Iambeautiful

How bad were your knees though??? My right knee is so bad that it's bone on bone now..... I need total knee replacement and that is what made me decide to go through with this surgery as I was told that i couldn't have it done unless I lost 100 lbs....I tried and tried on my own but only could lose 60 lbs on my own .... only to gain about twenty back... I was desperate to be able to walk again without a cane. I'm hoping that i won't need knee surgery now and have found a great natural supplement that i ordered to help with joint pain..... Let me know about you knee problems and how bad they were. It'd be great if I didn't have to have knee surgery and believe me I am in no hurry now to have another surgery

Hi, I also had a small hiatal hernia prior to surgery which was found when he done a EGD. Any patient that answers yes to the question of 'have you ever had gastric reflux' is made to have the EGD test done prior to surgery with my doctor. I am glad he discovered it and was able to repair it during the sleeve surgery. I have to remind you that gastric reflux seems to be more common with sleeve patients after surgery. Even though I had the Hiatal hernia repair, I woke up with gastric reflux last night and it was a little scary. I took two tums and then took my Prilosec. I am on Prilosec every day for six months now....... It helps to sleep with three or four pillows to prevent aspiration should you have gastric reflux. I also have to remember to not eat past eight at night. Eating late can lead to gastric reflux during the night. I am going to talk to the nurse tomorrow about it..... it is a little upsetting. I know what i did wrong I ate too late and drank a lot of Water before i went to bed. I only ate cottage cheese..... it's not like i ate anything acidy.....

i don't know about other people's tastes but for me I tried to drink the Isopure after surgery and it made me sick... The taste is horrible in my opinion. I like the pre made shakes called Adkins advantage chocolate flavor and the Bariatric Advantage strawberry or chocolate powdered shake mixes best. I sometimes now after two weeks post op, use almond milk in my shakes instead of Water for added Protein and taste. The unsweetened vanilla almond milk is good. I've never loved real milk but i can tolerat this one well

First of all, no one is judging anyone here. We are all here because we became obese due to our food addictions. This surgery was the biggest decision of my life and not an easy one to make. It was made because all else failed in the long run. We are here to help each other and babying another friend here and saying 'it's ok we all make mistakes...you poor thing' isn't going to help anyone. If someone is already making terrible choices only two weeks after surgery then they are setting themselves up for failure. I think constructive advice is not wrong. There can be big complications for adding some real wrong foods at this stage of the game. There is no one with a sleeve of steel.... No such thing so early in the game. Anyone that says this is fooling themselves. As a newly post op patient and a nurse myself who has studied and reseached this operation diligently, I can say that I know what i am talking about. I could see later on after time when we are put on regular food, maybe trying to eat something like fried food in moderation every once in a while if tolerated, but not at this stage of the post op sugery on Phase 2 diet. For myself, I am being realistic. If I did such a drastic measure to lose weight that was so life changing, I cannot see not complying with the doctor's instructions at such a critical phase of our weight loss and healing process. If someone cannot take constructive advice then maybe they shouldn't be here on these forums We all make mistakes is true and if we were perfect we all wouldn't be here having major surgery and risking our lives to lose weight. But this weight loss journey is far from over, we will all be tempted to eat things that we are not supposed to. I think that joining a real life support group is necessary for long term success. I am here to learn as well. I meant no offense to the poster and she didn't seem to have a problem with my comment so I don't see why anyone else here would. Sometimes it's hard to express oneself in text form without someone being offended. I was just trying to help....

I found your post very helpful. I am only two weeks and a few days post op. I am doing good on soft food and it's so amazing that when i go out that i have no desire to go to a fast food place. I can relate with the occasional 'cheating' thing. Before I had surgery, I would often justify myself and reward myself for being good on my diet with allowing myself a favorite food or meal. But then I found myself craving it then on my strict days and would find myself giving in to the cravings again. I used to visit a fast food place like McDonalds almost everyday after I'd take my son to school and usually it was just for a coffee and sometimes a Breakfast sandwich. NOw when I go out the fast food places are not even a choice for me now.... not even for a coffee. I make my coffee at home now and not tempted to have any thing bad with it. I feel so free since the surgery.... I plan on using this tool to my advantage. I haven't even thought of an M&M and doubt if I could even eat one if I wanted to. I won't start when i can eat solid foods.... that's for sure after reading this. A food aholic can never eat 'just one' of the junk food crack....... At least I can't for sure. The photo at the end of your article had me cracking up. I could see my name being on there too...... We miss you.......hahaha

The worst thing that you could have possibly done to yourself at this stage was to try to eat fried foods....... I looked on my phases and that is not allowed at any phase...... and the bbq was not a good idea.... I'd confess to your dietician... I hope you are on prilosec like me..... That bbq sauce could cause problems with your stomach acid.... which could cause ulcers.

Rena... what you are experiencing is 'head hunger' and it's not real hunger. Please do exactly as the doctor tells you. The barbq is a real no no..... you have to work on your emmotional eating urges which got us into this predicament in the first place.... I don't know about you but I suffered greatly to have this surgery. I would suggest to try your best to use this tool to maximize your weight loss. If you are already cheating at this early stage ( I am about at the same stage) imagine what you will be doing later on. It's not worth it.. You can actually stretch your sleeve out and regain your weight in the future... we are only cheating ourselves when we do cheat on our diet.... I went through hell and I'm not about to give in to food cravings...... All the best of luck to you with your weight loss journey.

wow.... I cannot believe that you can eat scalloped potatoes.... I had my surgery on Feb. 26 and I can only eat soft food and even then it's a struggle sometimes...... especially with scrambled eggs.....

Hello, I had my sleeve gastrectomy done on February 26,2014 I had been preparing for surgery since September of last year. I had all the pre op testing done including the echocardiogram and stress tests. I passed all the tests with flying colors and was assured that I was healthy enough for the surgery. I started out at 333 lbs at 5'7. I felt great before surgery. I went into this surgery thinking that I'd do fine as that is what all my tests indicated. I woke up the day right after surgery with extreme pain in my left shoulder and under my left breast. I panicked a little wondering why this was occuring and thought maybe it was my heart. The nurses told me that the pain was from the gas accumulation and was from the pressure on the phrenic nerve as they have to fill the abdomen with gas for the laparascopic surgery and that gas will cause much pain and discomfort after surgery. The tiny insicions on my abdoment were sealed with skin glue and my abdomen didn't hurt at all at first because the doctor I have uses long acting injections in the abdomen surgical sights that numbs the pain locally for up to three days post op. I was given morphine in my IV for the phrenic nerve pain which was intense. They said I had all the pain med allowed while I was in the recovery room and after waiting for hours in recovery, I was finally taken to my room bed and all. My back was hurting so bad from laying in the bed flat for so long and from the time I spent in surgery as well. I wanted to get out of bed immediately when i got to my room (they let me sit up in a chair) My back was killing me by then. I asked for pain med and they gave it to me as it had been enough time now to have it again. I had Iv's in my arm and went back to bed after the pain subsided. To my dismay I was told that my blood pressure was dangerously high and so was my heart rate. They had to give me blood pressure meds through the IV and still it was hard to stabilize my Blood pressure and heart rate. I had extreme nausea and could hardly even drink Water without intense nausea. I was given a sugar free popsicle (in place of ice chips) with my Clear liquids tray. The popscle was the only thing that i could tolerate without nausea and even that was hard to finish. My face was flushed and red, my head was hurting so bad and my heart was racing. I've never been on Blood pressure meds so this was new for me. I felt feverish yet they said my fever was not high at all. I remember ordering chicken broth, a Protein shake, and Jello. I took one spoon of the broth.... it was horrible. Then i took one bite of jello.... i felt nauseated. I couldn't even look at the Protein Drink. The next time I ordered hot tea ... I drank a few sips of that and it stayed down. I tried some apple juice diluted half and half with Water. I immediately vommited that up. I did get the test for leaks in my stomach and had to swallow this nasty white solution ..... Good News... I had no leaks. The nausea never got better in spite of three different nausea meds I was only able to drink my one ounce of water down every fifteen minutes on Day three after I was given Reglan IV.... Then the horrible part came. they made me take my pain med in a liquid form to drink. It was a red liquid version of Hydrocodone..... OMG It was the most discusting thing to try to take especially with my nausea. I fought with every ounce of strength I had NOT to vommit this horrible stuff. I was only able to keep it down if they gave me two anti nausea meds before the medication. The doctor told me that nausea is common after the sleeve gastrectomy and that the sleeve patients seem to suffer with it more than the other sugeries..... I wonder why? Finally to my delight i was able to go home on Day 4 but I still felt so sick and my blood pressure was still high but now I was told that i had to be on blood pressure medications but that I probably would not have to stay on them as he said that many patients blood pressure stabilize after a few weeks after surgery but I'd have to see my primary care physician to determine that. First day home, I felt so bad... but I was able to keep my water down as i was still on clear liquids and Protein drinks which still I wanted no part of at all. Since then I've gotten a lttle better every day but still very weak I lost almost ten pounds in the first week after all this I went through. I had my one week post op visit and Doctor said i was doing well. I was able to start my Protein shakes finally and did well with the liquid diet ... now he said I could progress to soft foods that were given in a list.... plain yoghurt, cottage cheese, soft scrambled eggs as tolerated, laughing cow cheese, oatmeal and creamed Soups and then mashed potatoes ..... no more than one half cup of one item per meal...... Had a hard time with soft foods at first but now I'm doing better except with the scrambled eggs. it's a struggle getting all my water in though. I am so happy though I had this done. I finally feel free from my food addiction. I no longer am tempted to eat fast food or things I'm not supposed to have as I know that I CANNOT eat them.....as it would cause me great discomfort. I am doing well with measuring my food and can't wait to my next visit in ten days from tomorrow when they will let me add protein foods to my diet so I will feel like I finally can eat some REAL food. ground beef or turkey, white fish.... but I'm worried if I will be able to tolerate this or not. I am still drinking at least one Protein Shake a day but need to be drinking two.... It seems so very hard to get all my liquids in since i have to wait before meals to drink and then afterwards. I just wanted to tell anyone that wants this done that please don't think this surgery is going to be a piece of cake.... it's not. And make sure you do everything the doctor tells you to do. I was upset at all the pre op testing that i had to do but now I understand that it was for my own good and still wonder why i had such a bad reaction to surgery while others do not. My surgery in itself was a success and I have very little scarring on my five little incision lines..... My doctor is excellent and I'd refer him to anyone but my reaction to surgery was a stress reaction to surgery that cause my blood pressure to skyrocket. so any of you with Blood Pressure issues out there please get it under control before surgery..... I am looking forward to seeing my weight drop and for the first time in my life i feel so free...... I won't even try to overeat..... it's not worth it. I am sticking with my diet one hundred percent....... I didn't go through all this and risking my life for nothing. I plan to use this tool I have suffered for to my greatest advantage that will help me to get healthy again. I am taking all my Vitamins and Calcium faithfully........ I am getting better everyday......

I don't want to discourage anyone about their confessions but I have been doing good with sticking to the program. I can't see why anyone would want to 'Not' follow their instructions completely. This surgery was horrible and I got so sick after surgery with nausea and some vommitting. When I first started eating soft food, I felt like halfway through the small meal that I felt that the food was stuck and it caused physical pain to keep eating. I am sticking with very soft food that goes down easily and I have no desire to try to eat Regular Food yet except in my mind. I finally feel free from my addiction of food. I no longer feel like I need to stop at a fast food restaurant when I'm out..... I feel so free...... It's wonderful. I can't wait until ten days from tomorrow when I can start adding Protein foods to my diet... though I worry if I will be able to handle it. I am determined to lose my weight now that i have the tool to do so. I keep tellling myself that if I crave food that it's head hunger and not physical hunger. The small amount of pureed foods keeps me full if it's protein food......like cottage cheese and yoghurt or scrambled eggs. I had my surgery on Feb 26 2014, I lost almost ten pounds in one week after surgery. I haven't weighed myself since but sure that I've lost more.

Hi, I am new here. I started out the day of surgery at 333 and a half..... on my one week post op visit I was 325. I am on week two now and still feel very weak. I haven't weighed myself again yet because I don't want to get discouraged. I am on the soft diet and have to eat all pureed foods. I have been measuring everything like I was told. The thing that really bothered me getting down was the scrambled eggs. I used the egg beaters and even added a little milk with them to go down easier. I'm having trouble with getting my fluids in. I have to wait at least thirty minutes to drink after I eat and I have a lot of rumbling of my stomach after eating or drinking. I still get a lot of gas and I don't have bowel movements every day like before. Taking Fiber pills..... that helps and a stool softener. I'm worried that if I drink too many fluids that my stomach will stretch out..... any thoughts on that. I forgot the other day and took two rather large sips of Water about five minutes after I ate. I usually never do that but i wonder if thirty minutes is too soon to drink after a meal.... And what is the worst that could happen if i drink a little after a meal? Worried........