Bufflehead

Nerves are completely normal, surgery is a big deal! But the odds of something bad happening are very, very small. I was kind of in the same place as I didn't have any local family or friends to support me in the hospital or immediatley post-op. In a way that was kind of good, though, as I had nothing to do but focus on my own recovery. I didn't have to waste my time explaining stuff to other people or sitting around trying to enjoy "company" in the hospital when I should have been focusing on sipping and walking. Keep in mind that your two main jobs post-op are sipping and walking, and just take care of those! I had no problems with my recovery and like you, I turned to this board a lot for information when I needed it. I am sure you will do great! Be sure to keep checking in

About Time protein powders are all natural and use stevia as a sweetener. The only flavor of theirs I have tried is mocha mint, which I thought was pretty good but not OMG THE BEST EVER. I have seen people raving about their pumpkin spice protein powder recently as well. http://tryabouttime.com/shop/ I have also tried Tera's Whey, which offers a range of types of protein (organic, non-GMO, etc.) which are all all-natural. Tera's Whey gets lots of good reviews but I have to say I found it absolutely awful. I thought it tasted like dirty dishwater. But you can order single serving packets to test it out, perhaps you will like it better than I did. http://www.teraswhey.com/

get a new pcp. Have your surgeon recommend one for you.

I agree with MystiGal, slow down your eating. That may help you pick up on cues. Also watch for: a burp, a hiccup, a runny nose, or sneezing. I know that sounds weird but all of those can be signals for sleeved people (especially new sleevers) that you are full. Another thing -- after you've eaten about half your meal, start asking yourself after every bite, have I eaten enough? Would I be perfectly happy to push this plate away from me and not eat until my next meal? If so, go ahead and stop. You may need a mental/emotional signal rather than a purely physical one. Finally, measure and weigh all your food very carefully. When you eat too much of a type of food (dense meat, tuna salad, eggs, whatever) make a note of how much you ate that was "too much." Next time, make sure you eat less - stop before you get to that amount whether you feel full or not. Good luck to you!

That's right Fit2btied! Especially since with all those IV fluids I was using the toilet just about every hour!

I take: 2 of Trader Joe's High Potency Chewable Multivitamins (one in morning, one at night) 1 50 mg tablet chelated zinc, at night, with dinner D3 3x per week (prescription, 50k units) 1 tablespoon Wellesse liquid iron, usually 1 hr after breakfast chewable probiotic (Bariatric Choice) at night, with dinner sublingual B12 in morning, with breakfast 1 Citracal petite at night, with dinner.

I wore hospital gowns the entire time. Usually just one, but if I was leaving my room to walk I put on a second one facing backwards to make sure I wasn't flashing people. I had an IV pole and a drain the first day I was there - I think it would have been hard for me to maneuver with those things in anything other than a hospital gown.

http://www.luckyvitamin.com/ has some of the lowest prices I have found for vitamins and for protein supplements. It offers worldwide shipping. That said, I have no idea how expensive their international shipping rates are. They have lots of chewable and gummy multivitamins available, including Centrum. I haven't seen chewable biotin. You might try just taking the regular tablet though. I started those about a week after surgery and had no trouble with them. I didn't need to chew them. The tablets are pretty small. Calcium - make sure you take calcium citrate. If you need chewables, Bariatric Advantage makes chewable calcium citrate, as does calcet. You can also buy liquid calcium supplements (Wellesse) is one brand but it may be hard to find a store that will ship it internationally. Same with the chews. If you can't find a chewy or liquid calcium supplement that you can have shipped to your country, it isn't going to kill you to not have a calcium supplement for 6 - 8 weeks. Your body's need for calcium is a long-term issue, not a short-term issue. So you can wait until you can tolerate swallowing a pill and then pick up with the calcium supplements then. If you are female and have not yet hit menopause, I would recommend an iron supplement. You shouldn't have any problems with gel capsules as long as they are not huge. Good luck!

Do you have a DVR? I record everything I want to watch and fast forward through the commercials so they never can make me think about food. I don't watch any live TV anymore unless there is some huge breaking news story that I absolutely need to follow.

For me I think the sleeve is hard work, but in a different way than dieting before the sleeve was hard work. Before the sleeve, dieting was mostly about resisting temptation, and damn, that was HARD. Keeping my mind off food while eating "only" 1200-1500 calories a day was hard. Now, post-sleeve, temptation isn't a problem for me (yet, I assume it's coming down the road some time). Choosing to eat small portions of food is not hard, it's easy. But in the past I didn't have to be completely OCD about tracking everything I ate in terms of calories, fat grams, protein grams, carbs, etc. I wasn't rigid about getting my vitamins every day; in fact, I rarely took vitamins. I didn't weigh or measure all my food - I hardly ever did. If I wanted a "cheat" meal or day or snack, I took it. That's all gone. Now I'm following someone else's extremely rigid rules with no room for variance. This is all hard, not in the sense that I want to be doing it another way, but in the sense that it takes a lot of work and vigilance. OP, don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I love my sleeve and think it's the best decision I've ever made for myself, for my physical and emotional health. I have been exactly where you are with the yo-yo dieting and weight gain. I also struggled with admitting that I needed medical intervention and couldn't do it "on my own." Good luck in your progress - I believe you'll surprise those around you and even yourself with your ability to succeed with help from modern medicine. And there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of medical advances even if there may be some people who don't understand that.

I take a double dose of the Trader Joe's High Potency Chewable Multi. One tab in the morning and one at night. I've had no trouble tolerating them and they are a good bargain. Might be worth checking out if you've got a TJ's near you.

I don't know about caffeine stimulating hunger, but the thing about it being a diuretic is a myth. Or at least, coffee/tea etc. have about the same diuretic effect on you as plain water does. This is just one link: http://abcnews.go.co...=5552790&page=1 Google it and you will find confirming information from the Mayo Clinic, New York Times, etc. I can have a couple cups of black coffee each day with the blessing of the RD in my surgeon's office. I haven't actually started doing it yet because my morning "coffee" is a coffee protein drink right now (I do add some instant espresso to it and the protein coffee I use does have real caffeine, so in terms of caffeine it's about the same as having a couple of cups of coffee). On a few occasions I have had a cup of black coffee and it has not bothered me a bit. Coffee helps keep you regular, too

I am on soft foods now too, and it sounds like my guidelines are pretty similar to yours. One difference is that I am allowed ground beef or thinly sliced deli meat such as roast beef - not other forms of roast beef though. My meal planning is not very inspiring, I'm afraid. A typical day for me might look like: Breakfast: one poached egg over 1/4 c. fat free refried beans OR 50 grams Greek yogurt with one tablespoon peanut butter stirred in OR two pieces of turkey bacon Lunch: 1.5 oz sliced deli meat (usually turkey or roast beef) plus one babybel cheese plus 2 prunes OR 2 oz. chicken salad and 1 oz. broccoli salad from the deli counter Dinner: 1.5 oz sardines plus 1 oz. cheese plus 1 oz. asparagus salad OR 2 oz. shrimp with hot sauce and blue cheese melted on top plus 1 ounce frozen mixed veggies. I'm not allowed more than three ounces per meal total, and of that, at least 2 ounces has to be protein-rich food such as meat, dairy, eggs, or tofu. Snacks are protein shakes, nothing else. And I'm not allowed starchy veggies, grain-based food, or sweets. If you are on MyFitnessPal you might want to friend people at a similar stage to you and lurk their diaries to see what they eat. I get lots of ideas that way!

That's the foamies aka the slimies . . . most people get it after eating too fast or eating too much. So really, really cut back on the amount you eat in one sitting and on how fast you eat and see if that helps. They can also be caused by a food or supplement that disagrees with you. I got the slimies after taking a mineral supplement that my body apparently did not want. Relief from slimies is usually either walking or lying down on your back and resting, depending on which makes you feel better. My surgeon's office says do NOT, under any circumstances, make yourself throw up. That can be very dangerous for sleeve patients. You just have to wait it out, then try to figure out what caused it so you can avoid doing it again. If it keeps happening, definitely get in touch with your surgeon's office for help figuring it out. Good luck to you!

How many calories, carbs, and grams of fat and protein are you getting each day?

I'm usually between 600-800 calories per day, but I don't include any exercise calories in my calculations. So net would be lower on days that I do cardio, I guess, but I don't let MFP do that to my calorie count!

I've had some changes. I used to love coconut, now I don't really care for it very much. I used to prefer vanilla or strawberry to chocolate, now I prefer chocolate. Didn't used to like eggs, now I love them. Overall I think I generally prefer savory foods to sweet now, and I used to have a major sweet tooth and would eat candy and cookies all day if/when I could. But the biggest change is just not needing or wanting to eat all the time, or to eat non-healthy foods.

Hospitals provide pillows and blankets -- I would only take them if you absolutely can't sleep without your own. Have whoever is coming to pick you up bring a pillow for you to use on the ride home. I brought my phone and charger, lip balm, couple extra pairs undies, very basic toiletries (deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb), no-skid socks for walking the halls, and my Kindle. As it turns out I didn't need the socks (hospital provides them), and I only used my Kindle because my surgeon was running late so I had 90 minutes to kill in pre-op. There are some threads here that have suggestions for what to bring -- IMO 90% of what they suggest is not needed for the vast majority of folks. It's a night or two in the hospital, and you are going to have recovery, walking, and sipping to do. I've seen people say to bring things like your journal, your favorite stuffed animals, a lap desk, your flat iron and makeup mirror, etc. etc. etc. For me that's stuff you might take on a cruise of several weeks, not for a few nights in the hospital . . . my advice is to pack as lightly as you can. Oh, and I made sure the clothes I wore to the hospital would be fine for leaving -- that was a loose, empire waist dress, flat shoes, and a comfy cotton bra that fastens in front, no underwire.

I just found a place where you can get a sample pack with all the flavors and some other coffee protein drinks too: http://www.mybariatricpantry.com/Coffee_Lovers_Sampler_p/mbp-coffee_sampler.htm

For a lot of people liquid passes through the sleeve very quickly. It isn't until you hit purees and especially soft foods that you'll feel restriction. What do you mean about precautions? I was told not to lift 10 lbs or more for 2 weeks and not to lift 20 lbs or more for four weeks. I was also told to nap as much as I felt like I wanted to but to be active otherwise. Is that the sort of thing you mean?

My hospital required proof of a current flu shot before they would operate.

I know a lot of people like the Click Decaf Mocha protein powder. You can buy a sample here to see if you like it: https://drinkclick.c...af-mocha-packet I think the protein content is not really high (15g/serving) and it does contain milk. About Time has a mocha mint flavor, you can buy a single serving packet here to try it out: http://tryabouttime....e-serving-pack/ About Time is all natural. It is lactose free. It appears to be caffeine free although they don't explicitly say so. I have tried the mocha mint and while it is not my all time favorite, I thought it was pretty good. Why protein with caffeine? Lots of doctors permit caffeine . . . I have added caffeine back into my diet with the blessing of the RD in my surgeon's office.

Did your surgeon or anyone else provide you with a phased diet plan? It's hard for us to give advice if we don't know whether you are on clear liquids, full liquids, what your protein goals are, etc. I can share with you what my plan was, but every surgeon has a different plan. My surgeon's plan was four weeks of full liquids after surgery. Here were my requirements: --track all intake via myfitnesspal or another app. --get 64 oz. of liquid each day (water, protein shakes, juice, etc.). I found it easiest if I did half water and half other fluids. Each day I started out by filling a 32 oz. Bubba Keg with water and ice and just worked on sipping it throughout the day. A couple times every hour I would have a couple of ounces of something else, such as a protein shake or some G2. --get no more than 60 carbs and 30 g fat per day. --take a double dose of standard vitamins. This could be liquid vitamins, gummies, chewables, etc. At that point I was taking Wellesse liquid vitamins, calcium, and iron. Make sure you include your vitamins in your food journal on myfitnesspal or wherever you end up journaling. A lot of them contain more calories and carbs than you might imagine. For ready to drink protein shakes & drinks during full liquids we were recommended Isopure, Low Carb Slim Fast, EAS Myoplex, Atkins Advantage, and Premier Protein. I had to dilute the Isopure 50/50 with water or G2 because I didn't like the taste. If you are on a clear liquid diet, then Isopure is considered a clear liquid. The rest are full liquids. I liked the Premier Protein shakes a lot. You can find them at Sam's Club, Costco, Kroger, and other places: http://www.premierpr...m/where-to-buy/ For protein powders, we were recommended Body Fortress, Unjury, Chike (use half a standard serving for Chike though), Syntrax Matrix, Syntrax Nectar, and GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey. If you are finding milk isn't sitting well for you, mix your protein powders with something else. You can use water with Syntrax Nectar flavors and that is a clear liquid. For the others, you might try mixing with unsweetened vanilla almond milk or a 50/50 mixture of water and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. You can also try soy milk, coconut milk, etc. until you find something that agrees with you. I recommend getting samples of protein powders and trying them before you commit to buying a 2 lb or bigger jar. If you go to GNC or Vitamin Shoppe they should be able to help you with buying individual samples of what they carry. You can also buy sample packs online: http://www.bjsbariat...SamplePack.html http://www.unjury.co...tarter-kit.html http://www.chikenutr...riety-pack.html http://www.mybariatricpantry.com /SYNTRAX_INNOVATIONS_MATRIX_SAMPLE_PACK_p/matrix_sample.htm http://www.nashuanut...-1-serving.html My favorites right after surgery were the Unjury chicken soup protein (also considered a clear liquid by the way, and many people find it easier to go down than a thick, milky, sweet shake), and the Unjury chocolate splendor flavor. Also the Syntrax Nectar roadside lemonade and lemon tea flavors. Other things I was drinking during my full liquid phase: kefir, low sodium v-8, light or diluted fruit juice such as Ocean Spray Light Cranberry, G2, and low sodium beef broth with a little unflavored protein powder stirred in. If you are going to add protein powder to hot drinks, you'll need a food thermometer. The Unjury starter pack I linked above includes a food thermometer. You don't want to add protein to drinks over 130 degrees as the protein will turn into disgusting, slimy clumps. Good luck to you!

I weigh every two weeks. That way I don't get freaked out by little day to day fluctuations, or non-fluctuations. That said, right now I am following my surgeon's extremely regimented post op plan. I have met my goals every day, and not had even a bite of something off the plan. So I am not worried about whether I am doing something wrong that might be causing me to have less than optimal weight loss. When I get six months from surgery, I will have more freedom with what I eat. I plan to start weighing daily then, but doing a weekly average and having the weekly average be what I actually record and track on myfitnesspal.

Personally, I don't believe in going hard core low calorie, or low carb, super low anything before surgery. If I were in your shoes, I would probably do a sensible, balanced diet and aim for between 1500-1700 calories per day. I would make sure to eat a high fiber diet and I would not substitute meals with shakes/smoothies. I would want to go into surgery well-nourished, strong, and with my digestive system functioning at peak performance. I would use the pre-surgery months to make behavioral changes rather than dietary changes. Things like: --three meals a day and two small snacks, NO GRAZING --don't drink with your meals and wait 30 minutes after a meal to drink --eat slowly. Chew food well. Take small bites. --don't drink your calories. --if you are going to have to give up caffeine or carbonated drinks after surgery, give them up now. --eat mindfully. Only eat when you are sitting down. This means at a table, not in front of a tv or a computer. --track everything you eat on myfitnesspal or a similar app religiously. Everything you eat, every day, even if you "fall off the wagon" and eat an entire pizza and a gallon of ice cream. Don't ever lie to or avoid your food journal. I think that changing the way you approach food from a behavioral standpoint is more helpful than trying to adopt a post-surgery diet before you actually have the surgery. Just MO.