amandaRN

I feel like all I did was eat today. Maybe it is because I just got to start eating, IDK. Or maybe because it is time for my monthly junk binge...lol. Had a little chicken for first meal, had a little hamburger with tomatos and beans dish second meal, had a taco for third meal, THEN I had the topping off of one piece of my kids personal pan size pizza when I got home from work...AAAAH! I think this is too much food for a typical day for me, but I don't really know. The volume would make up probably half of one meal pre surgery, but I know the pizza topping and taco was probably empty calories. I hoped the junk food cravings would go away after surgery, but alas they have not. I did have a protein shake before i did any eating today too. I feel TERRIBLE about what I have, but what is done is done and I think writing it down and learning from it is the best thing for me right now. I hope I am not the only one struggling with cravings. I need to figure out what triggered today's indulgence I guess. I think PMS is a big culprit because I crave greasy salty during this time. I just have to try harder tomorrow! One day at a time I guess! I am thankful for the sleeve in that it really put the brakes on my eating BIG TIME. I haven't added back much produce yet and I think it is time to do so. I didn't realize meal planning would be just as vital after surgery as it was before and I didn't realize that the mental battle would be the biggest by far.

I went shopping with my hubby yesterday. We walked a lot, which was good and I am getting back to my old stamina now that my nausea and pain are under conrol. The thing that suprosed me most was how much I DIDN"T enjoy it. Guess why??? Because the excursion wasnt themed around what we were going to eat! My husband was thrilled by this- that everything we do isn't food centered in my mind, but I had a hard time reconciling this in my mind. I felt sad and resentful most of the day. I guess that is what they mean by grieving the loss of food...I do remind myself that this is a good outcome and what I have been longing for to keep myslef in check since I obviously could not do it beforehand, but it has opened my eyes to just how much food had become a crutch in my lifestyle. And maybe I have some emotional baggage that food has helped me avoid. The good news is maybe this bodes well for the checkbook since shopping has now lost some of it's appeal...lol. In the meantime, I need to try to move on past my depression over food deprivation and teach myself that ENJOYMENT in what I eat is not associated with VOLUME. My Weight Chart: >

I lost 10 pounds or so the first week and by week 2 i had lost 20 pounds. Then I plateaued a whole week and lost nada about week 3 which I hear is common and got VERY frustrated because i also FELT WORSE the third week than any other week, but I have since lost 5 more pounds and tomorrow is 4 week anniversary. My nurse educator told me to expect to loose 15-20 pounds fast and easy and NOT to expect it to continue that the first 20 is Water weight and a healthy sustainable weight loss after is 1-2 pounds week if I get my Protein in like I should. Once in awhile I will lose more, but not to try too. My surgen said if you lose too much to fast with bad nutrition or just have bad nutrition in general theskin and hair issues will start. My hair has not started thinning yet and try very hard to get all my protein in first via supplements and any protein after that comes from my food, and is usually minimal because I still can barely eat 1/4 cup at a time. 1 egg tops me off very well. Good luck and try not to get too obsessed with the numbers!

I also love bike riding. I rode a bike at my heaviest weight (at 297 pounds) when I was doing m medically suprvised weight loss. I lost 115 pounds in a year and bike riding was a key exercise. My doc reccomended walking and biking when I first started because it was easy on the joints and great cardio. I started out with a geared bike gave big $$$ for it but didn't like it. Ultimately, my favorite bike for everyday fun exercise was a Schwinn cruiser model with a wide seat wide handle bars and a cute basket on the back to carry my water, bag, etc. I loved riding to the park with my girls and sitting in the shade with a good book while they played if I needed a break. Once I lost more weight and felt spunkier this led to me joining a spinning class...talk about a workout, whooooo...and it was a blast. I would ride my bike to the gymn and back for warm-up/cool down. Alas, I gained 75 pounds back and thus I am here today post sleeve x 4 weeks and just starting back on my trusty schwinn and once again I LOVE IT! I like it alot better than walking and my kids can match my pace alot better biking than walking so it becomes fun for all of us. My hubby even bought a swhinn bike and will ride with us and he loathes organized exercise. SOOO, if you are even thinking about i say GO FOR IT!!!!! You wont regret it!!!!:teeth_smile:

Thank youfor cheering me up! AND GOOD LUCK TO YOU TOO!

08/01/2011--20 days out I am a litte late getting into the support group thing. I will be honest enough to admit that I was arrogant enough to think I wouldn't need any support other than my family. Then the trouble began and I needed answers and advicce and felt compelled to seek encouragement from people wo knew EXACTLY what I was going through. My family has been great...amazing in fact...but I can't help but wonder what they would really say if they KNEW, you know? So I turned to this forum and am getting what I need for now i think. After an emotional day yesterdayI have decided today that maybe journaling my experience would be therapeutic. Anyhoo, I am feeling better and stronger today. My appt with my surgeon is tomorrow so maybe he can tell me all the nausea and pain in my left side were a fluke or from going back to work to soon and pulling something. I went on a 10 minute bike ride today and I feel better for taking another step in the right direction. I was feeling so down yesterday about feeling so sick and hurting so much and I finally cried and acknowledged that I am mad and disappointed in myself that I haven't been able to bounce right back. But I woke up today feeling like the worst is behind me so maybe it is. I haven't lost any weight for a whole week and that is frustrating too, but I have read that lots of pople plateau during the third wekk and logically I know that I cannot cotinue to consume so few calories and NOT continue to lose weight, so I just have to wait it out, I guess. Overall, i has been a rough road so far, but you kno what...my husband told me yesterday if this were an easy answer to weight loss then everybody would do it and I think he was exactly right. I have traveled this weight loss road so many times now, but in my heartof hearts, I know that I will finally find what I have been looking for and I won't go back! So for now, in the words of Dory (lol) I will "just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."

I went back to work...again...yesterday although I am on light duty. That means I am neck deep in...care plans...oh joy. But it is GREAT to feel like I am getting back to normal instead of further away from normal. I was right I think last entry to feel like the worst is behind me. Saw my surgeon and there were no leaks-hallelujah! He feels lilke I pulled on the sstiches in my hiatal hernia repair and got my diaphragm all irritated and swollen again, hence the pain in my side and left shoulder and nausea and hiccups and trouble swallowin. Said symptoms are getting better everyday however-can I getta AMEN!!!! I am eating mashed potatoes now which has done wonders for my constitution...lol. Can't tolerate oatmeal but I can also eat yogurt, frozen yogurt, found a tolerable 42 gm protein shot that has helped me out a lot. I amsuppoed to stay on full liquids for another 2 weeks and then bam it's okay to have chopped foods. I am leary of that so I think I might start trying to puree some things to kind of transition. I am 23 days postop now and things are finally getting back to good. YAY! the weight loss started back again. I have lost 2 pounds in 5 days and I am tickled with that. My only complaint is I wish the stinkin' weather would COOL OFF so I can get outside and walk or bike ride with my kids. It has been 110+ degrees ALL WEEK. I'm thinking Alaska sounds good....I don't know if I can SWIM all the way to Alaska though...lol. Thanks for the encouragment from the peeps in my last post. It really makes my perspective so much less bleak when I hear that I am not alone! Good luck to all you other fishies still swimming!

I was sleeved 07/12/2011 and have been struggling with psychological hunger as well. People ask me if I feel hungry anymore and I tell them my head and heart thinks I am, but physiologically--no hunger. I cook meals for my family now and I sit downwih them but I have something I can drink instead. Sometimes, I make them eat what I have, whatever soup of the day it is...lol. My doc gave me a book called Living a Lighter Lifestyle that addressed this type of problem and discussed how improtant it is to recognize that we are going through a grieving prcess right now. Grieving the loss of food and what it meant to us before andaccepting that from now on it is simply a source of energy. Reading that book has helped me cope wth these feelings. Hope we both get through this pretty soon and you are not alon (and thank goodness neither am I...lol)

I laughed about the shaving bit as well. That's what husbands are for BTW-Lord knows we do enough dirty work for them from time to time. Had mine shave my legs so I could weigh in the same clothes for my pre and post-op visits which meant wearing shorts. I was able to shave again after they took my drain out at 1 week though so you won't have to wear pants toooo much longer..lol.

I had my VSG on 7/12/2011 at Texas Health Presbyterian in PLano TX by Dr. Hamn. I had planned for this surgery since March and everything came together easily enough. The course has been harder than I expected, which is silly because I am an RN and know what major abdominal surgery entails...lol. I have lost 20 pounds and have no idea if that is typical or not. I am 5'7" and preop weight was 257 pounds. Everything was going fairly okay until the beginning of my second week out. Last Wednesday I began having terrible nausea that only tolerates hot teas or ice chips...forget protein drinks. I am trying as hard as I can to force the protein down but am lucky to get 30 grams a day right now. The nausea is making the already nasty protein drinks unbearably horrible and I don't know what to do. Started my Prilosec back today to see if ithelps. My surgeon thinks if I will increase my protein the nausea will go away but didnt have any suggestions on how to get that accomplished when the thought alone of a protein supplement is enough to make me gag. I have tried many so far and spent a small fortune trying to find something I like. Basically I need a large dose of protein in a small volume so I can choke it down I guess. I would love any feedback on what to expect with this nausea and suggestions for protein. The most tolerable option I have now is unflavored whey mixed into swiss miss hot chocolate and the body fortress shots are not as bad as most. On another note, I really miss eating psychoogically, but have not experienced real hunger excpet once or twice in this whole process. I have sampled very small and very few bites of very soft foods such as mashed potato, eggs, tuna salad in addition to the thick full liquids diet I am on right now. Waiting on the nausea to improve to asggressively get into exercise. I stay busy right now and am on the go constantly with kids shopping for back to school, swimming, camping, boating but am not sure when to start getting really physical. I hope the nausea goes away soon so I can conquer the exercise part. I am almost afriad to sweat and lose any precious fluid...lol. Trying to stay positive though and focus on the joy of watching the pounds fall off.

I am 18 days out and have had nausea the last 10 days and moderate to severe pain the last 5 days on my left side right under the margin of the ribcage towards the center that is constant and then there is pain in my left shoulder that is very sharp and intemittent, worse when I lay down. I have not had any fever and went to the ER yesterday because my surgeon's office said I needed an upper GI. They drew labs ad did a flat plate xray but said they will not do a barium swallow on emergency basis even though my surgeon's office requested it on the phone ( I live 100 miles away from surgeon and went to a local ER). The tests came back normal so I have no explanation for my symptms. My surgeon's office was irritated with ER but it was too late in the day by that time to get an upper GI scheduled at surgery hospital. They told me to go back on clear liquids 48 hours and basically lay around with my head elevated until my appt on 08/2 when my surgeon gets back from vacation unless I get worse or develop fever then to come back to the hospital ER where I had surgery. I should have gone there to begin with but felt to bad and car rides are excruciating for me right now. I can't decide if i should be woried about a leak or maybe I pulled something due to the hernia repair they did as well or if maybe this is just something some people just go through. I am VERY frustrated right now and want my life back. I SOOO tired of feeling bad and the timing SUCKS because my surgeon is out of town. I would like some advice/feedback from anyone who has had these issues and/or what I could/should do to get through this.

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement. I will ask my surgeon about all this on Tuesday now instead of sitting inhis office feeling clueless and helpless. I am trying not to get depressed over how things are NOT going well for me and the encouragement helps as well as knowing I am not the only one who hasn't had everythign turn out smelling like roses right now. I am looking forward to the days when I can honestly say I don't regret doing this to myself...

I am 2 weeks post-op and am struggling with nausea right now. It didnt start until the beginning of the second week about day 8. My doctor says it is uncommon as well but he thinks it is because I am not drinking enough Protein but this is because I feel so sick...bleck...and nothing sounds good. I did find a shake today that is quite good and hoepfully will be the key since I can tolerate it. As for hair loss, he told me as long as I got my 50 grams of protein in per day, I wouldn't lose my hair. I don't know how realistic this is, but that's what I know right now.

I mix my unflavored powder 1 scoop to 1 packet of swiss miss hot chocolate and hot hot Water or milk depending on how much more protein I need for the day. I also mix it into pudding sometimes.