miiasan

I am three weeks out from surgery today. I am off blood pressure meds, cholesterol was 73 last time it was checked but they may keep me on the meds because of history of heart disease (will find out at my PCP appt next week) - and my insulin dosage is less than 1/10th of what it was (a few months ago I was taking over 175 units a day). My endocrinologist assures me the diabetes should be in remission within a few weeks.

Although I had considered surgery for several years, watching my father die of congestive heart failure was definitely a turning point. I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure. a stent and diabetes and was most likely going down the same path.

Congratulations! Keep up the good work!

I got some Okois triple zero yogurt yesterday because others had mentioned it on this site. Although I am lactose intolerant, I tolerated it well and it went down well also. It has 15 grams of Protein per serving, which is nice. I also got some Fairlife milk. It is lactose free and has 13 grams protein per 8 oz glass. I will probably incorporate that as a snack.

I am three weeks out from surgery today. Although I struggle with it everyday, I have found a way to get in both my Water and my Protein everyday. I eat 4 times a day - but it feels like I am constantly eating - I am always so full! I have been able to get my calorie intake from 350 to 650 a day (they want me at 800). I will keep working on that. I see my NUT in a week. I am walking about and hour a day. Saturday I went back to the pool for the first time and made myself stay there for a half hour doing cardio and aerobic water exercises. It wore me out and I had to go home and take a 3 hour nap! Before surgery, I stayed in the pool 1 1/2 hours a day swimming, stretching and exercising so I am hopping that in time I will be able to stretch my time in the pool out to an hour. After my surgeon's okay I think I will try some weights. My weight has been stalled since the second week. @@60&goin4it I feel your frustration. I am 59 and am wondering whether my body is just taking longer to heal or to recover from the anesthesia. Anyway, I am not going to stress too much over it and just try to keep keeping on! I know that in time it will happen. I am off my blood pressure meds - My BP this morning was 113/61 That is good! Although I am still on insulin for my diabetes, it is very little and my endocrinologist assures me that it won't be long before my diabetes is in remission. That will be a very huge victory for me. Even though my weight isn't dropping, my clothes are lol - it is very difficult to wear anything I have in my closet without looking dumpy and completely lost in the fabric. Anyway, that is where I am at - at this point, it seems as though my days are filled with trying to get the necessary nutrients in. It is worth it, though. My energy level has increased so much this past week and I actually almost feel like my old self. keep on keeping on

have you tried mixing unjury Protein in your Soup? There are also protein waters out there that could help. Can you eat scrambled eggs? Probably won't be able to eat more than one. I add some cheese to bring the protein level a little higher. I am only about 3 weeks out and just am at the pureed stage and can only get about 1 1/2 oz down at a time so I have to concentrate on only protein.I am supposed to eat 5 times a day, but right now can only get in 4 - but I try to get around 9 grams of protein in each time. I also supplement my last meal every day with the Unjury unflavored Protein powder so I can at least get near 60 grams of protein. I can't down the Protein shakes either and found out I am lactose intolerant - but there are many other ways to get protein. I have suggested a few, but feel sure other folks will be able to shed more light Good luck!

Welcome and congratulations on your surgery!

hi welcome! I think you will find that every doctor's office requires a lot of the same things - nutrition, psychological, testing, (blood, ekg, egd,) some also require testing for sleep apnea and other tests depending on your medical conditions. I received a list of what to expect from my doctor's office at my first consultation. If you did not get something like that, you might want to call and ask After my last test and I had all my clearances, everything was submitted to my insurance company. Although it varies, my insurance company (BCBSNC) only took about 3 days to approve - but I have seen on here that the approval process can vary. Once I was approved, things moved really quickly - (that varies also for folks) I was then two weeks before surgery - started my liquid diet right away, had the half day pre-op class, met with my surgeon, met with anesthesia, registered at the hospital, etc. I hope this helps. Again, welcome - feel free to ask questions; there are a lot of folks here who have a lot of wisdom and experience. Best of luck for your journey!

hi guys. I was having a problem getting everything in also. Timing wise it just seems impossible. I also can't drink water because my stomach just does't like it and it hurts too much. So a couple a days ago I started a new routine. It may not work for everyone, but has helped me a whole lot. I get up each morning and drink 32 oz low sodium broth. For some reason the warmth of it makes it go down really well. This not only gets 32 oz fluid out of the way, but also gives me 15 grams protein. The rest of the day I concentrate on getting in protein and try to drink 20 oz. powerade zero in between meals. Before I go to bed, I make up any fluids I need with more broth. This works for me because 1) I can't drink plain water 2)sometimes 1 1/2 hours can pass after eating and I have forgotten to drink anything 3) my doctor wants me to eat 5 times a day - and now I can concentrate more on dividing up my protein between those

I had to crush and put in unsweetened applesauce the first two weeks. Yuck!! At my 2 week post op the doctor told me I could take them without crushing anymore.

I am a little over two weeks and was told 800 calories right now and to try to work up to 1000 in a couple of weeks. I am supposed to eat 5 small meals a day. Ha ha. How can we eat anything but small? That being said, I am lucky to get in three meals and don't think I have been able to get in even 500 calories! I will keep trying. Lol, it must get easier. Yesterday I had a run in with a food my stomach did not like. I had a sneaking suspicion that I made gut be lactose intolerant because of my trouble drinking protein shakes. I was at the hospital all day yesterday (husband having chemo) and went to the cafeteria to find some lunch. Although they had probably 100 different choices, the only thing I thought might work was cottage cheese. Well, two bites in and I was in such pain that I thought I might die. And that lasted for about 20 minutes until I could throw up. Lactose intolerant ....check. Learned my lesson the hard way. It also messed up the rest of the day because I couldn't bring myself to eat anything and only had some broth before going to bed. Am fine today, but drank 32 ounces of broth early this morning so I don't become dehydrated.

I had a nasty taste in my mouth from about 3 days after surgery until I got moved to puréed foods on Monday. It has now gone away completely. It really made it hard to down those protein shakes and I even went a whole day without protein because I was so sick. I was drinking Premeir shakes - which were fine before surgery, but switched over to unjury unflavored powder and mixed it in my soups. That got me through until I could try different puréed foods. Hopefully you can find some alternate ways to get around that sick feeling so you won't end up in the hospital. At my 2 week post op my doctor told me that bad smell and taste would go away. Two days later it is gone. I agree with the other posters, though....it sure wouldn't hurt to call the office if you can't get anything down. Could get sick pretty quickly.

Just an update. Had my surgery on the 19th Like many, I have some serious health problems. One of the main reasons I decided to have gastric bypass surgery was because of diabetes. Mine is so insulin resistant that just a couple of months ago I was taking a maximum dose of Victoza, 70 units of Lantus a day and over 100 units of Novalog. Although some of those doses were decreased before surgery because I lost weight, This week I had a major breakthrough. Sunday afternoon - almost two weeks after surgery - I started having low blood sugars. Yesterday I saw the endocrinologist and my dose of Lantus has been cut to 8 per day and Novalog on a sliding scale. She told me that within the month I should be off all insulin and my diabetes will be in remission! I just wanted to share that as a victory because only a few months ago I was on a much different path. This is something I could never have done on my own and will always be a motivation when times are rough. What an amazing surgery!

@jhod I have found that water is really hard for me to drink, but I do much better with broth or Powerade zero. I drank water before surgery almost exclusively, but now one sip of it causes a heavy feeling in my chest and I have at times felt nauseous I hope it gets better, but for now I do what I can to get the fluid down. It can be difficult. I am two weeks and one day out from surgery.

I was told to stay away from tomato products for the first 6 weeks because of the acidic content -- but after that, I don't know why sugar free ketchup would be bad. I would stay away from raw onions until you are cleared for regular food... quiche does sound good, though......

@@dancingqueene hi...I had my rny on the 19th and experienced the same thing for a little over a week. Thursday morning all of a sudden I could only eat about 2 ounces at a meal and has been that way since. It probably has something to do with the healing process. Not sure when your procedure was done, but I was actually wondering if they had actually done anything there for awhile. I'm sure it will kick in for you soon.

Hi ...I had some of the same types of comments before my surgery. Although it can be rough and throw you off balance - for me, it made me go through all the reasons I wanted to do this in the first place. The end result was that I got stronger and even more resolved. I think a lot of the comments made to me were only people's concern for me because I was going through such a huge surgery.I found that reassuring them of my decision - and I was able to put it into medical concerns about my co-morbidities - helped. And for those who couldn't understand, I ignored their comments. After all, this is a major change in our lives and one that, in the end, we need to be responsible for. I would be concerned about the comments your wife made. From my viewpoint they sound a little selfish - but then again, maybe she couldn't find a better way to express her concern. First - perhaps she can find a way to use her love of baking and cooking to contribute to some other worthy cause - maybe a charity, homeless shelter, etc. Second - she needs to realize that her making food for you doesn't equate to love - especially now. It also doesn't sum up who she is as a person. I am not an expert, but a little counseling probably would not hurt. One thing you hear about in this forum is how relationships change. It might be wise for you both to talk about and explore now the many other things that make your relationship strong and have a frank discussion about the changes that are to come. My husband and I have been married for 40 years and as I look back, many big changes for one or the other of us has been accompanied by a session or two of counseling. Things work out much better if we are on the same page and move forward together. I wish you luck with all of this and with your surgery. It is a life changing decision and a life saving surgery.

I cannot even imagine how awful that is for you. My prayers are that your body overcomes this soon so you can start reaping the benefits of weight loss that the surgery provides. Hang in there!

oh, and one more thing - I got on the scale when I got home - had gained 7 lbs lol - this morning 4 of them were gone. I suspect it was because of all those IV fluids they pumped into me.

Hi all! I had my gastric bypass on Monday and got home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Slight kink at the beginning. My endocrinologist had lowered my diabetes medications too low and I had high blood sugar.. My doctor was going to postpone, but the anesthesiologist said he could work with it. You know, I was about in tears because I had followed every instruction to the letter. Anyway, I did have the gastric bypass. I had very little pain and was able to give myself morphine for the pain I did have. They also gave me emend before surgery to help with the nausea and the patch behind my ear. They gave me more meds through the IV because I have such a problem with nausea. That took care of pain and nausea! The only real pain I had was from gas. I am still working on getting rid of that lol. I had problems with high blood sugars and high blood pressure during both my surgery and my stay at the hospital. The doctor told me that as time goes on, I will eventually be taken off those medications. I am trying to get down 4 oz liquid and 2 oz protein an hour. Am currently having my 'breakfast' of meds and vitamins, etc. ha ha. I have four chewables and 3 crushed and mixed with unsweetened applesauce. Am doing well - walking a little bit every hour and sipping the rest of the time. Oh, one of things that would have made my stay at the hospital better is a saline nasal spray. My nose got so dry all I could do was blow out dried blood. Anyway, that is my experience so far.

@@60&goin4it thanks! I have been keeping super busy today to help it go by faster. Good luck to all everyone else who is scheduled for tomorrow!

@ thanks. Getting off all my medications is one of the main reasons I am doing this! Surgery tomorrow - I'm ready!

congrats! You did a great job! I am on the liquid diet, too and know all the mixed feelings you had about whether to go to a function like that. Knowing you can do this means knowing you can make it through anything (one event at a time!) And you should feel like you are on top of the world! Good luck with the rest of your pre-op diet and with your upcoming surgery.

Great post! I, too, am on the pre-op diet. I am only allowed to do liquids, so it is hard but not difficult. The first two days were really rough but it got better on the third day. My problem is getting enough calories in; my body can only stand having so much liquid sloshing around lol. i use Premier Protein shakes, so I only need to drink a minimum of 2 shakes a day which is good. I have trouble drinking more. I prefer the shakes at room temperature because they don't taste so sweet that way. I hate artificial sweeteners; they taste sickly sweet to me. Although I don't mind Water and drink lots of it, I was trying for variety. I found out at my pre-op class that I could mix unsweetened Apple or Cranapple juice with equal parts of water and drink it. I now do that once a day. That has been a wonderful diversion. I am a diabetic and finding it hard to exercise fully without my blood sugar going low. Before I started the pre-op diet I was exercising around 2 hours a day. Now after an hour I have low blood sugar. The only time I have 'cheated' was a couple of days ago when after exercising at the gym my sugar was 58. I had forgotten to bring something with me (bad on my part, I know) so had to eat a couple of Peanut Butter crackers just so I could drive home. Learned a lesson there...Since then my endocrinologist has taken me off Victoza and cut my Lantus dosage in half. No more low blood sugars My surgery is the 19th of this month, so only 3 days to go. I have been on this liquid diet for 6 days and have lost 6 pounds. I feel great and looking forward to turning this page to the next.

it does sound like caffeine withdrawal. When I went off caffeine I had a massive headache for a little over a week. I agree with Djmohr - drink lots of Water and be proactive with tylenol or something that will help take the edge off. I hope you feel better soon and congrats on changing your eating habits! It can be very hard - but oh so worth it.