Aaron in Tulsa

I didn't have a liquid diet except for the day before surgery. Instead, I had to lose 10 percent of my body weight in order to get a surgery date. My bmi was 48. He said if it had been lower I'd have had to lose 5 percent. I had a plan from my dietician to lose the weight -- low carb, high protein, low fat. It took me about 2 months to lose 36 lbs. Totally worth it.

Mucinex *and drugs with nasal decongestants. :-)

I can take Mucinex drugs with nasal decongestants. I just have to make sure there are no NSAIDs in sight.

I think she means Rotel. :-)

Imodium is on my list of drugs I can take post-surgery. Pepto is on my list of drugs not to take. Not sure why.

My #1 kitchen utensil is a GOOD 8" chef's knife. Mine cost about $50. I've had it for years and I just take it to a kitchen supply store to be sharpened once a year. It's invaluable. I also love my mandoline slicer. You can get cheap plastic versions (which is what I have) for $20-$30. It can slice veggies super-thin really quickly and can also julienne slice. Takes about 30 seconds to slice a cucumber or potato into uniform slices. Mine has three slicing disks of different widths. You can also stick it in the dishwasher.

I get the feeling in my chest as well, but lately I've started sneezing when I'm full. Strange, but it's like clockwork.

The preop nurse told me they wouldn't be shaving my abdomen, but I woke up bald as a turkey. But I didn't have to do it myself.

I can eat spicy food just fine. The trick is that post-sleeve we are instructed not to drink with meals. It's tough for me to get through a spicy meal with nothing to drink, so I tend to avoid frequent spicy meals.

I had cabbage and smoked turkey sausage stew tonight. No problems. Got the recipe from the Bariatric Foodie website. I had surgery 10/30.

So I was just stricken with brilliance. Okay, not really. And I'm sure someone else has come up with this idea. But here it is. I have a casserole recipe that calls for croutons on top. Obviously, croutons aren't on the plan. So I crushed up some soy protein crisp snack thingies and put them on top. Brilliance.

Honestly I don't know the brand! I just buy them from my Dr's office. If you search Amazon for soy crisps you should be able to find some. The kind I used are little crunchy balls, but the ones that are more chip-like should work too.

At least I think that's what you call it. Woot!

I've lost 63 and got my very first comment TODAY. I kept waiting and waiting...

I remember nothing until 6 hours after surgery. Evidently I was speaking coherently in the recovery room and with my wife when I got back to my room, but I don't remember a thing. :-)

I was ravenous until I started some solid-ish foods at 2 weeks. Since then I am never hungry. I have to remind myself to eat, which is a bizarre thing to me. Your hunger should get better once you start eating real protein.

EKG only here as well.

Happy sleeving!

Modified from the blog of one of my doctor's dieticians. Check it out! www.foodcoach.me Mix together 8 oz. softened fat-free cream cheese, 1/2 c. canned pumpkin, 1/2 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. nutmeg, 1 t. vanilla. I also added 1 T. Torani sugar-free vanilla syrup. Fold in 8 oz. fat-free Cool Whip. Spread out in a pie plate (no crust) and refrigerate overnight.