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I just had my 1 year blood work done for the bariatric surgeon, and everything came back normal except the fact that I'm anemic (that's nothing new, thanks to my systemic lupus). Here's what I had done: VITAMIN D, 25-HYDROXY VITAMIN B12 VITAMIN A TSH VITAMIN B1 (THIAMINE), WHOLE BLOOD LIPID PANEL PREALBUMIN IRON PROFILE HEMOGLOBIN A1C FOLATE FERRITIN COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL CBC WITH DIFFERENTIAL My PCP also got the results and said she was happy with them and set me up with another iron infusion (I have to get them twice per year). My surgeon was happy with the results and said sometimes our bodies just do what they're going to do and we're along for the ride. He said if I get tot he point that I physically can't function because of the weight loss, then he'll look into ordering additional testing, but as of right now, while it's unusual to still be losing at this stage, it's not unheard of so he's not particularly concerned. It's nice that HE'S not, but nobody seems to take into account that I AM. I keep explaining how I feel, how I look, how I don't have energy or strength, how I'm losing muscle, how I'm always so so tired, how I can't shake the circles under my eyes or make my skin look healthy no matter how much collagen or serum or cream I use and nobody seems to care. He literally commented on the fact that he could see and feel my bones, ribs, etc... I said "yes, I know. That's my point. Look at my hands and feet. They are bones and veins. No fat at all." And he said it would even out in time. But all that's been happening is I've been getting smaller and smaller the more time goes by.

I'm definitely nowhere near an unhealthy bmi ON PAPER, but I also know my body. I can see and feel my bones sticking out. My husband and kids hug me and they feel my bones and tell me I feel like I'm gonna break if they squeeze me because I feel fragile now. I look like I'm losing muscle, and frankly, I feel really weak compared to how I use to feel. I have permanent circles under my eyes. My hands and feet are boney and veiny and my skin literally hangs off my body, including my face. I'm always tired, even though I get plenty of sleep. I'm one of the curvy, big bones girls. I carry my weight in such a way that I can weigh more but not look like it. So right now, I look sickly. But more importantly, I don't feel right. I feel not great, which is the opposite of what I wanted when I started this journey.

I think for your height, you can afford lose more and not have a health problem (meaning being underweight or under BMI 18.5). I am now at a BMI 19 and my weight loss is going strong no matter what I do (mind you I am 24 lbs under goal), so I gave up trying to do anything about it 🤷‍♀️ The more I try to stop it the more it doesn't lol, so I don't really stress about it much and I am letting my body do its thing because I know while losing weight is a breeze and unintentional now, it won't be in a few years so a little cushion and wriggle room isn't bad, unless I drop to BMI lower than 18.5 then I will do what is needed and see my surgeon. I say, let your body do its thing as long as you're healthy, eating well, working out and your blood work is fine. Congratulations on your success ❤️

It must be really difficult to get your head around at the moment, especially if you’ve had a past where you could put weight ON with no effort and now you’re at the opposite end where you’re getting weight off with no effort either 😮 I can feel your frustration with this part of your journey and I wish I had an answer for you. Have lots of hugs and I hope that your body will stop causing you stress and will finally settle down.

It’s been a strange kind of week. I haven’t gone wildly off plan but I have definitely struggled with focus. Nothing has gone wrong, I’m not upset about anything or fed up. I just think that having the dietitian appointment and everything going OK with that sort of had me taking my foot off the accelerator a little. Then the shock of getting my appointment with the surgeon has played with my head somewhat? “I honestly don’t know” is the answer right now. I think, as others have pointed out, that this whole WLS journey became very real this week and there’s a bit of panic going on. Me and hubby have had lots of conversations this week too, about how the future may look what with the LRD to come, immediate post-surgery things to deal with and then long term. Hubby admitted that he knows he’s going to find how little I will be able to eat a struggle but takes comfort in the fact that others have done, and continue to do, the exact same thing and survive plus the Bariatric team at our hospital seem really switched on so he knows I’m in good hands. It’s a learning curve for him too, with more lessons to come! Thankfully the hospital team does welcome questions from family members because they know it can be difficult for them too. I’m not worried about anything specific, just more a case of the practicalities of things. I always do better when I have planned things, even if it’s just in my head, because it’s feeling like I have some control! I’ve ordered a mini food processor to hel with the purée part of the journey to come, so that should be here by the end of the week. Hubby has been looking at different sized ice cube trays for freezing individual portions of purée plus looking at recipes etc. I think he feels a bit ‘in limbo’ at the moment, which I do understand. Anyway, went to see Fatboy Slim on Saturday. I felt good in what I was wearing: Size smaller sparkly black jeans (with lots of stretch, obviously 😉) It was a nice confidence boost anyway! However, the gig was outside and it was freezing cold - that a UK summer for you 🙄 I had a blanket plus a wrap but it got too cold and my hips and knees just had enough, especially with being locked in one position while sitting on the scooter. We left before the end because I honestly couldn’t handle the cold anymore. Disappointing, yes but it happens. On the drive home the heavens opened and it rained so I didn’t feel too bad after that. It took me ages to get warm though. Had a hot shower, extra blanket on the bed, plus pyjamas but I couldn’t warm up. Hubby eventually made me a hot water bottle and I managed to slowly thaw out. We’ve said no more outdoor things for now, especially as the weather is so unpredictable here. Nothing else to report. I will knuckle back down and re-focus. I’ve had a weekend of pizza and alcohol so that’s my wander off-plan done with! Oh, my new weighing scales are in agreement with the dietitian’s scales, which surprised me! The dietitian suggested that I took a photo of her printout from when she had weighed me. I have no idea what everything means but she did underline a couple of things like the visceral fat number, metabolic age etc etc and my new scales match those numbers exactly 😮 So thank you @FifiLux for your suggestion 🥰 I just need to make sure that the weight numbers on the new, shiny scales start reducing again… Wishing everyone a successful, happy week regardless of where you are on your weight loss journey 😎 Onwards and downwards everybody!

Have you been to your family dr to make sure that they tested for everything they should have? The biggest part of me thinks that your body just wants to be at a little lower weight than you want it to and that you will get settled at a new set point soon but if you truly feel like something isn’t right, maybe it doesn’t have to do with the surgery. It seems like something would pop up in the normal labs but maybe there is something that your surgeon is missing that needs a specific test. It may end up being fruitless but it’s just a thought.

I’m 5 years out & maintained since my weight first stabilised. I’m also one who finds some carbs sit more heavily in my tummy & are too filling. Specifically simple carbs like the rice, pasta & bread were advised to avoid while we’re losing. It’s not a big loss even though I used to love eating them before surgery. But I don’t consider myself to be low carb. Lots of carbs in fruit & vegetables. I eat a good two serves of whole or multi grains a day sometimes a little more if I say throw barley or lentils in what I may be cooking too. I usually say I’m lowish carbs, lowish fats. I also think the quality of these food types are an important consideration too like the whole/multi grain, less processed complex carbs vs white, more processed, simple carbs. Same with fats like good fats vs bad fats. One of the big learnings I had was that you have to work out a way of eating that works for you. That is it allows you to maintain your weight, complements your lifestyle so you don’t feel like you’re missing out or making sacrifices and is sustainable. It may be high fat or low fat, high carb or low carb, paleo, keto, vegan, vegetarian, carnivore or a mix of eating styles. Just what works.

Thank you It's frustrating because for nearly 26 years, all I wanted in the world was to be thin an healthy again. And now that I am, I'm complaining because I'm too thin. But I'm getting a lot of comments about looking sickly and boney and too skinny. And I agree. I can see and feel my bones sticking out. My husband and kids hug me and they feel my bones and tell me I feel like I'm gonna break if they squeeze me because I feel fragile now. I look like I'm losing muscle, and frankly, I feel really weak compared to how I use to feel. I have permanent circles under my eyes. My hands and feet are boney and veiny and my skin literally hangs off my body, including my face. I'm always tired, even though I get plenty of sleep. And my clothes and rings literally hang off me. Nothing fits at all. I'm always hungry, no matter how much I eat, no matter how often I eat, and no matter WHAT I eat. I'm just praying that things start to even out soon. This is a really slippery slope, and I could find myself in disordered eating territory really easily since I only seem to hold on to weight when I restrict my eating. I don't want to get into doing that and have that become my new norm.

I think the experience you're having emphasizes that a lot of this not as much in our control as we think it is. Which I'm sure is no more comforting for you than it is when someone is following every single rule and staying stalled at a higher weight than they had hoped. If it helps, remember that this stage is temporary. You won't keep losing forever, and when your body reaches its new set point, whatever it is, how you carry that weight is going to change. I know you probably look in the mirror and think what have I done, I'm going to look sickly forever, but it's temporary (and probably something you notice more than other people do). Whether your weight increases in the next year, or if it just turns out that your new, lower weight begins to look more natural to you as fat gets redistributed, this is only a brief point in the journey. The clothing not fitting part must be particularly frustrating, though, since it costs money to fix. I hope you're able to find an inexpensive solution, especially for your work clothing. You're sure to find your equilibrium soon.

I hope the nausea gets better quickly. Maybe it’s a specific food? Could you get more Zolfran? I didn’t take time off either and regretted it. Maybe you can still do FMLA if needed. I still get exhausted by 2pm and just need a nap. Congratulations on the weight loss!! Feel better ❤️‍🩹 soon.

I can’t speak to the nausea other than suggesting you call your team and ask for more of the meds that work better. My team gave me ondansetron which is also used for nausea with chemo just in case. (I would assume that’s a pretty strong one). It does say it may cause drowsiness. I’m guessing yours does too. In terms of the non drug induced drowsiness it got a bit better for me with purées but I am still taking naps at 2.5 weeks out. Honestly I haven’t really done any chores other than make the bed, a little laundry because I have the raised pedestals and of course the dishes. I did sweep the floors with a broom last week but it took me all day because I was still in pain and I’m pretty sure the dirt pile I asked my hubby to get is still in the laundry room. Even if you don’t have outside incision pain, though, your insides are still healing so try to take it easy. I was told not twisting, bending, or straining of any kind for 6 weeks at least. I believe last time it was 8 weeks for anything involving over 10 pounds of weight but it’s been a while so I need to confirm that. I know how it feels to sit here and look at things piling up in terms of chores. I’m sure we all do, but you can seriously hurt yourself if you do too much too soon. To me it’s just not worth it. Other than dusting I just don’t see what chores don’t involve bending or twisting. I figure It will all still be waiting to be done when I am ready. It’s just me and my hubby and if it bothers him then he is perfectly capable of doing it himself. Really it’s just the bathrooms and the floors that I just can’t do properly. I have used Clorox wipes on the sink area and cleaned the mirrors. I may try to do the toilets today. I just won’t do the bottom part I guess. I do have an appointment this week as a follow up to the muscle cramp thing. I probably could cancel it since the magnesium is working but i want to ask her what I can be doing physically at that point. I will be 3 weeks out. I know that I am physically healed enough to be doing some faster walking so I plan to get my treadmill out and start doing that gradually. Anyways, all this to say please take it easy. Allow yourself some time. This is a pretty major surgery and it’s not at all uncommon to need some time to get back to 100%.

Its good (and bad) that I'm not the only one experiencing the aches and pains! Thank you for sharing, it helps knowing this. I understand about the doing "A number" on myself with my goal and trying to over achieve. That being said, the goal I chose is in the middle of a healthy BMI, I still have quite a bit of fat on my frame and I'm still classified as "over weight." If not my weight goal, I'd like to at least get to a healthy BMI where I'm not overweight. Overweight IS unhealthy. I don't feel I'm being unreasonable to at least try for healthy, not just healthier than I was..that make sense? I wouldn't say I'm "hyper focused" on my weight goal, no more than anyone else is who's on this forum and gone through wls. Lastly, we've all set goals regarding our weight and health, its something to shoot for. I know I may not achieve it, but its a goal nonetheless. Just as walking 5 miles a day, or finally being able to do my yoga Vrischikasana, Astavakrasana and Eka Haste Vrksasanav poses again! Which, with all my new aches and pains who knows if I will ever be able to do them again, but I still want to strive to do them since I once enjoyed them - its a goal!

Hey everyone! I’m reading though all the post and it’s interesting how similar and different our experiences are. Can’t thank you all enough for sharing because sometimes I feel like it’s just me lol. This is my second week of puree foods and I can now move into soft. However I can only hold 2oz of food every 3 hrs and I drink nothing but water with electrolytes in between. I’m thinking soft foods might be too heavy for me. How much is everyone having of foods? I tried 30z of scrambled eggs yesterday took me 1 hr to finish lol. I accidentally had matcha 🍵 tea the other day because I forgot it had caffeine, silly me but my stomach did just fine. Granted it was the tip of a teaspoon with some milk. So this week I’ll be slowly adding dry decafe coffee to my morning warm cup of milk here and there. Oh homemade blended and straining apple, carrots, ginger is wonderful! I have about 4oz of it a day. I do feel “full” it’s a heaviness in my chest. I’m also still feeling discomfort here and there with purée foods as they go down my esophagus . Anyone else? That mental hunger hasn’t gone away and I know it will be a while before it does but I’m such a foodie that all I want is to “taste” food on my pallet that not the same everyday. I’m not doing artificial sugars, I’ve never liked them. My new stomach still doesn’t and nor does my pallet. I’m just going to keep sugar low as I always have. Savory foods is my achilles heal lol. I think because I’m not focused heavy on extra protein in between foods I’ve not had issues with consipation. Take care of yourselves and just try one medication at a time. My stool is “lose” but not watery. I go every other day. I’ve started vitamins but very slow and they are so sweet I have to force myself to like it. They are the Berimelts. I have a vacation coming up in two weeks, which I’m excited for! Mentally preparing myself for only having 1 taste of the food my husband and I decided to get. We have the same taste and always share or split plates so I’m not too worried about deciding on what to eat. I’m nervous about restaurants pushing food on me or asking if I didn’t like something or why we are ordering for one. If anyone lives in the UK please let me know if that’s uncommon. I know in the states when I said no water with my meal post surgery they looked at me crazy. I’m bummed that I won’t be able to enjoy beer or pub food in the UK but that’s just the way it is. Hope everyone is having a good recovery! ❤️‍🩹 I will say I’m so happy to be out of the liquid phase that was the worst for me. Also I didn’t drop any weight during the liquid phase that was my stall, funny enough because they say week 3, but not for me it was week 1 and 2. Now I’m dropping weight and down 20 pounds. (Yay) they said you’ll lose about half of your ideal weight within the 6 months so I’m on a good track. I do weigh myself daily and the scale is dijital so it records everything. I highly recommend those. Take care everyone!!

Hey everyone! I’m reading though all the post and it’s interesting how similar and different our experiences are. Can’t thank you all enough for sharing because sometimes I feel like it’s just me lol. This is my second week of puree foods and I can now move into soft. However I can only hold 2oz of food every 3 hrs and I drink nothing but water with electrolytes in between. I’m thinking soft foods might be too heavy for me. How much is everyone having of foods? I tried 30z of scrambled eggs yesterday took me 1 hr to finish lol. I accidentally had matcha 🍵 tea the other day because I forgot it had caffeine, silly me but my stomach did just fine. Granted it was the tip of a teaspoon with some milk. So this week I’ll be slowly adding dry decafe coffee to my morning warm cup of milk here and there. Oh homemade blended and straining apple, carrots, ginger is wonderful! I have about 4oz of it a day. I do feel “full” it’s a heaviness in my chest. I’m also still feeling discomfort here and there with purée foods as they go down my esophagus . Anyone else? That mental hunger hasn’t gone away and I know it will be a while before it does but I’m such a foodie that all I want is to “taste” food on my pallet that not the same everyday. I’m not doing artificial sugars, I’ve never liked them. My new stomach still doesn’t and nor does my pallet. I’m just going to keep sugar low as I always have. Savory foods is my achilles heal lol. I think because I’m not focused heavy on extra protein in between foods I’ve not had issues with consipation. Take care of yourselves and just try one medication at a time. My stool is “lose” but not watery. I go every other day. I’ve started vitamins but very slow and they are so sweet I have to force myself to like it. They are the Berimelts. I have a vacation coming up in two weeks, which I’m excited for! Mentally preparing myself for only having 1 taste of the food my husband and I decided to get. We have the same taste and always share or split plates so I’m not too worried about deciding on what to eat. I’m nervous about restaurants pushing food on me or asking if I didn’t like something or why we are ordering for one. If anyone lives in the UK please let me know if that’s uncommon. I know in the states when I said no water with my meal post surgery they looked at me crazy. I’m bummed that I won’t be able to enjoy beer or pub food in the UK but that’s just the way it is. Hope everyone is having a good recovery! ❤️‍🩹 I will say I’m so happy to be out of the liquid phase that was the worst for me. Also I didn’t drop any weight during the liquid phase that was my stall, funny enough because they say week 3, but not for me it was week 1 and 2. Now I’m dropping weight and down 20 pounds. (Yay) they said you’ll lose about half of your ideal weight within the 6 months so I’m on a good track. I do weigh myself daily and the scale is dijital so it records everything. I highly recommend those. Take care everyone!!

I'm noticing more aches and pains since I've dropped so much weight. I thought it was weird, too, so I asked my doctor and he said it can be normal with bariatric patients. Particularly those who lose a substantial amount of weight. I may go back and ask for additional testing, just to be sure. But being hyper focused on hitting or not hitting the goal number on the scale you set can really do a number on you mentally and emotionally. I'm very goal oriented when it comes to work and school, but I had to learn to let some of that go when it came to my personal life. Specifically weight loss. It took a while, but I realized that the NSVs were way more important than the number on the scale. Once I figured that out and took some of the pressure off myself, the scale actually started to move more in the direction I wanted it to lol

Ok what??? HOW??? I was staying between 177-179 for the last few weeks so I thought I was FINALLY at the place my body was setting at. Apparently not!!! I've even increased how often I eat. But it seems like the more I eat, the more I lose. The less I eat, that's when my weight stays pretty much the same. And that seems pretty messed up to me. So I have to starve myself to STOP losing weight but if I eat well I'll keep going lower??? What??? I don't WANT to go lower. I was supposed to stop at 190!! Make it make sense, cuz the math ain't mathin. Just had blood work done. Other than being anemic (thanks lupus!!) everything was normal, including my thyroid. My nutritionist and I got my calories up to 1600 per day when not working out and 1800 when I am. Protein up to 90g on non work out days and 120g on work out days. Carbs are trickier since I'm super sensitive to them, but we got them up to 35g on non work out days (up from 20-25) and 45g on work out days (up from 35). Healthy fats we upped to 70g on non work out days and 100g on work out days. My fluids are always good. Normally I drink around 80 fl oz on non work out days and 100+ on work out days, which 20 of those being an electrolyte drink like Prime hydration, Propel, or Gatorade zero. Being that I'm 2 years and 4 months removed from my 1st surgery and 1 year and 2 months removed from my revision, she's really surprised that I'm still losing. I said "You and me both, lady. Now how do I make it stop?" She said to just keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully my body will eventually hit it's set point and stop on its own. Um...what?? I'm now 15 pounds below my goal. I understand the whole "bounce back weight gain" or whatever it is, but that can't happen until my body finally picks a weight to settle at. I really don't like how I look at this point, and it's frustrating that nothing fits...again. I know it seems crazy to complain about this kind of thing, and believe me, I never EVER thought I would be the one doing it. But something's gotta give, you know? I'm really starting to look sickly, and in my line of work, that's not a good thing at all.

Like the above poster stated little fluctuations are completely normal and they can be due to a number of factors (water weight, hormones, a full bowel, etc) . I am two weeks post op from a differnt procedure but I am assuming the post ip diet is quite similar and that happened to me as well. I attributed it to my body coming out of ketosis. The liquids on my diet were all zero sugar and the purée foods did contain some sugar which is a carb. It also could have been because I was constipated from the supplements and not getting any fiber from my diet yet. Either way I went a few days maintaining that gain and then dropped 4’pounds overnight. The advice above to weigh weekly is really good. Monthly would even be better but it’s really hard to do. I had the sleeve 3.5 years ago and what I did was to weight myself daily because I just had to but to record my weight once a week so that I could see a downward trend more easily when I looked back at the log.

@Mspretty86 I maybe have clarified that I did not get pregnant. I just regained. I’m sure that if you were to gain a reasonable amount with a pregnancy under your teams care you could take it off between breastfeeding and diet. I was just saying that getting enough calories after you are like 6 or so months out shouldn’t be an issue that you would just have to eat more times a day. Many of us gain way more that is really necessary to support a healthy baby anyways.

Well I had some circumstances (some out of my control but some that ultimately were) that all added up to my regain but it boiled down to unhealthy choices and increased portion sizes. Just don’t do that and you should be fine. Sticking with the support groups should be a huge help. I stopped posting here and going to my my appointments when I started gaining too much because they couldn’t offer much for me in terms of options and I was embarrassed. It was a bad decision since that was when I needed support most.

That's my biggest fear and that's why I'm in various bariatric groups. I do not want to gain any of this weight back! It was hard work getting it off 😩😩😩

I had the sleeve 3.5 years ago and gained it all back within a little over a year. I wasn’t pregnant but I can attest that you can certainly eat around a smaller pouch if you want to. I did it without intending to. You would just need to eat smaller healthy meals more often for pregnancy. I would recommend speaking with your Dr and nutritionist now if that’s the plan. There may be changes you can make now to prepare.

I had sleeve 3.5 years ago and I gained all my weight back because I was too embarrassed to ask for help before it was too late. You already taken a big step in reaching out here for help. I would also reccomend that you make an appointment with your team for further support. I thought for sure mine was going to chastise me for messing up but that couldn’t have been further from what happened when i finally did. All they wanted to do is help. I ended up doing a revision but my preop diet was pretty doable and detoxed me from sugar and carbs. Mine was two shakes a day and then low carb dinner of 3oz lean protein with a cup to a cup And a half of lower carb veggies. Something like that may be a Reset of sorts but you shouldn’t do it without consulting a doctor. Anyways, doing that I noticed that each day it got easier and easier as my body stopped cravings the sugar and carbs so I didn’t feel like I was starving myself anymore. For me, that’s the biggest obstacle. If I’m not starving I can make the better choices. You may also reach out to your dietician. Be honest about what you are eating as ask for help to make small changes to get you back on track. Keep posting and let us know your progress of struggles.

I suffer from GAD as well (and bipolar and ADHD). I am 2.5 weeks post op from a revision to SADI and doing great. Taking the vitamins have taken a while to get used to but honestly it’s not that bad now that it’s habit. I take my multi in the morning and get out three calcium’s to take throughout the day and then take my magnesium at bedtime (you may not need it). The bypass type surgeries are quite a bit more scary. I think it’s because they are not as straight forward as just making the stomach a little smaller seems but honestly a cut is a cut and the risks aren’t much higher than the sleeve. What you need to ask is what are the risks of all the weight related diseases And illnesses if you do nothing. Not to mention your quality of life with GERD. What I found most helpful to get through all of this was reminding my team about my anxiety when I felt myself freaking out. I told them I just need patience and I can deal with this. I asked loads of questions. I scheduled a couple of extra appointments in order to get everything answered and I over prepared. The day I walked in for my surgery I knew that I had done any and everything humanly possible that I could do to control the situation for the better and I let the doctors and nurses take the wheel. All the while continually reminding myself that they do this procedure every day and that chances were it was going to go on without incident but if it didn’t then I was in the absolute best place to be and get the help that I needed. Best of luck with your surgery. You’ve got this!!

Just had my first milestone walk - completed the entire block at a decent pace in 15 minutes! I was worried I wouldn't even make it to the end of the street, but I got there and felt like I could keep going... so I did. I can't wait for these weight restrictions for lifting/pulling/all that jazz to be lifted so I can actually take my dog out. But he's so hyper all the time that he would do more harm than good right now. I'm trying a plan today to hopefully reach my fluid and protein goals (like adding more water to a premade shake and things like that). We'll see. Those of you who have had your first post-op appointment already, could you tell you were losing weight prior to the appointment? I can't and I'm terrified I'm doing things wrong. But I guess since I actually made it around the block in a decent time, maybe something is working. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl I'm definitely going to be looking into making the proffee. Iced coffee is my fave (though honestly, I just love coffee). I foresee me making it the night before, just so that I don't have to get up even earlier when I return to work. At least until I get a rhythm going lol. Huh, I didn't even know there were different ones, other than the Protein 2o with caffeine and without. So that is good information. I've been having one of the electrolyte ones a day, because honestly it was just so much for me to drink at once. I know I really need to focus on those goals, but man... I can't even finish a premade protein shake in 30 minutes right now. I'm glad you got to enjoy your crochet group, and kudos on feeling better in your normal clothes! 27lbs is no joke, so another grats to you for sticking to it and seeing it through to the other side. And congrats as well on your NSV with the car seat! It's nice to have cheerleaders. I haven't really told many people about my surgery - my husband (obviously), a few best friends, and my in-laws. My in-laws were... probably the most negative of everyone, telling me how they knew people who had the surgery and it ended up not working for them. But I knew they were just offering their perspective. Those suggestions from your crochet group are amazing! I love Ms. Dash flavors myself, and the food processor idea is amazing. Responding to a later post - I'm glad it worked!!! Makes me look forward to that puree stage even more. I think putting a band aid over the incision under your breast is a good idea for a while. I know I'm just as nervous about my incisions (though I can't wait for these staples to be out, holy crap). So I too would be erring on the side of caution, just to make sure I didn't open them up again or anything. Ohhhhh, good information about the peas, corn and collagen. I'll have to double check my book when I get to the pureed stage. (Though someone's idea about getting baby food some time ago in this forum is still like... the best idea ever to me.) You have soft foods coming up already? That's awesome! Although, you did have surgery a bit before me, so that makes sense lol. I am nervous about doing anything beyond the full liquids currently, just because I'm not sure what to expect with my new stomach. But at the same time, I can't wait to move it right along. I'm sorry to hear about your dog. ❤️ I've never boiled chicken before. How do you know when it's ready? I'm sure as I progress, I'll definitely have more questions. Right now, I'm just focusing on my fluid and protein goals. And not overdoing it with the pain. I took myself off the narcotics because I am terrified of taking them more than necessary, but I'm not sure Tylenol is cutting it either. Maybe I'll break down and take one tonight so I can hopefully get some sleep since I've been struggling getting comfortable. Thank you for the website recommendation! I'm trying to do all the reading and stuff to make sure I can stay on top of everything. I too am a 'by the rules' person if I know the rules, and I really need this to work for me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @RRenaeL23 You are very welcome! I hope that helps you out some, and you definitely deserve all the encouragement. Everyone here does. We are all each other's cheerleaders because we know what we are going through, and we're going through it together. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Hiddenroses I know what you mean about being easier to type from a desktop computer. I have to have a separate word document open to help me organize my thoughts as I'm responding to each post. That's another reason why it takes me like... a couple of days between posts. (My ADHD is also responsible for that, but shhhhhhhh.) I'm sorry that Wednesday was exhausting for you. I've had a couple of nights now where I'm just not sleeping. I can't get comfortable. I'm not in pain, but it just seems that since I took myself off my pain meds that I have been extremely tender in the abdomen lately. I do like your idea of the 'no noodle' soup, and will definitely keep that in mind for when I make it to the puree stage. I have so much stuff to get for that point, but I'm waiting until I'm actually at that point. I am looking forward to the ricotta bake that ShoppGirl has mentioned a few times. Though, admittedly, I'm just looking forward to different flavors. You are welcome again for the pillow idea. My pillow is my best friend right now, literally lol. It protects me from the overzealous dogs I have as well as just provides relief. My left side is also where most of my tenderness/pain is at this point, so being able to apply pressure there has been really helpful. And... a month or two to recover??? My husband might lose his mind lol. He still forgets I just had surgery and is like, "Will you cook dinner?" No, no I will not. You are an adult, figure it out. I am not taking any kind of collagen. The only thigns I got were what the doctor told me to get, which was my multivitiman with iron and the calcium supplements. They did not recommend anything else, so I went out of my way to make sure I didn't get anything else lol. I did not want to screw up anything regarding this surgery. I'm still using an antibacterial body wash, so I guess that's the biggest thing. So enjoy your Hibiclens while you have it! (And absolutely, if insurance paid for it - TAKE IT ALL. lol) Baritastic has been great, so I also highly recommend. It's what my bariatric team wanted me to use, and I've been using it faithfully. I have noticed a few things that had the wrong information, but it is easy enough to correct. I'm glad you got in contact with your testing center and will be meeting with a counselor soon. Honestly, getting tested was the best thing I've ever done and told me so much about myself. Finch sounds kind of like Habitica, which is what I have been using to help me set routines and habits and such. 40-60g of protein for a female? My bariatric team says a minimum of 60g of protein a day, and the more the merrier. I'm still amazed at how different offices handle things. Pre-surgery, I was averaging 90-100g of protein a day, and they were ecstatic about that. They did say the more protein I could handle before and after surgery, the less likely I would be to lose my hair and things like that. I'm still not quite up to that 60g mark post-op, but I'm hoping I might be able to hit it today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt Welcome to full liquids! Sounds like your first post-op appointment went well! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Greekmom4 The refried beans with salsa and a little bit of mozzarella sounds yummy. I'm used to eating medium salsa, but I'm pretty sure that's a no go for a while lol. Those are also good tips for starting the soft stages of food. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @AndreaJD (I'm not sure why it suddenly won't let me tag you?) My incisions can't make up their mind if they want to hurt or if they want to itch. They seem to alternate between both, though the ones on my left side tend to hurt more than the others. I do absolutely have those moments of "I want...." though mine are more like, "I want a slice of cheese, just to have something different than liquids." There are a few times that I want things I used to have, like Cheez-Its. But I know those aren't on the table, so I am able to push those away fairly quickly. But as someone who loves a variety of food, I'm really struggling with just "I want ANYTHING different than my current liquids." I'm glad your sister is showing her support. I've been on Pinterest myself, pinning recipes for Future Me to be able to have. As for weighing, I literally do not weight myself. Only at the doctor's office. Because I DO get hyperfixated on those numbers and will absolutely derail myself mentally. Maybe I'll go to weighing myself once a month at home after a few post-op visits, but for now I'm just doing it strictly at the doctor's office.

I've been researching (its part of what I do for a living anyway soo) this topic and have found several papers regarding pain after bariatric surgery: "Results: Nineteen of the respondents fulfilled the criteria for hypermobility. There were no significant differences between the groups with and without hypermobility regarding pain in weight-bearing joints before or after surgery. There was a significant difference between the groups with increased or novel pain in the ankles, shoulders, hands, and feet (P<.05) after the weight loss. Furthermore, the patients with hypermobility had increased or novel pain in a significantly higher number of weight-bearing joints, other joints, and joints in total (P< .05). Conclusion: Even with a small sample size, a tendency can be seen for people with hypermobility to experience increased joint pain after weight loss compared with those without hypermobility." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28274706/ I do have some hypermobility. Its a very small sampling for a research medical study, but its in line with what I'm experiencing. Also, I'm only experiencing pain in one hip (weight bearing) and my back, the rest; hands, shoulders and elbows aren't. It could just be wear and tear from 14 years of gymnastics and later on physical alterations with much larger combatants for 15 years.. So life stressing my body rearing its ugly head as I age. 😥 Either way, perhaps if someone else experiences this after surgery it will help knowing they're not the only one and give them a stepping stone to some answers.