coyote

That's wonderful that you were able to find something that sat well in your belly! How many stages do you have in your diet plan and how long will it take to get to solid foods? My NUT's plan is 2 weeks liquids, 4 week puree, and 5 1/2 months of soft foods. Soft foods is going to be rough but I'll do my best to stick with it! They have great success rate with their program and I'm looking to maximize the weight loss best that I can.

Happy Thursday, all! I've had a rough couple of days. Physically I'm healing better and faster than I'd ever imagined. Mentally I'm not doing so well. I've cried a couple of times this week and have wondered what I've done to myself. I've googled "How much will my stomach stretch after I've healed?", "Can I eat normally after VSG?", etc. I reached out to a friend who had a different WLS and she assured me that all of this is very normal, and that I will be able to eat normally but once I get through the first couple of months i definitely won't want my stomach to stretch! My partner is a man who LOVES food and watching him enjoy anything he wants while staying lean really has me in the dumps. But, he's such a great man that when he eats dinner he makes sure that I can't see or smell it because he knows the mental state that I'm in right now. My nutritionist appointment is on Wednesday but my NUT says I can move to purees on Sunday but I may wait until I talk with her. Right now I can only stomach Light Apple Juice in ice and Lipton's Chicken Noodle Soup broth with the noodles strained out. I can drink both without issue but the problem is I'm not listening to my belly and stopping when I know I should. For two nights after drinking way too fast/much I had a horrible pressure in my chest that only goes away when I sleep it off overnight. I gotta learn portion control and not go overboard.

Hi Woodside! I have also stalled at a 15lb loss since the first week. My thought is that we lose water weight very quickly, stall, then start to lose fat. I used to have edema very badly in my legs and since I was rolled out of surgery both legs have been normal size. I can finally see the bones in my feet! I'm going to put away the scale for a while and continue with my nutritionist's plan for me. Maybe next month I'll hop on and see how I'm doing.

My nutritionist advised against using gummies - she wrote on my paper "they are not a complete source of vitamins" but said I can use gummies in a pinch as anything is better than nothing.

I've been taking Fusion Bariatric Vitamins in mixed berries and they're pretty good. The tablets are pretty big and you need 4 a day to meet your requirements. https://bariatricfusion.com/bariatric-vitamins/complete-chewable-vitamin-and-mineral-supplement.html

Congrats! I was sleeved a week ago - July 17th. I look forward to hearing about your journey.

I've heard this too but also heard that carbonation is fine and it's the empty soda calories they really don't want you consuming since we have such a small area to get in nutrition. My doctor says no carbonation and i'm not a fan of soda so I won't drink it. How's everyone's 7th day post-op going? I had some setbacks yesterday and think I totally overdid it by walking around walmart early in the morning. My sutures are healing beautifully and i'm not even bruised but the large one was aching badly. I slept most of yesterday and was worried that i'd popped a staple because I was dizzy, nauseated, had blurry vision but think i'm just dehydrated. I called my doc's office and i'm actually on full liquids not just clear (YAY) until next Wednesday so i'm stoked to get something else in my belly. Still not doing great with protein and even the Genepro unflavored has a taste that grosses me out. I've been taking most of my Fusion bariatric chewables which are totally manageable and quite delicious. I went to lunch today with family at my favorite Puerto Rican restaurant and had to watch everyone eat but I was actually okay. I have no desire for food and sipped water and talked and laughed and had a great time.

I haven't really thought about it but I'll look into it! How's everyone today? I'm feeling much better today than I did yesterday but i think I took it a little hard this morning because I practically jumped up out of bed and started walking without giving myself a gentle wake-up. I'm still having some gas in my belly and chest after I eat but I was able to drink about 24oz of water yesterday, some protein, and a cup of jello. I saw a recipe where you can put protein right into a box of jello and it masks the taste so i'm excited to try that today. Hopefully will see more improvements from you all.

Hang in there! I had my surgery done on the 17th and as soon as I woke up aftee the procedure i was regretting it. The pain and nausea was so bad that I couldn't sleep for the first few days and was held in the hospital an extra day. I'm on day 4 and things aren't 100% but SO much better. Walking has really helped ease the pain and gas-x strips have been a life saver. Even at 4 days i'm not getting enough liquid but was able to drink almost 16oz of water, 2oz of protein, and a whole 3oz cup of sugar free jello. Each day gets a little bit better. Feel free to msg me if you need someone to talk to.

Yep, I'm having this now. I'm taking gas-x strips, walking for 10-20 min every hour, and using a heating pad on the area. This combination has been keeping the pain at a minimum.

Hi sunmeadow, thanks for checking in! I am able to take in about 8oz of water today without feeling nausea. My stomach still spasms and tries to force gas out and I feel it getting stuck in my chest but compared to yesterday I am doing much better! I am also still getting gurgles in my throat and my incisions are very painful today. The codeine has helped but is also very painful to take. Have you been able to get any sleep or walk around? I'm afraid all of my walking has irritater my incisions since I have to walk hunched over. I feel a lot of pressure in my chest and upper back and wonder if it is gas.

Thank you for sharing your experiences! I'm deeply sorry that you're also experiencing issues but also relieved to hear what I'm going through is normal. I think things would speed up if I could get a decent amount of sleep without someone waking me up every 20-30 minutes and sticking a needle in me! Have you been able to walk around? I've been able to shuffle around for 15-20 minutes every few hours which helps a little with the gas and digestion but really irritates my muscle and belly. Do you feel any gurgling in your new stomach after drinking? I can handle the pain of the incision and my back pain but the stomach spasms are doing me in! I'm so afraid if I do go home today and lose my IV i'll get dehydrated. I've only been able to sip about 2oz of water an hour with 5-10 minutes between each sip. No bowel movement since Sunday and i'm wondering if that's another reason for the stomach pain as I was pretty "regular" before starting the pre-op diet for a few weeks. I've taken in maybe 3oz of protein since yesterday and i know i need to do better.

How did everyone do? I haven't been able to take in fluids without dry heaving or getting dizzy so I am stuck here another night. BP was a little high so i've been on meds for that as well as pain meds and anti-nausea. The worst pain was probably an 8 right after surgery and it sits aorund a 5-6 before meds.

That's an incredible difference! Can you speak on how the plastics pain was in comparison to VSG post-op pain?

Congrats! Glad to hear the surgery went well.

I'm starting my first day of pre-op liquid. I work a pretty high-stress job and I tend to snack lightly through the day and have a big lunch around 2:30pm when I can catch a break. My morning ritual is a few boiled eggs and vanilla protein shake mixed with decaf coffee to tide me over until about 10am - today it's only the protein shake coffee. Can you all give me some suggestions on how to have a "filling" meal on the liquid diet? It's barely 8am here and my head hunger is already screaming because I know I won't be able to eat anything solid for a few weeks as my surgery is next Monday, July 17th!

Thank you for the info! I assume 11 days out of surgery - how has the pain been?

I'm still pre-op so I don't have the same experience as you, but what I'm doing right now during my liquid phase is adding decaf coffee to my protein shake to change the flavor. I use vanilla Premier and 1/4 cup of strong decaf coffee tastes almost like an expensive Starbucks drink. It goes down a lot easier.

Thank you all! Day #3 - I can do this!

Just wanted to stop by and say congrats on the surgery date! We're getting sleeved on the same day. Will keep you in my thoughts! I've scheduled a week off of work then doing 1/2 days the next week (11am-3pm) if I can handle it. Maybe you can do a few 1/2 days to slowly ease back into working.