Indymom

Well you're likely already sleeved by now but I can sympathize with you about the colyte. I had it with my first colonoscopy and it was WRETCHED.

I'm a little over two weeks out and I wouldn't even consider eating McDonald's nuggets or even regular chicken at the stage I'm at now, so it's surprising you're eating that at 3 weeks post-op. Same for the chicken wings. I would schedule a meeting with your nutritionist right away. My nutritionist's guidelines have me eating only 2 ounce meals, 3 times a day . . . this continues through 8 weeks. It sounds like you're eating much, much more than that.

Weight Watchers too many times to count Atkins South Beach (sort of) Suzanne Somers (can't remember what it was called but it SUCKED) That was really it for "commercial" plans. I remember being home sick from work for a couple days in a row years ago, watching daytime TV, and ALMOST ordered the Richard Simmons "Deal a Meal" program.

I'll have to check out that flavor of the Mrs. Dash, I love chili powder and cumin!

Mmm, it would probably work with almonds too, right? I'm drooling at the idea of crunching on something again . . . hope the next 6 weeks fly by!

I had the option of a shot once monthly or 1000 mcg sublingual weekly. They gave me a B12 shot in the hospital so I'll start the sublingual in a couple weeks. I think I got 2500 mcg though.

I'm ultra-scared of a leak so I think if I was having those symptoms I'd go in or call your surgeon. If it happened to be a leak, it would be better caught early rather than later, and if not then you'll know for sure.

I want to go to bed! Unfortunately I still have 4 pills left from my pile to take . . . staggering 10 minutes apart . . . crossing my fingers they all go down. GRRR. So the meds I take for my colitis are capsules, which doctor says are OK but I have to stagger them 10 minutes apart. I take 8 pills a day - so I've split them up 4 times throughout the day. I also was getting massive heartburn from the Calcium crystals I got, so I have switched to the citracal petites (CVS brand) but I have to take 6 of those a day. Then I have my 2 softgel Multivitamins a day, and my BP pill in the morning. HOLY CRAP! I feel like I am constantly taking pills. For those of you who are at least 3-6 months out, do you get to the point where you can take more than 1 pill at a time? Pre-op I could take 4 of my colitis capsules at once with not too much Water . . . I could get down my morning Vitamins in a gulp or two.

MAKF, I am 12 days out and getting around 500-600 cals a day and ~75 grams of protein. I do a protein drink in the morning, then 2 oz meals 3 times a day. Typically I will have 1 oz yogurt/1 oz cheese, or 1 oz cott cheese/1 oz applesauce. I try to have either cottage cheese or regular cheese at every meal for the extra protein. I am getting about 70-80 oz of liquids during the day as well.

Sounds good, but I like a little "fire" in my chili so i'd probably get rid of the cinnamon and go with some chili powder and cumin instead. The leftover soup sounds like a perfect chili base of veggies!!

I have drank pickle juice before.

Great motivation! I never thought I would be craving a salad and fresh fruit like I am right now. It's extra-hard since all the farmers markets are in full swing and I can't enjoy any of their wares. I just keep reminding myself that this time next year not only will I (hopefully) be at maintenance but be able to enjoy all those healthy, yummy homegrown goodies.

That is so awesome!! What an accomplishment. I can't wait to shop in regular stores!

Awesome! I'm secretly looking forward to having that happen to me again . . . although I'm NOT looking forward to how my husband will react. He's a bit jealous (not crazy-psycho jealous, just gets a little irritated) and let's face it, he hasn't had to worry about guys drooling over me in a bar for a VERY long time.

My food plan allows me to be on some "modified solids" such as soft cheeses and refried beans. I have been militantly measuring out my 2 oz portions of everything so for a meal I might have 1 oz yogurt and 1 oz string cheese, 1 babybel light or 1 wedge of laughing cow. I have not felt any restriction or "fullness" until tonight. We had to go to Costco and my daughter wanted dinner . . . I let her get a piece of cheese pizza. Since she never finishes the pizza I figured I'd just skin some of the cheese off hers (avoiding the tomato sauce) and that could be my dinner. I think I had the equivalent of about 2 oz, but I didn't have the ability to measure/weight it out, and I think I might have eaten a bit too fast - but I THINK I felt my first feeling of fullness. I did NOT like it, I had a little discomfort in my chest and it sort of felt like the chunks of food could come back up. They didn't, and I was counting the minutes to my 30-minute mark so I could wash it down . . . but I think I learned my lesson of measuring EVERYTHING very early on!!

Great thing to point out before someone gets "sticker shock" at the pharmacy! I work in insurance - and many plans eliminate medications from their prescription formulary that are available over-the-counter in the same formulation (PPIs are one of the most common examples of these, another is non-sedating antihistamines like Zyrtec and Claritin). I think I paid full price for my omeprazole script but my husband went to pick up my 5 scripts after surgery and I didn't have the energy to have him check each one. When I'm due for a refill I'll be going for the OTC version from Costco!

Hmm, I haven't had any issues with liquids from nearly day 1. I am 12 days out and am on my third 24-oz bottle of water for the day, plus 10 oz this morning of protein drink and another 10 oz tonight. Someone at the top of this thread said that eating mushies/soft food could help reduce swelling . . . I wonder if there's any truth to that? My food plan had me starting on some mushy-type food (refried beans, soft cheese, cottage cheese) much earlier than I expected - on day 4.

I can't imagine 10 days of clears! 3 days about did me in. Of course, I'm 2 weeks into my full-liquids month and I'm already gagging on cottage cheese and SF pudding. I'm dreaming of purees and adding in meat/fruit!!

My doc wanted me to start my protein either on day 5 after surgery OR as soon as I had a BM and passed the majority of my gas. I actually started protein on day 4 because I had a BM pretty early out. I would check with your doc/nutritionist but I would think a protein drink is OK if you're on liquids . . .

That's what I'm hoping to be able to do as soon as I am on purees (16 days left!) - I'd be interested to see a sample of what you eat in a day to get 60 gms protein. My doc wants me at least 75 grams so I know I may need to keep one protein drink/supplement during the day but I'd love to be on 2 rather than 1. Suggestions welcome!

My mom was banded last October (she has had a few fills, no unfills . . . seems to do OK with it but she has had a few puking/sliming episodes). She's losing slowly but steadily and is overall happy with it at this point. That said, when I started researching I too thought it would be the 'safest' option for me. However, my surgeon indicated that lapband is NOT recommended for patients with ulcerative colitis or crohn's, and that's when he recommended the sleeve to me. I had never even heard of it 6 months ago! I started researching here and on OH and couldn't believe the revisions from LB to VSG. I am totally thrilled with my decision!!

I can have strained cream Soups right now and I decided a local restaurant's chicken tortilla Soup (without the tortilla strips) would be really yummy. It's a cream-based soup so it's thick & rich, but it's a little spicy. I was worried about the spiciness on my new sleeve so I combined the cup my husband bought me with a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of milk (now I've got the soup coming out my ears, luckily the husband is good at batting cleanup!). Anyway, it tasted pretty good and the flavor was still there - but I REALLY wanted to eat it 'fully leaded' with all the spice. Theoretically would spicy food be bad for my sleeve this early, or is it just a matter of whether I could tolerate it or not? Frankly I think my cottage cheese would be tastier with a dash of Frank's hot sauce and I would also like to spice up some of my cream soups. Anyone 'been there, done that' or have any advice? I'm definitely going to want to enjoy buffalo-style chicken breast (of course not breaded/fried) when I'm cleared for real food and I think I might just cry if I'm not able to tolerate the spicy stuff anymore.

OK, so I've resigned myself to the fact that I am going to have to continue supplementing with Protein shakes in my first full-liquids month. HOWEVER, once I get to purees I need some ideas on how to keep my meals small enough and still get close to enough protein for my daily target. I am willing to do skim milk at least once a day for a little extra protein but would prefer to get all from food. I will be able to have soft cheeses (already do, actually so I've been eating string cheese and babybel light) and will be doing the chicken salad pureed like others have suggested. Did anyone else start getting all their protein from food this early out?

My regular yogurt is Light & Fit so it's no sugar and nonfat. I looked at the vanilla frozen yogurt in my freezer that my husband eats and it's got HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and sugar as a few of the first ingredients so I'm guessing that's why it's not recommended. You'd want to ask your doc about nonfat or sugar-free frozen yogurt, I suppose?

I had to go on twice-a-day omeprazole because one a day wasn't working. I'm less than a month out, though. I'm hoping it eventually clears up for me, I've never had reflux problems before.