Laya

If you are like me you've been so confused as to what you are supposed to be starting to eat once you got to the mushy/soft stage. I did some research on the net and found a pretty comprehensive list on the George Washington University Medical Center for Weight Loss website. I sent this list to my Dr's office to see if it was what they suggested and basically they agreed, so I thought I would share:

Third and Fourth Weeks after Surgery

You will advance to small quantities of pureed or creamy foods for each meal. All foods should be the consistency of baby food with no skins, seeds, or solid particles that require careful chewing. Examples are:

• Cream of Wheat
  
• Cream of Rice
  
• Farina
  
• yogurt
  
• sugar-free pudding or custard
  
• applesauce
  
• creamed soups
  
• mashed potatoes
  
• commercially prepared baby foods
  

You may puree your own foods at home using a blender. Add liquids such as broth, juice, or milk to foods items cut into small pieces and puree until smooth. Season to taste. Mix pureed baby food meats with mashed potatoes, blend Soups or pureed vegetables to improve taste. Avoid trying to puree your own beef or chicken at this time.

As tolerated, you may begin to progress to foods which are “soft and mushy”, or “crispy”. Examples of mushy foods:

• Eggs – scrambled, soft-boiled, and in the form of egg salad. The whites of fried eggs are usually too rubbery to be eaten this soon after surgery. Remember: egg whites have the Protein, the yolks are mainly fat. Eggbeaters are a good substitution for regular eggs.
  
• Dairy products – although these are high in saturated fats, they are also high protein and will go down easily. These include soft cheeses, low fat yogurt, low fat frozen yogurt, and low-fat milk. Hard cheeses may be taken in moderation. Avoid whole milk, cream, ice cream, whipped cream, and ice milk.
  
• Legumes – this includes well-cooked Beans, lentils, and peas. All should be in a mushy form, which will pass through the pouch easily. Good examples would be split pea Soup, bean soups, fat-free refried beans. Peanut butter is very high in fat, so use it sparingly.
  
• Vegetables – They should be well-cooked and easily mashed with a fork. Canned vegetables are a good choice since they are usually softer. Avoid any “stringy” vegetables such as green beans or asparagus as the new pouch cannot easily digest them.
  
• High-Quality Protein – examples of this would be tuna or chicken packed in Water, deviled ham, potted meats, pâtés, and liverwurst. Avoid any grisly meat (including Spam) at this time because gristle tends to get stuck in the pouch. “Potted meats” include any soft meat that you can spread on a cracker. You may include fat-free Mayonnaise to prepare tuna or chicken.
  
• Grains – You may try well-cooked Pasta and rice in small quantities or soft bread. Use caution as these foods may cause pouch fullness and discomfort due to delayed emptying of the pouch for some.
  

“Crispy foods” will disintegrate easily when placed in a liquid. Examples include Melba toast, crackers, well-toasted bread, baked tortilla chips, and dry Breakfast cereals without fruits or nuts. You may combine any “mushy” food on top of any “crispy” food. Examples are tuna fish on crackers, refried beans on tortilla chips, or egg salad on crispy toast.

I am sure you will be OK, it's soft eggs, not a 2" thick bite of steak. Soft scrambled eggs, mashed egg salad and such are on my "mushy/soft food stage".

I am on my two week mark and I started my mushy a couple of days early due to some nausea complications. I've been able to eat soft scrambled eggs about 1/2 cup, oatmeal, cream of wheat, mashed potatoes and so forth. Don't freak yourself out, but if you ARE concerned do call your doctor.

Good luck on your journey.

I had my surgery May 6, and I had chest pains too. My doctor told me it was my body feeling the band and the pain was coming from the swelling. I learned that if I breathed through my nose and exhaled through my mouth the pain would subside. If I talked too fast and ran out of breath, my chest would get tight and I would slow down and take a deep inhale through my nose and exhale through my mouth. It worked for me, you might try it. It will pass. I am on day 13 and almost all my pains and aches are gone. Minimal ache near the port from time to time from pants or laying on it in bed.

Good luck and have faith~~~

Hi there,

I had a horrible time with nausea after my surgery (may 6). I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia and the loratab liquid pain killer they gave me was making me nauseas as well. I actually was dry heaving a lot. I finally called my doctor and he told me if there was little pain stop taking the loratab and try to drink as much Water as I could to flush the rest of the anesthetics out of my system. I did as he said and the nausea lasted til about day 9, but the dry heaving stopped after day 5. I know you must here this all the time, but it will get better. On day 9 I was ready to rip the thing out of me, but the next day it was like the clouds parted and I did feel better. For the shakes, try to make them with a powdered protien, use non fat milk and put some kind of not so sweet fruit in them, a berry of some sort. BLEND BLEND BLEND it. For me the berries took the "icky sweet" taste away from the shakes and I was able to down them.

Have faith, it will be better.

Hi there,

I am 11 days out and to be honest didn't start feeling better until just yesterday. Are you getting enough Protein in every day. The lack of calories shouldn't be too bad if you are getting in your Protein. I don't want to sound contrite, but it will get better, I promise. People kept telling me it would and I just didn't believe them. But, now I do. Take your Vitamins and get your protein in, it will work!!!

Hi Everyone,

I just need to vent a bit. This morning I woke up after about only two hours of sleep and had a practical meltdown. I haven't been having the best of recoveries. I had a bad reaction to the anethesia that left me nauseas beyond even the medication and dry heaving for the next five days. I finally had a day without a heave on Monday, but the nausea hasn't gone away. Absolutely EVERYTHING I put in my mouth makes me want to gag. I didn't get fat from eating sweets so all the Protein Shakes are making me sick and I can't seem to get the taste of them out of my mouth no matter what I eat. To top is all off I have nothing but liquid coming out of places of my body liquid isn't supposed to come out of. Then there is the tighness in my chest and the lump in my throat, which the dr. tells me is me feeling the band and once the swelling goes down I hsouldn't feel that anymore. I vascilate between being hungry and wanting to gag at the thought of anything going in my mouth.

I just had a meltdown. I started hating what I had done to myself. I felt like such a failure for not being able to lose weight without this. I lashed out at the person who had been taking care of me since day one. I lashed out at my band angel from my doctor's group. If I could have I would have ripped the entire device out of my body this morning. Everyone keeps telling me, week three you will start to feel better, but here I am at day 9 and the light at the end of the tunnel is DIM DIM DIM!!!!

Hi there,

I had surgery last wednesday and recovery hasn't been smooth sailing, but I did start back to work part time this week. I have an office desk job and am working from 10-2 about all I can manage then back home to rest. It's really up to you and how you feel.

Good luck with everything!!!!!

All About Me :glare:

Where do you live? Ventura, CA

How old are you? 40

Are you married, dating, significant other, partnered? SO of three years, Rob he's being wonderful

Any children? none

Grandchildren? none

Pets? My little jack russel "ACE"

Currant Health Morbidities? mild apnea

What are your greatest Fears? Fear that I won't do something right and I'll have problems with the band.

What is your weight loss short term goals and Long term goals? Short term lose 50lbs by September, long term is more of a level of comfort than a goal weight.

List at least one thing you want to do/wear/eat/buy when you reach your goal? I want to wear something sexy for my BF and actually think I look sexy in it.

Hope Everyone is doing well, DAY 3 here and finally thinking there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Hi Everyone,

My surgery was pretty much like everyone esle's getting there and getting settled in. The only thing I had issues with was severe nausea that lasted until today. I had three bouts of dry heaving which each lasted about 5min each, let me tell you that pain was about a 9, but it subsided. Today I am sore and I am sure a lot of it is from the dry heaving from yesterday as well as the surgery. I've been able to drink and sip about 2-4 ounces at a time and walking does help dissipate the gas. I'm also not too hungry, I drank more than 4 ounces over 20min and it did make me feel very full. I am also having the most tenderness where my port is, or where I think it is. I'm a bit concered with where it is because as I feel it and look at it, it's right on my pant waistline. I'll have to talk to the doctor about that at my post op in two weeks. I'm going to go try to drink down some more Protein now.

congrats to everyone else, we are on our way!!!

Congrats on the smooth procedure. I'm going in tommorrow and hope mine is just as easy! Just know if you need to vent, cry, talk, chat, laugh or just plain know someone is there, we are all here!!

Kari,

I totally understand everything you are going to as well. I had been researching for a long time before I even mentioned that I was looking into it to anyone. Once I went to a seminar and decided was when I started to tell people. My BF doesn't understand the emotional and mental aspects of it, but he is 100% supportive of any decision I would make to make myself healthier. I've had mixed reactions from family and friends, but I just chose like John not to be around those that were not going to be supportive of me. I don't have many friends that struggle with weight and I'm the anomaly in my family. People who don't have food issues don't understand that it is an addiction just like alcohol or drugs. If you were drinking too much and said you were going to get hlep for it everyone would ber so happy for you. Same with drugs, MOST people don't understand the addiction to food.< /p>

You've made a FABULOUS choice for yourself, if you follow the rules with a little help from your BAND it will be the best choice you've made!! AND you're not alone, we're all here to help along the way!!

Have you been tested for diabetes? Sounds like you are having diabetic attacks. I know that losing the weight is supposed to help that go away, but I do know people in my family in fact that have never had a weight issue and are still diabetic. When their blood sugar drops they have episodes much like the one you described and a dose of sugar, piece of hard candy, juice seems to bring them back to normal. It's worth a shot investigating. Good luck!@!!

Hey Kellster,

I live in Ventura, CA but I lived in Pasadena for five years. I'm being banded next Wednesday by Dr. Billy, who I've heard is the absolute best. I'm a bit nervous but more excited about the journey. I'm at the stage where I want it to happen and get over the hump already.

I'm around if you ever need a shoulder to cry on or just to be happy about a met goal!!

Congrats to both of us for making this wonderful decision about our lives.

I went to a pre-op education class today (mandatory) and we went over what to expect before, during, and after surgery and even though I could have taught the class myself I was like "ah did I really sign up for this" It just made everything seem so real. Made me get all nervous again.

I only have to do liquids 2 days pre-op. Post-op is 1 week Clear Liquids, 1 week full liquids, 1 week mushies, then soft.

I'm on the same program as you. Though I started a lowcal high Protein diet on my own two weeks ago.

Went for my pre-op intake at the hospital today, what a CLUSTER F**K!!! The hospital liason was out sick so they didn't have my paperwork. Had to track it down from the dr's office. Had to have blood taken and the "vampire" read the orders wrong and only took two vials before closing me out instead of four, so she had to stick my other arm. I was so flustered the admitting nurse spent 20 minutes convincing me that my DR was one of the best and made up for all the downfalls with his expertise. I SURE HOPE SO!!!!

Only six days to go!!! WOOO HOOOO I'm scheduled for 10:30am PST on Wednesday the 6th. I'll be checking in to see how everyone else is doing.

Hey there I found another one that is free and pretty easy to use, www.myfitnesspal.com

Hope you're doing well

Hi Everyone,

I've been testing out the different protiens too. I mixed the unjury with SF pudding and it was great couldn't even taste it. I also really like the Designer whey brand, good taste to it. I ordered some samples of the Syntax nectar line and it's great. For the soft stage I also found some thick Soups that taste great by "Just Right". They have potato leek, split pea and black bean just add Water to the carton perfec to take to work with you. I've lost 12lbs so far on my preop diet and looking forward to next week, already counting down the hours.

Hope everyone else is doing well!!!

Hey Lady,

I'm just on my preop diet I get banded on May 6th, but I've been using www.fitday.com and www.mynetdiary.com I'm trying to decide which one I like best. Both have there pluses and minuses. Both come with a free and a pay version.

Good luck with your process!!!!

Good luck to you!!! A friend had HMO and it gave her hell too, keep up the good fight and good things will come!!!

Laya

Hi there,

I just got approved through Anthem BC So Cal. First off do you have an HMO or a PPO? HMO with anthem is going to be a lot more difficult to get approved than the PPO, with the PPO if your BMI is over 40 it's pretty much a slam dunk. Next there should be a number on your medical ID card for customer service or benefits. They are correct in telling you that they won't know EXACTLY how much you will have to pay. However they can tell you what your plan provides for. Ask them what your MAX annual out of pocket expense is for your plan. Ask your medical group if they have a "program fee" that they charge for services insurance does not cover, (mine did). You will be getting bills from different people for different things, testing, doctor, hospital so forth. The best thing to do is to find out what your MAX out of pocket expense for a year is. If you have a PPO and you or anyone in your family has incurred medical expenses this year already you can ask them how much has been applied to your out of pocket expense so far this year.

The best thing to do is to budget for the combined total of what your MAX out of pocket expense is plus any program fee the medical group you are using will have.

Just to give you an example: If your max out of pocket expense for the year on your plan is $3000.00 and you have not incurred any medical expenses this year at all then plan for $3000 plus any program fee. If you have incurred medical expenses this year for any reason and you have paid say $500 out of pocket so far, then plan for $2500 plus any program fee.

I hope this helped you out a bit. Customer Care at Anthem should be able to tell you what your max out of pocket is and how much you have incurred so far this year!!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!! let me know if this helped at all.

That's fantastic!! Thank you for your efforts Band Sister!!! Look forward to this journey with you!!

Hi there,

I'm dont' live in SLO but my BF is in Lompoc and I'm up there often. I live in Ventura. I'm having surgery May 6th, write me anytime you just need to vent or talk.

Laya

I added mine May 6th!! Wooo Hooo

Hey there,

My surgery is May 6th too!!! WOO HOOOO there is a May group set up, mayo BANDitos.

Come join, there is a link on my profile!!!

Let's do this together!!!

LOL, John... I have tried it, it's tiresome. Not only did I do it I asked all my friends at the table that night to do it as well. It's a very hard task. It's amazing how we just shwoosh through a meal without a care.

I'm also working on the eating until I'm not hungry as oppose to eating until I'm full and cant' eat anymore, another brain switch to accomplish.

Good luck everyone!!!! With support and determination we can all succeed!!!

I like the "May-ans"!!