MinaT

Oh Becky, the drain coming out is a godsend. You will notice the ability to breath so much more. I am allergic to pain medications and my last few days of the drain became torture because I have lupus and it went all crazy trying to attack the drain. You will see a huge improvement once that's gone.

Anewlifeforme23 - good for you for getting some check and balances. You are trying to find ways to work the sleeve and you should be proud that you reached out. Good luck to you and congrats on your loss so far.

My father and mother were for me having the surgery until the day approached as the day approached my father became more and more leery and upset about the surgery. We did not tell my brothers. I had a hernia repair and adhesions removed and that's all they needed to know. My husband and son were for me having it. Of course both sorta waivered after I had it a little bit, because let's face facts. This is a major surgery and they all love me and worry. After your surgery and when you start healing and they know you are okay and safe and that you are doing well, they will lighten up. Your family loves you and they just worry about the surgery aspect of it. They are afraid you will never get to eat again, or whatever, I have h ad to prove to my father that I'm okay and he's okay with it now. Best of luck and I remember how getting the approval was such a hard thing for you. Just do me a favor go into this surgery with a positive attitude, not a bundle of nerves. Be positive, be happy, have a good song sitting in your head, and it will make after the surgery that much easier to deal with. Positive attitude goes a long way and eventually your parents will see you have done what is best for you.

My pre-op calories for 6 months before surgery I stayed at 800-900 calories a day. If you have a nutritionist at your doctor's office I would ask them, but 1000 at 2 months seems high, but if you are steadily losing and not in any pain when you eat, I don't know. I'm still on liquids and I'm almost 3 weeks out.

Thanks Karen. Have you tried poached egg yet? Even though I'm on full liquids I'm not allowed Tomato Soup and I'm 17 days out and that and Bean soup are my favorites and I am avoiding those - bean I could purree and liquify, but I'm afraid of the gas and the tomato I think is to acidic at first while the stomach is healing. Thanks for the hummus and Peanut Butter information. I love peanut butter and I actually tried to put a teaspoon of peanut butter in the vanilla cream shake and it made me sick. I I will pick up some refried Beans. I guess maybe that's why my doctor makes us stay on full liquids so long to give more time to heal, but though I see him next Wednesday I really hope they push me up to purees. Otherwise, my next appointment with the nutritionist is July 9th and that = a month on full liquids, I'm going to be terrified to eat by then.

Sorry I had to quit the FB Group. Unfortunately, we have a huge office with several computers and I have a lot of guests and I usually keep FB up. Only my parents and husband and son know the exact surgery that I had, and it's easier for me to come on here when it's convenient and having the FB group on my Facebook just doesn't make it convenient to me. I wish everyone the best of luck though.

I started a new June sleeve compilation thread because the old one was too long, I condensed a lot and made everything smaller so I could add new people. It's located here: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/42535-updated-new-june-sleeve-compilation/

The old June compilation thread would not allow me to edit any longer it got too big, so i had to condense it, and I added new people to it - it's located here: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/42535-updated-new-june-sleeve-compilation/

There are a lot of people having surgery on June 25th. Here's a list of June Sleevers http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/39508-june-sleevers-compilation-good-luck-well-wishes/ I will add you to the last page, unfortunately, the post is so long now, I lost the edit privileges on it, as I was editing each time someone new came. I am so bummed it won't let me edit anymore.

I had surgery June 4th. It all depends on the surgery, how many stomach surgeries you had prior, (i had c-section, hysterectomy, gallbladder out lots of laprascopies in my life). So that means more adhesions. I also had a hernia repaired. I have gone grocery shopping and am not allowed to lift anything more than a gallon milk (per my doctor). I don't like to go too far away from a bathroom and I really hate drinking out of a Water bottle much because i swallow too much air and I still depend on drinking from small cups. I have my own pool and haven't been able to go swimming and am hoping to go by the end of July or beginning of August. I was worried about losing my summer etc. etc. too, but my father said to me, having the surgery and getting this taken care of now, will give you next summer and many more summers to enjoy. What's losing part of one summer? Good luck.

I'm still on Liquids and tried to cheat with 3 (not full teaspoons) of 1% Cottage Cheese mashed up and chewed to oblivian and got that tight esophagus stomach feeling. Karen, which purees have caused you issues so far? We have been walking this same tightrope it seems and any suggestions of foods to try to avoid first out would be appreciated! I see surgeon Wed. and I hope they move me to purees.

Yay Little bits, congrats!!! Dad, how are you feeling? PEvette, I'm so glad I am not alone. I actually liked Muscle Milk and right now thinking about it makes me sick. I loved my Pure Protein 100% Whey Frosty Chocolate and I hated it so much I went 1-1/2 weeks without trying it again. I have had them two days in a row, while I don't LOVE them, I can at least tolerate them. Thinking about the smell of chocolate does something gross to me tummy. I am craving Tuna, Pickles, Tabasco, and I would be fine if it was all mixed together. I couldn't get in 3 tiny teaspoons of 1% cottage cheese smashed up today without my stomach feeling like it was rolling over on itself. I'm bummed but one day I am going eat a pickle and tuna and slurp on some tabasco.

I went to a Japanese steakhouse 2 days before my 14 day preop. The day before preop, I was advised to eat light because if you do your "last meal" the day before you start preop shake it makes it much worse. I had a little Soup and salad from my favorite sandwich place, Potbelly. edited to say I also knew it would be a long time before we are allowed to eat salads, and I love love salads, and it's the one thing I think I miss the most so far.

Oh you guys, I'm so sorry you are having a bad time right now. I swear to you all it does get better. The day I had surgery I was a superstar, I felt great, the next day was the worst for me. Every day is better than the day before and just try to walk when you can, ask for antinausea medication, take sips, ask for med cups to sip out of and try to find something that calms and cools your tummy. I like bigelow decaff peppermint tea. I was in the hospital for 5 days and I had some complications during surgery. I just kept reminding myself that each day will be better than the day before and it was. My prayers are with you all.

Steroids is your 7 pounds!!!! You did GREAT, you should be so darn proud of yourself of your efffort. I have Lupus and at my 5 month, i got thrown in the hospital for pleurisy!!! I was constantly terrified I was going to get denied. I hope your sinusitis it better and I know steroids well, Steroids and I have a love/hate relationship. I love to be on prednisone because I always feel so much better, but it does cause me to be hungrier. Your attitude is wonderful and of course you can still find times for a special dinner, but I think you will be surprised how that comes off. Best of luck to you and I really truly look forward to following your journey!!

Wow, you look amazing and what a wonderful story. Thank you so much for sharing!

If you lost that 7 plus another for your 6 months you should be fine. Just dig deep and do your very best. You may very well have gotten that 5 month almost to the finish line, "last dinner" mentality, or you may just have a little extra Water weight. Make sure you start charting your food now, use something like myfitnesspal.com and do your very best. Of course you may want a special meal before surgery, but you worked so hard for 5 months, don't let this little bump in the road deter you. They will still approve you, but you should try to show some effort for your six month. Good luck and it will work itself out

You should be absolutely fine, just make sure you drop the caffeine and carbonated beverages and do your very best to follow it! Best of luck to you and congrats.

Way to go, congrats!!!!!! I'm at day 17 and I'm still on the liquid phase. I snuck in 5 teaspoons of Gerber Baby oatmeal with skim milk today and it had 10 grams of Protein for lunch and it felt a little weird as it went down, but I'm doing pretty good. I see doctor next Wednesday and I am seriously praying they let me go to pureed Stage. My next real appointment with nutritionist isn't until July 9th - which I seriously think is way too long to just deal with full liquids. I am seriously craving just a teaspoon of Tuna. For a real meal, I am craving a turkey meatball. I like that I'm going slow enough for my tummy to heal, I just haven't craved Tuna like this in a long time. PS: I heard that chicken is one of the hardest to get down because it tends to be drier, someone mentioned before maybe using something like a plain yogurt to moisten it up a bit.

Good luck to you all. I don't mean to come off condescending or mean to any of you that are struggling, that is not my intentions, but hard love is all I can really give you all. Recovering from surgery is not easy, it's a whole lot easier with your mind in the right place. Going into such a serious surgery with your mind set on this is what I am doing, I am doing it for these reasons and I CAN DO IT. By sabotaging yourself prior to surgery by saying you can't do it, will make it so much harder afterwards. That's why they have the pre-approval stage, the pre-op phase so you can get it into your head you can do it. You are worth doing it. I wish you all the best of luck. The biggest hurdle in winning this race is believing in yourself and telling yourself that you are worth putting the effort into it. I know I'm worth it and that's why I worked so hard.

I took the pre-approval diet pretty seriously for 6 months but I also treated myself to a Margarita once in a while, went to Red Lobster and had a margarita, appetizer and lobster lobster lobster! I went to House of Kobe and had fried rice but I made sure when I did my "last meals" they weren't every day. I followed the 80 grams of Protein, 45-50 grams of carbs and stayed about 800 calories a day and still made sure at least once a month or so I did something special like Red Lobster. I did my six months pre-approval through Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, St. Patrick's Day, (I still had a Reuben) , Easter & Mother's Day. What made "last meal" days so special for me though was, that when I would stall, the day I had my last meals, where we would go out to eat, or I would have a Reuben with two pieces of bread and something special, the next day I actually would have my stall break because I did get extra calories in. Of course, I always felt a little guilty when we had our "fore-special" outtings but in reality, it made them better and I realized I made better choices. No reason not to have a special day where you eat a hamburger, but maybe get rid of the top bread and do open face, or take one day a week that you get a little extra something special.

If you know you are doing it now, just stop. It's just causing you more weight to lose after surgery. It's also make your liver more fatty and will make the pre-op diet right before surgery harder. If you are drinking pop - quit now or go through withdrawals later, if you are drinking caffeine quit now or coffee withdrawals will be harder. Take this time to learn to chew your food, and not drink for at least 1/2 hour after eating. You are basically making yourself sicker before surgery, which is the worst thing you can do. You will be able to eat after surgery, but why not set yourself up for the best possible outcome after surgery. Sign up for myfitnesspal.com if you haven't already - work on getting 80 grams of Protein in eat your protein first, eat vegetables second and carbs third. Drink your 64 ounces of Water and if you want to have one day once in a while to have a favorite food, do so but pick and chose carefully, do you want a margarita, or a doritos or a piece of cake. I tried this program 3 times and the third time I said I was going into this 100%. I knew they were going to do a major surgery, which always comes with complications and if I was going to allow someone to take out 85% of my stomach and I was going to end up paying a ton of money for it, that I was going to go into this with my eyes wide open and put forth full effort. You are in control of your actions, and that's the one thing I have learned. The sleeve is a tool only, so in the end you are really the one that controls the tool. Make a choice to stop the "last meal syndrome" now before you end up feeling worse about yourself.

Love it. I am glad to know that I am not alone when it comes to the surprise I get when I hear of people immediately talking about eating things that got them in the predicament in the first place. I know that some people aren't fond of my attitude of pre-op either but I guess I am spending too much money and after having surgery went through a bit too much pain to already try to find ways to cheat the system or find ways to be able to eat like I did before. I feel the same way as you about food. I hope it continues when I'm a year out.

I had the same problem and everything I used to like I started to hate. Worry about getting as much fluid (water, crystal light, decaff tea, etc.) in and perhaps try Isopure or Cytomax Nectar for the protein. I spent way too much money on different protein shakes and I hated them all (even my favorite pre-surgery) and something happened yesterday and I was able to get my Pure Protein down again. It was just a weird change in my taste buds and thankfully I can now handle protein shakes. It still isn't that great and it's a little hard getting down but I was afraid I would never be able to stand the taste again. Good luck.

My drain was a pain. Definitely!!!!!! I had surgery on June 4th too and they took it out on the 13th and on the 12th I knew it was infected. It's normal that the body attack the foreign object, but I also have Lupus so my cells went even crazier. After I got it out, I made sure I put neosporin on it daily and a light bandage across it and I change it after I shower every day. I like to let it air a little bit while I'm drying off and dry my hair then I put a light piece of gauze on it. I would call their offices again today. You had surgery on the 4th too, and it should be healing a bit. Mine had green and yellow gunk coming out and it's starting to dry out now.