CaliKat

Dont weigh yourself daily- weekly at most. I was hopping right out of bed every morning and jumping on that scale to record my victories and the day I gained .5lbs I was SO SAD!!!! I pouted for a few minutes and then decided to limit my scale interactions to once a week and only at the qym or at home for a special victory photo op (like onderland) Keep workin that sleeve and be dillagent about getting all your Protein and Water in first. You can do this!

Hi Courtney, I get the hiccups too- although they are short lived- usually only 1 min or less- but they are still embarassing. I have found when things arent "down" properly is when I hiccup the most. Like taking my chewable Vitamins and they have been swallowed but are not all the way in my tummy. Or when I have a drink and I let it trickle down my throat.... I have a as-needed perscription from my surgeon for esophegeal spasms that I havent taken- I wonder if that is for the hiccups? you may ask your surgeon. On the bright side... I would much rather have hiccups than gas! LOL. -Kat

I take the B-12 tablet sublingual daily with my Vitamins but I was curious about getting B-12 via Poweraide Zero. I drink 6-8 servings of Poweraide Zero a day and it says each serving has 15% of your daily B-12. Does that mean I am getting a larger dose of B-12? But I thought that B-12 was not absorbed via the stomach? Any thoughts?

HaHa- this pudding thing is cracking me up too.... tomorrow is my "mushy" start date and I am freaking salivating over the chance to eat pudding and cottage cheese! NEVER in my wildest dreams did I expect to be so excited about SF pudding! My NUT is very, very picky about what we eat for the first 6 weeks.... so EVERY new food I want to try I have to get it approved my her first. She only OK'd light mushies today- no animal Proteins (no tuna, eggs, etc). She said next week we can prob expand the list- but she did up me to a 100g Protein goal. There is a great blog by eggface (google: eggface) about frozen pudding protein drops (freeze leftover protein pudding in icecube trays for shakes or a sweet treat). Actually.... her site is full of awesome ideas for foods and stuff- its a WLS specific site. Def recommend it for y'all. -Kat

@brittcherry- pick the best emotion youve ever had and then multiply it by a billion- cause when you are 10 days out and you are back to feeling strong and healthy and in control and those pounds are coming off quick.... thats how its going to feel.... like you are on top of the world and you can do anything!!! This surgery can be scary and a bit difficult, but I KNOW that if you have had the stregnth to make a change in your life and you chose this path.... than you can do anything! Stregnth and courage to all those sleevers on the back half of April.... and dont forget.... SIP, SIP, SIP WALK, WALK, WALK Cheers, Kat

Congrats! Youre handling it like a PRO! Walk, walk, walk & sip, sip, sip!

im 10 days post-op and I have been blessed that this surgery has been forgiving and pretty uneventful. My surgery was textbook (fixed a hernia too). My hospital stay was pretty painless and only one day. I went back to work after 5 days (desk job) and am getting most of my 70g pro and 64oz liquid in daily. I was able to get back on my elliptical and do 15-20 min/day for the past week. My energy is almost normal. I found the nectar Protein drinks delish and strain lots of Soups to get my liquids. I have 5 incisions and 4 of them have closed nicely and offer me no discomfort whatsoever. The 5th one is a b***h- its the larger one and It smarts! It prevents me from sleeping on my belly and its hard to wear jeans. Small price to pay in the short term tho! As of today I am down 15 lbs and am sooooooo freakin excited to move forward. I was scared to death about this surgery and the pain, lifestyle change and possible complications. Never in my wildest dreams could I have expected this positive of outcome. Take a chance.... life's too short.

i am 8 days out and am still on liquids. I just continuiously sip, sip, sip throughout the day. (No more than 4 oz in 15 min tho) If I dont sip, sip, sip continuiously, I cant get the recomended protein and liquids in. Do whatever you have to do to get the liquids in that your Dr. recomended. I have been told that when we are on solids we will TOTALY be able to tell!

i have a weight watchers scale from Costco. Works perfect ~$20. Its glass and stainless steel.... very pretty!

My official pre-op weight taken day of surgery to one week later is 13 less.

Tiny plates, forks, spoons and cups. You can buy cocktail dinnerware at WilliamsSonoma, Pier1 OR you could even use doll dishes in a pinch.

awesome! Walk, walk, walk & sip, sip, sip!

Hi Courtney, Try a Protein shake for breakfast (Syntrax Nectars are awesome 23g pro & 8 oz water), a bottle of Water between (16oz), yogurt (6gpro) and Healthwise hot chocolate (made with milk its 25g pro and 8 oz liquid) and then another water (16oz) and finish with Soup fortified w/ pro powder. You can buy a nectar sample pack online for under $20.... But all flavors are freakin delish and have 23g pro!!!! The milk you make a smoothie or pudding counts as liquid. -kat

I'm still on my 15 day thin liquid post op diet but both my hubby and I had onion Soup (mine was broth only) and the diference in the size of the servings were hilarious! Kinda of a reality check huh?

Stay strong and positive! You can do it! Usually the pre-op diet is the hardest part! Your new mantra will be: Sip, sip, sip & walk, walk, walk Hurray April Sleevers!

Thinkingskinny, Sorry to hear youre in so much pain. Do whatever you need to to make yourself comfortable and get your fluids in..... If that means being doped up for the next week, than so be it. Youre the only one who knows how you truly feel. I bet its frustrating feeling like this when so many others seem like they are not having the same degree of pain. Your surgery may even have been more complicated due to hernias or muscle mass or whatever... Making the recovery a little slower. If your pain isnt diminishing a bit day by day, it may be time to call your surgeon. Do whatever it takes to get your fluids in and try to get some of the Proteins. Keep strong and stay in touch. Sooner rather than later Things will perk up. -Kat

Day 3 post op update: Woke up twice thru the nighht to get up and walk/sip sip sip and re-arrange my pillows. Pain is minimal at this point- its still incision pain... That and since they were glued together with Krazy Glue (yes....krazy glue) they are kinda itchy and stick to my t-shirt. Hoping to put neosporin on them tonight. I have been able to get in about 50oz of water and 45g of Protein. I drink the "Healthwise" brand and they have all kinds of flavors and in reallity, it tastes like drinking liquid jello! I think i am going to try thinned tomato soup with pro powder for dinner- this sweet stuff is getting old! I got REALLY ambitious today and decided to take advantage of the 70 degree weather and go to the San Francisco zoo with hubby. I walked over 2 miles and felt OK- no pain- just really tired. Walking has been good for my gas and is helping aide with a BM. I dont have any nausea or vomiting yet and have a few esophogeal spasms (hiccups) that are irritating but I can deal. If they get too bad, my Dr. wrote me a script for a esophogial relaxant. I go back to work on Monday and Im pretty sure I will be able to go back and do my job..... But im nervous about wearing professional attire and spanx. In 7 years I have not walked out of my house without a girdle/spanx and i cant even fathom doing it. I am so glad that i can share my experience with you all and you can be prepared for when its your turn!!! -Kat

I was feeling the same way, but realized that taking my chewy Vitamins really helped with that craving of needing something to chew. I also chewed a piece of gum and that was pretty satisfying (until i started to get paranoid that i would swollow it- so i spit it out)

Good job everyone! For the next few weeks our mantra will be: Sip, sip, sip Walk, walk, walk Breathe deep So glad everyone is keeping us updated! -Kat

I dont think this is a bad habbit- sports athletes do this all the time because thier bodies dont process the pulp durring the game. We do it on my sunday soccer teams too. I also think that since this isnt about a food issue (rather a discomfort issue) if you keep it in perspective and eventually try to eat the whole thing you coud continue. I also recomend citrus or orange metamucil- may take away those cravings.

24 hours post surgery update. Yay! Ive been released and am at home! Oddly enough my surgeon does NOT do a leak test.... He says they are usually caused by improper diet the first few weeks and I shoud have no probem if i listen to my body and the amount of fluid it can handle and follow the diet to a T (my dr. Also sends home 3 weeks of "food") Good news is the gas pain is almost gone- i walked 100 laps around the floor since my surgery and that is the major reason i could go home.... There were 2 others that got sleeved by my dr (all similr weight) and neither one of them walked last night or tried to take ice chips and were barely walking today- they will not be released today. i think the secret is to take as little of the pain meds as you can so you can be concious enough to walk every 2.5 hrs or so. I have a bit of pain in the abdomen area- i think its a combo if the extra repairing he had to do for my hernia and the fact that I carry most of my weight in the stomach, so if i stand, it kinda pulls down. My belly itself is still numb to the touch due to the anestesia, so I dont feel the incisions much. I am taking a bit of Loritab for the pain. I have been drinking the Healthwise protien drinks (kiwi strawberry=yum!) and have gotten 2 of them down (15g protein each) today. Going to try the Isopure Zero Carb drink (40 g protein) next- so hope fuly i can get as much of my protein and water in as possible. I truly belive that i have been blessed with a great surgeon and was lucky enough to have a complication free procedure (so far)..... But I also think that this forum was such a wealth of knowledge that knowing what to expect made it easier to overcome them. I cant say enough thank yous to the sleevers that went a few days before and posted their experiences- plus, you will get info on this forum that your hospital staff wont tell you. Cheers! kat

Try the ones from Healthwise- they come in lots of flavors and you add your own water, so you can thin them out. Kiwi strawberry is pretty damn good!

Way to go! Sounds like you are doing awesome! Yup- everything gurgles as it goes own now!

Happy recovery! I had my surgery today and my dr. Had to fix a hernia too. I'm pretty sore in my midsection, but other than that I'm doing OK. My dr puts me on a strict clear/thin 2 week diet too. Its goin to be hard, but I I wouldn't dare cheat cause I'm scared to death of a leak! Keep us posted and would love to hear about your recovery. -Kat

Try the Isopure fruit drinks- you can get them at GNC or at most 24hr fitness clubs or even amazon. They taste like Gatorade but have 40g of Protein per bottle. I just bought a case and they were only $2.50/ea. They don't have aspartamine either.