bewell

REGARDING WLS:

What didn't you see coming OR what did they forget to tell you?!!@##%^

For me it was:

• Water and many foods would taste terrible
• Brushing my teeth made me vomit
• ​Extremely sensitive to smell, I would get nauseous at the grocery store from the smells
• My cat would eat more than me and I'd still survive

I heard that drinking Water before going to bed helps flush out the toxins and for us old geezers reduces AM heart attacks.

I've been drinking a 10 oz of water before bed. I figure it will help flush out the fat too.

I do have to get up to pee once or twice and then take another sip of water but I do feel good in the AM.

Besides the usual lists they had out.....I bought way too many kinds and too much of the Protein drinks. I tried them pre-surgery and liked them. BUT then post-op everything tasted different and things I liked before didn't taste so good post-op.

Also, I bought way too much food. Like 10 boxes of sugar free Jello. If you only eat a few spoonfuls a day, that can last a long time. I still buy way too much food.

My suggesting, get enough of the Clear liquids items and a few Soups and a limited supply of Protein Drinks cuz they may just not taste the same after surgery. At least that was my experience.

• Kindle and
• VSGAnn2014

Thank you! Very good to know I will be able eat more calories and still lose weight.

I think I'm just trying to pschyc myself into accepting how I eat has to change now, forever. That way I can accept that the big successive daily binge days are over. And I really won't "starve" if I only eat 1,000 calories.

Thanks again!

E-girl...I expect I'll be more active at my goal weight and can eat more but how do you keep the weight off eating more?

Just seems in the past if I go over 1,200 calories on a regular basis, I gain weight.

An an average how many calories can you eat and maintain your goal weight!

BTW: congrats on you long term success! Way to go!!!

I was a self-pay and had to borrow from my 401k but so far it was worth every penny! When I get to my goal it will be about $150 a pound!

Welcome to the board, it is a great place to get support. With your spirit and determination, you'll be fine!

What happened post-op that no-one told you about or "you just didn't see that coming!"

For me:

• Vomited brushing my teeth (didn't see that coming....nurse said it can happen)
• Water tasted terrible....pre-op Water is mostly what I drank...it took 6 weeks for water to taste sort of normal
• SMELLS....everything smelled funny.....and often made me nauseous. Also 6 weeks before it was better, still not normal
• Amount of food.....for weeks my cat ate more than I did and I was jealous the way he wolfed it down!
• ONLY 300-600 calories......OK, maybe someone told me but I was certain I'd starve to death if I only ate 600 calories for days on end. BUT NO and now I accept that a max of 800 calories now and probably 1000 a day, for the rest of my life will be the new NORMAL!! Didn't see that coming.

This may gross you out and ALERT.....it may be very bad advice but I did chew a few things just to chew it and then I spit it out and rinsed my mouth out. I was going nuts and I had to CHEW something. It helped and I only had to do it a few times.

Had a revision Jan 13. Lap band surgery 2006.

My Doc said the Fluid has to be out,

Took 3 hrs for all,

1.5 for removal of lap band. Lots of scar tissue surrounding it.

1.5 for sleeve

Even tho recovery took a while from the surgery. I felt so much better with the lap band removed. It always hurt both the band and the port

Good luck!

• jinxxy5, you look amazing and so fit. Appreciate the clean eating comment, that's really something!

veronica,

There is a lap-band technique I used (as did many lap-banders) when that full, food stuck feeling is there.

Breath deep using your stomach muscles, pushing the air out using your stomach muscles and walk around. For some reason it helps.

I've been using it with the sleeve and it seems to help. Maybe just keeps my mind off the horrible feeling.

Syntrax fuzzy navel. The only thing I can eat for the first few hours every AM. It tastes great!

SYNTRX fuzzy navel saved me during the liquid phase. It's the only thing I can eat for the 1st few hours every AM. It tastes great. Trying other flavors now.

I went to a local WLS support group yesterday. There was a woman who was about 8 yrs post-op sleeve and still looked fabulous. She is a staff member from the WLS clinic I went to.

One of the main topics for the group was fear of failure. We all felt it. Her encouragement was to focus on healing for the first 6 weeks and not worry about failing. Follow your doc's plan and you won't fail. It's normal to feel the fear. ...We've failed so many times before. It's a life time change we've made and it will take a while and some time to figure out how to live our new life style. We didn't get obese overnight, and we won't change our behaviors overnight.

The best advice I heard is that The WLS and new sleeve hit's the pause button for us while we loose weight and figure out how to live our new life. She said that soon enough the pause button starts to move to forward, so make your behavior changes now and get your NEW way of living life (and eating) a solid practice. And stop worrying. We have choices, it's up to us to make good ones to be successful.

I thought it was wise council.

Veronica I think your Doc is wise to encourage eating the way will do for the rest of our life.

They do all seem to recommend a different plan. They told me no potatoes, rice or bread ever cuz it stretches the stomach. I'm OK with no rice and potatoes and with my lap band I couldn't eat bread so I'm OK with that. Although I do love shush. Guess I'll be doing sashimi.

Someone on here tried soda with no problems. Just want to add that just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should. Carbonated beverage can STRETCH our new tiny stomach and put pressure on our incision. You may not feel it but it might not be good for you. Sorry for the lecture.

Bottom-line, just like our recovery, pounds lost and what and when we can eat is individual. That is so interesting to me as of course I am tempted to compare myself TO EVERYONE!! HEHE

At 5 weeks out, what I can eat right is very limited. And it changes day by day. I've been able to eat yogurt but last night i had a little (two very small bites) after a meal and vomited it right back up. Just didn't settle right.

I still do Protein Drinks mostly and eat one small (1/4 cup) and maybe two meals a day. I have to eat something soft with meat or I can't get it down. And I still have to work to get in 800 calories. My stomach is very sensitive and the food will come right back up. The AM is the worst, it takes a while for my stomach to wake up.

Thank heavens for Fuzzy Navel Protein Drink. It's the only way to get my Protein in. And it tastes great.

I'm wondering if it will be this way forever.

It does make meals easy because my selection is so limited.

Hello January Sleevers! Can you believe that all of us have been "together" in this journey for 3-7 weeks. Still just newbies really. This blog is such a support for me.

In general I'm very happy with how I am doing at 5 weeks. (I was a band to sleeve revision) No regrets but I am learning every day that life will be very different now, especially how, what, and when I eat.

I am still struggling with what I can eat and how much. I still vomit if I eat too fast or too much. (And too much is over 1/2 cup of food. And too fast is about 1000 times slower than I ate pre-sleeve.) It's hard to get in 800 calories a day. Water still tastes weird and the only liquid I can get in is watered-down no sugar Fruit drinks. When I see all of you taking long walks, hikes etc I do get a little envious. I can walk about 1/2 mile before I get kind of tired. I am older (63) and have an arthritic hip from carrying this excess weight so long. Weight loss will make it easier but as my Doc said, WLS isn't going to heal that worn down hip. I can certainly do more than before the surgery and weigh loss but I am not running any marathons just yet. (I am so happy when I see some of you in your younger years losing this weight before you ruin a hip)

Today I have to share that I am missing the feeling of over-eating and the haze/daze it gave me. The brief emotional feeling of fullness and satisfaction of some binge food.

Of course I am overjoyed that now I can be outside more, be more active, feel better, look better, etc. I am still learning to accept this activities as my new satisfied full feeling.

However, I've used food as an emotional support for so long, I am feeling some loss that I can no longer eat to get that feeling from eating. It's great that now I eat to stay alive. But still, if I'm honest, at least today, I miss that old eating experience. (I know it was always followed by the self-hate, but there was a few moments of feeling pretty darn good.)

Hummmm, is the honeymoon over for me? I had a lap-band so I am well aware of the initial high of losing weight and feeling so great. I know it feels like it will last forever. I'm a little leary of that high because at some point we will all be past the easy weigh loss (and even now some are struggling) and we'll have to work a little harder and be more aware of the downs and find the inner emotional means and external support to get thru them.

I know this loss I'm feeling today will pass, and I'm not looking for advice just sharing where I am. Maybe someone else might the same. Rather than having this feeling of loss and emotional changes trip me up now or later in my weight loss, I think I may look for a councilor that knows about this stuff.

All the best to you all. baj

Oh and my doc said reflux is common the first few months and it generally settles down.

Please let us know what your surgeon tells you? He needs to address your questions. If it were me, I'd remind him that you are on this blog and people are always asking for recommendations and you'd like to be able to say his follow-up after surgery was outstanding but right now your not feeling it.

I sure can get a panic attack going pretty easy. If you don't have a fever it is unlikely it is a leak. (I"m not a doc of course, this is just from what I've read.) This is scary stuff but so many have been thru it and the complication rate is really low. I keep reminding myself that but it is also good to check any concerns out. Even those who have had complications get thru them.

Not sure if this helped but the bottom line is I do understand, I have been thru the scary wake up in the middle of the night. Mine was always a false alarm and my overactive mind getting the best of me.

Best to you and hang in there. I keep hearing from the old times that it gets better, just hang on!

Hope by now you've called your doc with your symtoms.

I had a similar experience and yes acid reflux caused nausea for me.

I started vomiting often when I started mushies. Made my new stomach very sensitive. Had the fever, chills and vomiting. My doc had me come right in for the swallow test to see if there was a leak. There was nothing showing but they saw acid reflux. Had to go back on liquids, and kept taking the prilosec.

Took 5-6 days but everything settled down and I'm OK now. I have to be real careful not to eat too much or too fast. Introducing new foods slow and one at at time. Still doing mushed food really cuz I chew tills it pretty much liquid.

RJ is right on, my fears are most often way out of line with whats really going on.

Keep up posted and take care.

• Cleo's Mom
• I hear you! I had a lot of fear and concerns.
• Even now as things are fine I wake up in the AM and wonder what have I done? But given the alternatives, I'd do it again.
• I was out weeding in the yard today. Normally I never get down on the ground for fear I"d never get back up. But I tried it and got back up with pretty easily. Not lifting an extra 30 pounds made a big difference. I had a big smile on my face and day dreamed about being 50, 60, 100 lbs lighter and getting up from the floor. YES! I avoid so much because of my weight.

Also agree with you, even in 10 years they will have much better alternatives for obesity. I also believe they will find obesity is even more complicated than they know today. In 20 years they'll look back at the sleeve and think it was barbaric. (35 yrs ago I knew a women who wired her mouth shut to lose weight. OMG!!)

Wishing you the best and whatever you decide will be what's right for you. No one can tell you what to do. It is very individual. But also want to say that who you really are is not about your body, or your size, your age or anything else. You are beautiful just the way your are right now!

I'm 4 weeks post-op and my transition from liquids to soft food was disastrous. I started vomiting most days and my stomach was very tender. Doc even thought I might have caused a leak with the vomiting and had a swallow test which was OK.

The nurse kept asking me if I was eating too fast or too much. I kept saying NO cuz I was eating like 2 tablespoons of really mushed food and chewing it like craze. Like I did with the band.

Well I went back on liquids for a few days and then started the soft food again. AND I ate less and slower.

MY LESSON--- the lap band gave me an immediate notice if I ate too fast, too much or didn't chew enough. My sleeve doesn't!!! It is much more subtle for me. When they say with the sleeve, stop eating as soon as you feel the 1st sign of being full is right on. I hate to admit it but I wasn't doing that and paid a price.

Since I started noticing the fullness at even 3 small bites and stopping, (sometimes waiting five minutes and eating another few bites) I have not vomited. It was the same with Protein drinks. I think, no I know, I am eating less than my cat! A lot less.

Today I noticed it getting easier to eat a bit more but I had a few bad weeks getting here.

The human body is so interesting.

The way our bodies respond to a pretty serious surgery and a tiny stomach and how fast everyone recovers from surgery is so individual. So is the weight loss.

I try to remember this is an individual journey before my crazy human mind jumps in and tells me I'm not doing it right, I'm bad, I'm never gonna get it, and then I get on the downward spiral of depression. It's going to take some time and my journey is most likely going to be different than anyone else's.

Seems I can get as crazy eating 4000 calories a day as I can 400 calories. LOL I NEVER in my life thought I'd only eat 400-500 calories a day and not be hungry AND NOT LOSE WEIGHT.

I do think I am getting some muscle back. I was pretty much a sleeping or sitting for the 1st 3 weeks after surgery. Muscle weighs more than fat so I just figure I'm getting muscle. Clothes are getting looser. Even got a ring on my pinkie that I haven't been able to wear for 20 years.

Best wishes to you all and I know we can all do this. It's just gonna take some time and patience.

Cleo, I understand, it was really hard for me to decide to do the revision from band to sleeve. I am also a self-pay. I had to rob my 401K to pay for it.

I thought about it for months and then researched it and followed all the blogs for a few more months. All the while trying to lose weight but only gaining more. I was miserable. It really came to the bottom-line that there was no way I could lose the weight myself and as I aged being obese was causing more health problems. I know my husband was ready to retire and we wouldn't be able to travel or do fun things, and he was concerned he'd have to take care of me for years to come.

It is elective surgery but at my age, I really feel I had no choice but to do it. I was scared to do it but even more scared not to.

But so far so good. No complications with the sleeve. A few rough days but at 4 weeks out, I'm glad I did it. There is no way I could do this myself. I'm committed to do this. I have to.

I don't really have any words of encouragement but at our age I think we have some wisdom to know we only have one more chance to get this right and be healthy. We know the dangers of being obese and watching our joints fail. We are more aware of the lies we can tell ourselves about having just one bite of something sweet. I could still ride a bike at 260 lbs but it was getting harder and harder. I could see me in a wheel chair before I reached 70 along with hip and/or knee replacements and diabetes. The future was looking pretty grim.

I'm glad I decided to get the revision to a sleeve. I know there is still a lot of hard work ahead of me. For the rest of my life I'll have to watch what I eat. I have to make serious life style changes. (just read the blogs of people with any WLS who gained back all the weight, it can happen)

I have to do this or my final years on this planet will be miserable.

619raf

So sorry you are discouraged, hope it gets better. I call the nurse, skip the NUT. Maybe if you tell them your are nauseous and afraid you might vomit, and not losing weight, the nurse might be able to give you info the NUT can't. (I actually was vomiting)

I tried every Protein Drink. The only one I can do and actually like it is HMR. It's not talked about much on the blogs.

I like the chocolate 70 pudding mix, lactose free. I add extra Water so it isn't so think.

http://www.hmrprogram.com/index.cfm/HMRFoods/HMRShakes

Best wishes!