Creekimp13

I drink half a premiere caramel shake in my coffee almost daily.

I'd probably get a salad and have a bite or two of hubby's pizza:) Will the world end? Nope. Is it the best thing for you? Nope. it's a judgement call. You're allowed to be human, but be really careful about the slippery slope! Also...if you do this? GO SLOW. Three or four bites, then wait fifteen minutes. It might be all you want.

Can't speak for everyone, but I know I did. Had my surgery 12/5. Feeling great, eating well, no regrets:)

Protien powders in pureed soup. Yogurt. Cottage cheese. Oatmeal thinned with milk. Best to check with your program and see what they recommend as each program is different. Pureed foods on day four seems a bit soon to me, but again, each program is different. Best wishes!

Correct.

If you're hungry an hour after you eat...you might be eating too many high glycemic index carbs...like white bread, white rice, refined sugar and flour. When you eat these delicious little jerks.....they hit your blood stream super fast....and your pancreas compensates by producing a ton of insulin really fast. The insulin balances the sugar and then has some left over...so now your body is going....we have too much insulin...must eat, must find sugar! And you end up hungry again. And around and around you go. It's a very vicious cycle. Try to watch refined high glycemic carbs to avoid the boomerang hunger:)

Not having enough thyroid will do this. Make sure you get your meds and regular monitoring. Having your thyroid level out of whack will mess with all your hard work, particularly if your thyroid has been removed. Make it a priority. Being low on thyroid will trigger hunger...which is why your off switch is stuck:( Address the thyroid first.

Try oatmeal for breakfast. You can get 100 calorie packets of sugar free instant oatmeal. Nice low glycemic index carb will last a while and won't cause an insulin spike or hunger. And Oats are great for heart health.

Different doctors do all sorts of weirdness. My group had us carb load the day before surgery with like 36 ounces of white grape juice! But we didn't do sugar drinks after surgery. We also had the infamous vanilla anchovy shakes....shiver! God, they were bad. LOL

My doctor said in a seminar that at least once a week someone bursts into tears at the hospital thinking they made a mistake. He says that by 6 months, those people are nearly universally happy with their decision.

Record your temperature and heart rate every few hours. If they start going up...report this to the doctor.

Keeping in touch with your doc is a great idea. If you get behind for too many days....instead of ending up int he ER, they can have you come to the office and run a bag of fluids into you IV to help keep you going until you can drink well.

This topic baffles me. I got out of bed two hours after surgery, started walking, took as few pain meds as the nurses would allow, and got home the next day. Took one dose of narcotic meds orally the night I got home...to get a good night's sleep and never took any again. I walked constantly and felt terrific. I did take a little regular Tylenol for a couple days at the insistence of my hubby and daughter. I have had dental work that was significantly more painful than this surgery. All that said? I have not experienced the OP's pain. Individuals vary greatly. So I'm certainly not trying to cast aspersions. I do have to say, though...that pain meds can slow the gut and hiding pain isn't always the best idea. Discomfort exists to keep us from injuring ourselves. If I'm stretching or stressing a subcutaneous incision site...I'd rather it hurt so I can change position...than not hurt and sleep on it all night wrong and stress it. Pain stinks...but some pain can be useful and protective. (unless it's crazy out of control)

This summer, my eight year old niece came to visit, and my daughter was home, too. My daughter is in her early 20's, and has been my biggest cheerleader for weight loss surgery. She's a microbiology major (microbiologist study viruses, bacteria and fungus) pursuing entomology in grad school....entomology is the study of insects...but with microbio she can apply this to medical research, insect vector spread illness, microbial food science, pharmaceuticals, etc. We had her for a month before she left for her internship this summer:) So anyway...My little niecey was coming and I was loading the grocery cart with "kid food"....spaghetti O's and Captain Crunch and pringles and ginger snaps and pizza rolls...and a dozen other crimes against nutrition.....and my daughter.....put her foot down. "Mom, why are you buying that crap?" "Because little Chickadee isn't on a diet, I am." "Um...we all share genetics, Mom, this isn't a kindness. And watching her eat junk could be a weird pathological transference of food addiction." "So, I shouldn't buy any kid friendly food?" "You're on a serious diet preparing for surgery. You don't need to buy this crap. No, you don't. Why don't you let me handle getting things for her?" I'm always amused when my daughter puts her foot down with me...so I conceded. But my daughter didn't buy anything....which worried me. A couple days later, little Chickadee came for her week long visit, and we went grocery shopping. She adores her big cousin. Two peas in a pod...both biology nuts. They go canoeing and hiking and look at pond water under the microscope and collect bugs and play weird genetics games online together. So we're at the store and my daughter goes..."Chickadee, pick out three things you'd like to try. Any three fruits or vegetables that you want." Chickadee thought this was fun...so she picked out....an eggplant (because it was purple), a starfruit (because it was cool), and a hunk of ginger root (because she wondered what it was). After we got home, my daughter showed Chickadee a bunch of recipes using the three ingredients, and asked her which ones she'd like to try. They decided on a Thai chicken dish because it used both the ginger and the eggplant, and the starfruit could be part of a sweet salad. Chickadee was thrilled with ginger tea. Slice the root up with a little honey and lemon....she was all about it. Yum! Then, they got in this huge discussion about plants and bugs and coconut milk.....and how kitchens are really laboratories....and that tons of chemistry and physics and biology goes into cooking. And they made an Amazing...Healthy...Dinner. Chickadee was proud of it. She learned all sorts of stuff...had a wonderful time with her big cousin....and no one ate spaghetti O's. For the rest of her visit we planned our meals around the produce that Chickadee picked...(with a few gentle suggestions from her cousin) At the end of the week we all went to a farmer's market and Chickadee fell in love. She brought home all sorts of healthy foods to try, and got some succulents and flowers....and spent way less money than I would have spent on junk food...half of which would have been thrown out. I'm humbled by what a cool kid I raised and what an awesome mom she's gonna be someday. Or professor, or researcher, or maybe all three. And I stayed on my damned diet and really loved watching the girls make better choices for themselves.

You could get dehydrated and end up in the ER if you don't get your fluids in. Try this: Pour four tiny one ounce shot glasses of fluid every hour. Drink each of them in ten tiny sips over fifteen minutes. Don't drink more than one ounce every 15 minutes. If you do this every hour that you are awake...you'll get your 64oz in. Alternate four ounces of clear fluids for one hour, then four ounces of protein drink the next. Thin the protein drink if you have to. If you get nauseated, switch back to water. It's a pain in the arse....but the more you drink, the easier it will get.

Holy smoke, Sassy! Lookin good! Well done:)

Ok, this is a funny side note... My daughter has been sad that I have not suffered more nausea since my surgery last month. Of course she's happy I'm doing well and feel good.....but she'd given me strict instructions to save a sample of my vomit if I happened to.....because she wanted to study the changes in my gut microbiota since the surgery. "Just a little bit...stick it in the freezer for me!" Don't ask how we got the presurgical sample. LOLOLOLOLOL Scientists are creepy people. But alas...so far....no puking. So she's outta luck. We agree that forcing a vomiting for her curiosity post surgically is dangerous and unacceptable. "So Mom, how you feeling? Any nausea?" "No, you vulture!!!!" Mad cackling...

She is. I think it skips a generation. Bahahahaha!

What you are experiencing is not normal or acceptable. Demand that your doctor do appropriate diagnostics and take active steps to resolve the issues, or find someone else who will actually help you. I am so sorry you're experiencing this.

Don't ya just love that? Nice work!

I had horrific mental fog during the preop diet and the first two weeks when I was eating few carbs and few calories. By week three I was getting 1000 calories a day, more complex carbs, and felt a LOT more like myself. Keep in mind...glucose is the only fuel the human brain uses. If your blood sugar is low, it makes sense that your brain will struggle a little. Also...your brain uses a tremendous amount of energy...about 20% of your resting metabolic calories...go to power your brain.

Been a LONG time since I've felt attention from strangers, but it's undeniably coming back. And you know what? I'm not sure how I feel about it. Part of me is flattered and enjoys it. Part of me is pissed about the injustice of it. And then there's this scheming part of me that thinks...fat middle aged women can commit the perfect crimes because they're utterly invisible and no one suspects them. Do I really want to give that up? LOL:)

Snacks are so sneaky. They can add hundreds of calories in a blink that you didn't even realize you ate. Food journaling is a really good idea. It's a pain in the butt....but it keeps you honest with yourself, and helps point out the trouble spots. One thing we should all keep in mind about our kids...is that they share our genetics. Working on healthier eating habits could be a family project. (Not saying kids shouldn't get some treats along the way....but the basic everyday diet really doesn't have to include so much overly processed salty sugary stuff). My daughter was a skinny kid and teen...just like I was. Then, predictably, hit the same pattern I did in her early 20's of gaining weight. She's been my biggest advocate for weight loss surgery. We email each other recipes, new products we've found that we like, and try to cook really healthy when she visits, go on walks, swim at the Y, and support each other's fitness goals. It's making a difference for her. Whereas my weight got really out of control by my late 20's....hers is improving and her eating habits are a lot better. We're always going to struggle with our weight....one of my bigger regrets is not working on changing our home diet when she was younger.

Oh man, that stinks. So sorry for your bad luck. It sounds like you are in very good hands, and that the situation is under control. I'm so glad the infection is being aggressively addressed so the healing can begin. Stay strong.