nomdeplume

Most, if not all, programs have strict guidelines for their patients to follow. I would suggest consulting with your surgeon's office. For me, at one-month post-op, I was still on the pureed phase. For each phase, I wasn't allowed to advance until I got the all-clear to do so.

I use about 3 cups of baby spinach, half of a banana, 1 cup of strawberries, 1 cup of blueberries, 1/4 cup of pineapple, and 1 cup of light soy milk. You honestly can't even taste the spinach. If you're looking for a low carb version, replace the banana with an avocado and stick with berries and pitted fruit.

I’m a few weeks shy of 11-months post-op. I didn’t have any major complications. Had surgery on a Thursday morning and was released from the hospital the following afternoon. I was up and walking two hours after surgery. I didn’t have any issues with nausea. Pain was minimal. As far as weight loss goes, I’m ahead of schedule, so to speak—at least according to my surgeon’s office. At my 9-month follow-up, I had already lost 67% of my excess body weight. At this point, I’m almost at my goal weight, which was set by my surgeon’s office. All in all, weight-loss surgery was the best decision of my life. I have no regrets.

Prior to surgery, I used to sleep on my left side. Following surgery, however, I started sleeping on my right side. In the early days, I would use extra pillows so my head wasn't lying flat. Seemed to work well for me.

Early on, I would use Milk of magnesia, a temporary fix, just to get things moving, so to speak. After bringing up the issue with my surgeon's office, they suggested I start taking a daily probiotic. I also started putting Benefiber in my water. For no other reason than to save myself some money, I've stopped taking both the probiotic and Benefiber and replaced it with a homemade green smoothie every morning, as fruits and vegetables are naturally high in fiber. That seems to have done the trick. For me, anyway.

I had that same problem. But my surgeon only allowed 4 ounces, as that counted as a meal. The Cookies & Cream flavor, for some reason, hurt my stomach. After that, I started making my own protein shakes using Isopure protein powder.

It's prohibited on my plan. I was warned about it on the day of my initial consultation. Because of that, prior to having surgery, I weaned myself off of caffeine and carbonated beverages.

That's a common fear many of us have, I think. But at one week post-op, I was still on a full-liquid diet. There's not a lot of restriction with liquids, so it's easy to feel like you're "eating" more than you should be able to, if that makes sense.

Congratulations! I wish you the best of luck.

I was told the same thing. I had to wait a month before starting the pill again. My surgeon explained that it was to prevent any possible blood clots. During surgery, they gave me some kind a medication that interfered with my birth control. Due to that, two days after leaving the hospital, Aunt Flow came for an extended visit. My periods have been wonky ever since. I suffer from menorrhagia, so with the pill no longer doing what it was supposed to, I switched to an IUD last month. I couldn't take it anymore.

I've been eating Protein One bars by the makers of Fiber One. They come in four different flavors: Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Fudge, Peanut Butter Chocolate, and Strawberries & Cream. One bar is 90 calories, 10 grams of protein, 11 grams of carbs, and 4 grams of fiber (so 7 net carbs total). Quest protein bars have pretty decent stats. They have around 4 net carbs, I believe. I've never tried them, so I can't say whether or not they're any good.

Wish I only had to wait 30 minutes. My surgeon requires his patients to wait an hour after eating.

Results will vary, regardless of which surgery a person has had. It's not just the surgery itself that is a factor. BMI plays a part, as well as genetics, age, plus a number of other factors. At my 6-month checkup, I'd lost a total of 110 pounds. I was told that, by 6-months, they expect patients to have lost 50% of their excess body weight. Which I'd accomplished. At 9-months post-op, I'm still losing weight. I've lost 67% of my excess body weight, according to my surgeon's nurse practitioner. But that was 17 pounds ago. I don't regret choosing the sleeve, if that helps.

I couldn’t eat much once I advanced to the soft food stage. A couple tablespoons and I was full. I’m 9-months post-op, and right now, I can eat between 3-4 ounces of food, depending upon whatever it is I’m eating at the time. Never more than 4 ounces, and I’m always full afterward.

I'd been leaning toward getting the sleeve. I'd done a lot of research and figured it was the best option for me. I wasn't opposed to having the bypass, I just wasn’t too keen on the idea of having my intestines rerouted. Plus, I wanted to avoid issues with malabsorption and dumping syndrome. However, when I had my consultation, I was told my BMI was too high for the doctor to even consider doing the bypass on me. I did manage to lose enough weight during the 6-month medically supervised diet requirement to qualify for the bypass, but I still chose to move forward with the sleeve.

The way it was explained to me was that, once I could get at least 60 grams of protein in by way of actual food, I could discontinue the protein shakes. I still have a protein shake in the morning, for no other reason than because it's a fast and easy way to start my day off with a good amount of protein. I don't need them anymore, but I prefer them.

Something similar happened to me. I’m on birth control, but during surgery, whatever medication they used interfered with it. I had to sign a paper acknowledging this. Two days post-op, my period came. Then, out of the blue, two weeks later, it was back again. My surgeon told me I couldn’t start taking birth control again until I was 30 days post-op to prevent blood clots. The medication plus the 30-day hiatus messed with my whole system. I’m now 7 months post-op and, unfortunately, my periods are still wonky.

Between 5-6 months post-op, I could tolerate steak without a problem (around 3 oz and well done). How he managed it that early, I'll never know. I was scared to try it, to be honest. I'm glad I did, though. It's a great source of protein.

No, it's not a forever thing. The way it was explained to me was that, once I start getting an adequate amount of protein from actual food (at least 60 grams per day), then I can stop supplementing my diet with protein shakes. I'm almost there myself, so I'll be stopping the shakes soon. I would suggest talking it over with your doctor/nutritionist, just to get their input.

I use both the Unflavored and Cookies and Cream flavor by Isopure. The Unflavored is good for cooking and baking. The Cookies and Cream flavor tastes more like graham crackers, but I enjoy the flavor. I mix it with just plain water or fat-free Fairlife milk. Ispopure has a variety of flavors to choose from: Colombian Coffee, Dutch Chocolate, Mint Chocolate, Alpine Punch, Apple Melon, Creamy Vanilla, Mango Peach, Natural Vanilla, Pineapple Orange, Strawberries and Cream, Toasted Coconut, Vanilla Salted, and a few others, depending on where you buy. I purchase mine from Amazon.

I actually discussed this with my PCP today. She said it could be one of three things, though only two of them were likely in my case. Either a bladder infection or something she explained happens when a person loses a significant amount of weight. Basically, you have a lot of tissue in that area due to the excess weight, but when you start dropping the pounds, you lose the padding, so to speak, that allows you to hold your urine the way you normally would. Of course, she was more eloquent when explaining it to me, but I can’t remember her exact wording or terminology. If my urinalysis comes back normal, she suggested I try Kegel exercises to see if it helps.

That’s awesome! I had surgery on May 10th, too. I know what you mean about it being too good to be true. I’m honestly shocked every time I get on the scale, considering I started at 491 pounds. I tend to weigh myself weekly. Even if the scale doesn’t show much progress, I count every ounce as a victory.

I just advanced to phase 3 yesterday (soft foods), which allows me to have half a piece of 100% whole wheat toast with margarine. I tried it this morning for breakfast and didn’t have any issues with it.

I didn’t start the pureed phase until I was 2 weeks post-op, and I was on it for 6 weeks.

I would check with your surgeon. I was given a sheet with all the acceptable medications I could take (following surgery) for various things. Benefiber, Colace, Milk of Magnesia, and MiraLAX were on the approved list for constipation. Make sure you're getting plenty of water. Walking is also supposed to help with digestive function.