Caliblonde

I thought I was going to have a hard time sleeping laying flat in my bed, but it ended up being fine. I just rolled sideways and pushed myself up to get out of bed. That said, after my gallbladder surgery 3 years ago I would have killed for a recliner to sleep in for about a week afterwards. I ended up buying a wedge to put under my pillow to keep myself propped up. I think you should do what you feel will make you most comfortable after surgery. Even if you don't use it for sleeping in, recliners usually sit higher and that might make it more comfortable during the day.

I'm 2 months out from surgery and am down 85 pounds total (45 since surgery). I am extremely happy with my weight loss so far, and when I got on the scale this morning I was down into the next 10!! Here are my NSV's: 1. I got to go shopping and buy pants and a bathing suit TWO sizes smaller!! 2. I pulled out a pair of pants that I have never been able to wear because they were too small and I was too embarrassed to send them back, I put them on and they are HUGE on me. 3. My stomach no longer touches the steering wheel when I sit in the car, even with the seat pulled forward. I'm so happy with my decision and I'm finally starting to feel great for the first time since surgery (and really for the first time in years)!!

Thanks! It's an awesome feeling. I love not being controlled by food!!

I had a follow up appointment with my PCP yesterday and was telling her that I have been lightheaded and nauseous constantly for about a week and a half. She decided to do some blood work to rule things out. Well I got a phone call today from her nurse and apparently I have a rather large potassium deficiency. The nurse gave me a list of stuff to eat (90% of which aren't on my list of approved foods yet) and said that I must get my blood drawn next week again to make sure it has improved. If it's not better then I may end up in the hospital! I'm happy that I know what is causing the exhaustion, nausea, and dizziness, but am very concerned that I won't be able to fix it on my own. The foods she told me to eat are: bananas (not on my approved foods list until week 8) Avocado legumes potatoes with the skin on leafy green veggies nuts milk yogurt I figured I would start with milk and yogurt, and maybe some Soups like split pea or lentil Soup. Has anyone else had this happen?

The clear liquids should just be the day before surgery and two weeks after. It honestly isn't that bad, just stay busy doing other things that day and you'll be ok. After surgery you'll be learning how to eat again and not much fits in your teeny tiny tummy so even getting in 30 ounces of liquid is hard, let alone adding milk or fruit to a protein shake. I'm two months out and still can't do smoothies they are simply too thick.

I want to gush to everyone I know about these crisps!!!! I made two batches today and I think I'm going to try to keep them on hand from now on. They taste amazing and they don't upset my tummy.

I used 1 ounce medicine cups and a checklist to get through my liquids. I could drink about a third of an ounce every 15 minutes initially. Every time I finished an ounce I would check it off my list. It really helped me to get through those first two weeks. Have you tried lots of different temperatures? I'm the opposite of other people... ice cold beverages are much better for my tummy than room temp or warm drinks. The warmer the drink the more nauseated I get.

I'm happy to report that my potassium levels are back up in the normal range and are staying there with just food (I'm eating a lot of yogurt). Now I have to focus on getting my vitamin D levels up.

Just slow down. You were probably able to do more in the hospital and on the way home because of the residual pain medication and anesthesia. I was up and moving ALOT in the week or two after surgery, but it caught up to me and my body let me know very quickly and clearly that I had just had major surgery and needed to let my body heal. Take it easy and don't be so hard on yourself. Take a nap or just lay down and watch television for a while. If you notice that you can eat/drink more than your doctor said you should be able to it's probably because your swelling went down pretty quickly.

I would recommend trying different brands of greek yogurt. I've heard great things about the Trader Joe's greek yogurt. I like the Yoplait greek yogurt and the Lucerne brand (store brand). I bet if you really want to have cereal you could mix some cereal into your yogurt (just not too much so you don't get too many carbs). What about cottage cheese? It has a lot of Protein and is pretty easy on the tummy.

I haven't been able to get in more than 300 calories a day and it's making me very sick! I'm throwing up frequently and nauseous constantly. For the past two days I've be upping my calories and trying to add in a little more food and it's starting to make a difference. I've also been losing slowly for the past few weeks, I think it's because I'm simply not getting enough calories and my body thinks it's starving.

I wore mine until it was literally falling off (I ran out of velcro and it was too big!!).

I am so sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry! Potassium levels are nothing to screw around with. I hope they can get them back up quickly. Did they have you do the liquid potassium supplement? That is some NASTY stuff, but it seems to be working for me. I had my levels checked yesterday and I'm up to 4.0.

My highest weight was 444 and I lost 40 pounds prior to surgery and since having surgery 6 weeks ago I am down to 369. I'm very happy with the sleeve so far.

Lanette, my levels are at 3.1 as well. That is considered low. I would talk to your doctor about what to do.

You're doing amazing! Keep it up

Thanks Diva. The nurse practitioner that I saw in urgent care put me on the potassium supplement for five days, 1 T per day. I have to go back and get my potassium re-checked on Thursday. I've been trying to keep my surgeon's office updated on everything but am a little annoyed because they aren't being very responsive. My pcp is definitely in the loop and is paying close attention to me.

This sentence made me giggle. I don't think I've eaten 7000 calories over the past six weeks!!! It's crazy what this surgery does to us. As far as gaining two pounds, don't worry about it. Your body is holding onto everything since it thinks you are starving. I've had several times when I've gotten on the scale and it's a little higher than it was the day before, we have to give our bodies time to adjust.

Quick vent: I was at the grocery store with a friend of mine and we were getting something to take home for dinner. I was waiting on her and an elderly man walked up to me. He said "Haven't you ever heard of salad? Try eating some." I was completely speechless. Wasn't sure what to do or say so I just walked away and waited for my friend somewhere else. Why do people feel that they can say things like this to others? Is it just poor manners or a sense of entitlement? I would NEVER in a million years walk up to someone and comment on their appearance or habits.

I ended up in urgent care yesterday due to the K deficiency. They didn't end up giving me fluids because my stats weren't bad enough to start an iv. Ended up giving me a liquid potassium supplement that I have to take for 5 days. Let me tell you...I put it in grape juice and this stuff is NASTY! I'm wondering if I can even keep it down at this point. It's going to take me all day to drink it. Any suggestions?

I am so sorry that you have had this experience. I am currently experiencing a similar situation with one of my friends. As soon as I began discussing having surgery close to 2 years ago, a close friend of mine (for 6+ years) began to drift away from me. She is also overweight but not as much as I am. She is VERY competitive and can be very toxic to me (i.e. saying mean things to me, saying mean things about my husband, generally trying to one up me). The best example is that when I told her my surgery date her response was "I'm going to have to start gong back to the gym to keep up with you!" In addition to being completely absent in my life for the past six months, she hasn't bothered to ask me about my surgery even one time in the past almost six weeks. She sent my husband a text saying after I got out of surgery saying that she was going to call to check in and never bothered. She called me once last week and asked "how are you?", then proceeded to say "oh, the reason I'm calling is to see if you guys want to go out to dinner". I have been debating on whether or not to try to salvage this relationship, but the more I think about it, the less I want to even try. She has no consideration for me whatsoever.

yes, you can overdose on potassium, it's dangerous to od on it and can even lead to death

Great suggestions! The surgeon's nurse said that I can try to eat bananas and cantaloupe but she wasn't sure if I'd be able to tolerate it yet. I'll try to put it in something and puree it so it goes down easier. I'm going to head to the grocery store this weekend so I'll look for the naked juice and try that.

I'm going to the grocery store to get some gatorade and poweraid. My level isn't that low yet, but I have had some muscle cramps, especially in my calves. With the lightheadedness I was running into walls and couldn't walk a straight line if someone paid me.