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.

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?

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

I'm 4 weeks out this week. I am just coming off of full liquids and can now have pureed foods. I have had pureed chicken with gravy over mashed potatoes, pureed f/f refried beans with smooth guacamole, and cottage cheese. I plan to try egg salad, pureed chili, and spaghetti sauce with meatballs and ricotta this week. I'm so sick of all the sweet stuff and protein shakes that I'm willing to try just about anything that is savory even if I have to puree it. I can't think about it too much or I won't be able to eat it. :-) I also love the lite laughing cow cheeses. They melt smooth and add a good flavor. I added a french onion one to my mashed potatoes and the chipotle one to my refried beans. It was yum!

I'm just a month out and still on limited food intake, but I love that I can drink fluids as much as I want. When I was restricted with the band, there were days when I could t even get water down. I would be so thirsty and dehydrated, but I could only take a sip or two. Now I'm very well hydrated. So far I love the difference of my sleeve. I'm now realizing what a pain the band was and what a horrible thing it really was. I look forward to finding out more about my sleeve and learning to live my life with it. Good luck to you!!

That's interesting. I lost weight with the band, but I was never healthy. I didn't eat either because I would just throw up or hurt. I'm glad you are doing better. I'm just 4 weeks post op, but I already feel better and can see that the sleeve is a much better choice for me.

I'm sorry you guys are going through this. I had the band for almost five years before my revision in Feb. I never had the passing out that you describe, but I've had other ailments over the years that could never be attributed to any one diagnosis, but I'm convinced they were band related. I have been so "sick" over the past year. I was tested for everything under the sun because I was convinced something was wrong with me and everything was normal. I had extreme fatigue, aches, nausea, diarrhea, and just felt like crap all the time. Even though I'm not 100% healed from surgery, I already feel 95% better. No matter how anyone feels about the band, it's still a foreign object and I just think some people react worse than others. I hope you guys find some answers because not having some kind of diagnosis is so frustrating. Good luck and keep us posted!

I too am in the pureed stage. I have been using my VitaMix blender and it purees it like a champ. I find that I have to put quite a bit of liquid to get it to the right consistency. It kinda creeps me out a little. I'm a texture person and the thought of what I'm doing grosses me out, but I try not to think about it as I'm eating. My favorite so far is chicken with turkey or chicken gravy over very moist mashed potatoes. I also find that lean, canned chicken works better than say a grilled chicken breast. I've just been playing around with different foods. Sometimes it works out and tastes good and other times I have to chunk it. If you find something you really like, let us know. I'm getting bored. :-) Good luck!

My tastes have changed as well. Nothing really tastes good at all. I only eat because I know I need to. I'm hoping, in a way, that it's because I've been on liquids for so long. I make myself eat everyday. This is the first time in my life I'm eating to live and not living to eat. Weird!

Went back to work yesterday and I have done fine. No pain or anything, but I'm super tired tonight. I'm having a hard time getting in all the water/fluid I should be drinking. I get busy and lose track of time. I am still getting in my protein requirement though. I'm so sick of the full liquid diet. I don't even care if I "eat" or not, I'm just doing it because I know I need to. Eating out of necessity, not desire. What a strange concept! I'm not hungry at all. Nothing tastes good anyway. Reps are constantly bringing food and goodies to us. It really hasn't even bothered me that I can't eat it. I thought it would. One thing I have enjoyed is mixing a sugar free dark chocolate pudding cup with unflavored protein powder and thinning it down with almond milk. It was quite yummy. Next time I'm going to add a dash of sugar free raspberry torani syrup.

Same here, still wearing sweatpants. I've lost weight, but I still can't do jeans. It's uncomfortable and I don't want them to rub my incisions. So glad I wear scrubs to work! Looking forward to the day when I put my old jeans on and they are too big.

I know what you mean! I'm sick of the sweet as well! I'm allowed thinned, strained, low fat cream soups also. Yesterday I sauteed some onions, garlic, and italian seasoning in a teaspoon of EVOO until carmelized, added a can of heart healthy tomato soup, 1 can of water and a knorr bullion cube, cooked it on low for like an hour. Then I pureed it and strained it. Added a drop or two of balsamic vinegar and fresh ground pepper to my bowl. It was heaven! Today I added a spoon of f/f sour cream to my bowl. It was yummy like that as well. I've ordered some plain unjury protein powder so that I can get my protein in with soups as well. I'll be doing this again.

Pudding and yogurt were on your phase two diet list? We were sleeved by the same surgeon just two days apart. I wasn't given the okay for that. I wonder why? Everything is good and they were impressed with how many oz of fluid I'm able to get in during the day. Of course I didn't see the doc, I saw a PA. I wonder if that's the difference? I wondered why no yogurt if it is smooth, but didn't think to ask before I left.