Bridget312001

Ice has been my friend since day one of surgery. Shaved ice with liquid Crystal Light is yummy.

Take a deep breath and relax. You are doing fine. Remember your stomach just underwent a major surgery and is pretty swollen and is trying to heal. Great advice from the other posters above. Just remember this too shall pass and every day you will feel better and better. X

Pre-surgery weight (before two week low carb diet) - 214 Surgery date 4-8-13 Starting weight 201 Current weight 183 Very happy with my weight loss. I feel like a new woman! It has ALWAYS been a matter of starving myself to loose weight only to cave to extreme hunger pains and gain it all back plus some. Slow and steady weight loss is fine (and healthy). I am six weeks out and had no stalls. Getting between 600-700 cals per day. Definitely found working out on my elliptical helped move the scale when my weight loss was getting super slow. My nutritionist is happy and so am I!

Id pull back a little and stick with very liquid cream of wheat and very well cooked soft veg and meats. I am four weeks out and chicken hurts even now. Slow down and cherish that little pouch. You will want to challenge it a little as you progress in later weeks but right now if you cant mush it with a fork then you don't need it.

My sense of taste and smell have totally changed. I can smell yucky stuff from a mile away, this week mushrooms smell like horse manure and the smell of raw meat makes me want to gag. I think most importantly I have discovered that I am stubborn when it comes to something I want, no matter what others may say. After all the fuss and dogged determination to have the sleeve, I have done something for myself that is sane, healthy and relevant.

Fantastic that your recovery is so easy! My recovery was quick and would have been completely painless if I had had an On-Q Pump (back in jeans, driving on the weekend after having surgery on the Monday before). We are the lucky ones who had it relatively easy. Follow your doctors orders, drink drink drink your fluids and remember walking is important, but so is resting and allowing your body to heal.

My BMI was just over 40 when I was approved for the surgery. The only ones to question my sanity over the surgery were my sister and a co worker.. Dont listen to that little voice of doubt. You have worked hard to get to this point and deep down you know why you are doing this. I am one month out and do not regret my decision to be sleeved.

I get the feeling the idiot I mean man in her life has a lot to do with this. Silly silly girl.

2 weeks post surgery and have lost 6lbs sigh.. :-/ Spoke to my nutritionist yesterday and she said it was to be expected considering my weight. I lost about 14 pounds in two weeks just before surgery on the doctor prescribed low carb (40g day) diet to shrink my liver. My BMI was just over 40 when I started the pre-op diet. Cant start exercising until I am 4 weeks post op. I have a desk job, so getting out during the day to walk is near impossible if I have a heavy work load. Keeping on track with 1/4-1/2 C high protein foods X 5 a day per my nutritionist (including protein drinks). Never been a water drinker, but am drinking about 40oz a day on average.

Try a 1/4c non-fat greek yoghurt with no chunky fruit bits. It will go down well, trust me.

Hi Frankie, The internet has its good and bad side. I obsessed over the doom and gloom stuff too before surgery..but then realized that there will ALWAYS be that 1% who are either negative or who have other complications that skew their perspective. Franc is right…where will you be one year from now if you don't do this? Turn off the youtube, quit searching for train wrecks on the internet and trust the facts.

I like the Wellnesse liquid vitamins. Chewables are so chalky and bulky when you first start out.http://www.dietdirect.com/wellesse-liquid-multivitamin-supplement.html?a=1&gclid=CJ-u1LGT3rYCFY9eQgodiXQAHg They also do a liquid calcium citrate which tastes like orange creamcicle.

Good luck, and best wishes for a speedy recovery! I am two weeks post surgery today and feel really good. You can do this!

Each doc's nutritional requirements are different pre and post op it seems. I was on a low carb diet for two weeks before the surgery and was just required to have a light dinner before 6pm with no liquids after midnight.

Definitely noticed my sense of smell heightened. Also visual things that used to not gross me out turn my stomach now.

Supplementing your diet with a good all round multi-vitamin and possibly calcium supplement will help with your lack of energy. I prefer the Welnesse Liquid kind, but its your call. Taking a sublingual B-12 (one that pops under the tongue) will give you a little extra lift if you need it. You may need some iron too, but do check with your doc before taking it.

Too often we feel we have to be everything for everyone in our families, and at the end of the day we end up feeling hurt and angry with them for letting us do too much. This is our time to take things a little slower post op, and if it means THEY have to do a little work to take care of themselves, then so be it!

Just remember its the meds making you wacky, not you! Cymbalta works great when you take it, but OMG dont go off it cold turkey!

Talk to your surgeon as soon as you can about your meds and your concern over the risks of not taking them. I would also ask your pharmacist if there are any options you could explore on how to take this medication when you are newly post op and cannot take it in the whole pill/capsule form that you have now. This stuff is so serious, and must be addressed as such.

This is a massive adjustment in our lives..Almost too big to comprehend before actually going through it. Right now you are tired, hungry and angry. I feel your pain as I am seven days out from surgery. This will all get better. It has too, right? Perhaps your boyfriend needs to be a little more supportive and fend for himself while you are transitioning?

My doc told me I "may or may not" need my anti-depressant Cymbalta after surgery..So three days after surgery of quitting cymbalta cold turkey I had the most horrendous headache, diarrhea, slurred speech and confusion. I was re-admitted to the bariatric clinic and given three liters of saline for what they considered dehydration. I told them over and over this was due to withdrawals from Cymbalta and that I needed to go back on it ASAP. I received a blank stare and no answers. As soon as I got home I contacted my pharmacist and she said it was ok to open the extended release capsule and take the contents with a little food. Two days later and I am now feeling normal and my diarrhea stopped. This all happened last Friday. I am so upset with my doc to ever think he could just have me quit this damn drug without weaning me off! Its DANGEROUS to do that! Ask Any Doctor (but mine)!! The ironic thing is I have been going through the motions to get approved for surgery since last July. We had months and months to address this issue and get me off this nasty drug!! the subject of weaning me off of Cymbalta should have been brought up then, not just arbitrarily telling me with a wave of his hand right before surgery that I had to come off the drug. Today I go for my one week post op appointment and oh boy oh boy is my doc going to get an education!

Thanks everyone! I will hold off standing on the scale scratching my head for now.

Thank you Kirk, I feel mucho better now. My diet allows a little (1/4c) greek yoghurt at this stage, and I found I could ninja a half a scoop of Protein powder in to it and it didn't make me gag getting it down. *Doing a happy dance right now*

Haha! Damn! :-P I caught myself in the mirror earlier and I swear i look 8 months preggers right now.

I started the pre-op low carb diet and lost 16 lbs in two weeks. Its been 6 days since my VGS and have retained four pounds since the day of surgery ! My stomach is still super swollen so Im hoping this is due to my new sleeve healing and this is just fluid retention. I have been following the diet plan religiously…am I being impatient?