Esi

Just bought some. It was on list of approved liquids. I’ll come back with an update once I’ve sipped 😋

I think many of us feel a sense of sadness and loss after surgery. To me, it keeps reminding me of getting out of a bad romantic relationship. There's a period of time after the breakup when I get lonely and a little frantic and I consider going back even if I know the relationship is completely toxic. But when people keep going back into a toxic relationship, they just keep getting sicker and sadder.
I don't want that anymore for me with my relationship with food. When you break up and get out of a bad relationship, you have to mourn the loss of that relationship, even if it sucked. It filled a hole in your life. But just like when you break up with somebody, you have to find new things to validate you or to bring you joy.
You are grieving habits that weren't good for you, but soon you'll start to find new things to help you feel better. Hopefully they will be good healthy things for your life. For me it has been exercising, spending time with friends, and probably spending a little bit too much money on new clothes lol.
I'm not really sure if this is exactly the way you're feeling, but I just thought I would tell you what's been going through my mind the past month in case it is the same. I sure hope you get through the mourning process soon, and you can have peace with your choice.

Hang in there, I had a hard time initially, too. Different issues, but I even asked my surgeon at the Post-op visit if I made the right decision.
I hear you with the strict schedule, and not feeling like there is enough time in a day to get in everything as far as Protein and Water. I will say that after a couple months, it became second nature, and I was able to drink a lot faster. Most days I meet my goals now. And although I really mourned the foods I could not eat at first, they have become less interesting as time has passed, and I have changed what I buy and cook for my family in order to help all of us.
Stay the course, continue seeing the therapist for support, and know that it does get better!

They happen. Just stick to your plan & they will break. Your body is taking a break to catch up with all the changes - diet, weight loss, surgery, etc. It’s been through a lot.
I never changed a thing I was doing (why stress my body more) & I always started to lose again. You will too.
Good luck.

Thank you so much they are so good they legit taste like chocolate candy bars and no bad aftertaste like others.

I struggled to drink Water for about two months. After that, I can drink a cup in about five minutes. No problem.
I am one of the few people who struggled with nausea and vomiting until about seven weeks. At one point, I was vomiting eight times a day, even while on anti-nausea medicines around the clock. But I don’t vomit anymore, and rarely get nauseous.
I have been able to swallow pills since the day after surgery. I did get nauseous from them and vomited, but I had no problem swallowing them and getting them down.
yes, very tired after surgery. I was not able to work until eight weeks. But again, I had issues with vomiting.
No dumping, was able to get off acid reflux medicine after six weeks, no GERD.

Me again. Thanks to your feedback, I think that I will wait until November to have the surgery. I'll take off Thanksgiving week, the week after, and then have 2 weeks until winter break. Parent-teacher conferences will be finished and I will have plenty of time to recover and adjust.
Trying to look for the positive, I am thinking that I should take these next 4 months to focus on preparing my body for surgery. I have been working with the dietitian, and making some changes, but cannot lose too much weight as I will no longer qualify. So far I have lost 6 pounds. Is there anything else that you wise people suggest that I work on to prepare myself for the surgery and big life change?

I agree with the others. I was a lower BMI too and I am losing it much slower than the average poster on here but it has been 4.5 months and the scale still keeps slowly creeping down. The important thing is that it is going down. This is a very effective tool. If you are using it correctly it will work. (That’s hard for many of us to believe After so many failed weight loss attempts in the past but you just have to trust the process).

I have been able to swallow capsules and pills starting the week of surgery. I spaced them 10 minutes apart, and swallowed with plenty of Water. As others have mentioned, no NSAIDs ever again, with the exception of baby aspirin.
I had issues with nausea and vomiting, however, and quickly found out that pills were a trigger, even when I had them with food. I am a few months out now and can take them, but had to switch to liquid for some of them, crush others, and cut others, for weeks. You may want to purchase a pill crusher/cutter just in case. I found it for a few dollars at the grocery store. GL!

These taste awesome!
https://www.missionfoods.com/products/protein-tortilla-wraps/

Drops in energy, sugar dips, blood pressure drops are not uncommon in the months after surgery & can make you feel light headed, have various degrees of nausea, cold sweats &/or general weakness. This could be what you’re experiencing. Try some electrolyte drinks. I found hydralyte really helpful.
Hopefully, you will be like many of us when you near or reach goal & will need a puffer coat in mid summer when you go to the grocery store. Brrrrr! So cold. No fat left to insulate the body.

I was allowed pure juice that had zero added sugar. 100% apple or cranberry juice is a nice change once a day (4-8 oz.) if it helps get in the fluids. However, it sounds like different programs recommend different beverages.

Swim dress or skirt. Not sure how you would hide the arms but I do know many people now wear those scuba type shirts/tees to swim in to better cover their bodies from the sun as seen in these pics at the link........

https://www.womanwithin.com/products/chlorine-resistant-zip-front-long-sleeve-swim-shirt/1044196.html#start=1&sz=60&cgid=WW_Swim
https://www.womanwithin.com/products/three-quarter-sleeve-swim-tee/1046535.html#cgid=WW_Swim&start=1

Unsalted pumpkin seeds. I put them on my salads. Love them!

As others wrote, it does get better. I also had thoughts of, Did I make the right decision? However, even with complications, things did improve and the results so far are amazing. It got better with each diet phase as it felt like I was returning to normal more…yet without hunger pangs. It was 6 weeks before I ate around others outside of my household, so there is plenty of time for future events!
I hear you about triggers. I mourned a lot of foods for weeks, and because I was too sick to cook at first, my family ordered takeout. Tough to watch! Now, for a BBQ, instead of a whole hot dog with bun, I took a small bite of hot dog and it fulfilled me. And like others suggested, always bring your own drink, and perhaps even a dish that is safe for you. GL and hang in there! 😀

stand alone sleeve isn't that old. It was just becoming popular when I got my RNY six years ago - it was becoming the non-RNY replacement for the lapband. It'd been around longer than that, but I don't think much.
if you want longer-term stats, maybe research the DS (duodenal switch). The DS is an old surgery, and it uses a sleeved stomach. In fact, that's where they got the idea for the standalone sleeve. The DS used to be done in two stages (usually - not always). They do a sleeved stomach and then later go back in and bypass the small intestine (now most DS's are done in one surgery). They discovered that a lot of people lost weight with just the phase 1 (sleeved stomach), so they started offering that as a standalone surgery.

I had my surgery Monday. Tuesday while in hospital I found out my son died in a car accident. I’m grieving so bad and reaching out to you all for prayers

I have not found great information on long term (10 years) results with the sleeve. I understand its relatively new but I thought maybe some of you might have received this info from your Docs. I'm probably just not searching with the proper words. Thank you for any help on this.

I am 14 months post op but I remember the feeling of regret and depression like it was yesterday! My family ate as if nothing changed (and for them it hadn’t). But I felt alone, sad and like I had made a terrible mistake and like you said…there was no turning back!
It lasted about 10 weeks for me. Once I was out of the purée/soft food phases things did get better!
I also had a talk with my family about what I needed from them and how they could help me by eating the foods they wanted outside of the house or just not around me at all. I felt selfish asking, but they were all happy to do it! They actually felt bad for the thought never crossing their minds!
I didn’t tell anyone about my surgery besides my close family so I didn’t go to the get together, cookouts, gatherings either!
My advise? Go to the cookouts when you’re ready!
I say all of this to say… it does get easier!! You will get past this phase and you will be happy that you made this decision! I’m sorry it’s sucks right now, but your future self with thank you!! ❤️

It is weird! People clearly were “careful” around me with their discussions. I guess I’m general I didn’t realize how fat phobic people are (I mean, on some level I realized it, but didn’t know if was done so openly). In some ways I feel like pulling out an old picture of me to show them, in other ways the anonymity of my current fit appearing status is nice.

Not sure if this approach will work for you, as it depends in your temperament and nature, but here goes:
What helps/helped me was understanding/accepting that nothing is forever, and implementing a sort of MO of Delayed Gratification.
While I didn’t really want to eat “fast foods”during weight loss phase, I did start to want Desserts near the end of it. So I was all, Yeah, that cookie has 300 cals in it, so it’s probably not a good choice NOW, but maybe I can have it LATER.
In maintenance, I still do this. And in maintenance I eat a much wider variety of food than before (including dessert!) If I want to eat something when Im not actually hungry, OR if I want to eat something that is ridiculously high in calories when I am, I wait 30-60 mins or so and see if i still want it, and if I still do, then i eat it!
The majority of the times I end up not eating it (or just have a couple bites)…it also helps ME that I track everything I eat/drink. When faced with that 300 cal cookie, a quick peek at MFP will likely determine if i goes in my mouth or not.
On another note, sometimes if I know I’m going to be eating alot of cals at some event or other, i’ll lower my cal intake either before or after…it all evens out in the end.
so this is my long-winded response to say that in my opinion only, fast food/desserts/whatever is not bad or the devil or anything. Its the impulse-control/regulation that needs tending. The easier-said-than-done-trick is to take a PAUSE. Which sounds to me is exactly that the OP did in her drive-by of McD’s (the store being busy notwithstanding, lol) Consider that a win!
No need to shame oneself for wanting it, nor demonize the thing you want. Faced with a dilemma, you chose wisely for your given situation . That deserves a pat on the back ❤️

Yes, I had extremely painful esophageal spasms in the first few days. They were worse with swallowing too much liquid, too fast, too cold, and terrible from pills. It was like a knot mid-chest that radiated across my chest. Took 20 minutes to resolve each time. I crushed or chewed pills for a week, or asked for liquid meds. The spasms eventually subsided, after a week, but were replaced by nausea and vomiting for weeks.
It has now stopped at two months. Surgeon said my pouch was just very sensitive, and the surgery itself can irritate the esophagus. Hang in there!

costco sells pre-packaged meat & cheese Snacks (310 calories per). I usually divide them into 2 small tupperware for snacks or just eat it for dinner lol
They also have small snack packs of chicken but they taste a little too vinegar for my taste BUT they're only 100 calories.
Good luck!

Protein bars: I like Built
Quest chips
Beef Jerky
String cheese
RTD Protein Shakes
Wasabi peas or roasted chickpeas

Hi,

for Snacks I usually have a bag of walnuts, cheese sticks, crackers or rice cakes.