Berry78

Increased thirst Dry mouth Tired or sleepy Decreased urine output Urine is low volume and more yellowish than normal Headache Dry skin Dizziness Few or no tears I didn't get badly dehydrated postop, but did once during an illness back in college. I didn't notice anything wrong until I went to get up and couldn't. I was so dizzy I had to crawl out of the door of my dorm and lay down in the hallway. Everything was just spinning and spinning. (A janitor found me and got me help). Doc asked if I was spinning or the room was, but I couldn't tell. A bag of fluid fixed me right up. When I am a little dehydrated nowadays my fingers swell, headache, have hearing or vision changes upon standing (orthostatic hypotension), darker yellow pee (or don't go all day), etc. For some reason I don't feel thirst very often. So I just have to remind myself to drink.

Fun to think about.. but one of those things you don't actually DO. The problem, of course, being if you WERE to ever develop a terminal illness, they then wouldn't believe you. So... stick with your bestest friend da med'cine ball....

During the first several days, if you feel like you are having trouble fitting protein shakes down, then just stick with clear liquids. If you can't drink at least 40oz of clear liquids, then you need to contact your surgeon, and probably get an IV for fluids. My program had me only on clear liquids for the first week.. no protein shakes. It doesn't hurt to go a week without much protein (I could drink broth).. but it hurts a LOT to not get enough fluids in. Protein shakes started on week 2, and that was the right timing for me. Shoot.. 8 days postop and MILK seemed super thick!

In 7 months, I've only vomited once, and it was from taking a vitamin that didn't agree with me. I have a sleeve. During the first 2 months postop, I was extraordinarily careful to eat and drink slooowwwwlllyyy, and progress through the phases slllloooowwwwlllllyyyy... I think that helped a lot. Nowadays I can eat about the same speed as always, just much smaller portions. (I should probably slow down a bit, but at least it doesn't bother my tummy).

It sounds like you need to move on to protein shakes. What does your plan say about them? What is your protein goal?

I, too, would stick with tylenol for now, and ask your doc about a prescription for pain that isn't going to bother your tummy.

My father (RIP) had scar tissue in his urethra that made it difficult to pass urine. He occasionally had to go get it "roto-rootered" (my mom's technical term). If your husband had such a personal kind of condition, I seriously doubt he'd want it spread all over the world. Since your hubby isn't understanding this concept, maybe (when you guys start speaking again), you can put it into terms like that. (I.E. "Hubby, if you had an STD, would you want me to tell everyone I know?") If he can't understand where you are coming from, you'll never see eye to eye on the issue. It's just too bad that he didn't express the "what's the big deal" issue when you'd had the discussion about "not telling".

99% of bariatric patients seem to be able to tolerate protein shakes. I couldn't. I just couldn't. So.. I got my protein early on through milk. Now, I'm lucky milk didn't bother me, but LOTS of patients have issues with milk. Sometimes it's all milk, and sometimes it's just the stuff with lactose (so they can tolerate lactose-free milk and there are lots of alternative types of milk.. nut milks, etc. Read labels for protein and sugar content.). Bone broth (store bought or slow-simmered homemade) has a lot of protein in it as well. Broth is considered a clear liquid, whereas milk is a full liquid. Even though I couldn't do regular protein shakes, protein kefir was more tolerable (40g in 16oz!). Broth doesn't have sugar in it, but milk and kefir both have a lot of naturally occuring sugar (and the protein kefir I found had added sugar as well). Most programs caution patients against consuming too many sugars. Dumping could be an issue for some. Diabetics could have issues with blood sugar problems. Mostly sugar is just thought to slow weight loss. I wasn't diabetic, and it turned out that I don't dump (you won't know until you try stuff). I didn't care about weight loss during the healing period.. so I chose to not worry about those natural sugars. Once I was onto solid foods, I was able to decrease the amount of liquid dairy (sugar) I consumed. This is where you have to pick the path that is right for YOU. The most important thing during the healing period is to not advance the texture of your food (liquid, purees, soft, etc.). The next most important thing is to meet your protein and fluid goals however you have to. It's like a full time job these first weeks, figuring out what will work for you. Good luck! (Jess has some excellent advice about how to make protein shakes more palatable.. try those first before ditching protein shakes altogether).

I couldn't tolerate tomatoes or spices during the first 2-3 months postop. But now I'm tearing it up! I make a super quick chili.. brown some ground meat (throw some frozen onions and green peppers in it as it's cooking), add a can of beans and a can of diced tomatoes, put some chili seasoning on it, bam, done! Takes maybe 20 minutes, tops. Of course, slow-simmered, special recipe chili is gonna be better, but it's nice to make a version that's quick.

I have a small lump-charcoal grill (a Kamado Joe Jr.).. (and I'm just learning how to use it) so I can't be terribly helpful when it comes to electric ones. Sorry The grilling community is as active on message boards as bariatric folk, so I bet you can find some good tips on one of those boards.

Aha! You aren't even on an antacid. You need to ask your doc about starting one. (Bariatric patients all need to be on antacids for several months postop). Since your doc's office is likely closed today, you could try asking your pharmacist if an antacid would be ok. Pepcid complete (over the counter) is what I take, but I have no way of knowing if it might be a bad idea in YOUR case.

Symptoms of a gallbladder problem: Pain: The most common symptom of a gallbladder problem is pain. This pain usually occurs in the mid- to upper-right section of your abdomen. It can be mild and intermittent, or it can be quite severe and frequent. In some cases, the pain can begin to radiate to other areas of the body, including the back and chest. Nausea or vomiting: Nausea and vomiting are common symptoms of all types of gallbladder problems. But only chronic gallbladder disease may cause digestive problems, such as acid reflux, gas, nausea, and vomiting. Fever or chills: An unexplained fever may signal that you have an infection. If you have an infection, you need treatment before it worsens and becomes dangerous. The infection can become life-threatening if it spreads to other parts of the body. Chronic diarrhea: Having more than four bowel movements per day for at least three months may be a sign of chronic gallbladder disease. Jaundice: Yellow-tinted skin may be a sign of a common bile duct block or stone. Unusual stools or urine: Lighter-colored stools and dark urine are possible signs of a common bile duct block

This is very, very common. You should talk to your doctor about getting a stronger dose, or switching types of medication. What and how much are you taking now? Here is a good overview article talking about PPI's. There is another class of less-effective acid medication called H2 blockers. https://aboutgerd.org/medications/proton-pump-inhibitors-ppis.html

Oh man.. reminds me of when my hubby jumped the gun, telling his mother about my first pregnancy. (Yours is worse, though because we would have eventually told MIL about the fetus.. you didn't ever need to tell about the surgery). What may have happened is your hubby needed to have an outlet.. a way of bouncing his own feelings about your surgery off of a person/people. By restricting his ability to talk to anyone at all, it may have just been too much for him... and much like a diet that goes askew, once you eat that first bite of pie (cheated), then you might as well finish the whole thing. Regardless of WHY he let the cat out of the bag, you should have the open conversation about it, and try to institute damage control. It's possible the business partner's wife HASN'T been told.. you can keep your fingers crossed about that. {Hugs} Sometimes people do crappy things.

I love this idea. Flax is absolutely amazing. However, it can go bad, like, super fast, so here is an article that explains more about that. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/02/25/how-to-know-when-flaxseed-is-rancid.aspx

Ahhh.. I see. Yes, ulcers makes sense. Other than NSAIDS, we also have to be a bit careful about steroids (like prednisone). Anyone that needs it should have the discussion with their doc. It's possible some stomach protective meds could be added if/when steroids are needed.

Yeah, I normally keep nuts in my purse, but forgot to restock. Oops. Ah well. None of it bothers me anymore. The first month if I woke up in the night I'd get water to help meet fluid goals.

I love that movie!

Fluff, you asked how soon I was eating that quantity... I was eating everything on the plate by 9 or 10 weeks out.. I just had to split it up into 6 meals. Now I can eat it in 3.5 meals, making room for veggies. The plate is holding my protein, and my protein requirements haven't changed. If I dropped milk off the menu, I'd have to add 12g protein to the plate. Easier to keep the milk and make room for veggies. So last night I stayed up eating until 11pm, didn't get my veggies or nuts (I'd eaten my fruit earlier in the day). Went to bed full of beans. I got close to goal. I wasnt expecting to be gone all day when I left the house, so 5-11pm was eat eat eat.

Ok, here is what 61g of protein looks like on a whole food plant based diet. Each bowl is 1/2 cup black beans. Now, you can replace a bowl of beans with the following: 3.5oz tofu 1 cup soy milk 2 slices ezekial bread 3/4 cup kasha (probably too much to eat at once until later) So, what's the problem? Well, I don't see any fruit or veggies. If you drink a quart of soy milk a day, then only 2 meals have to be so protein heavy and you can squeeze in some then. So I'm not saying its impossible...I'm saying it requires counting and planning. Now, if you drink 2 protein shakes a day, then you're covered and can eat what you want.

You got it! The "players" change each day. Today it's a banana. Tomorrow, strawberries. Exchange chicken for salmon, etc. But the portion sizes stay pretty much the same. The bowls holding the veggies will hold 8oz water if filled to the brim, so my stomach is holding about a cup of food now, if it's soft. The cloudy jar of liquid is coconut water.

I implore you to please start counting protein. The average, typical woman needs 46g/day, a guy needs 56g/day. Bariatric patients digest protein surprisingly well, but there still may be a small deficit to our absorption. Studies have shown that patients that consume less than 60g/day lose muscle mass. The body also doesn't store protein. It has to be eaten daily. Those that have a typical stomach can eat 5 times the food that we can, so it's not hard for typical WFPB followers to meet their protein needs. We have special needs.

Don't even try carbonation until you are at least 9 weeks postop as an absolute minimum. People have died from (alka seltzer) during the initial postop healing period. Gas bubbles are no joke when the only thing between you and certain death is a line of staples.

mylighthouse.. congrats, and GOOD JOB!! You have done amazingly! It's unfortunate my post showed up under yours.. I totally was responding to one above.. and we were typing at the same time. (Even though I'm wearing a 12 in my brand, in every other brand I'm a 14.. so we're the same size..same height, and within 2lbs of each other!). Feels great doesn't it? I love how life just seems to FIT better.