AZhiker

Exercise. Taking a walk is so therapeutic on so many levels.

You will be freezing cold for the first year. This was a totally new experience for me, since I was always the one who was too hot. But after 12-15 months or so, things got back to normal and I don't feel so cold anymore.

If your breathing became compromised during the procedure (not uncommon in obese patients), a jaw thrust maneuver would have been done. Firm pressure behind the jaw is used to push the jaw forward and open the airway. You can be very sore from this. If actual glands are swollen, that is a sign of infection.

I went from basically living on Aleve daily to absolutely no joint pain at all! I already had one knee replacement before surgery, and the 2nd one was coming up soon, from the bone-on-bone pain. But now the joint space has opened up and doc says I may never need the 2nd knee replacement! There is no pain in my knees, hips or back now. Amazing, My inflammatory markers are down, as well. Interestingly, I used to get a butterfly rash on my face whenever I was under stress. Lupus test was always negative, but there was obviously some kind of autoimmune reaction happening and I never get that rash now,

yes. saggy.

Like the others, I was not able to advance my diet as quickly as my plan prescribed. I relied on protein shakes and bone broth as my staples and very gradually added in cottage cheese and yogurt, then some refried beans thinned with broth. Meats, fish and eggs did not agree with me for months. You have to listen to your body on this, as far as how to advance to the soft foods. HOWEVER, fluid is NON-NEGOTIABLE! You have to get the fluids in, period. 64 oz was prescribed on my plan. Then the protein. You just have to sip the protein shakes all through the day if you need to. Premier Protein has 30 gms, and other nutrients, so even if you don't eat anything else, getting 2 of those shakes down each day will at least get your protein in, as well as more than 300 calories. As far as vitamins go, if you use capsules, you can open them and mix with your shakes if you have to. Otherwise, try to swallow the capsules. Don't use pills. There are also chewables. After the fluids and protein, you start adding the pureed and soft foods very very slowly, as you can tolerate them. A few bites is enough if that is all you can tolerate. I could only eat about 2 oz of anything at first. 1/4 c of cottage cheese or yogurt was more than enough. This is your work. Fluids, protein, food as tolerated. Sip, sip, sip. One little sip at a time. One spoon of broth at a time. It's how you have to do it. It will get better with every month, but

I was given liquid tylenol and used the liquid at home for the first couple of weeks.

Children of alcoholic parents often get stuck in a care giving role of responsibility for the parent. They end up being thrust into a parental like role, which is enabling and unhealthy. You are NOT responsible for your mom, for her decisions, for her lies to the doctor, for her weight loss or lack there of, or for her long term success or failure. You are only responsible for YOU. For heavens sake, go to your OWN follow up appointments and let her go to hers. You are each on your own journeys in this. She is not going to stop drinking or smoking because of this surgery, and she may well develop complications because of that. You are not responsible for that - SHE is. She has you wrapped around her little finger. You can love your mom and wish the best for her, but you cannot live her life for her. You have one big job right now and that is to take care of YOU! Get yourself out of the house and back to college. You are putting your own success at risk by trying so hard to ensure your mom's success - but that is HER journey, not yours. I strongly suggest you get to some Alanon meetings and learn how to be supportive without enabling, and how to take care of yourself. Please do this, or get some kind of counselling. Alcoholism is not a benign disorder. It deeply affects all members of a family in profound and damaging ways, You are on a whole new path now - a path to a healthy, long, happy life. You will be making many dietary and lifestyle changes, and I can tell you are determined to do this well and be successful. I truly believe you will achieve your goals in this. Be warned that your mom is probably going to try to undermine you, as her own progress slows down because of her compromises. You need to be as far away as possible so you can disconnect yourself from her issues. Your own life is complicated enough, and a responsible young lady like you does not need to be looking out for Mom. She is a grown up and can look out for herself and make her own choices. Please use this time to get healthy in every way - including mentally and psychologically. Some counselling regarding the alcoholic influence will be very helpful. Very best wishes to you.

I would just get some plant based protein powder that you like and mix up your own. I took my own drinks to the hospital, since I did not want to drink the protein goo they had, or eat artificially flavored/colored jello. I took my own gluten free broth and protein drinks. Turns out the hospital did have a GF broth that was very tasty, and that was great, Just to say that you do not have to eat what they offer you if you bring your own.

I was also on soft foods. Looking back at my food log, I see that I was eating eggs, 1/4 c cottage cheese, yogurt, beans, cheese. Then I added 1- 2 oz of salmon, 2 oz calf liver, lentil soup. Then 2 oz chicken, 1/8 avacado, 2 oz ground beef, 2 oz cod,

I don't think I started vitamins until week 2.

My presurgery endoscope found a Barrett's polyp that could have turned cancerous. So again, like others, a good thing to find while it is still treatable. BTW, surgery completely resolved my GERD and reversed the Barrett's esophagus. Amazing!

This may sound strange, but I just LOVED refried beans. I would thin them with some broth and sometimes add a little bit of liquid from the salsa jar. I could slowly suck down those beans and just feel like I was in heaven! For me, it was a great food to feel good about - all healthy, high protein, filling, smooth and tasty, and you really are not going to overeat beans, for goodness sake, like you might pancakes or anything sweet.

I think capsules are preferred over pills/tablets. I take a calcium citrate capsule and the Bariatric Pal multi vit with iron that is also a capsule. My D3 and B-12 are small tablets that I suck and sort of dissolve in my mouth before swallowing.

Day 3 is rough. Hang in there. It really will get better. Your #1 goal is to get your fluids in!!!!!!! Protein is not as important as fluids. Sip whatever protein shake you can, but you must get the other fluids in as the top priority. Get up and get walking. I know it's hard, but it really will help. It doesn't have to be a lot, but you've got to do it throughout the day. If you haven't gotten a step tracker yet, get one. It doesn't have to be a fancy expensive one. I think I found some for about $25 on Amazon. It will help motivate you to get moving. Blood clots are real (I know cuz I got them after surgery) and moving is the best way to prevent them. This will get better, promise. From this point on, each day should get a little bit better. Congrats on a new life ahead!

It is hard for me to get in enough at work, as well, since I am in a clinical area. What I do is drink 16 oz of herbal tea as soon as I get up, and I try to get another 16 oz in on my way to work. By the time I get there, it is time to pee off the first mug. I then try to get 16 oz during the day, and then 16 oz again in the evening. By keeping on this schedule, I can get 64 oz in on a work day.

Agree that the virus particles are small enough to go through anything, BUT..... for the most part, they are carried by droplets. The masks decrease the spread of droplets through the air by keeping the exhaled droplets close to your face.

I work in a GI department. There is no difference in the prep for WLS patients. They do just fine - at least just as fine as anyone else. No one is actually thrilled with it. Some tolerate it better than others, but I have not seen any correlation between tolerance and WLS.

Wearing a mask keeps your germs close to your own face instead of spreading them out to others. Your mask protects the people around you, Their masks protect you. A properly fitted N-95 actually filters out the particles and protects you. However, the key is to have a properly fitted mask. Healthcare workers are fit tested annually to ensure they have the proper size and know how to test it for fit. They use these masks when caring for patients with airborne infections. N-95 masks are not easy to wear. They are quite hot and difficult to breathe through, as every bit of air is going through the mask. Furthermore, if the mask gets wet or damp from condensation, it is worthless. I laugh when I see people out and about with N-95's that are obviously not fitted well. They are only as effective as a simple paper or cloth mask, but give the wearer a false sense of security. So, to answer your question, yes, wearing masks offers a layer of protection from the virus. But everyone has to be wearing one. If 99 people wear a mask and 1 person who has the virus does not wear one, then everyone is at higher risk. But...... you cannot be touching your mask, and it needs to be kept clean. Also, wearing it below your nose is pointless. As to what kind of mask to wear, the LEAST effective are the single layer neck gators. Double layer cloth masks and the paper surgical masks are about the same and are effective. Keeping your hands clean and not touching your face are just as important as wearing a mask. These measures will also help prevent the flu. Any by the way, people, GET YOUR FLU SHOTS! This is NOT the year to skip it. I can only imagine how bad it would be to get the flu and Covid at the same time.

wear them as long as you can, and then pick up some items from second hand stores or the cheap sale racks at WalMart. You are going to drop at least a size every month, so spend as little as you can, Fortunately for me, the hospital provides the scrubs I wear at work, so I never had to buy work clothes. Sure was fun to watch the sizes drop from XXL to SMALL!!!!!!!!!! It's a great time to rethink your final wardrobe - like what color palette you would like. I often bought large clothes just because they fit - not necessarily because they went with anything else I had. It was so fun to get rid of the color catastrophe and choose pieces that complemented each other. Makes my closet smaller and much more coordinated.

More time - you are still healing. And wear loose pants.

8 pounds is NOT fat. It is water and stool, if you are constipated. You cannot gain 8 pounds of fat in 1 week. That would require at least 3500 extra calories a day, and you are not doing that. So don't get disheartened. Deal with the constipation and drink lots of water. Try to get a full night's sleep every night. You will probably have a ginormous poop and loose a bunch of weight all a once.

I agree that with a little time, the sagginess does get better. I was 62 when I had surgery and had a real turkey neck after the weight loss. I was really embarrassed, as I had a lot more facial wrinkles as well. But so many people told me I looked younger that I just had to chose to believe them and stop being ashamed at my new body which was amazing in every other way. Now 20 months post op, it isn't so bad. I've seen women my age that have more wrinkles and saggier necks than me, without having had weight loss. A lot depends on the light and angle. We are very hard on ourselves when we scrutinize ourselves in the mirror. When I look at photos now, I don't look half bad! I just found a "before" picture that is utterly horrifying. I never really knew how fat I looked. I'll take a little neck sag any time!!!!

One of the best things I did before surgery was to give up the addictive substances - sugar, caffeine, soda, alcohol, artificial sweeteners. Recovery is hard enough without having a caffeine headache or sugar cravings. It made things much easier post op and I would suggest it to everyone.

At the beginning of COVID, I got sick with a respiratory/shortness of breath/fatigue/fever problem. Thought for sure it was COVID, but two antibody tests have been negative. Anyway, it knocked the socks off me for a couple of months, actually, and I dropped off my exercise. Until then I was doing a lot of things, including 60 flights of stair a day, weights, walking, biking, and swimming. Needless to say, I gained about 7 pounds. But I am happy to report that today I got back to my goal weight and I am sooooo happy about that. I have been increasing my exercise a bit, now with cooler weather (still 95, but feels heavenly after 115!) , and have monitored my carbs and nuts a bit closer. I am still doing IF, which I think is a great tool. And I have found that exercising in a fasting state not only makes me feel better DURING the exercise, but great afterwards, too. I did a 20 mile bike ride the other day in a fasting state and it was one of the best rides I have ever had. Maybe it's ketosis euphoria, but it sure felt good and like I could have gone another 20. The longer I get out from surgery, the more "normal" my eating becomes, and I am gradually learning what I have to do to feel strong, maintain the weight, and not get stressed out over it. The key with weight gain is to nip it in the bud. Don't let it get to 10 pounds - drop it dead in its tracks before it gets that far down the road. Regain does not happen overnight. It actually comes on gradually unless you just stop weighing yourself, start pigging out on unhealthy food, and just go into denial about the whole thing. I used to have nightmares about waking up and finding myself having regained all my weight. AAGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! But it doesn't happen that way. Weighing daily, and jumping back on track when only a few pounds up is the way to keep it off for good, I am convinced. I don't stress about it any more, because I know this is actually do-able! I will have to keep watching carefully as I move toward the 2 and 3 year marks. Hang in there, everyone. Knock it out of the park! Keep with your plans, get your exercise in, and enjoy your new lives!!!!!