Donna4545

I went to see my nutritionist today for an hour class. She had a notebook about all the things we should be eating (including way more carbs and fat than I'm used to), gigantor portions, and 1,000-1,2000 calorie a day recommendation (I've been doing 600-800). So I came home and implemented some of her suggestions for dinner, felt like crap for an hour, and threw up for the first time ever. What am I to make of this? She suggested that if I didn't use her guidelines I would gain my weight back after 2 years because I would be unable to sustain what I am doing. Thoughts?

Didn't your doc give you nutritional guidelines? Call and ask for some. If you want to see what I ate during mushies, see my blog (link below). Look in the archives for recipes. They are quick and easy, I wasn't in the mood for heavy duty cooking. Try IsoPure Zero protein powder and mix it with water and flavored sugar free syrups to flavor it. Good luck.

I've seen people post that even when they had complications early out, they still didn't regret it. I had no complications, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Unless you want to pee all over the operating table you get one, lol. You don't even know when they put it in. It's no big deal, really.

I pulled out the info from my program and looked at it just now. I thought I had 2 weeks of mushies, but I don't--it was just one week of mushies, so I'm done! That wasn't hard at all, and I was able to do it with the just the recipes that I posted on my blog Gastric Sleeve Foodie without having to do anything fancier. I'll be posting soft foods recipes soon--I'm going to start menu planning today. For my program, soft foods is basically everything but the meat must be ground or finely chopped, no fresh veggies (must be cooked until soft), no fresh fruit (canned in Water is ok), no skins from baked potato, cucumber, etc. No fibrous veggies like peas and corn. No celery. No fried foods (duh). Other than that, the 4-6oz world is my oyster! Woo! I think I might start with Sheperd's Pie for lunch tomorrow, just to Celebrate.

Ask the bariatric coordinator, who usually deals with insurance approvals. They should be able to give you some info because they do insurance all day long.

If it helps, I'm still alive. You will be, too! Everyone on this board is alive! Try to change your mindset--going into surgery with fear will make it harder on your body. Accept that everything is going to be alright. We'll see you on the loser's bench!

Slushies are wasted calories--you could be making sugar free slushies in the blender at home with SF syrups. You need those 200 calories to have protein in them. Also 600-800 a day, from what I have seen posted, is more normal for the weight loss phase than 1,200. Don't get into bad habits!

Congrats on your surgery! Your hospital stay sounds like mine--so glad to hear it!

So glad to hear your surgery went well! Welcome to the loser's bench!

I think your doc is the best source of info on what size you should have. I really don't think telling him how to do his job is going to win you any brownie points. He has his reasons for size--he didn't flip a coin.

I mistook your diet date for your surgery date--I see now that you are pre-op. Yes, see your doctor. And take it easy.

We weren't cleared for the kind of exercise you are doing until 6 weeks out--probably because of what you are experiencing. You are still healing, you shouldn't be straining your abdominal muscles. Just walk a lot.

Surgery weight 7/14/10: 312 Today 8/8/10: 296

That's very unrealistic. Call your doctor and tell him so.

I've seen people say increase liquids, protein, and calories to break the stall. I had the 3 week stall and broke it with the above plus exercise. And I don't cheat at all. Carbs are evil. Maybe go back to logging your food and see if there are hidden calories?

Tachycardia (superfast heartbeat) is often the only discernable symptom of a leak, along with fever.

Don't worry, your weight loss is perfectly normal, at least according to my surgeon. Keep going!

I went through feelings of anger pre-op--angry that I couldn't eat what I wanted, anger that I was so far gone that I had to have surgery. I comes out in weird ways. Get your protein and water in, and your subconscious will get over it.

My first step was having my PCP make me an appt with the bariatric clinic. She's the one who suggested the surgery, and seemed to think the insurance would pay (it did). The bariatric clinic asked her to do an ECG, blood work, a chest xray, and to refer me to a pulomologist for a clearance because I have asthma. When all of that was done, paperwork was sent to BCBS, who approved it within 3 days. The bariatric clinic then scheduled my surgery. I started the process in May and was sleeved in July. They offered a June date, but I had time conflicts. The process was really easy, but that could be because I had a high BMI and because my bariatric center was in a pilot program with BCBS for the sleeve. That said, I had tried to have a gastric bypass in 2002 and 2005 and got stopped by insurance issues both times, in another state, with different insurance (Kaiser and UHC)

I slept on my back propped up with pillows, and it wasn't bad--but I sleep on my back anyway. I wouldn't think sleeping on your stomach or left side would be a good idea because of the incisions. Mine were completely healed 2 weeks out. I never had problems sleeping at home. My pain was minimal to none. You should feel better every day.

I used Isopure Plus RTD and Unjury Chicken protein broth for clears after surgery. It wasn't haute cuisine, but it worked.

Time for Protein powder and a shaker bottle. I recommend Isopure Zero. I get hungry, but not as bad as before surgery. Or maybe I just want to eat. I can't tell. For more calories, use 2 scoops Protein Powder in your drinks.(that's 50 grams protein, 220 calories) For fruit, blend frozen berries into your shake when at home. I'm still on soft solids and I'm not allowed to have fresh fruit, veggies, or steak yet. You could buy canned fruit (in juice, not in syrup) but know it has a lot of sugar in it. You'll be able to have fresh fruit soon--for me it's another 4 days, but remember to peel apples etc as they are too fibrous for the new stomach. Anything you don't think will digest easily, peel. Also try working lowfat cheese into your diet for protein and more calories. Same with Greek Yogurt, nonfat milk. I've been running 600-800 calories easily. Hope this helps.

Until they hit bottom and admist they need help, there is still a problem. I strongly suggest attending Al-Anon meetings--really and seriously. This is from experience.

I have been devastated by both sudden unexpected death, and long, drawn, out suffering death. In the latter case, I think it would have been more humane to let the person slip away in a cloud of morphine than to have to suffer terribly every day until the end. I'm talking about my grandmother, who was basically, though she could not speak, begging us to let her die--refusing to take food, pleading with her eyes, it was heartbreaking. If I could have ended her suffering, I would have, with no guilty conscience.