pnw218

I have never used the weightloss medicine Alli, but I was wondering if anyone has used it after the sleeve? I am thinking about taking it once I am 3-4 months out to help with weightloss.

yikes! LOL

I wouldn't be brave enough to try it after hearing others talk about it. The side effects are not pleasant at all. I ran across it (no pun intended) months ago and just reading the package made me cringe! :eek:

The sleeve really works well. I would be surprised if you need to supplement with any other diet meds. The basics of the post-op diet are: calories 550-700, Protein 60-80, carbs 30-50, fats 30-50.

A glass of milk was and still is very calming to me now and great before I go to bed. Hopefully he will approve it for you : )

I was taking omeprazole before surgery (generic prilosec) and still had the weak and hunger feelings post-op.

I didn't go for almost a week after surgery. Then it was about every 4 days. Now I will go 2 or 3 days in row (normal, formed) and then not again for a few days. I don't feel uncomfortable so I think it is normal for my system. Makes sense to me that it takes longer to fill up the poop shoot before it empties.

I will share my experience - you will have to make your own decision tho : )

I was into the full liquid stage the first week primarily because I didn't feel good on clears, and soft/mushy soon after. I was weak, tired and cranky. I used the Atkins shakes alot before surgery. I also use them post-op and Premier shakes (30 grams protein) that I bought at costco.

how far post-op are you?? are you able to eat a variety of foods yet?? When I did Atkins and had too much Protein, Constipation could be an issue.

I didn't go for over a week post-op, I think. And then normal was about every 4 days. I have only had a couple of instances of rabbit poop (I know, tmi) where it is more of a strain and highly annoying. My new normal has been to go every day for 2 or 3 days, and then not again for a few days. Mostly formed normally and not a strain.

If you are still in liquids, try more Water. Pain meds can also tighten things up. I have been allowed to take stool softeners after prior surgeries. You could ask to see if it is ok.

My main goal, prior to ever considering surgery, was to get back into single digit jeans. I didn't even care what the scale said - so long as it looked good! lol

I feel pretty confident now that I will make it into 8's. A very long time ago, I did wear 5's and 7's. My lowest adult weight, after 2 babies, was 118 - and I didn't look healthy at all, too skinny and gaunt. I have no intention of even trying to get that low again.

Nice that we even have to think about losing too much weight! LOL What a difference a surgery makes! : )

Shifting our identity is no easy feat!!! It happens moving both ways on the scale. I know that when I was gaining weight I was quite large before it dawned on me that I was a fat chic now. My self image was still a of a thin person even though my clothing size and my reflection were clearly saying I was no longer thin. It takes time for our brain to catch up sometimes.

I agree. I had to remind myself that I wasn't that slender chick anymore! LOL And it was always very hard to tell what I really looked like. I would ask very close friends what size jeans they were wearing so I could get some idea of how big my butt was.

It is a work in process but it certainly helps as people notice and make comments. The first 20 pounds didn't have much affect on me but I am really feeling the next 20.

congrats attitudefree! you are doing amazing!

As an employer, I can understand their concern to a point, but if you have been working there for over 2 years, seems like you are a loyal employee! Has she not heard of labor ready or other temp workers?? I think you work in the medical field also, right?? Not sure if I remember that correctly or not. Overall, self and family comes before employers. Sheesh! She should be happy for you (and herself) that you will be a healthier and happier employee!

I bought very little before surgery. I was concerned about what would sound good afterwards, so went to the store on the way home from the airport : )

Popsicles, gasx strips, sugar free pudding and Jello, chicken broth .... I already had crystal lite in the house but can not drink the flavors I used to.

Good luck with your planning! It is exciting for sure!!

I would have expected my numbers to be a little different since I am 3 inches shorter than you two, but I was wearing a 14 very comfortably at about 180ish also. I feel like my weight is pretty evenly distributed throughout my body - might be different if I was more pear shaped??

I am now 155 and in 10's easily.

I was wondering how it would go after surgery, and today I found out! I have donated off and on for over 20 years. I have been on restriction sometimes due to a new tattoo or traveling somewhere forbidden. :thumbup:

Most of time I do just fine; sometimes tho I have felt lightheaded. I asked more questions this time to double check on the recent surgery out of the country, weight loss, etc. She was more concerned with the travel in the Caribbean in January! All was a-ok! She did recline my chair to help prevent the dizziness. It went just fine and I filled the bag within the time limit! Sometimes I am a little slow, and wasn't sure what to expect.

I am O+ so often get calls when blood is needed for surgeries. O+ is the most common blood type with A+ close behind; O- can be used for any blood type but is more rare (O+ is only compatible with 4 types).

May 17th has been an important surgery day for my family: my husband had successful surgery in 1995 for malignant melanoma; my MIL had heart bypass surgery a year later in 1996. May 17th is also her birthday! She is 88 today!

So - the public service announcement of the day is: Remember to donate!

37% of the US population is eligible to donate ? only 5% of those eligible donate regularly.

Good Morning! and thanks! It does feel good to be so close to normal! I even found my waist!! : )

GWL is fun - kinda spendy tho, especially if you have to go on a weekend. Sometimes there are specials and that helps! The rooms are nice tho. I wouldn't recommend the buffet - $35 per person and cold food the last time my daughter was there with friends. The snack bar in the waterpark area is decent pricewise and food quality/choices. We had drinks and nachos in the bar on Friday night and both seemed to be good values. We brought Snacks and Breakfast with us.

The park itself: perfect for little kids, elementary aged and junior high. Older teens will be done after about 5 hours - unless of course there are teens of the opposite sex to splash with! LOL There is a teen dance on Fri/Sat nights. The girls always like that : ) I like the wavepool and hot tub.

It would be nice if there was a parent/adult only area for those of us with older kids who don't need supervision. We did go outside in the lower sitting area near the hottub. There were lounge chairs and tables/chairs. You can't take your own food out there. Dumb.

There is only one area that I think requires actual swimming skills; most of it is just Water play. That might help those who aren't Water fans?? There are also lifejackets everywhere and are free to use.

We have been three times. Took my daughter and 5 of her friends a couple of years ago. Met my sister and her then 4 yr old daughter - that was very fun! And then this trip with the teen vb players. Will probably take the granddaughter and have my sis meet us with her two kids this summer. The babies are just 1 day apart so that should be fun!

You can enter the park early on the day you arrive, before your room is ready, and then stay until closing time the day you check out. Helps to justify the price. At least this time I could deduct the cost as a club expense! : )

Lost another pound over the weekend. Another good Monday morning! 155.8, down 37.2! Next goals: loss of 40+ lbs and getting into the 140's!

Anxious to go to the back dr next Monday. Hopefully he will release me for exercise and I can start firming up. Overall not bad at all tho; was worried about loose skin but I must be losing slow enough that it's not an issue. However, the hips and bottom always need attention! LOL

Update: We had the CT scan last night and the Dr. came in this morning to tell us everything looks good. She does have an infection from the drain site that was removed, but it is not spreading and they have her on antibiotics. The CT scan also showed the stents are still in place and they did not show any leakage. She will have to come back to the hospital next week for a couple days to have the stent removed, test for the leak, and replace the stents if the leak is still there, I'm praying it will NOT be there.

Very good news!!

I hope you are both able to get some well deserved rest today!

I was so thirsty sometimes, it was almost unbearable! Popsicles were awesome!! I also had the feeling that liquids were getting stuck halfway down. It went away fairly quickly. It is so nice now to be able to take real drinks!

I did alot of Jello, sf pudding, premade shakes in the beginning also. It was probably a week or two before I did a real banana but that was mainly because we eat them on the green side rather than overly ripe. Not sure if you meant actual bananas or banana flavored popsicles, so responded to both : ) I also liked cottage cheese and mashed potatoes.

You are doing much better than I did with liquids. I had a hard time getting 64 oz down the first couple of weeks.

Congrats on your surgery! Hope the rest of your recovery goes smoothly!

I haven't vomited - have been too full before tho and that was bad enough.

Eat slower, eat less - that's all I can offer. Like Immore said, measure it out. It is hard for me to leave the last couple of bites sometimes, but I am getting used to it.

I also drink a little when I eat sometimes, so really need to take it slow.

Did you have any digestive issues before surgery?

I hope it gets better!

What an amazing husband you are! She is very lucky to have you!

Do you have the results from the ct scan yet? It seems very unfair that someone would become ill trying to improve their life and their health. I am sure the doctors will work hard for her.

A couple of songs came to mind. I don't know your faith but hopefully these are general enough to bring some comfort ....

Michael W Smith, Awesome God

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=3b1iwLIMmRQ&feature=fvw

Michael W Smith, Breathe

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Oad8ov10AjY&feature=related

Hope to hear good news from you later tonite or in the morning!

Based on my experience with this surgery, 8 others and childbirth, I would say yes that you can do the stairs and be home alone. However, have you had any other surgeries? Any idea how you might react to the actual surgery or recovery?

I was walking up and down stairs right after surgery. I didn't have any post-op pain after the initial chest pain subsided. Was able to get my own meals. Walked thru the airport to fly home. Was back on a mostly normal schedule the first week. To me it wasn't a major surgery to recover from; I have had worse.

Everyone is different tho. If you have experienced something similar before, then base your possible recovery on that. If not, then maybe be cautious and have someone there the first day or two home. Are you having this as day surgery or staying over night? I think with my other day surgeries, I was supposed to have an adult with me for the first 24 hours just in case of a reaction of some sort.

I have been fortunate tho not to have had any issues with any surgeries ..... if you don't count checking on a crying baby during the night after foot surgery, and being too lazy to put the boot on ... and then stepping on a toy the baby threw out of the crib! LOL Made it really really sore but didn't do any damage : )

I think it is strange how different the post-op diets vary among surgeons. I was amazed how strict others post-op diets were. I guess I had it easy.

Day 1-2 liquids clear the first and the second any liquid.

Day 3-10 soft food 1 1/2 oz blenderized meat with moistener and 1 oz blended vegetable if you could fit it in after the meat.< /p>

Week 2 and on 2 oz meat/protein and 1-2 vegetables as tolerated not blended.

I am in no way advocating not following your doctor's orders. I am only commenting on how different the diets can be. I felt I had in incredibly talented and competent surgeon. It is interesting how conservative my surgeon is in other ways like not advocating this surgery for NSAID use while other surgeons do. I even asked him about his post-op diet during my pre-op visit because I thought it was weird as I had been reading how others were so strict and he told me he did not think it was necessary. He felt it was more important to be getting natural sources of Protein in as quickly as possible. Again I want to say it is important to follow you own doctors orders. I am wondering if surgical technique plays any role in what kind of post-op diet a doctor requires. I know many others have drain tubes and stitches where I had no drain and durabond adhesive and no external stitches. Plus my surgeon does all his laproscopic procedures robotically. I am curious if that plays any role in post-op diet and healing. Maravilla, this post probably in no way helped you, sorry. I just thought it important to say how different one surgeon can be from another so we should definitely be tolerant of everyone on this board because no one diet experience will be the same and not get sucked into there being one right way to do this surgery or a post-op diet. If you are still very unhappy talk with your doctor and see how he feels about you advancing your diet. There is always a chance he might think your ready but I wouldn't decide on your own or from my or any other board members advice. Good luck even if you have to wait you'll get through it.

yep, I totally agree with you. When someone posts that they are having a hard time or not feeling good, I have shared my experience. All drs are different just as all recoveries are different. I had no issues and others spent days in ICU's and didn't even have complications. Kinda like childbirth. Some do it without meds, some get knocked out : )

Hopefully those of us with different experiences and opinions will be allowed to share them without fear :thumbup:

At eleven days, I was eating most anything I wanted - within reason and either mushy/soft or chewed very well.

I found the Cornell guideline before my surgery and it worked great for me. I think the most important aspect is not to eat anything that will damage your stitch line - like nuts or anything that could stay crunchy and get stuck, causing an infection.

http://www.cornellweightlosssurgery.org/pdf/dietary_guidelines_sleeve_gastrectomy.pdf

I also think it depends alot on what your stomach will tolerate. Many patients here talked about eating chili early on and I could never have done that! LOL

Sorry maravilla, I was only relating my experience to you and then responding to those who said I was wrong, even tho they have also shared the same guidelines. I apologized to you earlier via pm but thought I would do it publicly as well.

In the meantime, maybe everyone should re-read this as several posted mean things after Susan posted this reminder. Thanks Susan for reminding all of us of the rules.

Hi Maravilla, I apologize that your thread has been hijacked by what appears to be a disagreement between members that needs to be taken to pm as opposed to deterring from the help that you requested.

Maravilla, at eleven days out, I would strongly recommend that you not venture away from the diet that was prescribed to you by your doctor. You have had a potentially life changing surgery, please do not put yourself at risk by not following your doctors orders. When I was post-op, if I had to attend a function, I knew it was unlikely that they would have foods that matched my doctors post-op instructions. Therefore, I always made sure to bring whatever I would need with me.

What you did should not affect your weight loss, however, not following your doctors orders and eating foods you shouldn't could hurt the healing process.

My preferred advice always is to check with your doctor. You paid them a lot of money to take care of you and you entrusted your health to them. If you find your post-op diet is not working for you, you are starving, or whatever then call him/her. That is what they are there for. They can offer you suggestions that will help you get through the post-op period.

As for the members having disagreements with each other, how about we keep the personal attacks off of the message boards, and not overrun someones thread who is genuinely asking for needed advice. You may attack the idea, but not the person. Take the arguing to pm, or block the person if you simply cannot tolerate their postings.

Well, here's an update. Over the past 4 days she had a drain removed, she is down to the JP tube & 1 drain. Last night was our best night so far, she got some good sleep, we did some good feeding.

Today we noticed some green drainage coming from the place where her drain was removed, and she had a slight fever all day. We called our Dr. and now we are BACK at the hospital, they will do a CT scan later and I think give her some antibiotics, this has been a complete nightmare, I am so mentally broke down.

I am sorry to hear she is having such a difficult time! It is quite odd how and when complications happen; doesn't seem to always be a definite reason.

I hope the news is good tonite. Your stress must be very exhausting. Wishing you both the best and finally, a recovery!

oh, you probably will. LOL don't we always??? : ) just keep writing the questions down and take them with you next time!

a year from now, the weight will be an old memory and you will be very happy!

good luck!

It truly depends on lots of things - no clear cut answer for any of your questions : )

In the US, there are drs who do this surgery as outpatient, I have heard others talk about being in an ICU unit for days afterwards. It would be my guess that the drs in Mexico keep most patients at least one night in the hospital/clinic and then at a recovery house or hotel for a couple of nights, to make sure patients are good before they travel home.

My recovery was very easy. The first day or two is yucky, typical post op. I flew home on day 3 and never took another pain med. I went back to work on day 4 and worked all week. I do have a mainly desk job and am self employed. There were some days that I left after 4-6 hours and went home for a nap. We did have an employee file an L&I claim that week tho so I was swamped and needed to be there.

I think alot of it is your attitude going in. Think positive, get up and move after surgery, take a shower and put on real clothes. That has been my experience from past surgeries.

Good luck with your research! It is an amazing tool and I do not regret it at all!

by the way ~ I have been to Calgary and it is beautiful!

congrats on your progress so far! It is hard to travel and attend functions. So many seminars, conferences, etc offer wonderful breakfasts - a variety of pastries, coffee, tea and water! lol If you are lucky, they will have yogurt and fresh fruit! : )

sounds like you are adjusting to live on the road with your new tummy! continued good luck!

Gastric bypass really scares me and wasn't necessary for the amount of weight I wanted/needed to lose. I have a former SIL who had bypass surgery years ago and seems to be ok. I don't talk to her very much but saw her two weeks ago and she looks healthy, altho everyone is different. The major remodeling inside during the surgery seems drastic tho.

There are people around here who have lost lots of weight with the sleeve and few seem to have complications during/after surgery or post-op. For me, it has been a very good experience. Wanting food is still a challenge but other than that, all is good : )

I had never even heard of VSG until last December/January. There are a few hospitals/clinics where I live that do the surgery, however my insurance would have been a pain in the butt. I met a gal thru work who had the surgery a year ago in Mexico, and being able to talk to her face to face was very encouraging. She used a different clinic than I did. She went from 280 lbs to 145 in one year. From a size 22 to a 6/8. Amazing! She is very loyal to her eliptical : )

I have had several surgeries and was comfortable how I would feel after surgery, so traveling out of the country was fine. My husband stayed home with our daughter; would like to have had him there, but it was actually easier for me not having to worry about the dd getting to her sports, etc on time - and I didn't have to worry about the dh being bored while I was sleeping after surgery! lol

I personally think the sleeve is the better choice of the three (bypass, sleeve, band). It is a very personal decision tho - read as much as you can, try to find people locally who have had the surgey and used the drs/clinics, and then decide what is best for you. Be cautious of those you tell ahead of time - family and friends. They could have a wide range of uneducated opinions and cause you alot of stress.

good luck!

Hi there,

I've recently been accepted into the Kaiser weigh loss program. I know that this program will take some time before surgery (up to a year, I understand) and i'm okay with that...

Does Kaiser have a members website? I have a different insurance but they do have a website with a forum section. People can post about a variety of subjects. Maybe you can find one on weight loss and read what other Kaiser patients have experienced?

Also check to see what your portion of the costs will be. Mine would have been considerably more than the cost of having it elsewhere. It would have been nice to stay home for it, but if having surgery out of the US is your only choice or a better choice, there are plenty of places to choose from.

Good luck! I hope you are able to find info for your Kaiser plan. Keep in mind, they can also vary from employer to employer.