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@Hiddenroses that GENEPRO is the one I was asking about. I have it and mixed it in pudding and I couldn’t taste it but I wasn’t sure how to mix into hot things. You say to mix with water first, huh? It’s a tiny scoop compared to most powdered protein so one scoop is not really as much as your thinking I bet. When we get to more normal portions we may be able to add more than one scoop even but I’m not sure about how much it would change the texture. Has everyone else discovered protein waters yet. They were obviously handy in the liquid stage and full liquids when you get sick of shakes but even now in purée they are good since we are not consuming enough food to get all of our protein. I try to have a drink after each meal and they are 20g protein so that combined witb the 5-10g I get in my 1/4 cup serving is pretty much 30 average per meal (my breakfast shake in my profeee is 30 by itself. My goal is 72-108g so around 90 is good I figured.

Hello everyone - checking in and feeling kind of lousy post morning routine - as I seem to sometimes feel for about an hour after every 'meal'. I'm sure this will get easier with time; I hate this puree stage though and I hate not being able to drink 30 mins before and after meals! Everything wants to stick on its way down. Ugh. So - #1 - Protein powder! My nutritionist suggested an unflavored protein powder called Genepro. It's even lactose, GMO, and gluten free. I ordered it on Amazon this morning. The description states it can even be used in place of flour and that it should be mixed with room temperature fluids before being added to other items. So - I'm going to give it a try. It's only 11g of protein per serving but if coupled with protein rich foods like ricotta, low fat cottage cheese, or zero sugar yogurt I think it just might do the trick to help me meet my protein goals. Here's hoping! @draikaina8503 - Oh my gosh, my heart goes out to you and your sweet, confused furbaby! That sounds absolutely AWFUL. I'm so terribly sorry you ended up in that pain as a result of an overly eager, loving pup. I hope you managed to bring it back down to a tolerable level and that no long term damage was done! I know that I slept terribly last night between two doses of Milk of Magnesia working their way through my system, having heartburn, and the tugging/sharp pain that would shoot up from my left side in a brief flare when I moved wrong. I did some research and I'm pretty sure what I'm experiencing is from the stitch they used to keep my stomach 'in place' and that it will loosen some over time. I'm trying to work on posture and wanted to let you know I got to thinking of what other people have mentioned on here and thought of that pillow you talked about being given! I hugged my own round support pillow against my abdomen at one point finally and *poof* relief. So, thank you, again!! So today is surgery day, I believe, for @Averdra and @caseyash30 - Bidding you both the best of experiences and hopefully minimally painful recoveries! Remember, walk walk walk, ask for ice, and sip SO slowly. Be cautious about laying at any kind of incline until after you've had a good burp or two, or at least 'feel' the fluid trickle down! The posture you're in when you sip can make a HUGE difference - try to put your shoulders back and keep your spine as straight as you can manage - it helps! I strongly suggest staying ahead of your pain, and also staying ahead of constipation! If you get to day TWO with no bowel movement, take a dose of Milk of Magnesia - especially if you're also taking narcotics! (Obviously with doctor's ok! ) Also, your date must be coming up, @Ladygrey, I'm guessing? Sorry if I missed you posting the date! How are you doing, @Justarwaxx ? You're about a week out now, I believe? @Farhad - Also sending you the best and wonder if you're at purees yet? (I may have missed a post!) I also wanted to toss a message out there to @Mandalynne ! Maybe I've missed your posts, but you had your surgery on the 14th, right?? How you doing over there? I hope the Finch is still helping you out! I have my water goals on there and also assigned myself the task 3x day to do my Baritastic app entries, as well as take my vitamins (separate from also taking my Calcium since I can't take the Iron & Calcium together) I would absolutely be at a loss without that app and am SO grateful it's free. Let me know if you want to add me on there - it doesn't share personal information but lets your added 'Friends' send and receive cute little good vibes from your Birb. Only mentioning in case you didn't know, a friend had to tell me and once I started interacting with friends my dopamine boosts went up tremendously because I wanted to be able to dress up my Birb to go visit others. I'm so sorry if I missed responding to you in the chaos - I'm curious how your pain management is going and if you found an alternative to narcotics for your recovery? I'm in a limbo state myself with pain management right now - I have chronic pain conditions that were previously treated with an opioid by my primary care doctor but even though I stretched what was given to me by my surgeon I'm having trouble managing my chronic pain plus recovery. I thought of you and your question as I'm trying to mainly handle things with Tylenol myself right now, and lots of ice packs. It's rough and I agree - this is probably one of the hardest things I've EVER done. Welcome, @RRenaeL23, and congratulations on your surgery! How are you doing now? Are you still on liquids? How goes the pain / protein / fluid goals? Good job on denying yourself the fruit - you might pick up some sugar free popsicles to help when those cravings hit in case you don't always feel up for a walk! Also - I haven't taken the time to update my tag in quite a while, either, and I really need to. Oh well, limited chair time still for me! I'll get to it! That's all from me for now - thinking of you all, whether I tagged you here or not! I tried to do another recap of the thread from top to bottom and apologize for not having taken the time in this post to respond to everyone I've missed along the way. I'm working on it!

@draikaina8503 I’m so sorry to hear about your incidence with your dog. That sounds really painful. I can’t believe you are walking for ten minutes at a time already at 4 well now 5 days out. I suppose I probably could but haven’t been pushing myself to do it. I need to get my butt moving. I totally get you’re wanting to shower with someone there. Since I was at the hospital a little longer I was allowed to shower when I went home. I asked the dr and took my first shower at the hospital before I left. The nurse was totally not happy about it and didn’t try to hide it but I wanted to know I was there if something happened and I wanted the, to put my binder back on because they did it real snug and it felt so much better. Since then I’ve taken a few showers but the first few of them were in the evenings when I’m not alone. I have steri strips on my main incisions but I had a bandaids covering the hole that the drain left and there came open In the shower and the incision was still open and I was glad someone was there. I didn’t want to be bending and twisting and all that while I found another band aide and my anxiety made me freak our that the dirty water got inside it and it was going to be infected so he talked me down from that. Well sorta. I had an appt the next day and I asked the NP to look at it and clean it just in case. 😉 For those of you trying to figure out a morning schedule one thing to consider is having proffee for breakfast. Then you can rehydrate without having to wait and take meds and vitamins whenever. I have a caramel shake with like 1/2 cup coffee over ice. (Decaf for now) and it’s pretty delicious. Play with the measurements if that’s too sweet but it’s an option.

Well, last night was.... bad. My dog came out of nowhere and jumped on me, his paw hitting right over a set of staples. 85lbs of "I just want to love you!" turned into absolute misery. It was 7am before I could finally fall asleep between that and suddenly having diarrhea, which I don't know if they were related or what. I didn't have anything that I wasn't supposed to have, so I'm not sure what caused the latter symptom. Anyway, it's been a day of sleeping on and off to catch up on last night. My cuddlebug of a dog doesn't understand why he can't be on mama currently. I don't know if it's because of the pain or the diarrhea, but I definitely did not feel as good today as I had been. Walking even five minutes at a time felt like I had run a marathon, whereas before I was able to easily walk in ten minute increments. (I probably could have easily gone fifteen minutes, but I didn't want to overdo it.) Tonight, I came up with the idea of thinning my vanilla pudding with half of a premade vanilla protein shake. It worked! I'm still eating on it slowly, but I'm glad to find that my random idea was actually good for something. LOL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl Glad to hear your adventurous egg salad seems to have gone well! I'm looking forward to having even just plain tuna at this point. 7 more days to go on the liquid diet for me, though I may personally extend it a little longer. I know I'm doing my best, but I am concerned that I'm not already meeting goals. (Yes, I know, I had surgery on Friday and the goal is to build up to it.) I'm really glad the doc doesn't think the cramping is a blood clot. It is definitely something for all of us to keep an eye on and definitely be annoying about. I tend to err on the side of "if it gets worse, I'll call" but I know that won't work with the RYGB recovery. Your potential dumping with teriyaki sauce makes me extremely sad. Oriental foods of all kinds are literally my favorite things ever. I knew I would have to really moderate them a whole lot after surgery, but I was sure hoping they wouldn't cause dumping. Maybe if we make our own teriyaki sauce, we can avoid it? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Hiddenroses I may try to take an actual shower on Thursday after what you said about warm water. I want to make sure my husband is available to help me, just in case. He works as a 911 dispatcher, so he wasn't actually able to take off work to help me at home. But he's being as supportive as he can and helping as much as he can when he is here. So that's just my own personal precaution - waiting for him to be around. I wasn't given a special soap for washing post-op. Just told to let the water and soap run over the incisions and such without actually scrubbing at them. Did they give you another round of hibicleans? I'm sorry the oatmeal sat wrong with your tummy this morning. I hope you got relief over the course of the day. But I definitely feel you on the eyeballing my protein goals. I know my stomach is still recovering, but part of me feels like I have to have those goals met NOW. I am glad that the ice chip thing helped you out! Kudos to you for creating a routine. I should with my autism and ADHD just so I have less things to screw up on lol. But I've really just been trying to relax and take it one day at a time, each day. Your routine sounds really nice and doable. Might have to borrow a few steps of that when I'm feeling less bleh. I do totally agree with what you are saying about remaining upright. I have to stay that way even with water. Any other liquid? I'm fine. Water and food? Yep, no incline for at least fifteen minutes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt I was actually surprised that my doctor didn't send me home with Lovenox injections. I kind of thought that was standard procedure for most post-op situations now. But I guess that is how he emphasizes to make sure I'm moving around. The only flavor of Protein20 in this city is a berry flavor, or a cotton candy with caffeine in it. And my doc is very strict - no caffeine until six months post-op. I didn't realize they had caffeine when I bought them. So I guess I'll just leave them on my pantry shelf until that time rolls around. They seem to have a decently long shelf life. Did you get other flavors from Amazon? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @RRenaeL23 Welcome to the forums and to your new life! I hope you are recovering well from your sleeve surgery. Good on you for choosing a walk instead of falling into temptation. It's been hard on me, but I've managed to not stumble so far. And I know what could happen if I do, so that should be enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Yep, I agree with asking your surgeon & then discussing your options to manage your intake with your dietician based upon what the surgeon says as @NickelChip suggested. Not everyone who has their gall removed has issues with eating fat. As i’ve shared before, my aunt does (she describes it as feeling liverish if she eats something too fatty) but my sister-in-law & I don’t have an issue. I think I have an issue processing it in so far it doesn’t make me sick instead it maybe raising my cholesterol. Or the creons I take (which slow the passage of waste through my intestines so more nutrients are absorbed so it takes longer for the excess to be pooped out) is contributing. Maybe the type of fat (good fats vs bad fats) or added fats (like in fried foods) or naturally occurring fats (like in dairy) also play a role or has to be considered. Who knows. I’m just musing.

I think my least favorite part of surgery has to be these Lovenox injections. Twice a day on top of the bruising I already have is rough. I kind of broke down and advanced my diet to full fluids. They had me at clears until Thursday and I just couldn’t do it anymore. I’ve been tolerating everything so far so I had a Fairlife. I was fine. I haven’t been able to find a clear protein that I like. SEEQ is super sweet, Protein20 I only like the orange mango, I bought Isopure and tried mixing it with a flavor packet and it tasted weird. I can’t wait until I can do real food again.

What you described; occasionally light headed when standing up...racing heart, all with different foods and quantities was what I was and still am going through - exactly as you described. As I posted before my cardiologist said its dumping, the Bariatric surgeon said dumping combined with low blood pressure and/or dehydrated for the dizzy aspect symptoms. I do notice and am more aware of the coalition of less water consumption = dizzy upon standing or just in general now. He did say to try to slow down eating as it might help. The issue I have is I don't have 30 mins to casually sit and eat my food all the time - to eat "aware" or "mind fully." Sometimes I'm lucky to just get my protein down! I will say that once I had both doctors associate it to dumping I paid more attention to it and when it is happening, after I eat I can associate it directly to eating now. So I'm going to say they were right - its dumping. Good luck with the cardiologist.

@draikaina8503 - It sounds like the struggle has been super real for you, and I hate to hear that you've had such a tough time. I didn't have a drainage tube because of the type of surgery I had (as far as I know, unless it was only used DURING the surgery itself). The staples are a pain; and bending or stretching too much causing pain is 100% something I empathize with you in regards to. I was really nervous about showering with them in as well, but honestly the warm water from the shower set to a gentle pressure did feel really nice. I also used the special soap they gave me when I washed my staple area lightly with a washcloth. I was afraid of using a loofah thinking it might snag or something. I also feel where you (and others) are coming from on the fluids and dry mouth - I still find myself super relieved when I can finally have a drink 30 mins after a 'meal'. I will say that as long as I keep my intake moist (super soupy purees or broths) that it isn't TOO bad - and I definitely have to watch how many ounces I intake for my meals. I eat slowly, but when the food tastes good and I'm eyeballing my protein goal it's HARD not to want to try to 'finish' my serving. I learned my lesson with my oatmeal this morning, though. It sat more heavily on/in my stomach after I ate than I expected and I struggled to have a few burps that relieved the weight and pressure I felt in my chest. Your mention of letting ice chips dissolve in your mouth helped me today - the cold really did slow my intake and provide relief. I hope you're starting to feel better now! I created a sort of 'routine' for my mornings that I think is working pretty well, though. I try to only have a sip of water when I first wake up and them immediately prepare my breakfast. With purees that are thick to the consistency of yogurt there's a trick where you basically just swallow your meds a couple at a time (if they are small) with a spoonful of yogurt/cottage cheese/medium thick puree. That's what I do to get down my morning meds, and as long as I don't overeat I go to have a brief warm shower afterward. The movements of me showering and standing help get my body to produce a burp or two, and putting my arms over my head when I wash my hair (yes, still some pulling especially on the left side so I have to go easy with THAT arm) does expand my torso and help my food settle. This also take sup some of the time gap I have to leave after eating before I can drink. Usually by the time I'm done with my shower, done drying, and have caught my breath it's almost time for me to be able to sip fluids again. @Pepper_No_Salt I'm still shocked that they sent you home from the hospital on the same day. Whew. I'm glad to see you're been feeling better each day, Moving on to strained soups was a biggie for me and I certainly can appreciate that having been one of your first planned stops! I did the same thing after I got my staples out. Today I am going to try to return to some broth for lunch and wish I had gotten more cans of chicken noodle when I went to the store. Maybe I'll try to season some of the 'cream of' soups I've got sitting around. My first try with them wasn't good, but then again they were room temperature then. Hopefully they taste better next time around! @ShoppGirl @Onemealplan @Greekmom4 @AndreaJD- Thank you all for the recipes and information! I tried my oatmeal yesterday with the whey protein powder a friend had given me and honestly - it was gritty, and I was disappointed. This morning I used part of a vanilla ensure and I used a potato peeler to slice off the exterior of three strawberries I mixed in with it and it was 100x better. I actually ate about 5oz of it super slowly and regretted that as it either expanded or wouldn't quite settle. I wasn't sick, but I was very uncomfortable for a while and had to shower and move around, then stand and take a couple of sips of cold water to initiate a couple of burps that provided some relief. Once I started to feel better I realized that the icy cold beverage helped me, and so I went ahead and had a sugar free popsicle. I took my time with it and found that the cold spreading across the inside of my chest felt very good and now I'm feeling much better. Has anyone had good luck finding an unflavored protein powder that doesn't feel gritty when mixed? Just curious - and if someone already answered this I'm sorry; trying to get caught up but not sit for too long! @CrazyDog&CatLady - Good luck to you on your revision and thank you for sending us all positive vibes for preparation and healing! Also, welcome to the thread! @ShoppGirl - I second what you said a thousand percent about using ALL the coping strategies you can to get through this. I'm having to completely re-learn my body, and in fact learning things about myself I never realized or understood before. The feeling of 'full' does echo my feelings of 'anxiety' and I've found that I'm extra sensitive due to that in the hour after I have a meal. I've also found that just like with the walking to get the gas worked out I also need to walk around a little bit after my meal to get my food to sit properly. Additionally, I'm learning the importance of remaining UPRIGHT until my stomach has settled past a meal. It's not even 'going to sleep too soon after eating, it's being at too little of an incline. I've woken up two nights in a row with heartburn in the wee hours that I can only attribute to drinking something maybe too fast before going to bed, or sipping at an incline rather than sitting up completely to deal with my dry mouth during the night. I do space my calcium out to later in the day and have been taking my multi w/Iron and ADEK about an hour after my breakfast. That seems to so far be working to stave off any nausea I would get from taking them on an empty stomach. Thank you for explaining about the B12 injections and congratulations on overcoming your anxiety giving them to yourself! Sorry if I missed anyone - I've hit my cap for sitting for the moment. Best wishes to all and encouragement to those who have surgery in the coming days! If I recall we have two having surgery tomorrow, yes? Another set of 8/21 surgery buddies? I'll try to recap and review later!

I agree with @catwoman7’s suggestion for some anti nausea meds. Hope a replacement surgeon is engaged soon. So frustrating. I went through a phase when I found water too heavy to drink.I relied more on green tea & flattened sparkling water & not solely plain water then. Is that how you would describe how you feel before the nausea starts? On the days you struggle with water are you able to drink other flavoured or unflavoured fluids? Were you are big drinker of sweet drinks before you had surgery like sodas? Could there be an underlying craving for sweet drinks again which is why flavoured unsweetened drinks seem tart to you now?? Our brains can work against us sometimes. There are odd days when I don’t get all my fluids in. Life gets busy sometimes or the opportunities to drink more than a few sips at times during the day ate rare. I don’t mind too much when it’s just odd days because I know I’ll reach my goal (or drink even more) the next day & will be back on track again. (Same with protein goals too.)

So, I know they said that I can shower with the staples in, just no scrubbing the area. Instead I'm supposed to just let the water and soap run over the incision sites on their own. But I am so nervous about it that I bought baby wipes to do my 'cleaning' until I've healed up more. Or at least until the morning of my first post-op. I know they know what they are doing, but with my diabetes actually getting worse somehow on a liquid diet I am now terrified of screwing up my healing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl Ooooh, that recipe sounds amazing if we can do that for ourselves. I'm adding it to the list of things to ask when I go for my first post-op appointment. (I know it won't be for a while, but I think it's good to go ahead and stock up on recipes early to avoid boredom. Though my husband's coworker who had the exact same procedure I did said you don't ever enjoy food again and he eats the same thing every day because it's only an eat to live thing.) No clue about that protein powder. I have been considering getting some unflavored powder of some kind to add to meals and such going forward to help with the protein goal. But I will admit that I also really haven't thought that far in advance lol. Today was my first day of milk of magnesia, and yeah... I went. I didn't even feel constipated. But you said when talking to your doctor that going on day 7, 8 and 9 were normal. So now I'm wondering if I went too quickly? Since surgery was literally Friday and it's Monday now. I don't know but I do feel better after going, so I guess that's another thing that is going to be individualized. Thank you for the milk idea. I did not add soy milk to my grocery order today, but that makes sense. Maybe I can convince hubby to go out in the morning and get some to make my life easier. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt Glad to hear every day gets better! I've been stuck in awake for a couple of hours, sleep for four hours mode. So I'm still working towards hitting my goals. I hate it because I feel like I'm falling behind, but I'm not feeling dehydrated so I guess that whole "body is healing" thing is working in my favor.

Just seen a recipe for later on Instagram. Says add PB2 to applesauce and form into balls. Refrigerate that then dip them in melted chocolate for reeces pieces protein balls. I wonder if you can do it with sugar free chocolate.

Has anyone else tried the genepro clear protein powder? I have some and I added jr to pudding and it wasn’t bad but I’m wondering about adding it to hot stuff. Wondering how it heats and how much I can add before it changes the texture.

Every day gets a little better. My whole day revolves around trying to hit my fluid/protein goals. I keep getting closer. I’m up to tolerating 2oz of fluid every 15 minutes. I can’t wait until I’m on full fluids after my post op on Thursday. My first stop is going to be at the store to get soups!

I used to have 7-9 day periods with very heavy flow and monster migraines. I should’ve seen a doctor or nurse practitioner. I was chronically iron deficient and would crave large quantities of chocolate with almond in it. When I finally got tested because I got pregnant, I needed iron, b vitamins and magnesium. So, I’m hoping you don’t think “everyone is like me.”Please get checked out, and follow up on your intuition. Your cravings could be your body’s way of telling you it needs a vitamin or mineral. (Dark chocolate with almonds is chock full of magnesium.) The follow up was that I did miscarry but it was a wake up call to take care of myself. If you have a heavy/long flow and malabsorption issues you might need more vitamins and minerals than normally recommended. It will ease your monthly symptoms and cravings significantly. (Also follow your plan of protein first to minimize glucose spikes. The spikes and drops greatly increase cravings even in non diabetics.-Glucose Goddess)

So I went to my post op appt at my family practice dr. I asked about my gallbladder and she agreed that it’s really not that life altering. It’s just going to be a balance with my SADI making me malabsorb fat. I need to consume enough for my body to still function without taking in too much because I don’t have a gall bladder. Next up was my lack of bowel movement. I finally had one day 7 then again the morning of day 8 and 9. All in the morning and all pretty regular except very loose. Then days 10 and 11 so far nothing. Today I feel like I need to go but can’t. She said to increase the stool softeners back to two a day and take milk of magnesia tonight if I still haven’t gone. The nurse showed me how to do my B-12 shot and guess what guys I did it!! She said the needle the pharmacy gave me was bigger than I needed and gave me a smaller one to use and to take with me so I could get more. She showed me how to get it into the needle but had me do the shot itself. I think I want someone to watch me just one more time to make sure I got it but i think I got it. It did it hurt at all. Didn’t even feel it honestly. And once my hands stopped shaking it was really easy to do. I took the needle back to my pharmacy and showed them and they do Jace them and they sell them so I went ahead and got 12 so if it continues to be a monthly thing I’m good for a year. i will add that I am home now and using the mug warmer for my scrambled eggs I am eating them out of a mug because I do not have a flare with a bottom smaller than the 4” for it to sit flush but it’s working. The eggs are not piping hot but they are staying warm. @draikaina8503 i would probably add fat free milk instead of water thinking it would taste a little better. I assume at that stage You just need it to run off the spoon like liquid. Similar to your protein shake.

To further this protein 2.0 has a drink with electrolytes and 15g protein. They have it at Walmart and Amazon.

HI! Thank you so much!!! I started with walking around 2-3 postop, 20-30min and just built up to working out from home with light 5lbs weights. I follow Sydney Cummings or Juice and Toya work out videos. I would alternate 1 day upper body, 1 day lower body, ect...Then I would walk for 1 hour one day a week. Then I joined the gym when I was comfortable with the weights and that's when I really saw results. That was around 8-9 week post op. I cut down to 20min cardio and 30min strength training still alternating and still having 1hour walking days. Now that I am at my weight that I want to be at and not wanting to bulk up anymore just shred and tighten up my loose skin that I can possibly tighten up, I do 4 weight days 2 upper body, 2 lower body body with 30 min of cardio (usually treadmill at 12-13.5 incline and 3.3-3.7 speed) then 2 days I focus only on Cardio HIIT workouts. Now I do all my own workouts just from researching online and building my own workouts. I think they work? LOL I feel good afterwards, and my body composition is changing so I am rolling with it LOL I focus on high protein like over 100g, carbs I kept around 60g and fat around 20g. I have been fortunate where the weight came off pretty quickly, right now I am eating around 1400 cal 150g of protein 80-90g carbs and 25-30g fat. I am not actively trying to lose anymore, I want to more so maintain but I am still losing, so I am waiting till that figures itself out. LOL

Hi March Buddies, How is everyone doing? I can’t believe it’s been 5 months post op. Had a huge milestone met this morning on the scale after a period of stagnant weight loss. A weight that I haven’t seen in over 30 years. I’m still in shock and very grateful I’m on this journey. Still more work to be done, but, these moments help to reassure me I’m on the right path. Hope my surgery buddies are all healed and doing well. I’m having an incisional hernia repair in a couple weeks, not from the gastric surgery, from gallbladder removal 10 years ago! Hopefully this will be the end of surgeries for a long time! Would love to hear what people have found to keep their protein levels up. And what activities are you able to enjoy now? I was thrilled to ride some amusement rides with my kids this summer!

@Hiddenroses i am taking the chewable calcium from barimellts for now but will be switching back to my bariatric advantage chews because they taste like candy and I’m addicted. , I am doing the bariatric advantage chewable multi with ADEK and low iron for now and I have the SADI specific all in one vitamin from pro care health for later which has the ADEK, a higher iron content, and some other things that we need but I need to be able to consume a little more first. I used to take their regular multi post sleeve with 45mg of iron after a full protein shake but this one has 60mg iron, plus when i’m sipping slowly as I’m supposed to to let my intestines heal it takes almost an hour to get the whole shake down which I feel like at that point half of it is out of my stomach and I don’t want to vomit. (The iron is what makes you vomit without food). At my one month appt I will ask to see if it’s safe for me to drink A little quicker. I Know after my sleeve as my stomach healed I naturally started drinking a little faster by then so I’m guessing I can. i love that you’re creating new recipes and figuring out what works. Just FYI, I was told no strawberries Yet. I guess the seeds can get stuck in the incisions. Actually I was told nothing with skins or seeds. Although it sounds delicious and could be a go to if you don’t feel like cooking or are in a hurry later down the road. Oh yea everyone, for future reference this has some pretty good ideas for adding into cottage cheese. https://www.popsugar.com/food/cottage-cheese-stir-ins-27035442 You know I actually have never even tried cottage cheese which is why I was searching for ideas. I am picking some up tomorrow after my dr appt but I need to come up with ideas that I can add during purée to mix in with it if anyone has any ideas.

Hello again! Yes, @ShoppGirl - that's exactly what it was, now that you mention it that rings a bell! It was Heparin to help prevent blood clots. Maybe I won't need to B12 since I do still have my gallbladder - time will tell! I, too, had forgotten about the recipes on Baritastic until earlier today when I went to add the recipe I ended up using for the chicken salad I had for dinner. I need to get some fat free mayo; today I cheated and just used two teaspoons of regular mayo because that's what I had; and also sweet relish as opposed to dill relish. Are you taking an ADEK supplement? My nurse was insistent on my having to take them as a SADI patient post-op, so I ordered some from Barimelts that have thankfully not tasted terrible and dissolve quickly. It's a GREAT reminder about the recipes in Baritastic - thank you, @draikaina8503 for the reminder as well! When you get your staples out I'd suggest asking them to be liberal in their application of steri-strips, especially for ones that are on the sides or at an angle. Having that extra support against the pulling really did make a big difference. Weirdly, so has using antibiotic/pain relief ointment?! I'd never really experienced 'pain relief' from that ointment (generic over the counter) but I was shocked to find that after I applied it my pain did actually lesson! Who'd have thought?? Also, I totally kept the two reusable ice bags from the hospital and have been using them this whole time because they were softer than the ice packs I had and the ice being able to move around a bit as it melted was just more comfortable. I'm glad you'll be able to get back on your Adderall and normal medications now! I will say that nice warm showers also feel really nice overall during recovery, especially if you have an alternate shower pressure setting that can go easy on the surgical site and maybe more pulsing/massaging on the back. Just my own personal experience. I came across an inspiration idea for the puree phase today when looking around on Amazon! A friend of mine had given me about 2/3 of a container of the 30g powder protein in Vanilla and I realized that oatmeal is a great thing to add it to! I feel like if I cook the oatmeal and let it get soft and fluffy, then add in the protein powder with it to the food processor that I bet it will be perfect AND help me get my protein goal! Plus since oatmeal is high in fiber it should help with regular bowel movements. I even thought I might add some of my zero sugar caramel macchiato creamer to it in order to give it more flavor without adding an artificial sweetener. I do have some xantham gum though should I need it. I'm planning on exploring what types of purees I can make with my greek zero sugar vanilla yogurt, various fruits, and that protein powder. I'm not sure why but something just CLICKED earlier when I was in my kitchen and I realized that between the ricotta, strawberries, blueberries, low fat cottage cheese, and protein powder that I actually have a lot more options than I'd previously considered! You can also mix protein shakes with sugar free pudding instead of milk - but word to the wise, learn from my mistake and don't make up too much at once because at about day 3-4 it starts to separate and get runny. Before that it's quite tasty and filling, though! My chair isn't bothering me quite as much today after I laid a thick folded blanket down on the seat for cushioning; and I think part of my discomfort may have also just simply been from constipation and gas that needed to be passed. I'm proceeding with caution on starting new foods that I haven't already tried, but I will say the chicken salad sat really well on my stomach. I even 'cheated' and crumbled up two Ritz crackers on top for some texture variant - it was the first 'meal' I've eaten really other than my half a scrambled egg this morning that I found to be satisfying. I'm using the timer in Baritastic to make sure I go 30 mins before and after eating without a drink - that's still been rough but as long as I distract myself the time goes by pretty quickly. Oh - @draikaina8503 - I'm not sure if it is allowed for you per your doctor, but I've dealt with the dry mouth using sugar free jolly ranchers sparingly. I'm so sorry you're struggling with getting water down, but glad you're getting some relief with ice chips! Sonic definitely has better ice chips; as do a few gas stations here any there. Ice chips are SUCH a nice thing to have available. I'm cursing the fact that I don't have an ice dispenser in my fridge - sadly it isn't that fancy - but it sure would make it easier to fill these ice packs than having to fight to crack an ice tray and refill lol @Onemealplan - Yeah, what's with the ice cream? That sounds delightful lol - I mean, obviously one ounce wouldn't be bad - It just wasn't something I thought of myself as being allowed to have! Now you've got me thinking of all the sugar free varieties I saw available at Braum's in their store section! I guess I can also finally have my sugar free popsicles - Woohoo! Also thank you to @Rob Nissam for your insight about the gas and general knowledge sharing! I hope you are doing well on your path and in recovery! @AndreaJD - Thanks for the suggestions about what purrees are working for you! I'm all ears when it comes to tips to carry me through these next two weeks. I was thinking about my cream of soups earlier and how I can now have them warm. I know I need to buy some unflavored protein powder -- Does anyone have a suggestion for an unflavored protein powder they've found works well and mixes well? Just curious what's working and what if anything isn't! Wishing all of you the best in preparing, having surgeries, and recovering from them in the coming days! This forum has been invaluable to me and I'm grateful to all of you for sharing your tips and experiences so far!

I've been home for a few hours now. I passed out pretty much as soon as I got home. I'm currently sipping on a Gatorade Zero, and now that I'm out of the hospital I can do a liquid diet instead of just clear liquids. So there's that, at least lol. My biggest problem is water. Doesn't matter if lukewarm or cold, straight water makes my stomach cramp. But because I am able to consume other liquids just fine, they went ahead and sent me home. The water thing is just something I'm going to have to keep working on. My other big issue was my body did the opposite of that they expected it to do in regards to my blood sugars. AKA, every time they tested, I was in the 200-300 range when they were expecting me to go down post-op. So I came home with rapid-acting insulin on a sliding scale. Hopefully soon we can discontinue that. For those of you asking about recipes, my doctor has me use the Baritastic app for my logging and tracking. It does have recipes on there as well, if you are looking to spice things up in the land of boredom. Now time to catch up on posts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl - Amazing that they had you drink Gatorade 2 hours prior to arriving for surgery. I had to drink mine the night before, and absolutely nothing by mouth after midnight. It's wild to me how different doctors prefer their things to happen. As for taking the shots, I'm sure you are going to rock it. I struggled with the idea of giving myself shots, but over the years it just became another thing for me to put on my calendar to remind me to take. Your question about how long to wait between trying new things, my doctor said I could not try anything new on the same day. So if I tried something and it seemed to work, that would be my thing that day. Then the next day, I would keep that for the first meal, and then as long as it still agreed, I would try something new for the 2nd meal. Maybe that helps you out some? Thank you again for the recipe/website. The site has been bookmarked for me. So the straw thing is for life, it sounds like? At least based on your experience. Chewing your eggs to liquid is still really good. My nutritionist said that every bite I take from now on needs to be the consistency of applesauce before I swallow it. And that chewing even beyond that would be great. But you're rocking it! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt - Thank you for the idea of mixing things in. I guess I've been scared to do that because I didn't know if it was allowed or not. How do you like the Orgain powder? I use the Owyn premade shakes and Vega powder. They sent you home same day?!?! Holy crap, and I mean that in the best way possible lol. My doctor and nutritionist vehemently told me no straws. Apparently because you can actually suck up air as well as the liquid if you use a straw. I just don't know if that is forever, or just in the post-op period. But my stomach cramped drinking straight water no matter what temperature. However, I did exceptionally well with ice chips - letting them melt in my mouth and then trickle down with a swallow. That didn't affect me at all, so maybe see if you can get some ice chips from Sonic or something similar to maybe give you an idea of how much a 'sip' is? Another suggestion I got from my nutritionist as well as people who my husband work with that have had the RYGB is to buy shot glasses for your water. It should take you about 10-15 minutes to finish a shot glass of water. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @AndreaJD - Thank you for the well wishes! Water was a struggle, but I was up walking on my own the next day. So I feel like I was doing pretty good for myself! I get to start my full liquid stage today now that I'm home. But man, I can't stay awake enough to do much of anything. Hospitals and rest do not go in the same sentence, unless it's discussing negative rest. (My care team was absolutely great though, so I very much appreciate all they were doing for me even if it meant not getting nearly enough sleep.) This will be an experimental phase for me as I have to find dairy free options to make my life easier. But even if I had to literally water down yogurt, that would be better than the chicken broth I had in the hospital. lol ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Hiddenroses - I have a bunch of staples as well, and have never experienced them before. So thank you for that explanation. Hopefully when I get mine out at the 10 day post-op, I'll be able to at least tolerate it now that I've kind of been forewarned. And yay, WrA peeps! Honestly we probably did cross paths, but in the early days of RP for me I was stupidly shy. For your chair question - I noticed sitting in any chair for longer than an hour bothers me currently. Which they didn't like in the hospital, because they wanted me in the chair for two hours at a time. And I just... could not do it. It ached too much. Even being home now, sitting in chairs I've sat in previously, I have about an hour long time span before it starts to ache. I take that as my sign to get up and move around. Dry mouth is a problem in particular for me. I still try to sipsipsip but I hate the feeling of dry mouth. And that's made worse by the fact that I'm a diabetic. And yes, I was thrilled (/s) to find out I was starting my period. Thank God for mesh panties and pads they had on hand. They assured me this happened quite often, but it still annoyed me to no end (especially when I'm on multiple birth controls to prevent having said periods due to endometriosis). As for poor executive function, I have that in spades as well. I had to come off my Adderall a couple of days prior to surgery because you know, they want me to go to sleep during anesthesia and not be on stimulants. And hoooo boy did that make the problem that much worse. If it wasn't for my poor husband, pretty sure I would have lost my head and left it laying somewhere. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Onemealplan - Did your doctor allow ice cream for the puree foods? That's kind of awesome. I don't have recommendations for that stage yet as the earliest I will get to it is 8/28 after my post-op appointment. I do remember a recipe back from one of my diet days (Weight Watchers, maybe? I don't remember) that I think might be helpful. You take a helping of ricotta, mix it with Splenda (or whatever sugar alternative you prefer), and some cocoa powder that has no added sugar. Makes it a friendly chocolate treat. I can't give exact measurements on it because I played with it some to get the consistency I liked at the time. I also don't think I could handle the pureed proteins lol. I'll be saving those for when I get to the final stage. I can survive on tuna for a while, especially when I'm having protein shakes alongside it. They gave me a walking goal of 4 laps per 12 hour shift. i was doing those just fine, and when they finally let me walk on my own I extended how long a lap was. But I could not pass gas until they started giving me what is essentially children's Gas-x. And even now, I only pass gass within the 2-3 hours after I've had it. So thankful they sent me home with some. As for in the hospital, the only options i had was water, chicken broth, ice chips, and no sugar added hot chocolate when I specifically asked for it. They brought in 10oz bottles of Dasani water, and it would take me 12 hours to get through one of those due to the cramping. But everything else went down fine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Rob Nissam - Thank you for that explanation. My left shoulder was hurting the most over the last day, and they said it was the gas pain. It was the thing that made sure I did not skip any pain medicine, because I was almost in tears over it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, I think I got through all the posts and everyone. If I missed someone, I am really sorry. For those of you in recover, I pray the pain lessens and the intake gets better daily. For those of you who are still waiting on surgery, YOU GOT THIS! I'll be praying for a safe and healthy surgery for you, and that your recovery process is simply fantastic. ❤️

Hi, Bari Buddies, I am 6 days post op and doing really well. I have had no nausea at all, and pain is very manageable. I am able to drink all the water I need to and the full liquids (I'm on them until day 14) are going great. And that's the thing. I double-checked my information from the clinic and I am supposed to be having up to a half-cup at a time 5 times a day. I have been having too much (horribly worried to find I'm already overeating right after my gastric bypass). Like this morning I had a half-cup of apple sauce with protein powder and a protein drink. I now realize those should've been 2 different meals. I do get some extra tenderness in my upper abdomen when I "eat", which I assume is my new stomach being sore from the surgery, but is that what full feels like now? God knows I don't want nausea or more pain, but I need my body to give me a sign as to what's going on in there! Any words of wisdom?

Used to happen to me earlier on in what I’m guess was reactive or post prandial hypoglycemia. Now it only happens if it’s a sugar/carb item not properly paired with protein and fats, so essentially an unbalanced meal. It was like an extreme food coma. It can get better with time or figuring out the offending food.

I'm definitely going to do that. I never thought of that. At least it gives me more options to try. Thanks!!

After VSG,I had the diagnostic and every day got worse breakouts,nothing helps for almost 7 years(Humira,Otezla,etc).Recently,like 4 months ago,I stop the whey protein and dairy products,limited my carbs and sugar,start consuming pork and lard again(just the opposite of the Dermatologists advices)and suddenly I had no more flare-ups.Your testimonials bring me hopes.Thank you!