Bufflehead

Virtually everyone stalls out at the third week post-surgery. Do a search here for "three week stall." You'll see. Going up a few pounds is not a big deal -- probably Water weight, constipation, some minor fluctuation. Keep following your plan faithfully and the scale will start going down again. You may want to stay off the scale for a few weeks if a stall is going to drive you nuts though! PS losing 16 lbs in one week is crazy fast -- don't get discouraged if that doesn't happen again, as it is extremely unlikely.

Obviously I can't say anything about your specific case or evaluation, but I can say that I have seen plenty of people approved here with illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, etc. The common theme seems to be that they want to see that your situation is stable, you are addressing it with meds/therapy, and are prepared to cope with the changes that will come in your life after surgery. Good luck!

Definitely follow your pharmacist's instructions with respect to how to treat medications. If they say don't crush, it's for a good reason. It's highly unlikely that anything even could get caught in your staples, as the vast majority of surgeons oversew the staple line, meaning nothing that goes in via your mouth will ever touch your staples. And even if for some reason it did, medication will dissolve in your stomach so it wouldn't be stuck there long at all, it would just dissolve away. If you aren't already, you may want to monitor your blood pressure regularly at home. It isn't unusual for people with high blood pressure to have it resolve immediately after surgery. I had really high blood pressure before surgery and then within a week after it, it was completely normal and I've never had to be on hbp meds again.

Men typically lose weight faster: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=do+men+lose+weight+faster+than+women

When I'm traveling, I pack jerky sticks and protein bars as snacks. I make sure I have everything I need so that I stay out of those evil airport stores that have the giant candy displays in front, also stay away from Starbucks, etc. I can find a WLS-friendly meal in just about any restaurant. Order something that looks like lean protein, tell them to hold anything high in carbs that comes with it, like rice or potatoes. Order a glass of water to drink, sip it before your meal, but do not drink with the meal or after. In my experience, no one will notice whether you are drinking with your meal or not. They also won't notice if you don't eat very much. But if someone is rude enough to comment about what you are eating or how much you are eating, here are some responses: "I'm cutting back on my portions on my doctor's orders." "I don't drink and eat at the same time. My doctor says this is a good weight loss strategy and I need to drop some pounds." "My doctor has me on a high protein, low carb diet." "Airplanes make me a little queasy, it's probably best for everyone here if I don't eat very much." (for meals taken immediately after a flight) "I can't have dessert, doctor's orders." "I can't have wine, or other liquid calories, doctor's orders." As you can see, these are heavy on invoking what your doctor is telling you to do. So those are pretty much all true and they have the added benefit of being almost guaranteed to stop rude people who want to lecture you about food choices in their tracks. In my experience, when you tell someone your doctor ordered you to do a certain thing, most people will respect that and drop the topic immediately. Good luck!

Hopefully your surgeon or dietician gave you a plan with acceptable foods outlined for each stage?

In my program, scrambled eggs and ricotta bake were fine for the puree stage without going into the food processor. So were yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu, and refried beans. But anything involving meat had to be pureed.

roast chicken pureed with marinara sauce, heated up in the microwave with a little mozzarella melted on top.

It is very normal to pause in your losing in about weeks 2 - 4. That's just the way the body works. It will pick up again as long as you are following your plan. If you are following your plan, just relax, stay away from the scale, and focus on adjusting to your new life. Here's a timely post from Alex: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/341581-help-weight-loss-surgery-isn%E2%80%99t-working-for-me/

Most people take several weeks to recover from major surgery. It's normal to feel tired, even exhausted. To make things worse, you ARE losing weight -- and when your fat cells dump out the fat, they dump out the hormones that are stored in fat cells. All these hormones floating around in your blood can make you moody and sad, too. So give yourself permission to not feel so great. Treat yourself well. Rest, walk when you can, work hard on getting your protein and fluids in, and gradually you will start feeling better. As far as losing weight goes, stay off the scale at the outset. Surgery and the restricted diet, even things like constipation and hormone fluctuation can make your body do wacky things! Trust that underneath it all, you are losing, but it takes most people a long time to be able to see it in ourselves. And you didn't get big overnight, you won't get small overnight either. Hang in there -- it seems slow at first but eventually it will get to a point where it feels like you can't buy smaller clothes fast enough. But that is usually some months out. Trust, follow your program, relax and don't stress -- it will be okay

I would be interested in: --rates of leaks, embolisms, and other serious complications --average excess weight lost by patients at 1 & 2 years post-surgery --does the surgeon/his or her team provide you with detailed directions and support for after surgery -- none of this "eat whatever you want until you feel full" crap?

My team's super-conservative plan doesn't allow salad or other crunchy vegetables until 6 months after surgery.

I eat pretty much the same thing every day. I found what works for me and I stick with it. I don't care if it's "boring" -- food isn't entertainment. I stick with lean, dense protein and green veggies for meals, and jerky, fruit, and small amounts of nuts for snacks. Here's my typical menu: breakfast: 2 oz of roast beef + 1 oz baby spinach leaves lunch: 2.5 oz grilled chicken breast + 1.5 oz green veggies such as asparagus or green beans dinner: scrambled eggs (1 egg + 1 egg white) with cheese, 2 oz green veggie such as broccoli or brussels sprouts Find what works for you, but focus on lean protein and green veggies. Measure/weigh what you are going to eat and stick with that. Avoid high carb or high sugar foods. Good luck!

I was prescribed omeprazole after surgery. I took it just like any other pill. My doctor doesn't have a problem with patients taking pills as long as they will fit through a standard-sized ring. With respect to opening up pills or grinding them up, make sure you discuss this with a pharmacist first. Some medications lose their effectiveness if treated that way instead of being swallowed whole, so making a plan for all your meds in advance is a good idea.

Sounds like possibly a stricture, but whatever it is, you should call your doctor if you cannot tolerate drinking and are getting dehydrated. That's a serious situation and internet strangers can't help you. Only your doctor can help you.

I have experience from the opposite side -- when I was recovering from my surgery, one of the patients had his toddler children visit him a couple of times. The children ran screaming up and down the halls and collided with patients trying to walk, including almost ripping the IV out of one of them. I think this was really unusual -- most children know how to be well-behaved in hospitals, most parents can control children when they slip out of their usual good behavior, and in most hospitals, nurses will intervene in situations like this. But I would beg you that if you do have your child visit, to not let this sort of thing happen! Children running and screaming and colliding with other people is pretty much a fact of life everywhere, but IMO the hospital is one of those few places that it shouldn't happen. I would bet your daughter would be glad to see you and that you are doing well and will be back home with her soon. I think you should have her visit, assuming your surgery goes well and you are feeling up to it. Good luck!

Your mouth can produce excess saliva when your vagus nerve is irritated. The vagus nerve runs across the top of the stomach, It may have gotten bruised during surgery and is now recovering. White covering on the tongue could be thrush, which does tend to happen after surgery. However, I'm not a medical professional and I'm just throwing out ideas. Probably a much better idea to seek diagnosis and treatment (if needed) from your health care team, not from internet strangers! Call your doc.

That actually sounds kind of like dumping syndrome. And yes, people with the sleeve can get it, although it is much more common with bypass. If you think it could be dumping, you definitely want to eat slower, and smaller amounts, with food that is either very rich or very high in sugar. Clam chowder doesn't seem like it would be high in sugar, but it certainly could be rich. http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/dumping-syndrome-causes-foods-treatments The standard advice my team gives out when you have an adverse reaction to food: --wait a couple weeks before trying that food again --eat slower --eat smaller amounts --take smaller bites Good luck!

What are you eating now? How many calories, carbs, and protein grams do you get in each day? What do you think is causing your stall?

I would say, pick protein-forward meals and eat protein first when you are served. If you see protein-heavy snacks like jerky, cheese sticks, or yogurt, choose those. Other than that, relax, don't worry, and have a good time! 10 days of going slightly under your protein goals is not going to hurt you in the long run. Just don't go crazy with high carb foods, sweets, and alcohol.

Also, I will throw in that 4 ounces = half cup is only true for liquid and mostly liquid things. There is no way that 4 ounces of chicken would fit in half a cup, or 4 ounces of broccoli. That's why, IMO, it's important to weigh non-liquid foods.

http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/protein-powders/protein-powder-samples-1-serving.html https://chikenutrition.com/chike-variety-pack.html http://www.jayrobb.com/protein/whey-protein-samples.asp Also Unjury sells a starter pack. It's hard to link here because they have some auto-generated code that replaces the link, but if you Google Unjury starter kit it comes right up.

Follow the plan your team gave you.

Here's my input and feedback: stay.off.the.scale. Seriously! Follow your program and quit worrying about whether you are meeting some imaginary measuring stick or goal or comparison. I have no idea how much I had lost at 8 days out because I didn't get *on* the scale for the first month after surgery! I never experienced a stall because if I had one, I didn't know about it. The only thing I worried about was whether I was following my team's instructions as best I could. If I did that, I couldn't control how fast I lost weight and I knew that believing I could would drive me nuts. Put your scale away for a while and worry about things you actually can control.

I had no trouble with spicy stuff and sauces in pureed phase. Just be sure that if you are adding sauce to something, you know exactly how much you are adding so you can account for it in your daily allowance of calories, carbs, fat, etc. Some of those sauces will be very calorie-rich and you want to be careful with them, as even small amounts can add up quickly.