Jenwill630

Oh man!!!!

Healing vibes to you!!!!

I had herniated my L5/S1 disc in the fall of 2015 and finally had surgery to repair it in Spring 2016.
My recovery was absolute hell.
While I was able to walk, it certainly was not without pain. While the surgery helped the numbness in my leg, my back felt worse>

I had an endless cycle happening.......my weight was not helping with the back pain and the back pain was not helping in my effort to lose weight.

After the 1st month of having Gastric Bypass, I was able to get out of bed without having to roll out of bed, I was able to walk without pain and then I started to TRULY exercise again.

Don't compare your journey to anyone else's.

We all hit our own "rock bottom" that acts as our final decision to have the surgery....for some they are 215 pounds, for others, they are 515 pounds. But we eventually have all gotten to that point or we wouldn't be sharing our stories on here.

Eat your Protein, stick to your plan, drink your Water, get some exercise, get good rest and you will be hitting your goal before you know it!

My doctor and NUT do not want me to be deprived.
They feel there is a place and time for everything, dessert included.

Their advice to me is to not make it an everyday thing and when I do have it, to include it with my meal.
I am to have my Protein first, my veggie and then instead of whatever carb I have with my dinner (half the time I can't even get to that point, I am so full) to have whatever that dessert is. 9 out of 10 times, I am only able to have a bite or 2 of it.

On 3/20/2019 at 2:05 PM, sisotowbelle84 said:

I live about 30 minutes from Punxsutawney... 40 mins from Johnstown... about 1 hour from Pittsburgh/Altoona lol that area.

Thank you! I've been in bed by 6 PM most days. My mother actually called me lazy a few weeks ago. It eats at me but do I get off my butt and try? No... I need to keep positive... and I do have a few channels in mind for exercise. I just hope this funk I'm in passes and I can pull my head out of my butt...

Then you aren't that far from me. I am near Kittanning.

I had my surgery on 1-28 at Butler.

Has your Dr. done any blood tests to see how your levels are?

I had my RNY on 1-29-18 and no complications.

I was up and walking 2 hours after surgery and made it a point that every hour to get up and do a lap around the hallway then come back and do my incentive spirometer.
I was released the next day which was great.
I took tylenol the day after I was home for the slight aches I had from the incisions and didn't have to take any since.

It has been trial and error with foods I can tolerate.....I can't do anything with Tomato paste, beef is OK if ground only, pork has to be very lean and I sadly can not do chicken wings.

Yes!!!
PB2 in my GNC Total Lean 25 banana shakes!!!!
It is awesome!

I also add PB2 to greek yogurt.

I am 8 weeks out.

I eat anywhere from 550-800 calories a day. I've noticed on days I do a harder workout, I do eat to the higher end.

I workout 5 days a week.

Great job!!!!!!!!

I work in Pgh, but live up in Armstrong. Route 28 sucks!

I had my RNY on 1-29 at Butler Hospital by Dr. Daniel Gagne.

Some foods I found good during puree were:

chicken salad
Fat free refried Beans with some salsa for moisture, cheese and sour cream
Broccoli cheese soup
Lobster bisque soup
chili

And a few times during dinner, I just threw a serving size of whatever the family was having into my mini food processor.

Did you go straight from liquids to soft? Did you do pureed food?
If not, try to puree your food. And make sure it is moist.

Some foods I found to be good were chicken salad, chili, and fat free refried Beans with some salsa added, cheese and a little sour cream.

I cleaned my house really good the weekend before.
I froze some Soups that i thought I would like in 1/2 cup containers.

I made the mistake of stocking up on SF Jello.....since the surgery, I can not stand the taste of it.

20 minutes ago, CurvyMom said:

You could try a low sugar spaghetti sauce- Rao's is so good but expensive. But you won't use much so maybe that would work for you. I cannot touch scrambled eggs....I mean i can eat them and then i feel like there is a rock in my gut for hours and I just feel gross. I tried hard boiled in my tuna and that was just as bad....so for now I'm done with eggs. I try veggies once or twice a week and it's usually about 2-3 bites. I don't have the patience to try new stuff every single day or even cook dinner for myself every night. So some nights I eat cottage cheese. I try to cook 5 nights a week in some combination of days plus I pack lunch every day for work.

I went to my first restaurant this weekend- panera- and had broccoli cheese Soup. OMG it was so good....ate about 1/2 of a cup. Tore up the bread to make myself feel like I was going to eat it when I knew there was 0 chance I was putting any of that in my mouth but it was still satisfying

Good luck w/ the gym!

I started going out to eat 2 weeks ago. My rule of thumb is that I do NOT cook on Friday's. LOL
My entire adult life, Friday night was dinner out or take out.
So the first Friday I did that, I had crab stuffed flounder that was baked. It was so so tastewise, but my pouch loved it.

Then last Friday, we ordered out for lunch. There is a place near here called "Zoup"...soups and sandwiches. I had Lobster Bisque. OMG it was the best thing I have eaten since my surgery.
And then for dinner I had chicken pot pie. I really didn't like it very much, but my dog sure did when I brought him home the leftovers. LMAO

Broccoli cheese Soup has been a LIFESAVER to me. For whatever reason, the creamy Soups have been the best texture wise and warmth for my pouch.
For Panera, their vegetarian black bean soup is my fave!

1 hour ago, CurvyMom said:

Hi there! Glad to hear an update from you. I too have had some incidents w/ the foamies- ugh- mostly because I try something I am not ready for yet and cant digest it or I eat too fast or don't chew enough. I did have a sliver of steak and chewed it 1000 times and that went okay. But it was the smallest taste.....

Last week I noticed I was eating too much Avocado mash and cheese and my fats were too high and then I saw my carbs creeping up too high and now I am at a stand still with losses. So back to basics- Protein and maybe veggies if i can manage it. But around 2 ounces of any Protein and I am full, which is frustrating but i guess normal. I had to add back in a shake/protein Water too which sort of stinks.

How are you handling eggs- I hate them. Every single time I eat egg I am completely nauseous. It doesn't matter if it's egg white or whole eggs and what consistency the egg is in. I will try them again in a month or so. So yeah, I think I am losing slowly...too slow but I am tweaking a few things and we will see how it goes.

You are doing great with the gym also! for now I am just doing videos at home but I am doing it consistently and then in two months or so my husband and I are going to join a gym. We are both busy right now running our kids around so I will just use the convenience of videos until I have free time.

The foamies are just horrid. And I also have discovered that i can't eat spaghetti sauce right now. So that is just thrilling. UGH

Eggs....it's funny that you say this. I used to LOVE hardboiled eggs. Now, it just seems too dry for me and I hate them. I can do scrambled eggs though. Especially if I put cheese in them.

I can't wait to eat veggies. I am trying to add a little bit of them in with my meat though. I can only eat 1/4 cup at a time and even sometimes I can't eat all of that!

I used to love a couple of the beachbody workouts. Piyo and Country Heat are faves of mine!!!!
I am really hoping I can just get into the habit of the gym over the next few weeks. My son's baseball season starts in a couple of weeks and before it really gets into hecticness with HS and Legion, I want to start going to the gym in the morning before work and get that habit going.

For a sweet fix, I am enjoying the chocolate oikos with a Tbsp of PB2 mixed in.

You can only control what foods go into your mouth. He has to want it himself and do it himself.

Focus on what you need to do. Hopefully you can serve as a role model and he will follow suit. If not, again, you can only control you.

On 3/2/2019 at 12:03 PM, EspeciallyKK said:

I’m freshly home from the hospital after gastric bypass revision surgery (after a failed lap band). I feel pretty bad still though. Wondered if others had similar issues after:

Diarrhea
Nausea
Impossible to sleep in a comfy position
Groggy and in/out
Trouble getting in the 4oz per hour

Would love to hear your stories. Also, what did you take for nausea? I have the omeprazole for the acid and am taking Tylenol for pain. But the nausea is pretty bad, as in the diarrhea.

I was pretty nauseous the first couple of days after surgery too. My Dr. wrote me a script for Zofran and it helped ALOT.

You are going to be tired the first week afterward. Heck I am 1 month post op and at the end of some days, I just go home and go straight to bed. But it will get better, I am sure of it. The body needs to heal after surgery and that can take a while.

I honestly didn't have any problems getting comfortable in bed after surgery. I slept on my side that night in the hospital. And since home, there is nothing more comfy than getting into bed in a fetal position with my heated blanket!!!!

Just keep sipping your Water every couple of minutes.

The crockpot is a the best appliance I have in my house....even before I had WLS.

We have 5 kids (1 left in the nest and he leaves for school in August!) and they played sports year round, my hubby travels for work and I work full time. There are times I have used the crockpot 3 times a week.

Another thing i just started using is the instant pot. Holy heck does that thing cook fast!!! I love it!

Start looking on pinterest for recipes.....tons and tons of recipes!!!!

Just popping on to say hi and see how all us January post-ops are doing?

I have been back to work since 2 weeks after and last week was the first time in ages I worked out 5 days.
I had tried a couple of times to go to the gym more than 2 days a week, but OMG by the end of the day, I was entirely too tired to go to the gym and wound up in bed by 8. LOL I am still pretty beat at the end of the day, but I am pushing through it. Honestly, Saturday at the gym with my son was probably the best workout I had in months. I had energy and felt really good. It made me wish my gym was closer to my house. I belong to a planet fitness that is on my way home from work. I should just suck it up and go anyway even if it is out of the way on the weekends.

So my eating is going OK, but I have discovered "the foamies" a few times which was NOT fun. At my appointment last week, my Dr. told me to stay eating soft right now and each week try a new food a little tougher. Well last night I decided on steak and I realized it is NOT worth it to have to chew so much for that. I will skip on steak until further down the road. There are plenty of other foods I can enjoy.

I am hoping to loose at least 11 more pounds before the 23rd. That would give me 40 pounds down since surgery.....and I haven't seen my daughter since the day before surgery and would love for her to come home on spring break and just be in shock!

The hubby is being super supportive still which is great. When he is off the road and cooking, he is constantly asking if I can eat what he has in mind for dinner. It makes it nice.

I am 1 month post op.......the noises will continue. My family thinks its hysterical.

I was told never to eat celery due to the "strings" in it. The same with asparagus (although the tips are fine) and green Beans I can only have french cut.

Another thing that I am surprised that nobody has brought up...she is not even 2 weeks post op.
This was major surgery and the body is still healing. Everybody heals differently.

Tell her to make sure she is getting her fluids and her Protein, journal everything that goes in her mouth, start walking and not to worry about things right away.

I have been eating the heck out of the Progresso Lentil Soup. It's like I am addicted to it. LOL

The most helpful things that i took were:
PJ bottoms to wear under the hospital gown
Made sure I had a long charger cord
Biotene mouth spray
Chapstick