joatsaint

It was normal for me. The 1st 8 days, even 1/2 teaspoon of ANYTHING would tie my stomach up in knots and feel like rocks going through a garbage disposal. It slowly got better. I was eating mainly Cream of Mushroom Soup at the beginning of week 3 and for weeks afterwards, but I could barely eat 3/4 of a can per day. I took advantage of my situation to maximaize my weight loss. I knew eventually my stomach would heal and the weight loss would slow as I was able to eat more per meal. Welcome to the loser's bench.

It was no big deal for me either. My doc said to bring my CPAP machine to the hospital, just to help me sleep better after surgery. Apnea is a common problem among us and the doctors and hospitals have protocols in place to handle it.

I really didn't have any problems once I got home. I live alone, I had my Protein drinks, broth and popsicles. Other than not being allowed to lift over 5 lbs, I did the normal things. sleeping was a hassle - I had to sleep propped up like in a hosptial bed, couldn't lay on either side without feeling a pulling sensation inside. I didn't drive for about 7 days, until I felt sure the meds were out of my system. I was back at work on day 11. You can watch my Youtube videos (link in my signature) you can see me being wheeled back into my hospital room right after surgery and a lot of other videos where I answer some of the most often asked questions I see posted on this forum.

My 1st few months, it was tough to get in enough Protein. I didn't try to force it though. I literally ate zero protein the 1st 10 days. All I could handle was nibbling on popsicles. I concentrated on getting enough Water. Eventually, the swelling in my stomach went down and I was able to start eating 1/4 cup of food at a time. Just hang in there and do the best you can. Welcome to the Losers Bench!!!!!

Thanks for the link. Just remember, it's only a guide. The calculator says losing 140 lbs is achieved by 20% of patients studied, I've lost 157 lbs and am still going down. Don't let a calculator set your weight loss limits.

My surgeon's office didn't offer financing, but did take credit cards. My hospital did offer a financing plan and took credit cards as well.

I didn't try popcorn till around month 9 post-op. Only because I was eating so few calories and needed as much nutrition as I could get per calorie. I was only able to eat about 1/2 of a hundred calorie micorwave bag of popcorn the 1st time and Frankensleeve DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL! It was several more weeks before I tried it again and it did take till about 1 year post-op before I didn't get complaints from my new stomach anymore.

I think it really depends on your surgeon. Based on the surgeon's experience, they know what works for their patients, based on the patient's health and starting weight. In addition to that, different insurance companies have different pre-op requirements that have to be fufilled before they will approve surgery. My ins. company required that I had previously been on a 6 month doctor supervised diet. If I hadn't had one of the qualifying co-morbidities (sleep apnea) I would have had to go through that 6 month diet.

You can see me here, being wheeled back into the room right after surgery. You can expect a lot of pressure in your chest and to feel very exhausted.

During my 1st 6 months, I would occasionally eat 1 big tablespoon full of ice cream. I was on an 800 calorie diet, so I had to be careful about what I ate.

My 1st 10 days post-op hurt like HELL! But that was only because I couldn't stomach the pain meds. Right when I was released from the hospital, I got the hiccups and stretched my new sleeve a little, then had a 2 hour car ride back home... making it worse. I probably wouldn't have been in any pain at all if not for that. I was back at my desk job on day 11, with only mild discomfort. Be prepared to sleep propped up and on your back for the 1st month. I rolled up one of my comforters like a big log inorder to sleep propped up like in a hosptial bed. I'd feel a pulling sensation inside whenever I'd try to lay on either side.

I don't think that many people could produce a document charting their weight history from a doctor. I never went to the doc on a regular basis before I had surgery. So I had no documented weight history. So I had to make guesstimates when I was asked about my weight history. My WLS doc asked me about my weight and if I'd been on medically supervised diets and my medical history, but never asked for proof.

I'm not much of a drinker. I can go months without thinking about it. But on a day like today, I needed some stress relief. I'm on my 2nd 10oz Miller Lite right now. :-P I started feeling it after the 1st 8 ounces! But I'm real careful about the bubbles and how fast I drink.

Way to go. I was so happy when I noticed I could wrap a single bath towel completely around my gut and then tuck it in... like I see in pictures.

I was eating creamy peanutbutter during the puree stage. But I limited myself to no more than 2 tablespoons per day. It would have been very easy to exceed 800 cals per day by letting myself eat just a little more peanutbutter.

Congrats on such a wonderful NSV!!!

I agree with Kindle, your doc is the best source for info. But having said that, I've taken ibuprofen, asprin, acetomenifin, excedrine, tylenol... I can take any over the counter pain reliever. I did not start taking them till at least 4 months post-op. Before that, I only took Tylenol as directed by my doctor.

My main food after puree was refried beans and chicken or turkey hamburger mixed together with cheese and salsa. I ate the stuff for months. Here's the recipe: http://www.bariatricpal.com/blog/9018/entry-31168-my-favorite-mexican-food/

I had similar problems and could only "stomach" Cream of Mushroom soup. I was only eating about 3/4 of a can per day during the 1st 2 months post-op. I could tolerate other foods, but it was really only a teaspoon of this and a teaspoon of that. I wasn't really up to eating any normal foods till about the 3rd month post-op, and then, I was still only eating 4 or 5 bites.

I didn't do a food funeral. Food got me where I was(370#, depressed, sleep apnea, low self-esteem, border line high blood pressure), so I didn't want a final celebration.

averaging 15 + lbs down per month, way to go!!!!

Congrats on you loss. :-p

Congrats, you're looking grrrrreeeeeaaaat!

Congrats. My license has my pre-op weight. :-P

They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with 1 step. What they don't tell you is that the journey is a b*tch if you're on step 1! 1/14/2015 Well it's been a few months since I last walked. November to be exact. With the cold weather and injuries and sinus drainage, I was pretty much out of commission. We were at it hard during September and October, hitting new highs on speed, sometimes going as fast as 3.9 mph for 3 miles. But November, my partner hurt his ankle and was out for 3 weeks, then I got terrible sinus headaches from breathing the smoke from neighbors burning piles of leaves and then the cold rain set in. So here it is, the middle of January and we haven't walked a mile per day. Fortunately, I've actually lost weight in that time and kept it off. My new job keeps me moving quite a bit. 8/26/2014 Wish there was more the report, but it's still HOT in Texas. Most days the temp is around 91 with a heat index of 101 when I walk. I've had to start wearing a water soaked towel around my neck and a hat while I walk to complete 3 miles. I've come close to heat exhaustion a few times and had to head over to the water faucet and soak my head till the dizziness clears. I thought I'd have built up a tolerance to the heat by now, but doesn't seem like that is going to happen. Good news is, the worst of the heat is over, once we hit September temps will slooooooowly creep down to the low 90's every evening. And by October, we'll be back in the 80's. I can't wait to see how fast I can do 4 miles when the temps are down in the 80's. Hopefully, I'll break the 15 minute mile. :-) 7/30/2014 I know I keep saying this, but OMG!!! IT'S HOT IN TEXAS! The good news is that today was a cloudy day and I managed 4.25 miles @ 3.6 mph. I should be up and above 4 mph by the time cool weather rolls in during October. The heat is still in the 94 - 95 degree range with a heat index of 101 - 104. And as Madge said on the Palmolive dish-washing detergent, "You're soaking in it." :-P I'm still walking 5 days a week and hugging every inch of shade I can find! But I had to cut back to 3 miles, down from 4. I was just getting too dizzy and sick - even with using a water soaked towel to keep cool and carrying a water bottle. Monday, I had to stop at 2.5 miles and go soak my head under a water faucet. I hit a point and knew I had better get cooled off or something bad was about to happen. 7/24/2014 OMG!!! IT'S HOT IN TEXAS! For the past week it's been between 91 and 94 degrees with a heat index of 101 - 104... during the evenings... when I'm walking! I've had to begin carrying a wet towel and carry a water bottle to prevent dehydration and heat exhaustion. But aside from that, I've managed to walk between 3 and 4 miles in about an hour, averaging 3.5 - 3.7 mph. And haven't missed a day this week. But you gotta believe it when I say I was looking for ANY excuse to skip walking after work. But alas, the weather has been clear during the evenings and all the rain has managed to miss my exercise hour. I wonder how much it would cost me to have a crop duster fly up and seed some clouds just around the time I supposed to start walking???? 7/04/2014 Another 3 miles (including 1 mile in total of jogging in short stretches) in the record book. It still amazes me when I think back to just 18 months ago when I would go to bed wondering how much it would hurt to walk from the car to my desk at work. The Texas heat is a monster and I was really dreading walking (I mean baking) in 94 degree heat with a heat index of 101. That was yesterday! But I got rained out at the last minute. :-) ****Does happy dance**** I know, I know, I should be like those workout gurus and tell you how much I missed not going out there and sweating my ass off. But I gotta be honest and say I will take any "HONEST" excuse to duck out on walking in this heat. When I say "HONEST EXCUSE" I mean just that.... a real, "believable", reason (rain, when my car had a flat 2 weeks ago, or I feel like I've been pushing myself to the point of injury or sickness). Skipping a walk just because I don't feel like it is not enough. So this morning the I had planned to walk with a friend at Claiborne Park just north of Vidor, TX. We normally do 3.25 miles and I've been increasing the distance I've been jogging. But the radar shows rain headed right for us in the next hour or so. So we cancelled it. Instead I ran around my neighborhood. One lap around my block is approx. 1/2 mile. 2 long sides and 2 short sides. In 70 degree weather, I managed to run 12 of the short sides for a total of 1 miles....And the amazing part was I could have done more! So we'll see how much more tomorrow when I'm back out at Claiborne. 6/29/2014 Can't believe how well my attempts to jog are working out. Averaged 3.5 mph for 3.25 miles today. I walk a figure 8 style track and managed to jog the 4 straightaways all three laps. My next goal is to jog 1 mile non-stop. Shooting to reach that goal by the end of July. If the heat gets to be too much for me, my fall back plan is to go back to wearing the 30 lb weight vest and speed walk the trails. 6/19/2014 Another 3.25 miles down. Speed is still slow at 3.1 mph. Temp 91 degrees. Managed to make the whole circuit on 13 swallows of water. It's a pain to have to carry a water bottle on the trail, but it beats getting heat stroke! It's been tough getting used to the Texas heat. The heat's really been kicked up a notch since the end of May. I thought it was bad when the temps were in the high 80's. Oh how I long for those days. My walking partner calls me the shade hunter. He's much more tolerant of the heat. He can walk in full sun for the whole 3.25 miles, while I zigzag on the trail - going from one patch of shade to the next. I think I may actually be walking farther than him, but he carries the GPS, so I have to go by his distance and time. Doesn't matter to me though, just completing the whole trail every day is a win. 06/18/2014 Man is it hot! The Texas Summer heat is just getting its stride and things are baking in the park. I'm up to 3.25 miles each day/ 3.1 mph while wearing a 30 lb vest. Fastest speed without the vest was 3.6 mph for 3.25 miles. Thinking it might be time to try the couch to 5k plan. Not really sure all this effort is worth the results. It's a vicious cycle - the more I get in shape the farther/faster I have to walk to burn the same amount of calories. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10/02/2013 Hit a new personal best time at the park. 3.2 miles an hour, did 3 point something miles in about 53 minutes or something close to that, I've forgotten the exact time. :-) But at least I'm getting better, both in distance and being able to recover enough to walk at the same intensity day after day. It seems like only yesterday (actually it was Jan 2nd) that I started my walking program by taking the long way around the office to the bathroom. :-P Just goes to show that taking small steps can add up to bigger things later on. 7/11/2013 Well, I lost Gilligan, my pedometer. I named him Gilligan cause he was my "little buddy". Not sure where he ran off to. I left the house with him on my hip and at the end of the day, he was gone. So now I have Gilligan the 2nd or Gilligan the Next Generation, depending on your point of view. Gilligan II is a little smarter, so hopefully he won't get lost. He keeps track not only of my steps and mileage, but takes into account my weight, lists calories burned, total steps, aerobic steps (meaning any walking continuously for 10 minutes or more) and tells me how long I've been aerobically walking . And he remembers everything from the past 6 days. The good news is that I've graduated to a 2 mile trail in a local park. It has lots of ups and downs - and the occasional rabbit/armadillo/snake/Pimp butterfly on the trail to keep things entertaining. And I'm able to make the walk 6 to 7 days a week. My 1st goal was to be able to complete the 2 miles every day 6 to 7 days a week. I have reached that goal as of July. The next goal is to start increasing my speed. See if I can break the 45 minute mark for completing the trail. Current best speed is 46 minutes. 5/17/2013 Finally! Made over 10k steps a day for 6 days in a row. My original goal was to do it for 5 days in a row. Plus as an added NSV, I have graduated from walking on flat, level surfaces to walking in a parking garage. I do the 1st 5k steps in the morning on level ground, but at lunch, I step it up (no pun intended) by going out to a 3 story parking garage. Having to walk up those inclines between floors add a whole new level to the phrase "pain in the butt!" :-P I was walking next to a coworker yesterday and she said, "I smell smoke." I said, "That's me. I'm not just hot, I'm SMOKIN!" For those out there that have feet and knee pain like me, it pays to move, no matter how little. That's how I started out 5 months ago. I could barely walk from the parking lot to the store without limping and being in a lot of pain. But I always parked at the far end of the lot and minced my way into the store. And I set a goal to walk the inside perimeter of my office every time I went to the bathroom or had to leave my desk. That was 4 to 10 laps a day. When we move to a bigger office in Feb. I set a goal to make 4 laps a day around the office (approximately 1200 steps plus the 500 steps from the parking lot to my desk got me up to about 1700 steps a day). When I got to the point where I could tolerate the 4 laps with no lasting pain, I added 4 laps at lunch. Then 5 in the morning and 5 at lunch till I could do 10 each time. That took several months to accomplish and I usually only could do that at most 3 days a week and be in pain for the other 2 days. Now 10 laps twice a day is too easy, so I changed to going into the parking garage at lunch. The inclined ramps are easy on my ankles and ups my aerobic activity. Plus it gets me out in the sun - gotta have my Vitamin D! That's how I did it. Little changes add up. Now I've got 2 ladies a work who SAY they want to start walking with me - but so far it's only been talk. :-) This is from today, 5/17/2013. It's gonna break my heart to reset it in the morning! 2/19/2013 Just checked my pedometer when I got home and finally crossed the 10k steps goal or 4.5 miles in 1 day. I usually on get in around 2.5 to 3 miles a day, but today I had a lot of extra walking at work and for the 2nd day this week I've been able to walk additional laps around the building at lunch. Hopefully my feet and hips will allow me to maintain or surpass 10k a day from now on. Update:3/28/2013 Still managing to get closer to my goal of 5 miles/day, 7 days a week. I'm averaging 4.5 miles/day 4 days a week. My hips no longer hurt, just some muscle soreness. And my feet are usually only a little painful after walking but the pain is almost gone the next day. The people at work are starting to take notice of my walking before work and at lunch time. Commenting on my weight loss, that may sound encouraging, but I'd rather stay unnoticed and unremarked on. Noticing my weight loss and exercising will only lead to questions - ones I'd rather not answer. I've had one or two people comment on how much they need to start walking with me, almost daily, but they never seem to find the time to do even one lap around the floor with me. I never made those type of comments when I'd see people working out, cause I knew that I wasn't going to make the effort. So why try to fool them and me? If I did, it would feel like I was apologizing for being fat and feeling guilty for not exercising. I didn't feel like any kind of exercise plan was going to do me any good. I was too far gone. As Ralphie May said, "This is way past a diet coke fix." 3/4/2013 I'm still walking 3 - 4 miles per day, 5 days a week, but getting past 10k steps a day is tough. My feet and hips are pretty sore the day after doing that many steps and it limits me reaching 10k more than 2 or 3 times a week. But I keep working at it. As long as I'm walking every day, I'm getting closer to my goal.