drmeow

I'm only 6 days post-op but I have been surprised by:

• waking up from RnY surgery with a sleeve instead (my surgeon had tried the RnY a month prior, found I had too much abdominal fat preventing the intestine from being pulled up close to the stomach, put me on a month of liquid diet to lose more weight, and then tried again. He said it was MUCH closer but still too much tension to do the RnY (I had signed permission to do sleeve this time if he couldn't do the RnY)
• how dry my mouth was in the hospital despite 8-9 bags of IV fluids and near-constant sipping of ice chips on my part
• only had mild nausea twice when I had swallowed a bit too much Water at once - came on fast, burped and then was gone. Never actually threw up
• how intense my hunger was right after surgery and it continued for the 3 days I was on Clear Liquids only. Now, on full liquids I feel full after drinking my Protein Shake, but only for half an hour afterward.
• how little pain med I needed - a couple doses of morphine the first day, 1 dose of vicodin the following day when I went home and then tylenol twice.
• how much easier this was than my 2 C-sections and my gallbladder removal years ago
• how easy it is already for me to get all my Protein and fluids in. I keep my cup by me all the time and can take about 3 sips, let them settle (sometimes a burp) and then repeat. I drink a 12 oz cup every hour usually.
• how much swallowing pills does hurt. I am still on my BP med, thyroid, PPI, antidepressant and now an antibiotic for a UTI (and my PCP prescribed HUGE tablets that I have to break into quarters to get down)

My current trick for getting my Water in - I have always loved to drink lots of super-cold water but I find now that I tend to gulp it if it's plain. I add just a little bit of flavoring and that reminds me to just sip (gulping leads to severe gas pain for me). I have used some crystal light flavors but I only add a pinch to a bottle of water, no way I can tolerate the sweetness of regular or even half-strength. My latest favorite, though, is adding sugar-free blueberry juice (Ocean Spray) to the water.

I had tried the Isopure ice tea with lemon before surgery and liked it fine, but it has caffeine so I didn't get any more for post-op. But I wanted something that was clear, for the Clear liquids days. They are just so sickeningly sweet - like jolly ranchers someone said and I definitely agree!

However, I've been using the Isopure Zero Carb powder, both vanilla and chocolate, for over a year now, mixed with almond milk and I like them, as well as the Syntrax chocolate truffle and Peanut Butter cookie I recently bought. I've tried most of the Syntrax fruity flavors (with water) in my pre-op liquid diet and they were OK, but none I wanted to go buy a giant bottle of.

I have been adding small amounts sugar-free Jello or pudding mix to my vanilla isopure to give me some other flavors.

Yep I had a doctor's appt today as well. I should have been ecstatic to see the number on their scale, as it was 20 lbs less than the last time I'd been there (my PCP) but I'd seen a lower number yesterday at home (naked, first thing in the am, etc) and it was a little depressing.

Yep, I was told originally not to lose very much b/c my BMI was 39.7. I lost about 7 lbs but was also diagnosed with sleep apnea, so the BMI didn't matter anymore. Was originally supposed to have surgery in June, then I put it off due to a new job, etc., rescheduled for Sept 9. From June to sept I ate whatever I wanted and regained the 7 I'd lost. I was supposed to have bypass but the surgeon couldn't make the intestine reach the stomach, so he closed me up and put me on a liquid diet for a month, just had surgery this week and although it reached much further than before, he still couldn't make it work without tension so he did a VSG that i had approved beforehand.

If it's upper right, it's likely gallbladder, but if it's upper left it might be a gastric ulcer. Either way sounds like it needs to be checked out.

My first thought to your post is Wow find another surgeon!! If they couldn't intubate you sounds like they are not very good at their craft. don't give up yet on surgery; it really is life changing and rewarding.

It's the anesthesiologist, not the surgeon, who intubates you. And some people are more difficult to intubate than others are.

I had my surgery on the 26th also, but unlike you, i have been starving since I first woke up! I thought this would take away my appetite for awhile but it really hasn't. I did read somewhere that stomach acid can make you feel like you're hungry so I'm going to try an antacid and see if that helps.

I switched from the prescribed pain meds to regular tylenol as soon as I got home, and that seems to be enough for me.

I was sleeved yesterday, although I had been scheduled for the bypass, so I was posting in the bypass group up until now. My surgeon couldn't do the bypass b/c my intestine wouldn't stretch up far enough to reach my stomach. He'd tried in early Sept and couldn't do it, so had me do a full month of liquid diet to lose some weight, and this time he said it was much closer but still would have put too much tension on the incisions. I had consented to the sleeve if he wasn't able to do the bypass this time.

I came home this morning and immediately took a long nap, since I got almost no sleep in the hospital. Right now I'm trying to drink an Isopure beverage, which has 40 gms of Protein in 20 oz of liquid. Will probably take me the next 10 hours to get it in LOL.

I was on the liquid diet5 weeks prior to surgery. I use I so pure vanilla and add 1-2 spoonfuls of sugar free Jello mix or so pudding mix. Lemon pudding makes it taste like cake batter!

Since I will only be 4 days post-op on Halloween this year, I plan on NOT leaving a light on and not answering the door, etc. I didn't buy any candy b/c I would be tempted to eat it before surgery and post-op I don't want to be hopping up to answer the door! My kids will be at their dad's house that night anyway so I can just ignore the entire thing!

The pain under my left rib is all the time. All the way through to my back when it's bad. And not eating for an extended period of time ends up giving me the sudden stabbing pain that comes and goes. Typically eating helps decrease the pain.

This sounds very much like an ulcer. Stabbing pain that improves with eating. If you aren't already on a PPI like omeprazole I would ask about that. But you may need to be scoped as well.

My surgeon's office sells Healthwise bariatric products and I have been pleasantly surprised by their hot chocolate and their cream of chicken Soup - both yummy!

The hot chocolate comes in regular, or a variety pack with flavors like raspberry choc, cinnamon choc, etc. And it subs for a Protein shake - has about 20 g of Protein IIRC. Very thick rich taste, made with Water.

@Dar200 Hey, mine is on the 26th also, at 7:30 am. Good luck to both of us! I originally had surgery on Sep 9 for bypass but he found that the fatty mesentery was not flexible enough to let the intestine reach the stomach easily, so he closed me up and put me on 4 weeks of liquid diet to try and lose 20 lbs. Then, the office told me Oct 21 but actually scheduled it for Oct 14, and neither of us could change to the other's plans. So unless something goes wrong between today and 2 days from now, it's Monday. Five weeks on the liquid diet and I only lost 14 lbs, not the 20 I'd hoped. If it's still impossible he'll do the sleeve instead, but at the time of the first surgery I was adamant about bypass and didn't give permission for the VSG. Neither of us expected there to be trouble for the bypass, as my BMI was only 40!

I posted before that my surgery was Oct 21. Due to an office mistake, I've now been pushed back to Oct 26th. They'd told me Oct 21, but arranged everything for Oct 14, and when I was finally told on Oct 13, I could not suddenly take off work early, etc. Luckily I don't have to wait too much longer. I've now been on the liquid diet 4 weeks as of tomorrow, so still have one more week of it.

One thing I have tried for more variety without having to buy a lot of different shakes, is to add a small amount of the powder for making sugar-free Jello, to my vanilla Protein Powder. Lime and strawberry have both been very good so far, and there are several other sf flavors to try.

The ketosis sticks are not that accurate. The more dehydrated you are, the darker they will read. So likely it's just dehydration rather than being heavily into ketosis. Conversely, you can be very ketotic but drinking a ton of Water and they will read light or not at all. The ketones just get diluted in the urine. If you really *need* to focus on ketones, there are a couple of blood sugar monitors that also do ketones (the sticks are $$$ though) - I used one while doing Atkins just to check in once in awhile.

And being in ketosis has nothing to do with going into ketoacidosis, despite the fact that many doctors and nurses confuse the two. Different situation, different type of ketone.

You should check with your surgeon's office to be sure it's safe prior to surgery. Some types of supplements/herbal products can cause bleeding or other problems when taken too close to surgery. I'm not familiar with this but just be sure.

I had 2 C sections and though I did get up and walk a lot in the hospital, it was very painful getting in and out of bed, turning over, etc. for at least a week.

I had an attempted bypass 4 weeks ago (surgeon was not able to get my intestine to stretch far enough due to heavy dense fat in the mesentery - currently on liquid diet for a month to try again) and I went home the same day (Wed) and went back to work on Monday. I know I'll have more pain/fatigue with the actual bypass, but the big difference from a C section is that you have only very small incisions - not a 10 inch cut through all the muscle layers.

I do feel like I am worthy of a better man!!! Of course I do. I think I'm awesome!!

I just don't like being alone and I haven't met anyone else that has sparked my interest. All the other guys I've met were just so lame. But of course so is the one in supposed to be with!!

I'm only now realizing how bad it really is with him.

May I also tactfully suggest you don't sleep with a man until, and unless, he has shown you his true nature and really committed to you. That might mean waiting until remarriage (my preference) or at least waiting until things are much more committed. Why would you give an intimate part of yourself to someone that you didn't want around your children?

I may be old-fashioned now, but looking back to my teen/20's years I was desperate for someone to love me (child of an alcoholic father and distant mom) and gave myself away (body and soul) to several undeserving men (boys!), including my soon-to-be-ex husband.

My 14 yo dd came home from school the other day with a link to a TED talk about relationships they were supposed to watch for health class. I think it's an excellent talk and recommend it for anyone in the dating games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jodhovumkHQ

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You should call your insurance company - I was under the impression that there is a mandatory coverage for up to 5 sessions per individual with a psychologist. I was told mine covered 10 visits. I think there was a co-pay of $25 per visit - you might only need 1. But my pre-op class mandated visits.

Individual counseling, though, can be very helpful in helping you decide what to do about a marriage to someone who does not support you. There are likely other things that have been ignored throughout the marriage that will be uncovered as you lose weight.>>

Insurance is mandated to cover psychologic counseling for things like depression, and to be sure you're OK for WLS, but not marriage counseling. I think the OP was saying she couldn't afford marriage counseling.

I have a very old Cuisinart food processor which works great but I also have a Ninja blender that I use daily for shakes, smoothies, etc. I have not tried pureeing things like meat in that yet but I imagine it will, even though it's not technically a food processor, just blender.

Can you tolerate eggs? that would be another good Protein source while you are not able to eat meat. Also, I've seen many people say that something that didn't sit well one week was fine a few weeks later, so keep trying different meats; hopefully things will change soon.

Have you tried the Isopure ready to drink Protein drinks that are clearish - different flavors like tea, grape, apple melon, etc. They are a bit sweet to me, but at least you'd get your Protein in with them. What about Soups? I have been using Healthwise Soups that my surgeon's office sells - 20 g protein I think, with only 100 calories. the creamed ones are very tasty; not sure if you can have them due to dairy but I am lactose intolerant and they don't bother me, so it's a very small amount. They also have a chicken bouillon with protein, as does powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury. Unjury also makes an unflavored protein you could add to whatever you're tolerating right now.

I hope things improve for you soon!

I've had staples in my scalp from a head wound and it didn't hurt when they were removed.

Ugh, I am only allowed liquids, nothing solid, for a month. I'm supposed to lose 20 lbs in this month! (I had attempted bypass last month and my surgeon found too much fat in the omentum around the small intestine so it could not be stretched up to reach the stomach)

I get 4 Protein shakes/day (I can't do milk or soy so I use almond milk with 2 and Water with the other 2). Then I can have several servings of low cal yogurt, sugar-free pudding, plain oatmeal (1/2 cup) or unsweetened applesauce. and V-8.

I've lost 7 lbs in 2 weeks but have to kick it up somehow to reach 20 lbs in 2 more weeks. Very hard to stick with this, I want something to actually chew.

I would also say you are working out too much for your body to efficiently burn correctly.

+1 Yes, this much activity, especially so much cardio, tells your body to hang onto its calories for later in case it needs it. Cardio is great for your heart but will NOT lead to weight loss, esp with poor eating. You would be better off doing weights alone about 3 times a week, and on the other days do some cardio but not more than 30 min each day.