Butterflyhigh

Everyone's recovery is different. I think so much depends on how healthy you are now and if you are how much of an independent person you are. I had someone drive me home and help me to my sofa. I slept for two days because of my pain pills. After that I walked around the house and property a few times per day to help get rid of gas, so dog-walking would be fine (if it's not a dog who will pull you). Have all of your things ready and in place before you go to the hospital...scale, meds, measuring cups, Soups, whatever you will need for the first week. Have a comfortable spot on the first floor made up. For me it was my living room, sofa, end table, laptop, tv remote, and cel-phone charger. It's really just the first week that is physically tough. After that it's 90% mental and 10% physical (for me anyway). And the first week toughness isn't anything you can't handle on your own.

Being given 202 lbs of grain fed free-range freezer beef one week after VSG. I own a farm and the farmer I lease the cropland to gives me a 1/4 beef every June. It is the best tasting, cut-with-a-spoon-tender, out of this world beef you've ever eaten. My favorite food is steak and there are pounds and pounds of it to pick up Wednesday. Irony...you can kiss my ***. haha

I am six weeks post-op and feel great for the most part. When I started on soft food around week 4 I started feeling sick and uncomfortable after eating and for the rest of the day. My nut said to listen to my body in terms of progressing my diet. I ended up backing off trying to eat more chewable foods and am learning what I can handle and what is too heavy. I am still getting most of my Protein through the shakes or hot chocolate drinks and the soft Protein Bars. The foods that I am loving the most are scrambled eggs and imitation crab meat. Those are the foods that I can eat more than three bites of and not feel overly full afterward. Like Sunrise07214, I have been learning what my last bite feels like. There have been several times I've had to spit the last bite out because one more would be too many. It takes a lot of awareness to catch that last bite. I have eaten too quickly and found that the last bite should have been the one or two previous bites. As a result I have to stretch out and wait for the food to go down. Ugh...it's not a good feeling. My scars are healing beautifully. I am not constipated but am only having a BM once-twice per week. My nut says it's normal and as long as they are not difficult or painful to pass, the number per week is fine at this stage. I do get tired in the late afternoon and can tell that my hydration level directly affects my late day energy levels....so I'm trying to increase my Fluid amount. Water is all I've ever drank. Ever. No pop, juice, coffee, tea. Now water seems to hurt my stomach...it feels heavy and dense. It took me a few weeks to catch on that I wasn't drinking enough because water always made me feel like there was a balloon in my sleeve. I've switched to diluted juice and problem solved. I've been weighing myself but honesty, I don't keep track and don't much care about the number on the scale. I think I've lost over 25 pounds. My last doc appointment he told me I've lost 40% of my excess weight!! I've gone down almost two pant sizes!! Those are the numbers I am concerned about and very happy with. Overall I've had a few down times but the overwhelming majority of my experience thus far has been positive and empowering. I am happy that I made this decision.

My surgery was June 9th. I've felt great since then until about two weeks ago. It seemed like everything I ate or drank made me feel "blech". Everything felt stuck, my mood was down, I started missing being able to drink a big glass of water or eat food without being done after three bites. I felt like poo for about a week and a half. I backed off some of the more dense foods I was trying to eat and kinda hit the RESET button in my head. I know that these first several months are all about transitioning into a new way of behaving with food. I know that my tummy is still healing and it's normal to feel crappy occasionally. Hang in there...I think it is very normal to have a dip in mood and physical healing around this post-op stage.

I am very happy I did this surgery. I was a self-pay and spent two years researching WLS. So this decision was definitely something I put a lot of thought, time, and commitment towards. I've been having a picture perfect recovery. I don't want to sound ungrateful. But...some days are nothing but frustration! Everything has to be so well planned...What to have for Breakfast. When to start eating since it takes me 30 minutes to get even 1/4 cup in. Reminding myself to drink liquids. Stop drinking liquids because it's my planned eating hour. Look at the clock to see if it's snack time. Anything at all that does go in the stomach starts a one hour process of belching, stomach rumbling, feeling food in my sleeve and esophagus opening, and feelings of general yuckiness. Then there are the days when I am actually hungry...really hungry, and all I want to do is eat a dang sandwich but instead I have to spend 30 minutes eating cottage cheese with a baby spoon. I've also started to realize that some of my uncomfortable full feelings after eating may be indigestion (which I've never in my life had to deal with) but I'm not sure if that's it or not. I went to Niagara Falls last week with my eldest daughter and all I could eat were Protein bars, shakes, and a half a cup of french onion Soup. At the Hard Rock Cafe I had two bites of my kid's ice cream and then paid for it for another hour. I know this sounds like whining, and it is. But my questions is WHEN??? When will the Olympic style belching stop? When will I be able to eat small but still normal sized amounts (like more than three bites)? When will I feel "normal" for one entire day? Will I eventually stop mourning the loss of the ability to eat full sized meals? 95% of the time I am a positive & optimistic person, but now there are days when I am just down, sad, and missing my old ways. I'm getting ready for work and have one hour before I have to leave. Better start working on consuming an entire Protein shake and gearing up for the after affects. Sigh.

I am five weeks post-op and just started soft foods. During the pureed stage I could eat 1/4cup pureed...sometimes a bit more sometimes a bit less depending on the food. I had my five week appointment yesterday and specifically asked about my Water consumption. Of course we are all shooting for at least 64 oz. per day but I am topping out at only around 30-40 oz. My nut said it is still difficult for many people at this early stage to get in the full amount of liquids. As long as I am not showing signs of dehydration and I keep working at increasing my amounts, she said I should be fine. The six meals per day have also been hard as well. Some days it's easier to just drink the Protein shakes instead of trying to fit all these little meals in. My nut also said that this early out it's okay to do that. She wants me to listen to my body more than following a strict hour per hour regimented plan. Right now my body is telling me to concentrate on shakes because it helps with both my protein and hydration...and eating soft foods is still a bit uncomfortable for me. My sleeve is still swollen, she said.

I love the Scarlett O'Hara reference. I am five weeks post-op, just starting on soft foods, and find myself doing the same thing you describe. I do use baby spoons and measure everything out. I find that if I eat BEFORE I get hungry I do much better. There have been many times I've had to spit out half of the food in my mouth because of a too big bite. I consider these first few months to be all about the Learning. I'm learning to eat slower, learning to chew throughly, learning what my last bite feels like vs one bite too many. I can tell a big lesson for me will be learning how to eat before getting ravenously hungry.

I had breast surgery done several years ago and found that website to be as helpful to plastic surgery research as I find Bariatricpal to be for WLS research. I love it and will start reading/participating again when I go in for a TT.

I am four weeks post-op and tomorrow I am cleared to start soft foods. I cheated and started a few hours early. For dinner tonight I made tuna salad with only tuna, mayo, and a bit of relish. It was pretty thin and wet. I was only able to eat about 2 tbs. I have this very definite full feeling. I actually think I am going to lay down a digest for a few minutes. Wow...after only 2 tbs! Is that amount of food about normal for this early stage of eating? How long did you stay at that level of restriction?

Are you having the same trouble with other liquids, not Water? I love water and it's really all I drink, but for the first two weeks after surgery water was hard to get down. It felt heavy and like it took up too much space in the new tummy. However, apple juice went down very easy. I diluted it with water 1:1 and it kept me from becoming dehydrated. There is info available about the reasons why water can be difficult in the beginning. i can't remember, something about the dense surface??? Hope you improve with time.

It is the same for me. I had to sip the first week but now at three weeks post-op I am able to take nearly normal size drinks. I have to swallow a bit slower and be aware of how much is going down at once, but overall it's pretty normal.

I am three weeks post-op and have experienced a lot of head hunger and some actual physical hunger. Head Hunger is so easy to misinterpret as physical, but it's not. Up until now you've never had to differentiate between the two...you felt one and ate food wether it was true hunger or not. As a result you've trained your brain to perceive your emotional hunger as the real thing. However, you will feel some real hunger too. My doc said it's silly to tell people they won't feel hunger anymore. If your belly is empty and you haven't eaten in several hours...you will feel hunger. However, as far as my experiences go it doesn't feel the same as it used to. One, it takes a lot longer for me to actually get hungry. Before surgery I would think to myself "Huh, I haven't eaten in a couple of hours...I'm hungry!" It was like the thought of hunger was the signal for my body to become hungry. Now it's more like "Oh my God, why do I feel so empty and hungry? Ohhh, it's because I actually AM hungry!" It's hard to explain, but once you start being able to identify head hunger vs. the real thing you will see what I mean. The other thing is, it does get better. At first your body is detoxing all of the crap food you used to eat and it's causing cravings. After about two weeks of no bad food you loose your taste for it. The body doesn't crave it anymore. Now again...there is a difference between craving food in your head vs. in your body. You will have to start really observing yourself and your emotions to get a grip on head vs. real hunger and cravings. This WLS journey is 10% physical and 90% mental.

I am three weeks post-op and feel pretty much back to normal. I do get tired around 3pm and do not have a physically demanding job. I believe the days that I am really tired around 3 are the days I have been low on Protein because of a skipped Protein Drink. I would think that fatigue can be mostly combatted by keeping you protein and hydration levels high. However there is some very real healing taking place the first month or so. I think the body will normally run out of steam a bit in the beginning. Healing is so very unique to each person. Bear in mind that being overweight makes being active and flexible more challenging. The short term fatigue will probably be worth the long-term improvements you experience after loosing your excess weight.

I am three weeks post-op and this whole past week I've been struggling mentally with the no chewing/all pureed diet. I want something more substantial than Soups, cottage & ricotta cheese, and yogurt. Anything I try that is thicker or heavier such as refried Beans or pureed chicken/gravy, it just goes down like sludge and sits like a rock in my esophagus. The thickest most substantial food I've been eating is cream of wheat with unflavored Protein powder. But today I ate one entire scrambled egg! It was like eating real food! I got to chew something up and swallow. It went right down with no sticking and no upset stomach issues. I can feel the restriction but it's a 'Not Hungry' feeling as opposed to a 'So Full And Stuck' feeling. My outlook has changed! My tiny quick moment of regret has passed. I can eat eggs!!

I am week three post op and have been feeling very bored with my foods. Soups Cottage cheese Ricotta Cheese Cream of Wheat Yogurt I've tried pureed chicken & gravy, refried Beans, pureed meatball and sauce but those foods are too thick and I feel very uncomfortable trying to get those down. Today I ate an entire scrambled egg! It was so great to chew and swallow a bit of food and it did not get stuck or make me feel stuffed. It was one of the first times that I've felt totally satisfied without any discomfort after eating. I am super excited about this.

I was so nervous, just like you. I actually canceled two surgery appointments over the past year because of lingering doubts and fears. Three weeks ago I had it done and it's been so much easier than I was anticipating! I live alone with two kids, no support from family, and recovery has been a breeze. I prepared as much as I could beforehand and had everything I needed. I slept for the first two days because of pain pills and have been pretty much back to normal since. The three main challenges for me are: 1. How to handle stress now that my main coping skill has been taken away. 2. Eating slowly and consistently every three hours. 3. Hitting my daily Water goals. This entire first month or two (and many more, really) is all about learning new ways of eating and regarding food, so there is a lot of work involved with adjusting to this mentally. I think I may have underestimated that. I can tell you that there is this huge sense of relief at having had the surgery done. I feel like it was an act of love for myself...a gift to me. I do not regret this.

A bit of psychology behind people who are very overweight is self-sabotage, blaming others, victim mentality, and the abilty to live in denial. Have you ever met a person (or you yourself) who talks about their weight loss attempts like this...."This isn't going to work. It's stupid that they expect me to do <fill in the blank>. No one here understands what I'm dealing with. I failed because of the actions/inactions of another person. Nobody told me that I should or shouldn't have done <fill in the blank>." Many times we look for things to blame and excuses to be made. We are experts at self-sabotage. We're so good at it that we will set up situations far in advance to use as an excuse for our later failures. That is what this post make me think of. Self-Sabotage. Let's say that we don't like this support site because of it's conflicting information. That gives us the excuse to remove ourselves from a supportive environment. It also sets up the future victimized thinking..."I didn't have enough support. Nobody understands what I'm going through. I didn't know the right choices to make. It's so hard to do this alone." Denial plays a huge part in being overweight. To consciously stay uninformed and uninvolved in a rehab-type environment (support group/website) is an obvious move towards that comfortable denial zone we live in in regards to our eating issues. I am not saying that the OP is doing any of this. However, this is stuff that we do to ourselves and should be aware of so that we can break that self-sabotage cycle.

Congratulations!!! I bet you felt pretty powerful walking away from that fair at the end of the day. I've been thinking about how I'm going to handle our upcoming County Fair. I love the deep fried cheese, funnel cakes, and steak sandwiches. It all mentally sounds good...but when I think about eating those things my stomach kinda gives a flip as if to tell me Nuh Huh. No Way. The further I get post-op the less appealing those foods sound anyway.

I start pureed tomorrow and am measuring out things into tupperware's tonight. I've got refried Beans, ricotta cheese, pudding, and cream Soup. How much could you eat in a 20 minute setting...1/4 cup or just a few tablespoons?? I am worried about putting too much in my sleeve because I'm not sure what Full is going to feel like.

Amazing! Those pictures are so inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing. If...I mean when I have a body that looks that Hot I'll be doing a lot of standing naked in front of the mirror poses. Congratulations. Your hard work is evident.

I am two weeks post-op and my entire stomach area swells as the day goes on. In the morning it looks normal, by lunch it's much rounder, and by evening I look pregnant. I would classify mine more as bloating rather than swelling. At my doc visit last week they told me it's nothing to worry about as long as there is no pain.

There is a lot of good science that show the benefits of having WLS done between 30-40 bmi. The complication rate is halved, the short term recovery is easier, and there is a lesser amount of long-term weight regain. Not to mention avoiding many of the illness that are associated with an increased bmi.

Some people have very real complications from this surgery! Vomiting can be caused by any number of complications...not just overeating. I would not automatically assume that the person who contacted you is doing anything wrong. Perhaps she honestly is having a bad experience and just wants to warn you. It's not a good idea to go into this surgery without fully understanding what risks are involved. You should check out the Complications Forum. Go forward with this surgery with eyes wide open.

I'm not completely alone. I have two children that are here four days out of the week. I've always made double or triple batches of food. We eat dinner and leftovers for lunch the next day, and the rest I put in gallon size freezer bags. Stew's and Soups are easy. With Pasta dishes I make the big batch of sauce/meats, add whatever pasta we need just for that evening, and freeze the leftover sauce. I will also buy a whole chicken, roast for dinner, shred and freeze the remaining meat. That was all pre-op. I'm going to do the same thing (as soon as I'm off pureed) but only a single or maybe double batch. A triple batch now would be more like a sextuple batch!

My doctor discovered a hiatal hernia while performing my sleeve surgery. There was some tenderness at the location of the hernia repair, but I would not classify it as pain.