TexasTina

I am 8 months post sleeve surgery and just accidentally swallowed my gum. I remember reading different things (months back) that would happen if I did this. I wasn't told not to chew gum, except during the first stages post op, much less what to do if I swallowed it. I am scared here. Please let me hear from you if you've gone through this or know anything about what I should do.

Last night as I was going to bed I had a horroble pain on my left, back side. Not shoulder pain, lower like below the shoulder blade. I had to get back up and sit for awhile until pain subsided enough to allow me to lay back down. I'm 3 wks post op and have no complications. Worried about a leak cause Dr never told me what to look for. Today I have discomfort/ back pain on left side still, but haven't tried laying down again. Please let me know if this happened to anyone else and/or what are the s.mptoms of a leak. Pain isn't unbearble today, just feels like back pain.

Thanks, Susan. Read the link while Dr. called me back.He said as long as I wasn't having spasms or thouble swallowing I should be ok. Just to keep drinking liquids today to help flush it out. Said it sometimes gets stuck, but if I felt bad tomorrow to call him.

I had a similar concern. I feel like I'm eating way more than I should, yet my calories at 10 weeks out are still at @650. I did notice that now that I've finally been allowed to try all regular foods, the higher the fat the more I seem to be losing. While on the mushy stage and very soft solids I would lose about 1-2 lbs every 3-4 days. The last week and a half I've tried regular foods and lose from .6-1 lb a day. Yesterday, I had 3 bites of a Jumbo Jack (1 bun, no veggies) and about 7 or 8 curly fries. This morning I had lost 1.4 lbs from yesterday. Yes, I am one of those that weighs in every morning before work. I also am able to take normal drinks of water and eat in less than 20 minutes. (I work at school and we have 30 minutes total for lunch). I had no pre-op diet, and my surgery day weight was 250. Yesterday, was my 10 week anniversary and I hit the 50 lb loss mark! I never thought someone could be this happy about saying I (only) weigh 200 lbs. I can't understand it either. I feel like the more I eat, the more I lose. My other meals are protein shake for breakfast, small slices of ham or turkey with 3 whole wheat Ritz crackers for lunch, string cheese or cottage cheese for a snack. I pack this food for the day because it's easier and faster. Dinner time is when I can eat a bit of whatever my family is eating.

My Dr allowed decaf when I went to my 2 wk post op, but said regular coffee until 6 months. I've also had terrible trouble with constipation. Well, last Saturday (at 7 wks out) I finally had my first 2 cups of decaf with some regular coffee-mate, and added some protein powder. I actually had to run to the bathroom a few hours later. Hurray! I'd rather have it without the protein, but I need that. I hadn't tried it during the work week. Scared to. But did so a few hours ago because I'm constipated again. Hope it has the same effect before morning. Had been on Benefiber for a couple of weeks, but that seems to have lost it's power.

Thanks for the responses. Today I noticed the tiny stitch tip had popped back out of the scab and so the scab looked less pointy. Still black, but I guess the stitch had been hiding in it. Kinda like an ingrown hair. Gonna try to wash the scab off. Kinda afraid to pull the stitch tip out. Maybe I'll wait until my 3 month follow up and have Dr. do it. Unless it does begin to look infected.

I'll be 2 months out this Friday and have had no complications. Had 5 incisions and 2 of them had what appeared and felt like a small piece of stitch/thread at the end of them. One of them finally disappeared and is healing as smooth as the other 3. One, however still has that small piece I can mostly feel and a scab has formed at the tip. It looks like a pimple. Today, however, I noticed the scab looks black. More like a big blackhead. Does anybody have any idea if this is normal or should I go see the Dr? That usually means a 3-4 hr wait for a few minutes of his time. Hope someone can relate out there.

So my nut said I should be eating 6 small meals a day (1/4-1/2 cup at each) and I can't possibly do that! I am 4 weeks out, have lost 29 lbs, manage to get in all my chewable Vitamins (yuck!) and feel great. I get to work at 7:30 am, have my Protein shake (1/2 c), Then my snack @ 10:30 or 11:00: another 1/2 c Protein Shake. lunch will be @ 1;30 or 2:00: 1/2 c cream Soup or fat free yogurt w/protein added. Then I have dinner @ 6:00 pm. If I add another afternoon snack I wouldn't be having dinner until 8:00! And that would still only be 5 meals. I manage 4-5 8oz glasses of Water and have been doing 30 minutes on the treadmill (slowly) 5 days a week since 2 weeks out. My daily calories average between 450-500 per day, less than 40 carbs, and 60-70g of protein daily. So I'm wondering if this sounds okay to you guys out there and if not, how do you possibly get all those meals in? My nut insists I follow her plan.

Yes they did the leak test at the hospital. I hope it is something simple. Right now it just feels like soreness.

Thanks for your replies. I will call tomorrow morning (also my first day back at work). Hope it's just my back being tired from my sleeping in one position all night since surgery!

What are symptoms of a leak anyway? My Dr never told me what to look for.

Okay, this is my 2nd day on stage 3 (pureeds/blended) and I can't see much difference between this diet and full liquids. They gave me a short list of things to try but they look gross blended. Think about drinking cottage cheese! I read other people's posts and no one seems to be on stage 3( pureed) for a month and stage 4 (very soft foods) for another month before trying regular foods. Stage 1 was clear liquids for 5 days and Stage 2 was full liquids for 2 weeks. What do you guys suggest?

Thanks for the suggestion. I will check that blog out. That's why I'm frustrated at the thought of 4 weeks of what looks like the same diet as the full liquid stage. Thinking of just doing it for 2 weeks and then trying some of the stuff other people are having.

How long were you guys on pureeds/mushies? My mushy stage doesn't allow eggs. Just a few things like cottage cheese and any soup that can be blended. And this stage is for 4 freakin weeks! Thing I'll have to stick to liquids another 4 weeks!

It's frustrating that there are so many different professional opinions coming to us from our doctors and/or nutritionists. Why can't there be some basic, general guidelines specific to sleeve patients? I ued to drink 6 cups of regular coffee throughout the day. No sugar, just powdered cream. Then at pre-op class nut tells us no more caffeine ever and decaf only after like 3 months. Well, I go to my 3 week post op visit with surgeon and he tells me decaf is fine now and caffeine until 6 months out! Naturally, I'll be listening to him instead.

Will be 3 weeks post op this Friday and see my Dr on Wednesday but too embarassed to ask him, so when are we allowed to have sex again? Not in a hurry to do so (could use the rest), just wondering.

Thanks for the responses, guys. And for the laughs. I asked today (a little bit more discreetly than Knee2010 ) and he said it would be fine now at 3 weeks this Friday. Surprisingly, he also okayed decaf coffee for me, although his nutritionist had said not until 2 months later. He said I could have caffeine at 6 months.

Okay, yesterday I hit 2 weeks post-op. I mentioned before that I lost 13lbs on week 1. Haven't lost a damn lb since! I have tried on some smaller clothes that fit (1 size lower). I see a lot of posts about 3 week stall, but anyone else hit a 1 week stall that can shed some light on why so soon and when will it pass. Weighed myself again today. Still no other loss.

Thanks for the article, Rick. Helped release some stress. I also think that maybe the cream of wheat and cream soups on my full liquid diet and even the yogurt may have too many carbs.

It's great to know that maybe at some point I can swallow whole pills. My Dr. said all meds had to be liquid or chewable. When i came home from hospital I had liquid Tylenol with codeine and Nexium capsules I had to open n place on my tongue. My chewable multivitamin and calcium are huge and tiring. The iron pill is also chewable. I am so amazed that doctors have such different rules for such an important surgery. Wonder if there's a reliable medical website that gives us a breakdown on diets, meds/vitamins, water intake and differentiates between VSG and the other 2 surgeries. My Dr.'s diet rules state at the top that it's for VSG/Gastric Bypass/ Lap-Band. They are so different, so why the same rules?

I'm 2 wks post op tomorrow and steri strips haven't come off. Not even budging. Band aids came off day 2. I asked Dr.'s office and they said to leave them alone. But I won't see him for post op until next Wednesday due to holidays. Just thinking that they're really stuck on the longer they stay put. Input from the vets, please. My Dr uses glue under those steri strips.

I actually took them off last night, slowly, since they were still pretty stuck but looked nasty to me. They seem to hurt a bit because some of the scabs came off with the strips. My husband says by the looks of them I probably should have removed them earlier. But they're healing, just a bit painful now that the strip isn't there holding everything stuck together.

I'm 2 wks post-op tomorrow and on Stage 2 of my diet. Stage 1 was the first 5 days: Clear liquids. Stage 2 is full liquids from a list given to me by Dr.'s office nutritionist for 2 weeks. Stage 3 is pureed for 4 weeks! Followed by 4 more weeks of very soft solids. I am having a hard time with Stage 2 because they ask that I have 3 meals, 3 Snacks. Sample menu calls for the following: Bkft= 1/2 c cream of wheat, 1/2 c skim milk; snack= 1/2 c whey Protein shake; Lunch= 1/2 c strained fat free cream Soup, 1/2 c sugar free pudding; snack= 1/2 c protein shake; Dinner= 1/2 c cream soup again, 1/2 c fat free yogurt; snack= 1/2 c Protein shake. Is it just me or is this a lot of food? Trying to space these out about 2 hrs and trying to get Water in 30 minutes before and after is a chore. I only do 1 of the things they ask at each meal (1/2 c), no way would I have room for a total cup at any meal time. I'm also stuck at a 13lb loss week 1 and nothing week 2. Am wondering if this sounds about right compared to you all's diets or should I be eating less. I'm not hungry so I don't want to eat at times. I also think 4 wks for purees and 4 weeks for very soft solids is a long time before I can try regular food again. Would appreciate your input tremendously.

Just posted a question regarding my diet and how I can't eat all they ask Stage 2. I had 5 days clear liquids, 2 weeks full liquids, 4 weeks pureed, 4 weeks very soft solids. They did provide specific lists as to what foods they allow at each stage. Not many choices.

Know the feeling! I weighed myself after the 1st week and lost 13 lbs. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks and I've lost nothing more than those 13. However, this morning I did follow advice given on this board. I started trying on some smaller clothes I had from my many previous diets. I was wearing 3x comfortably before surgery. Well, the 2xs and some 1xs actually fit this morning. I wish the scale would move too, something about that number that wrecks havoc on our brain, but I'm trying to be patient and enjoy the fact that these dusty ole clothes fit. Best wishes.