Foxbins

My surgeon's post-op diet is quite strict--various thicknesses of liquids for a month and then soft/mushy foods for two weeks. I am, thankfully, one of those who is not hungry. I feel empty or get a headache if I don't eat but it's not hunger the way I knew it before. Eventually I will be able to eat anything I want but I am low-carbing it for now so no white carbs, sugar, etc. I am not supposed to drink for half an hour before meals and one hour after but I lose weight quicker with more Water in me so I am drinking all the time. I measure my food and do not eat until I am full. I tried a few sips of diet coke but it just made me burp too much so I stopped, and the citric acid in it might hurt my stomach so I will wait a while before trying it again.

I'm with Oregondaisy. I was in Mexicali in January and it was fine, I walked around the neighborhood a bit, had no problems and as Od said, you are driven to and from the airport.

Can't help with the Cheerios--don't like cold cereal so I don't eat it. However, I could have oatmeal with a lot of milk in mushy stage. Let your Cheerios get mushy. I had melted cheese over refried Beans during softs. I didn't eat cheese sticks until the go-ahead for all foods. They still fill me up too fast. Vegetables--well-cooked veg at all foods--no salad or raw carrots for 3 mos. I ate a lot of applesauce, peaches and pears in the blender, etc. during softs. Good luck!

Don't you just want to prove her wrong? Lose all your weight and tell her it's not like being on a diet and that it's hard to fail? I would! It sounds as though she isn't very professional (shouting down the hallway about your particulars) and doesn't know much about VSG.

I think you are swollen and what you are feeling are the liquids inside your sleeve. Most of your stomach is now behind your sternum and so that is where you will feel restriction. Maybe take smaller sips and space them apart a little longer. I had the same feeling with cold drinks because they would cause my stomach to spasm and feel tight.

I'm seven weeks post-op and there is no way I could eat all the food they recommend.

I have five small scars that I think will be unnoticable once the redness fades. The longest is about an inch and the shortest maybe 1/4 of an inch.

I take 1200 mg of calcium citrate, 1 Centrum Vitamin, 1 sublingual B-12, and a Prevacid (the Prevacid only for six months post-op if I don't have any problems with reflux). I was taking more pills before surgery. The Vitamins are for the prevention of deficiencies since we eat so little after surgery. I think a few pills versus life-long obesity is a pretty good trade-off. Also, I don't consider myself to be in a fragile medical state. I'm healthy as a horse (and weigh as much as a pony)!

Ohhh, if you have shoulder pain from the gas they pump into your abdomen, the heating pad makes you feel so much better. I slept with it on High, under my left shoulder, for two days.

Just wait--I could drink and drink but until I was eating real protein I never felt "full" either...don't still, as I don't eat until I'm stuffed. I measure my portion and that's the meal. Sometimes I can eat it all and sometimes I can't, and some things make me feel "fuller" than others (scallops fill me up fast, turkey not so easily). You will figure it out and don't worry, you will lose.

Could you add a protein shake to your day? Drink some milk? Add some peanut butter or full-fat cheese somewhere?

My BMI was 35 and I am down 25 lbs. Slow but steady loss. I have hypothyroidism and my metabolism is waaaay slow but the sleeve is working for me!

Hi, Lisa-- The hospital will supply you with whatever diet your Dr. orders. Do not worry about Protein in the beginning, it will be a bigger job to get enough fluids in so that you don't get dehydrated. You can go without protein for a while, certainly until you get home and maybe even later. I could not get all my required protein in until 2 weeks out from surgery or all my fluids in until 10 days out.

Sorry that you are frustrated now--but you will be happy you lost pre-op. Every pound you lose now is one less you will have to lose after surgery, and this time, they won't come sneaking back! Maybe try some boullion for the salt cravings? I drank both beef and chicken because I was so sick of sweet fruity and chocolate drinks.

Sounds like he is a good guy who has your health as his priority rather than his ego. Oh, and good job on the pants from your other post!

My drain was held in place by two stitches which were snipped and removed when the drain was removed. The hole was left to close on its own and bandaged. The skin closed remarkably fast, in just two days, but the site took about 10 days to heal fully.

What I remember from surgery: Moving from the gurney to the operating table and having the surgeon smile at me A distant memory of moving from the gurney to the bed in my room after surgery was over. That's all--no tubes, no hearing anybody talk, nothing. I had general so I know I was intubated but I didn't even have a sore throat afterward, just a dry mouth.

Don't worry about not feeling full while on liquids--they just go right through your sleeve. Wait until you start on real food and then you will feel full.

Hi Priscilla! I'd get a new doctor, too. "I'm not familiar with bariatrics" doesn't cut it. We're having an upper GI to look for a late leak or stricture and a radiologist reads the films and sends the PCP a report. As for the bloodwork, if she can't tell good values from bad ones, (the lab report will point out levels that are too high or too low) she probably isn't someone you want to go to anyway. I'd tell her why I was leaving, too, and also say that you will be spreading the word through these forums that the practice is not bariatric-friendly. It really makes me angry that we are treated poorly in this country when we take charge of our own medical care. My own PCP is a doll but the Kaiser bariatric center treated me like dirt since I had surgery out of the program.

Yes, that pain is normal. I felt gas pain in my left shoulder, when I took a deep breath, where my neck met my shoulder...they sort of moved around depending on where the CO2 gas was, I guess. The pain got better each day, was totally gone for me at about 3 weeks but it stopped being annoying at about two weeks. The healing takes longer, stomach about 3 mos. I felt "back to normal" at about 4 weeks when I could get all my fluids, Protein, and Vitamins in. Congratulations on your surgery!

No, the staples won't set off a metal detector, at least not the ones at airports.

You can have an MRI with titanium staples.

You have lost almost a hundred pounds and I know you didn't do that by eating multiple ice cream bars. You know that your head AND your stomach have to be making the food decisions. I encourage you to put on the brakes and start planning your meals, keeping a food journal, drinking first when you feel hungry, and measuring your portions. Throw out the ice cream bars! Yes, you will throw away good food and waste some money, but you do not need ice cream bars in the house until you reach your goal and maybe not even then. You have done wondrously well and you can keep it up--a few days of indulgence and now, back to basics. Keep us posted!

You have lost 32 lbs. in 32 days? That's wonderful!! However, your body has to adjust to the huge changes you are making and may be trying to get in balance by holding on to some extra Water. 2.4 lbs is nothing that can't come off in one day. If you are eating fewer than 1000 calories a day there is no way you cannot lose weight eventually. Most of us have a stall sometime after surgery (2,3, or 4 weeks out is most common) and this may be what is happening to you now. If you can, try weighing yourself less frequently. It's great watching the pounds fall off when they do but agony when the scale stops or reverses, so maybe try a once-weekly weigh in. I started doing that after 3 weeks and there is always a loss each week but sometimes a small one, a pound or two. But eight pounds a month is 96 lbs. in a year! The importance of Protein is that if you don't consume enough in your diet your body will break down muscle tissue. This will make you weak if it lasts long enough and more seriously, your heart is a big muscle and you don't want it damaged. Eat according to your plan, drink your water, take your Vitamins and Calcium and you will do great.

I am six weeks out today and am about 1/3 of the way to goal...low-carbing it for the most part as that seems to work best. No life-changing events yet, but I am looking forward to summer and being able to be more active. I am 56 and hypothyroid and thought I might be a slow loser but it appears I am hanging in there with the average bunch!