bubbachubbs

Hello all, I am 5 months post op and have lost 140 pounds, everything with my weight loss has been going great. OK I know that chewing tobacco is bad and that I should quit. But I am curious if there is anyone else out there that is post op and chews? Was anyone told by their doctor to not chew post op for reasons other than the normal health concerns? I have been chewing for the 20+ years off and on (I have tried to quit several times). I managed to quit before my surgery and managed to not chew until a couple of weeks ago. I am going through a divorce and I am starting to get my pre-op hunger levels back so with all of the stress I fell off the wagon. I have not found anything on smokeless tobacco and vertical sleeve surgery. Everything I find is about smoking. Thanks

Today starts day three without a dip...wish me luck...then I'll quit talking about it and get back to living my life...

For me I realized it was my body detoxifying. I quit alcohol, soda, coffee, and fast food right before my pre-op diet. After a few days it will seem like no big deal. And it is worth it! I have lost 100 pounds since February 28th and I couldn't have done it without the surgery or the pre-op/post-op diet. Good Luck!

This is great advice! I had to do a 10 day liquid diet pre-op. A week prior to the start of my pre-op diet I replaced two meals with Protein shakes. I also eliminated soda, coffee, and fast food and buffets. Not only did this help with the drastic diet change but I lost 27 pounds in the 28 days prior to my surgery. @sleevealicious - I am sure that this will only be a minor setback. Good luck and God Bless!

I love to read stories like this...and if it's any consolation you look good in your pre-op picture...

Okay here goes. I was sleeved on March 26th. Everything has been going great except I have started having really bad seasonal allergies. This has been only since I was post op. I have never had any allergy problems with the exception of dust. Now I am having really bad seasonal allergies. My PCP said I should just buy an OTC allergy med so I purchased some Allegra Allergy (which i cut up into 4 pieces). It has made me very sick with an upset stomach and other...ahem...side effects. A couple of weeks ago I got a bladder infection and had to go on Bactrim for a week which also made me very sick to my stomach. This is twice now that a med has made me sick to my stomach and I usually tolerate pills and medicine very well. My question is...has anyone else had any unexpected new aversions to medicine? Thanks for listening.

I found this description on some other website: 1. Severe abdominal pain 2. Left shoulder pain 3. Rapid heart beat 4. Fever 5. Sickly appearance Not sure how good the search function is but there are several threads started by people who have had (or have) a leak. You will get a alot more information from them. Every time I see a post about leaks I read it because I am in the stage (4 weeks post op) where I am still paranoid that everything is going to rip my new sleeve to shreds. apparently a person would definitely know if they have a leak. That is what my doctor's office said.

Hello, Pre op I was 473 pounds (close to 500) at 6'5". Here is what I did pre op (and post op) to help me get through the VSG. Keep in mind that I am not a doctor and therfore you should consult him/her, but here goes. 1. Quit coffee, soda, and fast food. Some people have that last meal mentality and binge on all of their addictions but I felt it was counterproductive. 2. One week prior to my 10 day pre op liquid diet I replaced two of my meals (usually Breakfast and lunch) with a Protein shake. I then had a sensible meal for dinner. Yes it is similar to the slimfast diet but it helped me on my liquid only diet. 3. Do the pre op liquid diet. Every doctor is different on this so follow what your doc says. Mine was a 10 day full liquid diet. Do the diet and do not cheat on the diet. I did not and it felt great to know that I was able to accomplish this. 4. Follow the post op diet to the letter. I am exactly four weeks post op now I still have not eaten anything very solid. The most solid Item I have eaten is a vegetarian chik'n nugget...which by the way is still pretty soft. 5. Exercise. I am not the best at this but I feel I would have even more success if I were more consistent in this area. February 28th Pre surgery consultation = 473 pounds March 16th - start 10 day liquid diet March 19th Pre surgery physical/history = 452 pounds (21 pounds lost) March 26th - day of surgery = 446 pounds (27 pounds lost in less than a month) April 4th - post op check up = 425 pounds (21 pounds lost in the eight days after surgery) April 17th - PCP check up = 420 pounds (53 pounds lost since February 28th) GOOD LUCK!!!

At the initial seminar my doctor recommended that we start drinking Protein shakes right away so I started on them 8 months prior to my surgery and I am still on them. There seems to be a wide variety of views on pre and post op diets.

I have been of soft foods since I was 8 days post op. I was told that I could not have bread until I am at 5 months post op. Just curious if this includes pancakes and waffles? I noticed some high Protein (and in some case sugar free) pancake & waffle mixes and wanted to try something different. I plan on using a reduced fat butter or margarine and honey instead of syrup to top it. Thoughts? Comments?

Um yeah I noticed that my doctor's office is conservative. I was told no bread, Pasta, rice, and nuts until about 5 months out.

Havarti is my favorite cheese...I am surprised that I have never heard of the dill flavored kind...

I was approved on my first attempt in part due to my having sleep apnea.

Havarti Dill...I'm intrigued...is it a dip?

I should also mention that after my bottle of Opti Source vitamins are gone I am going to buy some vita craves at Walmart for $13 a bottle (and you get the same number of pills). That is of course if I still have to take a chewable. If they say I can do a pill then I will buy a bottle of one-a-day men's formula. I feel that $38 dollars is just too much even if they are better vitamins.

My first soft food was a deviled egg. Nonfat cottage cheese, egg drop Soup, mashed sweet potato, hummus, re-fried Beans, tuna salad, chicken salad, and no sugar added applesauce are all good choices for me but everyone is different. You will just have to experiment with certain soft foods to find out what you can tolerate. Good luck!

My doctor's office is letting me go back to work without any restrictions (as a police officer) after 4 weeks post op so I would imagine some light exercise would be no problem. BUT...I am not a doctor so I would probably call them just to make sure.

My doctor actually recommended Body Fortress Whey Protein powder. You can buy a two pound tub at Walmart for $15. I mix two scoops with 16 ounces of skim milk. I know this seems like a big shake but it takes me 1 to 2 hours to drink it all. I usually do this for my dinner at work. It ends up being 450 calories and 70 grams of protein. When I add this to my breakfast and lunch I usually end up getting around 800 - 1000 calories for the day, almost half of which are coming from protein. As far as vitamins go I am taking Opti Source Post Bariatric Surgery Formula. I just do two in the morning as opposed to the 4 throughout the day. I bought the bottle at the hospital pharmacy for $38. Good Luck!

I have been reading a lot of posts and have noticed some difference of opinion about whether or not the sleeve stretches out after surgery. Some says that soda can stretch it others says that the sleeve is very resilient and does not stretch. I found a video on youtube that shows the VSG being performed. At the end of the video the doctor shows a before and after x-ray showing a sleeve after four years having gently dilated as the good doc puts it...but still much smaller than the the stomach prior to surgery. Here is a link to the video. It is almost nine minutes long so I would recommend that you just skip to the end. Cheers, Bubba

I guess it depends on how far out you are from surgery. My Doctor/Nutrionist said about five or six months before any nuts are allowed. I would ask your nutritionist.

The other day I had to go on antibiotics for an issue unrelated to my sleeve (I am 3 weeks post op). I informed the doctor at urgent care that I was post op sleeve and she still prescribed me an antibiotic. Well they are really doing a number on my stomach and I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem? The antibiotic is bactrim and they are pretty large pills that I cut in half. Also the pharmacist showed me how easily they dissolved by dropping one in a glass of Water so I assumed they would be safe to take. Also, my PCP said it will be OK for me to take bactrim and that it shouldn't hurt my sleeve. It got so bad that yesterday it made me throw up the hard boiled egg I ate for Breakfast. The rest of the day I had a pretty bad upset stomach and I stayed on liquids for the rest of the day. I woke up today and have had no problems other than a minor upset stomach but I am still just doing liquids. Sorry if this is long winded but I am still in that paranoid stage where I think everything is going to rip my sleeve to shreds. By the way...hope the paranoid stage ends soon I have never really been too paranoid about anything in my life so this is a new sensation for me. Thanks for listening, BubbaChubbs

@aviva - do a google search for Chef Jay's High Protein pancake and you will find the places you can order it from. The cheapest I found it for was 14.99 for a 2.5 pound bag at advantagesupplements dot com. As far as bariatric chewables and other Vitamins I bought mine from the pharmacy located in the hospital where I had my surgery.

1 deviled egg sitting in the parking lot of the grocery store...

@feedyoureye - I did some checking on sugar free syrups that I think would be a better option than honey. The type of mix I will probably try is Chef Jay's High Protein pancake Mix. Nutritional info on it looked pretty promising. I don't plan on ever eating regular pancakes or waffles again. I haven't mourned the loss of too many foods but I got a waffle maker last year for my birthday for a reason.

I am 3.5 weeks post op and have been on soft food for the last two weeks. I realized within the first couple of days that I could tolerate certain foods really well so I just ate. I decided to do a food journal and in one day I consumed 1300 calories. I couldn't believe how easy it was to get that many calories in (deviled eggs...easy to tolerate but loaded with fat/calories). I thought due to the small amount that I was eating that I was at 600-800. The moral of the story is that the food journal really helped. Now I pay more attention to what I eat even on days that I don't journal. Best of luck!