bigtex52
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Everything posted by bigtex52
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You might try shakes and meal replacement bars (I used Slim Fast Low Carb, Atkins and Glucerna shakes and Atkins bars, all of which the doc recommended). My doc put me on a daily pre-op diet of 4 shakes or meal replacement bars and one meal of 3 oz of lean meat and 2 cups of cooked lower carb/high fiber veggies (NOT rice, potatoes, pasta, etc.) I believe he called it a 1200 calorie per day plan. Your goal is to strip a lot of the stored glycogen out of your liver, which also makes it smaller and easier to retract to get to your stomach. A nice side benefit is that I lost 11 pounds before surgery.
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traveling with a 10 mo old infant, 2 weeks out of surgery
bigtex52 replied to ana's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Ana, one thing to watch out for and you might ask your surgeon about, for the first 2 weeks, I was restricted to not lifting anything over 10 pounds to avoid developing an incisional hernia. YMMV, so be sure to ask the doctor. Good luck, it will be a great thing once you get it done! -
Pre Op Diet Heacache!
bigtex52 replied to Barbara278's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Any of you who have tried to do Atkins, Protein Power or any of the other LC diets probably remember how awful you felt for the first 3 or 4 days of induction as your metabolism shifted to fat burning mode. Stick with it, it will pass soon! -
If you have to have chips, I have seen some sort of protein chips on the bariatric eating site that they say are tasty. I am sure that they aren't quite as good as potato chips and cheetoes, but the crunch means almost as much to me as the taste. Something comforting about crunching on something salty and savory. :crying:
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They don't call week 1 Hell Week for nothing. :crying: Day 3 post-op was the worst day for me. Day 4 was soooo much better! Watch out for dehydration. Early on in your recovery, that can be one of the greatest causes of nausea. Sip, sip sip and walk. Try some green tea. Not too hot, just warm. With the weather bad, you might have to go walk in a mall or gym, or anyplace that is heated. If you are dehydrated now, you might try Gatorade for 2 or 3 days to help you get re-hydrated. Also, didn't your doctor give you anything in the way of meds for nausea? If not, you might give him a call. Hang in there, it's all worth it!
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i1Linda, I am also very familiar with the pain of overeating. It's almost like a cramp that takes about 20 minutes to go away. At least, my stomach hasn't kicked it all back out in protest yet (knock on wood). Just the crampy pain.
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My Droid has an app called Calorie Counter by Fatsecret.com. It's free and works really well. The droid also will scan the barcode on the container and import all nutrition info into your food log. It tracks weight, food and exercise. Also, anything entered on either the phone or on fatsecret on the pc syncs up with the other.
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I am 3 weeks post op and down close to 40 lbs so far. I am still on BP meds but the past few days, my pressure has been in the 100/70 range so the doc will probably start backing me down soon.
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There is a dairy here in TX that produces a product called Mootopia (HEB stores). It is lactose free, 0 g fat, 90 cal, 6g carbs, 12 g protein. I would bet that there are dairies in your neck of the woods that produce something similar. Also, there is Hood's Calorie Countdown which has fewer calories and carbs, but also less protein.
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Personal Question - When did you have your first bowel movement?
bigtex52 replied to barbannn's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I actually did a prep the day before surgery to avoid being all bound up, so there was really nothing to pass. The thing they were most interested in were bowel sounds(moving gas and the gurgling sounds your intestines make as they work). -
Good job, Linda! You and Dr. Nick did good! -
How did you stock your fridge/pantry with for post op?
bigtex52 replied to tennessee1031's topic in Food and Nutrition
I used the Crystal Light To Go a lot. Helped me get my fluids in, 16.9 ounces at a time. Add vanilla Protein powder (Jay Robb whey Vanilla is pretty good) to the CL Sunrise to make a dreamsicle drink. Most of the dark red CL flavors (cherry, pomegranate, raspberry lemonade, etc) were waaaaayyy too sweet to handle the first couple of weeks, though. I ate quite a bit of wonton Soup and hot and sour soup with the solids strained out. When I got to full liquids, a lot of the Progresso soups run through the blender worked well. Stock up on the Gas-X strips in peppermint flavor and suck on a couple every few hours for the first few days or week. They really helped with my burping, gas and queasy stomach. Also, if you take any sort of pills regularly for HBP, etc. buy a pill crusher and some unsweetened applesauce (Mott's is pretty good). sugar free Jello works well too. Good luck! It's really worth the effort ! -
I wonder why some surgeons do multi leak tests and others don't...
bigtex52 replied to twobluecats's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
The purple stuff they gave me the day after surgery was awful, too. It was Isopure (Isopuke) Grape Frost. :thumbup: -
Personal Question - When did you have your first bowel movement?
bigtex52 replied to barbannn's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
barbannn, it was almost a week for me before things started moving again. I did 2 days of MOM and it helped, but I am still having problems. Definitely no liquid-y problems here. Miralax isn't having any effect either. -
I wonder why some surgeons do multi leak tests and others don't...
bigtex52 replied to twobluecats's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I was told that Dr. Nick doesn't do the leak test on day one postop because of his op day methylene blue test and the methods he uses in surgery (staples with buttressing, oversewing and surgical glue). -
Anyone hear from Barbanne or Longhorn??
bigtex52 replied to i1Linda's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Barbanne is doing well and staying in Dallas for a few days before heading back to Austin on Sunday. -
Barb, one other tip: Gas-X strips. They really help with the rolling gas and burping. Get the peppermint flavor, the cinnamon tastes nasty (like the old Lavoris mouthwash). Put a couple of strips on your tongue and suck on them every couple of hours. Sandy says you can't overuse them, and they are a huge help.
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Glad you're on the other side now! Good thinking about the road trip. One bit of advice: Go to a pharmacy and get an abdominal binder and cinch it up really good before you hit the road. The bumps and bounces of the road just sent me into orbit. The trip to Dr. Nick's office for the 1 week followup just about did me in. The only way I could tolerate it was to compress my left side while my wife drove me. The binder is one thing I definitely would have used if I had it to do over. Get in your liquids and walk, walk, walk. The prego look goes away pretty quickly.
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Merry Christmas...I almost had to kill my family last night!
bigtex52 replied to twobluecats's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Theresa, the tamales must be a Texas thing as that is our family's traditional Christmas eve meal as well. I am already counting the days until next year. Christmas went well today with my family eating all of the Christmas casseroles (about half of which I cooked) and finery while remarking about me with my cream of broccoli soup and my jello. Actually, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared,but the smell of the French's Onion Rings on top of the cooking broccoli casserole about killed me. -
Help with crushed pills
bigtex52 replied to angel96049's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
My doc has me mixing about a tablespoon of applesauce with the crushed pill powder. Not a lot better but a little. It's about to ruin my love of applesauce, though. -
Pre-op can be a pretty tough time. At least it was for me. But hang in there and Tuesday will be here before you know it.
No Dr. Kim for me, Dr. Nick did mine. Two Blue Cats had hers done Mon and me on Tues, both by Dr Nick. You are a Dr. Nick patient too right?
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One week out..pain question....
bigtex52 replied to twobluecats's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Hang in there Theresa. I am having the same left side pain and am starting to share your love of soups, and all things liquid and sweet. I don't know why, but I am thinking that once we lose the JP drains, life will start to get better very quickly. -
The constipation seems to be letting up a bit as I have scaled back the lortab some. I do feel some tightness if I take a big gulp, but simple liquids like CL or water don't really fill me up. I do smell food and have some hunger, even though I know it is just head hunger. I weighed when I got home and only had lost about a pound. I did some reading and found that I probably shouldnt do any weighing until a couple of weeks after surgery. We come away so bloated and swollen that it isn't a very good indication of how the weight loss is coming.
Nearly all of my pain is located between my upper left and middle left (main) incisions and road trips are a little touchy at this stage.
Hang in there! I is all worth it!
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Dr David Kim in Colleyville, Tx??
bigtex52 replied to Madelyn's topic in Weight Loss Surgeons & Hospitals
Madelyn, I am having the VSG done with a different surgeon (Dr. Nick Nicholson) but it will be at Park Forest MC. It will be this Tues, 12/7, and I will be glad to post my reviews afterward, and yes, it is physician owned. I was there Tuesday for Pre-Op testing and it appears to be a very clean, up to date and modern facility. -
I'm glad to find out "mash from Kentucky" was mashed potatoes and gravy. The only mash from KY I had heard about was sour mash bourbon whiskey and I thought I knew why the resulting burning sensation! :lol0:~