MomUv3

Just had my 5 week appointment today and my LPN said to put the scale away and weigh monthly but take measurements weekly. Said that I should expect to lose only 1% of my current weight PER WEEK, which is a HUGE decrease in what I've been enjoying over the past 5 weeks on the liquid, puree and mush. Said to expect stalls that could last from days to weeks. But, she said that I should be losing inches, especially if I do weight lifting to maintain and build muscle. Good thing I got hubby a set of hand weights and an exercise weight ball for Father's Day! Guess I'll be breaking out his weights and buying a flexible tape measure. The great news is that she said that at this point after surgery, our stomachs are fully healed and not relying on the staples anymore, so there isn't a chance of bursting our stomachs, which is a huge relief. I'm looking forward to eating "normal" foods instead of toddler food! Still no raw veggies or salad, though, until 6 months out, but I can live with that! What did y'all have as your first "normal" meal??

You totally rock! 34 lbs and only 2 weeks out from surgery is fantastic! Such a great feeling to get into clothes that were previously too small. And you were smart to save them. I did a major purge of my closet about a year ago and donated the clothes I couldn't wear to charity. Now I really wish I hadn't! I've dropped two to three sizes already so I've had to buy a few things, but I really don't want to waste money buying new clothes that I (hopefully) will only be able to wear for a few weeks or months.

I am four weeks out, and still doing purees. I have found that cooked carrots are great (I can make them SUPER mushy). Also VERY well cooked squash and zucchini (peeled). I haven't heard any restrictions on green beans from my doctor. I tried baby food green beans and couldn't stand the taste. I'm concerned I may be too early to try real green beans and that my stomach can't yet handle the fibrous outside.

Onions $uck me up now! And I LIVED them before!!! That makes me sooooo sad! I start puree tomorrow and I used to LOVE onion, too, so I would have loved to flavor my food with them. I know they and bell peppers can cause a lot of gas. Wonder if that is the problem? Can you tolerate onion powder? Green chile flavored beans sounds great. What else have you been able to tolerate on puree? I think you are 5 days ahead of me (my surgery was May 12). So good to see that you are doing so well.

That's ridiculous you're having to wait it out in so much pain. Amazing how little some humans care. My pre op diet is only 24 hours before and it's clear liquids. Please keep us posted. Will do! Thx!

What's that? And I ate tuna fish! I'm sooooo looking forward to tuna fish!

Are you going straight from cloudy liquids to mushy? Lucky girl! My Dr makes us do two weeks of blenderized foods before graduating to mushy. So 1 wk clear liquids, 2 wks cloudy liquids, 2 wks blenderized, then mushy. I stayed away from BBQ this weekend. Did chew and spit a pepperoni though. My family has ordered pizza (my favorite food) at least 10 times in the last 3 weeks!! Had my Girl Scout troop end of year party on Sunday and made it though everyone (girls and moms) eating pizza, ice cream sandwiches and cake while I sipped on ice water. Felt very martyr-ish. Wish the weight were falling off quicker so if have more motivation. Only lost 15 lbs since surgery despite taking in only about 200 cal a day. ...

I had right back pain for the first week and it was sore muscles. If you can't get in your fluids; is it cause your nauseous? Do you need a nausea pill? I hope it gets better, Thank you! Are you doing better?

I really hate to read this. I'm so sorry you're struggling and in PAIN! Awful. Does anyone seem to have ANY sense of where the pain is coming from? Bariatric hospital that did surgery isn't any help? I'm just so sorry. I have my surgery June 3 so unfortunately no help. Maybe a hernia? Gall bladder? You are so sweet. They ruled out gallbladder, leak, didn't see a hernia. Bari dr doesn't care cuz it's not related to the sleeve. ER dr was really condescending and said that some people just don't handle pain as well as others. Wanted to punch him in the nose. Idiot. The pain didn't start until 8 days AFTER surgery and I was tolerating the surgery pain just fine w no pain meds up to that point. Anyway, we are on a wait it out and see if it improves strategy. It has gotten a bit better over the last few days, but still need the Lortab sometimes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Gotta go back to work tomorrow regardless. Best of luck w your upcoming surgery. Is your pre-op diet ok?

I had my sleeve on May 12 and am really struggling. Starting on May 20, I developed a horrible pain on my left side/back. It's pretty constant and really sharp. Even went to ER on Wednesday and they ruled out a leak or bowel obstruction or kidney stone. Doctors office is no help at all. Especially since ER doctor ruled out leak and the pain started a week after surgery so "it doesn't seem related to the sleeve." It is so debilitating. Anyone else having anything similar or heard of anything like this?

I'm not coming close either. I was getting good at keeping down water but was getting really weak and lightheaded from having a complete lack of nutrition for almost a week. Today, I added cloudy liquids (got down about 1/4 of a premier protein shake, and about 1/4 c cream soup). I have more energy but now the intestinal gas cramps are killing me!! It feels like my stomach is going to explode. Is it possible to OD on Gas-X?? Any one else having similar trouble when moving to phase 2 post op diet?

Hope your surgery went well today! Please do share your experience with us! Would you mind if I message you a couple questions I have about Dr. Holden/TGH? wishing you lots of success and a speedy recovery Of course! Ask away....

I was the same way and had to stay in the hospital an extra day. My nausea was so much worse after this surgery than it was when I got food poisoning years ago. The Zofran anti-nausea that they pushed through my IV did nothing for me, but ask for Phenergan - a different anti-nausea. That one actually helped. It comes in a suppository and works really quickly. They only issue with it is that it makes you drowsy and when you are sleeping, you are not drinking. You need to be careful to get in liquids They shouldn't have you taking pills since they won't stay down. They had me do a whole day of taking in nothing by mouth (hooked up to the IV, of course), to let my stomach rest and that helped. It also helped to do the deep breathing - and I mean really deep so that it makes your abdomen rise.

For those of you seeing Dr. Kim in Colleyville, just thought I'd let you know that Texas General was great. The nurses are all very sweet and the hospital is clean. You get your own room with no roommate There is a pull out sofa in each room if your SO wants to stay overnight with you and a lounge on each floor with vending machines. Plus a cafeteria on the first floor. I did sometimes get conflicting instructions from my nurses as to how often to do something (like use the breathing spirometer - was told by three different nurses to do it 30 minutes, 1 hour, and every two hours), so that was kind of confusing. They also have a person come by who is a respiratory nurse to make sure you're doing your breathing. The TV is free and there is Wi-fi (although sporadic). Best of luck to all of you headed that way soon.

OMG is good to know about gas-x strips!!!! Maybe those aren't any good!!!!! Yikes!!! The nurse said that they are too hard on the stomach that soon after surgery when everything is still so raw. I know I'd never take it again if I had it to do over.