TexasTina

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 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.

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!

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.

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

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!

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?

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.