elindoll88

My program recommends Benefiber or the store brand equivalent.

And I sat there, eating my ham slice and cheese stick, while my coworker ate one across from me. I had no feelings of envy, temptation, or mourning. I didn't even realize until I got home that I'd gone up against my major trigger food and won! It's a great NSV and a big step forward to getting a healthy relationship with food.

We've all had head hunger come out of nowhere, but I thought it might be amusing to share some of the more random or bizarre attacks and cravings we've had. I was reading a mystery novel in the bathtub this morning when head hunger popped up and I started craving a jam sandwich- bread, butter, and grape jelly. There was no jam sandwich in the book and I can't even remember the last time I had one. Definitely not one of my trigger foods! Like most cravings, it went away after a while, but I'm still struck by how random it was.

How many days of liquid diet did you have to do? Pre-op, none. How much weight did you lose during it? Lost 43 lbs on a solid food based pre op diet How many days (if any) did you have to stay at the hospital? 2 days Did you have any complications? Surgeon found a mass on my stomach near the pylorus which turned out to be a pancreatic heterotopia- tissue from the pancreas growing where it's not supposed to be. First night i couldn't drink anything and had a leak test the next day- usually patients in my program start liquids a few hours after waking up and go home the day after surgery. Also developed gout in my elbow 2 weeks post op. How long after surgery did you try to eat normal food? (non-puréed, etc) 4 weeks until we eat soft food. How soon after surgery did you feel mostly or fully back to normal? At 7 weeks out, my tummy feels great, but sit ups are a challenge. I'm still recovering from the gout and my arm still isn't back to normal. I have good days and bad days. Please share any extra comments about things you weren't expecting or tips: I guess I lost a lot of fat in my head, which caused the middle ear tubes to open up. This lets the Fluid that's supposed to be there drain out and creates a fishbowl or bucket-on-the-head effect when I speak or breathe. Best fix I have for it is to get my head and heart level ASAP by laying down or touching my toes.

7 weeks post op and I've only been buying dresses (except for a smaller bra and pack of panties). We were warned at our pre op class to be prepared for nothing to fit for long; they said you could get something on Monday and it would be too big on Wednesday. I figured dresses would be more forgiving. They might end up fitting really loose, but they probably won't fall off!

Lost 26 before entering my Bariatric program, 43 pre op, and 31 in my 6 weeks post op. The before pic is at my heaviest in 2008, the after poc I took this afternoon.

I'm a young'un and I had gout POST surgery. My surgeon says its common or at least not unusual. I thinks it's caused by the combination of surgery trauma, dehydration, and starvation. My PCP gave me colchicine and it hasn't flared up again, but I'm still dealing with some residual pain and mobility issues.

There's no change to the tat. Upper arm seems to be a good spot to have one.

My BMI the day of surgery was 33.7, down from 42.6 when I entered my Bariatric program. When I visited my surgeon for my 5 week follow up last week, it was 29.

Get rid of anything you shouldn't be eating. If you've got a family, shift stuff in the cupboards so you have your own cupboard and don't have to see their food. Same thing with food in the fridge.

I got used to eating healthy and feeling healthy. I was in a pretty good mood when I started that fast food meal. I felt terrible afterwards and realized how unhealthy it was, physically and mentally.

I agree about the acid! I started a PPI my first day home. My surgeon prescribed me a generic for Protonix. It's a tablet, but it's tiny and I had no problems getting it down. Since you're on clear liquids: Drink! Drink! Drink! Sip as often as you can. If you're tired of sipping liquids, try a sugar free popsicle or sugar free jello, but have them in moderation.

1. Started practicing and mastering post op eating and drinking habits. Stopping Water before I eat and not drinking afterward is a breeze now. I'm on soft foods and eating the same things I ate pre op, so life feels like its back to normal. 2. Got a handle on my emotional eating and head hunger triggers. Pre op, I got used to seeing my students have cupcakes and not have one myself. It made eating with the family easier when I was having yogurt or baby food and they were having steak. I didn't eat the same food as everyone else and I survived. 3. I eliminated Snacks and eating out of boredom. Post op healing is really boring, but I'm full on my 3 meals a day. 4. This one will be controversial, but I had a food funeral. Wouldn't recommend this for everyone. I was well below goal, weeks away from surgery, and had been following my pre op diet (based on the program's post op diet) for close to 3 months, so I was really used to eating healthy! I took a few meals and ate like I did when I didn't care what I ate. Fast food made me sick and didn't even taste that good, Starbucks was just OK, and I made myself sick again by eating entire bags of snack food. How did that prepare me for surgery? I'd been afraid of what would happen if my tastes changed and it was out of my control because of the irreversible surgery. Here I was, pre op, and my tastes were already changing. I was fine with that and would be fine with it as a post op patient. I also learned some strategies and coping mechanisms. I can make my own bacon cheeseburgers at home without the bun that are healthier and taste better than what fast food has to offer. I like Starbucks more for the atmosphere than the food and beverages, so it doesnt matter that I've switched from coffee to decaf tea. I also realized that I was a snack food binger, but I think the only solution to that is to not buy it.

32 oz of Water is good for day 5. The water is hard work, just keep sipping. If they sent you home with pain meds and you're comfortable taking them, do so. There's no need to try to brave it out. As far as eating normally, you will do that again. Your normal might change, but you'll feel a lot better once you get to the soft foods stage. Liquids and purees aren't fun, but they end eventually.

At 4 days post op, my program had us on full liquids. You might try making some cream soups, cream of chicken or mushroom, using milk instead of water as the base. Make sure you strain the solids out and drink only the cream. We could also eat sugar free pudding and yogurt, as long as we didn't eat the solid fruits.

It could be your period. I thought I was in a stall last week after mine started, but as soon as it stopped, the scale started going down again. I had the same pattern on my long pre op diet.

Hyperbole alert! Some of the confusion is caused by the fact that every surgeon and surgery program have different post op requirements. I know a lot of people here got through their purée stage by eating refried Beans. My NUT said no beans until 3 months post op. I doubt anyone would die from advancing themselves a little early. That being said, surgeons make their standard food stages based on how most people heal. One of the first things my program case manager said to our orientation class was, "You are not special." This was in the context of people objecting to our pre op diet and wanting to tweak it to fit their perceived needs, but it applies to post op healing as well. I'm glad that the person you quoted was able to get permission to tweak her recovery eating plan (sorry not to use your name, but I don't remember it and iPhone will lose my post if I go back to see). However, the majority of people should realize that they shouldn't tweak their recovery diets just because it's hard, they don't like it, or they're bored. I know that some of us (at least me) are reluctant to share the ways we've gone off plan because we don't want to seem like we're giving permission for others to do so. Last month, if I'd seen a post from someone else in their first week post op who'd been able to eat chicken salad without a problem, I'd have been sneaking it off my Mom's plate when she wasn't looking and I'd probably snitch a chip as well. Maybe I'd have gotten sick, maybe I'd have been fine. I would feel bad if I posted about cheating on my plan and someone hurt themselves by copying me.

I should update too! Sleeved June 25. My highest weight was 260, but I was 259 In February of 2011 when I joined my current insurer. February 2012 I was 233 and I entered our Bariatric surgery program. Was 190 on my surgery date. Had my 5 week post op appointment yesterday; weight was 164 and I got an inch taller! My goal is to get between 120-130. 34-44 pounds to go!

Puréed food should be the consistency of baby food or mashed potatoes. Beechnut baby food is pretty good (for baby food, bland for everything else). You should use a food processor to make your own purees. Puréed chicken salad tastes exactly like regular chicken salad. If you don't want to cook or prep anything, you can puree chunky soups or canned chili. I tried chunky soup once and didn't find it tasted good, but i guess other people do OK.

My comment about uncontrolled emotional eating was not meant to refer to you and was mostly based on my personal experience when I was on full liquids early last month. I think the board in general would benefit if you or someone else were able to describe what is considered judgemental or non judgemental. Personally I think there is always an element of judgement when people offer feedback or opinions. What kind of input were you seeking? Did you want more ideas for soft foods to try? Did you want anecdotes from others who had advanced to food stages ahead of time?

32 oz of water is very little. My program wanted us getting at least 64 oz a day by the 3rd week post op. I would suggest you try to double your water.

I think that people who make the "I did a dumb/bad thing and didn't follow my doctor's orders" are looking for several different responses. Some people slip and get scared that they've hurt themselves. Response to that always seems to overwhelmingly supportive. Some people haven't been properly educated about the healing process. Everyone is very quick to inform them and give them ideas for new recipes and coping skills. Some people are still enslaved by emotional eating and they don't recognize it. I don't think these posters are looking for support, ideas, or help. I think they want someone to tell them it's OK to disobey doctor's orders and they get angry when they don't get what they want and say we're judging them. Maybe we are, but maybe they need people who won't act as enablers for self destructive behavior.