no onions

@@VSGAnn2014 Not funny, not funny! :-) That's what I kept telling myself as I laughed and couldn't stop. Now I have a sore abdomen! In all fairness, sneezed really big last night, so it was already sore.

I hadn't heard of this before. We call it a hog/pig roast here. Not that food was the main subject of your story. I'm feeling food focused tonight! I'm glad you found someone so close that you can talk to. Side note: my grandma used to make something called "Pig Pickin' Cake" -- it was really good (if I'm remembering correctly).

More of a vent and share here. So, I took a new prescription last night (Prilosec) which will eventually replace Pepcid. I ate late, but an appropriate amount. Went to bed, had some twinges and took a Percocet. No big deal, right? Woke up this morning feeling nauseous, headache, very dry mouth and overall exhausted. Thinking I could be slightly dehydrated, I mixed about 8oz of Water with 4oz of apple juice and drank it over about 30 minutes. Well about 20 minutes later gas and cramping. Impossible (!) as I'm constipated slightly (or maybe more), or so I thought. Long story (I know), but who knew you could be constipated and have diarrhea at the same time! For the love of whatever... that doesn't need to ever happen again! I've felt craptastic all day long and have just tried to stay hydrated - food -- out of the question for most of the day, going to try some broth tonight though. Side note: prior to surgery I took Rx to keep me from dumping (gallbladder side effect) and haven't taken it since as I've been slightly constipated, going every 2-3 days.

I am 4 weeks out today. Tonight I'm eating approx. 2oz of deli chicken wrapped around approx. 1oz sliced Babybel cheese. I use approximately above because both are slightly fewer in ounces. I've been working on dinner for a couple of hours and I'm at the point where I'm going to wrap it up and put it away. I have to go to bed sometime! I ate almost 1/4 cup of Cream of Wheat this morning - that's the most I've been able to do in one sitting.

Lots of advice and good discussion on this thread. The health aspect certainly matters to me and is number one, but I would be lying to say my self-esteem wouldn't play a huge part in any decision related to further surgeries. Better believe if I have rashes or skin infections or something of the like, I will do something. Most of the surgeries are pretty involved (from what I've read), so I would recommend doing your research (if you're interested) and also consulting with a reputable surgeon.

I'm about to go into the insurance and finance section to post the costs associated with my WLS surgery, plus the insurance costs (once I'm sure all of the bills have come in) -- so I think it's completely fine to ask questions about any costs (for any surgery). I know where you are coming from though - I remember asking someone how much their house cost as a little kid and receiving a pretty quick correction from my mom. :-) I wouldn't do anything like that now (house/car). Ok - back to my Babybel cheese and deli chicken. I've been at it for 2 hours!

@@lisemaria I'm having similar issues with not being hungry and I will be 4 weeks out Wednesday (this week). My main concern is not getting the proper nutrition to heal properly and/or causing long term problems. I've made it a point to try and get more Protein (close to 60 a day, but not always) and take my Vitamins. I'm doing better on Water. I just started soft foods this weekend and have managed to have one meal each day that qualifies. Regardless, I'm consuming less than 500 calories a day and I'm not sure how that is sustainable. I have an appointment this Friday with the nutritionist that I saw before my surgery -- I'm hoping for some effective strategies to improve my nutrition or for her to confirm that my current path is ok. What a problem we have, huh? :-)

It was a fear for me since vomiting occurred with a previous surgery. This time they placed an anti-nausea patch behind my ear and also gave me some anti-nausea meds in the IV (the one time I asked). I was able to control my own pain medication with a little handheld push button controller. I could press every 10 minutes if necessary. Good luck to you.

@@jengilligan Welcome! Out of curiosity what insurance do you have? Thanks!

I am almost 4 weeks out. I do not believe I could do what you described at this point. I certainly cannot do any heavy lifting. In fact, bending slightly in certain directions makes me sore (and apprehensive about tearing something). I would suggest running it by your Dr.

I bought a wedge pillow off of Amazon and am still sleeping on my back in an elevated position. It helps with the acid-y feeling I've been getting and it's more comfortable than trying to sleep on my side/stomach (my normal position). I thought my back would be sore as well,but I think the incline/wedge pillow has prevented that somehow. I'm also not sleeping great (unless I take a pain pill!) and wake up frequently. Thus it's 3:13 AM central and I'm online. Trying to go back to bed! G'night!

@@anahajara That has happened to me when I've take pepto in the past. Also made dark stools (just fyi/tmi). It was harmless, I just brushed my tongue a lot.

I have a hard time picturing myself eating a salad at this point. The chew chew chewing along would not make it worthwhile to me. In any event, it's not on my plan for stage 3. For me stage 3 is "soft foods" only. Examples (for me), moist (there's that word) chicken, turkey, cheese, deli chicken, turkey, tuna,etc. Applesauce, yogurt, cooked (canned) carrots. These are just a few on my plan. Not sure if they are ok on your plan. Good luck.

Hope this helps -- For me, I only took vitamins pre-op for a couple of weeks and I did not take them 24 hours before surgery. In general they were fine pre-op. They were chewable. I'm finding the chewable versions to be off-putting now (post-op) and I prefer the small multivitamin pill that the Dr. prescribed. It's not difficult to get the multivitamin in (once per day) and because I know I'm probably not getting the best nutrition at the moment, I really try and get the Vitamin in. calcium citrate is an entirely different story though -- I'm supposed to take it 3x daily and it is a larger pill. I break the pill in half and can generally get two pills in each day (4 halves). I don't think I could take the calcium pill without breaking it in half. Oh, I have some B12 nasal spray shot that I take once per week. I'm not sure what that is doing for me to be honest. I didn't receive any instructions (or have forgotten, if I did) on when to take them (w/ food or w/out food, time of day, etc). I'm going to check on that with the Dr. just to be sure.

I'm sort of in the same boat, though my tastebuds seem ok. I'm just not hungry at all. I am usually able to get my Protein in by using shakes, but at this point there would be no way for me to come close with the soft food diet (just started). I'm typically not thirsty either and that is more problematic because I've occasionally felt dizzy/lightheaded from it. I think part of my issue (besides not being hungry in general) is that I'm trying to avoid throwing up and any unpleasant physical feelings at all costs. I eat super slow and may be eating too little. (I'm working on it).

@@Sharon1964 I love costco because they will take stuff like that back. I cannot imagine drinking something that tastes like that colonoscopy prep liquid. Eww yuck. If only I could take back (drank too many) the Premier Vanilla Protein drinks - chocolate is so much better.

@@Elode those healed really well!

Most definitely get one you can zero out (tare). I'm mostly doing measuring cups and tbsp right now, but am prepared. I used the scale during my post-op diet to weigh what ate. Took the guessing game right out of figuring out calories.

Hi Nikki - I'm not familiar with him, but I have seen the name a few times during my time in this board. The search function on this site isn't the most user friendly. I can vouch for a very positive experience with the office of Dr. Christopher Eagon at Wash U./BJC. Hopefully your Dr has some patient support groups you can attend - that might be a source of good info.

I recommend you get everything in writing. My surgeon's office helped extensively with navigating insurance. When I called UHC myself, I was told I didn't have any requirements! When my surgeon's office called they got the real scoop.

Dumping is not fun. I have it as a result of gallbladder surgery many years ago. Sweats, shakes and uncontrollable and eventually undeniable urge to use the bathroom. I would get this regardless of what I ate and it would almost always happen at lunch (since I would rarely eat breakfast). Mine has been controlled by a medicine called Cholestyramine. I haven't experienced dumping with the sleeve yet and I haven't restarted my Cholestyramine either. I did have diarrhea several times after my leak test because of the barium/gastrografin cocktails. Yuck. I guess I can understand dumping as a deterrent to eating poorly, if it only resulted from one type of food. For me, that wasn't the case and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Hi everyone - If you had/have moobs, have they reduced and/or toned up? How long and/or how many pounds did you happen to lose before noticing a difference? If you did specific exercises (realizing that targeting areas is almost impossible), what did you do? Thanks in advance for your comments.

Same as @@Daisee68

I chose sleeve, because I didn't want the potential issues with nutrient malabsorption and I couldn't get over the fact that my intestines would be re-routed. In my mind, the sleeve seemed less invasive, though it's terribly invasive too. Lap Band was totally out in my mind based on a friend's experience with it. I'm already prone to dumping in general because of gall bladder complications, so I don't need the added plus of anything else (bypass) to cause that. Your success will be what you make it and not necessarily some statistic or anecdote. As someone mentioned, all of the surgeries are tools. You should do whatever you think is right for your health. My recommendation would be to make a list of pros and cons for each surgery and take as much educated advice from professionals and patient experiences as you can. Good luck!

I made some really yucky ones. I thought I could just puree a can of potatoes. They were like paste and totally gross. They are allowed on my plan, but if I try them again, I'm going with the instant kind suggested by @ShrinkingPeach