Maribelle76

Hi everyone! Just checking in five days post op. I've been feeling pretty good! My 3rd day after surgery was the turning point when I started feeling better. I think that was when all the surgery meds were out of my system. The nausea went away at that point and I didn't have any real pain just a little discomfort.
I have been doing fine getting my Water in, and today is the first day that I think I'll be able to do all of my Protein Shakes. I am also allowed to have some pureed food. I had a few ounces of pureed cream Soup two days ago and it was good. Yesterday I tried pureed refried Beans and those were satisfying.
I haven't had any problems with my sleeve hurting when I eat or drink. I am pretty cautious in my sip/bite sizes, probably from my years of terrible experiences with my lap band.
I had no interest in food whatsoever for the first few days after my band, and I really haven't felt hunger yet. I have noticed myself paying more attention to some foods on advertisements or when I am cooking and serving my children their meals. But overall it has been very easy to control. I think part of it is knowing that I can have any food I want eventually in small amounts at some point in the future. That makes me feel less obsessive about it.
This week I want to work on getting my calories up a little bit. I think I've only been around 200- 300 calories a day, and I had a dream last night where my hair was falling out, so I think my body is telling me to get a little more nutrition in there.
My main issue now is a lack of a BM. I hadn't had one for at least a few days before surgery and I haven't had any since then so that's like seven or eight days. I've been taking Miralax since before surgery and every day since then, so I don't think it is a water issue. I think I have motility issues with my actual intestines, and I'm sure the tiny amounts that I'm eating aren't helping that. I'm feeling a little bit bloated but not any pains. I probably will call my doctor on Monday and see if I need to add some sort of Fiber supplement to help.
Anyway things are good so far. I hope everybody else who still recuperating is doing well, and good luck to those of you who are having surgery this week!

Hi everyone! Just checking in five days post op. I've been feeling pretty good! My 3rd day after surgery was the turning point when I started feeling better. I think that was when all the surgery meds were out of my system. The nausea went away at that point and I didn't have any real pain just a little discomfort.
I have been doing fine getting my Water in, and today is the first day that I think I'll be able to do all of my Protein Shakes. I am also allowed to have some pureed food. I had a few ounces of pureed cream Soup two days ago and it was good. Yesterday I tried pureed refried Beans and those were satisfying.
I haven't had any problems with my sleeve hurting when I eat or drink. I am pretty cautious in my sip/bite sizes, probably from my years of terrible experiences with my lap band.
I had no interest in food whatsoever for the first few days after my band, and I really haven't felt hunger yet. I have noticed myself paying more attention to some foods on advertisements or when I am cooking and serving my children their meals. But overall it has been very easy to control. I think part of it is knowing that I can have any food I want eventually in small amounts at some point in the future. That makes me feel less obsessive about it.
This week I want to work on getting my calories up a little bit. I think I've only been around 200- 300 calories a day, and I had a dream last night where my hair was falling out, so I think my body is telling me to get a little more nutrition in there.
My main issue now is a lack of a BM. I hadn't had one for at least a few days before surgery and I haven't had any since then so that's like seven or eight days. I've been taking Miralax since before surgery and every day since then, so I don't think it is a water issue. I think I have motility issues with my actual intestines, and I'm sure the tiny amounts that I'm eating aren't helping that. I'm feeling a little bit bloated but not any pains. I probably will call my doctor on Monday and see if I need to add some sort of Fiber supplement to help.
Anyway things are good so far. I hope everybody else who still recuperating is doing well, and good luck to those of you who are having surgery this week!

When I got a little nervous, I read back though the April, May, and June surgery thread, and I noticed that the surgery seems pretty safe. Reading story after story about good itchiness was reassuring. Did you know it is more dangerous to have a C-section than the sleeve?

@Maribelle76 Glad you’re feeling better. The bowel movement will come. It happened to be today, 3 days post op. Go ahead and do the Milanta if you’d like. Like you said…getting the calories in gas been a huge task. I barely got in 350 yesterday but reached my Water goal.

Hi everyone! Just checking in five days post op. I've been feeling pretty good! My 3rd day after surgery was the turning point when I started feeling better. I think that was when all the surgery meds were out of my system. The nausea went away at that point and I didn't have any real pain just a little discomfort.
I have been doing fine getting my Water in, and today is the first day that I think I'll be able to do all of my Protein Shakes. I am also allowed to have some pureed food. I had a few ounces of pureed cream Soup two days ago and it was good. Yesterday I tried pureed refried Beans and those were satisfying.
I haven't had any problems with my sleeve hurting when I eat or drink. I am pretty cautious in my sip/bite sizes, probably from my years of terrible experiences with my lap band.
I had no interest in food whatsoever for the first few days after my band, and I really haven't felt hunger yet. I have noticed myself paying more attention to some foods on advertisements or when I am cooking and serving my children their meals. But overall it has been very easy to control. I think part of it is knowing that I can have any food I want eventually in small amounts at some point in the future. That makes me feel less obsessive about it.
This week I want to work on getting my calories up a little bit. I think I've only been around 200- 300 calories a day, and I had a dream last night where my hair was falling out, so I think my body is telling me to get a little more nutrition in there.
My main issue now is a lack of a BM. I hadn't had one for at least a few days before surgery and I haven't had any since then so that's like seven or eight days. I've been taking Miralax since before surgery and every day since then, so I don't think it is a water issue. I think I have motility issues with my actual intestines, and I'm sure the tiny amounts that I'm eating aren't helping that. I'm feeling a little bit bloated but not any pains. I probably will call my doctor on Monday and see if I need to add some sort of Fiber supplement to help.
Anyway things are good so far. I hope everybody else who still recuperating is doing well, and good luck to those of you who are having surgery this week!

Yes, I think everyone is at least some. I was scared until they put me under anesthesia. I had plenty of second thoughts, but now it’s been seven months and I’ve lost almost 100 lbs and I feel so much healthier, I’m so glad I got over my nerves. I think you will do great! You got this!

@Dayana Luque
Congratulations on your upcoming surgery. I will have mine on that day also! Surgery is also always a little scary for me, too.
When I start to worry, I remind myself that I am confident that this is the right thing for me & know the risk of complications is very small.
Wishing you luck & hoping your fears stress & anxiety decrease before your surgery.

Congratulations! It exciting to know that it is done now. I'm a few days ahead of you in recovery. I hope you're healing well.

Thank you! The surgery went well. I didn't even need to use any of the pain relief from the little button. I was having a lot of problems with nausea though so they kept me very medicated. I got to come home today and I have been taking it easy. I'm still feeling nauseous but not as bad as before. I'm nervous about trying to take any of these pills (they are all optional) because I'm supposed to crush them and I'm worried that the bad taste will make me throw up. Other than that though I'm feeling fine. Can't wait to get past this point. Have no interest in food whatsoever right now.

Try mixing the crushed meds in a couple of spoons of your shake or Soup. If you mix them in a small quantity of liquid you can sip it over a few minutes & ensure you’re getting the full dose. Plus the flavour of the soup or shake may help takeaway any unpleasant taste from the meds.
Once your swelling subsides, usually 3-5 days, you’ll be able to swallow the tablets.
Good luck & congrats on your surgery.

Welcome to the healing side of things. I am 1-week post op today and had this same issue. Just as Arabesque said, mixing them with your shake or some Soup is a great idea. My nutritionist also said using a little sugar free Jello works too. Jello essentially melts in our mouth and stomach so it's ok for phase 2. Congratulations and well wishes on your recovery.

That looks so yummy right now! Lol. Glad it went well.
Today is the day for me (hopefully). I am excited and ready to get this thing over with. I go in at 9:45am EST. I actually slept a little last night which I didn't expect.
I made a mistake...I waited until yesterday to get several things done for today. That meant I was running around town doing errands and preparing on a totally empty stomach. I have done one or two day fasts before, but it hit me a lot harder this time due to the fact that I have been eating so few calories for the past two weeks. I was really worn out. I had to take a lot of time to rest, and I was pretty grumpy to my poor daughter who was stuck with me. I would recommend doing any of your work like cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping before the clear liquid day occurs.
Well, I'm off to the hospital now! Good luck to anybody else going in today.

That looks so yummy right now! Lol. Glad it went well.
Today is the day for me (hopefully). I am excited and ready to get this thing over with. I go in at 9:45am EST. I actually slept a little last night which I didn't expect.
I made a mistake...I waited until yesterday to get several things done for today. That meant I was running around town doing errands and preparing on a totally empty stomach. I have done one or two day fasts before, but it hit me a lot harder this time due to the fact that I have been eating so few calories for the past two weeks. I was really worn out. I had to take a lot of time to rest, and I was pretty grumpy to my poor daughter who was stuck with me. I would recommend doing any of your work like cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping before the clear liquid day occurs.
Well, I'm off to the hospital now! Good luck to anybody else going in today.

Welcome! I struggled the first two days on the diet, too, but then I got on track on the third day. Hopefully it will be the same for you!

It's good to see so many successful surgeries so far in July! It's definitely reassuring.
I'm doing better with the 2 week pre op diet. I was getting dizzy, but I realized I was probably running a little too low on calories. I wasn't making my shakes with milk and my workouts were about 300-400 calories a day, so I added those 3 cups of milk and I feel better.
I ordered a little individual chopper/blender and a mesh strainer. I am not a big fan of the Protein Shake required for purchase (Nectar) at my doctor's office as I just can't get them to mix well, but I found one I like at my gym (Lean Body). I'm getting all stocked up on that.
I have been watching a bunch of My 600-lb Life to mentally prepare lol. It helps me to see some of the mental struggles that they are going through, plus it is a good reminder for me to be able to see other people using excuses and justification because I do that, too. I have a bad habit of talking myself into bad decisions, and it is good to see others overcoming that same problem.
The only thing I am nervous about right now is my surgery getting canceled or him not being able to do the procedure for some reason. I had a band that was removed in emergency surgery about 7 years ago, and although he did an endoscopy and said everything looks fine, I still worry there will be some sort of problem with scar tissue or something. Oh well, no use worrying.
I hope the next 3 days fly by so I can get this over with. Good luck to those of you scheduled for Monday!

Hello beautiful people!

My VSG was on Friday, July 9 at 11:00 AM. It lasted a little bit over an hour. I woke up in the recovery room and the pain was intense, but they were able to take care of it right away. It felt like someone was sitting on my belly for a moment... 😏 They gave me ice chips there, because my mouth was dry. Back to my room, I was up and walking two hours later. The pain was only around the big incision (by my belly button). They brought me a liquid diet trey with goodies (pic) about 2.5 after I was in my room. I didn’t have sore throat or nausea. I was surprised how well I was doing. No gas pain at all. I was up and walking every hour or so. Only issue I had was with urinating as my bladder was “not listening” to me, but they said that’s due to anesthesia and that improved over the time. I slept on my back first night and was interrupted by nurses’ visits to check my vitals. Pain level was about 3 the entire time. Never felt any pain inside, it was mostly when sitting/getting up and moving, around the big incision (1 in). Other 4 incisions are about 1/3 in. All of them are glued and there are no stitches to be taken out. I was released the following day around 4 pm. On the way home, we picked up the prescriptions that were given to me at the hospital. I know, every surgeon gives different meds, but this is what I got.

1. Liquid Children’s Tylenol every 8 hours for 14 days

2. MethocarbamoL, muscle relaxant, 4 times a day for 14 days

3. GasEx every 6 hours for 30 days

4. Miralax daily for 30 days

5. Omeprazole (GARD) daily for 180 days

6. Lovenox shots (blood clotting) for 14 days

My follow up with the surgeon is in one week and some new meds (gallbladder stones) and Vitamins will be added.

Altogether, I was surprised how well I was doing in the hospital pain wise. I’m adjusting at home and every day is a little bit better. I’m able to sleep on my left side (Dr said it’s OK). My main goal is to stay hydrated, as I can have only 3-4 oz of liquid every hour.

Hope everyone is recovering nicely. And good luck to others with surgeries later in June!

I wouldn't worry too much. It takes 6 to 8 hours for food to move out of your stomach and 36 hours for it to pass totally through your system. And the doctors don't even mess with anything beyond the stomach, so honestly I don't think they would have even known you ate it unless you told them. My doctor allows regular food like broccoli and carrots up until day 12, then day 13 (the day before surgery) is all liquids. You will be fine!

Welcome! I struggled the first two days on the diet, too, but then I got on track on the third day. Hopefully it will be the same for you!

Hi! I am feeling unprepared, too, for my surgery on Tuesday. The good news is that the vast majority of this is out of our hands so it doesn't really matter what we do to be prepared. I hope everything goes well for you tomorrow! What time is your surgery?

I’ll start!

I’m channeling my inner Elle Woods today 😂

Lolli -
This will work sweetie..It will. I was wondering how much you have to lose. Also, did you just start working out after surgery or were you working out before. BC we all know muscle weighs more than fat.
Just apply COMMON SENSE. You did just get a crap load of stomach cut out of your body, you are eating 600 calories a day, and you are jogging. You are gonna lose the weight, NO DOUBT. But our bodies have a lot of special functions and protections and sometimes it doesn't come off exactly when we want it to.
I hope you can cry today, and then tomorrow reinvest in this process. It will work.
Maybe your doc was thinking out loud, but there could be a reason the doctor couldn't find in that moment. People seem to lose at different paces and those that have not been able to lose as much usually complain about not having enough restriction which just might mean it was a surgery problem like too much tummy left.
And usually people with just a little bit of weight to lose seem to get a slower start, but they still lose about 1/2 of their weight around the 3.5 to 4 month mark.
Hang in there girly.

Doctors' philosophy on this vary from a few weeks to never again depending upon their experiences. The basic issues are:
Healing - alcohol is somewhat corrosive to the stomach lining so one needs to give things a chance to heal first, Typically we see a few weeks to a few months sited for this.
Alcohol tolerance - rapid stomach emptying means it tends to hit faster, and with less (i.e., a "cheap drunk") so care must be taken there,
Transfer addiction - we can no longer satisfy whatever addictive tendencies we have with food, so it is easy to transfer that addiction to something else, like alcohol, drugs, shopping, gambling, etc. What was a casual habit of a glass of wine with dinner occasionally can easily turn into full blown alcoholism.
Liver health - starting as morbidly obese, or worse, our livers are not usually in very good shape to begin with (hence the "liver shrinking" pre-op diets that are often prescribed) and the liver is further stressed from its role in metabolizing all that fat that we are rapidly losing. It doesn't need any more stress from ingesting a known liver toxin like alcohol (not a judgemental thing, just our physiology at work).
My surgeon is also a biliopancreatic (livers and pancreas) transplant surgeon, so he is in the no alcohol as long as we are losing weight camp (and ideally forever) and indeed we sign a contract to that effect - he doesn't want any of his bariatric patients coming back onto his transplant table!
Those are the issues in play, and some aspects bother different surgeons to different degrees, so they have different policies. Check with what your surgeon's policy is, and decide for yourself - we are all adults here.

My PreOp was food - high Protein low carbs. I wouldn’t worry as the whole process is to shrink and soften your liver. Mention to your doctor or say nothing. A friend who did Bariatric said she didn’t stick to hers and it still happened.
I had a chicken burger and french fries with a soft drink a couple of days before my surgery and my liver had shrunk and there were no complications and my dr said they didn’t need the tool to lift they could use a stitch xx hope this helps

Maribelle,
I hope everything goes smoothly with your surgery. Wishing you a successful & effective procedure. Glad that you are feeling better on the pre op. 😊

It's good to see so many successful surgeries so far in July! It's definitely reassuring.
I'm doing better with the 2 week pre op diet. I was getting dizzy, but I realized I was probably running a little too low on calories. I wasn't making my shakes with milk and my workouts were about 300-400 calories a day, so I added those 3 cups of milk and I feel better.
I ordered a little individual chopper/blender and a mesh strainer. I am not a big fan of the Protein Shake required for purchase (Nectar) at my doctor's office as I just can't get them to mix well, but I found one I like at my gym (Lean Body). I'm getting all stocked up on that.
I have been watching a bunch of My 600-lb Life to mentally prepare lol. It helps me to see some of the mental struggles that they are going through, plus it is a good reminder for me to be able to see other people using excuses and justification because I do that, too. I have a bad habit of talking myself into bad decisions, and it is good to see others overcoming that same problem.
The only thing I am nervous about right now is my surgery getting canceled or him not being able to do the procedure for some reason. I had a band that was removed in emergency surgery about 7 years ago, and although he did an endoscopy and said everything looks fine, I still worry there will be some sort of problem with scar tissue or something. Oh well, no use worrying.
I hope the next 3 days fly by so I can get this over with. Good luck to those of you scheduled for Monday!