Bufflehead

two ounces tops. I'm about 3.5 months out.

I would avoid wine or any kind of alcohol entirely. If anyone looks at you funny just say, "sorry, I can't drink right now, doctor's orders!" Unless your boss and co-workers were raised by wolves, they'll respect that and let it drop. If you have a great time and are friendly and happy with everyone, they aren't going to think you are being rude or ungrateful.

They pushed big doses of antibiotics in my IV (I think? Or maybe it was during surgery, or both) for the first day after surgery, and that was it.

I'm not allowed salad or any raw vegetable (or any food that is starchy or high carb etc. etc.) for six months after surgery, so I'm just a little more than halfway there.

You can set your calories, protein, carbs etc. to anything you want on MFP - though you may have to log in to the web version to make the changes. Once you change them on the web it will carry over to your phone or tablet. I have my calories set at 800 per day on MFP.

LOL, I'm the same way, I told a friend of mine that I'm spending an inordinate amount of time fondling my rib cage. And this week I discovered that I have pelvic bones! Feeling them up too. :ph34r:

Same as above, pack as light as possible. I brought my phone, charger, Kindle, extra undies, lip balm, and very basic toiletries (deodorant, toothbrush, etc.). I made sure the clothes I wore to the hospital would be comfy on the way home (loose empire waist dress, cotton sports bra that fastens in front, no underwire). I also brought no-skid socks to wear while walking but as it turns out I didn't need them - the hospital provided them. I also only used my Kindle because my surgeon was running late so I had an extra 90 minutes to kill in pre-op - otherwise I would have never used it. I made sure my friend giving me a ride home from the hospital brought a pillow to use under the seat belt. There was nothing I wished I had -- the hospital provides everything you need.

So she is suggesting you buy protein shakes and multi-vitamins from their in-house store for six months? Seriously? I don't want to tell anyone else to not follow the guidance of their surgeon or nutritionist but I can tell you that I completely blew off the "suggestions" of my surgeon's practice to buy post-bariatric food and vitamins from them. I'm perfectly capable of researching nutrients and making my own choices and don't need to further enrich my surgeon in that way. By the way I looked at the nutrient profile for the Enspira protein/weight loss shakes and they are very similar to Syntrax Nectar -- in fact I think nectar is better - but cost about twice as much. If it were me, the only way I would buy the Enspira is if they flat out refused to perform the surgery on me unless I bought it. That's just me though.

I didn't have to do a sleep study because I had no symptoms associated with sleep apnea. Frankly I think having a sleep study if you have no symptoms of apnea is a waste of money - yours, the insurance company's, etc. It isn't required for other surgeries, even for obese people, so I don't know why it's so often required for this. For example, my friend's mom had a knee replacement and she is morbidly obese, and no one even mentioned a sleep study for her. So I really don't think they are necessary for every surgery. Just remember that the risks for this surgery are incredibly tiny but the rewards can be amazing when you follow the program! Take care and good luck, you will be on the loser's bench in no time

Yes, that's the rule in my surgeon's practice. During puree phase, we get three meals a day of 3 tablespoons of food each day. When we move on to soft foods we get three meals a day of no more than 3 ounces of food. I usually don't even get to 3 ounces before I'm full and stop eating though.

I did a lot of: poached egg over refried beans pureed tuna salad pureed chicken salad pureed chicken with barbecue sauce hummus Greek yogurt nonfat cottage cheese with hot sauce or chipotle salad dressing stirred in for flavor pureed shrimp salad I didn't have any trouble tolerating any of that. Just kept the amounts very very small - no more than 3 tablespoons of food per meal.

I was told yes to sweet n low (I don't use it myself though) and no to any kind of gum post-surgery.

Syntrax Nectar protein powder mixes with water and makes a clear drink (well most of them do -- they have chocolate, vanilla, and cappucino flavors that I think are better with milk). They have lots of different flavors. I like the taste of most of their flavors much better than Isopure. My favorites of theirs are probably the roadside lemonade, lemon tea, fuzzy navel (orange/peach) and twisted cherry. You can order samples (or tubs) from Nashua Nutrition -- they do ship internationally. http://www.nashuanut...-1-serving.html

I started adding hot sauce to my food as soon as I was cleared for purees, three weeks out. No problems whatsoever!

We were also allowed G2 and juice marked "light" or regular juice that we diluted 50/50 with water. Also GNC Live Well Sport Drink, as long as it was sugar free. Decaf coffee and decaf tea were also permitted, but we had to be sure they were decaf. Most tea, including herbal and green tea, is not decaf unless it specifically says so.

I second the recommendation for Orange Is the New Black! Also, if you never saw Friday Night Lights, that's a great series to catch up with.

I've been taking small pills and capsules since the day after surgery -- as prescribed by my doctor and brought to me to take in the hospital by the nursing staff -- no problems whatsoever.

I'm going to make a pumpkin spice Protein latte to start my day tomorrow. Blend: 6 oz espresso (I just add 6 oz boiling Water to 2 tsp. instant espresso) 2 oz skim milk/vanilla unsweetened almond milk/soy milk/whatever "milk" you like 1 pump sugar free pumpkin pie syrup 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice make sure the temperature is under 140 degrees blend in 1 scoop vanilla Protein Powder Stats: 109 calories, 5 carbs, 23 g protein, 23% RDA Calcium (made with Hood Calorie Countdown nonfat milk and unjury vanilla protein powder). This makes me feel better about standing in line next to Trader Joe's pumpkin toaster pastries and not buying them the other day . . . I love anything pumpkin and really crave it in the fall.

Congrats! I feel like we are sisters! I too started out at a BMI of 60 (well, technically 59.9) and yesterday morning I weighed in and have gotten down under 40. It feels amazing!

deleting my post because I didn't realize which forum this was, sorry!

I didn't have much pain after the surgery. Immediately after, the only thing that really bothered me was the gas pain, and I was able to get rid of that fairly quickly by walking. Seriously, I've had menstrual cramps that were worse than my post-surgery pain (not that you can relate directly to that, but . . .). I did have some lingering pain at my drain site but that was taken care of with pain meds and bracing myself when doing things like sitting down or standing up. Some people have more pain, some less, but just make sure you take your pain meds and you should be just fine. oh and with respect to Gas-X - bring it, but be prepared for it not to work as well as walking does. My nurse explained to me that Gas-X works on gas that is within the digestive tract, but most of your post-surgery gas is outside of the digestive tract and in the general body cavity. At my hospital they wouldn't even let me try Gas-X because they think it interferes with normal gas in the digestive tract, and they want that gas to keep moving as it should. It's important that they know when you pass gas from your digestive tract after surgery -- that means you are healing well and your digestive tract isn't stopped or twisted up or something. I think my hospital's policy is not the norm but some others do it too. Just keep walking, regardless! Even if you are not walking, try to be sitting up rather than lying down. If you have a rocker or glider in your room, sit in that and keep moving! That's the most important thing in getting rid of gas.

I've had very badly thinning hair (so thin you can see big stretches of scalp through the thin hair on top of my head) for a long time before surgery, just due to bad genetics. Here is how I have dealt with it: --short hair cut with layers in a side part -- this style helps a lot. --use fill-in fibers such as Toppik or Nanogen (these work great!). Now I am seeing more and more loss since surgery. I have an appointment to get a topper cut-in (kind of like a partial wig) next month. I had it custom made to match my natural hair. Hopefully it will look as good as I expect it to and not be too much of a pain to take care of. here is a link to before & after photos of someone with a topper: http://forum.womenshairlossproject.com/showthread.php?t=3756 she actually had hers made the same place I am getting mine.

I had a four hour pre-op class as well. We had to buy food from our surgeon's office (sigh . . .) not all liquids but different kinds of protein chips, bars, pastas, etc. We didn't get to sample beforehand, but I hear lots of other doctors do allow that.

I've been cleared for coffee by the RD in my surgeon's office. Coffee is good for you! I drink my coffee black, so I don't have to worry about creamers or sweeteners or anything. Right now I am actually doing a coffee protein shake in the morning rather than just plain black coffee but I know I'll go back to my plain black coffee eventually. Right now I need the coffee protein shake to get all my protein. If you haven't, you might check out Chike Protein Coffee. I love it. I make my morning coffee protein shake with: 1 scoop Chike protein coffee 8 oz. Hood Calorie Countdown nonfat milk 1 tsp. instant espresso granules Stats: 100 calories, 9 carbs, 16 g protein, 40% of your daily RDA of calcium.

For the pre-op about a week before surgery, I met with the nurse practitioner in my surgeon's office and got a full physical exam from her. We went over how I had been doing on my diet, my plans for post-surgery, etc. She went over all my drugs and vitamins with me and told me which ones to stop taking before surgery and when. My surgeon's office is in the same hospital where they do surgery, so then they sent me off to get labs drawn and to do pre-admission with the hospital. Hospital pre-admission was both taking care of financial stuff, getting another exam from a nurse, having an EKG and a pulmonary function test, as well as going over stuff like did I have any allergies, any problems with anesthesia in the past, and so on. They also gave me my pre-op instructions (no eating or drinking after midnight, shower the night before and morning of and wash abdomen with antiseptic solution, etc.). Earlier, two weeks before surgery, I had to go to a pre-surgery half day boot camp with a lot of other patients, and we went over the post-op diet, exercise plans, possible symptoms to watch out for, what we could expect in the hospital, all of that in excruciating detail.