tathomas1

Dr. Fitzer has scheduled my surgery at Fair Oaks. I would love to read any experiences there.

Frenchie1977, I really could care less what you think. You are the exact reason why people really don't like posting their mistakes. You said that I posted it as a joke and you are right because I had to find out the hard way about my body. You could've kept that weak comment to yourself. Let me ask your close minded self a question...... Did you get anything out of my post? If the answer is yes, then shut up and stop trying to bash. And if you didn't get anything from it, you should still shut up. And I am being very nice on this post when I really want to give you some choice words.

None. I had tylenol, liquid and pill form, at home. I have a high pain tolerance level and dislike the feeling pain meds gives me. Also, the longer you take them the longer it is before you can drive.

Comparison is a recipe for misery and disaster. The first month post op is about HEALING and taking care of yourself. If you are sticking to your surgeon's plan, you are doing NOTHING wrong. Everbody and every BODY is different. You had major surgery. You have drastically altered your nutritional intake. Give your body a minute to adapt and adjust to what's going on. There is a reason 95% of people go through a stall between weeks two and four.
I really encourage you to put the scale away and focus on just following your plan. If you follow your plan, you WILL lose weight. How fast you lose it is irrelevant.
I was a "slow" loser by most standards. But that didn't stop me from reaching my goal, where I've been maintaining for almost 16 month. I promise you that I have never once looked back and thought to myself "if only I'd reached goal two months sooner". In the grand scheme of things, your sleeve is forever and you will have YEARS to enjoy your happy, healthy life at goal. If it takes you a month or two longer to get there than someone else, who cares?!?!

I've chosen not to. After I heard one snide comment about someone who may or may not have wls, I decided to keep my mouth shut. Since I don't eat with them, I figure they'll assume I'm repeating the medical diet (my last failed eating plan).

I added in more fat to my diet, not more carbs or sugary foods. So, have a couple of slices of avocado with dinner, have almond butter instead of PB2 with my yogurt, eat full fat yogurt instead of nonfat, add some shredded cheese to my usual lunch salad of chopped chicken breast and green veggies -- things that I could do without eating significantly bigger meals or eating more carbs or sugar.
To the extent that I do eat some higher carb foods, I focus on whole grains and things that I am not going to start to "graze" on. So, no to crackers or Cookies or anything like that. Instead, I occasionally have hot oat bran Cereal (100% oat bran, no sugar or sweeteners of any kind) for Breakfast. I like it, and it is good for me, but it isn't like I'm going to make a giant pot of oat bran mush and eat it all day long.

I'd work with a nutritionist to adjust your diet. You need to increase your calories however our bodies are in starvation mode and I was told that for the first 2-3 years post loss our metabolism is still afraid of starvation so it's still slow. You need to increase your healthy calories. I think JamieLogical had great suggestions too. Once we reach goal that's when we have to be even more careful not to let ourselves backslide.

So, shortly after reaching my goal weight I started training for a half marathon. It was initially pretty tricky figuring out how to get enough calories in to stop losing. I had to start tracking my food again as well as my exercise. I got a fitbit with a heart rate monitor in it so I could get a very accurate idea of how many calories I was burning each day. I started looking for calorie-dense foods and added them to my diet. Like cheese and nuts. I also added more Snacks into my schedule. NOT GRAZING. Actually scheduled snacks. I added a second afternoon snack and an after-diner snack. So I was eating seven times a day instead of five. That helped and I was able to get in enough calories to maintain my weight through all of my training.

You seem to have invented a new sport or dance, "Put Yourself through the Wringer, Cha-Cha-Cha." It's a good thing you've lost oodles of weight, otherwise the wringer would be painful in the extreme.
I'm barely aware that that "seasonal palette" analysis is still done. It was all the rage about 30-35 years ago and either never went away or has been resurrected more recently. I didn't to it, but it's not at all a bad guide -- for starters. You're still free to wear colors that you like but that the 'expert' hasn't included on your palette. The only colors to avoid are the ones that are obviously unflattering. You'll best make your own determinations as you go along if you have a friend take pics of you in colors you're unsure of (selfies are too close up and usually at awkward angles; the ones taken in mirrors are just as useless). Put the garment on, take the pic, put the pic aside for a couple of days, then look at it while trying to see it as someone other than you. Not easy, but doable with some practice. Use the too-large things in your closet for the photo purpose to minimize running around to stores or doing mail order with no intention of buying just yet. As important as choosing your best colors is not to make the process completely hateful. If you go ahead with one of these "seasonal" people, you'll be given a color chart that you can take along when you shop in-store.
"Dressing Your Truth" sounds dumb to me. While your personality is solid gold, the colors that express it may clash with your complexion. Colors that you love that don't "work" can be sneaked in via accessories. Put your personality into your public presentation with accessories,* up to and including eyeglass frames (that is not a comment either way on the ones in your photo).
I say work with the hair color (it's gorgeous, exactly what I want but would look ludicrous on me) that shows, not the one its hiding. The Zyla recommendation of basing color choices on your skin/eye/hair colors isn't so far off from the older plan that uses the names of the seasons.
For makeup, consider the Bobbi Brown counter at a dept. store. Classic Bobbi Brown approach has been good for women who are no longer Sweet 16. I've always thought of their ads and promos as showing very much the French view of makeup -- tones that work with the complexion, enhance features, play up the best parts (whether cheekbones or anything else), with a basically neutral palette and subtle color. In more recent years, I think Brown has jazzed up, which can be mixed with her classic look (which is to say, timeless, elegant and ready for anything -- maybe think Catherine Deneuve), if you prefer. Next time you're in a waiting room, thumb through French Vogue or a magazine with a layout of some fashion shows in Paris. I'm suggesting Bobbi Brown for your moving more into the mgmt/exec area at work. No matter what, be free to incorporate some of the personal/personality touches.
Take care of the makeup thing first so that your clothing choices go with the public face.
I hope I addressed your concerns and, despite the length, helped simplify things.

Over the last few weeks, I've seen a number of posts about "cheating" on the diet plan in the days and weeks immediately following surgery, and I am very concerned about this trend.

I am not a doctor, I do not play one on TV, and I am not dispensing medical advice.

However.

I am a registered nurse, and what I'm about to say is an informed and educated opinion.

Surgeons tend to give VERY detailed instructions about what to eat after a stomach surgery, and for VERY good reason.

Even when the surgery is arthroscopic and looks to be a very tiny surgery on the outside, it's a VERY BIG surgery on the inside. The VSG surgery leaves a staple/suture line the entire length of the stomach. That incision has to heal, and if you could see it, it would look like raw beef. If the incision were on the outside, we would be very careful with it, keeping it clean and bandaged while it healed. Of course, it's on the inside, so we can't do that. But we need to keep in mind that it needs to heal in the same way.

We have to eat, and that food will be against that raw incision. At the same time that we have to protect the healing stomach, we also have to get in plenty of fluids and nutrients, specifically Protein, in order to support healing. Protein is the primary building block for tissue, so it's critical to healing. Carbs are mainly just energy sources, so they're not as important, especially given that people having bariatric surgery have plenty of energy in their fat stores. This is why protein is stressed so heavily over carbs in the diets.

Additionally, the stomach is now in a new shape, and it basically has to learn how to function as a slender tube instead of a big bag. There's a learning curve. Kinda like a newborn baby's stomach. We don't dump steak and salad into a newborn's stomach for good reason - it doesn't know how to deal with it. Similarly, we don't want to do that to our new sleeve. We start off with stuff that's easy on the suture line and easy to digest, and as the suture line heals and the sleeve learns its job, start working our way up to "real" food.

So over the years, doctors have learned what foods are best for a healing stomach, and that translates into the post-op diet progression instructions.

Typically, that looks like this: Clear liquids, then full liquids, then pureed foods, then soft foods, then slowly move into a "full" diet beginning with high moisture content foods first. When moving from one stage to the next, it's typically advised to add just one food at a time, in small amounts, and see how it's tolerated. A food that's not tolerated well can be tried later on as well. If an entire stage is not being tolerated, back up to the previous stage for a while, and then try again more slowly.

Surgeons tend to specify how long to stay in each of these stages, what types of food make up each stage, and how to transition to the next stage. Every surgeon's instructions are a little different, and it's based on their experience and sometimes changes based on the patient's specific medical case.

The general idea in the very early weeks is to eat foods that will not stress the healing suture line, and do not have particles that are known to cut into the raw tissue or get embedded into the suture line. If a cut or embedded food particle gets infected, it can become an abscess and develop into a leak. A leak can be life threatening, and at the very least cause the patient to have to be hospitalized and possibly have more surgery to correct it. Foods that are particularly known to cause issues are those that swell up like rice, have seeds like strawberries, or have rough hard edges or hard to digest fibers like wheat crackers or raw vegetables.

There are people who eat all sorts of things against their doctor's orders and have suffered no ill effects, but this should not be used as an argument that the doctor's orders are not important. Similarly, you will find some people who smoke a pack of cigarettes every day and drink a pint of whiskey every day but live to 100. They are not representative of most people, and should not be used as the example other people follow.

The reality is that some people will develop abscesses and leaks because they ate things before they were cleared to by their doctors, and there is no way to predict who will have the complications and who will not. And the consequences can be as severe as death. It's not common, but that's how bad it can get. That's why the doctors give the instructions they do. They're not just testing you or trying to make your life hard. They are giving you the best information they have to keep you safe.

Violating these orders is not "cheating" on a diet. It's risking your life. I am not being overly dramatic with this statement, it is a fact that it has happened. You are risking your safety and your health if you violate these orders. It's not about "being human", it's not about "food addiction". It's about your safety and your health. It's hard to be on liquids only for 2 weeks (or more). Some people have huge cravings, or "head hunger" as we tend to call it here. Or just want desperately to chew something. No one is saying it's easy. But it's necessary. Distract yourself. Eat/drink anything that's allowed on your plan - freeze it, heat it up, try something that's opposite of what you've been having to shake it up. Walk around the house or the block. Suck on an ice cube. Count to ten or a hundred. Post about how hard it is, and ask people to help you get through it. But muscle through. It's nothing less than your health and safety.

As for why one surgeon will have his patients on Clear Liquids for 2 weeks while another only does 2 days? Or why one will skip a phase entirely? Each surgeon has different experiences that inform his practices. One is not right and the other wrong. They are each operating out of what they were taught and what they have seen in their own patient groups. They may have even modified the plan because of a specific health concern in your specific case. As a patient, you need to fully understand what your surgeon expects, and if you have a problem with the protocols get it straight with your surgeon and team BEFORE you go under the knife.

If you don't trust your surgeon and his protocols, find another surgeon. I personally would question a surgeon who doesn't allow any Protein drinks including the clear ones for 2 full weeks post op (saw that in one patient's instructions on this site) and likely wouldn't work with that surgeon, given what I know about the needs of protein for healing. But after surgery is not the time to be questioning the surgeon's protocols. Get those questions asked and answered to your satisfaction well before the surgery date.

If you are having surgery, and you have not been given your post-op instructions, at the very least for the first 2 weeks post-op, do not proceed with the surgery until you have that information. We have people posting here stating that they were sent home without clear instructions as to what they were supposed to eat or drink, just a vague statement about "full liquids". That is not sufficient information, and instructions should be given WELL BEFORE the surgery, not after. You should fully understand what will be expected in the weeks after the surgery before consenting to the surgery, or your team is not doing their job.

(This ends my sorta rant about post-op diets and "cheating")

Good luck to everyone!

Isopure is a brand of clear Protein drinks on my list of post surgery items. I found it at Vitamin Shoppe.< /p>

My sister and my trainer at the gym. I haven't told many others. I don't feel like explaining myself over and over.

You don't want to be looking for "full." That uncomfortable stuck feeling you are getting isn't full, it's "you ate too much." Instead, measure out a very small meal and eat slowly. When you feel satisfied (NOT physically full) stop eating. If you accidentally get that uncomfortable signal that you ate too much, figure out how much you ate that caused the problem and make sure you measure out a smaller meal than that next time. For example, if you measure out 4 ounces of yogurt but before you finish it you get the "you ate too much" signal, look at how much you have left. Maybe a quarter of what you started with? so 3 ounces was too much. Next time, measure out 2 ounces instead of 4 and eat that instead.
Good luck!

Not in the least are you crazy. Your desire to make changes for your life, your health and your inner well-being say that you're sane as [fill in the blank with whatever tickles your fancy].
Anyone who might support you in an in-person way has other things going on in his life. No matter how much support is available, each of us has ultimate responsibility. You don't need someone to go to the hospital with you, but you will need someone to fetch you out when you're discharged; hospitals are required to enforce this to meet the requirements of their liability policies. (If someone volunteers to go with you, fine, but you'll really be busy enough with hospital paper work and being prepped for surgery that you won't have much time to talk with the person.)
Most definitely give the support group a try. Go to two or three meetings before deciding its potential value to you. Not all support groups are created equal. I still attend one on occasion where I found support and developed a couple of personal friendships that go beyond surgery.
You can do this.

Here are some of the things I wanted to know:
1) what kind of meds pre-op? (this was a good time for me to drive home about my severe nausea from inhaled anesthetics...led to me getting a scopolamine patch in pre-op area plus anesthesia was able to use primarily IV agents for surgery to reduce the nausea)
2) would I have a urinary catheter placed during surgery, and if yes, would it be removed before I went to recovery?
3) how do most patients feel immediately post-op? (this ended up being a very important question for me...I woke up in the PACU in very severe pain, right at my sternum. But I knew it wasn't abnormal and was able to stay calm until I got some dilaudid on board)
4) would I have stitches or staples or skin glue on my incisions?
5) what kind of pain relief once I got to the room where I'd stay overnight?
6) expectations for mobility/showering while I was in the hospital?
7) would I have to meet any benchmarks in order to be discharged? (ie, have to be able to urinate, have to be able to drink 'x' ounces without vomiting, etc)
8) what meds should I expect to go home on? what should I do if the meds aren't doing the job?
and then I made sure I had a VERY concrete understanding of the first month's post-op instructions were...what EXACTLY I was expected to eat/drink during that period of time.
Good luck!

http://www.amylhwilliams.com/pouchrulesfordummies.html
I thought this was an interesting read for those new to RNY or those struggling to lose the weight after surgery.

As a nurse and RNY I believe it is very necessary due to our altered physiology. There is no way that in an emergency situation EMS or physicians would know initially without a family member's disclosure or an ultrasound, which may not be called for. I ordered a medic alert Bracelet from Amazon for $11.99 with free engraving. It will say Gastric bypass: No NSAID'S, No blind NG tubes, No sugar. ICE: two family members phone numbers. We are so delicate now and our lives can be in real danger in an emergency.

I'm also 215 at 5ft 5in with surgery on Jan 17. I've limited my conversations too. My cardiologist joked that I was the smallest bariatric patient he'd heard of. My goal is better health, no meds and of course smaller body. Ironically I share more with gym classmates than friends

I'm also 215 at 5ft 5in with surgery on Jan 17. I've limited my conversations too. My cardiologist joked that I was the smallest bariatric patient he'd heard of. My goal is better health, no meds and of course smaller body. Ironically I share more with gym classmates than friends

I'm also 215 at 5ft 5in with surgery on Jan 17. I've limited my conversations too. My cardiologist joked that I was the smallest bariatric patient he'd heard of. My goal is better health, no meds and of course smaller body. Ironically I share more with gym classmates than friends

This topic is right up my alley. I think I'm going to miss my baths more than food right after surgery!