Has anyone found the journey after surgery easy?

[samcl1 52]

Overall it's been easier than I thought. My surgery was 12/15/15. But I'm still pretty tender and getting the Protein and Water requirements are very hard for me. I don't think I've ever gotten the water. My nutritionist said "just do the best you can, it will get easier". I hope so.

[Dub 10,070]

It's been very easy for me.

The surgeon did a great job.....the medical care at the hospital was excellent and the simultaneous hernia repair wasn't so bad.

Each step of the healing and way of eating has had unique challenges but they've gone very smoothly.

I have zero complaints and zero fears about the future.

The liquid diet pre-post op (6weeks for me) was very instrumental in my establishing a new way of interacting with food. If needed in the future, I'll jump back on that liquid diet in a skinny minute !!!!

I've really gained confidence now as I've resumed grilling and cooking again for the family and have no problems with temptations.....not interested in carbohydrate heavy food. I'll cook it for others, but I have no desire for it.

meats and some Fiber filled carbs with occasional cheeses or nuts are my staples......along with on occasional Quest bar or shake.

I do admit to weighing frequently. I'm not recommending that folks do that......I'm just stupid that way......I've got to see that number every day. I don't let slight upward fluctuations freak me out.....but they do motivate me to stay on point.

The absolute singular regret I have is not doing this years ago.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Dub

[samcl1 52]

When was your surgery Dub?

[xmeridith 7]

There are ways to make it 'easier'.

Get into good habits early so you aren't having to learn them when you are struggling later in your journey.

My go-to snack is fresh fruit. I've never eaten fresh fruit before in my life. Having an apple is like a treat though. Your tastes may change. Mine definitely did. This is an opportunity to make better choices.

Start the exercise program as soon as you can after surgery. Make it a habit.

Talk to your doctor, use this board, find resources to help you make it easy for you!

[Stayc_b_me! 5]

I thought the 2 week pre-op liquid diet was bad after the surgery (had surgery 12/28/15) that was a piece of cake to post-op. It's been difficult for me because I have always been an emotional eater and highly addicted to food. I don't know why I thought after my surgery my addiction and behaviors would be different. I feel like I am starving all day. Between sipping on Water and Protein throughout the day for Breakfast I eat 1/2 Greek yogurt thinned with water. For lunch I eat 6oz blended split pea Soup, and the same for dinner. Even after eating a whole 6oz I don't feel full. I read others stories and they say they are stuffed after a few bites. Besides the pain and war wounds it doesn't feel like I had the surgery and I am more emotional and irritable then ever. Also frustrated because I was Diabetic before surgery taking 2000mg Metformin, Glipizide, Byetta and Large units of insulin twice a day. Here almost a week later my blood sugars have been staying mid to high 200's without meds and I am scared my Diabetes will not be better or in remission. I hope I don't end up regretting this surgery...sigh

[mykdzmom 388]

I am 3 months out and for me, it has been much easier than I expected.

Having said that, before I had the surgery I had prepared by cuting out the carbonation, practicing not drinking with meals (so far the toughest part), and chewing each bite 33 times. I spent over a year on this site reading other journeys so i think my expectations were not unrealistic.

The sleeve has done its part with the restriction.

I am very pleased so far.

Good luck on your journey!

[WannabeH 114]

Stayc_b_me I really hope things get better for you soon and you don't regret surgery.

If things don't improve soon then I would be giving my surgeon a call.

Or hopefully the post ops can give you some good advice.

I'm currently 4 days in on my pre-op diet and my god I have been starving!!!!

I was hoping after surgery most of my hunger will be sorted out, although I expect head hunger is going to give me a big challenge.

Edited January 4, 2016 by WannabeH

[mngreeneyes 674]

I have found this process to be easier than I expected, but that was because the surgery itself scared me. I had surgery November 18, 2015 and having never had any kind of surgery before, I was deifinitely expecting the worst. Fortunately, I have had no complications so that part went much easier.

Lifestyle changes are another story. Although I am seldom hungry, I do have my moments. I have managed to make it through both Christmas and Thanksgiving with minimal issues. At Thanksgiving I was only a week out from surgery and on liquids so that was much easier. At Christmas, I allowed myself a bite of holiday treats, but only at meals with my family. I haven't had a lot of desire to eat Cookies and candies, which has been helpful. The big thing for me has been to focus on my Protein first and a taste of the other things so I don't feel completely denied. I even went to a friend's cookie baking day and helped bake Cookies. I made sure I had eaten my food before I went and when I got hungry, I stopped and ate some chili she provided, and I helped back 4 or 5 batches of cookies and candies throughout the day. I didn't even try one. I also took a couple of plates home to take to work on Monday. Those cookies, etc. traveled in my car all weekend and they didn't even speak to me and all the homemade caramels that my coworkers never knew existed in previous years arrived safely at work on Monday!

I think my key to success thus far has been the work I did before hand. I was a diet coke addict, but in preparation for the surgery, I gave up diet coke. Its been 5 + months. It was one of my go to comfort foods. just succeeding at giving it up gave me so much confidence that I could do this. After giving up Diet coke, I started drinking Water religiously. I was up around 100+ oz. a day before surgery. This was a habit I worked hard to create before surgery. I am drinking less now, but Its a habit that is already ingrained. I also was religious about following the 30/30 rule. I stopped drinking with mealsand for 30 minutes on either side in July and again, it became a habit before surgery. I also have learned to eat slower and chew carefully. When I haven't, I have had issues and the feeling of being stuck is horrible. I hate vomiting, but I don't mind so much when that stuck feeling goes away. Not to mention, I am MUCH more careful with my eating aftewards.

I still struggle with head hunger, but so far what I have noticed is it has more to do with seeing a commercial on tv or hearing one on the radio and thinking, I could just go to X fast food place, and pick up Y and that would be so easy. So far the fear of dumping has prevented my following through, which I am okay with for the time being. It is giving me time to learn to talk myself out of head hunger cravings before I follow through. The longer I can hold out hte more of a habit that becomes too and the stronger I become.

The other thing I have done to combat head hunger is to make sure that I don't allow any of my old treats into my apartment. I find that if I focus on protien at the grocery store, I am less likely to even enter those aisles that were my trip-ups before. For me this is easier because I am single and live alone so I have no reason to have to buy goodies for anyone else. I tip my hat to those who have families and find a way to fight the head hunger when its calling from the kitchen cupboard!

Okay, that's enough from me. I wish you the best. pam

[Sajijoma 1,324]

I didn't find it as hard as I thought it would be. I wouldn't say it was easy, but just not as hard as I expected in some aspects. I think what helped a lot for me, is that I planned for the worse case scenarios and when they didn't come, it made what I did have not so bad! I was prepared for hellacious gas pains when I had surgery, but my surgeon is amazing and does his best to get out all the gas so I didn't have that severe gas pain and feeling like I was stabbed in the neck that I did when I had my gall bladder out 14yrs ago. That was a nice surprise! I was warned about the desire to just lick food and taste stuff when you first get home from the hospital, and I laughed because it seemed so absurd to me, but that first meal at home, when all I could do was drink broth, and the family was having brats with kraut and mac and cheese and all the trimmings, yeah, I was pretty pissy. I wanted to just lick the sausage or maybe chew it up a bit and spit it out, but I didn't. That was probably my hardest thing was just NOT giving into that head hunger.Then I've dealt with lactose intolerance brought on as a result of surgery(not fun but I knew it was a possibility) and I have a grumpy pouch that doesn't like certain foods or textures, so a lot of foods that would have been my "go to" foods for a quick meal are out now, not because they were unhealthy(like chicken breast) but because my pouch simply doesn't like them and I will spend the next hour or so dry heaving if I take even one bite. Beyond that, it really hasn't been so bad! I absolutely LOVE not feeling hungry although it is a double edged sword, because it's hard to eat enough food to cover my needs when it's just a chore to eat. I supplement a lot with Protein Shakes because of that and the fact my pouch has trouble holding more than 2 oz at a time, even at almost 2 months out.

[windfaerie 41]

I have found it to be fairly easy. Not without some work and changes but not hard. The hardest part is get enough calories in for a day. I still have the occasional one bite too many stomach upsets or oops that had hidden sugar dumping but things like that happen.

[Stayc_b_me! 5]

Stayc_b_me I really hope things get better for you soon and you don't regret surgery.

If things don't improve soon then I would be giving my surgeon a call.

Or hopefully the post ops can give you some good advice.

I'm currently 4 days in on my pre-op diet and my god I have been starving!!!!

I was hoping after surgery most of my hunger will be sorted out, although I expect head hunger is going to give me a big challenge.

Stayc_b_me I really hope things get better for you soon and you don't regret surgery.

If things don't improve soon then I would be giving my surgeon a call.

Or hopefully the post ops can give you some good advice.

I'm currently 4 days in on my pre-op diet and my god I have been starving!!!!

I was hoping after surgery most of my hunger will be sorted out, although I expect head hunger is going to give me a big challenge.

Thank you WannabeH and best of luck to you through your new journey! Hoping it will get better for both of us as for the head hunger. This group has helped me a lot and has given me good insight and support. I finally was able to talk with my surgeon's office today after the holiday weekend. I have to go back on the 2000mg Metformin for now. I started today and with medication and being on this liquid diet I have had extreme gas and not able to stay out of the restroom (which is one of the side effects I have dealt with prior to surgery and was in hope I could get away from"). (Sorry if TMI). One day at a time and I am sure this will be all worth it in the end.

Edited January 5, 2016 by Stayc_b_me!

[cocoa8utter 32]

@stayc Hang in there! It is definitely not a miracle overnight cure. Don't lose hope. I am a week ahead of you and my weight loss is stalling. But I only eat Soups and I log every sip and bite that enters my mouth. I can eat between 400-700 cal a day and feel satisfied. Keep yourself busy. I am happy I can go back to work on Friday. I have been enjoying little mini walks too.

[lifeofblair 308]

What made it easy for me is the fear of eating something I'm not supposed to and getting sick. My mind still wants to eat a lot, so that's an adjustment I'm still working on.

[gz345ski 3]

I'm 10 months out and in some ways the journey has been much easier than I expected, but in other ways it has been much more difficult.

The pain after surgery was very minimal.and I did not experience any complications. For the most part, food cravings are few and far between. This has been a major blessing. I have lost 135 pounds since my surgery. Until a week or two ago ,my glucose readings were somewhat elevated, but lo and behold, last week I finally got a reading of 96 and this week 84.

On the other side of the coin, I have had 10 months of nausea. Although I follow the rules, eating tends to make me feel very queasy. This food addict now finds most foods truly repugnant.My tastes have changed. Formerly favorite foods just make me gag now. It's really weird.

[cocoa8utter 32]

@@lifeofblair I totally agree with you, I am also afraid to eat something that will make me vomit or nauseated. Feeling nauseous is worse than being in pain for me!!