UXgrrl

I'm 2.5 weeks out and I'm not feeling "full" either, yet. My sign to stop is when I feel it backing up in the back of my throat. Actually, I know that means I've eaten too much but crossing that line is literally a matter of one bite. Sometimes I have to go spit out the food I have in my mouth ready to swallow if I get that signal. I'm hoping to get better at stopping BEFORE this happens. If I wait 30 minutes or so that "stuck in the throat" feeling does go away, but I don't think that means I should be eating more. Nutritionists call that "topping off" and it can lead to overeating.

Ouch! Vinegar in a healing stomach? :doh: Maybe take a couple Tums? To neutralize the acid? Also, drink plenty of Water to dilute things. If you still feel horrible, maybe you can call your surgeon's after-hours number, or a 24-hr nurse line, or maybe call the local ER and see if they will even talk to you on the phone without seeing you. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

@jasleeve, your list sounds exactly like mine. You may or may not be allowed to use the Gas-X. I think it's a freakin' lifesaver, and I took mine anyway even though the nurse said no, because I didn't want to wait for the hospital pharmacist to prescribe something else for me (and charge me). I took my laptop and ended up using it quite a bit on the day after surgery and the day after that. In fact, the warm laptop on my sore belly felt kind of nice . I used it to video chat with my family and small kids, and IM my friends. I'm not a huge fan of television so that was my preferred entertainment. I also brought along a cross-stitch project but didn't do anything with it. I brought along two "loungewear" outfits to change into once I was allowed to shower -- it did a lot to make me feel more human. I wore the comfy stuff I went to the hospital in when I was discharged. And yes, I agree, the chapstick is ESSENTIAL. I had this tasty raspberry-lemonade flavor that I really enjoyed.

No suggestions but I feel ya! I've noticed that my 42 Hs are already starting to deflate. I'm not looking forward to shopping for bras because, until I get down to DD or so, there aren't really any places locally that has bras in my size. Means there's going to be a lot of money spent on shipping things back and forth.

How long ago did you have surgery? I remember feeling like that a lot in the beginning. You really, really have to chew well and take small bites. I think it's your esophagus spasming. After surgery mine was really twitchy (I have twitchy muscles in general) and if I swallowed to much, too fast, wrong temperature, etc. it would feel like I had swallowed a tennis ball. I'm terrible for gobbling down my food and it's been a real challenge learning how to take it slowly and stop when I'm full. Old habits die hard. The sleeve will let you know if it doesn't appreciate what you're stuffing in it; this is one of the reasons why I picked this particular procedure -- I need that reminder. If it keeps happening and it's affecting your ability to get your fluids and Protein in, then I would call the surgeon's office for advice.

Eeewww.... I am dreading my first encounter with the stomach flu post-surgery... I bet it's really awful. I'll make sure I stay hydrated if/when it hits...

Some surgeons/bariatric centers will give you a little signed card that basically says you've had stomach surgery which limits the amount of food you can eat, so please allow you to order from children's or seniors' menus. My surgeon gave me one clipped to my nutrition guidelines booklet without asking. I'm only 2.5 weeks out so I haven't had a chance to try it yet. I agree that children's menus are dangerous territory. I have a 2 and a 5 year old; the 5 year won't eat anything but mac & cheese and the 2 year old will only eat salad . The options on children's menus are usually very high in fat and carbs, which is less dangerous for energetic children (if not necessarily "good") but not at all good for us.

I think EVERYONE has at least one moment of thinking to themselves "was this the right thing to do?" I know I felt it a lot at the end of my first week. They call it "buyer's remorse" around here. I had a lot of trouble breathing comfortably for awhile. I think my swollen stomach was pushing against my diaphragm and my ribs, and combined with the gas pain and the acid I was pretty miserable for awhile. Sitting made my belly sort of fold over and push against my ribs so sitting was quite uncomfortable. I made good use of my pain meds in the first week or so home. Miraculously, it did get better, just like everyone says. Of course I believed that I was somehow the unlucky one but I wasn't. You almost certainly won't be either

Yep! Sounds like you are doing everything right and having all the typical post-op symptoms and experiences. Remember, your job now is to walk and focus on fluids and Protein. Life will become a new normal before you know it! Congratulations! You did it!

Oh that's AWESOME... I've looked at those things a number of times and always said to myself HELL NO, I'd be the lucky one who would be on that thing when the rubber bands broke. Good for you! I bet it was exhilarating.... :-)

I'd say don't sweat it. You're keeping your calorie load down and your Protein up. The point of the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver and prepare you emotionally for the post-op diet. It also gives you a jump start on your weight loss. Just keep doing your best, watch your calories, and look for things to do to keep your mind off the upcoming surgery.

I was sleeved on Nov 30th and things have been looking up the last few days. I had a pretty rough first week with mood, super low energy levels, a flare up of fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis pain... but once my diaphragm stopped hurting and I could get up my stairs without getting dizzy, things started evening out. I dropped 17 lbs in the first week and but then stalled for six days, which did a number on my mood. I'm hitting my Water and Protein targets consistently but I'm wondering if I might not be getting enough calories. I'm supposed to wait til next Wednesday to start mushy food but I've been pushing things a little here and there, always very careful to chew thoroughly before swallowing. I'm starting to recognize my "full" signs before I overeat, which I'm happy about. Exercise has been nonexistent. I've been told to stop my NSAIDs for OA for four weeks, and as a result my joints hurt, especially my knees, shoulders and back. I'm trying to keep moving by keeping up with housework and chasing around my two small children. Anyway, I'm curious about calorie intake. I'd been averaging about 600 calories and 65g of protein a day, but yesterday I hit 750 cals and 78g of protein... and I woke up to a 2 lb loss on the scale. I'm willing to accept that it might just be my body doing it's own thing, but is there any truth to the idea of "starvation mode", where your body holds onto every calorie it can? That eating more will result in faster loss?

What an awesome story... thanks so much for sharing it with us! I am so proud of you that you stuck to what you knew was your best decision for you and faced down some pretty frustrating and scary situations. You even went through a Level II appeal conference, which would scare the daylights out of me. And on your own! I think the insurance company finally figured out that they are dealing with a woman with the persistence and determination required to make herself healthy. Congratulations!

I remember feeling the same sense of disgust with myself during the time that I was waiting to have my surgery. It's like all the self hate that I had bottled up for years suddenly came to the surface because now I was doing something about it. It was kind of awful. You have already taken many steps towards creating the life you WANT to live for yourself and the body you deserve. Please keep us updated, and let us know if your friend suddenly starts behaving differently towards you once you are "in her turf". I really hope she doesn't.

Hm, thanks for the tip about the hair powder. I have thinning hair on my crown which bugs me and I'm afraid that losing anything due to weight loss will just make it worse. I checked it out on QVC.com and was impressed by all the positive reviews. I think I might actually get some.

My dietician said that nausea is one of the first signs she sees in her sleeve patients. Forensikchic is right: really focus on your fluids but don't hesitate to get an IV if you're not feeling better in a few hours. Dehydration can escalate very quickly. Seriously, this isn't something to mess around with.

WOW! Congrats! You should be bursting with pride... that's one of those "really big" achievements in life. I sure hope you're doing something special to Celebrate. When did you have surgery? How long did it take?

Congrats Favoredone! I know you'll do wonderfully. Come back and update us when you can -- we'll be cheering you on!

I'm just over two weeks out and it took me over a week to really feel better. I still don't feel normal -- my stamina isn't back -- but the first week was really the worst. I was having bad gas pain and my ribs hurt for some reason, and I couldn't seem to ever catch my breath. Going up stairs made me dizzy and and nauseous. I had kind of a meltdown at the end of the first week; I panicked because I suddenly starting worrying that I would never be able to eat or drink without some kind of pain, or feeling exhausted and out of breath all the time. But just like every other person on this board says, it will get better. We promise.

I have no idea how people have managed to go back to work after a week. It's been over two weeks for me and I still need a nap every afternoon.

You might be able to find a liquid or chewable Vitamin formulated specifically for bariatrics that will give you your whole dose in one shot, but I'm not sure you should trust it. According to my dieticians (I had two) there are some things, like Calcium, that you can't absorb more than 1/3rd your RDA at one time. FWIW, they have me on a generic chewable Flintstones vitamin 2x a day, 1 20mg Prilosec in the morning, and 2 Tums Extra Strength in between meals (away from the Prilosec and the Flintstones). I'm supposed to be doing monthly B12 injections but I hate needles so starting next month I will be doing the sublingual tabs. Pre-surgery I was taking a 1-a-day women's Multivitamin from Rainbow Light which was HUGE and hard to swallow. I understand wanting to get it over with one pill but you have to take so many different things after surgery, it might just be easier to break it into smaller pills. Plus, depending on your surgeon, you might be restricted from swallowing pills for awhile post-op. Good luck, you'll figure it out.

At 24 I was healthy too, just overweight. I was 50 or 60 lbs lighter than I am now. Granted, it's been 10 years and two kids, and my metabolism has slowed a bit and I have a sedentary desk job. But, I've also developed early onset osteoarthritis, which has led to a total hip replacement at 32 and the likelihood of another within 5 years. I've been been fortunate that my heart and blood sugar have been stable, but my cholesterol has suddenly gone out of control only in the last 3 years. I also developed fibromyalgia which, along with the OA, has made it much harder to exercise. The weight has been packing on with alarming frequency over the years and I wasn't able to figure out how to get rid of it. I don't know if I would have had WLS at 24. It seemed so extreme to me only a few years ago; but all I knew about was the band -- which didn't seem like it was enough -- and the bypass -- which seemed like too much. But it's amazing how health issues suddenly make you rethink your priorities, and the lengths to which you are willing to find relief. One thing that did scare me, which I didn't know about, was that during my surgery my doc took a biopsy of my liver. I received the pathology report in the mail earlier this week and it said that I had stage 1 NASH, or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (aka "fatty liver disease"). I had never heard of this and my liver enzymes hadn't indicated problems so I googled it. I was alarmed at what I learned but I'm glad that I'm already working to reverse the damage before it gets too bad.

I'm saddened to hear that unsupportive communication is going on anywhere in this forum. I haven't been part of it but I'm sure that it happens from time to time. I've been a member of countless numbers of online communities over the last 15 years or so and I've seen all sorts of behavior. I agree that sometimes it can get really mean and cruel. Personally I've only encountered positive warmth here at this forum, but italianlady13 gives us a good reminder that there's a human behind every screen name here, and we're all struggling with our own weight loss challenges.

Little late to the party but I hope you have (had!) a good first day back at work. Come back and update us on how it went, k? @favoredone, you go girl! LOVE the attitude! I wish I had those guts!

You can try gargling with warm salt Water -- it tastes nasty but kills the pain almost immediately. Unfortunately it doesn't last really long. chicken broth (also salty) feels good too. I also suck on SF Ricola honey-lemo cough drops. Not sure if this is a no-no but YMMV. Probably the best bet for sore throat is tylenol. I suffer from sore throats frequently and usually nail them with a combo of ibuprofen (contraindicated during the immediate post-op period, I've been told to stay away from NSAIDs for at least 4 weeks) and tylenol. Do you have any pain meds left from your surgery?