Papillon

I am on day three of the liquid pre-op diet and one of my coworkers gave me a candy cane herbal tea bag from celestial seasonings. It was wonderful and made my stomach feel better. Just thought I would pass along this info on the off chance it will help someone else too. :001_smile:

Oregon you are an inspiration to me!! Thank you for sharing your journey with all of us.

The first few weeks I had a really hard time getting any protein in. I am six weeks out now and it is getting easier. I still have to watch my fluids so I am not dehydrated. I have been drinking vitamin 0 water. The flavors are nice and you can measure using the bottle later in the day with water. One is 20oz so I do my best to down two during the day at work and whatever I can drink after dinner.

I am with you!! The first few weeks suck! You feel almost like you have been pushed down a hill. It does get better!! I am 6 weeks out now and I hardly notice my small incisions. They are all healing up and I find myself forgetting sometimes that I have even had the surgery. I am starting to feel more energetic. After the mushies when you can have food that is chewable you will start feeling better. I do admit that there are times I get into the poor me phase and really just have to pick myself up by my waistband and shake it off. I wanted this! I signed up for the long haul to change my life! And yes sometimes I would rather beat my co-worker over the head and steal his pizza but I feel better and I am down two sizes in jeans. That is worth more than a little pepperoni.

I am with you guys... sometimes you forget that you have had this surgery. You really can't just munch on anything while watching TV anymore. haha. I pay close attention and when my body tells me I am full I listen and quit eating. I have also been eating about half of what I have then putting it down and waiting 5 minutes before eating the rest. This keeps me from feeling over full and any pain. Also the food scale. I weigh my protein. It is essential for me. I still have giant portion EYES.

So far I am a little over a month and have not had any hair loss yet. I am willing to take the good with the annoying heheh. I am down 30lbs and I am willing to loose a little hair here and there to get to my goal. I did notice after surgery that my hair felt like straw for a week or two. After I was able to get more protein in and my fluids my hair is back to the softness I was used to.

Excellent news!!! The insurance dance can be a real pain in the a**.

The real mind bender for me is using a food scale. We purchased a little eletronic one to make sure we are getting the right amount of things. I still find myself weighing out 28g =1oz and thinking that is NOT enough food. haha Then I pair it with 1/4 cup of veggies and start munching away. By the time I am to the last bite I am full. The scale helps me to take care with my portion sizes and it works great! Honestly, the liquid (2week) diet before surgery was harder than it is after surgery. I miss carbs now and again but it is nothing like being hungry all the time. After surgery I am not as hungry. I do find that when I am bored my first thoughts turn to food but, that is something I am working on changing.

Welcome to the board. My husband went through the surgery at the same time I did. (same day in fact) he doesn't post on the forum but, I wanted you to know there are a lot of guys out there that do this surgery too. : )

The first few weeks I felt very run down however, you have more and more energy each day. It is also very important that you make sure to get your protein in. In the first week you are pretty swollen so the amount you can eat is greatly reduced but this also gets easier as time goes by. I am a little over a month now and I am doing great. I have a lot of energy!! Part of that is being 30 lbs lighter. If you take the time to recover and treat yourself right you will be back up and about in no time. The third day after surgery was the hardest for me. I was very sore and had some pain. It was not unbearable and I made myself get up and try to walk when possible. You really have to take it a day at a time in the beginning. Now, I find myself forgetting I have even had surgery.

a little over a month out now and I am singing with no problems! My stamina has returned full force and I am able to sing the same repetoire I was before surgery. Bring on the Puccini and Verdi. I am so happy I went with Dr. Podkameni. He took extra care with my surgery because of my voice and has been very good to me and my husband. He is a very skilled surgeon and has taken the time to really get to know us and make sure we are following his suggestions. I can't believe it has only been a month... it feels like so much longer.

if you eat really slowly and take your time the chances of anything getting stuck are much smaller. I have not had any problems and we are beyond mushies now. I did get sick of pureeing everything pretty quickly the good news is that is only lasts for a short time. Follow your doctors guidelines they are there for a reason. If you are going nuts talk to your nutritionist about what other options you have. They have some great ideas sometimes. I also like to use a lot of sauces they help the food glide easier. Just becareful of too much sugar and added things in some of them. I will admit the idea that someone posted about hotwing sauce was well received at my house. A mini hot wing without the grease, count me in.

I made one the other night with shredded lettuce and tomato as the base, like Fleur recommends. It tastes great and you get a little crunch from the lettuce. Not the same as the crunchy tortilla but a lot safer on your healing stomach. With a little sourcream and a bump of salsa it is like a mini taco salad.

Congrats to all my sleeve sisters and brothers out there! I am a little over a month out and feeling great!! I forget that I even had the surgery... I am still drinking one protein shake a day and have started eating the permier protein bar in the afternoon. I was to the point where I could not handle anymore shakes hehe. Keeping my protein up to avoid any problems. I am down about 31lbs and two jean sizes. That alone puts a little more pep in my step.

Congratulations!!

My husband told me the other night "No getting skinny, then finding another man." I just laughed and told him "Not happening, I already put 10 years into you... I am not starting over with hey, what is your favorite color" haha. Seriously though, he should be happy for you. You will be healthier and feel better and want to do more "things" with him.

Honestly the pain is managable... I was on a morphine drip/pump thing for two days and had the ability to push the button (at certain times) to self medicate. This was really nice... The first two days were not too bad, the third day was the roughest for me. If you have a chance stay in the hospital two nights, it is helpful when you feel awful to have someone who will bring you pain medicine. Listen to the doctor and do your breathing exercises. It is counter-intuitive to breathe into a pain in your side but if you do it alleviates the gas pains. Also get up and walk... I know you will not want to and would rather lay there but make yourself get up. The first week was the roughest for me but it gets better each day. Just keep plugging along and pretty soon you will be rocking your sleeve.

Hi Jane~ I know how you feel. It is a hard decision but, I am glad I made it. I was scared before surgery but, happy to say I had a great experience. I have had a few moments where I miss other types of food. I am nearly one month out now and I am able to eat one ounce of meet and 1/4 cup of veggies or fruit. It doesn't seem like much food but honestly I am full. Keep in mind you will still have to face the emotions and reasons that you turned to food in the first place. ( I am sure you are considering this before surgery too) The emotional connection and rush I used to get when I knew we were going out to dinner is gone. I am finding other things to interest me and help me feel excited and happy. One thing that helps is just having more energy now... I am past the recovery phase from the hospital. I took three weeks off of work and I am glad I did. It gave me enough time to really heal before going back. It is a journey! Listen to your heart and you will make the choice that is best for you.

I would talk to your doctor about this... especially if you have not had problems earlier with the same thing. It could be excess acid but I am not a doctor.

I agree with lilmiss if you have a cold you may need to postpone surgery... you do not want to be getting over a bug and recovering from surgery.

wow look at you 6.4lbs from goal you must be sooo excited.