orionburn

It will be a while before your stomach is "wired" correctly again. Those sensors that used to tell us we were full get all screwed up after surgery. This is why measuring out your portions is so critical. You could be over stuffing your new stomach but your body can't tell you "stop!" at this stage, or it does signal you but it's way too late. While it's true some people can only manage 2-4 oz after a few weeks and others can comfortably do 6 oz you'll have to figure yourself out. Also keep in mind that not all ounces are equal. I find that I can have 5 oz of yogurt and feel like I didn't even eat, but 4 oz of ground beef left me feeling stuffed.

Do you feel full after only 1-2 ounces? That seems like a mighty small portion even at 8 weeks out. I'm 4 weeks and can typically do 4-5 oz without too much trouble. Some foods do sit heavier and can't eat as much, but I'd say 4 oz is typical for me at this point. The worry about constant snacking is that it'll just lead to old bad habits. My doc is the same way in that he wants 3 meals a day and that's it, but at this point I can't get all my Protein in either. I aim for 3-4 meals and have to supplement with a Protein shake. I think it'll get a bit easier when you can eat more. Obviously don't force yourself to eat more and end up feeling sick. You may want to talk with your doc if 2 oz is the most you can manage.

Best thing to do is capitalize on that fear. Stick to the liquids that your doc told you to do and don't deviate. You just have to look at it as the better you do in the next couple of days the better your surgery will go. Sticking to what you're supposed to do on the other side of a surgery is a must. Cheating now has some amount of forgiveness if you haven't completely gone off the rails, but after surgery you can do serious damage if you don't follow instructions. Stay positive but make a promise that there is no more cheating from here on out.

Click on your username in the upper right corner. In the drop down choose "My Surgery." In the next screen there are some options on the left hand side. Choose "Progress." In the following screen you will see the fields to enter your current weight. The options at the top let you see your past weights if you want to see progress. The far right one will put it into a graph format tracking you weight.

The goal of the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver so cheating will delay that process. Pre-op diets vary, but most are intended to be an uber low carb diet. It takes a few days for your body to get into ketosis. If you cheat your body pretty much has to start over again. My doctor made no qualms about it - if he got in there and saw a fatty liver (which meant you didn't follow the diet) he would stop the surgery right then and there. The smaller the liver is the easier it is for the procedure which means it's safer for you. Is mashed potatoes worth it?

Had surgery on a Wednesday (1/25) and returned to work on Monday 2/13, so about 2 1/2 weeks off. I have a desk job so it wasn't so bad. First week was still somewhat rough due to the lack of energy. My doc wanted me off for 4 weeks but there was no way I could manage that financially. I felt like I was in between a rock and a hard place. I did have some complications and really could have used another week of rest, but mentally I was going downhill because I was miserable sitting around all day at home. Getting back to work wasn't the easiest thing but mentally it did wonders for me and got my spirits back up. For me I couldn't have imagined going back to working have a physical job or having to be on my feet all day long. After 3 full weeks I probably would have been okay, but not after 2.

Depends on your doctor. Ours was a mandatory 3 days / 2 nights. My doc only does surgeries on Wednesdays and the goal is to have you home Friday afternoon. It doesn't hurt to plan for the unexpected. I had some complications and didn't get home until the following Tuesday. There's always a potential to keep you an extra day for observation.

I'm hoping to get back to the gym in the next week. It's been way longer for me since I've been in the gym due to health problems, but looking forward to getting back into it. NSAIDS are definitely a no-go anymore. There's way to much risk in getting an ulcer post-op. It sucks because I loved my ibuprofen as well. Tylenol will hopefully help a little. Stretching and hot showers used to help me get through it. DOMS is a b!tch...lol

Two things I had do on a regular basis upon coming home (doc's instructions) was to take my pulse and monitor my temperature. We had instructions to call the emergency line if either your temp was over 100 or your heartbeat was over 100. Those where considered possible signs to having a leak, but it doesn't guarantee it. When did you have your surgery? Never hurts to just give your doc's office a call and run it by them.

I haven't ridden my motorcycle in probably 3 years. One of my goals is to do another track day, and that means losing at least another 30-35 pounds so I can fit in my leathers again. I've really missed riding and as I've packed the weight back on over the years it became less enjoyable and uncomfortable.

Any forum can get rough from time to time. Just have to learn to ignore the harsh stuff. All in all this is a decent site and has been a huge help for me, so stick around Look at it this way - if you rush things you do have a serious chance of doing damage which means starting over and going back to liquids. I know this stage sucks and can be difficult, but it's a few weeks of toughing things out for the road ahead. It just isn't worth the risk of a major setback. In a weird way I'm almost thankful that I had my episode of my spleen bleeding 3 days after surgery. Although it wasn't anything I did wrong it's just a reminder how frail we can be right after surgery and for me served as a big reminder to do what my doc says. I want this to be successful. I punished my body for a good 35 years of being overweight. Two to three weeks of strict dieting is the least I can do to make amends. You'll be back to regular foods before you know it. Just hang in there.

My doc's office sells the unjury brand powders. The vanilla and strawberry left much to desire, but the chocolate was pretty good. Because of the price I've opted to go back to my old mainstay which is Body Fortress. I typically stick to chocolate flavors as those are a safer bet, but BF does have a wide variety of flavors that they offer. I've had their vanilla and it was decent enough, but I can't do vanilla flavors long term. My old favorite was Optimum Nutrition. Personally I thought it was the best mixing and best tasting powder out there. Unfortunately their prices have really gone up over the years. For the price point I haven't found anything better than the Body Fortress brand. I've been happy with it for quite some time. As to Vitamins I was doing the Celebrate chewables but just switched to their regular capsules. Since surgery I've had a harder time with the chewables. Just can't tolerate the taste anymore.

Yes, very common to come home weighing more due to the fluids. It may take a few days but the excess will flush itself out. I was up like 8 lbs when I got home. Gas build up is a major pain in arse the first few days. Getting up and moving around is one of the best things to do to help get it out of your system. Everybody is different but generally it seems the first 3-4 days are the worst. Don't worry...it does get better! Just walk, walk, walk!

I came down with a horrible chest cold last week and had to rely on tussin to help with the cough. I took the regular dosage and didn't have any issues. You could always take half a dose initially to see how you feel and then the other half a bit later if there aren't any problems.

Wanted to update on where I'm now at: Had my 4 week follow-up appointment with my doc yesterday. Said everything is looking good and I'm on track. Weighed in yesterday morning at 291 which puts me down 27 lbs since surgery. Starting to really see/feel the difference now in the weight loss. I recently got back into my old size 42 jeans and had to buy a new belt yesterday because they're already starting to fall off my butt. I imagine I'll be back into my 40s soon enough. Only downside I've experienced is that some of my old sciatica pain seems to be wanting to creep back into my life. I think it's largely due to being more active over this past week in walking again. The good news is that I don't have the pain that I used to have, but in the evenings I can feel my hip wanting to "limp" along like before along with some numbness in my foot. Trying to get up and moving around at work as much as possible. I'm pretty lucky in my job that I have the flexibility to get up from desk when I want. food wise my doc's office has a fairly strict regimen to follow but for the most part am cleared to eat about 90% of regular foods. Still have to stay away from stringy veggies, no nuts/seeds, and no "heavy" meats like steak. The biggest upside is that I can now eat most meats again like ground beef, chicken, tuna, and so forth. Last night was the first time I've had ground beef in 6+ weeks and my whole half cup of food was so wonderful! I was past burned out on yogurts and cottage cheese so it's great to be able to eat as close to normal as possible after nearly a month and a half. Every now and then I still get some oddball pains/aches but they seem to pass day to day. I think part of it is again because I've been getting more active. The only incision point that ever bothers me slightly is the one closest to my belly button. Yesterday it hurt a bit, but today nothing. Looking to get back into going to the gym in the next week. Before when I was going just to try and lose weight I had no desire to go which made me sad because I used to love being a gym rat. The sciatica pain was a huge hindrance and the main reason the fun of working out was gone. I'm hoping that with the weight I've lost so far and getting back into lifting/stretching that it will help my sciatica and get some strength back into my hip & leg. While life is really different now when it comes to food I feel better right now than I have in years and do not have any regrets despite some of the initial hurdles. In two weeks I have another follow-up visit and that should set the course for a while. Looking forward to what the following weeks & months will bring.

Did your doctor not tell you that you shouldn't have any carbonated drinks? It isn't a matter of "wanting sodas" vs it would be nuts to try to drink it right now so soon after surgery. As long as it doesn't have caffeine, is zero/very low calories, and isn't carbonated there are a good amount of options. My staples were Powerade Zero, Propel waters, Crystal Light (actually the Walmart Great Value equivalent), and diet cranberry juice (the Ocean Spray one that is only like 5 calories). I would mix the cranberry juice in with my Crystal Light. For example I'd do a glass that was 80% CL and 20% cranberry juice. The good thing with the Crystal Light products is that you can also mix up the packets. I'd take one grape and mix it with a berry pomegranate, or a watermelon with a strawberry. Gives you a bit more variety on flavors.

Don't know if you've seen this site before or not, but gets recommended a lot. There are some good recipes on there - http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html For my soft food/pureed stage I didn't do anything crazy. I couldn't do blended foods. I tried once with soup and it didn't taste right at all. So I stuck with the basics: cottage cheese with a tiny bit of pureed fruit, lots of yogurt, sweet potatoes, refried beans, scrambled egg with a bit of picante sauce, etc. One of the best things I had was the ricotta bake recipe that can be found on the link above. That was so damned good I wish I would have made it sooner. Even when I'm out of the pureed stage it's going to be a staple in my diet. It's super easy to make and is really good.

I has a VSG but yes, I get terrible dry mouth as well since surgery (now 4 weeks out). I don't know if it's related to the surgery or if I'm sleeping with my mouth open. I was never a back sleeper before surgery but have now become used to it, but I know I'm more prone to breathe through my mouth while on my back. I had some days last week where I had to resist that urge to chug because I was so thirsty.

Ugh...feel your pain. On day 3 my spleen decided to spring a leak. It is amazing how much the human body freaks the eff out when there is blood where it isn't supposed to be. By the end of the day I got moved down to ICU and spent like 2 days there before going back to my old room. Definitely not the start I had hoped for but doing much better now. Have my 4 week follow up with my doc today and will hopefully be cleared to go back to most foods. As of this morning I'm down 27 lbs since surgery. All in all I'm down 45 lbs since I started the 2 week pre-op diet (so down that much over a span of 6 weeks).

Best thing I could suggest to to basically do the pre-op diet. Focus on getting protein in and cut out nearly all the carbs. When I did my pre-op phase before I got my sleeve it was 3 shakes a day plus some special protein soups/drink mixes that I got from my doc's office. If you can't get anything like that you could substitute with chicken broth or bullion. When you do low carb it takes a few days for ketosis to really kick in, but when it does it sheds a fair amount of weight quickly. Granted a good chunk of that initial loss is shedding extra water but every pound counts. You just need to be sure you're getting your vitamins in. Good luck to you!

You just have to make it a habit. I've always been a big drinker so it's never been an issue for me. The best thing to do is constantly keep a drink by you and remind yourself to take at least a few sips every couple of minutes. Mix up your drinks. Crystal Light (and the generic brands) have a ton of different flavors. There's other options like Propel and Powerade Zero. This early in the game you could probably do carbonated drinks as well if they're no calorie drinks, but eventually the carbonated ones will have to go. It's going to be super important to get your fluids in after surgery so definitely practice now. Keep in mind your Protein drinks will count towards your daily Water intake too.

Generally it's considered bad taste to do that on forums. Like Alex said pick the section you think it best fits and post it in there. If you don't get comments right away be patient. There's a lot of posts on here in a day. It's better to make another post within your own topic to bump it back up to the top of the section rather than starting a new thread all over again. Welcome to the site!

It's normal. I had no energy the first two weeks, and times I did I burned out pretty quick. Your body has been through a lot. Between the healing and low calories there isn't much left over to feel energetic. For me I seemed to start picking up a little bit of steam once I was on the pureed stage. Although I'm still not getting in a ton of calories it seemed to make a difference. Maybe it was more mental than anything. About 2 1/2 weeks after surgery was when I returned to work. First few days were rough but every day got better and better. Keep focusing on getting your fluids and protein. The better I did on getting those in the better I felt. Is it still difficult to actually get your fluids down or is it just a lack of wanting to drink? Do those number factor in any protein drinks?

Don't worry...you're gonna feel full as all get out soon enough. I've been on the pureed stage for almost 2 weeks. Things like yogurts, Protein shakes, and other thin items go down without much fuss. Some heavier things I tried like eggs, the ricotta bake, sweet potato, etc. sat really heavy. I would still be careful on portions because things still aren't wired up right at this point. I try to keep everything to 1/2 cup or less per "meal" to be on the safe side.

The first 24 hours are definitely the roughest. Glad to hear you came through surgery okay. Just remember to walk, walk, walk!