Jakat

Moon, sorry to hear about your troubles. The one thing that I have heard is that if you are not getting enough protein then one of the side effects is hair loss. The other is weight gain. If you are not eating enough protein, then you must be eating too many carbs which leads to the weight gain. The pre-op diet with very high protein and very low carbs along with getting plenty of exercise should kick everything back in. Get back on your vitamins too, the B12, calcium and iron are very important. The B12 does help in the weight loss. Don't forget the 64oz of liquids a day. Good Luck and keep us posted.

Just remember at good protein to carb ratio is 2 to 1. You should have 80 grams of protein so that means no more than 40 grams of carbs per day. Be careful of the pastas, breads and those hidden carbs like fruits. Look it up a normal sized apple has 20 grams of carbs. A good thing that has helped me is our plate should be the size of a dessert plate. Cut that in half, one half is protein. The other half, cut in half and one of those is carbs the other is veggies. My cousin who went thru this 2 years ago put it this way: you go out for a steak dinner, you have 3 bites of steak and a forkful or two of baked potato and a forkful or two veggies and your done, take the rest home. Good Luck

I have the same feeling. My NUT explained to me that most of it is "Head Hunger" your body is telling you that you need to eat something, your brain is still functioning as it was 2,3 or six months ago telling you to eat until your pop. I am 2 1/2 months out and this is the hardest thing to "re-train" your brain and habits. This is a must if we want to continue this process. We have to change a lifetime of bad eating habits, get off our butts and exercise, and keep this up for life. We all remember the doctor and nurses telling us that this is a lifetime lifestyle change, the surgery is just a tool. We all get frustrated, but remember the hard work will pay off. Good Luck to all.

protein, protein and liquids liquids. You also have to get plenty of rest, your body is still trying to heal itself, so it is going to need rest time. Don't take ANY supplements until you talk to your doctor, especially caffeine.

Like brandywine I am about 2 1/2 months out and just starting to feel "normal". I have to be careful not to eat to fast or too much. The swellling in my stomach has finally gone down. My energy level is ok until later in the evening, so my stamina isn't quite back. My doctor told this is normal as you won't be completely healed until you are six months out, so your body is still using energy to heal itself, plus your calorie intake is WAY down so your body is still trying to adjust to that.

I just had my two month appt a couple of weeks ago and my NUT told me physically i was OK, but to be real careful,,dead calories and high sugar and carbs in alcohol. Plus you will be a real cheap date as you haven't had anything in a long time. We also tend to make bad food choices when we drink. I have had a couple of really small (2oz) of wine and one mixed drink (no carbonated beverage). and had no problems, but it definately hits you. Remember one 1oz of red wine has 25 calories, so one glass at a resturant is 4oz which equals 100 calories, which is a tenth of the calories at your stage. plus you should only be taking in 30-40 carbs per day. Hope this helps. Good Luck

Post op for me was 1 week of clear liquids, broth, shakes and the like. Then after you get your 1st checkup then to puree for 3 weeks, then soft foods. Puree is anything you can blend up into baby food consistancy. soft foods are pretty much anything you can "mash" with a fork where the food comes thru the tins of the fork, so like salisbury steak in small bites, soft meatloaf, chicken in a crock pot with cream of chicken soup, stuff like that. Remember protein first 60-80 grams a day, 20-40 carbs a day and 64 oz of liquids a day. Good Luck

Karokster, Great to hear that you feeling better. If you are going to be on puree for turkey day you can have turkey as long as you puree it first. My NUT told me that if it goes in a blender I could eat. I ask "so if I puree a hamburger I can it?" She said yes, but it kinda loses it's appeal when it's pureed. GOOD LUCK

Allison, Good Luck and can't wait to see you on the loser's bench.

Ashley, The best thing I found for the liquid was the unjury chx soup. On soft foods I bought a magic bullet from target (like $50) and anything my family ate I was allowed to eat as long at it was in bullet for 30-45 seconds. It looks like poop, but it doesn't taste too bad. You should be on liquid for a week or so..then puree for about 3 weeks. Scrambled eggs were good during puree just make sure not to cook them too much. Also I ordered the unjury cheese sauce and put it on stuff like mashed taters, eggs. It is very important to keep your protein up (60-80) and liquids (try to shoot for 64 oz). I am on soft right now and I am able to eat anything that I can mash with fork, so stuff like meatloaf that is soft, chicken breast in a slow cooker with a couple cans of cream of chicken soup so its really soft, but you can't/shouldn't have chicken that is grilled. Tuna fish/salad also has been a staple. Ask you NUT they can give u some great ideas. GOOD LUCK

For those of you that are constipated if you use miralax remember those type of laxatives use water to make things get moving so make sure you are getting enough fluids not just for not getting dehydrated, but to get things moving. Yes the pain meds do stop you up BIG time. You also have to keep moving to get things moving. Remember you guys aren't even a week out and these kind of problems and issues are normal. You guys will probably moved up to Puree foods very soon. I bought a magic bullet and everything the family ate I was able to eat after about 30-40 seconds in the bullet. Keep up the fluids, protein, stay away from the "soft carbs" (mashed taters, and stuff like that) and keep up the walking.. GOOD LUCK

My Dr. told me nothing except walking and light arms for the first month. Then as long as there is no problems he/she might let you start on "light core" work. I just went for my 2 month checkup and was cleared to do whatever I wanted, but he warned me not to overdo it, since it's been 2 months of doing nothing but walking and arms, but I didn't have any major complications. Be patient and good luck

Congrats to all the Nov 12th sleevers. yes your stomach is still swollen. I was sleeved on 9/24 and I am now just beginning to feel like the stomach is no longer swollen. The pain under your breastbone or rib cage right after eating or drinking is either from too much or too fast or both. I still get these if I don't watch it. The best advise I got was to eat with baby fork/spoon and to wait 60 seconds between bites. Same with drinking 1oz or so at at time then wait drink again. Eating the broths are ok, but just make sure you are getting your proteins in (60-80 per day). And for God's sake don't even think about carbonated beverage until at least 6 months out. Good Luck to all.

Glad to hear you are feeling better than yesterday. It could about 2 1/2 to 3 days for the first BM to kick in for me. I was told that was normal, your body has just gone thru a tremendous shock. Be careful walking the dog that he/she doesn't pull you too much or jump up on you. The unjury chx soup was a savior for me also. You usually, at least i didn't lose that much the first few days 3-5, they fill you up full of fluids in hospital and you still have a lot of swelling. We all have been where you are. I am almost 2 months out and I just got my blood work back and WOW all the numbers all WAY WAY done and I am off all meds. It is tough thefirst few weeks, but definitely worth the effort. Keep your chin up and Good Luck

Ok, you are normal. They blow up you stomach with air so they can work around in there easier. Have someone get you some gasx strips, those work wonders. You probably want to sleep in a recliner or something tonite. I did for the first two nights. The water is very very very important, but yes it goes down in sips at a time. You will probably have pains in your upper left chest, this is from the air in your belly area. make sure to get up and move around at least once an hour. This also will help the gas bubbles get moving around and out. The heartburn is normal. But remember liquid liquids and move move move. It will pass, literally, very soon. Congrats on the surgery. Good Luck

No reason to crawl into a hole. Be proud of you new body and like skinnyness said it probably gave him/them some extra motivation.

The shakes are counted as a meal as long as they are high protein (20+grams) and low carbs and sugars. If you buy them from your Dr then they should be. If you go to grocery store, costco etc then read them label. Whey is the best. Unjury has good product, but you can find cheaper if you look. The throwing up is usually self inflicted. eating too fast or too much at one time. You a baby spoon/fork or at least a smaller teaspoon. The meal should take you 15-20 minutes to eat. Take a "small bite" then wait a minute (60 seconds) then another and so on. This gives the food time to get settled in your stomach. Another thing we have to get used to is the portion size. If your mom is anything like mine was..finish with a clean plate before you leave the table. So for a long time we have been gorging ourselves. So mentally we think we need more than we do. This is called "head hunger" and tough to break. When I get those I try to occupy my time doing something else or drinking water. You will get the feel of it. Good Luck

at 5 weeks I was just starting soft foods. Your stomach is still a little swollen from the surgery so you will not be a able to eat a "full" 4 oz yet. They still want you eating every 2-3 hours of high protein. This will continue pretty much for the rest of your life it my understanding. Since our stomachs are so small we have to eat protein, protein protein. As a friend of mine put it, who went thru this 2 years ago, once you are fully healed and you go out as for a steak dinner, you will have 3 or 4 small bites of steak, a bite or two of veggies and bite or two of potato and you are done. Take the rest home. Think of our plates, instead of being a full sized plate, they are the size of salad or desert plate. Cut the plate in half that half is protein, then cut the other half in half. One of those is veggies the other is carbs. You will learn to know when you are getting full. If you keep going it's going to become REALLY uncomfortable or you might even throw up. A remember no drinking a half hour before or half hour after. Good Luck

I made the mistake of going cold turkey with caffeine and sugar. The worst headache I ever had. If you are a big caffeine or reg pop drinker like I was then you have to ween yourself off of it. It took a couple of days, but wow much better than the headache. Ask your NUT about it. and also ask about tylenol. Good Luck

if you are following your diet especially the no caffeine. My NUT warned me about the caffeine and that it can cause muscle spasms. But like Aurora said when in doubt call the DOC. Good Luck

Katie, Great to hear everything went well with Dr. Curry. I have never of 3 and 2 diet. Don't be afraid to call his dietians, or any of his staff, with any questions, problems or concerns, they are TREMENDOUS!!!!

Well reading this I have to tell you it's not only the husband's that freak out, my wife is really having a tough time..."you took the easy way out"..."you are going to leave when you get skinny"....WOW never expected that one.

Like 4A said it's both. You don't want to fill up with fluids before and you don't want force the food you ate thru to fast and like Joseph said it will cause you pain if you fill up your new stomach too much, or cause you to throw up.

Mizzdee, pre-op is not all the bad. The food is OK. The NUT will tell you which ones are better than others. The one trick is to remember that all the stuff you have to heat up should only be heated to 130-140 degrees. If you son't have a meat thermometer, buy one. Take 8oz of water and put it in your microwave for a minute and see what the temp is. It took mine 1 min 5 sec to get to 130-140. You don't want it any hotter than that, because all the soups, jellos and stuff they give you is HIGH protein and if you heat it up hotter it will "clump" together and taste awful. You will also use this same sytem after surgery when you are on full liquid (usually 1 week) then puree (usually 3 weeks). Another good thing I found was the unjury chicken broth and unjury cheese sauce, both are great. You can also get unjury unflavored protein and put in different recipes and drinks to keep your protein up. Listen to what Dr. Curry's staff has to say, they are VERY!!!!!!! good and will help you any way they can. Don't go cold turkey off caffeine or sugars like I did unless you want the worst possible headache you ever had. Good Luck

I did not have that issue, but other people in here have. Most of them because you have to sleep in different position because of tender stomach. Make sure you getting up and moving around, not just lying/sitting around. I know it's hard early on with the discomfort, but its very important to the healing process. Good Luck.