Bookgirl

Hi Ivy - sorry to hear that you are struggling. I was just catching up on posts as I haven't read any for a while and one gal said that if she went below 600 cal/day then she didn't lose any weight. You might actually have to go up to 800 cal/day making sure to get your protein in first and then at least 50 g carbs to kick your body out of its' starvation mode (it won't let you lose any lbs because it is in starvation mode). It might be hard to wrap your head around it but try it at least for a full week to see if you get any results. Good luck - I'll be thinking of you. Susan

I am 20 days out and have had a rough time with milk/cheese. From other posters, I see that lactose-intolerance is quite common after this surgery and after 3-6 months, I might get them back again. So, try to stay away from milk, ice cream, cream cheese and soft unripened cheeses (and products containing them). You should be able to tolerate yogurt, aged cheese and natural sour cream as it has been processed and shouldn't contain lactose. Good luck, I am trying my first yogurt tonight - I hope that my gut doesn't blow up like a balloon! :welcome:

Congrats on working the system Angela! There is such a long wait in Canada because there just aren't many surgeons that do this surgery and very few private clinics - I know of one in Montreal that is very expensive. For bariatric surgery, because it is not 'life threatening', a wait of 3-5 years is quite common. There certainly are some flaws in our healthcare system but I certainly would not trade it for the American system as it is now! I will get off of my soapbox now... I did not choose to go through the long wait and went to Mexico as a self-pay - so glad that I did! Good luck Angela - how long will you be in the hospital?

Oh Vegas Angel - I was counting on this lactose intolerance to go away! I love milk - would drink it at every meal (that is, if I still drank with my meal - which I don't anymore)! I can tolerate a bit of cheese tho' so that's not too bad. I am finding that the more that I am adding to my diet, the fuller I feel through the day - a very odd feeling, one that I am not used to! Well, I will still hope that I get my lactose tolerance back - I did find some lactose-free organic cream-type soups that were nice so it's not the end of the world - it could be much worse... Thanks for the advice. :tongue2:

Thanks Donna (Stoon Gal) - you are very lucky. I thought that I had an iron stomach as well, but it has proved me wrong! Having a lactose issue that I hope will pass - one day a nice flatter stomach, next day - bloated to 6 months pregnant! Still have lost the weight so I don't worry about it too much but it sure makes me think about what I am going to eat - I can manage a bit of melted cheese in soups but milk - no-no. Oh well, I still love this sleeve! I hope to meet with you for the Nov support group - can't wait!

Stoon gal - what is your doctors post-op diet? It seems so different from Dr. Aceves - much less strict!

VegasAngel - thanks so much for that great list - I printed it out and stuck it on my cupboard as a reminder! Unless something is there is my face telling me what to do, I tend to 'freelance', hence all my bloating issues which are now mostly gone. I hope that you will post another list at our 'mushy' stage. Off to grocery shop for some different soups and some soymilk (regular milk doesn't seem to like me much right now). Thanks again. :001_tt2:

Hi all - I am now 5 days post-op and feeling great but a little guilty! I was told to crush all medication (or dissolve it). On the plane ride back home, I got a headache but I had packed my dissolvable pain meds - so I bit a Tylenol into 3 pieces and took that with a lot of liquid and didn't have any problems. Have since taken my allergy med without crushing and tolerated that just fine too. Is there some hidden risk to not crushing the pills? Won't they will dissolve anyway as they are meant to do? I am worried that I am being a little to lax with the rules but I haven't suffered any consequences... :thumbup:

Congrats! You will love the team there - so very caring and professional. You will have 5 incisions - 3 small (about 1/2 inch) and 2 larger (about 3/4 inch) - of these 2, one will have a drain. I doubt Alberta Health will reimburse you anything - email them and ask. You can claim your expenses under medical on your income tax. I brought loose fitting pj's but didn't wear them until the 3rd day - they have great hospital gowns - long with lots of coverage and easier to use with an IV. Bring warm socks - they couldn't seem to get the temperature right in the ward - either too hot (ask for a fan) or too cold (ask for a blanket). Slip on shoes/slippers are great for walking the halls. I brought treats - Saskatoon Berry jam for the doctors and maple leaf cookies for the nurses, and Canada flag pins - they loved them! Good luck - you won't regret it!

Oh Ky.Hen - you make me laugh! Us Canadians have our Thanksgiving this weekend and I was dreaming of licking all the food! Luckily family is all away this weekend so I can have my soup in peace and not embarrass myself! I am glad you are feeling better - I have found Gas-X has removed most of my bloated feeling so I hope that it continues. Take care.

Pre-op diet - Dr. Aceves has his high BMI patients go on a high protein/low carb diet one week before surgery - 70 g protein/30 g carbs - no restriction on calories (try to keep lower in fat) as it isn't meant to lose weight but to toughen and shrink your liver so that it is not in the way of the surgical instruments and doesn't bleed if rubbed against. The first two days of this diet were not hard hunger wise but hard for the withdrawal from all the carbs - such a headache! Now I am so glad I did it as post surgery, I didn't have to suffer from carb withdrawal at all - could just concentrate on healing. I recommend it. As for going on liquids before surgery - you will have enough of liquids after surgery that to prolong it with the diet beforehand seems crazy! Good luck with whatever you decide :thumbup:

Hi all - I looked for similar posts but couldn't really find my answer. I had my surgery Sept 28, did great in the hospital, and was doing well at home until last Sunday (day 7). My daughter came over for supper and to celebrate how well I was doing, I had cream of broccoli/cheese soup - my new gut rebelled - bloated right up, rumbled, ached, didn't sleep that night. I went right back to clears but it was still upset the next day, sore and bloated - had some diarhea and didn't sleep well that night either. Well, I am still feeling bloated and full - I can get my fluids in along with 2 protein drinks/day and some jello but when will this stupid feeling pass? I could kick myself for being so cocky about doing so well. My hands/feet aren't swollen so I am not retaining fluids but the scale is stuck now as well - just 2 pounds lost after getting rid of all the hospital IV weight. I am not a patient person - I want to feel better now! Any thoughts/advice, oh wise ones? :thumbup: Could it be a new lactose-intolerance that I hear some people have gotten?

Thanks you two - I keep forgetting about the gas-x strips - will use them today to see if that helps. The area around my new tummy is 'sore' as well, just doesn't feel 'right' - I see my pcp tomorrow so will feel better if she give me a clean bill of health. Thanks for the info - this forum is the best!

I went for the cranberry juice myself - just had to have some flavour without artificial sweetners - did about 1 cup/day - we hardly get any calories on clears so I didn't see the harm.

Alright everyone - I have a reply from Gaby in Dr. Aceves office - oh no don't worry Susan - if you have no problem taking them, go ahead and do so - sometimes patients are too swollen after surgery, they have trouble taking medication (whole pillls), they get stuck but I have heard many patients that take them whole really soon after surgery and have no problem at all - so if you have no problems doing so go ahead and take them. YeeHaw - I am taking mine whole from now on! :001_huh:

Wow - thanks gals - I emailed the office to ask for advice - will post when I get a reply. I never had a problem swallowing pills but don't think that I could chew them - gag! My theory was that after seeing the xray of the liquid leaving the new stomach so quickly, the pill would be washed into the small intestine to be dissolved/absorbed there. Will keep you posted.

Hi - another Saskatoon gal here! I was just sleeved Sept 28th in Mexico with Dr. Aceves. Once I made the decision to have it done, I researched having the procedure paid for by SaskHealth but they would only fund having it done in a public hospital in Canada. I took my savings and booked the procedure right away - there was no way that I had the patience to wait for years for this surgery. Mine was just under $9000 US and like Stoongal said - worth every penny! I feel good - no hunger, still a bit tired but let the losing begin! Good luck on your journey!

Hi everyone - I got my sleeve on Sept 28th and had a pretty easy time considering! I experienced some heavy nausea right after surgery but saw the other two sleevers up and walking so got my ass out of bed to do some laps. Some pain that meds took care of right away. I had a weird reaction to the anesthetic - chest and face turned bright red and hot for a day - looked like a bad sunburn - it went away over the next two days but I sure looked odd. I feel really good now - no pain, incisions almost healed, just need that extra nap to get me through the day (still can't lie fully on my stomach yet). No hunger - just keep sipping my broth, tea, juice and eating jello - I am so glad I had it done!:thumbup:

Thanks Vegas - I bought some of the chewable fibre tablets - just have to remember to take it and drink lots of water so that it doesn't turn to concrete! Isn't life great! :svengo:

OK - I have been on the high protein/low carb pre-op diet for 5 days now. Second day I had a killer headache all day - apparently very common due to withdrawal of sugar/starch. I have tried really hard to stay under 30 carbs/day but one day, a banana (26 carbs!!! - who knew) did me in. I haven't been stressing about any weight loss because that is not the point. The point is to get our large messy fatty livers to shrink up some to keep out of the way of the instruments and to become 'tougher' and less likely to bleed if brushed against during surgery. I still crave carbs but not as often (only 12 hrs/day instead of 24)! My biggest problem is getting the bowels to work - I don't eat raw veggies as they make my guts spasm so it is hard to get in enough fibre. Foods that I eat: Skinless BBQ chicken breast with 1 tbsp BBQ sauce Meatballs BBQ steak with 1 tbsp BBQ sauce Aitkins RTD shakes Deviled eggs (yum) Cheese strings Cheddar cheese Chicken wings (no beer ) Cheese slice with peanut butter 1% milk Bacon Green beans Raspberries 1 evil banana By my scale, I have lost 7 lbs. - a bonus for sure. Good luck!

Oh my - the Aceves high protein/low carb diet - not going too badly - had a few slips - who knew a banana would eat up my carbs for the day! I sure am not used to eating so much meat and the withdrawal of carbs headache I had on Day 2 was huge! I still have to go to my daughters this week to raid her movies - so far I will be bringing the first 3 seasons of Supernatural and Kinky Boots - pretty weird I know but that's me! Will keep you posted when I get more! If I could borrow your laptop to send some emails to the few people that know I am having this done, that would be awesome. I am getting pretty pumped - this will be us - :party4:

They didn't d/c my PC --- huh - translation please for us newbies :biggrin0:

Thanks Judy - I will be able to give you all the gruesome details! Haha. I am going out to get my post-op supplies - getting very excited as I fly down in 1 week. Should did that suitcase out...:thumbup1:

Thanks so much for the info - they have a great site - lots of info. I'm not sure that I will be organized enough to get to this weeks meeting but please find out if it is only for that specific clinic or for any VSGers. I am going to do my pre-op shopping now - will probably be a loooonnngg day as I don't think that one store will have everything that I want to get ahead of time.