roundisashape

Welcome, Isaac! What a cutie! I'm sorry to hear about your other dog. When I lost my Jenny, I swore I wouldn't get another dog anytime soon. Two months later, and I have a new best bud. It's just not the same without a dog in the house!

I have a really small circle of friends, and they're all people I've been close with FOREVER. I don't expect too many changes, but I'm making an effort not to drive them crazy and to pay attention to what's happening in their lives too. This is such a big deal for us it can be easy to get lost in it.

Oh my gosh, I'm STILL like a kid running home every night to see if my Sea Monkeys look like monkeys yet! Wake up, check the mirror, then slap down that little part of me that goes, "why am I not skinny yet?", lol!!!! Seems like a pretty normal reaction to me. Or we're both nuts, but I can live with it!

Had glue everywhere but the drain hole, and steri-strips on that one - no bandages anywhere but the drain hole. The nurse said I only needed the bandages until it stopped leaking so my clothes wouldn't get messed up

Please don't get me wrong, I'm THRILLED to finally be dropping weight - but I'm so frustrated tonight! I want to go out and NOTHING looks right. I could fit a sack of potatoes in the ass of all my pants, but my belly is still too big to go down a size. Went shopping this afternoon and almost cried, because we all know the bigger you are, the bigger the gap between sizes, and I couldn't find a single thing that fit like it should. Sigh. Oh well - by this time next year, I should be able to find something and feel cute in it!

I knew you folks would understand! It's not a bad problem to have, and thankfully I can dress casually for work so it's not a big deal. I just wanted to be cute last night, lol. A few more pounds and I should be down a size, then I'll quit complaining until I end up between that size and the next one down :D

Not all pain meds work the same for everyone, so complain now while you're still in the hospital - I got released Thanksgiving day and think that contributed to getting ignored. If the pain isn't under control, it makes everything else sooo much harder! Hope you're feeling better soon!

My nutritionist said it's okay to count it as a liquid. As for eating and drinking them, I'm too early out for that and couldn't hold both! .

Not an ounce of advice, just spotted this thread and wanted to wish you good luck!

I think one of the lowest calorie ones out there are Syntrax nectar, and the nutrition profile looks good - but honestly, I hate them. They're a fan favorite, though! Premier RTD shakes are the ones I used the most. 30 grams of Protein for a container, and they kind of taste like Yoo-Hoo to me. Plus they're easy to stash all over the place so there's always one handy. Syntrax Matrix is pretty good, but check to make sure it's on the approved list for your program. It was on ours, but I've seen a few people say it isn't on theirs. Good protein, decent taste, and the price is pretty good too. In terms of taste, BSN Syntha-6 is probably my favorite. It IS a little higher on the calorie side, but I don't use a full serving at one time. I worried a lot about the calories in that one (200/serving) at first, but it turns out I can't finish a serving, so it's a moot point. Check out places like Nashua Nutrition (there are others, too, I just can't think of them) and you can order samples of a whole bunch of brands and flavors for less than $2 each. Good luck finding the right one!

There are so many differences in plans! The one I got laid out 3 meals and 3 Snacks - I couldn't meet Protein without them, and with such tiny portions I personally will get a little lightheaded if I don't ingest something every few hours. When I asked the nutritionist, she looked at me like I was an idiot and told me that's why they suggested eating 5-6 times/day, lol. This week, I've been snacking on about 1/3 - 1/2 of a single serve mandarin cup in the morning (I've been craving citrus like crazy) and a turkey lunchmeat, cheese, and mustard roll in the afternoon. If I weren't hitting at least the minimum protein goal, I'd swap the fruit out for a protein snack. We're also allowed the melty kind of crunchy stuff on our soft diet plan. I got a free sample of dill pickle flavored "krinkles" - they're basically soy chips - that are 12 grams of protein per bag. The bag lasted me 3 days, but satisfied the need to crunch something without going off plan. You can order those online, they come in a few flavors.

Depends a lot on your insurance requirements - have you been to an info session with your desired hospital / surgeon yet? I knew my PCP was on board with WLS and was able to meet with a surgeon really early in the process. Otherwise, one step at a time and you'll be done with everything before you know it!

Another thing is that, when you do eat, really focus on it. Don't do it in front of the TV or while you're running around, but take your time and enjoy it. Easier said than done, I struggle with it myself, but when I'm trying to focus on too much at once it's easy to miss those signals that say, "you're done" until you're way past them. Especially early on when we're still figuring out how our new plumbing works!

I didn't throw up the first couple of weeks, but I DO throw up a few times a week now. It's my fault, I'm a slow learner - since I started going through purees and softs, I sometimes eat too fast or don't chew enough. Last night my chicken was too dry and it got stuck, even though I chewed the heck out of it. It's a learning process. BTW, the vomiting - at least for me - is NOTHING like it was pre-op. It's not the violent "I'm so sick and I think I'm going to burst a blood vessel and die" kind of vomiting. It's more like the food just sort of...exits.

Black eyed peas are good luck on New Year's - bet you could do something with those!

What an inspiration! I love seeing success stories like yours!

Waiting for the scale to move is a killer, isn't it? This is the point where I'd normally say, "forget it" and go back to old habits, but the sleeve won't let me - THAT'S why I had this thing done, and I'm so happy it's doing the job I needed it to do! My stall finally broke over Christmas, when I started real food. Then this morning I was up 7 pounds, lol. I'm also breaking out and grouchy, so I'm going to push through and attribute it to the period I thought I was going to completely skip this month. It seems to be heading my way!

Two Colace kind of "broke loose" all the post-op medication induced backup - once things started moving again, I've been fine since.

My 1 month surgiversary was Christmas day, and I was feeling the burning/tearing pain until about 3 days before that. I think mine was exacerbated by the occupational therapist in the hospital (she had me do something I told her I couldn't, and I felt a pop). Worth a call to the doc just in case, though! I hope you feel better soon. That's a miserable feeling, and finding a comfortable position to sleep is impossible. Lack of sleep makes everything feel worse.

Go to a running store (even if you don't plan to run) and get fitted for a good pair of shoes. You'll cry when they tell you how much they are but it's totally worth it! I'd suggest a small place vs. a big chain store. Brooks are my favorite, but I've had pretty good luck with a pair of Saucony's too. I just grabbed them to do the color run without messing up my Brooks, but they've wound up being pretty comfortable.

Congratulations! Recovery can be pretty hard - but you'll probably wake up one day and feel perfectly normal