Daisee68

@@marie beal - I'm confused. You have a 3 month pre-op diet of only liquids with Protein shakes? Is that correct?

@@_Brooke_ - Just the timer on my phone. No app needed. Though I do know that there are some that exist. I also use it when I know I need to drink more so I set it for every few minutes and make myself sip - for an hour or so.

Timer on my phone is the only way I am accomplishing it so far. I set 2 timers - one goes off every 1 1/2 minutes and I won't take a bite until it goes off and then reset it for the next bite. The other time is for 30 minutes and at 30 minutes, I have to stop and get rid of my plate. When I am with others and not able to watch the clock, it is harder, but once it becomes more habit, it will get easier (or so I am told).

Don't beat yourself up. I can't tell you how many times I have considered driving through there. Now you know that is not something you can eat - or at least not yet. Give yourself credit for trying by throwing away the biscuit and just learn from it. Don't fall back in to the pattern of beating yourself up and then continuing forward with a "well I already screwed up today might as well eat more" attitude. (At least that is how I always was.) Chalk it up to a learning experience. Get back on track and move on with a healthy lunch. (PS - once you vomit, sometimes your system needs some time to calm down, so you might stick with liquids for 24 hours to give your system a rest.)

Same thing happened to me around same time. It was a stricture. Call your surgeon and get them to do an EGD.

Hmm... Mixed emotions. Good to have someone who knows you yet probably preferable from someone who deals with bariatric patients on a more regular basis. If it isn't something he has done before, then I am not sure he will have the right perspective on it. My therapist is wonderful and I am still seeing her on a weekly basis (and will continue to see her probably eventually only once a month for at least 2 years post-op). She only works with bariatric surgery patients so she has invaluable advice and insight into the situation. I think maybe getting referral from your surgeon might be best as they likely have people they work with who are used to what they (and insurance) is really looking for.

Yep that is hives. Deep breath. Hives are awful and a sure sign of stress. Try some benedryl and go to sleep. It will look brighter in the morning. The peer to peer will likely take care of it quickly - especially if it is just over documentation which was provided. Cigna denied my sleep study because it wasn't "medically necessary" and had to do a peer to peer and subsequently agreed that. Then they agreed my actual surgery in less than 24 business hours (submitted on Friday at noon and approved Monday morning). They never even asked more questions or blinked.

Not sure if this helps, but my dr said try to get 60 g Protein per day. I also use the Premier Protein ready made drinks which are 30 g protein each. Then lots of broth, sugar free popsicles, Jello, Water, tea, etc. etc. - lots of fluids. I used Swanson Mexican Tortilla Soup broth and it saved me! (Although it was a bit spicy so I had to lay off it on the last couple of days.) If you are a cook (which I am not), you can try making your own chicken broth. I loved beef broth after surgery but not before and then I drank so much in the first 2 weeks post-op that I cannot stand it now! Some people are allowed 1 meal a day or even a couple of string cheese or something. I wasn't but mine was only 1 week. Every dr has different requirements, so if you aren't absolutely sure, I would recommend calling them back first thing tomorrow. And/or you might check your booklet (if they gave you one). Sometimes it is hidden in there.

I am 3 1/2 months out and my NUT told me today no fruit skins - at least for a while. I know others have said they still cannot tolerate skins a year out. May not ever be able to....

My B12 is nasal spray and only 1 x per week on Saturdays (super easy to remember). I take Synthroid in the mornings, so I cannot take my supplements (especially calcium) within 4 hours of that. The only restriction I know of other than that is not taking your Iron at the same time as the calcium. Of course there are so many multi-Vitamins that contain both calcium and iron, I am not sure I understand that rule. Having said all that, I take 1 multi-Vitamin just after lunch (and sometimes my calcium which is combined with D) and then my other multi-vitamin with iron and Biotin at dinner. My first labs at 3 month follow up came back great. In fact, my calcium was a little high (which is a problem for me because my body doesn't process calcium correctly so I have long term chronic kidney stones). My endocrinologist took me off the calcium citrate as long as I was having 1 Premier Protein drink per day (contains 50% of RDA calcium) and 2 oz of cheese (which is a no brainer for me because I love cheese and it helps with my protein and calcium). I will see how this worked at my next labs in a couple of months. I think likely the most important thing is to a) take them all with food (unless they state differently) and be consistent. With those consistencies, your dr will be better able to adjust once your labs are done.

​Absolutely reasonable thoughts and fears! You poor thing! I would say this though - what you are going through now is very likely worse than going through the RNY. And as to complications - I have had a bit of a rough go with a tough time diagnosing stricture, but once they did, the fix is quite easy. It was a very simple EGD and I was out maybe 10 or 15 minutes each time (had it dilated twice now). This is definitely not easy so I am not going to blow happy smoke at you, but I promise it is worth it. As a little insight, there are still days that I question "what the heck have I done"? A couple of weeks ago, I said this to my therapist and she asked what my fears still were and I said "what happens when I am 80 - will whomever is taking care of me know that I need extra Protein and take Vitamins and everything" and she said "well look at it this way - at least now you will live to be 80". Fair enough.... Hugs! Hope you get better soon! Meanwhile, try to sleep as much as possible (near impossible in hospital I know) and let people take care of you while you recover. Once you are strong again, you can move forward with making this decision.

Oh man, I need a life! You guys are inspiring! I have never been good at hobbys. Watch too much TV. REALLY need to find a hobby like you all have! Great post!

Agree. No rowing just yet.

I am so sorry that happened! It seems to have happened to someone else here too but they accepted my first date. So strange. (Well let's see they counted my first visit on 1/30 and my last visit on 5/30 and 2 visits in between, so maybe they didn't actually... Hmmm now I am not sure.) Anyway, I know it is very disappointing, but I am sure that as soon as you submit the other 2 things later this month that they will approve you quickly. Hang in there!!

Not funny yet - the stricture was no joke. I haven't vomited that much in my entire life combined as I did in those 4 days trying to figure out what the heck was going on.... And finding info about it online seems a bit tough.... And yea, what @@Babbs said. The WORST part of this journey hands down...

I know exactly how you feel! I remember it wll! Congrats though! It is real now!

Mine was submitted on Friday at noon and I had approval Monday morning. I think they have up to 30 days but I haven't heard anyone say they took near that long.

Agree with @@Bufflehead - take your pain med. Try only half of a dose. They should help make you feel not as loopy but allow you to get past the discomfort.

@@LillyWSL - Curious why 7 meals a day. That seems a bit excessive. Most of us are told 3 meals and 2 Snacks and within that I consider Protein 1 or 2 of those. Also, when they say only 4 oz of Fluid at a time, I think that is really in the very beginning. The fluid will move through your stomach and most of us here can drink 16 oz an hour by 3 or 4 weeks out. You cannot chug 4 oz by any means (regardless of how far out you are), but I cannot think of any reasons why you would be restricted to only 4 oz at each fluid "sitting"

​The thought of loose skin was one of the reasons I didn't want this surgery many years ago (plus no carbonation and no alcohol - or at least limited alcohol). This last year I changed my mind and went full steam ahead not worrying about those things as I was more worried about my health and inability to do some of the things I wanted to. I am 5'10". My highest weight a few years ago was 336. Starting weight at consultation in January was 326. I am 3 months post-op and now down 75 pounds. My neck looks awful on some day (not all days oddly) and my belly button looks like grumpy cat's frown. The skin on my arms and thighs is really starting to get loose, but guess what?! I can cross my legs now and it is all covered up! I will have skin surgery some day but for now, it is what it is and I have to concentrate on getting healthy then I will worry about looking better. In the meantime, cute clothes fit better. All to say, don't let this be the one thing that scares you off. This, of all things, is fixable.

​Ok, don't beat yourself up. It takes time to get there and figure it all out. Your stomach is still swollen, so it takes a while to be able to drink. Regardless of what the dr told you, most dr and NUT's don't expect you to hit all your Protein and Fluid goals in the first couple of weeks. You definitely don't want to dehydrate, so make that your number one goal. Having said that, my NUT counts my Protein drinks as "fluid", so I count that towards my goal. I am 3 months out and don't always get there (but don't use me as an example!) My best suggestion is to sit down tonight after dinner and after the kids are in bed and use a 1 oz. medicine cup and set a timer for every 5 minutes an sip 1/3 to 1/2 of the cup every time your timer goes off. At the end of an hour, you will have 4 oz in. (You may be able to do more than that by now. if you can, do so, but likely no more than 8 oz an hour). If you can do that a couple of times a day, it will help. Be patient with yourself. It will come in time and this 1st week memories will be far behind you. Now that I said that, I am going to take my own advice and get some Water....

My dr didn't have that test, but that is very interesting. I have been warned you will lose muscle mass thus the reason for keeping up with Protein and resistance training not just cardio (my NUT said probably 50/50 weights vs cardio). I have unfortunately not progressed in the exercise area. ​ I wonder if they will redo the test once you get closer? That would be interesting to see if your goal was adjusted. I am 5'10" and at my initial consultation, my surgeon said she would like to see me under 200 pounds but I would have to work hard to get there. <_<​

​Well I seem to be the outlier here, but I told / tell everyone. And I have been very blessed to receive nothing but support. I have lived trapped in a lie about food my whole life and I see no reason to continue that. There is someone else who I KNOW had sleeve and has "magically" lost 100 pounds due to "better eating and exercise". No one buys that! Folks are talking about her behind her back WAY more than they are me. Mostly I have gotten an 'atta girl for taking an aggressive albeit drastic measure to change my health. Not embarrassed at all to talk about it. Hopefully I will turn out to be a success story long term and if not, then they can talk. Meanwhile, I don't really care what they think. It certainly cannot be worse than what they thought about my gigantic a$$ 75 pounds ago!

Whatever you do, just make sure you stop before pre-op liquid diet. The combined headache you will get from stopping soda and all food/sugar at the same time will put you in bed for a day....

I did a few times yes. I would agree chest pain is nothing to mess with but Gas-X won't hurt and if it hadn't gotten rid of mine, I would have probably called the dr, but luckily it helped.