Bufflehead

I don't know about stretching your sleeve but I will say the few times I have tried carbonated drinks (champagne) since surgery I can't take more than a few sips before it gets really uncomfortable, verging on pain. So it's a no-go for me. Soda of any kind is not tempting for me because generally it's just too much crap, either artificial crap (sweeteners, colors, flavors) or too much sugar. Plus that painful carbonation. I have totally given up soda and do not miss it a bit. Also, keep in mind that soda (especially diet soda) is associated with weight gain. No thank you.

You may find people notice less than you think they will. I've never had anyone comment on my not drinking with my meal or eating small portions. It's pretty rude to pay that much attention to other people's eating habits and comment on them. People are a lot less focused on what you do with your food than you are, trust me! But I had some standard responses in my pocket in case I needed them. "I don't drink with my meals. My doctor says it will help me reach my weight loss goals." "I'm trying to cut back, doctor's orders. I need to lose weight." "The meal was delicious but I guess I'm just not that hungry." "I had a big lunch so I'm not hungry." etc. etc.

I had really thin hair prior to surgery, just bad genetics. I used Toppik and Nanogen before surgery so my scalp didn't show. By the way, if you are self-conscious about your scalp showing, those products are terrific and I really recommend them. I lost enough hair after surgery that I had to get a bonded topper, which I guess is kind of like a toupee for women. I don't want to sound braggy, but it looks great, I get tons of compliments on my hair now, and no one can tell that some of my hair is mine because I bought it and only a smaller amount grew naturally out of my scalp! I get my topper custom made to match my natural hair and get it re-set about every five weeks. Most big cities have a salon that specializes in this kind of product and hairstyling. My hair did grow back a little bit eventually, but I am sticking with my topper, I love it.

I live alone and didn't need any help. I made sure that the heavier chores (laundry, changing kitty litter, raking leaves) were done before surgery. My family all lives on the other side of the country from me, and I told my friends here to stay away. No offense to them but I didn't want them hanging around staring at me, or me feeling like I had to entertain them or something. I did just fine. It was nice to have time for myself and not have to worry about anyone else.

Are you on a PPI? If not, check with your surgeon. For most people, excess stomach acid feels like hunger, and excess stomach acid can be a real issue after sleeve surgery.

It depends on what your surgeon permits. My doctor is very conservative - no raw veggies for six months after surgery.

Definitely second the recommendation for Eat Slower, it was a godsend for me.

No thank you https://sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/the-detox-delusion/

@@mykdzmom I don't use ice in my shakes. I can imagine it would probably not do well unless you were starting with soft crushed ice rather than ice cubes.

I have a cuisinart hand blender. Unbelievably easy to use and clean, and it doesn't put air in your protein shakes and make them all bubbly and foamy and gross. It costs about $35 on Amazon, which isn't nothing, but also isn't a multi-hundred dollar ninja whatever. http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CSB-75BC-2-Speed-Immersion-Blender/dp/B00ARQVM5O/

Pre-op diets are as varied as the surgeons and dieticians who prescribe them. Only your team can tell you what is allowed on yours.

I haven't been through your exact situation but I see it from the other side. As an educator, I work with adult learners -- both those who are young(er) and have gone straight through school without taking a break, and those who are returning to higher ed after several years away. I can tell you, my "returning learners" are the BEST! They are focused, thoughtful, able to plan and manage their time well, and do a great job at keeping their priorities in order. They are not always at the top of the class, but they are NEVER at the bottom. I have absolutely no doubt that you will follow this pattern and do great. I don't know you, but I can see that you are intelligent, you express yourself well, you are self-aware, you see exactly what you are aiming for -- you have the tools you need to succeed. Don't sell yourself short. And by the way, in the time you've been out of the classroom, I think there's been a lot of learning by educators about the best ways to teach adult learners, and a lot of that has been adopted by various people. You may well find that the work you do is more engaging and it is easier to focus and learn, not just because you are more mature and ready for it (which you are), but because teachers have improved their methods. No guarantees on that part of it but you might get lucky there. Let me repeat, I have no doubt you can do this and be successful. Trust yourself

If you haven't, start a myfitnesspal.com account and get in the habit of logging your food intake every day (after you weigh/measure your portions of course!).

Pure Protein at Target and Body Fortress at Wal-Mart are both cheap and they get pretty good reviews on taste, you might check them out. You can also just go to a GNC or Vitamin Shoppe and see if they have anything on sale. I know my Vitamin Shoppe always has *something* on sale for a good price.

Muscle Milk also is 310 calories and 19 carbs to get those 32 grams of Protein, which IMO is really high. If you want 32 grams of protein without ingesting quite so many calories and carbs, you could use an extra 1/3 scoop of Syntrax nectar chocolate truffle and end up with 32 grams of protein, 133 calories and zero carbs. Plus, I don't know about the powder, but I tried the Muscle Milk RTD Protein shakes and I thought they were horrible - tasted like industrial run off waste!

Sounds like fun! You will definitely want to run that by Dr. Almanza or whatever medical professional on his team handles patient aftercare. I know my surgeon would not have cleared me for something like ethat for six weeks.

I second the recommendation for Syntrax Nectars. I really like the Sweets line, with chocolate truffle, cappuccino, double stuffed cookie etc. -- but lots of people like the fruit-flavor Syntrax Nectars like Roadside Lemonade and Fuzzy Navel. I also really like the Syntrax Matrix line, they have tons of great flavors. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard is another big favorite of mine but they have 23-24 grams of protein powder, not 25. You can get samples of all of these lines at nashuanutrition.com. If that extra gram of protein powder is super important, you could check out Jay Robb Whey Isolate, which has 25 grams and is all natural, low calorie and low carb. I really like that one a lot. You can buy samples from jayrobb.com. A

For the first several months after surgery I took liquid calcium - Wellesse brand. It is mostly calcium citrate with a little calcium phosphate. It tastes a little chalky but no problems getting it down. It's best kept in the fridge. I got mine from Amazon. Since then I've switched to Citracal Petites, but for the first several months after surgery even the "Petites" were too big for me to swallow comfortably.

For the first four weeks after surgery I took Wellesse liquid multi-vitamins. I got mine from Amazon but I think you can find them at drugstores, too. I did a double dose, one in the morning, one in the evening. I had no trouble with them -- they are better kept in the fridge. You can dilute with water or Gatorade if you want to. After four weeks, I switched to Trader Joe's High Potency chewables. They taste fine and never caused me any problems. They are also a lot cheaper, lower calorie, and lower carb than other vitamins. I have had my labs drawn regularly and they have always been great.

You don't have to tell them you are having surgery. Just tell them you are taking some time off. If you do tell them you are having surgery, or they find out somehow, I wouldn't lie about it -- that can come back to bite you and erode your credibility and trustworthiness at work. Sample answers: "It's female stuff" (assuming you are a woman) -- this is true to an extent because most people who are obese are women, and something like 75% of wls patients are women. If they ask you for more details, just say you aren't comfortable discussing it. "it's really embarrassing, if I told you we would both be mortified" (let them assume you are having anal fissures repaired or vaginal rejuvenation, who cares) "it stresses me out too much to talk about it, let's talk about something else" Or if you are super-confident about your right not to have your privacy invaded: "that's a really personal question. why would you ask me that?" I just told people at work that I was taking a couple weeks off for surgery. No one asked me what I was having done -- they are smart people and figured out that if I had wanted to tell them, I would have. Also, I work in a legal setting and the people I work with know that they have no legal right to know about my medical situation, so that made it a bit easier.

Okay, take a deep breath and calm down Bariatric surgery will REDUCE your risk of death by 89%. And that includes the tiny risk of death associated with any surgery. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1356432/ What if i die on the operation table? We all have to die somehow, and my take on that possibility was (1) it's a tiny risk, less than a half of one percent; and (2) since we have to die, dying on an operation table is probably the best way to go. It's painless, you don't know it's happening, and there are people there to take care of your body and inform your family. Better that than having a massive stroke (huge risk for obese people btw) at home alone, being unable to summon help, dying slowly and painfully and then having your body be eaten by your pets. Wont the staples in my stomach cause cancer on a later stage? I'm not aware of any science showing that staples cause cancer. You know what probably does cause cancer though? Obesity! http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/causes-prevention/risk/weight-activity/obesity-fact-sheet http://www.asco.org/practice-research/obesity-and-cancer Will the staples not cause discomfort? No, you can't feel the staples. You will probably have some discomfort immediately after surgery, caused by the incisions and the gas they use to inflate your abdomen for surgical access, but you will get good pain meds to take care of it and it will go away quickly. Will the fact that i had the procedure not cut my life expectancy short? No, bariatric surgery is associated with a lower death rate than is found in morbidly obese people who choose not to have surgery: http://bariatric.stopobesityforlife.com/does-bariatric-surgery-increase-life-expectancy-in-obese-patients/ You know what will significantly decrease your life expectancy? Yes, you guessed it, remaining morbidly obese will! http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/01/weight.shortens.lifespan.health/ "According to recent NIH statistics obese individuals have a 50 to 100% increased risk of death from all causes compared to normal weight individuals." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1473136/ All that emotional energy you are spending being afraid of surgery? Spend it on being afraid of obesity instead. That's what should scare you and make you willing to step outside your comfort zone to fight it with the most effective weapon possible, which for the vast majority of people is bariatric surgery.

Of course everyone's experience will be a bit different. Here's mine: 1. What was it like waking up? Did you feel pain or nausea right away, or feel confused? I had some pain in my shoulder/collarbone area due to gas. No abdominal pain. I really had to pee! I didn't have any nausea. 2. Did you go right to your room or were you in a post operative room at first? I was in a post-op recovery bay for about 30 minutes (I think) before being moved to my room. 3. How long did you wait before you walked? About an hour after I was in my own room. Tip: don't let them put you in the bed. Ask to be seated in the visitor chair or couch instead. That makes it a lot easier to get up and walk. 4. Did you have a pain pump or how did you take pain medication or anti-nausea meds? No pain pump. I took liquid lortab about every four hours. I didn't take any anti-nausea meds as I wasn't nauseated, but they were offered to me as a capsule. 5.How long until you took your home meds? Did you crush them or take them whole? The only meds I had at home were pain meds (liquid lortab) and a PPI, which was a small capsule, swallowed whole. I started both of those in the hospital and continued when I went home. My doctor allows swallowing whole pills as long as they fit would fit through a normal size wedding ring. Your surgeon and pharmacist should be involved in telling you exactly how to take any meds. I also took liquid Multivitamins, Calcium, and Iron for four weeks before switching to chewables and tablets.

Just as others have said, it isn't a big deal. Most people aren't paying attention to how fast you eat or even how much you eat or whether you drink with your meal. My experience has been that unless you bring it up, no one will notice or care.

Most medical folks will tell you that clear urine is the sign of too much hydration -- what you should be aiming for is the color of pale straw. But check with your own doctor to be sure. And yes, darker urine in the morning is normal, it's just because it built up overnight.

1. 1/2 can Trader Joe's skipjack tuna + 6 frozen grilled asparagus spears, snapped into small chunks & thawed in the microwave + 1 T. TJ's light champagne vinaigrette dressing = delicious, low calorie, low carb, high protein tuna salad (you can change it with different frozen veggies and dressings, the ginger soy dressing is also delicious and low calorie) 2. I make myself a little "dessert" plate with a slice of rosemary ham, a couple of Calimyrna figs, and a small serving of the toasted coconut chips. *love* 3. take 1/2 can sardines in harissa, mix in a little chopped dark leafy greens (chopped kale is really good). Brush the inside of a small ramekin with olive oil and place in oven while it preheats to 375. Take out the ramekin, add in the sardines & greens, bake for 5 minutes. Take out and crack a Trader Joe's Omega 3 egg over the top. Bake for another 10 minutes. Take out and sprinkle with chili powder, curry powder, hot sauce to your taste. Top with shredded cheese of your choice -- I love Trader Joe's shredded Swiss & Gruyere blend -- and return to bake until the cheese is melted. You can vary this by using avocado instead of dark leafy greens (or in addition to). Lots of protein and healthy fats in this meal. Sardines are underrated as a weight loss/post WLS food -- not only are they chock full of protein, they have Omega 3's, calcium, and iron too.