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I was sleeved 11/16 and I noticed when I introduced solid foods earlier this week, my weight stalled. My NUT said to increase my fiber through vegetables, and things starting moving again.

Check the sugar content. If it's got sugar in it, it's probably best to avoid it for now. Sorry - I know the liquid phase is really rough. I just don't want you to set yourself up with a bad habit from the start.

I've been using the postage scale that we already had. Works great.

A nice note sent to the CEO or President of the hospital about your great experience is always appreciated, especially if you remember names of the people who took good care of you. Sending to the CEO/President ensures it gets seen as it filters down through the ranks, because they usually send it to the dept manager to show to the department and staff who were mentioned, and to put a copy in the employees file. If you want to send food, I agree with the poster above who said get something in bulk from Costco or Sams Club as opposed to a smaller, prettier arrangement. Costco used to have these awesome giant breakfast muffins in a bulk pack in several different flavors. And it's true, junk food will get eaten with no crumb left behind. Most nurses like their sugar and caffeine while working a 12 hour shift! @FluffyChix Nurses won't usually take anything, especially something consumable, from a patient room. One reason is that nurses see the germiest patients at times, not saying you are one, lol, but eating something that came from a patient room would be a potential germfest. Another reason, it is prohibited to accept personal gifts in most places, and taking something from a patient room would be like accepting a personal gift or taking something from a patients personal belongings. Now send a bag of candy out to the nurses station for them to put in their break room (it's then "theirs" and not "yours") and it would likely not last the shift!

I had my first breast cancer surgery on Nov. 1 (All Saints Day). I took a huge fishbowl of premium Halloween candy up to the room and had it on my tray at the foot of the bed for the docs and nurses...basically no one touched it the whole time despite our invitation any time someone entered the room. LOL. They were not eating candy! Or at least they weren't that day!

Also I would probably shy away from anything like edible arrangements. Something like that is great if you want to get a thank you for just your surgeon. But if youre getting something for a unit (which it sounds like thats your intention) youre far better off going to costco/sams club/bjs whatever wholesale retailer you use. And just getting some large trays of whatever looks good/is reasonably priced and then include a nice thank you card with it.. Cookies brownies maybe cupcakes are the safest bets. Basically **** that we cant eat anymore The reality is with nurses theyre more likely to complain/get annoyed about not getting anything/enough of whatever because it happens a lot (nurses are very territorial about their food). So volume is almost certainly more important than something looking pretty (as its just going to get mobbed as soon as they get it anyway)

I completely agree!!!! I haven't told mine and I"m super nervous about it. I have been a huge person my whole life. I have also been an athlete until my late 20's so I fear that they may try to use that over my head by saying, "how can a person that was an athlete all their life end up needing weight loss surgery". That's my biggest fear. They don't understand. No one in my family is even close to my size. I am a freak of nature that is no longer a great athlete. I need help and this program and surgery is gonna help me with that. I sure hope they understand. Time will tell. I sure wish you all the best of luck with your surgery and start of your new life. Go Git'm!!!

Thank you for asking Melesg. You and everyone on this forum have been amazingly supportive. Well here is how my consultation today went—- I got there about 15 minutes before my appointment time and filled out some forms, very few because most I had filled out online which were more specific and asked about my medical conditions and medications etc. I was called back shortly after to consult with Dr. Sadek. I had a list prepared of questions to ask and here they are with his responses: 1- How many esg procedures have you performed? (I added that I knew it was a very new procedure so I wanted to know his experience) He told me about 40 and that he and Dr. Sharaiha were the only doctors in the northeast that do this. 2- Has any of your patients needed a revision and why? His answer was extremely interesting to me. He told me that only one patient needed a revision and the reason was that he, Dr. Sadek, needed to change his technique. He told me that initially he would suture the fundus of the stomach (I think that is what he called it) in a straight stitch but he found that doing that allowed for a greater possibility for the stomach to stretch because the sutures were not holding well this way. He now sews it up on a diagnol to ensure the best hold of the stomach. He believes this is the reason that some may need revisions to this procedure or why some sutures come undone. He also said scar tissue is good to form around the suture because it holds it well in place and increases the strength. 🤷‍♀️ 3- What happens to the actual stitches or sutures in your stomach? Do they dissolve or stay? He said the sutures are permanent and are not meant to dissolve or be removed. They are supposed to hold your stomach indefinitely. 4- So why then is it possible to gain back some weight? The sutures hold the lower part of the stomach so the upper part can stretch over time if one eats the wrong foods. 5- Any long term data further than 2 years? He said even though it has been performed in other countries for longer than 2 years ago, there is not a big enough group study to give us accurate info for more than 2 years. 6- is this procedure reversible? He explained that the sutures should stay in place but if the procedure does not yield enough weight loss or there is regain you can then go in laparoscopicly and cut the sutures and remove them and then proceed to a laparoscopic gastric sleeve. You can also after years if needed convert it to a laparoscopic gastric plication which is the same as the esg but done with incisions. I was told that the procedure would probably take one hour- one hour and a half to perform and he believes that if he starts at around 7:30 that by 10:30-11 I would be going home. He told me I didn’t need any clearances or blood work because I had no comorbidities. The only medicine I am taking is phentermine which he agreed because I was taking it for so long is no longer effective at all. He gave me a pamphlet with my preop diet of liquid only for one week prior or at the very least 3-4 days prior. Nothing after midnight the night before and nothing the day of. Post op diet is clear liquid for 3-4 days then liquid for two weeks. Then another two weeks of purée. Then one month post op is smaller portions but I will be into see him one week post op to go over that in more detail. He believes I should lose between 25-40% of my excess weight which he estimated should be 30-40 pounds. (I can only hope🙏) Finally, I booked a procedure date for FEBRUARY 6, 2018 I’m on my way guys!!😬😬

I have the same surgery date! We only do a 10 day liquid diet (we are limited to 1 protein shake a day for the first 5 days and clear liquids after that), but I am on day 6. I think it has everything to do with how much water you were retaining before you began and how much water you are drinking to flush out the bloating. If you weren't retaining much, you don't lose as much. If you don't drink lots of water, you aren't getting rid of it. I was super bloated and hormonal when I began, so I had an initial drop. However, I got dehydrated, so the scale stopped moving. I pushed a ton of water yesterday and lost 6 pounds overnight. I can already tell that water will be my big challenge after surgery!

It's not necessarily that your tummy loves unhealthy foods (good news!), but stuff like cookies are what people refer to as slider foods (not so good news haha). Slider foods are are soft simple processed carbohydrates of little or no nutritional value that slide right through the surgical stomach pouch without providing nutrition or satiation. When slider foods are consumed, they go into the stomach pouch and exit directly into the jejunum where the simple carbohydrate slurry is quickly absorbed and stored by the body. There is little thermic effect in the digestion of simple carbohydrates like there is in the digestion of protein so little metabolic energy is expended. The most commonly consumed slider foods include pretzels, crackers (saltines, graham, Ritz, etc.) filled cracker snacks such as Ritz Bits, popcorn, cheese snacks (Cheetos) or cheese crackers, tortilla chips with salsa, potato chips, sugar-free cookies, cakes, and candy. Definitely keep talking with your doc and nutritionist if you continue having issues with solid foods. Maybe try some vegetarian options that are higher in protein, like chili with beans but no meat. Good luck and keep us posted!