ShelterDog64

Syntrax Nectars are nice, I like all the fruit flavors and they're quite high protein. You should be able to drink clear broth as well, doesn't your program allow that on Clear liquids? You can add protein to it...I use GENEPRO unflavored protein and I can't detect it once I mix it into a beverage or food...what brand are you using? Another thing to consider is that maybe you're sensitive to the sweetener in your Protein Shakes? I hate both aspertame (not in a lot of protein) and sucralose (in virtually every flavored protein), so I switched to Genepro and use either stevia or monkfruit liquid to sweeten things.

I hit 8 weeks post-op tomorrow...I'm thankful clear liquids is in my rearview mirror! I felt kind of the same way you did right before I could start having things to chew, and all I can say is to keep drinking those fluids. I went about 8 hours one day with nothing and it was the stupidest thing I've done since my surgery. AND, when you're not allowed much to 'eat' and have virtually no capacity, it takes a long time to catch up from that kind of stupidity. Just my .02, about MY experience. One question, are you doing any Protein? When I was on clear liquids, I was expected to drink Isopure fruit flavored Protein drinks or something of that sort. They aren't great tasting but they did the trick and kept my energy up so that I could walk every day. Good luck and congratulations on getting through your surgery!

@@higher "So that's 5 meals, each bookended with a 2 hour window - 10 hours a day of not drinking Water." Actually, it's longer when you figure in the time while you're physically eating, which is about 30 mins/meal or more. That adds at least 2.5 hours to the 'no drinking' window. So, let's see...I sleep 8-9 hours per day, then add at least 12 hours to that...that leaves me 4 hours to drink 64 oz of water. I could do that back in the good old days when I could chug an 8 oz glass of water, but not anymore! And just between us, I think my dietitian is not the brightest, either. There is NO VARIATION, no discussion, no anything but the handout she gives you and that's that. I don't do well with that approach

Our dietitians are VERY strict on the 30/30/30 thing. My surgeon, otoh, just said 'don't be an idiot...you've got a tiny stomach, don't fill it with Water before or during a meal, and wait a bit after before you go back to full-on drinking'. As long as I'm getting my Protein and eating enough calories, I can manage without setting timers and so forth. I find it nearly impossible to eat without water, so I take a few sips while eating my pre-measured portion.

@@Seastars Thanks for that info! I have a cup of coffee every morning, but didn't yesterday. Hmmm....

Did you have an open surgery or was it by laparoscope?

@@Ruby81 If you're looking to lose the need for insulin, NOT eating potatoes would be a good start. They're such a high-glycemic food. What do your post-op instructions say you should be eating right now? Your doctor probably anticipated you following those instructions when he/she made the comments about insulin.

I never stopped sleeping on my side, and slept on my stomach 2 nights after surgery. If it feels ok, it's ok.

@@char3672 I'm afraid of throwing up.I have NOT thrown up in 40 years, since I was a kid. That part scares me. @@TracyBar Throwing up - I was going to ask this question in here somewhere - vomiting is violent and comes from the stomach so I'm feel squeamish thinking about it should it happen right after the surgery! I'm almost 8 weeks out and my only regret is I wish I'd done this 10 or 15 years ago I wanted to address the vomiting issue. I have (had!) a very hair-trigger vomit response. Stress made me vomit, toothpaste made me vomit, going out in the cold after eating made me vomit. And, I get a little hysterical when I vomit. I was soooo worried that my pain meds or the surgery or the clear Protein drink would make me vomit, I literally mentioned that I needed extra anti-emetics to anyone I came into contact with. Anesthesia during my pre-op interview, the nurses when I went in for labs, my surgeon every time I talked to him...I told EVERYONE. When I went in the morning of surgery, I reminded them all again. I got a scopolamine patch placed in pre-op and the anesthesiologist started me on 2 IV meds for nausea while I was still in the OR. I had the same meds continuously while I was in the hospital and came home with both of them. I had ZERO nausea and it made all the difference in the world to my mental state during my recovery. I urge you to insist that they listen to you about your fear, and that they take it seriously. I can't imagine how distraught I would have been had I started vomiting post-op.

I'm back. Sorry, but my husband is out of town and my son is with him, so you guys are the recipients of my evening rambling today. I've seen a number of people here talk about the 'foamies', which sounded absolutely horrifying and made me swear I'd NEVER do anything that would precipitate such horror. Well, apparently you don't have to actually DO anything to get the 'foamies', you can eat the same lunch you've had 30 times since your surgery and for some reason, your stomach decides it's not ok today. Because Sunday. Or cream of mushroom soup. Or something. I was eating a 1/2 cup serving of the same organic cream of mushroom soup, with the same slivered sirloin, that I've been eating seems like forever. I got about 3T in and everything went very, very bad. First, I got that feeling, you know the one when your stomach says 'no more food RIGHT NOW STOP'? Yeah. Then I got the pain under my sternum. Then my mouth started to water and then....this slimy, foamy stuff started coming up. WTH happened? Has this happened to any of you? It's 7:30pm, I haven't eaten since it happened around 12:30 and I'm afraid to eat. I think I'm going to have a protein shake and go to bed early, and pray the 'foamies' never visit me again. Gah. I hope you've all had a nice weekend! I fly for the first time since surgery this coming week and I'm looking forward to snapping that seatbelt and then giving the end a good pull to get it tightened instead of sucking in my gut and compressing my aorta for the six hours it takes to get to Boston

I haven't tried anything forbidden, because they don't really exist in my program other than 'no solids until xx days out', etc. I'm finding that even things that are encouraged, and that I've successfully eaten previously, can become intolerable. Like today, I ate a bit of beef minced up into some cream of mushroom Soup. I ate about 3 tablespoons (I'm almost 8 weeks out) and in a matter of minutes, I felt gaggy and foamy and all kinds of horrible. So beef is off my plate for a week or so. I still can't eat even a smidgen of egg, despite it being on my soft food list and despite trying several times. Blech. I remember feeling like I wanted to eat ANYTHING that needed to be chewed when I was still on liquids/soft diet...I pretended sugar-free popsicles were food and I waited and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure I would have handled the way I felt today very well when I was 10 days post-op. At the end of it all, even when I'm discouraged or irritated by my doctor's instructions and limitations, I try to remember that he didn't just pull all this stuff out of his butt just to irritate me, that there's actual medical knowledge and understanding that goes into the guidelines. 3/4 of my stomach is gone and I can't expect the little bit that's left to instantly behave the way the big old girl used to!

I had 2 NSVs yesterday and I forgot to come and brag....bear with me 1: I went to a beer fest yesterday with 2 very close friends, both know I've had the surgery and are very supportive. I was the DD, so no beer but it was a fun day regardless! Before I left home to go pick them up, my eye caught on a shirt that's been hanging in my closet for over a year. Nothing fabulous, but it buttons up the front and isn't stretchy (not at all what I've been wearing for over a year); I haven't ever been able to wear it because I couldn't get my fat arms into the sleeves AT ALL. Not 'it was tight', I mean stopped at the elbow and work to get back off. Anyway, I pulled it out and decided to try it, although I was sure it still wouldn't fit. Well, guess what? It not only FIT, but my arms slid ALL the way into those sleeves, with room to spare! I can't tell you how pumped I was! 2: At the beer fest, there was a life-sized cutout of Michael Phelps and my friend had me pose next to it for a silly photo. She messaged the photo to me and for the first time in a LONG time, I didn't cringe inside when I saw a picture of myself. It felt good to not hate what I look like. That sounds so pathetic, but I've just felt so fat and unattractive for so long that it was like a rebirth to see the slightly thinner me and not be repulsed by the image. All in all, it was a good day <3

I would try taking your PPI before your evening 'meal', for lack of a better term I've tried mine (I take prescription Protonix) at different times of day and found that I do best if I take it midday. PPI aren't like antacids, they don't work instantly to relieve that acid-y feeling, they work longer term to suppress acid production. Good luck and I hope you're feeling better soon!

@@magoosmom My program does no pre-op diet for someone at my BMI (which was 40.5 at surgery), and only 1 week of Clear Liquids. I had read so much about liver shrinking and so forth that I was prepared for the diet, but when I had my appt with my surgeon a week before my procedure, he said he's found it to be unnecessary. I was relieved, and I completely trust him so I wasn't concerned about not doing a diet. But seeing the variations in programs since I joined BP has been fascinating, as has seeing how some things that were universal 'musts' even a couple of years ago have been relaxed or revised.

While there is a cya aspect to any standard of practice, there are reasons 'standards of care' are developed and most of those are related to patient safety and morbidity/mortality outcomes. It's all rolled into one ball.

@@magoosmom Eggs are the only thing I've tried to eat that I just can't stomach (haha, punny!). They give me gas, make me feel overfull and burp eggy burps nonstop. I'll keep trying, because I can't imagine life without eggs, but so far it's been bad! Congrats on the amazing weight loss! You're doing so great! I'm with you on the barefoot/nightgown scale thing, I weigh myself in a tank top and panties every night right before bed and every morning as soon as I get up. Who knows what the doctor's scale is going to show, but I know I've lost 38 lbs!

Suzzzzz, I'm still in a stall-ish thing, too. The weight is coming off still, but sooooooooooo slowly, more like ounces at a time instead of pounds. I think I need to increase my exercise. I see my doc 1 Sept and I'd love to be at 45 lbs lost. My bigger goal is 50 by the end of September...most days I think I'll make it but some days the doubt creeps in.

I'm in an area with abundant summer and fall farmer's markets, so I have 2 that I regularly visit...one on Wednesday and one on Saturday. I love buying whats in season, right now blueberries are in and I'm busy freezing them for the winter. Our market also has meat sellers, with local chicken, beef and lamb available. I also have a garden of my own, which has been producing snow peas, summer squash, cucumbers and herbs for a month now and I have a gargantuan San Marzano tomato plant that's loaded with green fruit. When that all ripens, I'll drag out my canning supplies and make salsa and tomato sauce to store for the winter. Having this surgery has made it important to me to ensure that the food I'm eating is high quality, and the farmer's market + my garden make that task much easier.

www.bariatriceating.com has samples of a wide variety of Protein powders, I think they're $2.19 each. They carry brands sweetened primarily with sucralose, a few with stevia. I avoid aspartame and sucralose both. Sucralose didn't bother me at all pre-surgery, now I can't stand the taste of it so I'm always looking for products sweetened with stevia. I've found that the SweetLeaf liquid has no aftertaste, but all of the powdered formulations that I've tried do.

I fly on Wednesday...looking forward to seeing what nearly 40 pounds gone feels like in those seats!

This is a HUGE problem, in my opinion, and borders on malpractice. This is NOT a surgery to be taken lightly or to consent to without extensive teaching about the reality of having 3/4 of your stomach removed. My program has what's called a Bariatric Pathway that you HAVE to complete prior to having an appointment with a surgeon to even discuss which surgery, etc. On average, it takes 4-8 months to complete. We have to meet with dietitians numerous times, go to classes about food, exercise and wellness. I had to have all my health screening requirements for an entire year completed before I could see the surgeon (for me, that was a pap smear, mammogram and colonoscopy). We have an occupational therapy class, as well as body fat analysis and a resting metabolic rate test. We also have to attend support group monthly prior to surgery and quarterly after, and we have an in-depth psychological screening. It just seems so very, very wrong that someone can get to the Saturday before a Monday surgery and have had no classes with nutrition and only 1 contact with a surgeon. Mommylove2014, you will see your surgeon for about 45 seconds on Monday before you're on the OR table and asleep. The people you'll see when you go in for surgery are surgery experts, but they have zero information about post-op care, unless you're having surgery in a place that only does bariatrics. I urge you to do as much online research as you can in the next 36 hours, and if you still don't know the answer to 'can I ever have a burrito again?', consider postponing your surgery until you can complete the needed educational steps to gain an understanding of the enormity of what you're getting ready to do. I don't see how any surgeon or surgical team with any professional scruples could have you sign a consent form without understanding the rudimentary needs of post op life. I wish you all the best, and any irritation in my writing isn't toward you, but toward medical practitioners who don't properly educate their patients.

I've got enough thick, wavy, coarse hair for about 3 people...and I'm suddenly NOT ok with the thought of losing ANY of my hair. I get a Brazilian Blowout every 3 months and highlights, this hair is worth MONEY, people. But if I do have to lose some, I pray that it comes back in straight. CLN.BK, I wish we could trade. I think my hair could be 'mermaid hair' with a bit of effort and I want it to be bone-straight.

Look what I just found! This website has samples of a whole bunch of different Protein powders, for $2.19/sample. This should save me some serious cash! http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/protein-powders/protein-powder-samples-1-serving.html?_vsrefdom=google1&gclid=Cj0KEQjw57W9BRDM9_a-2vWJ68EBEiQAwPNFK1m1qCNceEMbe2tZhd-qCrwoFqIFfSTdRAKCV7CjeRQaArqE8P8HAQ

I miss my cigarettes too. Every time I have a craving, I just remind myself that my body can't heal if it's fighting toxins from cigarettes instead. I, too, am looking forward to saving money. $16/pack adds up quickly. $16 a PACK??? Sweet jesus....I quit smoking in '89 and they were just over $1/pack and that was outrageous to my little poor, young self!

@@KaiserKid My guilt is all related to what my weight has done to my ability to fully involve myself with my husband and our 2 boys (now 18 and 22). They're active, outdoorsy guys, always on the go and ready for any adventure. As my weight went up and my ability to be active declined, I've removed myself from that part of their lives. I'll never, ever get those years back and just typing this has me all teary and pissed at myself. WHY didn't I decide to do something 10 years ago when they were 8 and 12 and we had so much time ahead of us? I'll never be able to answer it, but my therapist is trying to help me get past it and move on to the positives of my surgery and future. Good luck to you, I always admire people who are introspective and eager to help themselves be a better version of who they used to be