Hi Everyone,

I had my Two week checkup today. It was great! I've lost 12 pounds post-op. It was only 2 pounds of muscle that I lost, the rest was all fat. I love getting weighed at the office because they have a machine that breaks it all down. I've been cleared for exercise, so hopefully next month I won't have lost any muscle.

Dr. duperier, the wonderful doc that he is, spent time with me, as always, to answer some questions:

Stretching Your Sleeve: it is possible to stretch your sleeve, but you have to work hard to do that. One or two meals that are too big won't stretch it out. Constantly overpacking it for months will stretch it.

Gaining Weight or 'Cheating': The Sleeve will fail if you drink sugary liquids. He has seen it happen and it saddens him. That is why counseling is such an important part of this equation.

Losing Weight & low carbs: I thought once I was sleeved that I will always have to eat low carb. Not true. Once I'm at goal weight, I can eat freely, within reason, and Protein always first.

No food For 3 Weeks: The reason is because the stomach needs to heal and not strain itself by processing food. So I was wrong. I thought if any food was pureed, I could eat/drink it. Not so. It has to be full liquids with nothing the stomach sees as 'food.'. So my pureed oatmeal, pureed Soups (other than creamy & broth) are no-no's. There is no such stage as 'pureed stage!'.

It was a very interesting visit. They did my leak test in the office and he spent time letting me drink & watching my sleeve fill up. I even got to see what happens when I overfill my sleeve. I am a renegade! I asked him if I could and he said 'sure.'. It was really cool. No wonder it is uncomfortable.

I hope other August sleevers (and everyone else!) are getting good news from

their docs!

Judy

Hi Everyone' date='

I had my Two week checkup today. It was great! I've lost 12 pounds post-op. It was only 2 pounds of muscle that I lost, the rest was all fat. I love getting weighed at the office because they have a machine that breaks it all down. I've been cleared for exercise, so hopefully next month I won't have lost any muscle.

Dr. duperier, the wonderful doc that he is, spent time with me, as always, to answer some questions:

Stretching Your Sleeve: it is possible to stretch your sleeve, but you have to work hard to do that. One or two meals that are too big won't stretch it out. Constantly overpacking it for months will stretch it.

Gaining Weight or 'Cheating': The Sleeve will fail if you drink sugary liquids. He has seen it happen and it saddens him. That is why counseling is such an important part of this equation.

Losing Weight & low carbs: I thought once I was sleeved that I will always have to eat low carb. Not true. Once I'm at goal weight, I can eat freely, within reason, and Protein always first.

No food For 3 Weeks: The reason is because the stomach needs to heal and not strain itself by processing food. So I was wrong. I thought if any food was pureed, I could eat/drink it. Not so. It has to be full liquids with nothing the stomach sees as 'food.'. So my pureed oatmeal, pureed soups (other than creamy & broth) are no-no's. There is no such stage as 'pureed stage!'.

It was a very interesting visit. They did my leak test in the office and he spent time letting me drink & watching my sleeve fill up. I even got to see what happens when I overfill my sleeve. I am a renegade! I asked him if I could and he said 'sure.'. It was really cool. No wonder it is uncomfortable.

I hope other August sleevers (and everyone else!) are getting good news from

their docs!

Judy[/quote']

Great information. Thanks for sharing

Thanks for that informations. You cleared up the question I had about stretching the stomach.

Thanks,

Maria

PLEASE do not take any offense to this comparison!!

A good way to look at stretching the sleeve is comparing it to the practice of creating holes in ones earlobe. You need to start with a small circle, and then slowly move to a bigger size as the earlobe stretches. If anyone knows the correct terminology and process for this, please let me know. Thanks!

I lived in the Amazon as a child and the Indians native to that area would stretch out their bottom lip. They start with a small one as a child and over time would put in bigger ones until the lip

is fully extended. So, it does take a lot of work to stretch the sleeve. It IS doable, but you'd be pretty darn uncomfortable for a long time! Dr. Duperier said empahatically that he has seen very few people actually stretch it so that the size stops being a tool. When it doesn't work it's always been because of poor diet choices, and snacking continually.

Hope this helps!!

Incredibly helpful information, thank you so much for sharing!!! The best of Luck to you on your journey

Thanks so much for sharing!

How did they do the leak test and how did you watch?

And what happened when you overdid it?

Hi Everyone' date='

So my pureed oatmeal, pureed soups (other than creamy & broth) are no-no's. There is no such stage as 'pureed stage!'.

Judy[/quote']

I have a puréed staged. It's at 4 weeks. I have a list of things I can have, or purée.

Robyn

Hi Everyone' date='

I had my Two week checkup today. It was great! I've lost 12 pounds post-op. It was only 2 pounds of muscle that I lost, the rest was all fat. I love getting weighed at the office because they have a machine that breaks it all down. I've been cleared for exercise, so hopefully next month I won't have lost any muscle.

Dr. duperier, the wonderful doc that he is, spent time with me, as always, to answer some questions:

Stretching Your Sleeve: it is possible to stretch your sleeve, but you have to work hard to do that. One or two meals that are too big won't stretch it out. Constantly overpacking it for months will stretch it.

Gaining Weight or 'Cheating': The Sleeve will fail if you drink sugary liquids. He has seen it happen and it saddens him. That is why counseling is such an important part of this equation.

Losing Weight & low carbs: I thought once I was sleeved that I will always have to eat low carb. Not true. Once I'm at goal weight, I can eat freely, within reason, and Protein always first.

No food For 3 Weeks: The reason is because the stomach needs to heal and not strain itself by processing food. So I was wrong. I thought if any food was pureed, I could eat/drink it. Not so. It has to be full liquids with nothing the stomach sees as 'food.'. So my pureed oatmeal, pureed soups (other than creamy & broth) are no-no's. There is no such stage as 'pureed stage!'.

It was a very interesting visit. They did my leak test in the office and he spent time letting me drink & watching my sleeve fill up. I even got to see what happens when I overfill my sleeve. I am a renegade! I asked him if I could and he said 'sure.'. It was really cool. No wonder it is uncomfortable.

I hope other August sleevers (and everyone else!) are getting good news from

their docs!

Judy[/quote']

So, can you elaborate some for me about the puréed foods not actually being ok? I was sleeved Tuesday and my doctor only does 1 day of full liquids and then onto puréed starting day 2. For instance, I had 1 oz nonfat cottage cheese for lunch, 4 oz lowfat potato/veggie Soup for lunch, and a homemade broccoli cheese soup that I puréed an had 4oz of for dinner. I ate very slowly bc it did make me super nervous, but my NUT says creamy and pureed soups are fine. The info you've posted has me a little paranoid. The last thing I want to do is compromise my little tool. I do feel so blessed bc I am not feeling at all deprived and am tolerating things very well. I don't want to ruin the honeymoon.

This is great information! Thanks so much for sharing....

PLEASE do not take any offense to this comparison!!

A good way to look at stretching the sleeve is comparing it to the practice of creating holes in ones earlobe. You need to start with a small circle' date=' and then slowly move to a bigger size as the earlobe stretches. If anyone knows the correct terminology and process for this, please let me know. Thanks!

I lived in the Amazon as a child and the Indians native to that area would stretch out their bottom lip. They start with a small one as a child and over time would put in bigger ones until the lip

is fully extended. So, it does take a lot of work to stretch the sleeve. It IS doable, but you'd be pretty darn uncomfortable for a long time! Dr. Duperier said empahatically that he has seen very few people actually stretch it so that the size stops being a tool. When it doesn't work it's always been because of poor diet choices, and snacking continually.

Hope this helps!![/quote']

This is calling gaging

I have a puréed staged. It's at 4 weeks. I have a list of things I can have' date=' or purée.

Robyn[/quote']

I apologize! I meant to write that I don't have a pureed stage. I got overly excited and missed that part. Lol. Sorry. Of course puree exists, many people have that stage. :-)

Thanks so much for sharing!

How did they do the leak test and how did you watch?

And what happened when you overdid it?

It was so cool! I drank the barium while the camera thingy was on. It's a big apparatus that is like an xray machine. They had a big TV screen centered so the patient can watch too. I could see the liquid go down and into my tiny belly. It took about 4 oz, 3 sips, to fill it. On my fourth sip it backtracked back up to the bottom of my esphogus and I could feel that pressure. As soon as the liquid went out the bottom of my sleeve, the esphogus emptied into my stomach. It really helps me now that I have a real visual of what's going on.

Rachdreams:

Please remember that all docs are so different. Your doc might do the surgery different than mine. But the way mine explained it to me is that for 3 weeks postop they didn't want my tummy to have to work at digesting anything. They want it at complete rest as much as possible. So something like oatmeal, or pureed rice in Soup, would make your tummy work at digesting because even though its pureed, the disgestive system still recognizes it as a food that needs to be digested, so the tummy goes into it's digestive mode.

I'm sure you're doing fine w your pureed foods. Rememeber, everyone is different!

Good luck!

Judy

Rachdreams:

Please remember that all docs are so different. Your doc might do the surgery different than mine. But the way mine explained it to me is that for 3 weeks postop they didn't want my tummy to have to work at digesting anything. They want it at complete rest as much as possible. So something like oatmeal' date=' or pureed rice in soup, would make your tummy work at digesting because even though its pureed, the disgestive system still recognizes it as a food that needs to be digested, so the tummy goes into it's digestive mode.

I'm sure you're doing fine w your pureed foods. Rememeber, everyone is different!

Good luck!

Judy[/quote']

Thanks! I was just curious. I'm always trying to learn something new. It is amazing to me how largely one doctor differs from another with this surgery. I have done amazing on the puréed so far and have not had any lack in energy which has been nice. Of course, I haven't been able to walk bc of my anesthesia reaction so I also haven't had the opportunity to burn much energy so my theory isn't really very strong.

Yeah, your reaction to anesthesia sounded deeadful. When can you start getting around?

And i just posted on another thread how I'm sure (i hope!) a protocol will be established once studies show what's best: nutrition after surgery or rest stomach so can heal. Its just all over the map how diff docs are!

Yeah' date=' your reaction to anesthesia sounded deeadful. When can you start getting around?

And i just posted on another thread how I'm sure (i hope!) a protocol will be established once studies show what's best: nutrition after surgery or rest stomach so can heal. Its just all over the map how diff docs are![/quote']

It was just so unexpected that it threw me for a loop. I'd never had surgery before so it was not the best 1st experience. My muscles have all but stopped hurting as of today so while I'm still taking it slow, I've done a tiny bit of walking. I am still VERY swollen and tight around my tummy and my largest incision so it is still very painful to move around for long. It could be that my lack of ability to move around much at first contributed to the swelling and pain I'm feeling now. Everyone else seems to really not complain much about pain for long so I feel really behind in my recovery, but like my hubby said, everyone is different and it may just take me a little longer. I am definitely looking forward to being able to get up and do some walking without feeling like someone is ripping me apart.

I love the info and support I get here bc otherwise I wouldn't really know what to expect or how to gauge. I don't know anyone in my own life who has had any type of WLS.