MissManders

Hi all. I haven't posted here in FOREVER, but I'm freaking out a bit, here. A few days ago I ate some chicken that was a little dry and I had a bad stuck episode, complete with a lot of brining stuff up. So, I did liquids for a few days. Yesterday I decided to test out soft and smooshy. I had a deviled egg....no problems. Last night, tuna salda...no problems. This morning I had some Cream of Wheat type Cereal...and I ended up getting gassy and then slimed up. How concerned should I be with this? I just find it odd that some things I'm doing okay with and then this...not so much. I don't know how long I should go before trying to upgrade back to solids? Any advice? PS- I don't know if this is important, but lately I've been waking up with a bit of a stuffed up nose and sinus drainage. Could that have lead to this morning's problem?

Hi, my name's Amanda. I'm going through True Results in Scottsdale, AZ and my surgery is scheduled for March 8th!!!! I decided to get a jump start on my pre-op diet and started it today...it's never too early to start eating healthier, right? Anyway, my patient advocate told me the pre-op diet is 2 Protein shakes, a snack, and a sensible high protein meal....stay away from the carbs! Today I had my two Protein Shakes, a Protein Bar, and my meal consisted of some fish and some raw veggies. What I'm wondering is...how do you know how much of what to eat? I've been on a diet before where veggies were kind of "free". Meaning, you could snack on them through out the day and it didn't count towards your totals. I want to make sure that I'm doing myself good and not harm, so like tonight....how do I know how much veggies to have with my meal? Any advice at all on the pre-op diets.....from what you ate for your sensible high protein meal, to how much, would be GREATLY appreciated!

Tomorrow is one week post op for me. Over the past few days I've noticed that after I put anything in my stomach, whether it be a Protein shake or applesauce or yogurt, I end up getting gas. Sometimes it's just a minor annoyance, but sometimes it is gas pain and makes me feel....not nauseated, but definitely not a happy camper. Is this something I should worry about, or is it normal? Also, how stable is the band and the port. I've been keeping mild activity, such as walking, and doing my best not to stretch and pop my back, but I've had a couple of coughing spells and sneezed a few times, and I'm worry about things moving or slipping in there. Am I just being overly paranoid?

I had a half an hour long break down tonight...I think mostly over the fear of the unknown. My family went out to dinner tonight and tomorrow my mom is taking my cousin out for Breakfast. Right now, I feel like I will NEVER be able to go out to eat, ever again. Restaurants cost so much and with only being able to eat 1/2c portions, it feels like it wouldn't even be worth it to go out for 1/4 of a pancake at IHOP or whatever. When you go for your consultations, they tell you that you'll be able to enjoy most of the same food you always have...just in lesser portions. But sometimes I wonder how true that is. HUGE LONG LIST of red flag foods aside....they say you know your band is too loose if you are hungry and want to snack between meals. Which, to me implys, you will not be able to snack between meals. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to pig out all the time, but....I like going to the movies. Will I ever be able to have popcorn at a movie, again? Or enjoy a small slice of cake for my birthday? How do the occasional small pleasures like that factor into the "no snacking" thing? Add all of these fears of the unknown on top of the fact that I pulled/irriated one of my staples today. It didn't come out, and my incision didn't open, but I did have some drainage. It has just not been a good day for me. Are days like this common? Do they subside, eventualy?

I am 5 days post-op and I was just getting ready to post this EXACT same thing. I've been doing my three protein shakes a day, plus either yougurt, applesauce, etc. I still feel hungry and I hate it. The first few days it didn't bother me when everyone around me was eating, but now it does. I am SO hungry and unable to do anything about it!

I am only 48 hours post-op, am only on liquid/puree type foods, haven't had a fill, and already my family has gotten me worked into a frazzle over how much my stomach can handle/how much I can eat at a given time or in a given day. I have to admit, I am a bit confused. The information I got from True Results says I will only be eating 1/2 c. of food per meal...with 50% of that being Protein, etc. etc. Which boils down to only 1/4 c. of protein, then veggies, etc. I've read some literature that says a banded person will consume 1 c. of food per meal. One recipe site I was given (by my patient advocate at True Results) has some recipes that one serving is 3/4c or 1/8 of a pie quiche (which I would assume would be more than 1/2 c). How do I know how much to consume per meal? How will I know if it is too little (obvioiusly, I will know if it is too much). I know I've made the right decision for myself, and in the end it will all work out, but right now I'm so confused that it's got me freaking out a little bit.

I am about 24 hours post-op (give or take) and I have not had a bowel movement yet. I know that being on Clear liquids, there's probaby not much there, but I'm afraid that the longer it is before I have a bowel movement, the harder it will be. I'm also worried about the pain involved in having one, and if it will do any damage to my stomach/muscles/incisions when I DO have one. Any advice or reassurance would be great.

I've been having back pain on and off all day. I'm sure some of it is from gas, but I think some of it also is from the operating table and the way I have been sitting/laying today. It almost feels like my back needs cracked....normally, when I get that feeling I just bend backwards a little, it pops, and I'm great. However, with the incisions, I'm not willing to try that. Is this normal? Any ideas on how to make it stop? Would a heating pad work?

Hey guys....help? My surgery is scheduled for next Thursday and today I have a little bit of a stuffy nose. I am scared to death that I'll get a cold or something in the next week and they will cancel my surgery because of it. Does anyone have a FAST cure for a cold/stuffy nose/sinuses?

Well...I'm definitely not looking forward to getting stuck, but my two biggest fears are: 1) It won't work. That no matter how much I follow my doctor's instructions and do what I'm supposed to, that I'll be the person that it doesn't do anything for. 2) That I won't be able to see a difference. I watch way too many shows where women talk about how they've lost all this weight, but when they look in the mirror they still see the same fat girl they used to be. Even now...I've lost over 20 pounds in preparation from the surgery. Everyone keeps telling me that they can see where I've lost weight, especially in my face. I look in the mirror and...I see NOTHING. No progress, just the same over weight person.

True Results in Scottsdale, AZ. I've been more or less preop dieting for a month. The first month, I wasn't super strict on it...there were a few days where I'd cheat a bit, but not a lot. Just a roll here, some pasta noodles there. That kind of thing. I've been more strict with it since Thursday. I have a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, a snack, and a meal. To be honest....I usually don't even have the snack. And my meals....that's the hard part. I'm not 100% sure how much I should be eating of what. So, I'm usually pretty careful. 6-8oz of protein and a half a cup to a cup of a veggie. Last night was probably the most I had....8 oz of meat, 1 c. of fried cabbage, and half a cup of green beans. I also gave up soda a month ago, since I know that I won't be able to have it after surgery. I thought it would be horrible, because I was addicted to Mt. Dew, but...it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. The worst part is when we are baking cookies in the office for our residents...it smells SOOOO GOOOD, but I can't have any.

March 8th for me!

My surgery is not scheduled until March 8th, so I didn't HAVE to start my pre-op diet yet, but I did. Partly to give myself a jumpstart on the shrinking of the liver, and partly because I needed to bring my BMI down a bit. My pre-op diet is a Protein Shake for Breakfast, one for lunch, a snack, and a healthy meal. I've been doing really good on it (though, admittedly, with a couple of cheats) and have already lost 12 lbs in two weeks! But...the problem is, some days I have a REALLY hard time getting my calories. I never thought I'd have a problem where I, of all people, wasn't getting enough calories. I've been using myfitnesspal to keep track of what I'm eating, and I'm surprised by how low my calorie count is some days. I know that too few can be just as unhealthy and detrimental as too many. For example, today when I added up everything I ate, I only had something like 800 calories. According to myfitnesspal, my daily goal should be a bit over 2,000. I was also coming up short on my Protein goal....not good! So, I found myself having another little snack to try and compensate, which made me feel guilty...because I've been really trying to watch what I eat and not over do it on snacking. I don't want to ruin my progress. I'm still short on calories, but not by as much...and still short on protein...but I don't want to eat any more! Has anyone else run into this problem? What did you do about it? IS there anything to do about it? Or do I just need to not pay so much attention to the calories, and worry more about, say, the protein....and accept the fact that, for the time being, I'm going to have an extremely low caloric intake?

March 8th for me....only one month! I'm excited and nervous!

I've never been much of an exerciser, that's part of my weight problem (food, of course, being the other). I know that part of weight loss both in these weeks before my surgery and once I have it is going to involve exercise and...I'm just wondering where to start. I don't know if workout videos are quite right for me, but I'm afraid I'll get bored if my exercise is just walking around the neighborhood. I've started taking the stairs more at work....not ALL the time, but more than I was. After I heal from the surgery and am cleared to exercise, I'm going to join Curves. I went there before and really loved it. But...I need something to do in the meantime. I just need that kick in the butt for motivation.

My surgery is March 8th and I'm going to be self pay (insurance doesn't cover). I'm not sure how long it will be after the surgery before I will be cleared for exercise, and I'd rather wait so that I'm not paying for it when I won't be using it. I know it sounds stupid, but I'm not ready to join any classes. Most of my exercise (aside from the Curves) will be done at home. Eventually I want to join a class or two, but until I've lost some weight, I'm a little self conscious of being in a class or going to a "regular" gym, because....well, we all know what a lot of people who go to gyms look like. Tiny and in good shape. I don't want to stick out like a sore thumb. Thank you all for your suggestions!

The equipment should be arriving today for me to do my at home sleep study tonight and tomorrow. I'm a little apprehensive for two reasons: 1) I'm a side sleeper who tends to move around a lot in my sleep. My friend who had a sleep study done in a sleep center said she had to lie flat on her back and they told her to try not to move around too much. I'm afraid that if I'm not able to get comfortable, I won't sleep well...therefore the sleep study won't work. 2) I usually get up at least once during the night to use the bathroom. I'm not sure how that will work with doing a sleep study. If anyone has any experience/stories/suggestions/etc. involving an at home sleep study....I'd greatly appreciate them. Thanks!

I joined the myfitnesspal and...surprise to me, I had TOO FEW CALORIES for the day. I didn't think that was possible! I ended up drinking some milk with some Protein powder in it to up my calories, since...apparently, too little calories isn't good either. I can tell what a process and journey this is going to be, but I'm willing to do it and make the adjustments I need to make! Anyone who is willing to add me as a myfitnesspal friend....my user name there is missmanders88

Thanks for all the advice, guys! I'm so excited about having my surgery and getting on the track to a new and healthier me...I want to make sure that I'm successful as possible on this pre-op diet!