PhotoSteve

Hey there Jenn, I am 4 months post-op and I totally understand what you are going through. The most important thing is to breath and be patient. It is really easy to freak out early on. Your body is going through some major changes and your "lizard brain" (the instinctual part of yourself) is under the impression you are injured and starving to death. Just remember that your conscious part is in control and its good to acknowledge the feelings of frustration and everything, but to just breathe and try to be zen about everything. I had extreme sensitivity to smells, tastes etc. I craved Soups and flavors I never did before, and couldn't stand other smells that I normally loved. You just need to go slow, sip your fluids. Go for some sugar-free flavor packs from the grocery store, and sugar-free jello. The ASS (Ahhh . . .So Sweet) effect wears off some after a couple months, but is still there for me to a certain extent. Think of it as a weight-loss aid, keeping you away from empty calories. The important thing is to keep hydrated, and to take small sips as often as you can stand them. My best advice is to make sure you walk. I walked twice a day during recovery, in the morning and evening. Bring a friend at first till you know your strength, as you can tire quickly. Walking helps your body process all of the toxins in your system and you will recover faster from that than anything. Also, remember that rapid weight loss flushes all the fat-soluble toxins out of your system, so it can be hard on your kidneys. Walk, water and waiting, that's what the first 2 weeks are all about. I hope that helped!

Yeah, it is 65% (or so) contained and headed out towards the desert. It was wild the last couple of weeks, though, with ash raining on our cars and the blood-orange sky. On a side note, a coworker brought coffee and doughnuts to work today. I thought, oh, I will just take a little of each. Boy was that the wrong move. Remember kids: Coffee and doughnuts do not work well with micro-tummies!

Sorry I haven't updated, work has been murder! I ended up dropping everything I was doing, no miralax, no colace, and just kept at drinking my liquids every day. Everything is fine now, I think that the stuff I was taking for my digestion issues (miralax and colace) were dehydrating me further and the heat and ash had already taken it out of me. Finally, I think the NyQuil I took was the straw that broke my dehydrated body's back. As I said, all is well now, the ash is blowing somewhere else and the heat has abated. I see my doc next week for my 2 month checkup!

No regrets here!

I would also look at Muscle Milk Light at costco. They are relatively small liquid volume with 20g of protien and no sugar (about 160 cal.). When I was out of the hospital, I made my own shakes and found them too big to get down for a measly 15g or 17g (with peanut butter) Protein. I now do a muscle milk light for Breakfast every day sometimes with a mini-baybel cheese to hold me over till lunch. It does get better, but I have struggled with hydration myself. Just constantly sip. Good luck!

Yeah, I am now EVERYWHERE with a bottle. . . .

I have spoken to my doctors about the issue. I think most of the fault is my own. With my new tummy, I don't feel thirsty very often, just as I don't feel hungry very often and my body is used to having those clues to know when to drink - or when I do feel thirsty, I drink my fill (which isn't much) and then can forget about it. I am trying to be mindful about it, but it has been a challenge - especially in the heat and ash, which seems to be sucking the Water out of me faster than I can replenish it. As far as the kidney thing, it is not an infection, they know that. I have had some kidney issues over the last 2 years, and my doctors always said it was my weight and my body was having problems processing the waste. Well, if that is the case - I will hopefully will be a smaller me soon enough and they will be able to keep up. Also, it could be stones or the beginning of stones, but every time I have talked to my doc, he does not thing the symptoms fit.

Hello all, well here is my current big problem: Dehydration. :glare: Now, it is exceptionally strange here in the foothills of Los Angeles with everything burning like crazy and waking up to ash falling like snow in 105-degree, 0-humidity heat, but I cannot seem to stay hydrated, even though I am always with Water or some sort of water/drink packet (a'la Crystal Light, etc) combo. Last Saturday was the worst, I felt really sick, I was aching all over, constipated (hey, we're all adults here) and feeling crummy altogether. So I get home thinking I am coming down with the flu or a cold - or maybe just over the whole "fire-and-ash" thing. So, since I haven't been sleeping well, I decided to take some Ny-Quil and bed down for the night. Well that was a BIG mistake. I woke up at 4am with a 102-degree feaver, sweats, and I felt like someone had beat the crap out of me with a baseball batt. Well, I realized that my back aches also included kidney pain, so I immediately figured out I was seriously dehydrated, and went to the kitchen to drink some water and then hit the bathroom. Well my urine was almost orange (which is always a sign you are not eliminating enough) and I now had stomach aches on top of everything else. Well my Sunday was shot. I stayed on the couch in the A/C drinking as much water as I could all day and realized I had just barely made it past the 64oz mark that night. Now it is Wednesday and I am just now feeling back to my old self. Does anyone have techniques or strategies to get enough liquids? Has anyone had a bad reaction to Nyquil post-op? Does anyone else have constipation/elimination issues, and has your doctor recommended anything? (mine recommended miralax and colace, but I almost think they are adding to the dehydration issue)

Cajun & DownInSocal- I can do beans now just fine (8 weeks now as of Monday, Yay me!). I had REAL problems with them even into the mushie stage. Refried beans CAN be ok, but not always. Things will shells and hulls caused me real problems in the beginning, but I was warned ahead of time as this is a problem that Bypass people can have. Beans, Lentils and Corn were the biggest culprits - but to date I have managed to do all 3 without too much issue, but I do go easy on them.

Hey Phoenix, Congrats on your success! I have a question for you: When did you know you didn't need your CPAP? I have had 2 surgeries for Apnea, so in theory, I should be off of it fairly soon after. I have found (and I don't know if it is related or not) that I wake up with a bit of an upset stomach, as though it was a bit distended. I wonder if the air pressure is making its way down there? In any event, I have altered the pressure down to half what it was before, but I am wondering when to just go without. Any thoughts would be helpful.

Just an update: I am now 7 weeks out. Last week had some wins and losses. Everything for the most part is good. I was busy still playing catch-up at work and missed a couple nights of walking, but have managed to keep it up the rest of the time. So here are a couple highlights, one bad and one good. Bad: We had a lunch meeting at work last week. Luckily, it was just people here and no clients, but the boss wanted to order from Pei Wei (A Chinese "fresh", but quick bistro). Anyway, I looked through the menu and decided on an appetizer for my lunch, so I went with the "chicken lettuce wraps". It sounded perfect, and I had tried them before my surgery, some time ago and liked them. Well, it was a working lunch with lots of discussion etc., and the distraction proved perilous to my eating process, because muscle memory took over and I pretty much inhaled my first wrap out of the gate. I chewed, but not nearly enough. Well about 5 minutes later, after fighting to keep the food down, I had to excuse myself. Now, it was bad enough I was having issues, but our conference room is right next to the bathrooms. Well, if things went bad, I didn't want to be next to all my workmates making terrible noises, so I went out to the wharehouse where everyone was gone for lunch. I paced back and forth in front of the sink until an ungodly torrent of foam came up followed by slime. Now I have had the foam thing (obviously) but never the slime thing. It was like nickelodeon slime and truly horrible. So after I stabilized a bit, I wandered back into the conference room, and packed up my leftovers to put in the fridge and went back to my desk. Not 10 minutes later it happened again, and I looked like a junkie with my arms wrapped around my little trash can. So anyway, THAT was a bad day. Ce la vie. Good - Last weekend, I had what I consider to be my first true meal. I took my fiance to Outback, cause we were both craving steak, and I said "relax, cause we're going to be here a while. I ordered the 7oz Filet, medium rare with a baked potato and green Beans. I took my time, ate small bites, chewed them up like a machine, and had a fantastic dinner. I probably ate about 1/3 of the steak, about 2 bites of the potato and about 4 green beans - but it was FANTASTIC. I felt so good the rest of the night. Anyway, that's all the news I'm fit to print. I have 3 more weeks till I see my doctor for a checkup. Stay tuned!

Linda, I have had the same back problems. I have had problems sleeping cause of my back, but I have continued walking. I have also had some occasional problems with my kidneys since the surgery. I feel like I drink constantly, but stick to it even more as I go. Kidney problems can also feel like back problems, so make sure you are drinking enough water! Also, if you can find the mint/euculyptus epsom salts at your local drug store for athletes, take a hot bath in those - a life saver! Also, you can try low impact stretches I was shown that don't endanger your tummy muscles. Lay on the floor with your knees up and your feet flat on the floor. As effortlessly as possible, gently push your foot downwards, keeping your back flat on the ground. Let it just move your hip and feel that movement, but remember to keep it effortless. Start with one foot, then the other, then do both. start with 15-25 on a side and then 15-25 together. remember to keep it slow and effortless, and you want your whole foot to push down and keep flat to the floor as if you were pushing down on the floor. I hope that makes sense!

Yeah, I have been to her site. When I was about week 3 I had such food envy, my fiance would wait till I was in the shower to eat! lol. Hang in there! I survived on potato-leek Soup, Protein shakes, and a chili's-style chicken enchilada soup I made. Be careful with lentil or bean soups cause the shells can cause some real discomfort!

I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in here as well. I am at 6 weeks as well, and I have found that my body does definitely let me know when it is happy, or, as is more common, when it's unhappy! I have found, for instance, that my body does not tolerate solid food in the morning at all (at least for now) so I usually drink a muscle milk and maybe a light mini-baybel cheese to hold me. For lunch I usually do something like Soup, chili, chicken salad, and I have once had part of an enchilada and once had part of a tamale, both wet (shhh! don't tell anyone). In essence, solid but mostly moist food. dinner is when I have tried things that are more solid, and I have had my successes and failures. I have found that the drier something is, the more I have a problem with it - and it has been amazing what I think of now as dry and moist. Chicken is a big problem for me. I don't know why, but it is. Ground beef/turkey in meatballs or a hamburger patty is kinda hit or miss. But I had fall-off the bone ribs the other day and they went down perfectly. I have stolen a few bites of bread here and there (I'm human, and bread has always been my Achilles Heel. I have found that if I can make it mush, it works, but have learned when I do try it to save it for the last thing - and more often than not - I regret it. So, I endeavor to not do bread at all. Anyways, my advice is to try and do small bites and try moister things. I guess we are all in this together and learning every day!