I'll try to be as detailed as I can to help others about to go through this.

My surgery was scheduled for this past Wednesday 12/21, I was told to go to the hospital at 7:30 AM. My wife had to take the kids to school so my mother brought me. No waiting, immediately they took me into the back to start getting ready, and my mom was able to come. They filled out some forms, put the IV in, gave me a shot of Heparin (blood-thinner) in my stomach (didn't hurt) and told me I'd get an additional shot every 8 hours until I got discharged.

They gave me a few pills and some horrifically nasty stuff to drink (everything I had to drink in the hospital was terrible). Some of the nurses came by to introduce themselves, the anesthesiologist came by to chat. I had been concerned because I had been coming down with a cold but all I had left was a slight cough so it was fine. My doctor came by to let me know I would be going in soon. He had a busy day, at least 6 surgeries! I think I was number 3.

So about 9:45 or so they wheeled me in. My mom was given a tracking number, and there was a monitor in the waiting room where you could find a patient's tracking number, and it would light up green when they were in surgery, and blue when they were in recovery. They said they'd call when I was out of surgery (they didn't).

I went into the room and laid down on a very narrow table and got strapped in. My doctor wasn't in there yet, but they needed to prep me anyway. They put a mask on face and told me to breath deeply, and bam I was out. My next recollection was waking up in recovery with an oxygen mask (they give everyone oxygen via mask for two hours post-surgery) feeling very woozy and nauseous . I told them I was feeling sick and they gave me something that helped. Soon after, they brought my mom and wife back to spend some time with me, but I was really in and out.

Shortly after, they had me stand up and walk around a bit, and then they sat me in a lazy-boy type chair for a while, then I walked around a little more. Walking felt OK, felt some tightness in my stomach around the incisions but it wasn't unbearable. Then they put me in a wheelchair and brought me to my room which I was sharing with another guy who got the same surgery from the same doctor that day (he arrived later).

They put me in the bed and asked me a bunch of questions to get me admitted. After that it was mostly just sleeping as much as I could. Every two hours I had to get up and walk for several minutes. They got all the bariatric patients up together so every two hours it was like the world's worst conga line and we shambled down the hospital hallway. I made sure to go to the bathroom after every single walk so I wouldn't have to get up unnecessarily. They let me have ice chips and thank god for that. I didn't have a sore throat from the surgery although I'd heard some do.

It was a long night, people kept coming in to check blood pressure, give me heparin shots, take blood once I think, maybe twice. The next morning some folks from the hospital came in to give me and my roommate a holiday gift of a poinsettia which was nice but I would have rather kept sleeping.

In the morning they brought me down for a GI check. I had to drink some absolutely foul liquid four times while they took x-rays of my stomach (standing) to check for leaks. No leaks! So I was cleared for Breakfast. Breakfast was some Water, some orange Jello, and some Protein things to drink, they tasted completely disgusting and I couldn't finish them. When they saw I tolerated it well, they brought lunch, which was scrambled eggs, Powerade zero, and more horrible Protein drinks including one marked Prostat that I think I was supposed to drink but it was so awful I couldn't take more than a sip.

I had noticed over the night that was having pains in my back and shoulder, I was told it was gas pains and they would go away, I just needed to keep walking. The surgeon stopped in at some point to check in, told me my surgery lasted just 26 minutes, amazing. He said I did a good job with the liver shrinking diet.

About 2:30 or so I was discharged. I was able to dress myself which was nice. I had an appendectomy and umbilical hernia repair last December, and felt much worse after that, and couldn't dress myself when I left the hospital.

The drive home was uneventful, when I got back I took a little nap, but I got up to walk every hour or so. For the first day or two I noticed some ankle and calf pain when I got up but that went away and today it's almost all gone.

For dinner my wife made me some pureed tuna with low-fat mayo. I ate two ounces and could barely finish it. I drank about 2/3 of a bottle of Protein shake (the Premier Protein, same thing I drank on my two week liver shrinking diet), took me a looong time to drink it. Then drank some water, not that much, I was being very cautious. When I swallowed it felt very weird, like I could feel it settling into my stomach. Didn't hurt, but just weird. I didn't have any real unbearable pain. When I stood up it hurt where my incisions were. If I coughed it hurt a lot but that went away.

Spent that day (thursday) just relaxing and walking and trying to get down some fluids.

Sleeping was uneventful, I took some of the percoset they prescribed and that helped. I slept on my back the entire night which is rare for me. Friday I felt a little better. Ankles still hurt, and my neck was killing me, I assumed it was the gas pain. Breakfast was two scrambled eggs which took over an hour to eat but I finished almost all of them. I finished the Protein Drink and tried some powerade zero which was delicious. Lunch was the rest of the tuna (3.4 oz, ate the whole thing), and dinner was egg salad with low fat mayo, and a little bit or paprika and mustard for taste. I ate 3 oz and it went down pretty quick. At some point during the day I took a shower which was great. No problem at all standing for several minutes.

Sleeping was again uneventful. Today I woke up late, so no breakfast. I had more egg salad for lunch and it went down fairly quickly with no adverse effect. Drank a protein shake (11 oz) and 16 oz of powerade zero, no problem at all going down. Before the surgery, the doctor said it should easier and less painful day after day, week after week, and that's been true so far.

I had read about "sleever's remorse" and yes I've felt it too, starting with when I first woke up in the hospital, and it comes back several times a day. I think once I reach the point where there's no pain, and I can eat solid foods again, and get back into my regular routine and see the effects of the surgery it will go away. I know that this was the right thing for me to do, and even though maybe right this second I feel like I wouldn't do it again if given another chance, I'm pretty confident that I'll be happy with my decision in the coming weeks, months, years, etc.

So that's the journey so far. I'l be happy to answer any questions anyone has, and good luck to anyone who is still pending surgery!

Ok, im going to have to try that. I'm going to roll with you on the potatoes. Had them like 4 times in last 2 weeks. I never ate them too much b4 WLS anyway n now im all potatoed out. Im done. Like u im on Google looking for recipes but im trying to increase my Protein intake. I see diff now. The more protein i drink, less hungry i am. Ahhh, if only they had protein DORITOS.

Slim n sexy... woohoo WLS

Summer 2017 here we come

Edited January 29, 20179 yr by LIA-70

Ha, Protein doritos would be nice. I've heard of an ice cream on a facebook bariatric group I'm on, it's called Halo ice cream, and it's high protein, low carb and low cal. I might have to give it a shot!

Let me know how that goes. Think im making guacamole tonight with chicken. Cant have the taco but i can have the filling :-)

CW 218

VSG 1/6/2017

SW 242 GW 140

Woohoo

...summer 2017 here we come ????

Edited January 30, 20179 yr by LIA-70

I'm so jealous! I had surgery on the 20th. I am counting the days to I can have soft foods like tuna. I have never been so excited to eat tuna in my life. LoL!!! Hopefully I will be able to have them in 10 more days...

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

This is exactly me!! Tuna sounds sooo good!! I had surgery the 23rd!

Sent from my LG-H918 using the BariatricPal App

Tried some new food recently. Yesterday I went to Whole Foods and got a container of fresh made salmon salad. $6.48, was able to get two meals out of it. I divided it in half and it was 4.72 oz each which was perfect. I felt full afterwards but not stuffed. And the nutritional info is ridiculous: 107 calories (!), 6 carbs, 5 fat, 11 Protein.

That was dinner last night and tonight. For lunch today I was at the mall with my wife and we decided to get something to eat out for the first time since surgery. There used to be a turkish place there that I was gong to get some lamb and chicken at, BUT they were closed! So my wife wanted to get something from the Chinese place there. She ordered a single entree, and for an extra dollar you could get a double, so I asked for the roast pork, it was like barbecue pork strips. There were actually really good, didn't bother my stomach at all, and when I looked up the nutritional info, actually not bad at all! Just didn't have any rice or noodles or anything else. I think it was about 4-5 oz total.

And finally I'd been reading about this Halo ice cream that everyone loves, it's sugar-free, low calorie, high protein. So I went to Whole Foods to get some for me and my wife. While I was there, I saw a brand of ice cream called Wink ice cream, which was less than half the calories carbs and fat of the Halo, so I decided to get that for myself. My wife loved the Halo ice cream, and the Wink SUCKED. I had a 2 oz. serving and could barely finish it. I tried a little taste of the Halo and it was delicious, so I'm tossing the Wink and getting some Halo next time I hit Whole Foods.

Let me know how that goes. Think im making guacamole tonight with chicken. Cant have the taco but i can have the filling :-)

CW 218
VSG 1/6/2017
SW 242 GW 140

Woohoo
...summer 2017 here we come

Let me know how the chicken and guac are, I might have to try some of that myself!

So I've been following this thread for weeks now. It's the best. My surgery is on 2/14 and reading your experience and tips has definitely helped.

Once the surgery is way down your rear view are you considering keeping a low carb/keto diet? This is my intention so all of your food suggestions are hitting the spot.

Hey Dan glad this has been useful for you!

I definitely PLAN on keeping this type of diet, I think it will be that most helpful for me long-term. My friend who inspired me to do this is about 11 months post surgery and still eats very healthy so that's good.

I just don't have the urge to eat the stuff I used to, and I'm hopeful that will remain as I go forward. I'm learning that I really like making my own meals and I'm actually eating with a lot more variety than I used to. Before surgery I would always default to fast food, usually the same crap over and over again.

I bought an instant pot (non brand name) a few days ago and it's fantastic. Already made a few great meals in it, I highly recommend you check it out to help with your food preparation.

Good luck!

Sent from my LG-H811 using the BariatricPal App

Hey@Tufflaw. Hope all is well.

So the chicken n guac was a hit, also sauteed chicken w onions n peppers and chicken marsala. Im about to grow wings n fly with all this chicken, lol. Ive been experimenting with foods. Hit n miss. Tuna, cod fish, lettuce, broccoli - all a miss. Maybe next month. But i learned to do reset once i get a miss cause dang u feel like crap. I do broth n Proteins for next 24 hrs. Tomm im making ricotta bake again, this time with ground turkey. :-) keep those recipes coming

CW 214

VSG 1/6/2017

SW 242 GW 140

Woohoo

...summer 2017 here we come

Awesome, I definitely want to try that chicken and guac. So tonight I purchased a Nuwave oven instead of an air fryer, I used to have one of these years ago and used it all the time. This one has air fryer capabilities in it, but does a bunch of other stuff. Cooks food fresh or frozen, so it's handy. For my inaugural meal with it I decided to start having veggies again for the first time since my liquid diet started over 2 months ago. I made a sausage link in it, and also some roasted brussels sprouts! I got a bag of brussels sprouts from Target, cut them in half, put them in some oil, some salt and pepper and cooed them in the Nuwave on the bottom at the same time I cooked the sausage. 15 minutes total and they were delicious! Still plenty left over for meals for the next few days. I got my Nuwave at BJ's, it's on sale now for $80. This was the infomercial I found that inspired me to get one again -

Tomorrow me and my wife are going to make a cauliflower pizza crust and try some pizza for the first time in two months!

I always wanted one of those. May have to pay a visit to bjs.
Good luck with the veggies.
Today s turkey meatballs parm w carrots day. :-)

Been away for too long! Everything is going great, hit some milestones. One I hit today - I'm down over 66 lbs in two and a half months. When I did Weight Watchers about 9 years ago, it took me about 9 or 10 months to lose the same amount - and then I put it all back on and then some No chance of that happening now though!

Also some non-scale victories. The big one - I can wear my wedding ring again! I had to stop wearing it for a long time, it just got too tight! Started wearing it again a few days ago, feels good.

Also cool - i have about 8 suits I rotate through for work. Before surgery, I was down to three I could wear, the rest were too small. And the three were getting a little tight too. Now, I wear all of them. The original three are way too big and I had to get them tailored. The other five are starting to get loose, going to need tailoring soon. That's a welcome expense, especially with what I'm saving on food.

Tonight I saw a recipe on facebook I had to try, and I made a GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH with cauliflower toast for bread, and turkey bacon. The toast wasn't as crunchy as I would have like, but not bad at all! I could actually only eat half, saving the rest for tomorrow. I'm attaching a pic for your enjoyment. Hope everyone is well!

Edited February 24, 20179 yr by Tufflaw

I was looking at that recipe last night when it popped up on my news feed and was wondering how it tasted. We don't have any cauliflower on hand but I might need to get some. Do you think if you cooked the "bread" a little longer it would have gotten crispier?

I think I didn't drain it enough. The first few times I made cauliflower pizza crust I didn't drain it at all and the crust wasn't great. Yesterday I drained it a little and it held together better than the crust. Next time I'm going to put it in cheesecloth or a towel and really squeeze the hell out of it to see, apparently getting it as dry as possible is the real key.

Thanks for that tip. I've been wanting pizza badly lately so I might have to try this method. My local bariatric group has a pizza recipe that you use chicken as the crust but I'm not a fan.

Thank you for sharing!! I'm pre-op and I much appreciate your story and others -- helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel. And I'll start trying these meal ideas now not wait for surgery.

Your post about ice cream makes me realize I have one tip to offer though maybe you've heard it before. I'm lactose intolerant so I don't do ice cream but a great substitute is banana. Just banana. Peel and freeze ripe bananas (works best with very-ripe or almost-too-ripe). Run the frozen banana through the blender, nothing else just the banana. It comes out silky, creamy and delicious. The rich/light mouth feel totally satisfies when I crave ice cream. If you cut the bananas before freezing it's easier to make small portions.