CalicoskiesNC

I'm only post-op 1 wk, but I wanted to say a few things my dr told me before I was discharged at the hospital. He said that lots of people believe you have to chew your food to mush. In his opinion, that defeats the band. He said to chew well, but not till you have made a slider food in your mouth cuz that will just slide right thru and won't serve its purpose. He said to eat high quality, substantial Proteins (ie: meats, hard cheeses, seafood). By doing this he told me that the food I eat will stay in the pouch longer, thus triggering the nerves and release the hormones and such that will control hunger and satiety for some hours. Makes sense to me. I know we have to do small bites (he told me cut everything into a pencil eraser size) and chew well, I just wonder if some are not chewing "into a slider food" hence they have more trouble controlling hunger?

I read so many suggestions and shopped for 3mo before my surgery. Just today I returned a bunch of stuff to Target. Keep all your receipts! Here are things I have found to be most helpful. I'm day 5 post op.
1. Heating pad...this has been crucial to help me with some back pain which I think is from the CO2 gas. I have the micro mushy one and an electric, the electric is by far the best help.
2. Mushy, refreezable ice pack, this has helped alot on my tummy where my incision is. I think its why I had pretty much no pain.
3. Mushy foods and liquids ready to go in a tub (easy to find and grab): Soups, refried f/f Beans, veggie chili, applesauce, canned pears to puree, Carnation Instant Breakfast, s/f hot cocoa, Decaf tea.
4. Mushy and liqs ready in fridge: apple juice, white cran juices, cottage cheese, Activia yogurt, Yoplait Light yogurt, greek yogurt (excellent replacement for sour cream), low fat shredded cheddar, skim or 1% milk (1% for me) Jello puddings/jellos, eggs, Alfresco chicken Breakfast sausage (brown and chop, place in freezer bags for easy addition to eggs) Ball Park turkey dogs, some light flavored cream cheese and Laughing cow wedges.
5. supplements I need: Viactiv, Flintstone vits, chewable Fiber or Benefiber powder (I have both) sublingual Biotin, D3 and B12. Also, Gas-X strips, Milk of Mag, and liquid Tylenol. $3 thermometer. I could only find childrens Tylenol, ask pharmacy how to dose to be sure you know.
6. Baby Magic bath soap, I love the smell and its very gentle on my skin.
7. Extra pillows.
8. Baby spoons, small glass Pyrex w/lids, tiny glass mise-en-plas bowls, tupperware midgees, small size freezer bags. The baby spoons I got are silicone and scrape along the tiny glass bowls very nice. Its really hard to remember tiny bites when I use a regular spoon/fork. I am going to get some cocktail forks too. The little glass lidded bowls are for storing my leftovers and getting meal bits ready for me to freeze. The mise-en-plas bowls are the perfect serving size, they hold like 1-2oz.
9. Pyrex shot glass w/measurement markings...great for monitoring liquid ounces and meds.
Hope some of this helps.
Lori