OKCPirate

Ask him to suck the CO2 out before he glues you up. @@Dub's surgeon did that and it helped a great deal. Take a look at the recovery rooms to see what you can realistically bring and charge. Get your diet for the first two weeks and purchase all that stuff this week. You need to prepare for the first two weeks post op which is the hardest and depending on where you live it might be difficult to get out with winter weather. You don't want to risk slipping and falling during the healing. If you are really new at this, have him show you what the inside of your stomach looks like post op. And have him explain what the post op diet does to promote healing. I found that to be really motivating to FTDI (follow the damn instructions). Oh, and bring your meds with you. Some won't be absorbed the same with a sleeve. He will probably know more about this than your PCD.

@@vegbeth - I was cleared to go back to gym after 4 weeks. I just did light workouts for two weeks and then week 6 started kicking things up. I worked with my NUT to make sure my diet was adequate for the extra work. I only increased my weights 10% per week until I hit failure and then would wait two weeks to check if I could do 10% more.
This will go by like a flash. The hardest part was week three with mush. I hate eating that slow, and had to use a plate warmer to keep my food less than horrible. But it was important to teach my stomach to eat again.

@@Malin - I don't know if you are Tide fan, but looking forward to the game tonight. I like Sabin, but I think they are going down tonight.

It is normal to feel tired. It is also normal for your weight to remain unchanged. Just try and maintain your Protein and Water goals..
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You mention Soup and yogurt. Are you not drinking your Protein Shakes? Protein and Water are the most critical things right now. Are you taking your Vitamins?

@@JamieLogical I can't wait to get back to working out! I don't have the energy now but I still have the desire. Kind of like I can't eat anything but still have the cravings! This early part of the healing process has taken away my one healthy coping mechanism. I keep reminding myself it's only temporary.

@@vegbeth It takes time. Getting your Protein and Water in should be your top priorities and definitely don't go overboard with exercise until you are eating enough calories to sustain it. You will just work on gradually increasing your calories as you get further out from surgery. I wasn't even on solid foods until 30 days post-op. But I did push pretty hard to get up over 800 calories right after that so I could start doing some longer walks and then 1100 calories so I could start running and strength training. Once you are over 1000 a day, you should be able to start doing more serious exercise and just gradually increasing your calories as you increase your workout intensity.

Ask him to suck the CO2 out before he glues you up. @@Dub's surgeon did that and it helped a great deal. Take a look at the recovery rooms to see what you can realistically bring and charge. Get your diet for the first two weeks and purchase all that stuff this week. You need to prepare for the first two weeks post op which is the hardest and depending on where you live it might be difficult to get out with winter weather. You don't want to risk slipping and falling during the healing. If you are really new at this, have him show you what the inside of your stomach looks like post op. And have him explain what the post op diet does to promote healing. I found that to be really motivating to FTDI (follow the damn instructions). Oh, and bring your meds with you. Some won't be absorbed the same with a sleeve. He will probably know more about this than your PCD.

BOOMER SOONER! I like your priorities--not missing a Sooner game in recovery. I was born in OK and I still have family there--who also don't miss Sooner games.

@@JerseyJules - I applaud you in researching this up front. When I was considering it, I read blog posts, watched videos of real patients, and tried to figure out all the worst case scenarios. I wanted to figure out who failed and why. And I had to wrap my mind around what I was going to eat since I am a foodie.
What I figured out was those who failed kept eating the same crap they were eating before, albeit in smaller servings. It is vital you follow the instructions, and most of the worst cases were people who would not FTDI (follow the damn instructions) but the great news is after the first month you slowly add in new foods and test to see what you can tolerate. I can eat everything I used to...but I can now afford the really expensive cuts of meat because I only need 4oz.
So I'm not including pictures because it would be everything. But I would suggest testing which Protein powders you like in advance. You will need them. Try Isopure Clear (you can pick them up at GNC). Not to everyone's taste but I loved the green tea formula, which was 40g of Protein plus hydration, and I could do it during my clear liquid phase which was great. Two of those a day kept my energy level high all the time. It was so good that I had my surgery on a Tuesday, and by Saturday I went to an OU football game with my son. So keep poking around until you have your head wrapped around this.

@@Momcat - You are quite welcome. We are here to help you succeed, as others who came before me helped me out.

Hey all,
Just wondering what I can expect for my final pre-op appointment with my surgeon. I'm having it tomorrow and my surgery is scheduled for next Monday (1/16/17).
I've been STRUGGLING with this liquid diet but have been on track for most of it. Just one week left...three more weeks post-op.
Any details would be helpful. Thanks!
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Thanks so much for the information!!!

food....Seriously post pictures of your foods!!
Im considering the VSG surgery and really want to know what to expect and would appreciate of some of your recent or long time sleevers would share pictures of your meals and portion sizes so I can get an idea what to expect down the road following surgery.
A big stress factor for me in deciding to do this or now is fearing the unknown after surgery. I want to have a good idea what to expect in the days, weeks and years to follow. If Im going to do something that cant be undone I want to know EXACTLY what Im getting myself into.
Thank you in advance for your replies.

My Bariatric team's rules say no baby food. "It's made for babies that need to grow, not adults who need to loose." These words exactly were in my handbook. So no, I never ate it during the puree phase.

You will eventually. It is important to watch your calories and Protein the next two months. Read the article on metabolism and it might motivate you. Just remember Protein first always.

Once a week. Any more than that would be too emotionally taxing for me.

We are talking about later, 6 weeks and beyond.

As a new sleever, I'm wondering how I'm supposed to keep my calories up (I'm getting less than 500 in) when I can hardly get any food in. I'm just meeting my Protein and fluid goals can't imagine eating or drinking any more. Also, the doc has severely limited my exercise to gentle walking. Are you talking in regards to right after surgery or later on when you are more healed and approved to eat all and exercise?

It isn't the staples.* I used to set off the scanner exery single time, usually lighting up where I had the most excess skin. It was one of the reasons I got precheck, so I can go through the metal detector instead of the scanner. No more scanner problems plus super fast lines through security, no taking shoes off, etc. Precheck is worth every penny to me even though I don't even fly that often.
*the scanners see inside your clothes, but they can't see inside your body, at least not enough to pick up a tiny line of staples.

PS - get TSA precheck for sure. They use the metal detector instead of the hands over your head scanners that seem to be the problem.
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My excess skin lit up the scanners the few times I flew with it. I don't fly often. I had plastics and haven't lit up since.
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I have flown a lot since surgery and have had no issues. Even with tsa precheck, you still have to go thru metal detector or the scanner in some airports.

Do any of you have issues with airport security screening since surgery?
I light up the body scan device like a Christmas tree, resulting in an extremely intimate physical screening. And it happens every single time!
My abdomen is always lit up. Could be staples? Could be excess skin!
But what's even weirder is I also get random other areas. Today it was my shoulder. I've even had it light up on my freakin' forehead!!!
Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this as I don't recall seeing any topics on it as I've been reading the forum posts over the last year.
And I don't think it's a common thing as I even had one TSA agent look at the scan results and say "Holy Crap!"
I fly fairly often and this never happened a single time before my surgery and resulting weight loss. Now it's 100%. Looks like I'm going to have to get Global Entry or Nexus or something so I can get pre-check every time. I have no issue with metal detectors.
(edited for typos)

Thanks for advice. I appreciate it.
I went over 1000 yesterday and was admonishing myself. sounds like I was on the right track!
I had RMR done pre-surgery in October. I'm sure it has changed since then. I will get it re-run.