TakingABreak

I religiously use Poop-Pourri, its not a miracle by any means, but helps a lot!

- Liquids are good, but you need to be keeping track of liquids with calories. In the first few weeks, you calories should only be 300-500. For liquids that counted towards my "meals" which I had 6x per day (3-4 oz only), I measured and didn't go beyond that. Even if I was hungry, I didn't drink more. You can have unlimited calorie free liquids. - If you are comfortable sleeping on your stomach, go for it. - During my purred phase, I took a bite of something and chewed it up and spit it out in the trash. I wouldn't recommend it, but if he helped you move on in the moment, so be it. You could try crunching on some ice cubes. If you have a Sonic, their ice is prefect for chewing and they sell it by the bag. - I know shoulder pain is and indication of a leak, but my doctor sent me home with a packet of what to look for. You could probably Google symptoms, but make sure you use a reputable resource like WebMD or Mayo Clinic.

I spent the day before surgery in the movie theater. I suppose you could do the same thing at home, but I had to travel for my surgery. I couldn't have anything but clear liquids that last day, and I was miserable. Anyway, me and my husband went to one of those super nice theater's in Chicago with the big, recliners, and watched movie after movie. Probably spent a fortune too, but it took my mind off of everything. We got home around 1am, and I had to be up for a prep at 4:30 am, so I didn't sleep much. I was ready for the nap when they wheeled me back.

My progression looked like this: 1. Clear liquids (during hospital stay) which included popsicles, broth, diluted 100% juice, and jello. 2. Full liquids (1 week) which included strained creamed soups, protein supplements, kefir, skim milk, ect. 3. Purred Foods (1 week) 4. Soft Foods (1 week) 5. Full Diet, minus all the things you should avoid for life.

So if you are like me, often times I buy something and it sits in my closet and by the time I realize it, the expiration for return has passed. I've been doing something a little different lately. I've been buying all my transition clothing from either TJ Maxx or Marshals. They accept all clothing, even without a receipt, as long as the tags are still on. Therefore, I leave the tags on the clothes until I actually wear them. And if I found that I shrunk and they are too big, NO PROBLEM! I just return them for store credit and get something new. I also don't feel hesitant in buying clothes that don't fit yet, because I know that I don't need to worry about the return policy. The best part about it is, they have super cute clothing, especially Marshals. They have 1x-3x (14/16-22/24) in plus size and obviously the standard women's sizes. I find a lot of tops there for around $10, which happens to be cheaper than Walmart most of the time.

I agree 100%. As much as my pre testing sucked due to the distance, I'm glad I had it. I probably could have used a lot more sessions with my NUT as well.

Those moments are ones you’ll never forget! So happy that something positive came from a bad situation! Hang in there!

That is bizarre! Can you change it manually?

Gosh! You look freaking fantastic! Congrats! I have the same amount to lose! I hope I look as good as you do!

Amazing!

Fruit is allowed in my plan. I have a protein smoothie every morning. Mostly strawberry powder with spinach. Sometimes half a banana, hand full of almonds, and chocolate powder. If I really want a treat, I’ll do strawberries, mango, or blueberries. But this is quite rare. This smoothie kicks off my day with 45 grams of protein. It’s not terribly sweet, but the fruit portions are very small.

Have you been measuring inches? If you aren't I would start now. You may be one that has a lot of inches lost before pounds down. Good luck! Xox

I was sent home with liquid Norco. And they crushed all other pills that I had to take in the hospital.

My pain management experience was horrendous. When I was wheeled up to my room, I had to change beds. Immediately from the moment I stood up, it was pretty intense. I hadn't had anything for pain in recovery (for some reason?). I started expressing to my nurse that I was in a lot of pain, so much so, that I couldn't fully hoist myself into bed. The closest I could get was one leg on and the other dangling off. The nurse ignored several requests for pain medication and instead brought me hot packs that she tapped to my gown. I was wheeled to a room around 1:30pm, by 7:30 my doctor made her first round to see me. This was a PCP in charge of my care. She walked into the room and immediately came to my bedside. She asked me why I was "hanging off the bed", and I explained I was in so much pain I couldn't move any further over. The nurse not only did not address my severe pain, nor did she offer to help me further into the bed. She came in 6 times for vitals and saw me in this condition. The doctor said, "I will fix this right now!" and immediately left the room and came back with the nurse. The doctor gave the nurse a huge scolding right in front of me and my husband. Then, I was given IV pain medication, I do believe morphine ,or dilated. She said that she would look into getting me a PCA pump, which would allow me to self administer medication, but she returned saying that the hospital was out of them, and the nurse would have to administer the medication manually. That turned out to be a nightmare, because that meant I would have to ring the nurse every time my dose was needed. Often times, I would have to wait 30+ mins, which sucked when it was the middle of the night and I had gone over the 4-6 hour recommendation. The nurse that was assigned to me that first day, was told not to go near me for the duration of my stay. The charge nurse apologized to me personally during my stay and called me at home to express how that isn't "typical or appropriate" patient care from their hospital. I ended up coming down with Shingles as a result from the stress on my body. I think ultimately, from the first 8 hours I was out of recovery without pain medication. Now I will have shingles episodes on and off during times of stress or when my immune system is compromised for the rest of my life, and I'm only 29 years old. I also suffered from bowels that wouldn't wake up for 4 days, meaning, I could not pass gas, at all. The icing on the cake was that I got the repetitive hiccups, which sucked! Beware that not all hospitals have great patient care. And beware that you may not feel the greatest. I hear that some have absolutely no problems, where others, like me end up in the hospital for 5 nights. Everyone is different.

I experienced a huge influx of flatulence in the first few months post surgery. It was getting to the point where it was uncomfortable and inconvenient. I found that it died down after a few months. There was nothing I did to make it go away. But I wouldn't waist my money on the gas relief stuff, it doesn't work. I laid in the fetal position and rocked back and forth on my back. That seemed to help "knock it loose". Also, make sure you avoid the obvious like, straws, gum, and anything that you would be sucking on to take in additional air.

I doubt it will all fall out. You will have some loss though. Most people do experience shedding.

Mayo Clinic indicates that the hair included in this phase is “scalp, longer hairs on the eyebrow, eyelash, arm, and leg. Therefore, I’m not sure if beard hair is included. Does your beard hair shed on a normal basis? https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/science-hair#2

I totally forgot I started following this thread out of curiosity back in January. And when I got a notification, I was like... what in the world did I have to contribute?! Turns out, I was just a nosey body!

This does seem right, the only odd thing is that many people don't experience it until 3-4 mons post op, not 6 weeks later. Either way, there is science behind it and it won't last forever. Mine has already started slowing down. It was pretty heavy in my 3-4th month.

This does seem right, the only odd thing is that many people don't experience it until 3-4 mons post op, not 6 weeks later. Either way, there is science behind it and it won't last forever. Mine has already started slowing down. It was pretty heavy in my 3-4th month.

It’s my understanding that the hair loss comes during the next natural shedding cycle. Everyone sheds at the end of the “telogen” phase, which is approximately every 3-4 months. It depends on when your surgery is with correlation to your next telogen phase, as to when you will experience hair loss. https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/science-hair#2

I had a goal shirt in my closet I was never able to wear. It was a T-shirt I bought when I went to a Red Sox game a few years ago. I was very naive to think it would have fit back then. I remembered thinking before I had surgery, that I hope I get small enough to wear this. Sure enough, I tried it on last week. It's almost too big. Such a good feeling!

Def a pillow! I had a 3.5 hour drive, and I think my husband hit every pot hole in IL as well.

There hasn't been anything I've made with a Wonton wrapper that I haven't liked. I always have them on hand!

My scale is a crock of crap too! Most of the time its only 4lbs off. But I went to the doctor yesterday to discover it was 9lbs off.... I've known for a long time I needed to get a new one, because, some days I step on it and it says I only way 59lbs. LOL. And then the next day its back to being 4lbs off. Crazy, SMH. I actually just posted about this not too long ago and got some awesome recommendations! I ended up settling on this one... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FHELB56/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A26IMHULYH7PHY