heidikat72

Do you have a nutritionist? One might be able to help with food suggestion regarding the ulcers. And Google, there are bound to be ideas out there. Even search some threads on here.

start by recording your daily intake in a food diary app like my fitness pal. and be honest with it - record every single bite. Do that for a couple of days. Then take a really hard look at it - you'll be surprised at how easy it is to see what things you should cut out. If you drink sugar sweetened beverages - start there. Then start cutting the carbs like Pasta, rice, potatoes. You'll want to start that carb detox process now before surgery. And don't expect to make a drastic change overnight and be able to stick with it. I had to do a 6 month medically supervised period and I gradually cut my calories every couple of weeks until I was already down to about 1300 calories a day when I started the 2 week pre-op liver shrink diet. As you cut calories, gradually increase your activity level. You'll be surprised how much progress you'll make during this time. Any weight you get off, will make the surgery easy and the immediate post op recovery so much easier! Hang in there - you can do this. And it sucks when the people in our life son't support us, but remember you are doing this for you and you are worth it. And you have support here.

I pureed chicken, tuna and salmon with greek yogurt. A fine pureed tuna salad was more appealing than meat and broth blended up. You don't need to completely liquefy it to where you can drink it. Think having it the consistency of greek yogurt. Also, check out the blod "the world according to eggface" - she has an entire post dedicated to the puree phase.

yep very common because of all the fluids pumped into your iv line. Don't worry - it really is just fluid weight and you'll lose. The sooner you meet your daily fluid intake goals, the sooner the retained fluid will leave you.

Congrats! and just remember, you are doing this for YOU and YOU ARE WORTH IT!

I eased into puree with just greek yogurt. Then I would puree tuna or chicken with a little greek yogurt. THis was more appealing to me than pureeing meat with broth. I could handle the idea of a fine texture chicken or tuna salad much better. The flavored pouches of tuna kept it from getting too boring. I also tried it with the flavored pouches of salmon. Do a search for Shelly's ricotta bake also - makes for a nice warm savory change while on purees. Just remember to take it easy - your stomach is very much still healing during this phase and the last thing you want is food bits getting stuck in that staple line. A lot of people also have refried beans with some melted cheese.

Babbs gave the best explanation there is for why it fluctuates. As far as when you should weigh - for your own trending, just pick a time that works best for you and weight about that time and in a similar state of dress every time. For me, I weigh in the morning when I get out of the shower. When I've weighed in the evening, it's always a couple pounds heavier due to water retention throughout the day.

I found the

We've all been there. And that's exactly right, you just have to buckle down and get through it. For me, it helped to think of the Protein shakes as my medicine during that time - that way I wasn't looking for them to be tasty, just get it down.

there are unflavored powders. Note that unflavored does NOT mean tasteless - just that it doesn't have vanilla or chocolate or a fruit flavor added. So honestly, I find them to have a very offputting "proteiny" taste and smell. However Protein powders are a matter of personal taste. I tried adding the unjury unflavored to SF Jello but found that as the jello set, the Protein Powder settled out. But there are people who have successfully done it - wish I knew what their trick for success was! If adding to broth - just make sure the broth is below 140 degrees Fahrenheit or the protein with coagulate and be gross. Unjury has a chicken broth flavored protein powder that would count on clears and is quite tasty - just follow the same temperature rule as above.

Special K shakes have a lot of carbs - they have more grams of carbs than protein! My guidelines for a shake were at least 20grams of protein and less than 12 grams of carbs

If you are in enough pain that you can't walk, they probably shouldn't have released you from the hospital. I was up walking a few hours after surgery - not far and very slowly - and yes it was uncomfortable getting to a standing position and sitting back down but as long as you take it easy you need to walk in order to prevent blood clots. I would hold a pillow against my main incision when standing up and sitting down - the gentle pressure helped. Sorry about the carpal tunnel but definitely find things to occupy your brain - reading a book is a good idea. TV is full of food commercials and I imagine like a lot of us - mindless snacking while watching tv was probably a norm.

that is definitely unlike any other plan Ive seen. If you avoid Protein shakes - how are you supposed to get protein during the liquid phase? And how many grams of protein are you supposed to get? And 1500 calories immediately post op?

as for whether a Protein shake is ok two days out - it depends on your plans progression. I was only on Clear liquids while in the hospital, once I was released I went to full liquids - and Protein shakes were part of full liquids. Other plans have people do clears for longer. So stick with what guidelines for progression you were given. I personally make my own shakes - typically using either the

Focus on the postive aspect of that NSV! and hey if the lady calls you back out for more work, you'll know she enjoyed the show!

Like you said - it's head hunger not actual hunger. Keep reminding yourself of that. You didn't go through major surgery just to continue to eat the same. When the head hunger hits - do something to take your mind off it - in the early weeks (and even now if a craving hits) I knitted, used adult coloring books or other crafts. If your hands are busy and your brain is focused on something else you won't be eating. Or even go for a walk - being physically active is important and does a great job of switching off the head hunger.

Some bariatric centers are ok with straws, others prefer you not use them at least initially because of the tendency to drink too much at once and too quickly. At this point, it is all about taking little sips. As for the milkshake - are milkshakes/ice cream on your plan from your surgical team? They weren't on mine due to the high sugar/carb/fat/calorie content. Your goal right now is Fluid and Protein - if you are on full liquids, now is when you should be Protein shakes to make sure you get the protein you need to heal.

Alanis Morrisette when I was 22

As the others have said, your labs will be the definitive answer of if the gummies are working for you. Since your bariatric team ok'ed them, I assume they have seen success with them. My team told us not to get gummies since many contain sugar and typically the gummy vitamins aren't considered a "complete" vitamin - meaning they may be missing some vitamins/minerals all together or not have a high enough dose of some.

I applaud you for doing some research and setting yourself up for success!

Check out the blog "the world according to eggface". SHe has a post devoted to the pureed phase. And when pureeing meat - you can add some low sodium stock to get it to puree. Although I mostly pureed either tuna or chicken with a little plain nonfat greek yogurt - think pureed tuna salad. Her ricotta bake recipe also makes for a nice warm savory change. During soft foods, I also did the tuna/chicken with greek yogurt - just not pureed. And baked tilapia - it's a fairly soft fish so as long as I chewed it well, it worked. When I baked it, I had it wrapped in parchment paper to keep it from drying out in the oven and just be careful not to overbake. Low sodium deli meat was also on my plan at this phase - again, chew very well.

as one of the veterans in my support group constantly reminds us "it's stomach surgery, not brain surgery. you have to do the brain work yourself"

Amen!

Apologies for hijacking a guy's room post, but as a single female I too can relate. I was worried about going home post op with no one there but at the same time, I hated the thought of asking someone to stay with me - so I didn't. I had one friend drop me off at the hospital friday morning, another friend pick me up and drive me home sunday. I was able to get my pain meds and other scripts filled there at the hospital pharmacy or you can even ask at your pre-admissions appointment if they can give you the scripts then so you can get them filled before surgery. I was absolutely fine being at home alone. I did have three friends calling/texting to check on me each day that first week. It just happened to work out that one would always do it in the morning, another midafternoon and one in the evening. And if I hadn't answered them right away I'm sure they would have been on their way over to check on me. But it worked out well, and bonus - I could stay in my pj's all day and didn't have to worry about anyone chomping away on junk food right in front of me! So bottom line, it is no problem to be at home alone after surgery. I would recommend having someone on standby checking in with a call once in a while.

Congrats! What an impressive accomplishment!