Tony B - NJ

Definitely not enough! You have to start forcing liquids. You should be getting a minimum of 64 ounces. Even those who have not had this surgery are recommended 8 ounces of water per day. It will aid in your healing, digestion, bowel movements, prevent retaining water etc, etc. Get drinking!

Everyone is different. I had not issues getting water down at all at your stage. I could drink more than 2 oz at a time. If you can do 2 oz at a time, you are in good shape. I try to get 24-32 oz before lunch, same in the afternoon and the same after dinner. If you can get atleast 64 ounces in, you are doing OK. I usually shoot for 80-90. I do not count coffee which I usually do 3 cups a day. When I am struggling getting water down I try decaf tea or bone broth/protein soup.

It will keep getting better. It is funny....I can eat steak, pork, chicken, fish etc but to this day, 5 months post op I cannot eat salad. The lettuce is just too stringy and it does not go down and break down well for me. The other issue for me with salad is that it is mostly water and has very little protein so to me it is not "efficient" as a meal if I am not getting my allotment of protein. Same with vegetables, I know they are good for me but I need the protein so I get very few veggies. I guess that is why we are on such high levels of vitamins.

My Doctor said it was OK to stay on certain phases of the diet until I felt ready to go to the next stage. If you are not ready to go to solids, you can continue soft or puree or whatever you are on. The important thing this close after surgery is to get in your water and protein. It gets better, hang in there. I had similar issues and now I have very few things I struggle eating. Interesting enough, I struggle the most with Broccoli and Chicken Breast but I am ok with chicken thighs and cauliflower. It seems random at times but you just make adjustments and keep going forward.

I was only affected by the incisions for the first 3 days or so. After that I was able to sleep on my side and occassionally ended up on my stomach. I am primarily a side sleeper. The first couple of days though, sleeping on my side would pull on the stiches as my body shifted to the side.

From a personal standpoint, I found that some foods were not as appealing to me as they were in the past. At the same time I found that some foods that I did not particularly like were good to me now. My tastes did change but mostly went back to where they were before after a few months. I think the biggest thing at your stage that I saw was getting accustomed to eating differently, particularly at restaurants. The traditional, bread, app and meal were not possible for me any longer so I just order a main course or appetizer. I am much more satisfied with that now, and pick off my wife's plate if she has an appetizer.

Wow...what kind of place do you work at that you have to request bathroom trips? I cannot see me working at such a place.

You will see a drastic improvement in a week from how you feel right now. I don't think you really will need any accommodations. If anything, you will need to be able to get up and walk around atleast once an hour to keep things moving and aid in healing. I seriously doubt after 2 weeks you will have much pain or weakness.

Initial weight - 293 current weight - 206 date of surgery - 8/31/2021

This is why I say, and the OP denies it, that there is some type of communication problem. I do not think it is a bad thing to stop the protein shakes, especially if you cannot get food down because they are so filling. I think that is reasonable. But, one meal per day is not only unbelievable, but it is borderline malpractice and clearly unhealthy. I find it hard to believe any doctor would prescribe such a thing.

I don't think it is possible to live off that little nutrition. Good luck, I think there has to be some type of misunderstanding going on.

I would ask the surgeon again and maybe consult the nutritionist. I cannot believe this is accurate.

Not a fan of the shakes but saying protein doesnt matter and to only eat one meal a day is a little out there in my view.

As of today, my BMI is 29.8 and I am officially overweight. Sounds kind of funny to be happy to be classified as overweight to those who have not struggled as obese for many years. I am super motivated to get to my next goal! I have set up many interim goals for myself to shoot for that are more attainable than a long term goal. My next goal is to get below 200 pounds (8 to go) and then to hit 100 pounds lost (15 to go). After that I will set up goals for BMI levels until I get to where I feel comfortable at a particular point.

Try Unjury chicken soup protein. It is 21 grams of protein in 10 ounces of fluid. It is pretty tasty and goes down much beter for me than the sweet shakes that I liked at one time but and so far over them now. I have been using Unjury for a couple months to supplement my protein and it is working quite well.

Amy....my surgery was the day before yours and I have experienced the same thing in the past month or so. This past week however things have gotten moving again. I have lost 4 pounds in the past week. I actually INCREASED my calorie intake and INCREASED my walking. I have been focusing on drinking more as well. I started out at 293 and am today 208, about the same loss as you. It is also important to make sure you are counting EVERYTHING. It is too easy to leave out cheese, dressing, condiments, oil or margarine used in cooking etc. Your true calorie intake may be bigger than you know.

I agree with the lentil pasta. It is very good and the difference between that and actual pasta is hardly even noticeable. I will say that I have trouble with real pasta for some reason, it just sits very, very heavy on me but the lentil is so much better for me.

You can’t go wrong with canned tuna, chicken or salmon to start with. Goes down nice with minimal chewing and is loaded with protein!

Good luck. It really depends on what the insurance company says is an allowable charge which is usually way lower than the hospital says. If that is what they go off, it should not be very much money....I would say less than 5K in US dollars.

I am a little more than 4 months post surgery and I am seeing similar issues. I lost almost 80 pounds overall but find that I reach plateaus and sit there at that weight for a while. I am still under 1000 calories per day and walk around 4 miles a day, trying to keep active. I watch the protein, drink 80 ounces of water per day and try to do everything I am told to do. Right now I have been stuck at 216-217 for 2 weeks. This morning I dropped to 214 so I hope it is another stall broken and I drift down for a couple weeks. I want to get to under 200 pounds but it has become more and more difficult. Being cold outside is not helping because I would like to exercise more but at 20 degrees, it is hard to stay outside. I hope to drift down slowly then when spring comes, really go crazy riding my bike and walking and get down below 200 quickly after that.

I had a very similar experience but I did go into the office around the same time as you did. I think it actually helped me recover because I was walking around and staying active. It is sometimes easy to settle in and get too comfortable at home.

6 days then right back to work.

good to know! I am also having pain from sleeping on my side. I guess it is a better problem to have than the extra weight. I do feel my bony butt pain getting a little better though as you said.

I have been taking the UNJURY chicken broth protein powder. You mix it up in warm (not hot) water and drink it. It has 21 grams of protein in 8 ounces. 90 calories so it is really not bad to get the protein in. I got so sick of sweet protein shakes that I needed a change. If you need the full 30 grams of protein like a premeir protein shake, use a scoop and a half in 12 ounces...still much easier to get down than a protein shake and the calories are the same.

Try the sugar free gatorade. I tried the blue Glacier Freeze sugar free gatorade and it made a huge difference and I can easily plow down a 24 ounce cup. I drink one in the morning and one at night. In the afternoon I get the remainder of my water from sipping regular water, drinking chicken or beef broth or from a protein shake.