LumpySpacePrincess

I had the same orders, but a lovely nurse that was watching me for recovery gave me these moist lemon mouth swabs to wet my mouth with. They don't have enough moisture for you to swallow, but they give a little dry mouth relief. I can't get through Yom Kippur without Water either. Tish b'Av is even worse since its in the middle of summer. Oy!

Anorexia is a real complication of weight loss surgery. I would consult a psychologist and get this problem sorted out. I have binge eating disorder and bulimia, and my therapist and I are keeping a very careful watch on my restrictive tendencies. If you need help finding someone, please private message me. My therapist and I have helped dozens of people find psychologists all over the country. That being said, I don't think 500 calories per day for your time out is that bad. I'm 6 months out and I average about 650 per day. I feel fine on this amount, so my nutritionist said I can stay there as long as I continue to feel OK. She wants me at 1000 calories per day at a year out. The only other thing I could tell you is to find a Protein shake that you really like and sip them all day to at least get some protein in. Vitamins are essential, too, if you're that low. Other than that, I think you're doing fine.

There's a great place in the village called Sacred Chow. They are vegan, but the food they make is absolutely ah-mazing! You can get your Protein in and your sister will love the food, too. Also look for Schawarma places. If you're not familiar with that, its a roast, shredded meat (usually lamb or chicken) in a sandwich, but they will gladly serve it to you without bread. Top with tahini or hummus and an Israeli salad (cucumbers and tomatoes) on the side and it is fabulous. Seafood is always a safe choice as well. Steamed crab legs are really low in calories and high in protein, so you can feel free to have a little bit of butter with them. To be honest, I don't think you really have to look for specific places. The amount you can eat is so small as long as you choose things from the menus wisely you should be OK. I have eaten out regularly since my surgery and it hasn't harmed me any. Just keep the same food rules eating out that you would at home: protein and produce before carbs and crap. Most restaurants are more than happy to accommodate items for you.

Surgery was the end of Nov 2013 and all went without a hitch. Lately, though, I've been experiencing breathing problems. Its like sometimes I can't take a deep breath and it feels like I'm constantly trying. I think its called "air hunger." It doesn't hurt, its just really stressful and annoying. I had this as a kid, too, but it would only last until I could get that one satisfying breath in. Now this has been going on for two weeks, and the last couple of days it has been all day where before it was only in the evening. It is more prevalent after I eat, so I thought it might be reflux and have been taking my PPI. I don't have asthma or any other type of respiratory issue that I'm aware of, so I'm wondering if maybe the intubation caused something and I never noticed until now? Wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

Pregnancy will stretch out everything, so its best to wait for plastics until you're done having kids. The few plastic surgeons I have talked to asked me if I planned on having more kids (nope) and said they are reluctant to do any kind of surgery on women who aren't done childbearing yet.

I had to sign a form stating that I agreed to not intentionally get pregnant for a minimum of 2 years after the surgery. That said, no, your sleeve will not stop working as long as you don't increase your portions. The amount we should eat at 2 years post-op is more than sufficient to support a fetus. I would also add that while pregnant you shouldn't change your diet up much. Pregnancy cravings might get to you, but if you indulge too much you probably will gain back a lot of weight.

I don't know where in NJ you live, but I had BCBS NJ insurance and was approved using Dr. Bagloo at Valley Health in Ridgewood. They are an excellent facility, so if you're not too far away it would definitely be worth the drive.

I know a whole family of people who were genetically predisposed to a certain, very fatal form of stomach cancer. Since there was no way to test to see who had the gene that caused it, they all got their entire stomachs removed. That was 20 years ago, and as far as I know they're all still alive and extremely healthy.

I bought a tiny crock pot and usually cook a big batch of something on Fridays to eat for the whole week. One week I just cooked up some chicken breast in broth and seasonings and shredded it when it was nice and soft. I used it in various recipes the whole week...topped with cheese, in taco salad, etc. This week I made a chicken enchilada Soup that is only 110 calories per half cup! Week before that it was Thai green curry. I've also made low-cal Swedish meatballs, chicken soup with veggies, and loads of other things.

I drink a home-brewed Cappuccino every morning, and have since I was a month out. From what I understand, coffee can cause some pretty bad GERD symptoms in sleeve patients, so they tell you to stop drinking it to prevent that. My surgeon and nutritionist say it is OK after 4-6 weeks and as long as it does not cause GERD symptoms.

My understanding is they don't put pork on the pre-op list because most people will interpret that as bacon, sausages, and hot dogs which are loaded with fat and calories, not to mention it is a sodium bomb that can make you retain Water. Pork also does not sit very well with many post-op so it might be good to get used to not having it in your diet for awhile. There are some very lean pork options, like very lean ham steak, but still watch out for the sodium and nitrates.

There are, but its very hard to get doctors to prescribe them. I also think you should really tough out the pre-op diet, because it gives you a good look at what the first couple months of your diet after the sleeve will look like. When you find yourself eating things that aren't on your plan, stop for a few minutes and think about what is driving that motivation. Are you bored, lonely, feel like you're missing something, anxious? Self analyzing in these situations becomes extremely important after the surgery.

Whenever I hear someone say things like this it brings me back to this time last year when I was struggling with the same issues. I encourage you to get screened for eating disorders; actually, I encourage everyone getting WLS to get screened for them. food is an important and deeply meaningful thing that does many things for us psychologically. Therapy is always good (provided you find a therapist who treats those with eating issues), and I know I wouldn't be so successful with my surgery without my therapist.

It can take awhile for hormones to regulate, especially if your period was erratic before surgery. You can talk to your OB/GYN about putting you on the pill which will give you a regular period.

When I feel like my weight loss is slowing down, I go back to my post-op diet. 1 week full liquids (no more than 4 ounces of any liquid in one sitting, no chunks), 3 weeks of purees (1/4 cup per meal, no more than every 3 hours), soft solids for 3 weeks (again, no more than 1/4 cup), and then onto regular solids in a reduced portion size. No oils, mayo, butter, full fat cheeses, sugar, starchy vegetables, bread, rice, Pasta or wheat. If you feel your problem is that you can't stop yourself from eating certain foods or large portions, it might be good to find a therapist who deals with overeating and binge eating. I know I couldn't be as successful as I am without my therapist!

So far, I'm happy with the pounds I've lost, and the inches, but the one thing that bothers me the most is that my FUPA isn't getting smaller at all. I have measured both its width and its girth every month since I started this journey and there has been absolutely no change. Now I look really deformed, with most of me much smaller and this big huge roll of fat on my lower abdomen. Looks like I swallowed a life preserver! It makes finding clothes that fit properly nearly impossible and I know people are staring at it. I have 68 pounds left to lose and I'm wondering if it will ever go away?? When did yours start to diminish? Although I was toying with the idea of getting plastics just to remove it, the cost is extremely prohibitive for this poor graduate student. This is so depressing!

Yeah, the catheter can cause your urethra and bladder muscles to become lazy, so its pretty common. That's why they want it out of you as soon as possible. You might also find when you go home that you have a weak pee stream for a few weeks. This is totally normal too and fairly common. Just wanted to let you know so you're not surprised by it.

I'd say its pretty normal. I was exhausted until about 4 months out. It gets better!

No, your surgery won't be delayed because of that. I was also Vitamin D deficient. My NUT told me that unless you live in a place that's really sunny year round, you're probably deficient. They'll just bump up your supplements before surgery. No worries!

Yes!! I wish I had thought of that! Honestly the only thing I really used were my phone and a change of underpants. Most of the time I was too groggy/thirsty to concentrate on anything for more than maybe a minute. But I was only in the hospital for 24 hours, discharged about 18 hours after surgery. I will say one thing..you will probably feel fantastic when you are still on the pain med drip. I felt good until about three hours after they took me off; heck I practically skipped out of the hospital I felt so good! It wasn't until I got in the car with all the jiggling that it got painful. So if you have a small travel pillow you can use to hold against your belly for the car ride home, it really helps!

I'm sorry you are going through such an awful time! The surgeon will probably want to give or increase any nausea medication you are on, and maybe double your Prilosec. Lots of sleevers have sleep issues the first few weeks after surgery, and the vomiting can be controlled, so don't lose hope!! A few more weeks and you'll be just fine.

Up until two weeks they told me nothing larger than an m&m. After that they said I could swallow anything. I still do chewable Calcium and Vitamins at 6 months out, though, because those are usually so large they get stuck frequently. Plus the Citracal gummy calcium are actually kind of good! lol

Most helpful thing for me was building a bed wedge so I could sleep in my own bed. I took a bunch of bed pillows and kind of built a half pyramid out of them, and covered them in a blanket so they wouldn't move around. This way I was able to replicate being in the inclined hospital bed. Every other day I'd remove one pillow to make it a bit lower until I was sleeping flat. I know a lot of people slept in recliners, but to me there's nothing like the feeling of being in your own bed!

I had surgery almost 6 months ago, and every time I start an exercise routine my weight loss slows down considerably and almost stops. If I have a week where I start a light fitness routine (10 minute cardio workout plus 10 minutes of strength) my losses go from 3 pounds per week to maybe 1 pound. If I stop working out and move less, my losses go back up to 3 pounds. Anyone else have this experience or have any idea why this might be? I'm not going to complain about not having to sweat my butt off to lose weight, but I do realize I need to do some toning exercises so I don't end up looking flabby when I get to goal.

We eat out of boredom because that boredom is actually a deprivation in some other area of our life. We eat to fill a hole when we can't figure out what should really go in that hole. If you take a few minutes to think about what you're actually feeling when you're bored, you can discover some amazing stuff. Are you really stressed out and avoiding an activity? Are you missing social interaction? Are we anxious about our weight loss? There are so many emotions running around in our heads during times like these, and if we take the time away from the food and actually sit back and think about what's going on, we can fix the problem instead of putting a food bandage over it. Just a little wisdom from someone recovering from binge eating disorder and bulimia!