Surgery set for next Monday, July 11th. So today was my Pre-op and Nut class.

After surgery diet:

Stage 1 Day 1-21

Full liquid including Protein supplements (only liquids that go easily through a strainer) No Jello.

Fruit juices, protein supplements, cream Soups (thinned), broth, Skim or 1% milk, sugar free drink mixes, Water, SF popsicles, and decaf tea/coffee.

Stage 2 Day 22-42

Soft solid foods

Stage 3 After day 43

Regular bariatric diet

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Try to consume:

60 oz of liquid per day

60 gms of Protein per day

Protein supplements: per 8 oz, 200 or less calories, at least 15 gms of protein (whey, egg, casein or soy based) and less than 5 grams of sugar.

The paperworks says to AVOID alcohol, caffeine and carbonation. The nut says to NEVER have them for the rest of your life. The room of people started to freak out. NEVER, ever again???? It was almost comical.

Her reasoning is that it can cause ulcers.

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Vitamins and Minerals

NO GUMMIES. What? No gummies. I went out and bought my adult gummie vitamins this past weekend. Now I can't have them. The thought of chewing up a chalky Vitamin just makes me gag. But I guess no choice now. Anyone have one they love? LOL

Take 2 Multivitamin per day

Take 1500-2000 mg pre day of Calcium. Chewable calcium citrate plus Vitamin D and magnesium. You are only suppose to take 500 mg at a time. So take it throughout the day.

Vitamin B12: 1000 mcg sublingual once per week.

All the above vitamins are to be taken FOREVER! I guess that is when it hit me...Forever? Really? Not sure what I was thinking, but this statement made it REAL for me. Part of my stomach is removed and now I have to take this stuff forever to be healthy.

Also Decaf FOREVER!! That was kinda hard to hear for me. I can do without the soda's, but if I wanted some good coffee, it has to be decaf

PRE-OP class was interesting too. Like most have said, No nail polish, toes or fingers. Lots of good info on what to expect at the facility I'll be at. We also got a tour of the hospital. Oh and no straws....forever. LOL

I'm still very excited about my surgery. A little more scared and nervous than before. I guess this just all made it more real for me.

I'm also interested if others surgeons or nuts gave you similar info on the above or not. I know alot of docs are different. And I know the info they gave us today was to help us work the sleeve to the best we can to not only lose the weight but to keep off the weight.

Thank you everyone and Tiffykins. I know everyone is different and the docs just give us guidelines. So I feel a little bit better now. I'll try caffeine down the road at some point. But until then, I'm so sleepy every day. It's hard to function. I sure hope this passes. It's my second week of no caffeine. :coffee:

I want to lose my excess weight and maintain it forever. So I will stick as close to the plan my doc gave me....98% of the time.

I did order some samples of the Vitamins from Celebrate last night. I guess my hubby can have the adult gummies. LOL

Only 4 days away :cheer2:

Thank you everyone and Tiffykins. I know everyone is different and the docs just give us guidelines. So I feel a little bit better now. I'll try caffeine down the road at some point. But until then, I'm so sleepy every day. It's hard to function. I sure hope this passes. It's my second week of no caffeine. :coffee:

I want to lose my excess weight and maintain it forever. So I will stick as close to the plan my doc gave me....98% of the time.

I did order some samples of the Vitamins from Celebrate last night. I guess my hubby can have the adult gummies. LOL

Only 4 days away :cheer2:

You'll do great chickee ! ! !

My husband is ANTI-VITAMIN or supplement of any sorts. . . Then at the ripe age of 29(in May), he had a sketchy eKg results come back with his yearly Air Force physical. Grant it, they've determined it was all due to a high stress job situation that has since been resolved, and a very demanding schedule that had him working about 65-70 hours a week on top of physical training 3 days a week. His PCM on base ordered a cholesterol test (all was good there), and he had a stress test done yesterday, and that all came back clear, along with a perfect eKg. BUT, before these tests, I convinced him he needed some additional vitamins. He now takes Vitacrave adult gummies, it's the only ones I can get him to take, and while they aren't the best, he's a normie with the metabolism of a fricken gnat and he's built like brick poophouse so, I'm grateful that he's willing to take in anything additional.

I sneak ground flax seed into his baked goods, salad dressing, and other meals without his knowledge. He can thank me later for nice clean bowels and arteries HA.

This is so helpful Tiffykins!

What does your daily schedule look like with your Vitamins? Since calcium and Iron can't be taken together, how do you deal with that? I'll be having surgery in less than two weeks and am trying to figure out how these things work. THANKS!

Best wishes on Monday ! ! !

Most of that plan is super strict, and pretty rigid. I've been drinking caffeine since being about 6 weeks out. I drink soda and have for 18 of my 25 months post-op. All with the go-ahead from my surgeon and nutritionist. Our losing plan was strict, but maintenance is much more lax. The no caffeine rule applied only until I could drink enough clear fluids to compensate for the diuretic effect of caffeine. As for ulcers, the risk for marginal ulcers is slim to none with VSG and/or gastrectomies unless the patients has had a history of ulcerative conditions. This is well documented in studies with VSG and gastrectomy patients that did not have it performed for weight loss. The low risk of ulcers with VSG is the main reason that NSAIDS are allowed with VSG and not with RNY.

As for vitamins, with the calcium citrate and your multi (the multi needs to have iron), do not take the citrate and multi within 2 hours of each other as the calcium counteracts the iron from being absorbed. I'm glad to hear your nut discourage Gummie vitamins as they are not a complete Vitamin for most adults.

I still take chewables, not only because they work for me, but because I kind of just suck up the chalkiness and move on. They go down easily, and well, they have not ever failed me on my labs.

I choose to use Celebrate Multi complete (includes Iron), and their Calcium Citrate Plus 500 (which contains Vit D and Magnesium). I have been allowed to remain on this regimen in my pregnancy, and my labs have remained stellar in the pregnancy since the formulation of Celebrate actually beats some of the more potent pre-natals on Iron and Folic Acid counts.

You can order samples from Bariatric Advantage, and Celebrate Vitamins to see which ones you might like to use. I personally hated all the BA supplement/vitamins. With the Celebrate, I'm able to take (chew) just 4 chewables per day. I'm further out and only need 1000mg of Citrate, and take 2 of the Multi completes per day. Early out, I had to take 3 of Calciums because I was to take 1200-1500mg per day in the early months because my intake was so low.

I use a sublingual B12 2500mcg from WalMart, and pop one under my tonuge 3-4 days a week.

This is so helpful Tiffykins!

What does your daily schedule look like with your Vitamins? Since calcium and Iron can't be taken together, how do you deal with that? I'll be having surgery in less than two weeks and am trying to figure out how these things work. THANKS!

Since I only have 4 chewables, I find it easiest to take them after my meals.

I rotate between taking 1 calcium in the morning after Breakfast, and then another one 2-3 hours later after lunch, and then after my late "lunch" I take one multi, and then after dinner I take another multi.

Sometimes, I switch it up because I carry my multi in my purse, and some days I eat breakfast and lunch out so I pop my multi after those meals, and then take my calcium at home.

It just kind of depends on my mood I guess is the best way to explain my regimen. For me, it's the easiest regimen I've found in 2 years post-op. Early out, I had a different regimen and it was just way too many pills, I even tried a couple of different liquid calcium citrate, and those were just a hassle, and super thick. I did try citracal petites, but that had me taking 5-6 pills per day, 2 hours apart, and my cell phone alarm was going off all the time with a reminder to take some pill or chewable, and it was just too frustrating.

There's other stuff out for people to try. I know Bariatric Advantage makes a lozenge of sorts, and then there's the crystal UpCalD calcium citrate that can be dissolved in fluids. I'm honestly just lazy when it comes to supplements, and if it's an inconvenience, I know myself well enough to know that I'll slack on taking them. I know that sounds horrible, but for me, I chose VSG because of the lack of malabsorption and need to take hoards of vitamins. It's my one true weak spot post-op so I had to find something that worked for me and my lifestyle.

I don't know why some doctors say no straws. Everything they brought me in the hospital came with a straw. I can't drink without a straw.

Same here and everything goes down much easier with a straw for me, I was just noticing that today. Girl, are you reading my mind?! LOL

xoxo's Renee`

I love the calcium citrate chocolate chews. I have then on auto ship. They make it really easy to get calcium.

You know what's funny....just thought of this. I want to lose weight so hopefully I won't have to take BP meds anymore. Because I hate taking pills. But if I do get off of it, it will be replaced by all the vitamins....I have to take forever. LOL So much for that kind of thinking.