traceyinflorida

You look amazing! Love the dress too! Congratulations!

Totally normal, happens to everyone and everyone has the same reaction...slight panic! Don't sweat the gain of two pounds, you will find your body fluctuates throughout the month and even sometimes day to day and even hour to hour dependent on a whole variety of factors. Now that you are fourteen days out, you may want to start looking at your protein intake. Are you adding any unflavored or chicken soup flavored protein to your soup? Have you tried protein shakes? Sugar free, lowfat yogurt? That's a great place to start since you can get protein in while still being in the full liquid phase. If your doctor has given the go ahead for pureed or mushies, you can have baby food, or put chicken, tuna, or shrimp salad in a food processor. Adding a little chicken broth will help to make it the right consistency (that of babyfood or applesauce). Increasing your protein intake will help to break the stall. This is your first stall, but it will not be your last. I am at 10 weeks and have two already. The good news is your body is still shrinking and changing even if the scale is not moving. Pay attention to the way your clothes fit, and even take measurements. You will see. Just be patient.

Good luck and best wishes for a successful surgery and easy recovery! There's plenty of room for you on the losers bench since we are all shrinking!!

Woo hoo! Congratulations and glad to hear surgery was uneventful and recovery is going well!

Make sure you are looking at the carb and sugar content of the bar you are eating. <5 grams sugar and < 5grams carb is the rule of thumb. Also, at four weeks, eat it very slowly and chew very well to make sure it agrees with you.

When I try things that do not agree with me, the time of discomfort varies based on how much eaten, type of food eaten etc. I am thinking cereal pain should not last too long because it is soggy and will continue to break down fairly quickly. If you ate too much of a dense protein it might last longer. Hope you feel better soon.

On the positive side, you are only 13 lbs away! Aside from not reaching a magic number, (of which BMI is a range and not always 100% correct) how do you feel? How do you feel you look in your clothes? There are people in my support group who have had bypass that look downright gaunt and unhealthy. I would not want to be there. There are others who have stretched their stomas (correct spelling) and are gaining their weight back. The grass is not always greener...even though it may seem that way sometimes. Your signature has a great line that says :"The best goals reached are the ones hardest earned" If your goal is to lose those last 13 pounds, then go back and redouble your efforts and you will get there! Look at what you are eating, how much you are exercising etc and see if you need to shake things up a bit. I hope this is coming across more as a pep talk than a lecture. You didn't ask for advice, only stated your opinion to the question. I just hate to see you so disappointed when you are so close!

Tiff187, from a surgical perspective, I felt great post op. But "eating" my full liquids and drinking my water was really rough in the beginning. There were several times that I questioned why I did this to myself. I thought, I do not want to have to put this much thought and effort into eating and drinking all the time! Just trying to drink 64 oz of water when only sipping and having pain and nausea accomany that was such a challenge, but combine that with not drinking at least 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after my protein shake or broth made it a downright 18 hour JOB! I seriously thought I would be faced with that the rest of my life. It is definitely not the case. Each day got easier and easier to drink more water. I also finally followed my doctor's advice to just focus on the fluids and not worry so much about the proteins in the beginning. Little by little I was able to get more and more protein shake down. The pureed and soft food stages brought on new challenges, but were easier to deal with. You will start to learn your body. You will learn when you need to drink more fluids, or eat some protein, or when to take the last bite. You will have some trial and error and will make some mistakes. You will also have to plan ahead some times....but this will become second nature and will become much easier. You've already learned that cold things are not working for you, so focus on warm for now and try a little cold in a few days to see how you do. I promise you will not be relegated to warming all of your meals and drinks for the rest of your life! I too felt a little unprepared for how difficult the first month, especially the first couple of weeks would be. It seemed like my support group (two friends who had bypass operations years before) either had amnesia about that part, or did not experience it since their operation was different. Thank goodness I found this forum! Hang in there. You are going to rock your sleeve and start seeing all of the benefits before long and probably have amnesia about this part some day too!!

It will get better with each passing week. You may be a little soon to be having eggs and chicken. Try them again after two more weeks. Try tomato soup again after a few days to a week because that is okay at this stage. Notice that the things that are liquid or full liquid are working for you. Now you can start adding a little more bulk into it...try pureeing a chunky soup or tuna or chicken salad and eating a few small bites of that. You will not be able to get more than a couple of teaspoons in at first. It's a trial and error period. Your stomach is still in the very early stages of healing. If something doesn't agree with you, give it a few days and try it again. Some people enjoy the pureed and mushy phase. I hated it and subsited on protein shakes until I could have soft foods. Although I did try a little each day. Hang in there!

Yeah, I guess if your patients were self conscious about being patients, it would be either a concern or a miracle... Honestly, I did not find out about the catheter part until a few days before surgery and it was very close to being a DEAL BREAKER for me. In the end it turned out to be no big deal. I wasn't thrilled about it, but at least I got to sleep throught the first night without having to get up to pee every hour with all the IV fluids being pumped in me. But if you can talk them out of it, then go for it. At least you will know how to turn the stupid alarm off on your IV when it runs low. That was so loud and annoying and my floor was BUSY so it would take forever for someone to turn it off.

Ask for a second gown to put on the other way. All but your legs are covered. Every patient in the hospital is in a gown. Believe me when I tell you I DREADED this. But, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. You will be fine. By the way, I appretiated your sarcasm, but did not realize you were a nurse. Do you work at the hospital where you are having your surgery? I would see this as a plus in many ways but could see the downsides as well as far as ego and comfort go. If they let you wear your sweats and you can get them on, then wear them. I would have. But if it's against policy (which it was at my hospital) then you will have to deal with it. It's not that bad. I ran into two of my friends who are nurses who worked at my hospital while I was doing my laps (in my double gowns...) Looking back, I wasn't embarrased at all. It was just nice to see a friendly and familiar face. For now, just put it out of your mind and worry about it when the time comes. Why borrow trouble?

I dreaded being a patient. I think it was the idea of being vulnerable or embarrased that bothered me most. However, I made up my mind going in that I was just going to go with the flow and let them do their job. It's not like I was any different than what they see day in and day out. I found that while in the hospital, I slept so much the first day that I could have cared less what I was wearing. By the second day I was used to being a patient and found it was not so bad, other than the floor was super busy so it was hard to get the nurse when I needed her. The last day was time to go home. I got up, got dressed in my sweat pants and waited for discharge. By then I had gotten to know the nurses and assistants, so it was nice to get a chance to see them, thank them and say good bye.

MeginNola, I had not thought of creating my own protein drink for myself. I think I might give that a try too as I have all of your suggested ingredients at home! I have been creating a protein shake on the recommendation of a coach for my son that he loves. It is milk, a little vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and banana. I would NEVER drink that of course, since it does not fit in with my nutrition goals, but for a football player who is working out all the time and trying to fuel his muscle and weight gain it is perfect, and much cheaper than my shake mix!

All was the same for me, but once I got home I felt much better. I had difficulty getting my fluids down in the beginning. I found warm broth or decaf tea were much easier. It will keep getting better daily. Also, you may want to try to drink while standing to give the liquid fewer twists and turns while it goes through your swollen stomach. Someone said it helps. By week two, fluids were MUCH easier for me. I hope it gets easier for you quickly too!

There's no place like home! Glad you are feeling well in your recovery!

Thanks gustavo for sharing the link to Zip Fizz. Mosher62, It does not appear to be carbonated, so it may be okay from that standpoint. It looks like just another way of getting some of your vitamins, especially B12 that is low carb, low sugar, low calorie. If that is the case then it is probably fine. I would check with your nutritionist or surgeon though.

The further along you get, the more palatable the protein powder you liked pre-op will become. It took me several weeks to enjoy my chocolate flavored one again. I had a lot of it, so I felt compelled to drink it. Also, I spent a lot of money experimenting with things I ended up not liking. Unjury, Nectar, Chike and I am sure others have sample packs you can purchase online. I would start there so you don't put out a lot of money during this phase. Good luck!

That's awesome! It looks like the real deal!

I love this!! Good luck with your pre-op diet. If you start feeling moments of weakness and want to cheat, pull out this letter to food and read it! You can do it!! When is your surgery?

What's a zip fizz? I think soda and all carbonation is off limits for a long time or possibly forever. I do not miss soda at all, but I sure would love a beer in a frosty mug at some point in the future. However, if I can never have one again, it is a small price to pay to be at my goal weight some day!!

That's a statue?! I thought it was a person, but the pic is small on my computer so I did not realize it was Morgan Freeman. I thought he was a friend of yours. Anyway, I vote for at least one with the statue in the same pose because you will get a great contrast from your before picture. Congratulations on your weight loss so far! I am a little over half way too and while I want to get to goal in as short as time as possible, I am feeling happy and comfortable, so stalls don't bother me as much. Like you, I know I will get there!

You will see the answer vary across the forum. Some were told never to have caffine again. Others had it the first day. I asked my surgeon at my eight week visit and he said it was fine, but that some patients find that they not tolerate it well. I have been enjoying one cup of regular coffee each morning since.

It's funny because when you are going through it during the first couple weeks post op, it seems like an eternity and that you will never be the same again. I loved my first ahah...I feel good moment. I am glad you are feeling better and enjoying life!

I agree with Alliemm. 43 pounds is a big weight loss! If you are like many (myself included), you were squeezing yourself into your clothes prior to this journey. Clothes and seams stretch to accomodate our expanding girth. Also, clothing in plus sizes tends to be more generous, so when we start to loose weight, it seems like a long time to drop a whole size. One thing I do know for sure, as you loose weight it is difficult to see in your old clothes. I love the idea of going to try on some new clothes, even if you are not ready to buy yet. As for what your body will look like once you reach goal....there are all kinds of things out there to hold things in, lift things up etc. etc. Spanx and a good bra are two examples. Also, even many pants come with tummy control panels and things like that. So I am sending you a hug and a smile. It is all going to be alright. Do something nice for yourself today and keep up your great work! You and others are going to start to see a difference and it will floor you!

You look awesome! Congratulations on your loss so far, you are doing great! The stall will pass, they always do. Take comfort in knowing that during that time, even thought the scale is not moving, you are still losing inches!