing great. Just stay consistent, watch your empty calories and sliders, stay hydrated and follow your rules. If you have access to a nutritionist utilize them, document on my fitness pal and get friends off here so you can see their food journals.

That with the back pain is classic gall bladder! If you haven't had a swallow study, like stated earlier, it is definitely something to bring up to your PCP. I had the white poop very late stage before my gall bladder was removed and I was seriously ill by the time I had surgery.

Every diet is different. I was full liquids 2 weeks and fork soft for 10 weeks than go back to a regular diet.

Make water your priority these first few days. I took in hardly any protein the first week but plenty of water and it definitely helps with the healing process of getting back on your feet.

I am a side sleeper but I do go more towards my stomach than back and I have been good for a good week now. I've been on my side since 3 days post op but was still tender so I would tend to baby the area and not roll more that way.

My surgeon prescribed me 40mg Omeprazole and my insurance covers it. It is a capsule and I swallow it whole, no issues.

I said.... and I quote.... "Thank you Everyone for your prayers and thoughts yesterday. I had surgery yesterday, it was something I had only shared with a select few, more because of the nature of the process. I started the process in January and had my surgery yesterday. I had the vertical sleeve gastrectomy. It is a bariatric surgery that is intended for weight loss. I am usually quite open with what is going on in my life but because of the sensitivity of this type of surgery I chose to keep it quiet until post op. So first thing: I started this process in January. It took me 6 months and 27 days to get my surgery. I had to go through extensive medical and mental testing including blood work, sleep studies, EKG, and much much more. It is a surgery I have debated for years. As much as I did this for me, I did this for Caleb and as a future nurse, my future patients. Why this surgery? I had gone in wanting the gastric bypass (the most common weight loss surgery) my surgeon recommended the sleeve. The brief story of a Vertical sleeve gastrectomy is... They remove 75-85% of my stomach completely. It has left me with a banana shaped stomach that will allow me to consume from a few ounces to start to 1/2C later on down the road. Some may feel this is the easy way out, but the surgery is easily manipulated. I have to choose everyday to wake up and follow the rules (no drinking and eating together, Protein first, veggies second and avoid slider foods which are foods that easily make it through the sleeve such as ice cream, chips and Cookies etc...) the average weight loss is 60-75% of your excess weight. An example is someone who is 100# overweight would expect to loose 60-75#. It is not uncommon to see 100% of excess weight, the sleeve essentially does the job for the first 6 months worth of loss.... I will have to remain proactive for the remainder. I made a FB page so I can keep my FB page focused on me and not annoy people daily about this. https://www.facebook.com/SleevingIt I would love for you to go like the page, but more importantly, thank you for being a part of a special event in my life." I was totally high on narcotics at the time ha ha. I think I did pretty good though reading it now lol.

Everyone is different but I have been able to drink to my norm since 5 days post op. I have always been a huge drinker (water) and can take 8oz in 20min if I want too. I don't drink after I eat and don't have food get stuck. I am counting the minutes though. I hit 60 min and I am like.... WATER!!! As far as protein shakes go there are SO many on the market, you can thin them to tolerate. I do not require a great deal of shakes, I am 3 weeks out and get most of my protein in with foods but every surgeons diet is different. Some require it. You need to decide if you can thin and tolerate one or not.

I struggled with this after surgery. It showed up after I got thrush and I thought it had to do with that. It was so bad one night that I was gagging. Anyway it ended up being post nasal drip, I take a Zyrtec everyday now and it has been gone since. I also take 40mg Omeprazole and have since the day after surgery.

Yeah end of week 1 post op. I never trust a fart they are sneaky

That is frustrating. It is one of the reasons I was careful with who I told (not saying you didn't) and honestly I could have still ran into this but luckily I didn't. I chose to tell my closest friends and parents, brother that I was considering it. Once I was approved I told anyone I thought would be hurt if I didn't say anything, so family, my school and classmates (who would notice my absence) and the night of my surgery I announced it to everyone via FB. It left little room for arguments and people trying to talk me out of it. Everyone has been supportive but I have had a few "horror stories" but it was too late for them to say don't do it. I am glad you do have a support system though. It is a rough road.

No, hope you feel better soon! Keep us updated.

Sleeve of steel here too! I would like to say I have been perfect but I have not. However I would like to point out that I had a rough day today and ended at 960 calories and 89 grams of protein (high carb/slider crap) anyway a bad day a month ago was 3000-4000 calories and myfitnesspal still yelled at me for lack of calories. Tomorrow will be better!

Today marks 1 month since the day I started my 10 day pre op diet. It is also the third week since surgery. I am taking my monthly pictures and doing weight and measurements on the 17th of each month so I thought I would share my current stats. Since the start of my pre op diet I am down 27.2#, since the day of surgery I am down 17.2# and overall since my first meeting with the bariatric surgeon I am down 39lbs and change. I lost 20.5" overall including 4.2" in my chest and 3.7" in my waist, I have lost 2 pants sizes in my pants, probably one in my shirts but nothing I can't deal with... pants falling off is always awkward, I also noticed today that my bra is quite loose darn!

MyFitnessPal too... I drink 65-80oz of water a day, take in 700-900 calories and try to take a minimum of 60g of protein and have taken in as high as 89.

Is it full liquids? I could have thinned/strained soups. So I would get a variety of soups and puree them, thin with milk or water and strain if necessary. I also thinned SF pudding. I would thin anything to a cream of soup type consistency and a little more if necessary.

My surgeon told me that last year he did more band to RnY revisions than anything else.... I think it is expected. Good Job taking the first step!