BB145

I am a year out from surgery and I had never correlated my waking up during these hours as surgery related. I'm not hungry when I wake. It just so happens that my life got stressful right after my surgery and I just figured it was stress. Which I'm sure doesn't help either; however, through research and speaking with other docs, there is some speculation that it’s a vitamin/mineral deficiency problem. I constantly battle Vitamin D and B12 deficiency despite taking supplements. I was told by one doc that I might be one of the minority of people who have a hard time absorbing Vitamin D from supplements and may actually need to get it from the sun. So I am currently doing both. I finally consented to pharmaceutical help as I was really suffering the ill effects of sleep deprivation. I'd really like to find another solution and not take meds. Anyway, this is the first time I had read anyone else with the sleeve having this issue. Thanks for the post.

I had my 2nd post op visit and am almost 8 weeks out. It's the first time I've seen a nutritionist since starting this journey. And I'm so glad because I've really been struggling. I was banded before and the sleeve is completely different. I was released to eat whatever I want; however the RD gave me some very good guidelines. He wants me to stay between 700-800 calories and 80-100 grams of protein per day. He told me that this was necessary for the best weight loss for the first 6 months. He gave me a daily diet to use as an example until I get the hang of it. He explained to me that if I were to eat more than 1000 calories per day I would be eating a lot of carbs which would slow my metabolism and therefore my weight loss. Of course every doc has their own treatment plan. This is mine. Good luck.

Google it....

Sometimes they work themselves out and sometimes they don't. The most important thing is to keep them clean. While I always recommend following doctor's orders, I would advise against peroxide. Normal saline is better. Keep an eye on them as and follow up with your doc as an abscess can be bad news. Good luck!

The full liquid and puréed stage are to allow your stomach to heal and to nourish your body. they go through easy and are easy on your healing tummy. I was hungry sometimes too. I was also afraid because I felt no restriction either until now. I'm just starting the soft protein stage at 6 weeks out. It's very different and I fill up fast. So fast in fact that I've been getting too full because its new to me. Soups and most purées went down with no problems. Now I'm really having to slow down, chew well, and watch what I'm doing. I've been uncomfortable a few times until I figured this out. So allow yourself to heal because it gets better. I was beginning to think I had made a mistake, but now I understand the power of the sleeve. . I'm liking this a lot better.

I had a liver biopsy as well. I really like that they do that. It's good baseline info for the future. I bet your pain is from the large incision. That was the worst of my pain as well; although mine is on the left because I was previously banded. My port and my stomach came out through that incision. It gets better, so give yourself a chance to heal. You've had trauma in that area and its gonna hurt. I'm almost 6 weeks out and I still have shooting pain there periodically. It took 3-4 weeks for the tenderness in that incision to dissipate. Good luck!

I was banded 5 years ago and yes I had success with it; however, I never ate. I threw up so much that finally I just didn't eat especially when I was with someone other than my family because I knew I'd have to run to the bathroom. There were some days I couldn't even get fluids down. I feel that I was chronically dehydrated. I was never healthy. I was either too tight or not tight enough, nothing in between. The band is "reversible" in the sense that the object itself can come out, but the damage it does is not reversible. My sleeve had to be done bigger than normal because of the damage to the top of my stomach. Now with all of that being said, I'm sure there are those out there that have had a perfect experience with the band which is great. It just wasn't a great experience from me. I was sleeved almost 6 weeks ago and am just now adding in regular foods. I'm not sure yet how it will work out for me, but I know not having to vomit on a daily basis has been heaven. Good luch with your decision.

My doc spoke to me about the bypass after my band failed, but he also thought I'd have success with the sleeve. I just didn't want to go the bypass route. That just seemed too drastic to me. Removing most of my stomach was scary enough. Good luck with your decision. Let us know what you decide.

Yep! I thought my sleeve wasn't working either. And I too learned the hard way. I'm still learning to live with it and I haven't quite learned what is one bite too much. It's like not full, not full, not full, to BAM one bite more and waaaay too full. It's miserable and I hope I figure it out soon!

I make this too except I use a large can of chicken, drained. Frank's wing sauce. 2 T fat free ranch dressing. 2 laughing cow blue cheese wedges. Smoosh all of it together until mixed. I put mine in a small casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or so until it's golden on top and bubbly. I then eat it with a fork with some avocado. It's so creamy and satisfying. YUM!

Thanks for the kind words, Kristina. And yeah, I made the decision last night to not do pasta again. It's on my list of approved foods, but it's just not worth it. I'm really careful about carbs, but I just wanted to try something different. Thanks again!

I was sleeved 5 weeks ago. I've done pretty well. I didn't have erosion, but because of the band my stomach where the pouch was is super thin. Because of that my doc had to make my sleeve a little larger than normal. I worried that I wouldn't have as much success. From the beginning, fluids and full liquids were no problem. I do have a "funnel" effect because of the larger top, but all liquids go down with no problem. I'm on the pureed stage and until today those have been going down with no problems. I worried that I could eat too much as I can eat more than the average sleever according to posts on here; however, last night and today I finally feel what everyone is talking about. I feel full and almost uncomfortable. Last night I tried a few bites of pureed roast and gravy. I'm guessing it's the beef and even though it was pureed, I could tell almost right away it wasn't going to work. I felt discomfort in my left shoulder. Then tonight I mixed up some tuna salad (which I've eaten before just fine) and some super soft, blenderized mac n cheese (made light with unjury cheese powder) mixed together which equaled about 1/2 a cup. I'm not sure if it was the pasta or if it was too much. I guess as I progress to more normal foods I will get a better feel for my sleeve. I don't know, it's so different from having the band that I don't know what I'm feeling. I've hit a stall and I just don't want my slightly larger sleeve to reduce my weight loss. Any thoughts?

I add a teaspoon of mayo and some pickle juice to moisten it.