Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there!

I am 10 days post-op from my VS and have to be on a 600 calorie/ high Protein shake for almost 2 weeks. I find myself cheating and feeling terrible about it. I reason with myself on why i can have regular sugar free pudding or plain yogurt. I even take spoonfuls of hummus. I ask myself, "Why is that bad? All of these things are soft". Well, today I had 3 small crackers with bri cheese and just made sure to chew the cracker very fine before swallowing.

I loved it. It made me feel normal again. My sister is concerned this will pop a staple in my stomach but I don’t think it will. I guess i just needed to confess my sins and see what other people think. Am I going to ruin my surgery and pop a staple? Will i not lose weight? Will Dr. Cirangle find out? Should I tell him? And most importantly, Should I continue to eat this way? I am still having my Protein shakes, sipping Water and taking it easy. I just need some normalcy again.

Thanks for letting me vent and please let me know your thoughts.

Best,

T

I cheated too. But then I realized. If I was only that far out from surgery, and I was already not following the rules, what would happen when I could eat more? It's just not good news. I decided to get myself back on track. I think you should do that same

You need to protect your staple line in the beginning. So yes you should be worried about cheating with hard foods like crackers. Stick to the post op diet your doc or nut has provided you with to make sure you do not harm your staple line and end up with a leak.

You may need to go for some counselling as to why you are talking yourself back into the foods that will hinder your weightloss. Giving in now will only lead you to not adjusting the behaviours that got you to where you were pre-op. The sleeve is only a tool and if you do not use it correctly you will not benefit from its help.

Yes they are trying to get you used to a liquid diet because the first4 to6 weeks you are more likely to develop a stomach leak. trust me you don't want a staple leak.. IF you develop a stomach leak you will be put in hospital with just water to drink you will be tube fed. You need to get your head back in the game because once you have the surgery you have to follow what the doctor say or you will be at risk of causing yourself harm. I hate to be so harsh , but this is extremely important. I did not cheat on mine I wanted to but never did and it really helped me when I got out of surgery. Stay focused on the goal you want..It takes a lot of will power but worth every once of effort you put fourth.

Wow, I never thought about a leak or staple lining. That sounds scary and I dont want to jeapordize my healing process or end up back in the hospital. Thanks for scaring me straight. A visit to a therapist will help me, I'm sure.

But how will I know if I am now leaking or caused any problem with my staple lining? I pray i didnt do any damage but how would I know?

thanks for taking the time to reply. It was helpful.

T

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there!

I am 10 days post-op from my VS and have to be on a 600 calorie/ high protein shake for almost 2 weeks. I find myself cheating and feeling terrible about it. I reason with myself on why i can have regular sugar free pudding or plain yogurt. I even take spoonfuls of hummus. I ask myself, "Why is that bad? All of these things are soft". Well, today I had 3 small crackers with bri cheese and just made sure to chew the cracker very fine before swallowing.

I loved it. It made me feel normal again. My sister is concerned this will pop a staple in my stomach but I don’t think it will. I guess i just needed to confess my sins and see what other people think. Am I going to ruin my surgery and pop a staple? Will i not lose weight? Will Dr. Cirangle find out? Should I tell him? And most importantly, Should I continue to eat this way? I am still having my protein shakes, sipping water and taking it easy. I just need some normalcy again.

Thanks for letting me vent and please let me know your thoughts.

Best,

T

This isn't like before where cheating is some sort of power struggle within yourself and the consequences were a pound not lost. I encourage you to get into some sort of talk therapy to help deal with the food issues.

But for now, STOP eating food which threaten your sleeve and could lead to serious consequences. If you had cancer, would you avoid the meds and ignore the doctor? This is really serious and important that you not screw around with your sleeve healing. For around a month, you should not be on more than full liquids. Period. I know each doctor has a little different program, but mine has emphasized that for the first month or six weeks, your job is to take care of your new stomach. That means following the plan and not stressing this new organ--let it heal!!! The tissue needs to have a chance to grow back together and heal before you stress it at all.

Good luck regaining your focus. You have a new normal. A bit of cheese and crackers is fine when the time is right. Ask yourself why you are willing to risk so much for a few bites of something which will still be available when your body is ready for it.

Ok first let me say I'm sorry that you're having a hard time with this. Second, your post seriously made me angry. You had this surgery to lose weight, to be healthy, to make yourself well and free yourself from the addiction of food, correct? WHY would you ruin it?! ALOT of us here have scrimped, saved and begged for money to have this surgery and that includes me, and you throw it away or are willing to throw it away and do serious harm to yourself in the process?! It makes me angry that you just toss aside what I so desperately want, like it means nothing when in reality to most of us here, it means everything.

You seriously should get into counseling but first I would suggest calling your surgeon and asking his thoughts. Ok yes I'm forcing myself to be mean to you and I'm sorry for that, but I want to just shake you and yell at you to wake up and DO THIS and to do it RIGHT because otherwise you're going to do some real damage to yourself physically and emotionally. Maybe you need a phone buddy or someone that can really be there, like alcoholics in AA have sponsors, would that help? I know many of us here would be willing to put in the time, but not if you don't put in the effort.

Listen, the bottom line is that only YOU can do this. You chose to have the surgery to get better, please don't sabotage yourself now! The pain and expense of surgery aside, you are now in possession of the greatest tool anyone could give you for weightloss, your sleeve! What worries me is that yes, even if you haven't damaged yourself physically, you will probably still lose weight and therefore be in the mindset that *shrugs* "it's ok, I can cheat..look! I'm still loosing!" In reality it's anything but ok.

Now then, I'm really sorry I lashed out at you but sometimes we all need that kick in the ass to get back on track and moving forward and I'm pretty sure when I need it everyone will jump on board for it lol Now then, tomorrow is another day right? Do the right things and make the right choices because this early out of surgery your life could depend on it. You're worth it! Do it right!

Renee`

I am just surprised your surgeon never warned you of the risks associated with cheating or going outside your diet parameters.

I start my mushy stage Wednesday but may hold off for a few more days to give my tummy more time to heal. Would drive me crazy if I had a leak or something else. Much luck to you,

Thank you everyone for your responses. I don't want to jeapordize my surgery and my health. I think that my head is not in the right place and I will certainly take the time to talk to a therapist. This is not an easy road to go down, so I do appreciate your perspective.

Best to you,

T

i started mushier stuff on day 10, no carbs here tho, the cracker idea does scare me. i went through all my doctors paperwork and he gave my multiple info on the same diet however on one page it states "after you are tolerating liquids without any problems you can move on to a pureed diet or very soft liquids. this should happen after about 10 days to two weeks". (the pureed food list does include things like fish and deli meats) i have been ultra paranoid about stretching and have been careful but on that day i took 2 turkey meatballs, boiled them, and chopped them very small into 1/4 cup very low cal spaghetti sauce, chewed alot, ate slow and couldnt finish half but had no problems. the next day i had grilled tilipia and i couldnt eat more than an oz and a half. im currently on day 12 and had scrambled eggs for supper and was still completely stuffed. im assuming the time u can start mushies depends not only on a specific date but in how soon you heal. ive always healed very fast and once i read this 10 day info it was on for me lol. im still able to stay around 600 cal no problem. ive lost over 20lbs since my surgery and about 50-52lbs this past month (havent updated ticker because im trying to stick to a once a week update but still cant keep myself from steppin on everyday lol) anyways thats my thought on this. believe me i am pretty paranoid about messing anything up because this surgery was out of pocket but with my mushies i still feel the restriction and the weight is still fallin off every day.

Hi! I read your post and I didnt really feel angry I sort of feel sad for you! Its a mind thing I think, after a week on fluids I was thinking why cant I just have some yoghurt or why can't I just have this or that and I stopped myself because If I could do that, then My dietician would have told me so, and everyone else on here would be eating it. I would definately tell your surgeon, confession. But 10 days out even though in my head i wanted other things I just went through hell and high water with my family and friends as well as landing in a pile of debt, I wouldnt have even wanted to risk that.

Im glad youve decided to see someone because I think you need to, crackers and brie on day 10? there is something quite wrong about that isnt there? Im suprised you didnt hurt yourself. digesting that kind of thing? even chewed up, what if youd just swallowed it! hard crackers on a newly stapled stomache? holy moley!!! I have been back in since to have my stomache untwisted and I did eveything right, this surgery isnt cheating, you will never be able to finish off a massive meal, or gorge on heaps of really calorie laden food, and you just have to deal with that, and if it takes a speciallist to help you then Im all supportive of you.

Your starting BMI and total weight to lose is a the low-end, so you probably won't have that much of a struggle to get all your weight off, even with some cheating. That said, you do still need to stick to the program not for the reason of losing faster or better, but due to safety issues. Your sister was concerned and she had a right to be. Talk to your doctor, try to find some other varieties of foods you can eat for now that are within you plan and do not risk your sleeve!!

I needed more than the liquid diet and talked to my nutritionist and she let me go to pureed in 9 days and then to soft foods I think around 3 weeks out. I asked first however. Just being able to have cream of wheat and scrambled eggs made all of the difference. Talk to your nutritionist, that is why they are there. Following the program will become your new normalcy. The physical healing is the easy part, the mental game took me months. The good news it does get easier as the months roll on.

I'm 5 days post-op and actually just got off the phone with my nut. (protein shake question) but I felt SOOOOOOOO much better after talking with her. So, I would suggest calling your nut., tell them what you did, and then go from there. I'm learning how different post-op diets are and realizing I definitely have a much less strict diet. At day 7 I can start soft proteins and don't have to puree anything (still might though). "Your mouth is your blender," my nut. said to me. Maybe the crackers weren't the best idea, but I don't think you were doing anything crazy by having some cheese. That is a definite on my list of can haves starting 1 week post-op. By 8 weeks I'm free for everything. I think calling your nut. or even dr. (mine would never judge me) would give you some piece of mind about what you ate and whether or not it might mess up your staples and maybe even get the symptoms. I doubt it will be a problem, but I know piece of mind is a wonderful things, especially with this new ad venture.

Although my postop plan is not the same as yours, I do still think we should all just follow dr./nut. orders.

Best of luck!

Wow, I never thought about a leak or staple lining. That sounds scary and I dont want to jeapordize my healing process or end up back in the hospital. Thanks for scaring me straight. A visit to a therapist will help me, I'm sure.

But how will I know if I am now leaking or caused any problem with my staple lining? I pray i didnt do any damage but how would I know?

thanks for taking the time to reply. It was helpful.

T

Fever, rapid pulse and stomach pain are a few symptons. Every Doc is different I was already on mushies at day 10 but no crackers

Hi All,

I went to my surgeon's office today and talked to the nut and surgical nurse. The cheese and crackers luckily, did not do any harm. I am totally fine. So, now i am happily sticking to my Protein shakes and Water. I graduate to cottage cheese, soft eggs and yogurt on Thursday, which I'm excited for. They recommended I join an in-person support group to help me with my struggle.

The issue with me is not that I am taking my surgery for granted but that I have trouble remaining consistent and adhering to structure. I have always disliked structure and discipline. It’s just part of my make-up. Even when I go on vacation, I love to wing it and travel around until I find something that interests me. So... now that I'm having to be so disciplined and structured, I’m fighting it and having a hard time. I didn't realize how emotional and difficult this was going to be. I was somewhat flippant about the hard work this takes.

I cry everyday mourning food and am realizing what a hold it had on my life. I am so bored now without the food I used to enjoy. I’m happy, angry, frustrated and excited for my future – it’s such a weird string of emotions. I need to to learn to fill my time with others things, like dating, exercising, reading.. and so on.

I am very grateful/fortunate that I was able to have this surgery and I know that all of my feelings are normal and will pass in time.

Thank you to everyone for your postings and support.

Now, I’m off to eat my dinner.. tacos and rice crispy treats for dessert!

** KIDDING!!