Holly McQuillan

Prior to surgery I had severe reflux, I stopped taking my pills also very soon after surgery. Once in awhile I get reflux and pop a pill and then I'm fine. Don't eat for 2 hrs before bedtime - that helps.
Good luck!

Hey everyone,
I'm about 4 1/2 months post surgery. I never had trouble with acid reflux/heartburn BEFORE surgery, but since the surgery, it has been REALLY bad. It always happens in the middle of the night when I'm sound asleep, I jolt out of bed with a sour burning taste in my throat and then I usually gag/spit up some yellow acid (like the xenomorph in Alien) and it just feels unbearable for about 15 minutes or so and then goes away. At first it happened about once a week, but now I'd say it's more like 2-3 times a week. They put me on 40 mg of prevacid or one of those pills right after surgery and I took it for the first month, but then I stopped because the reflux didn't seem too bad and I was worried about the side effects. So of course it came back and that's when it's been getting worse. I just got my rx refilled and yesterday was the first day of starting back on medication, but last night I still woke up with the reflux from hell.
I have mentioned this to my doctor, and he basically said "drink more, eat less, get back on the prescription". But I'm worried about this acid either causing esophogeal cancer or literally burning a hole through my esophagus. Maybe that sounds silly, but that's what it feels like and I've already had Breast Cancer, so I am worried about being susceptible to other forms of cancer.
Anyone have experience with this and advice or anything that stopped it completely? The assistant in the Doctor's office said that the hernial repair they did during the surgery usually helps with GERD/Reflux, but I told her I never had issues with it prior to the surgery and she sounded surprised.
Thanks for any suggestions.

I'm 8 months post op and haven't been able to enjoy Tomato sauces because in the USA, they put sugar in everything! It's sooo annoying. I even went online to find a recipe, but it calls for tomato paste, which in the store has added sugar!!
Does anyone know of a true low/no sugar tomato sauce? Store bought or recipe? I don't mind the small amount of natural sugar in the tomato itself. It's the added sugar/corn syrup/fructose crap that add I want to avoid.
I found a recipe for lasagna using portobello instead of noodles and all I need is a no-sugar added tomato sauce. Why does the US have to add sugar to everything?

I think you should be fine to do some walking around. I just hit my 4-week mark yesterday and I've had plenty of energy/mobility since about 6 days post-surgery. Again, everyone is different, but I think by 3-4 weeks post you likely won't have any trouble walking around. I think the biggest problem might be sticking to the diet/protein shakes at that point. If you have a plan in place to be able to make your shakes while on vacation, that will help. And depending on how much walking/running around you do, you might get exhausted more easily. But I could walk 2 miles now if I chose to (though so far I've only been doing 1 mile at a time due to unrelated foot pain).

I think you should be fine to do some walking around. I just hit my 4-week mark yesterday and I've had plenty of energy/mobility since about 6 days post-surgery. Again, everyone is different, but I think by 3-4 weeks post you likely won't have any trouble walking around. I think the biggest problem might be sticking to the diet/protein shakes at that point. If you have a plan in place to be able to make your shakes while on vacation, that will help. And depending on how much walking/running around you do, you might get exhausted more easily. But I could walk 2 miles now if I chose to (though so far I've only been doing 1 mile at a time due to unrelated foot pain).

Just go to account settings> notification settings and make sure all the email things are switched to off.

It really will get better day-by-day. In two weeks you will look back and not believe how much better you are doing. In the moment it feels like eternity, but it really does go quite quickly.

@@blizair09 What a great re-cap with some wonderful insights! Thanks for sharing! I love traveling and can't wait to do more of it post weight loss. I have always felt like a semi-active person stuck in fat person's body. I say semi-active because I love Water activities and exploring new environments, but doubt I will ever love running or long, difficult hikes. As you know, I'm only 2 weeks post-op, so I have a long way to go, but I'm happy to see that you were able to make the new lifestyle fit into an exotic vacation and still have fun. And to LOSE weight on a vacation is practically unheard of! congrats!

Hi - I'm so ashamed of myself and disappointed and frustrated. Hoping some people out there can give me some hope that not all is lost. I'm 2 weeks past surgery today and am supposed to do liquid diet for 1 more week...then 4 weeks of pureed food and then finally on to solid foods. I've MOSTLY been sticking to the Protein shakes/liquids/jello, but I have had a few moments where when trying to eat only the broth of some chicken noodle Soup, I snuck a few noodles and small chicken chunks. And then over the weekend I had my first restaurant experience (to soupplantation) where I not only had some small amounts of soup, but also a couple spoonfuls of chocolate soft-serve, some mashed up kidney Beans and crushed hard-boiled egg pieces, and about 3 nibbles of white bread. I didn't go overboard in quantity, but I know I shouldn't have had any solids and definitely shouldn't have gone near the bread or soup noodles.
The bigger problem is that from a week prior to surgery, I've been daydreaming about pancakes (they weren't even my biggest food love pre-surgery...usually it was ice cream or anything chocolate), but now pancakes seem like the end-all be-all. And Pasta with marinara sauce is the other food that keeps creeping into my mind. I don't want all this effort and pain to be for nothing. Does anyone have any good/helpful suggestions on how to quit obsessing about food so much and based on my cheating behavior this week, do you think I'm doomed or is this fairly normal and are there a lot of stories about people self-correcting and still succeeding after giving in to temptation?

@@ShinyLady - Congrats on pulling through! Okay - glad to know that I'm not the only one having a hard time keeping stuff down. I do actually feel almost human right now--- hoping this lasts for awhile and I continue heading in this direction!

@@Holly McQuillan
If I were you, I'd ask my surgeon's staff to recommend a psychologist who has experience working with bariatric patients. If you want to be successful on this journey, you will have to change your relationship with food. And that means eating what you are supposed to when you are supposed to. Now that you are post-op, these are even more important decisions than they were before because they can seriously affect your health. Maybe talking with a professional can give you some strategies that can help you understand your current relationship with food and where you need to be.
Trust me, tough decisions are never going to go away. In fact, they become more numerous as time goes on.
Good luck.

I am 2 weeks out as well. My rough time is 1 - 3 in the afternoon..that when I did my eating....today, my desire was a Big Mac...haven't had one in 6 mos, but oh today...I could taste it, feel it...and could not for the life of me get it out of my mind. I think we are grieving. Seriously grieving. I think most people go through it. This is the hard part...the surgery was a piece of cake compared to the head games.
I have not cheated much, once I had my daughters mashed potatoes..a bite, and was sick to my stomach after, then once I took a bite of chicked and then spit it out. Tasted terrible!
Don't beat yourself up. I think we are just adjusting and need to pat ourselves on the back for all the things that are going right.

I haven't had it and I've had sleeve. Almost wish i did. I could use some negative (?) Reinforcement. Been reverting to bad habits. It's easier to stop but the fact that I've been doing it this early out is really pissing me off. But i think it's out of my system mostly. I think the fact that I've continued to see results is what's motivating me to clean up my act. I know i can do better and get even better results.
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It gets better each day. I am 4 days out and working hard to heal. The keys for me are: 1) drink Water 3-4 ounces an hour 2) manage the pain 3) walk every couple hours. I am just starting to introduce full liquids but going slow
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Had mine on the 18th...feeling more human today as well. Still very sore but the nausea isn't as bad. I also think that the Zofran was giving me headaches as that is a major side effect.
~Ashley~

Hi Holly,
I'm 3 days out. Yesterday I felt very awful but a tiny be better than day 1. Today I feel almost human.
I was vomiting everything and not able to even have Water without MUCH pain. I just wanted to crawl in the corner and curl up. Last evening was better and today I feel like I'm going to get better. I'm just sticking to clear fluids for now and I find the anti-nausea much more helpful than the pain meds anyway.
I'm allowed to have a shower today. They said I could yesterday after the doc had been but I just wasn't up to it.
It will get better for you soon. xx
My time is NOW!

Good luck to both of you. I'm 2 days behind you. Friday is my big day.
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I'm scheduled for surgery on Wed also. I feel your pain. I'm hungry now but I'm just trying to be strong because I know it's for the best. I'm tired of Protein shakes already.Hang in there! It will be worth it in the long run. Maybe we can keep in contact since we are starting this journey on the same day. Best of luck!
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All the hunger and cravings go away after surgery!

Congrats on Wednesday! Welcome to the Loser's Bench.
For me, I was so busy trying to consume Protein shakes every 2 hours, it seems like all you do is stuff your face. I was exact opposite. It you're not stuffing your face with shakes, you're constantly sipping water!! I had to give myself a talking to every day just to get the amount in that was required. I did not want to eat.
Each person is different...
AS for the hunger you're feeling right now, a large part of that is what they call "head hunger." It's your (soon to be) old ways creeping up and telling you that you need food. The reality is, you're not starving and you will subsist on less than you're eating now--I promise!!! Hang in there, this is temporary!!!

I'm scheduled for Thursday. Started liquid diet on the 9th. I am actually sipping on my morning shake and relishing the thought that I only have 5 more shakes to go until surgery! My surgeon requiered only Bariatric Advantage shakes prior to surgery but allows any type after......so.......I can assure you I don't ever want this kind ever, ever again! My liquid phase has been ok....first 2 days I was hungry....but the next two were awful....not so much hunger, just really bad days then that Friday it was like a switch flipped and I started feeling better.
I, too, am nervous about surgery. I've been trying to read the negative as well as the positive to better prepare myself. I have had to self-pay so that in itself is plenty of motivation to follow the plan but I'm still nervous. We have a lifetime of habits and relationships with food to rewire! I am so looking forward to a new life though. I feel like I will appreciate health and the ability to do things, and shopping in normal stores and not sitting on the sidelines of life because of being selfconciouse. I feel like I am about to be paroled from a prison of sorts and I intend to live and enjoy my upcoming freedom to the fullest.
Bless all of you on the journey.....no one understands the issues unless they've been there. I pray that each of you sail through surgery and recovery and enjoy the life you have on the other side!