Dee Dee

I am in my second week postop. I am branching out trying different things in very small portions but I bought this big container of plain Greek Yogurt and I don't know what to do with it to make it palatable? So far I put Splenda in it and then I could at least get it down. It tastes like sour cream when it is plain. I know about adding fruit to it but is there anything else? Thanks so much

I am going at about the same pace. I have lost almost 30 pounds. I feel great and I am off of the joint pain medicine I have been on for several years. My bariatric Dr. took me off of all my blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds and heart meds. I see my cardiologist on the 9th of September so I am anxious to see what he says about all of this. He was very supportive of the surgery. I had my labs done last week so we will see if the 30lb weight loss has me in better shape than I was. I still have a ways to go but not carrying around the 30 pounds has me doing the "happy dance". Good luck to all and I will report in next week after my cardiologist appointment.

My Dr said if I had that problem to take Milk of Magnesia. I had that problem and took it and it helped. I am 2 weeks postop now and things are getting a little more to normal but nothing like before surgery. There is so little going in that I guess it is to be expected there won't be much coming out.

Lot's of good ieas!

Something that has helped me is baby food meat. The chicken or turkey is what I like best. I am now able to eat some deli turkey but if I am caught out and I get hungry I just pull my spoon and little jar of baby food meat out of my purse. When we took my Mother-in-law and Grandchildren to McDonalds that is what I did. That small amount is enough to fill me up. I also keep a scoop of my chocolate protein powder in a little snack size zip lock bag. I put it in the shaker with no liquid and have that as a back up. You can get water just about anywhere. My husband thought he was to take on the role of "food police". I quickly set him straight on that. I told him that until he read all of the literature I was given from the Dr he was not to monitor my food choices. Which he had done in front of our friends who knew I had the surgery. Bad husband. :-( He is very supportive but carried it just a little too far. I don't think he will make that mistake again. LOL This is all new to all of us including our husbands. I, like most of us, have always done a whole lot of cooking. For now I have quit and I am just getting used to my new stomach and taking care of my needs first for the first time. Eventually I will start cooking again for both of us but this time it will be healthy cooking for both of us. My husband supports me in all of this and he has backed off the food monitoring and he wants to get healthier himself. He only has about 10 pounds to lose. Each day will get easier.

Yes, it is at the Prairie Star location. It is 3:30 to 5. Becky said it is either next to their office or across the hall. I figured I could find it once I am there.

I am two weeks out today and feel very good. The first week I stopped taking the pain med on the 3rd day thinking I didn't want to become addicted. That was stupid I started taking it again mainly at night. I was never in "pain" just some discomfort. After the surgery they put a patch behind my ear to prevent being nauseaus. They said to keep it on about 3 days but I kept it on a week and never was nauseus. I really felt so much better the day they took the staples out! Would I do it again? In a heartbeat! After losing 20# I can walk without pain in my hips.

Thanks these are some great ideas. This evening I put a packet of Splenda and sprinkled some cinnamon in. That was good. I assume at some point I will be able to have fresh vegetables. Mixing it with Hidden Valley Ranch would make a very healthy dip to serve with veggies. This "healthy eating" is a whole new thing to me but I am catching on. LOL Does anyone cook with it as in a hot dish?

Dr Hoehn's office told me this is their slower time of the year because people don't want to wait on their stitches to heal up before getting in a swimming pool. They said in the fall things really pick up. That sure wasn't one of my concerns even though we live on a lake. LOL My concern was getting some of this weight off so I would even feel good in a swimming suit! Also tomorrow afternoon is their monthly support group if anyone is interested. I haven't been to one yet but I am going tomorrow.

Will be sending you healing prayers for your procedure tomorrow. If you are going to Heartland they will even bring in a cot for your husband (or your caregiver) to stay overnight and all of his meals will be complimentary. I really don't remember too much while I was there but I remember the care was excellent. Looking forward to hearing from you when you are up to it.

I understand completely. I started thinking about this last November and then when I really started trying to make it happen in May it seemed like no one would call me back fast enough. You are supposed to wait for them to call you. It sure helps to have this forum. I would just bury myself in all of the topics. "That" phone call will hopefully come soon for you!

I am a week and a half out from surgery date of July 20th. A very happy day was when the staples were taken out last Thursday. They were starting to really bother me and it did not hurt at all to get them out. I am really doing great now. I am amazed at how the appetite is gone and the weight is just melting off, I keep thinking this is a dream and I hope I don't wake up. LOL My mid section is funny looking as it shrinks down. There is a cavity on the left side where the hole was for the stomach to be pulled out. I was aware this would happen. The rest of the midsection seems to be "rearranging" as I lose weight. At this point I don't care what it looks like I am just so excited to watch it shrink!! I walked yesterday for the first time without my hips hurting.

hmmmmm wish I had seen this topic about 30 minutes ago. I was thinking today was Thursday and that tomorrow would be my 8th day after surgery which is when I can have my first egg. I decided one day wouldn't matter so I took a couple of tiny bites of the 1/2 egg on my husbands chef salad. BIG MISTAKE. I now feel like there is a whole egg stuck somewhere between my throat and sleeve. I had also decided to make deviled eggs for a happy hour we are invited to Friday evening. Thinking I could have that. NOT. I will take a tray of something and I will skip all food and just sip on my "Mud Slide" a/k/a chocolate Protein drink....... no one will know the difference. LOL I have found people feel guilty eating around me which I keep explaining has not bothered me at all. Thanks for all of the ideas on how to try the egg and not feel "just awful".

I know exactly how you are feeling. The pre-op diet is very challenging. I remember at one point I opened the refrigerator and saw my husbands salad and thought OMG how good it would feel to just munch on one little piece of lettuce. But each day does get better and you will feel like you have accomplished a lot just getting through the pre-op diet. I hope you are having the protein shakes as that really helps a lot. Remember you can do this! We are all behind you cheering you on. You will soon be on the losers bench with the rest of us and it feels good.

Thank you very good visual.

For those who are thinking about purchasing Nioxin shampoo or conditioner they are 50% off at BeautyBrands. The sale started the middle of July and I am not sure how long it lasts but I know it is still going on. If you don't have a store nearby you can order online. My link the other hair products are $11.98 but Nioxin is 50% off I started using the Nioxin as soon as I got home from the hospital. I am aware my hair may start falling out (thanks to the info I have gotten on this forum) but I am trying to be prepared and maybe even prevent it. I am not starting out with thick hair to begin with. Another wonderful product for thinning hair that I have not seen mentioned here is XFusion which also can be bought or ordered through BeautyBrands. My daughter has used it for quite some time and for her it is like a miracle product. It really works and looks natural. My link to the Xfusuin website that gives a lot more information. My link to the BeautyBrand website ps I have nothing to do with BeautyBrands I just wanted to share this information.

I am thinking we had our surgery the same day.. July 20th. I am not regretting it but I sure don't feel good at all. My Daughter asked me how I feel today and I said "honky Dorrie" or whatever that saying is. After about 5 minutes of talking to her I said I really feel really, really bad. I feel like I have a huge helium balloon attached to my overly inflated stomach and that there is a baby in there kicking (which I am assuming is the gas). I had two Gas-X strips earlier but I don't feel like that made a difference. So far I have walked 25 minutes (in 5 minute increments) I am doing this indoors as it is over 100 outside. I feel like I have sipped all day but I have only gotten down about 24 ounces of Water. I am working very hard on the water but it is making me feel a little queazy. I have not taken any pain meds today I am going to do that shortly and then another dose before I go to bed which will be late. I hope we are both feeling better soon as everyone says we will.

My Dr also has me doing them for one week. Today is the day I have to do the first one by myself. I didn't know about this beforehand either. I could only get 6 at a pharmacy.... again hard to find. Will go back for the 7th one. After my insurance paid I still had to pay $196.00 that was also a shock!

I left the hospital early afternoon today. Everything has been so much easier than what I expected. My surgery was about 10am Wedensday morning. I had nothing to eat yesterday after surgery or before. Only the sponges to moisten my mouth. By the end of the day I was actually sucking the Water out of the sponges with no side affect. My mouth has been so dry. I brought lip balm and they also gave me one at the hospital. They putt the iv's in the right hand which I didn't want. They tried the left but had no success. On the left hand they injected a numbing medicine in two different places.... that really hurt so I asked them not to use the numbing medicine when they were looking for a vein on the right side and it felt a whole lot better. I wore the hospital gowns the whole time and used my robe to cover the back end when walking. I couldn't have changed to my pajamas as they had the iv's in until I left to come home. I had the on demand morphine and that worked quite well. I couldn't read or focus my eyes real well with the morphine but it sure put me to sleep comfortably. I have had no gas but I have my gasx strips in case. I walked twice yesterday and once today before leaving the hospital. I am walking around the house for my walking today. It is 100+ degrees here and I am not sure if I could handle that right now. I remember nothing about the surgery as I was asleep before getting to the OR. The next thing I remember was waking up in my room. Until last night I didn't even remember my two daughters and two grandchildren in my room when I arrived after surgery. I saw them, said hello, and then went back to sleep. My Husband stayed with me the whole time. We hadn't really planned that but they offered to bring him a cot and all of his meals were furnished without cost. My left side hurts somewhat when I move certain ways.That is between my waist and breast. I have 6 holes and the only one that hurts is the larger one where the tube was and they pulled my stomach out of that one. I think they also had to cut some muscle for that hole. My upper lip is kind of raw and swollen. They told me that would have been caused by the tube down my throat and my throat is raspy. I sound like a young teenage boy. LOL They took the tube out before I woke up. I did not have the leak test and I asked my Dr about that and he said you can if you want but we have found if there was a leak we would know by now. He said he attended a conference a while back wiith other Bariatric Dr's and they came to that conclusion. I did have a catheter until about an hour before I came home. There was a drain tube in the incision that hurt a little when they pulled it out. They drained that bag and the urine bag a few times each day. My 3 meals today have consisted of a TLBS or so of chicken broth and the same amount of sugar free Jello and a popsicle with each meal. I have the little circle thing stuck behind my left ear that is supposed to prevent being nauseus and it must be working as I have no been sick to my stomach. They also said to not touch that patch because if I rubbed it in my eyes it would dialate them. I think they said to remove that on Sunday, I will have to check my notes on that one. I was sent home with a prescription for liquid pain medicine and for a 7 day supply of blood thinner that will have to be injeted into my tummy daily. I had lost 11 pounds before the surgery and when I checked my weight when I got home today I was up 12 lbs not sure if that is all the Fluid I was given or what. I expect that to change as the days go by. That is all I can think of. and it feels good to be on the "Losers Bench"

I will be leaving for the Hospital also in about 20 minutes. I actually had a good nights sleep. I guess because I stayed awake the night before thinking about "everything". Whatever..... it worked. LOL Will report in when I can. Good luck to the July 21st sleevers also in case I am a little late checking in.

Thank you appreciate the good thoughts. I go in at 7:45am and the procedure is scheduled for 9:45am. Will stay one night and then the new adventure starts. I have spent about a year exploring wls and I am ready to "gitterdone". Couldn't sleep at all last night was so excited but actually feel kind of calm now. Best wishes are sent to all the others who are having it done tomorrow. Anxious to compare notes as we progress together towards our goals.

Anyone in the Kansas City Group getting sleeved this week? I was in Dr Hoehn's office today and there were so many people in there I thought maybe someone could also be on this Forum?

I will be in your shoes tomorrow night at this time. I wish you the best and will be so anxious to hear how it goes and yes I am expecting to feel yucky for a few days after wards also and eventually feel incredible and much healthier. I also am prepared for the buyers remorse feeling but it has been so great to hear how others have had this feeling and then it passes. I think I would be a nervous wreck if it weren't for this forum and all of those who have given their advice and expierences. Report in when you are up to it. (maybe we will be part of the group that says it is a breeze) :-)

I am also wishing you the best and hoping to hear from you as soon as you are up to it.

Carmen it will be better. Day 1 and 2 I was so hungry and all I could think about was food. I felt kind of weak and took a nap both days. I am now on day 5 and it is soo much better. I am having sf Jello, sf popsicles, chicken broth and the Protein shakes. Sometimes I have the shakes with skim milk and sometimes Water. I have learned to eat before I actuall get hungry. Last night I looked in the fridge and saw my husbands shredded lettuce and thought if I could just eat one little piece of lettuce it would taste so good to crunch something. To think my whole life I just shoved food in my pie hole and never gave it a second thought. I am thinking right now I will never take food for granted again. When the time comes I can eat something beside broth I will savor every little morsel. LOL It is really a challenge to do this but each day is getting easier on the pre-op diet and it will for you too. Hang in there and congrats on the Birthday!