BJean

NtvTxn, your 14 lb. weight loss prior to surgery is a great start!

Yes, my dietician is on staff full time with my doctor. Although he recently made a change because (I think) his former dietician was not very good encouraging his patients. She was way too critical instead of encouraging. Simply her personality type, I think. But I digress... The dietician gave me the diet in a 3 ring binder and at the top she wrote my particular caloric, liquid and Vitamin requirements. It says that I should have 1200-1400 calories a day. Of course I am certainly not taking in that much yet and I'd be surprised if I'm getting 600 to 800 at this point. I have started to keep track today. I think it is an important learning tool. I don't know what you weigh but 1200-1400 calories will suffice for an obese person to lose weight at a rate of 1 to 2 lbs. a week and to stay healthy. She stressed that the weight will come off, but if it comes off too quickly we definitely compromise our health, i.e., hair loss, loss of muscle mass, dehydration, loss of skin elasticity, etc. My surgeon (not just bariatic, by the way) is obviously motivated like Dr. Aceves for us to lose a lot of weight so that we become another one of their success stories, but our GP has a vested interest in having a healthy patient as a primary goal. But my surgeon is doing a great job treating us as more than just obese patients. He has a nutritionist/dietician and an exercise physiologist on staff who works with us to build muscle mass and make sure that we are on an exercise routine specific to our individual needs. Of course that starts once we recover from the surgical procedure itself. I respect your choice to stick to a low calorie diet but (and I'm no expert) I hope you will keep your overall health in mind and do what is best for your long-term wellness on this journey to becomming thin.

I get it through my doctor but I could order it online if I wanted to. It's called "Peak Nutrition" and it is bio-engineered whey protein powder. When I got the band, I asked the dietician then if I could use some of the commerically available things (like Isopure, Muscle Milk, etc.) and she said no. She said this stuff is the best thing on the market for what we need and it honestly tastes better than any of the stuff at the super market or GNC. Of course taste is a matter of individual taste, right? I can hardly stand diet cranberry juice. But the cran-grape, with no sugar added is really good. I'm sipping on some now. I actually had 3 oz of applesauce this morning. It gave me shooting pains but I got it down over the course of about 25 minutes. I tried drinking some green tea but it REALLY caused some pain with only 2 or 3 sips. It sounds to me like you're doing great, goodlife!

Wow our plans are very different! How many grams of Protein does your 6 oz shake have. One scoop of my stuff has 24 grams of protein so they really want me to have 3 of them a day too. I'm just having a hard time getting it down. I can have some yogurt already too. I have found some all natural cran-grape juice that has no sugar that is really refreshing. I don't care for apple juice or many other juices at all. I'm such a wuss. One very positive thing about you getting a much lighter diet than I'm getting is that you'll undoubtedly lose much faster than I am. Sigh.

What torture!! Man, I feel your pain. But not from having been exposed to actual food. I just can hardly stand all the food commercials on TV. Thank goodness for Tivo! It is easier than I thought it would be to stick to the diet (my surgery was 2 days after yours) and I think that's because it doesn't take much of anything to get a strong burning sensation in the middle of my chest and then discomfort on into my stomach. I'm not even eating as much as prescribed because it's just too painful. My instructions say that if I have cream of chicken Soup, it has to be strained - absolutely no bits of chicken allowed. I can't imagine what it would feel like to put anything solid in there. You are a real trooper and the best thing is how well this is going to pay off on your journey to being slim, trim and beautiful. Hang in there, you're doing fine! We're all very proud of you and it is inspiring to hear what you've had to deal with and were able to handle it. Yay you!

Well the soup is diluted with Water so it isn't exactly gourmet, but it's a far cry from broth. I know I'm lucky. I don't get the egg until day 8. Tomorrow is day 5 for me. What's your diet schedule like? Interestingly the dietician before surgery wrote down that I need 1200 to 1400 calories a day. I am sure not getting anything close to that. I think I'll start keeping track of what I'm taking in so I will have a better idea what it takes to keep losing weight. I thought everybody else was saying that they were only getting 300 to 800 calories a day post-op. Could that be right?

Hey Cajun, great advice! Thanks. I had totally forgotten about the dehydration. I keep "Smart Water" with me all the time and I'm sure getting tired of sipping. But that's what I read most consistently with people who've already gone through this. It is intersting how different our doctors work this thing. By day 8 I'm supposed to be able to have a scrambled egg. I have visions of a poached egg. Funny, eh? I'd be pretty depressed if my doc also made me stay on Clear Liquids that long. I have had strained cream of chicken Soup earlier today and tonight I get strained cream of mushroom. It's amazing how good something like that tastes. I'm allowed a cup but I'm lucky to get a fourth of a cup down. But it seems very soothing to my innerds. (silly word) Today I am actually beginning to feel a little better. Not so sore and I can envision how this is going to play out. It hasn't been a week yet and I couldn't stand it and weighed today. I'm down 10 lbs. Oops. That might be too much too fast and indicate that what you've said is true - dehydration. Don't want that. Gonna fixate more on the liquids whether I like them or not. Thank you so much for taking the time to post. I sure wish I had a friend going through this right beside me. But with this website, I feel like I do have some friends and it really helps!! Hi goodlife!!

I just realized I was supposed to have 3 Protein shakes today and I haven't been able to get one down. It's all about the protein. I sure don't want to lose my hair, but it's hard to get the stuff down. I think I'll just keep it by my chair and try to take little teaspoonsful off and on. Good luck with the tea. I've never been a tea drinker either. It is one drink though that I can do with a tiny bit of sweetner and it tastes fine. I'm just awful about artificial sweetners. I'd usually rather just not have anything than eat something with sweetners and fake flavorings. Hope this doesn't keep me from losing like I should. And btw, my doctor's instructions do say that something a little warm in the morning is soothing. Good luck!

I wish I did have an answer! I have wondered the same thing. I asked the dietician if I could use skim milk to mix with my whey protein powder and she said no because of the sugars in milk. Well, aren't there some sugars in the whey protein powder? It seems to me that it would up the amount of protein you'd be ingesting if you used skim milk. And they stress protein as being vital. So I don't understand. Anybody have a response to this and the sf/ff broth & juices?

Well color me the lucky one, eh? I found that the Progressive organic chicken broth was way, way better than the stuff they had at the hospital. It isn't nearly as strong. I tried the organic beef broth (it was on my doctor's diet for yesterday) and it caused a painful burning sensation at the top of my stomach. Had to use some Mylanta (at doc's suggestion) to get it tamed. So your doctor is probably very conservative and I think that's a very good thing. Hang in there. I hate clear liquids too because so many of them have those gross artificial sweeteners and flavorings that suck bad. bjean

The shooting pains have ceased. It was undoubtedly just too soon after surgery to do icy liquids. I had a popcicle last night, very very slowly and it went down just fine. My daugher made me some chamomile tea - no caffiene - and it was soothing and nice. So thanks for all the tips. You sound great and I look forward to being at your stage of recovery in the journey to wellness and being slim, trim, and fabulous! (You sure look cute in your photo!)

Stacy, you're a champ! Good job. Today I'm quite a bit less sore too. Still some swelling and tenderness where my port was. Hope your recovery continues at the same rapid pace!

I was unable to pull up your blog but watched your video. Good idea, posting at milestones. I'm doing pretty well. Today I was able to actually take in about a quarter cup of cream of chicken Soup. It was great. My doc has said I can use a little mylanta for the burning which has been a godsend. I was a revision so where my band port was is the where the most swelling (at least externally) is and the most tender spot. The other incisions are tiny and look great, no swelling or even discoloration. Glad you're doing so well. You look fabulous, dahling!

patty if I have to read one more rant of yours about how you don't want to help anybody else because they can just help themselves I will seriously vomit. Not that you'd care, of course. You'd delight in my discomfort, of that I am certain. You sound like the most selfish, shallow, single-minded and misguided person I've ever had the occasion to come in contact with. You're a pathetic excuse for an American. And anybody wants a piece of me for saying this, come on! Bring it on! I haven't been able to take my meds because I've had 2/3 of my stomach removed and I'm mad as hell and I'm gonna say so!

yeah, spill baby spill. Coming soon to a seashore near you. Bob, I have decided that I agree with you about certain posters double identity.

Swiftflow, how're you doing?? Carla, hang in there. Glad you're doing well!

Stacy when did you begin to start feeling better? I'm only 3 days out from having surgery but at the moment, it seems like it will be forever before I can have food again. I see that tomorrow I can have V8 juice and I'm pretty pumped about that. What are you existing on right now?

It's funny... funny weird. I weighed when I got home from the hospital and was UP 4 lbs. And I thought that was very strange because I got rid of the band and that should have weighed something, right? Well I weighed a while ago (the next day) and I'm down like 8 lbs. So I have a sneaking suspicion that the scale isn't going to be something we can rely on in this process. I've spent a lifetime nearly jumping on the scale to see what how I'm doing and I think that might have been my biggest mistake from the beginning. I know my metabolism was wrecked from years of serial dieting. I got to the point where I couldn't lose weight even if I fasted. So my body is so used to hanging on to every calorie I take in, it's going to take a while for it to figure this one out. The thing that gives me hope that this is going to work is that I haven't read any posts of people who haven't been able to lose weight with the sleeve. Am I just being naive?? Have I only read what I wanted to read?

I like those okay but right now I can't take in anything that is cold. Sharp shooting pains ensue after so much as a tiny sip or bite of anything icy. I guess this will change? I am so glad to hear that things will improve. I was wondering if this shooting pain thing is what keeps you on the straight and narrow and causes you to lose weight over the long haul.

I'm sure I can put up with this for a month. But sure wish it were more like a week. Today (had the surgery on Wed) I am a little better. I can see where if I get a little better each day, before too long it will all be doable. I actually got about 1/4 c of chicken broth down, a tiny spoonful at a time. I think that's pretty darned good. Everything tastes lousy and smells lousy and I'd rather be having something else, but I wouldn't dream of veering away from the plan they gave me. I just can't get everything down that they have on the list. But maybe in a few days it will be better. You all give me hope.

Thanks pnw218 and Stacy. I hope you're right and things are better today. I know this, reading your posts makes me feel a lot more confident that there's nothing wrong and that what I'm feeling is normal. goodlife, I too am having heartburn/acid. My doc said no prevecid or tums but said I could take a little mylanta, which even a tiny bit did seem to help calm that area right in my mid-section. Funniest thing... yesterday when I came home from the hospital, I weighed just for giggles, wondering how much that band added to my weight and lo and behold I had gained 4 lbs. since the morning of surgery. Bizzare! I'm sure that will change. I'm sure it is all the IV fluids and stuff that myh body has been retaining. I didn't expect much loss but sure didn't expect a gain. I need to install a ticker but I will worry about that when I feel better. Goodlife are you a revision from the band? Where my port was now has a pretty big protrusion. With my penchant for hernias I hope there isn't a hernia there. Maybe it's only swollen from the trauma. Hang in there goodlife and thanks for your support you sweet peeps!

I'm home. My surgery (revision from band to sleeve) took about 1.5 hours very early yesterday morning. I was in recovery for another 3. Lots of nausea. But finally got it undercontrol by about noon. I can see that this is going to be a rather tedious next 3 weeks or so. I can hardly stand artifically sweetened stuff so I'm probably going to have to really fight to get the stuff down. I think tomorrow I might be able to have a Protein shake. I'm only getting a few sips of anything down at a time. If I take my Darvosette, I'm okay. When I need it, I'm pretty uncomfortable. No trouble ambulating - I was up walking around pretty quickly and took several spins around the ward last night. My doc said that the gas will settle in one of your shoulders (or both) if you lie on your side to sleep. So I've been staying upright ever since he told me that. So far, no shoulder pain. He found another hiatal hernia but thinks it won't give me any trouble now. But did think that was why I wasn't successful with the band. Hope goodlife and swiftflow check in and are doing well.

Sure it makes up a small part of the government. Lots and lots of things make up the government. My point was that for someone to ask the question, do you approve of your government (or similar verbage) they are not asking, do you approve of your president. They're not even asking do you approve of the legislative branch, or the military branch or the executive branch or any other segment of the goverment. Many segments make up our goverment. So assuming that a certain percentage of the population responding to a such a broad based question, responds no they do not approve of the job the government is diong, it certainly should not indicate to any extent that those people disapprove of the president. It just doesn't make any sense to do that.

So you think the president is the government? I know you can explain it to me since you are so anti-government. You're bound to know exactly what you're protesting, right?

Ok swiftflow and goodlife - tomorrow's the big day for us! I should be in bed since I have to get up at 5 a.m. but I'm a bundle of nerves. Reading your very positive post when you're a little less than week out, stcyt, is a real emotion booster! Thanks! Best of everything to you swiftflow and goodlife. Hope we all have wonderful surgical stories to share in a couple of days!