Kami

I find it hard to keep my calories low. I'll be 2 months out tomorrow, and my hunger gets annoying. And I do take a PPI - 40mgs/day per doc's instructions. I find that making sure I add a fruit or veggie to a meal makes the difference between feeling full or not. If I eat half an apple or peach, or some raw or steamed veggies, I feel more like I ate a full meal. I also have ended up eating about 5 times/day. I eat Breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner, late-night snack. But right now (and temporarily) I'm working 2 jobs and have REALLY long days. I think the extra eating (which I need right now) and the lack of sleep have slowed down my weight loss. But I only have one month left of this schedule, then I'll have the time and energy to put towards exercising. But back to food - I eat 2 eggs each morning for breakfast, and only barely feel satisfied. If I add the 1/2 piece of fruit, I feel nice and full. I suppose I should learn to be happy with just being satisfied and not full, but I haven't been able to. I expected the surgery to reduce my ability to eat by more than it has. In the grand scheme of things, its obviously much less than it was, and I've lost 30 lbs total (including pre-op) over the 2.5 months of pre-op + surgery, but lots of people have lost much more. It is frustrating to say the least!

Well, I've lost about 10 lbs post-op, and combined with the pre-op, I'm almost at 20 lbs gone. I wish it was more, but it will happen. I've been on mushies since Tuesday and its been so much better! Taking pills is annoying, especially the Actigall which tastes like crap. I open up the capsule and dump it into a spoon of pudding, but it is still crappy. Oh, and my liquid Vitamin decided 2 days ago to not agree with my sleeve, so I need to find a new multi. I asked my center's nurse if I should try it again to see if it was just a one-time thing and her response was "if you want to throw up again" so I guess that's that. I still need to take my measurements but I've been lazy about it. I know I've lost some bulk because I can fit into a pair of shorts that I couldn't button a month ago. Still having some head hunger, but it has gone WAY down since starting on mushies.

It happens to me too, and I take Ambien to help me sleep too! It didn't happen the first week, but since then I've been waking up most nights in the middle of the night and I'm up about an hour before I can fall back asleep. It's very annoying. I have no idea why, but you definitely aren't alone.

Hi all! I hit my 2 week mark today and I was wondering if I should do my measurements again. I didn't do it before I started my liquid diet, just the night before surgery. I'm just wondering if anyone else does them at 2 week intervals (and if there's actually movement in a short interval like that) or if it is better to just do it monthly. Thanks!

It hasn't been a problem for me. I'm a very mild bipolar II (much more depression than mania) and I take Effexor, Abilify, Lamictal, and Ambien. The Effexor is in capsules, and I'm able to open those and dump out the little round balls into a spoon of SF pudding. Abilify is tiny, so I just chop that in half and swallow it. Lamictal has an orally-disintegrating form, so my P-doc switched me to that at my request. Ambien is also tiny so I just chew that up into a few pieces and swallow. Definitely talk to your meds prescriber about it. You have enough time to maybe switch up your meds if you need to in order to get onto pills that either come in liquids or pills that you can crush or open. I'm only 2 weeks out, so I don't know if my meds will need changing as I drop more weight, but I know what signs to look for and I have a good doc that is willing to work with me. I'm hoping that some of my depression will ease as I get skinnier, so I might need some adjustment there. But isn't that always the case with the mind meds? Sometimes you need to go up, sometimes come down. So, in a sense, nothing really changes! Good luck!

Here's my list of upcoming rewards 1st - for completing 4 weeks of liquid diet, I deserve a massage. I think the incisions should be healed enough that I can do this. 2nd - at 25 pounds gone (217), a pedicure. That's just another nine pounds away, so possibly by next weekend, maybe not until the following one. 3rd - I want to do something small at 210, maybe buy myself a small bouquet of flowers. 4th - At 199, I want to do something big - like a mini shopping spree. My mom said she'd kick in a little towards this. I might just cruise around Goodwill or just Ross or Marshall's, nothing pricey because I'll be losing more, but I think that after a 42 pound loss I'll need some new things. 5th - its just a tiny bit later, but I want to mark the 50 lb mark, maybe again with just some flowers, or maybe a bracelet or pair of earrings to commemorate it. AT this point I have no idea how much I'll be losing, so that's probably enough goals to keep me busy for awhile. My 6 month anniversary of the surgery is my 35th Birthday, so there will definitely be some celebrating, probably with more new clothes And after I get below 150, I want to ride a horse. I know that sounds really weird, but right now I'm too heavy to ride a horse at the places around here where you can go for little trail rides. I probably just need to be below 200, but I'll give the horse a break, especially since I have other fun treats for 199. So, somehow, at 150, I'm going to take a little horseback ride.

I had them too for a bit, and like someone above said, mine were because of sleep apnea. Have you been tested for that? With apnea, you stop breathing repeatedly and it freaks the body out and raises the adrenaline levels. This causes night sweats in some people, including me. Might be something to look into.

I was hungry from just a few days post-op. I was on full liquids then, but still felt hungry. I'm 2 weeks out now and got advanced to purees yesterday and it has already made a huge difference. Plus, make sure you are taking a PPI (Prilosec, Nexium, etc). It slowly helped my hunger go away, but getting to eat a full variety of foods again (albeit pureed) has made a huge difference, both in my actual hunger and my 'head' hunger. Just hang in there, it will get better.

My doctor said that it was to shrink the liver itself. He said that they have to shift the liver out of the way to do the surgery. When the liver is bigger, which it inevitably is in obese patients, the liver would sort of fold over and crack a bit and bleed. When they had patients do the 2 week liquid pre-op, the liver became small enough that it wouldn't crack and bleed during surgery. I have no idea as to the accuracy of whether the liver can actually crack and bleed when 'folded' back, but that's what the doc said.

Don't torture yourself like that! Watching food commercials was the worst torture for me. I just got advanced to mushies today and it is the biggest difference. I feel so satisfied now! Just hold on, it does make a huge difference.

I just ordered a sample pack of hot chocolate Proteins at mybariatricpantry.com Haven't gotten them yet so I can't say how they are, but if you have trouble with cold drinks, that's an option. There's also Unjury's chicken Soup Protein. Greek yogurt has a ton of protein, so you could try adding that in as a supplement. good luck to you!

I'm the same exact way, and sleeved 11 days ago. I thought I wouldn't be hungry. Sadly, I am. And sadly, the 1/3 cup of soup I'm eating is not cutting it. I've also sneaked few spoonfuls of Peanut Butter as well as an extra serving of yogurt here or there. Oh, this is probably bad, but I've also eaten a piece or two of string cheese, chewed up really really well. I know a LOT of it is in my mind, but not all. I'm fairly disappointed that I'm still hungry, sometimes even wondering if my surgeon really did the operation! I also haven't had any problem getting my liquids in. I just try to drink more liquids, drink my Protein, and distract myself when I feel hungry. Sometimes I'll just take a nap so I don't have to think about it. I've been told it gets better when we get advanced to solid foods. I'm not sure if that includes the purees or not. I'm sooooo looking forward to purees! Well, I'd rather just skip to solids, but I'm just eager to get out of the soup stage. And I've been varying my Soups too - egg drop (not satisfying), cream of mushroom (nice and thick - homemade too!), butternut squash, coconut and red curry chicken bisque (courtesy of Safeway). Maybe I've been making my diet too interesting! Oh, and I am taking my PPI, which maybe helps, but I'm still getting hungry. hang in there, the next stage is just around the corner!

Same here, but without the frequency of the bathroom trips. No cath or drain for me, thank goodness! Tube was in and out while I was asleep, I went to sleep with an oxygen mask over my face and woke up with the same. The IV was put in during pre-op and only taken out right before I was discharged (the next day). It was my first surgery too. You should definitely ask your surgeon what he does regarding a draining tube, because each doctor is different. Good luck!

Oh, that's awesome news! I am so happy to hear that you are fine! And able to get back on schedule with the surgery

I'm feeling great actually. Other than being a bit weaker than usual, I couldn't say that I feel at all like I had major surgery 10 days ago! I wish I could say that my hunger has gone away, but sadly it hasn't. It's gone down tremendously, but the head hunger has been a bit of a nuisance. I'm ok when I get sweet cravings, as I'll have some of my Calcium chews (a caramel chew with a cup of decaf french vanilla tea is yummy!) but when I get pizza or Mexican food cravings, its just downright sucky. I can't wait until I can have refried beans! And pureed chili! It will be a little tricky since I"ll be back at work starting Tuesday, but I'll figure it out. How are you doing?

I'm still allowed just full liquids, which to my doc means strained Soups, cream of wheat (watered down with milk), Greek Yogurt, and SF pudding. At my 2 week check-up, which is Tuesday, a day prior to my actual 2 week mark, I will get cleared to move to mushies. I can't wait. Liquids aren't filling me up as much as I expected them to. Oh, and I drink Protein shakes between meals.

I was going to suggest the Kroger kind too, but if you like vanilla yogurt, you can make your own. Just buy plain Greek Yogurt (more protein in the Greek). Add your favorite artificial sweetener and a few drops of vanilla extract. Stir it up really well, and adjust the amount of vanilla and sweetener to your personal tastes. (For an individual sized yogurt, I use at least 2 sweetener packets). I just finished a little serving myself and its quite yummy.

I lost 6 in my first week. And I'm just at 8 days out now, so I have no idea how its going to move in the next few weeks, but 6 pounds for me, and I"m happy with that.

oops, double post and couldn't figure out how to delete.

I use Rubbermaid bottles. You can get them in the grocery store by where the plastic containers are. Pre-op I drank out of 32 oz bottles, now I"m using the 20 oz and drink 3-4/day. I freeze them about 1/3 full of Water, so when I fill it with water the next day the ice lasts a good while and keeps it cold. I actually have three in front of me right now - one with water, one with crystal light, and one with Isopure. They are dishwasher safe too. I crochet little coozies for them so they won't sweat on my desk here's a couple that I've made:

Congrats on the day finally getting here (well, almost!) . The pre-op diet does suck, totally. Your stats are pretty close to mine, so I'll be interested to see how your progress goes. Fingers crossed for you, but everything will be great! Good luck!!

I'm so, so sorry for you. Try to stay positive. When will your angio be? That's so lame that your PCP didn't say anything. LAME! I will be thinking good thoughts for you, but I know you'll get through this and join the losers bench! Hang in there!!!

If you are on any medications, ask your surgeon about when you need to stop them. I asked about my birth control pills mainly, and he said I could keep taking them right through the surgery.

Yes, Schuster was my doctor. The hospital stay was fine - just one night for me. They were acting like it would be two, but then Schuster visited and I said I was hoping for just one, and he said that might be ok. then Donna and Janice visited and made it seem like there was no way they'd release me until the next day, then about half an hour later a nurse came and said Dr. Schuster signed the release papers and she was there to discharge me. Even though the hospital was nice, I was glad to get home. My machines (IV and the things they put on your legs to squeeze them to prevent clots) kept beeping over night. I had a lot of gas pain the first night, but after I got home, it seemed to resolve itself and wasn't a problem. But from about midnight until 5 am, it was pretty unbearable. I just wanted to take a big pin and pop myself like a balloon! I haven't found a wonderful protein yet. I have a couple that don't make me gag, I"m fairly keen on the Isopures that come in the bottles pre=mixed. I also have nectar Carribbean Cooler, And a Mango flavored one that I got at my local franchise (not corporate owned) GNC. Still looking for a chocolate that tastes good. Now that I've gotten paid, I might pick up the Chike strawberry, because that was pretty decent. Congrats!! You will do awesome! If you have any questions, let me know. Holy cow, that's crazy news. I"m so sorry. Please update us. When will your angiogram be? I really hope it is nothing serious. Just be very glad that they caught it early, and you'll have your sleeve to thank for that, even though the sleeve might be a bit delayed - you will still get it!! Hang in there and I'll be thinking good thoughts for you.

Hey ladies, I'm another Banner patient. I also started in January, finished the three month diet in May, and was happily sleeved last week! It will happen, it might seem so far away, but it will happen. Go out and enjoy your yummy meals, because the liquid diet will SUCK!! So, Eilieen is back, huh? Part of my delay was that she left and no one was there to submit, so mine got submitted over three weeks after I thought it was submitted. Then they kept not passing my file over to scheduling. But even with all that, I can gladly report that as of tomorrow, I will have been sleeved for one week! If you have any questions from the other side, feel free to ask. I have had very little pain (other than a beastly night 1) and have had no problem getting in my liquids.