vikingbeast

Way back in the Bad Old Days, I was on whopping doses of not one, but two blood pressure medications, one of which had a Water pill (diuretic) baked into it... and still my blood pressure was usually about 140/85, so barely controlled at all. When I had my VSG, my primary care doctor told me to take one dose of the one with the water pill the day after surgery to help me pee out the surgery Fluid and then leave off taking it. I continued on the amlodipine at 10 mg.
A week and a half later I had my blood pressure taken in the office and it was a bit low, so my doctor started me on 5 mg a day, but told me to monitor my blood pressure each morning before taking it. If it was normal, don't take the drug; and if it was normal for four days straight, to leave off taking the drug altogether and send him a message. Today was the fourth day. I took my blood pressure this morning as always, and it was 118/65.
I am no longer on blood pressure medication, which was arguably my biggest reason for getting the surgery done!
I've only lost 33 lbs. since surgery and have 84 to go, but apparently my circulatory system appreciated it and I went from barely-controlled-with-two-big-doses to no medication needed at all in a day short of three weeks.

We have a huge thread about NSVs (non-scale victories) but I wanted to share a scale-related one.
As I posted in another thread, I had to go to the emergency room. Once I was in intake and triage, of course the first thing they said was "hop up on the scale please."
And for the first time in my adult life, I didn't dread it. I didn't dread a nasty "guess what we found those 8 pounds you lost and they brought their cousins" number. I didn't even empty my pockets.
It felt so liberating.

Ya, this is an oldie but a common problem... and I did the same thing, ran over and gave my fiancé a huge hug and a kiss.
If you're reading this and thinking the original post applies to you... there's an easy way to lose 200 lbs. really quickly via dumping syndrome... as in, dumping the unsupportive loser. Let him be jealous when you're a 10 outside as well as inside and he's stuck at a 4... maybe.

I have had to purée meat before when taking care of someone with eating issues, and the Magic Bullet (which sounds like something very different but really is a blender) is top notch.

Best of luck!! I'm on Tuesday and the anxiety is real!

Hi @lizonaplane (my almost surgery twin)...

I totally get where you're coming from. And I have hunger too. So my rule now is if I can do something else and distract myself and half an hour later I'm not hungry, then I wasn't really hungry and it's my d-bag brain trying to get me fat again. If I'm still hungry half an hour later, I eat.

I don't know about all these rules. I understand about not grazing, and I understand about eating slowly, but good grief. Set a portion size (one of those 4 oz. Gladwares?) and eat that, then wait an hour and see if you're hungry again. If you're not, you done good. If you are, and you consistently are, then adjust your portion size slightly.

I will say that as I progress to "thicker" foods, I get full way faster—cream Soups fill me up faster than broth soups, etc.

You got this, sister.

Hi @lizonaplane (my almost surgery twin)...

I totally get where you're coming from. And I have hunger too. So my rule now is if I can do something else and distract myself and half an hour later I'm not hungry, then I wasn't really hungry and it's my d-bag brain trying to get me fat again. If I'm still hungry half an hour later, I eat.

I don't know about all these rules. I understand about not grazing, and I understand about eating slowly, but good grief. Set a portion size (one of those 4 oz. Gladwares?) and eat that, then wait an hour and see if you're hungry again. If you're not, you done good. If you are, and you consistently are, then adjust your portion size slightly.

I will say that as I progress to "thicker" foods, I get full way faster—cream Soups fill me up faster than broth soups, etc.

You got this, sister.

Ya, this is an oldie but a common problem... and I did the same thing, ran over and gave my fiancé a huge hug and a kiss.
If you're reading this and thinking the original post applies to you... there's an easy way to lose 200 lbs. really quickly via dumping syndrome... as in, dumping the unsupportive loser. Let him be jealous when you're a 10 outside as well as inside and he's stuck at a 4... maybe.

Oh no! PCS during recovery!
A few options:
1. Pack a cooler with Protein Shakes in case you end up in some food desert (LOOKING AT YOU WESTERN TEXAS) with nothing you can eat. Also, get some Isopure which helps with Protein if you're truly stuck.
2. Meal prep some if you can. Maybe you can freeze it and keep ice on it? I transported frozen pork roll from New Jersey to California in February in the cab of my truck.
3. Order small portions at restaurants and then just throw away what you can't eat. Wasteful, but better than starvation.
Also, just to reassure you—truck stops have AMAZING c-stores with things like protein shakes and Protein Bars and cheeses and things. Like, I was blown away that in way-the-he||-and-gone western Oklahoma, the Love's Travel Stop had a HUGE range of stuff that would be bariatric-friendly.
If there's stuff you can eat now that you love that's Georgia-specific (my dad used to live outside of Brunswick), take some with you for comfort. Boiled peanuts spring to mind...
If you want, share the route and maybe I and other Bariatric Pals can share suggestions for places to go. I've driven all over this country.

Update on my progress.
1. Took out the catheter yesterday morning. The nurse said it would just about "fall out". The nurse lied. Things are still tender there. I understand why they sent me home with the catheter, but definitely my least favorite part of this whole process.
2. I'm now officially 48 hrs post-op. I used narcotic pain meds until this morning. Now I am alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen at the surgeon's instruction. Yes I know that we sleevers shouldn't use many nsaids, but his opinion was to do about 800mg/day for a few days to manage pain and help with the swelling. I doubt I have any significant issues over that short time frame.
3. Getting a bit tired of sleeping in a recliner, but it is easier on my body to do so. Make sure you have a chair you really like, because you are going to be spending some quality time there.
4. I haven't yet removed the compression wraps they sent me home in. Tomorrow I'm allowed to shower for the first time and it will be nice to see what everything looks like under the compression.
All in all, I feel like I'm doing well. Some discomfort when transitioning from place to place, but overall OK. Of course I may still be enjoying that Exparel and worse days are ahead. I've read from others on the forum that days 2,3,4 were the worst. So far, day 2 is OK.
More to come tomorrow after I get out of the compression wraps for the first time.

Hi @lizonaplane (my almost surgery twin)...

I totally get where you're coming from. And I have hunger too. So my rule now is if I can do something else and distract myself and half an hour later I'm not hungry, then I wasn't really hungry and it's my d-bag brain trying to get me fat again. If I'm still hungry half an hour later, I eat.

I don't know about all these rules. I understand about not grazing, and I understand about eating slowly, but good grief. Set a portion size (one of those 4 oz. Gladwares?) and eat that, then wait an hour and see if you're hungry again. If you're not, you done good. If you are, and you consistently are, then adjust your portion size slightly.

I will say that as I progress to "thicker" foods, I get full way faster—cream Soups fill me up faster than broth soups, etc.

You got this, sister.

This is totally the "three week stall" that so many people (literally, there's more than 100,000 posts about it just here alone) talk about. It's not always at three weeks and it can last for a little while. Just keep doing your thing and sticking to your plan and it WILL come off. At the end of the day it's calories in vs. calories out and there's no way you're eating enough calories with a VSG to be able to overcome your daily metabolism.
Much more likely that your body has finished dumping its excess Water weight PLUS all the fluids they jam into you during surgery... the stall will break and you will lose weight again.

We have a huge thread about NSVs (non-scale victories) but I wanted to share a scale-related one.
As I posted in another thread, I had to go to the emergency room. Once I was in intake and triage, of course the first thing they said was "hop up on the scale please."
And for the first time in my adult life, I didn't dread it. I didn't dread a nasty "guess what we found those 8 pounds you lost and they brought their cousins" number. I didn't even empty my pockets.
It felt so liberating.

This is totally the "three week stall" that so many people (literally, there's more than 100,000 posts about it just here alone) talk about. It's not always at three weeks and it can last for a little while. Just keep doing your thing and sticking to your plan and it WILL come off. At the end of the day it's calories in vs. calories out and there's no way you're eating enough calories with a VSG to be able to overcome your daily metabolism.
Much more likely that your body has finished dumping its excess Water weight PLUS all the fluids they jam into you during surgery... the stall will break and you will lose weight again.

We have a huge thread about NSVs (non-scale victories) but I wanted to share a scale-related one.
As I posted in another thread, I had to go to the emergency room. Once I was in intake and triage, of course the first thing they said was "hop up on the scale please."
And for the first time in my adult life, I didn't dread it. I didn't dread a nasty "guess what we found those 8 pounds you lost and they brought their cousins" number. I didn't even empty my pockets.
It felt so liberating.

We have a huge thread about NSVs (non-scale victories) but I wanted to share a scale-related one.
As I posted in another thread, I had to go to the emergency room. Once I was in intake and triage, of course the first thing they said was "hop up on the scale please."
And for the first time in my adult life, I didn't dread it. I didn't dread a nasty "guess what we found those 8 pounds you lost and they brought their cousins" number. I didn't even empty my pockets.
It felt so liberating.

We have a huge thread about NSVs (non-scale victories) but I wanted to share a scale-related one.
As I posted in another thread, I had to go to the emergency room. Once I was in intake and triage, of course the first thing they said was "hop up on the scale please."
And for the first time in my adult life, I didn't dread it. I didn't dread a nasty "guess what we found those 8 pounds you lost and they brought their cousins" number. I didn't even empty my pockets.
It felt so liberating.

Congratulations!
Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Remember in the old dieting days how many dietitians would say two pounds a week is a big loss? You’ve lost 66 in eight weeks… that’s incredible.

Congratulations!
Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Remember in the old dieting days how many dietitians would say two pounds a week is a big loss? You’ve lost 66 in eight weeks… that’s incredible.

When I was in the hospital for my gastric bypass surgery, the first meal tray they brought me had a bowl of fruit cocktail! Apparently, they were out of sugar-free Jello, and they decided that fruit cocktail was the best substitution they had. When the nurse came in and saw it, she gasped and said, "You didn't eat any of that, did you?" and went to give the food service people a talking-to.

We have a huge thread about NSVs (non-scale victories) but I wanted to share a scale-related one.
As I posted in another thread, I had to go to the emergency room. Once I was in intake and triage, of course the first thing they said was "hop up on the scale please."
And for the first time in my adult life, I didn't dread it. I didn't dread a nasty "guess what we found those 8 pounds you lost and they brought their cousins" number. I didn't even empty my pockets.
It felt so liberating.

We have a huge thread about NSVs (non-scale victories) but I wanted to share a scale-related one.
As I posted in another thread, I had to go to the emergency room. Once I was in intake and triage, of course the first thing they said was "hop up on the scale please."
And for the first time in my adult life, I didn't dread it. I didn't dread a nasty "guess what we found those 8 pounds you lost and they brought their cousins" number. I didn't even empty my pockets.
It felt so liberating.

So I ended up back in the hospital last night... nothing to do with my bariatric surgery. A 🤬spider bit me and caused a huge flare of cellulitis. (I'm home now and now just on oral antibiotics rather than "nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure" IV antibiotics.)
But while I was there I mentioned I was on a liquid diet due to bariatric surgery. I should have been more specific... a tray showed up with sugary Jell-O, clear broth (which I did drink), and regular ol' apple juice.
My dismay must have been obvious because My Super Awesome Nurse frowned a bit and said, "Didn't you say you were on liquids because of BARIATRIC surgery?" loud enough for the nutrition person to hear.
"Yes," I said, "I need a bariatric diet."
And lo, they brought forth stuff I could eat... cream of rice, more broth, diet juice, Protein Shake, yoghurt, sugar-free pudding, sugar-free Jell-O. The Breakfast tray was more than I could have eaten all day... and then three hours later another tray appeared!
When I was discharged, My Super Awesome Nurse said, "That stuff is just going to get thrown out... put it in your bookbag and take it with you!"
It makes me wonder what that hospital expects their immediately post-op patients to be able to consume! But hey, I've got food for two days now.
Now I just need to get rid of all the Fluid they pumped into me.

We have a huge thread about NSVs (non-scale victories) but I wanted to share a scale-related one.
As I posted in another thread, I had to go to the emergency room. Once I was in intake and triage, of course the first thing they said was "hop up on the scale please."
And for the first time in my adult life, I didn't dread it. I didn't dread a nasty "guess what we found those 8 pounds you lost and they brought their cousins" number. I didn't even empty my pockets.
It felt so liberating.

We have a huge thread about NSVs (non-scale victories) but I wanted to share a scale-related one.
As I posted in another thread, I had to go to the emergency room. Once I was in intake and triage, of course the first thing they said was "hop up on the scale please."
And for the first time in my adult life, I didn't dread it. I didn't dread a nasty "guess what we found those 8 pounds you lost and they brought their cousins" number. I didn't even empty my pockets.
It felt so liberating.