BigSkyLife

Hey there, little late but I flew to Tijuana for vsg. I flew home 3 days after my surgery. I was in the airport all day long. I did fine, but was on an all liquid diet so barely getting 200 calories a day. You'll be almost a month PO so you should be fine. Bring healthy Snacks & a water bottle with you. Also, I CANNOT EXPRESS enough, wear compression socks! I always wear them when flying & for whatever reason I didn't wear them flying home & my legs, ankles & feet were so swollen it was painful & awful. Took 2 days of icing & wearing compression socks all day & elevating my feet in the recliner to get them to go down.

Hope this helps! Any other questions let me know 👍

I added a few drops of sesame oil to cauliflower and broccoli purée and that helped my craving for something savory during the puréed food stage.

OK TO EVERYONE PIST SURGERY !!!!! Congratulations !!!! Give yourself a hand !!!!! It gets easier and easier and when you go from 285 to 141 you will be like ok I LOVE BARBIE CLOTHES 🤗For those of you that don’t exercise you will lose half of what you want to lose !!!!!! Start Water aerobics and do it 5-6 days a week you will be proud . For those of you who don’t you will stay at 180 and no smaller !!!!!
It’s a numbers game I had my surgery August 2014 started at 285 one year later 141 !!!! This is the time to put on your big girl panties and work harder then ever you have one year after your surgery to lose what ever your going to lose. !!!! You want pictures I will show you

Just remember that this is a healing phase and not your life. Eventually you will be able to enjoy food again and even more importantly you can enjoy life more fully by being healthier and more active AND you'll probably live longer and have less things to worry about like diabetes. Good luck!

I am 7 days post op. From the moment I woke up I was livid with myself for doing this! I was miserable for every single day in some way. I cried and raged and regretted. Then today I wasn’t super enthusiastic but the regret as I feel some hunger symptoms and don’t need pain killers all while liking the taste of Water again, is definitely subsiding! I went from a 10 to a 2 on the regret scale! I wish this would be changed from being classified as elective surgery to restorative. Heck, if a woman needs to have her breasts repaired and replaced after a mastectomy it isn’t called elective, but reconstructive surgery. Palliative care in the weight loss surgery world needs to improve for sure. So we don’t all wake up immediately angry at ourselves. We could wake up proud for taking steps to restore metabolic function, cute diseases, and add health to our longer lives.

@jenniferx4 I totally get it. I also have 5 kids, and I think the summer may not have been the right time to do this. I wasn’t expecting to be hungry immediately after surgery. I made a smoothie for one of my girls, and ended up drinking about 1/4 through a straw. I know I will get to the point it’s worth it, but I’m not there yet.

Respectfully, and with no malice whatsoever, suggesting a therapist for auxiliary support is NOT bashing, in any way, shape, or form. ❤️ ESPECIALLY in THIS forum.
Alot of us recognize (or eventually come to recognize) that there is alot of head work to do for long term weight loss success. food addictions, emotional eating, self-medicating, self-worth, body dysmorphia, anxiety, depression, anorexia/bulima are just some the the many, many issues our community tend to suffer from en masse.
Yes, there is diet and exercise, your nutritionist and your personal trainer can help you with that (as can the members in this board). As for whats going on in your head, thats what the therapist is for. The folks on here can offer a sympathetic ear and suggest anecdotal solutions, but the real work can be done with a GOOD therapist (unfortunately i also do recognize good ones are hard to find).
anyways, good luck, and just know its not an insult here when someone suggests a therapist...it's actually a sincere effort to help.
❤️

Regrets? What you are feeling is not unique so you are in good company. The first few weeks can be difficult but WLS veterans almost unanimously say their only regret is not doing this years ago. WLS is a lifestyle change that takes discipline and dedication but it gets easier, especially when you start seeing and FEELING the results of your efforts. You got this and your Bariatric Pals are here to support and cheering you on!

Im afraid im going to fail it! Im having a hard time sticking to what im suppose to be eating. I really dont want to mess this up so im going to work harder. I dont want to have done this for no reason! I feel like i cant real express myself without being bashed and just told i need a therapist

this was me all over I am almost 2 years out now I don't regret it one bit. when I was in the stage you're in now I was even googling stomach transplants lol. but I know it doesn't feel like it now, but it does get better took me about 4 to 6 months to feel better then 10- 12 months to realise it was the right thing to do. Big Hugs you will get there.

I regretted the surgery HARD at where you are. I was miserable. Now, I'd do it again in a heartbeat even remembering the misery.
The only way out is through. Stay strong, stay the course, know that other people have experienced exactly what you are now and you are not alone. I know it's maybe one of the most difficult things you've ever done (it was for me).
It's going to be OK. You'll get through this.

KNOW YOUR WHY & why you are doing this. You will have buyers remorse at some point, but it will be temporary. I've had days where I've literally thought, what have I done? I miss abusing food, ect. But it's short lived & then you remember, you're losing weight, taking care of this body you hold up a permanent residence in & after awhile, you don't really care about food like you used to. I use to live to eat! I could eat sooooo much until I was sick. I had binge eating in a bad way, now I can't believe how much I could eat in a single sitting! Would last me a week now haha! I am 5wk PO down 31 lbs since surgery. My starting weight was 248 lbs I am currently 217 lbs I want to be around 135 lbs is when I felt optimal but I felt good at 150-160 lbs in the past too. I am 5'6 See where my body puts me & how far I'm willing to go. I am not going to cheat on my diet until maintenance stage, it's just not worth it. The honeymoon stage you keep hearing about it real & you only get ONE so I'm taking full advantage of it.

If you have any questions or anything you can message me anytime on here or my toktok @kno_ur_why.

I use whole milk cottage cheese in my eggs & shredded cheese. I cook it right with the eggs. I had VSG June 1st & I can still only eat about half an egg
(Before anyone comes at me for using WHOLE milk dairy, I've been okay'd to do so because my body tolerates it & I'd rather have real fat then fake forever chemicals in my body from the low flat crap, it's my health journey, feel free to do as you please with yours.)
I also like adding Avocado to my eggs & I eat cottage cheese & Avocado with salt & pepper every single day. It's my lunch & I love it. So yummy! You can also mix cottage cheese with canned fruit (no skins) I love Peaches. Very delicious 😋

I just got approved from my surgery for 08/10! Any tips for someone starting out? Must haves? Any thing you have learned since having your surgery?
Sent from my SM-N970U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Follow the plan your team has to a tee. I follow it religiously and my weight has dropped like a rock. Start weight 323lbs, exactly 5 months and 3 weeks later I’m down to 188.0lbs. Only a single stall that lasted 1 week but again I have not cheated a single time, tracking everything I put in and energy out. Just my personal experience but I have watched the people who think they can cheat with no consequences. Use the tool you’ve been given and you will be successful. Best of luck, speedy recovery.

I totally understand, my surgery was on the 13th of June and I too could not understand why I was so hungry. I'm more hungrierthan I have ever been in my life, but it will eventually go away as you are able to eat food, I still growl, I just wanna feel normal again.

I had my first post-op appointment yesterday. My surgeon told me to just keep following the stages on the handout and scheduled my next appointment for three weeks from now.
He told me to go ahead and start eating eggs and other foods that I could smash with a fork (that was kinda broad, but I know what he meant, lol) when y'all make your eggs, do you add anything extra to them to make them softer? Usually when I make a scrambled egg, I'll use butter and heavy cream to get them fluffy, but I know that neither are a go right now.
Y'all don't know how appreciative I am to have this group to be able to interact with people that are going through the same things I am.
Thanks for your help!

After healing from your surgery did anyone still was able to smoke THC?

I have to thank you so much, apparently you were godsend and life saver. Because of you I went to the ER. When they did my gastric bypass, they found a Heidel hernia. When they corrected this item, it caused a pneumothorax and air trapped around my heart, all extremely life threatening. Also the swelling in my face, neck and chest is due to trapped air that they call rice crispies 🤣. Apparently this is extremely rare, but I want to make people aware this can happen. I'm currently in ICU with a chest tube, waiting to figure out what they are going to do with my heart.

What’s normal? One thing I’ve learnt since my surgery is there is no normal or only one right or wrong way about our recovery, weight loss, food & eating just what is right or wrong for you. There will be similarities & there will be differences too because we’re not the same. And yes it will be different from what was right or wrong or usual for you before surgery because simply what we did before did us no favours.
Will it get easier? Yes. Does it take time to meet all your goals? Yes. As long as you’re making an effort & getting closer it’s okay. Will you have good days & bad days? Yes. Will your tummy be sensitive & fussy about certain foods for a while? Yes but that’s the healing process. Will it take time to learn new eating habits? Yes. Will you learn all your signals for real hunger, fullness/satiety or feel your restriction? Yes. Nerves were cut during surgery & they have to heal. Your signals take time to register & they may be different than before surgery. Will you be able to drink more than sips? Yes though how much & when is individual. Will you be able to reduce the amount of time before & after eating to drink? Yes but again when & how long is individual. Will you eat your old favourites again? Yes, once your weight has stabilised. Though it won’t be in exactly the same way. You’ll work out variations, & how much & how often is right for you.
I’ve made quite a few changes to what & how I eat. Like I don’t skip meals anymore & there are certain foods I don’t or rarely eat. Some are my choice & others because they don’t sit well in my smaller tummy. I don’t feel I’m missing out on anything I chose not to or can’t eat. It did take time to work out what was right for me - food choices, calories, nutrients, portions, frequency of eating. Once I reached maintenance I slowly added new foods, recipes, adjusted portions, etc. to see how I’d go & made modifications for probably a good year after I reached goal. I did keep losing for about 11 months after goal while working it out but have basically maintained since then. I’m four years out from surgery. I’ll make further adjustments as I need - lifestyle changes, age, health issues, etc.
PS There is an exception to the no one right way to eat & that’s in the first weeks when you’re following your staged return to eating. That plan supports & protects your healing tummy (remember all those sutures & staples holding it together). Check your plan on what you’re allowed to eat. Yes, plans can be different but being allowed eggs & peanut paste three days out from surgery sounds highly unusual. All because you managed it doesn’t mean you can do it again or it didn’t impact your recovery in some way. Be careful.

if there is one single piece of advice i could dile out to the newly wls-ed, it would be not to sweat what u can or can't do first couple weeks.
you just had major surgery and recovering from it, try to to expect to go running straight out of the gate, it'll come eventually.
i didn't meet my Water goals for the first two weeks.
i didn't make my Protein goals until well after a month or two post op. in fact, i couldn't even reach my DAILY protein goal amount in an entire WEEK of eating the first 2-3 weeks.
like u, i also had serious food aversion and just didn't want to eat anything. at all. it was really bad the first couple months but still persisted on and off throughout weight loss phase. even now, at over 4.5 years post op, i still turn up my nose to eating every now and then. not as often as before, but still.
despite all that, all my labs came back just fine (and still do) and i lost all the weight i wanted, and did NOT end up underweight nor mal-nourished.
as for when i started eating "normal" food, it was probably after maintenance...and not because i couldn't, it was a conscious choice cuz i was prioritizing weight loss. speaking of "normal"...others would probably see how i eat and think its NOT normal (volume and amount-wise), but its a (new) normal for me.
so yeah, many of us went through what u are going through now and turned out just fine. hang in there and know this is not forever, and u'll be alright ❤️

It has gotten easier for me at 7 weeks out. Just make sure you're listening to your stomach.

At one week post op, I thought for sure I had made a huge mistake. I felt like I'd never be able to eat again. I was able to eat again, and it gets easier every day. 😊

I'm 1 week and 3 days post op from VGS. My whole first week after coming home from the hospital I struggled really bad with my Water and protien goals. I didn't meet them not a single day. Only now am I feeling like I am meeting my goals. I found it hard to drink that much in one day as my stomach healing directly after surgery. I'm on day two off of my liquid diet and on my pureed diet. I have tried a scrambled egg (could only eat half) and Peanut Butter (1.5 tbsp) but I find that eating food is hard. I feels hard on my stomach and takes a while after eating that I even feel comfortable enough to go back to drinking. (45 min to an hr). I feel like I've only just now starting to get comfortable with drinking Protein Shakes and rely on them for my Protein. But, when I look at food right now that I can have, it just look un appealing and feels like it's more work than it's worth to try to eat. Is what I'm experiencing normal? I know someone else who had surgery on the same day as me and they're getting along just fine with eating and had no issues meeting their Fluid and protein goals as soon as they got home from the hospital. At what point do people start to feel "normal" when eating food?

I am so nervous!! Sitting in the airport as we speak! I will keep you posted. Thank you so much for thinking of me ♥️♥️