Aunty Mamo

The statistics say that 1% of VSG patients experience a leak and that they usually occur because solid food was consumed too early, or from physical trauma/injury to the area. With that said, I know the anxiety youʻre talking about. I only have this knowledge because I deep dive into things Iʻm afraid of.

You can start taking capsules again whenever you’re cleared to take pills again. I was cleared a month post-op. Alternatively, use dandelion root tea. I’ve been drinking that stuff for years. If you don’t have a back yard full of “supply” to dig up and hang to dry, you can usually buy it loose or in tea bags at your local health food store. 😉 As far as safety is concerned, I can’t think of any reason you shouldn’t use it.

It was divine, yes! And I honestly didn't believe for a moment that 2 tablespoons of food would suffice, but it sure did. It was oatmeal made with Protein. For lunch I served myself a four ounce serving of cottage cheese, and managed to eat 2 ounces before I was full. And dinner was broccoli and a chicken meatball pureed in broth, also a 4 ounce serving, of which I could only eat half. Everything tasted so good though. So, so, darn, good.

I saw the term, momentary "buyers remorse" on someone's thread the other day in reference to having bariatric surgery and last night I understood when I had a fatigue and anxiety melt down.
I went back to school at age 48, once the majority of my kids were gone and I could spare the time. I take a full time course load, so my house gets deep cleaned now only during school breaks. This spring break I didn't expect to get much house and yard work accomplished, as I expected to be recovering from my sleeve surgery. But here I am, nine days after surgery and in the last days of spring break and I'm feeling great. My doc cleared me to do any physical activity that didn't hurt and I seem to have full energy, so I decided to go to work yesterday on a kitchen deep clean. From about 8 am until 11 pm (with breaks and liquid meals all day), I cleaned the fridge and pantry, scrubbed the oven, washed the microwave and toaster oven, dusted the tops of cupboards, washed drawer fronts and pulls, mopped- all of it. My kitchen looks like I just moved in.
"Seemed" however is the operative word here. When I came up to go to bed, I was more exhausted than I've been in I don't know how long. And then, when I got a side stitch just off to the left of my tiny new stomach, I started to panic. I manage a somatic anxiety disorder and an attention deficit- and once in a while, particularly when I'm too tired, I have an epic storm that just has to run it's course. So, I paced around my bedroom hyperventilating for 20 minutes and rued my decision to have this surgery. All I could think is, "what have you done?!?" It was pretty awful.
This morning I feel fine, aside from an emotional hangover, which is really just what the absence of adrenaline feels like after a panic attack. Other than that, I'm glad I had the surgery again. I'm going to do some light yard work today in between naps and offer myself a helluva lot more grace and leniency. And tomorrow, I'm going to have my first solid food (puree) that I've had in a couple of weeks. That first two tablespoon serving is going to be magical.

Neurological disorders and divergences can present themselves in a number of interesting and baffling ways; and are rarely particularly rational. If you're bewildered as an onlooker, count yourself fortunate to not be one of the millions who have to experience and manage them. I just figure if I'm going to participate in a public forum as a part of my process, I may as well document all parts of it that I'm comfortable sharing. Maybe someone else will read my story line and relate. I appreciate your well wishes and am also always glad when I start feeling better.

Oh wow. I wish I had a Whole Foods. Those would be perfect for me because it’s just myself and my hubby who also eats smaller portions. I need to actually go into the grocery store and look for something like that. I know that places are carrying more of the healthy options but I have been doing pickup and I don’t get the chance to really see what’s out there now.

Hey there, fellow Massachusetts person!
Here are a few options that might work for you for protein:
If you like Soups such as creamy Tomato, butternut bisque, etc., add a scoop or two (10-20g protein) of unflavored Protein Powder such as Isopure or Syntrax to the Soup. Also, if you make a canned soup like cream of chicken, make it with Fairlife skim milk for even more Protein. 1/2 a cup cream of chicken with 1 scoop of protein would give you about 17g protein.
If you are at a stage where you can have apples, make a great protein dip by taking 1 cup Greek yogurt and adding one serving chocolate protein powder and 1 scoop powdered Peanut Butter and eat 1/2 cup with 1/2 an apple. This gives you around 25g protein depending what brands you are using and tastes delicious.
A great source of plant-based protein is edamame, which they sell already shelled and lightly salted, ready to eat, in the produce section of Hannaford (and probably other stores, I would assume). Also, four of the cracker-sized slices of Cabot cheddar have 8g protein, and if you pair it with Triscuit thins, that's another 3g for a nice 10g snack (when you can have crackers).

Good luck tomorrow, I had mine a week ago and completely understand the emotions. There are a few other March buddies who recently had GS & are doing great!
I recommend bringing chapstick or ask for some at the hospital! And walk as much as you can to get the gas bubbles out. It really makes a difference.

I don’t typically buy prepared foods but when I saw these in Whole Foods I knew they’d come in handy for this stage. They’re really tasty actually and I’ll probably buy them again, although I don’t know how often once I’m participating in family meals again. Buying enough of those small packages to feed my household is an expensive proposition.

It sounds like you are right on track. I’ve never tried a chicken meatball. Are they homemade or do they come prepared?? I tried to make something with the ground chicken a while back. I don’t remember what it was. Stuffed peppers Maybe. I think I didn’t season it properly because it was so blah.

You do have legitimate questions and ones that any doctor or their team should be comfortable answering as they are important to you and your peace of mind in consideration of another procedure.
I know via your prior post you said you aren’t on the socials quite as much, but if you listen to podcasts I’d recommend BariNation. There is one of the hosts who had been sleeved and always felt like they could consume more than they should, and did not want a bypass (which he was originally told he would need to be sleeved first, lose enough to be then safe enough to have a bypass). He thought a bypass would be the only option and for whatever reason was not keen on it. He was then introduced to a doctor who said that’s not his only option and told him about the SADI. He eventually got his evaluation and found out that though the sleeve is said to remove 80% of your stomach, his was only 50-60% so he wasn’t wrong that his eating capacity was more than he thought. He recently did his revision surgery and part of it was resleeving on top of the reroute of the intestinal tract. So yes part of the procedure should be to reevaluate your stomach size to determine whether it should be revised.

I would try to keep your questions open ended.
I'm interested in hearing how your previous SADI patients have progressed and where they have ended up. Have they had complications or have any of them regretted having SADI? If so, why?
Would it be possible to give me a ballpark, numbers wise, of the spilt between your sleeve, bypass, and SADI procedures? Do you have to undertake special training in SADI, given that it's not a routine WLS?
Please can you explain...(whatever specific Qs you have about the procedure or life after the procedure, or whatever)
It would help me with my decision to know how many of your previous SADI patients were second surgeries and how many first.
If you were advising a relative of yours who was considering SADI, what would you tell them? If you were in my position would you have this particular procedure?
How do immediate and long term complications tend to manifest?

Even for someone without any mental health issues the hormones can get out of whack ans make the recovery an emotional experience. I’m glad you are feeling better. I have to ask though, how was the purée?? Was it as divine as you anticipated?? It gets easier each day and it sounds like you are doing fine.

I've had some of the same scenarios, thinking I can do so much more and then really feeling just devastated physically afterwards. I'm also feeling the "What did you do?" from time to time and it hits like lightning, then I manage it and it dissipates. (I use a process like an automatic thought record though now it's an automatic response to overreaction that works for me) Thank you for sharing.

Neurological disorders and divergences can present themselves in a number of interesting and baffling ways; and are rarely particularly rational. If you're bewildered as an onlooker, count yourself fortunate to not be one of the millions who have to experience and manage them. I just figure if I'm going to participate in a public forum as a part of my process, I may as well document all parts of it that I'm comfortable sharing. Maybe someone else will read my story line and relate. I appreciate your well wishes and am also always glad when I start feeling better.

I did it, had my surgery first thing yesterday morning, and I'm home now. It wasn't that bad, really. There was a gas pocket between my shoulder blades that hurt a lot, but that started loosening up once I was awake enough to start walking.

Congrats on your surgery. I don't have kids so the postpartum part I cannot relate to in that way. But it definitely is a turn upside down. The fatigue and cognition part sounds familiar. Initially it's due to the lack of nutrition since we can only eat/drink so much in the beginning. It slowly starts to get better the more you can get in. That's why the Vitamins and Protein are important. It does get better.

I had my surgery on the 13th as well, although my surgery was the sleeve. So here we are, a day away from our first week with our new internal mechanics. Iʻm just going to take a minute to congratulate us both for being brave enough to do this.
While I understand that the "food onboarding" process differs from procedure to procedure and even surgeon to surgeon, I hope youʻll consult with your surgeon or program before you eat solids. My program considers sugar free Jello a liquid. Would that suffice? I get it, believe me. I made my husband go to our local Pho restaurant last night and buy me just Pho broth because I couldn't stomach one more sweet drink. Regarding meds, I had to switch a couple that were time release to rapid release so that they could be safely crushed for daily consumption. Did your doctor tell you that all medications and supplements had to be liquid, chewable, or crushed for the first month? Mine did, and while the chewable vitamins and Calcium are a treat because I get to chew them, crushing the others and trying to mask their awful taste with a Protein Shake is disgusting. I'm not getting used to it.
Like you, I'm not in any pain and for the last two days, even the gas has been minimal, so I must've finally expelled all that surgery gas. Again, congrats on your big decision and hang in there.

I had my surgery on the 13th as well, although my surgery was the sleeve. So here we are, a day away from our first week with our new internal mechanics. Iʻm just going to take a minute to congratulate us both for being brave enough to do this.
While I understand that the "food onboarding" process differs from procedure to procedure and even surgeon to surgeon, I hope youʻll consult with your surgeon or program before you eat solids. My program considers sugar free Jello a liquid. Would that suffice? I get it, believe me. I made my husband go to our local Pho restaurant last night and buy me just Pho broth because I couldn't stomach one more sweet drink. Regarding meds, I had to switch a couple that were time release to rapid release so that they could be safely crushed for daily consumption. Did your doctor tell you that all medications and supplements had to be liquid, chewable, or crushed for the first month? Mine did, and while the chewable vitamins and Calcium are a treat because I get to chew them, crushing the others and trying to mask their awful taste with a Protein Shake is disgusting. I'm not getting used to it.
Like you, I'm not in any pain and for the last two days, even the gas has been minimal, so I must've finally expelled all that surgery gas. Again, congrats on your big decision and hang in there.

I had my surgery on the 13th as well, although my surgery was the sleeve. So here we are, a day away from our first week with our new internal mechanics. Iʻm just going to take a minute to congratulate us both for being brave enough to do this.
While I understand that the "food onboarding" process differs from procedure to procedure and even surgeon to surgeon, I hope youʻll consult with your surgeon or program before you eat solids. My program considers sugar free Jello a liquid. Would that suffice? I get it, believe me. I made my husband go to our local Pho restaurant last night and buy me just Pho broth because I couldn't stomach one more sweet drink. Regarding meds, I had to switch a couple that were time release to rapid release so that they could be safely crushed for daily consumption. Did your doctor tell you that all medications and supplements had to be liquid, chewable, or crushed for the first month? Mine did, and while the chewable vitamins and Calcium are a treat because I get to chew them, crushing the others and trying to mask their awful taste with a Protein Shake is disgusting. I'm not getting used to it.
Like you, I'm not in any pain and for the last two days, even the gas has been minimal, so I must've finally expelled all that surgery gas. Again, congrats on your big decision and hang in there.

Congrats on your surgery and your perfect recovery. Your woolly symptoms are from the anaesthetic. It might take a few more days until you recover from the baby brain. Not everyone has the internal gurgle but I am told its quite loud and funny.
I had the hormone storm in a big way at about a week out too. It wasn't a side effect that anyone had explained to me beforehand. I had to ask my questions on here. Female bodies are wonderous, mysterious things. I didn't feel my smaller stomach at all but I did think that it had been moved into my chest as soon as I began eating.

I can't believe it. I got on the scale this morning and it was 244.5 lbs. I've officially lost half of the weight towards my goal! I'm down 76 lbs since my highest weight and 63 lbs since surgery. And I'm not even 5 months out! I really didn't think it would happen this quickly. And weirdly enough, I feel smaller now than when I was this weight before. Weight distribution is a funny thing.
Here's a pic of me pre-op at about 312 lbs, and two pics of me from today! I have so much more energy and mobility now. I'm so grateful to myself for having this surgery despite my fears and concerns. It has been SO worth it! Big thank yous to all of you guys for supporting me as I go through this, I really value this forum and everyone who posts here! ❤️

Ahh, does this make us "re-birth day twins"? Lol. Mine is the same day (have to be at the hospital in 12 hours -- and the nervous-excitement is kicking in)

I had my surgery 3/13/24 I had ESG revision of Gastric Plication in 2011

My face on my weight loss journey, from 421 pounds to 213 pounds (18 more pounds to go!!!)