Little Green

That's honestly ridiculous and I'm so upset for you. I have a nausea med that I don't have to swallow, it just dissolves on my tongue. I don't have any advice and I'm sorry about that, but I really hope you can find some relief soon.

Names and tags don't bother me. I describe myself as super morbid obese when I need to. I have even told people to look for the fattest person in the room and it is probably me. I am what I am. I wish it did bother me because I'm one of those people that when something bothers me I fix it.

Sadly, my program does not allow any of those on the pureed portion of the diet. I honestly just asked my husband to get me the deviled eggs and did not even go and look at the food. It smelled divine though...

I said this on the Facebook thread but I'll share here again. I don't mind fat or obese. "Fat" is just a quick and easy descriptor to me, and far preferable to the euphemisms that folks have used to describe me over the years. Obese/morbidly obese/super morbidly obese (the latter of which I am) are just medical terms and they don't bother me. I've been fat since I was a kid - there was no slow creep of weight over the course of a decade or anything. The reality has always been there and I just prefer to face it.
What did bother me was when two separate medical professionals made complimentary statements about "how well I take care of my skin," referring, of course, to the skin on my belly and thighs, etc. It was a shock to realize they saw me as a person that might have difficulty taking care of myself. Ouch. That freakin hurt.

Just had my first pureed meal! Everything tasted amazing and stayed down very well. I had one moment where I think I was eating too fast and I felt a weird "backup" sensation in the pipes but other than that, everything went swimmingly!
Here's my first meal-- refried Beans, guacamole, and mild salsa.


What was yours???

Two weeks out and just making one dish in the kitchen is kicking my ass at the moment. It raises my HR like I'm exercising and I get kinda jelly-legged after 20-30 minutes. I'm assuming this is because of the low level of calories... they are energy for our body, after all! We are still having to haul around all this extra fat (for now!) and we're not eating enough to fuel it. Hopefully as time goes on the increase in calories and decrease in weight will combine to resolve the energy issues!

Hey there, I'm sorry you're going through this. You've had a lot of life changes in a really short period of time (a year is nothin' when it comes to major stressors) and even positive changes can be disruptive especially if you have high expectations from them. Post-op depression is really common, especially as you begin to lose body fat and start swimming in all the excess hormones.
But I also thought the quoted part of your post was really interesting. While overeating might have been a source of unhappiness, it was also a source of pleasure in your brain. Every time you ate fatty, sugary food, you stimulated the release of dopamine, a potent "reward" neurotransmitter. I don't think it's surprising at all that you'd be experiencing this type of withdrawal or discovery of new stressors now that you've cut off the steady request for dopamine in your brain.
I would suggest seeing a therapist - I go weekly and it's really helpful. I've been going for over a year and it's almost like talking to a friend at this point. An impartial, professional trained friend, that is! If you have insurance through work they may have an employee assistance program that will let you have a few free sessions (mine had five) so that you can try out a couple therapists before choosing one.
You're not alone, we're here to listen! Hope you're feeling better very soon.

To answer your post, my hospital requires someone to be with you at discharge (unless you leave AMA as someone else brought up).
To go off-topic on your post, I'm cracking up at people who told their family members to go to work or not worry about being there. My mom and husband were at the hospital from 7am to 8pm on surgery day and came back the next day around 9am, staying again until 6pm or so - and my in-laws came that second day, too. I was in surgery (pre-op, op, recovery) from 9am to 7pm the first day and too drugged and groggy and sleepy to even remember most of the next day. But there they were! We all walked the halls together, including my dad too at one point. There's no judgment either way but it just tickles me to think of some folks being alone in their hospital room for 24-48 hours and then there's me with my entourage

Same here. You're not alone!

Hey there, I'm sorry you're going through this. You've had a lot of life changes in a really short period of time (a year is nothin' when it comes to major stressors) and even positive changes can be disruptive especially if you have high expectations from them. Post-op depression is really common, especially as you begin to lose body fat and start swimming in all the excess hormones.
But I also thought the quoted part of your post was really interesting. While overeating might have been a source of unhappiness, it was also a source of pleasure in your brain. Every time you ate fatty, sugary food, you stimulated the release of dopamine, a potent "reward" neurotransmitter. I don't think it's surprising at all that you'd be experiencing this type of withdrawal or discovery of new stressors now that you've cut off the steady request for dopamine in your brain.
I would suggest seeing a therapist - I go weekly and it's really helpful. I've been going for over a year and it's almost like talking to a friend at this point. An impartial, professional trained friend, that is! If you have insurance through work they may have an employee assistance program that will let you have a few free sessions (mine had five) so that you can try out a couple therapists before choosing one.
You're not alone, we're here to listen! Hope you're feeling better very soon.

Hey there, I'm sorry you're going through this. You've had a lot of life changes in a really short period of time (a year is nothin' when it comes to major stressors) and even positive changes can be disruptive especially if you have high expectations from them. Post-op depression is really common, especially as you begin to lose body fat and start swimming in all the excess hormones.
But I also thought the quoted part of your post was really interesting. While overeating might have been a source of unhappiness, it was also a source of pleasure in your brain. Every time you ate fatty, sugary food, you stimulated the release of dopamine, a potent "reward" neurotransmitter. I don't think it's surprising at all that you'd be experiencing this type of withdrawal or discovery of new stressors now that you've cut off the steady request for dopamine in your brain.
I would suggest seeing a therapist - I go weekly and it's really helpful. I've been going for over a year and it's almost like talking to a friend at this point. An impartial, professional trained friend, that is! If you have insurance through work they may have an employee assistance program that will let you have a few free sessions (mine had five) so that you can try out a couple therapists before choosing one.
You're not alone, we're here to listen! Hope you're feeling better very soon.

So now you're the Little Green Commando? That outrank me in spades. KEEP HEALING!

Congrats on your surgery! Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
You can't expect the liquid diet to fill you up except in the very beginning when your stomach is very swollen so it takes a while for liquids to pass through. Otherwise, the liquid just shoots right through. Hunger depends on the individual. Some people have very little hunger right from the get go. Others are quite hungry and the early liquid stages are difficult for them. No one knows what camp they're in until surgery. A trick I learned from another poster - If you're hungry for something specific (especially if you just saw a savory commercial on tv) it's probably head hunger and you should try to distract yourself. If you feel hungry and any number of healthy options would satisfy, it's probably real hunger and you should eat.
Weight - You're still chock-full of hospital liquids right now. You're lucky if you're not up 5 pounds. It can easily take a couple weeks or longer for the fluids and even longer for the swelling.
Good luck, hope all goes well!

And how far back did your rude comment set some posters, who may now be fearful that if what they post is not up to someone's standards they'll be mocked with sarcasm? Give me a break, you had no altruistic motives in what you said - you were just being an assh@le.

Very risky and unwise time for pregnancy.
Biggest concerns are Vitamin deficiency in the mothers and also neural tube defects in the babies like spina bifida and anencephaly...which are very concerning conditions of the baby's brain and spine. Premature births are also a huge problem. Danger for both mom and baby.
It is incredibly important that you see specialists early if you intend to attempt to keep this pregnancy.
I don't mean to write stressful frightening things here....but this is a frightening situation and people need to be mindful of their doctor's expressed orders not to become pregnant for two years.
Please understand that I wish you the very best, and hope for the best possible outcome.

WRONG!!!!!

Had a great day today. I'm VERY tired now lol and hope to sleep really well here in a bit.
I am almost, almost, almost pain-free! Today I was finally able to bend over/down at the waist with only just a slight ouchie pain.
I saw my therapist today (Mr. Green drove me) and had such a wonderful discussion with her about my surgery story and my experiences and what's been going on since then. She told me how brave I was to have this surgery and how proud she is of me... gosh I just love her to bits! She also said she could see my weight loss which I'm not quite sure I believe LOL although I have lost 33 pounds since I started the liquid diet on April 27, so I guess a bit could be showing.
I had Starbucks (I'm a gold member... had iced coffee with soy milk) and painted my nails today (nail art is one of my hobbies) and honestly the return of simple activities like that made a huge difference for me. I've been feeling kind of "other" lately with all the depression and the stupid pain and discussing "my belly" as if it is a separate entity. Now I feel like good ol' Little Green is coming back, although new and improved, of course!
Another sign of normalcy, tonight I got back in the kitchen for the first time in weeks! And I made BEANS!!!!! Wonderful, savory, thick, creamy Beans. Refried beans, to be specific. Made from dried beans in the instant pot... so easy, quick, and totally oil- and fat-free!
Refried beans - sorry, there's no way to make blended brown beans look appetizing. Just know that they are delicious. I pureed them a bit more after taking this photo because I felt they weren't quite applesauce consistency. I ended up liking the smoother consistency better anyway! LOOK AT ALL THAT PLANT PROTEIN!!!!!

2 ounce baby food containers filled and ready to be eaten! Refried beans on the bottom and two types of hummus on top.

OKAY I MUST ADMIT THE GREAT BARIATRIC SIN... I did try the beans as I was pureeing them. They were just too, too, too seductive to resist. However, I only cheated my diet progression by 36 hours - and actually technically tomorrow is two weeks so if I go by the booklet they gave me I could have purees tomorrow, and what's the difference between 10pm Wednesday and 8am Thursday?!?!?! Okay, I'm justifying myself over here, and I'm sticking to liquids until my appointment Friday, but man, you guys. YOU GUYS! YOU GUUUUYYYYSSSS!!!!!! These beans hit the friggin' SPOT!!!! I am sooosoosoosososossosoSOSOSOososoSOosoosoOSOSOSOSSO excited for diet progression! 35 days of frickin' Protein Shakes and I am just DONE.
Okay that's enough freakin' out... can you tell I had a good day today?? Man I just feel so good, and so happy, and so normal! There is life after bariatric surgery!

And how far back did your rude comment set some posters, who may now be fearful that if what they post is not up to someone's standards they'll be mocked with sarcasm? Give me a break, you had no altruistic motives in what you said - you were just being an assh@le.

You should have had tougher skin and clicked the little "x" on your browser tab if you didn't like the picture instead of insulting a stranger who came to this forum for support.

You should have had tougher skin and clicked the little "x" on your browser tab if you didn't like the picture instead of insulting a stranger who came to this forum for support.

And how far back did your rude comment set some posters, who may now be fearful that if what they post is not up to someone's standards they'll be mocked with sarcasm? Give me a break, you had no altruistic motives in what you said - you were just being an assh@le.

And how far back did your rude comment set some posters, who may now be fearful that if what they post is not up to someone's standards they'll be mocked with sarcasm? Give me a break, you had no altruistic motives in what you said - you were just being an assh@le.

You should have had tougher skin and clicked the little "x" on your browser tab if you didn't like the picture instead of insulting a stranger who came to this forum for support.

@Toomanytacos Thanks for sharing! What are your Breakfast and lunch like?

Don't be ashamed. He was SO rude and has chosen to double down at every opportunity he's had to apologize. I'm going to chalk it up to post-op depression because I refuse to believe anyone can really be that petty and mean.
Your food is feeding your new body and you've done incredibly well! It doesn't matter what it looks like - it all goes the same place! I like that you showed the size of your plate relative to your hand so that we could see the quantity you're eating at this point post-op.
Don't worry about this. You're awesome!