mick

I use a Bella Cucina Rocket Blender, Patinum Edition. . Someone gave me one several years ago and I have been making my shake with it for the past two years or more. After surgery I found out that it purees my food really good too. I found the best place to buy one is on eBay or Amazon. I like them so well I bought one for work and one as a gift My wife made me a chicken stew that I put in it and it worked out great. One thing I really enjoyed though was chicken broth and cooked chicken breast in this little machine. Came out real creamy and had to dilute it with more broth but was really great. Works great with frozen fruit too. Now that i am on regular foods I only use it for an occasional shake. I use "Better Than Bouillon" low sodium, for broth. Great all by itself. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TQXWXA/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001E7XGX6&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0NZMT3HK1H4QCXNEDQRJ They also say this one is easier to clean than the Nutribullet but never tried it or the Magic Bullet.

Sam's Club also sells the Premier shake. One a day along with the 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and turkey or chicken breast and a couple of poached or scrambled eggs throughout the day is how I get my daily Protein requirement. I was using the powdered shake too but for some reason I would just lose all energy within about 20 min of drinking it lately. Have not figured that out yet because I used it for months without any problems at all.

It seems that this problem is ongoing. My surgeon asked me to stay away from chemical laxative but ...when it looks like it is going on 3 days without a movement I take one little Ducolax pill and within a few hours things start to move. Just afraid of getting back to another extremely painful episode of constipation to the point of being impacted.

The only pains I had were gas pains then several weeks later, horrible pain dealing with constipation. Several of us shared our experiences with that. Look at the topic "Laxatives". After my last episode a couple of weeks ago, I have experienced sharp pains on my left side. Otherwise, I have been pain free since my post-op release from the hospital.

How about a prayer?

I'm about 6 weeks. Still not losing anything else. Staying away from carbs but now I'm at the beach for a couple of days and trying to be careful but... I usually eat 2 or 3 times a day. Had a great cup of clam chowder last night. Full of carbs I'm sure.

Had my 6 wk appointment with my surgeon yesterday. he told me not to worry about not losing in the past few wks. I told him I wasn't worrying because of what I am seeing on this forum with the "July Sleevers" and others. Not losing is pretty standard accross the board it looks like. He also told me to stay away from sugar and stay under 50 carbs and do pretty much the same as the Atkins diet. He also had me download this site on my phone. www.calorieking.com He urged me to look up any food before i considered eating it. We looked up several things I had started eating and I was amazed at how many carbs were in the chilibeans (turkey) i had been eating. I used to be on myfitnesspal but just keep forgetting to log in my stuff. Check out this other website www.calorieking.com and see how fast you can check out what you may be wanting to eat at the moment, especially when you are out with friends or not at home. Because of the size of my phone, it is pretty easy for me even though I don't see that well anymore.

They just shaved where they needed to, on me. FYI I was warned not to shave myself The nurse told me that if i had just one little nick they would not do the surgery. Not sure if that is true but that is what she told me.

I was worried about that because my friend had major problems with kidney stones several times post-op. He also had some of the same problems I've had with dehydration and constipation. Thank God I have not had a problem with kidney stones. I think he told me that his surgeon told him that some folks are more prone to get them than others. Also he admitted to me that he was eanting and drinking some of the foods that really aggravate kidney stones.

You will need to set your "active life" on hold and give your body a few weeks to heal. If you are not careful you will damage yourself and really have to put things on hold for a much longer time. Three to five weeks is really a very short period of time. Some folks claim to be raring to go right out of the gate but then I have not heard how that works out in the long run for them. I took a leave of absence for 6 weeks but at four weeks I felt ready to go back to work where I do a lot of lifting, loading and unloading at a very fast pace. Then the constipation really hit me sevral times and now I'm glad I did not go back to work at 4 weeks. But then again, I am almost 66 so, age may be a factor.

BTW I have found that using a smaller straw keeps me from taking in too much at a time. JMHO

I am really impressed with Kaiser here in Bakersfield. The bariatric program followup is great and I was given the ph numbers to all the staff. Their 12 week Options classes are mandatory for any kind of WLS. Very informative as to what to eat and what to expect post op. They also have all kinds of classes pre and post op including a bariatric support group, smokers support group and a depression support group to name a few.

That's what I was told today after we went over what I had been eating. "You need fiber". She insists that I eat fresh fruits for the Fiber. I really am paying attention to these folks now. They also recomended Cherios as a snack just for the fiber. I am now armed wit a lot of great suggestion from them.

I hate to admit it but it happened to me again this morning. Lots of pain and could not pass anything. After the horrible experience a couple of weeks ago I swore that I would be careful to not let that happen again. This morning I found myself in the same situation! This time was worse. I already had an appoitment with the nutritionist and a PA scheduled for this morning. I tried to cancel the appointment but they talked me into coming in even though I was miserable. Glad I did. Xrays indicated I was impacted so they gave me an enema. Wow! What a relief. The nutritionist told me to cut my Protein shakes in half, just 1 a day, and to try to get a lot more Fiber in my diet by eating fresh fruit without the peelings. She said a lot more but after the very painful time I had this morning and then the four hrs at the clinic I just want to lay down and take a nap. Maybe I can share some of the other stuff she said later

I'm on my first business trip post surgery, 6 weeks ago. I planned and planned so that I can have max success while I'm gone. To a certain degree I feel like an alcoholic with new-found sobriety. So far, so good. It's hard to get enough Water while on the planes but worked out at the hotel, got in a nice walk, had a salad for dinner, etc. Here's hoping the rest of the week is as easy. What kinds of things have others done to keep on the straight and narrow while traveling? Any tips, tricks? When did you start eating salads? I thought that they would be too hard to digest with the majority of your stomach gone. Do you tolerate them ok and what type of salads are you eating?

I tried a straw at about 2 1/2 wks out after reading on here that someone had used a straw from day one. I had no problem at all when I tried it. We were warned in our Options classes that using a straw was a no no because of swallowing air but I have trouble with that when I drink normally but not with a straw. I don't believe you can do any damage using a straw. The worst is that you may feel some discomfort which would be a sign not to use one. I'm sure some others on here will have some helpful input for you.

That is an awesome story! When I got home after a two day stay in the hospital, counting the surgery day, I really did not know what to do. I began to try to get in my liquids and Protein with my wife telling me what the instructions said. Slept a lot. Got my days and nights all mixed up but didn't care. Wasn't going anywhere anyway. Straight liquids all the way for the first two weeks. I felt weak and no stamina at all. Two weeks out I got dehydrated and my blood pressure got real low. Looking back I believe that is where the weakness came from. Went to check in with my primary doc and got real dizzy and they put me on an iv and got me straightened out. Been pretty careful ever since. No pain at all during this time until I got constipated at week three. Horribly painful but finally got past that with a little help. Be very careful because this is no joke. Seems to be a common problem. Four weeks out and feel pretty good. Only down 20 lbs since the surgery but from what I read on these forums, that is normal. Lots of diluted Crystal Light, popsicles, Better Than Bullion broth (low sodium). Creamed Soups. Premier chocolate Protein shakes. I was told i had to sip, sip, sip but i accidentally picked up my glass of crystal light on night and took two big swallows without thinking and had no discomfort at all. The thicker stuff causes me discomfort if I take it in too much or too fast. Some of the instructions I received when I was discharged listed what i should be eating/drinking in the first few weeks and also said "as tolerated" which I have found to mean, to me, take it slow and adjust to what is comfortable. I can definitely tell when i am close to full and I try to avaoid that feeling.

I have not had this problem at all. Sometimes late at night when I am laying in bed my stomach makes growling noise like it used to when i was hungry. I am 4 wks post-op also.

The last few days before my surgery my wife and oldest daughter got real worried about me going through with the surgery because of my age, 65, and the fact that i had already lost 30lbs on the pre-op diet. They thought if I could do that then I did not need the surgery to lose the other 70 lbs i need to lose. I had complete peace about it so I just appreciated their concern but went through with it. I knew I was going to feel pretty rough for the first couple of days. The only rough part was the gas pains and that was completely gone in a few days. I can honestly say The only pain I have experienced otherwise is with horrible constipation about a week ago. I am surprised at how well this has gone for me. I thank God for that. These forums are really helpful. They help you see what others are going through so you know what to expect and see how others have handled complications they have had. I pray the Lord keeps His hand on you all.

I couldn't pee for about 24 hrs and they had to use a catheter twice but finally evrything started working fine.

3 1/2 weeks out and I did the same thing but I did it on purpose. A tiny bite of a corn chip with salsa. Not cheating to me. JUST DID IT.

My relationship with me wife has been great. She is gaining while I am losing but she still isn't big. 145 I think. She eats pretty much whatever she wants to. She said she feels guilty eating he food when I cannot eat it too. I told her not to worry about that. My wife supported me with this until the last week before the surgery then she and my oldest daughter expressed their fears for me to go ahead with the surgery. This forum really helped me keep my determination to follow through and now I still have my family's support. I pray that your relationship will stay strong and this is just a passing thing that you will work through and come out of it with an even stronger relationship with your sweetie. I think you may be able to inspire her as you continue to lose weight.

Any drug store should have the glycerin suppositories. Be sure to get some kind of lubricant such as KY Jell. This was the advice from the nurse I called. The cherry flavored Milk of Magnesia was easy to take too. You may want to Google "Milk of Magnesia vs Miralax" and see how differently they work. I was surprised at how gentle Milk of Magnesia works. Takes about 6 hrs to work. Nurse said 8 hrs but it was a little sooner for me. I would do something asap. They warned us in class that if you get too impacted you would have to go in and get it literally dug out. I seriously thought I was going to have to do that. Thank God the suppositories worked. BTW Laugh if you want to but I was praying to poop and thanking God when I finally did.

I was sleeved July 23rd. I was worried about my age (65) but the only problem i am having is getting enough liquid. Still don't have much stamina but supposed to be going back to work on Aug. 25th. That worries me a little bit but I feel stronger and better each day so hoping to be ok by then. The only pain I've had was from the gas for the first few days but nothing else at all unless you count the constipation I suffered through for about 14 hrs. Horrible pain but everything came out all right in the end. ​

Heard a funny one the other day. Guy says he has lost over 50 lbs post-op and different people have made various remarks to him about how obvious it is that he has lost weight but the one that really gets him is when they say "I can really tell you have lost a lot of weight because i can see it in your face." He says man, i must have had a pretty fat head. 50 lbs? Like the Koolaid man or something. Big fat head and little bitty body, or what? I thought it was funny. You can ad lib it a bit to make it funnier.