Hello everyone,

I finally got to have my surgery this passed Monday. I had a vertical sleeve done. Pre op I went from 255.9 to 239.6 so very excited for that. Sadly that's not the reason I'm writing today. Sorry in advance this may get TMI.

So for me it is day 4. I called my nurses because I had only been on water this whole time and just felt awful. They told me to just rest get some protein water and apple juice because even though I was following the liquid diet to the letter my body needs those to function.

What I wasn't warned about was the bathroom issues. I literally take a sip and almost instantly to and hour later I'm upstairs with bad bathroom issues. My stomach feels like I have a kicking baby in my abdomin and the gurgle wow.

Did anyone else experience this? How long did it last?

It sucks. One more thing to worry about. My doctor said it will balance out once we get more food in me starting Tuesday. Help me survive the next few days. Please?

4 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

Aah the joy of Constipation. Add a soluble, non swelling, fibre to your shakes to help & try to keep on top of it. You’re not eating much so not going everyday is to be expected. I used to take a stool softener if I got to the third (sometimes 4th) day with out any movement. Any longer & it became more difficult to break, more uncomfortable & then painful when you do go.

I diluted my hideous shakes as well to dilute the flavour & graininess & got bonus fluids. Didn’t care if it took me two hours to drink it. Just sipped until I was done. It can be hard at first to meet your Protein & fluid goals. As long as you’re making an effort & slowly getting closer. It does get easier.

Avoid social media. I think it’s the worst when it comes to promoting unhealthy eating behaviours, food choices & excessive portion sizes. I developed an aversion to those types of images. I would start to feel ill looking at them. I also avoided live tv & would record any programs so I could fast forward the food ads. Thank goodness for ad free steaming services. What was odd was that I could watch baking & cooking shows. British Bake-off, British MasterChef (all three), Great British Menu & Top Chef were my favourites & they didn’t make me hungry.

Don’t have any suggestions for coping with your house mates’ eating habits. I live alone. You can’t force them to eat as you do but maybe you could let them know it does make it difficult for you & you may have to leave the room they’re eating in. It is something you will always have to face. I rarely eat sweet foods but in time I reached a point where it didn’t bother me if people around me eat cake, deserts, etc. My niece had a box of cakes, brownies, cake pops, whoopi pies, cheese cakes, cup cakes, etc. samples for her 13th birthday last week. Everyone was filling their plates with a variety of things & I was fine - I ate a strawberry. As I said before - it does get easier over time. Just got to work out how you can manage it now - what works for you.

I had a severe melt down. No matter what I did I felt horrible. Everything I took in I almost barfed. So tbh I have a confession to make. .... I cheated.

I ate a triangle from a plain cheese quesadilla. I was tired of the shakes and feeling sick all the damn time. I was tired of being cold. I was tired of feeling so sick and tired. I was tired of feeling like death all the time. Every day I woke up my body would say something is wrong with you dee. It induced severe panic. I would only get that way if something was seriously wrong. Sigh. I feel so quilts for my.moment of weakness but st least I chewed properly and didn't push. So a positive if I have to have one.

I'm gonna get back on track tomorrow. I shed the tears. I asked for help. I knew where the problems were so time to get back on track. I fought too hard for this.

Please be kind.

No judgements at all. You’re going through a lot. It’s pretty major surgery & you’ve made dramatic changes to your digestive system. If you are like many us, you look to food to comfort you & you can’t now. It’s to be expected that you are mentally, emotionally & physically stressed.

So you had a quesadilla chip. Once, one day is okay. It only becomes something to really worry about if you have one again tomorrow & again the next day & the next & you have 2 or 3 or more. Give yourself time for your body to heal & your head to catch - up. The fight is worth it.

7 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

No judgements at all. You’re going through a lot. It’s pretty major surgery & you’ve made dramatic changes to your digestive system. If you are like many us, you look to food to comfort you & you can’t now. It’s to be expected that you are mentally, emotionally & physically stressed.

So you had a quesadilla chip. Once, one day is okay. It only becomes something to really worry about if you have one again tomorrow & again the next day & the next & you have 2 or 3 or more. Give yourself time for your body to heal & your head to catch - up. The fight is worth it.

I hope so . Maybe I'm a late bloomer in the buyers remorse. Idk. But I think I'm going to integrate stuff in my life that feel more like me versus spending all the mental headspace trying to count etc. I think it's getting to me a lot. I'm almost done with phase 2. I'll be beyond excited for pureed. And that will be a week only. So I oops today but feel letting out a huge amount of emotions . I think a huge part of it is i am not a dairy person so being shoved all this dairy i to me makes me sick which adds to the mental turmoil. But im gonna get back on track. *rolls up sleeves and looks at my shake in disgust* let's do this.

Lots of plant based alternatives to dairy foods available now: milks, cheeses, yoghurts, etc., etc. Are you lactose intolerant or just don’t like it? (My mum doesn’t like yoghurt & cheese so I get that.) Give them a try instead of forcing yourself to eat traditional dairy.

There’ll be ups & downs along the way. Lot’s of new things to learn & discover about yourself & your tummy. I’m still learning at almost 4 years. Recently I discovered my tummy doesn’t like grated tasty cheese. Don’t know why. It may be okay with it next month.

2 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

Lots of plant based alternatives to dairy foods available now: milks, cheeses, yoghurts, etc., etc. Are you lactose intolerant or just don’t like it? (My mum doesn’t like yoghurt & cheese so I get that.) Give them a try instead of forcing yourself to eat traditional dairy.

There’ll be ups & downs along the way. Lot’s of new things to learn & discover about yourself & your tummy. I’m still learning at almost 4 years. Recently I discovered my tummy doesn’t like grated tasty cheese. Don’t know why. It may be okay with it next month.

The hardest dairy item for me to get down is the shakes. I'm gonna focus on. The chocolate ones though those seem way easier right now. I have zero sugar chobani yogurts I love and the tomatoes soup with milk diluting.

I'm also gonna see if heat pack helps things move along. It at least feels comforting. ?

Don't forget your hormones will be reeking havoc on your feelings and moods. I had a terrible time in my first few months post op. I spent 6 weeks curled up in a ball on my sisters couch. Cried multiple times a day for weeks thought I was going to die etc etc. it does get better and a lot easier every week

Edited March 26, 20233 yr by SleeverSk

8 hours ago, SleeverSk said:

Don't forget your hormones will be reeking havoc on your feelings and moods. I had a terrible time in my first few months post op. I spent 6 weeks curled up in a ball on my sisters couch. Cried multiple times a day for weeks thought I was going to die etc etc. it does get better and a lot easier every week

I'm sorry you had such a hard time my friend. I hope you are doing a lot better. This journey is harder than most of us realized. But we got to stick together we got this.

I found I had to change what I watched. So, I found a whole positive resource on YouTube about weight loss with healthy diet (no fads) and exercise. I also found gentle exercise videos and mental health videos. My goal was/is to find one new positive healthy habit to add to my life per week. This week was massage. It felt wonderful and I’m so grateful the PTO at my school paid for all the teachers to have one! Next is eye massaging I do for myself. Find other things to watch/read while in recovery beyond what you did before. Push yourself to be your best self

4 hours ago, Dfidelman said:

I'm sorry you had such a hard time my friend. I hope you are doing a lot better. This journey is harder than most of us realized. But we got to stick together we got this.

Thank you, Yes doing great now thanks, it will be 2 years July 28 for me.

Do you guys have suggestions besides premiere Protein shakes. I stocked up on them then found out they make me sick as a dog 3 weeks out. I hear fairlife is a good option but don't want to find out the hard way.

6 hours ago, Dfidelman said:

Do you guys have suggestions besides premiere Protein Shakes. I stocked up on them then found out they make me sick as a dog 3 weeks out. I hear fairlife is a good option but don't want to find out the hard way.

I tried something like 15 different brands of protein shakes and my top three are Fairlife Chocolate or Strawberry Banana, Ensure Max Nutrition in Vanilla and Premier Protein Chocolate blended with 1oz banana and a scoop of PBFit. I really loved the Fairlife Vanilla (has the taste of melted DQ), but my taste buds shifted after surgery and now I have a hard time with it. *shrug* this process is pure sorcery. ?

4 hours ago, mcipanda said:

I tried something like 15 different brands of Protein Shakes and my top three are Fairlife chocolate or strawberry banana, Ensure Max Nutrition in vanilla and Premier Protein Chocolate blended with 1oz banana and a scoop of PBFit. I really loved the Fairlife Vanilla (has the taste of melted DQ), but my taste buds shifted after surgery and now I have a hard time with it. *shrug* this process is pure sorcery. ?

I have a feeling they are not gonna be yay no matter what we do I just want my body not to reject them at this point. I can tough out not so yay but headaches, gas, almost throwing up, bloating etc is not cool.

So today I dropped the shakes all together to recover from a bad night of feeling gross. I didn't eat til later like 130/2 and i ate 2 yogurts and 8oz of soup like wow. I slowed down after cause I was worried. Could I just be feeling better not doing my shakes? Maybe from not eating til late. I don't wanna stretch it or rupture. I stopped when I felt full. Ugh I'm so nervous

So today I dropped the shakes all together to recover from a bad night of feeling gross. I didn't eat til later like 130/2 and i ate 2 yogurts and 8oz of soup like wow. I slowed down after cause I was worried. Could I just be feeling better not doing my shakes? Maybe from not eating til late. I don't wanna stretch it or rupture. I stopped when I felt full. Ugh I'm so nervous

4 hours ago, Dfidelman said:

So today I dropped the shakes all together to recover from a bad night of feeling gross. I didn't eat til later like 130/2 and i ate 2 yogurts and 8oz of Soup like wow. I slowed down after cause I was worried. Could I just be feeling better not doing my shakes? Maybe from not eating til late. I don't wanna stretch it or rupture. I stopped when I felt full. Ugh I'm so nervous

Realized I didn't take my antacid. Derp