Phoenix79

I discovered this combo last night- tastes very similar to Dryer's/Edy's cherry chip ice cream or the Dove cherry ice cream bites if you remember those (I loved them). 8 oz light unflavored soy milk (or nonfat milk), 1 scoop syntrax nectar chocolate truffle, 1/2 Tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder, 1-1 1/2 oz Davinci sugar free cherry syrup. Mix in blender bottle and enjoy! Some of the cocoa remains as tiny little balls which explode with chocolate flavor in your mouth. An awesome chocolate fix! I'm a week sleeved and on full liquids.

Try a fruit salad (berry heavy but I also like to add watermelon and pineapple), and add about 1/2 package of dry sugar free vanilla jello pudding mix. It thickens up and makes a creamy dressing that is Sooo yummy! I also add 1tsp ground cardamom (as a Scandinavian I love cardamom) or you could cinnamon or other spices.

Are you making your shakes with milk? A lot of sleevers become lactose intolerant....I had trouble with my shakes- lots of bubbles, burping, sliming. Then two days out I switched to light soy - you can also try almond milk, and I was Sooo much better! If you haven't switched, try that and see if it makes a difference.

Even before surgery, my favorite breakfast was lowfat cottage cheese with fresh strawberries & blueberries. I'm on liquids now- 6 days out and I can't wait to get to purée in two weeks so I can have cottage cheese with a teaspoon or so of sugar free jelly. Fruit will be later! Yum!

Olive Garden recently rolled out with a small bites menu- there's a few things on there that are protein heavy and cheap! Perfect for sleevers! Grilled Chicken Spiedini with a red wine sauce, meatballs, and asparagus are some of the choices. Make sure to go, and if you like it, let the restaurant chain know- they're trying this concept out so it's not guaranteed to be permanent.

Only if you sing, dance and act too!

Agreed! Maybe I can get him to try on a suit soon too. I'm going to enter him into Redbook's sexy husband contest.

I'm sure you'll do great! And you'll be so glad you're doing this now rather that waiting years or decades to do it- you'll have the whole rest of your life to enjoy the healthier you!

Nope, you won't! Your surgeon wants you to drink lots of fluids so you don't get dehydrated, do drink up! I'm 5 days out now and I'm drinking about 80-90 oz of water a day on top of 3-4 8oz shakes and been just fine. Sip constantly through out the day to get it in. Good luck!

Also, think about if you have to carry a book bag for your books- you'll be on a lifting restriction for 4-6 weeks after surgery, usually nothing over 10-15 pounds. Otherwise you may give yourself a hernia!

Thanks guys! Here's a pic of us at the hospital- he was a trooper too, getting up to walk the halls with me at 3 am, etc!

How exciting! I'm sure you'll do great! If anybody else likes the slippers too, you can get them at Amazon.com or thinkgeek.com (awesome site for all things geek). My surgical team loved them! First full day home today and I've successfully drank 60oz of various flavored waters, and had about 37g of protein in shakes...going to have protein added bariatric cream of tomato soup for dinner. Plus I've walked outside 2x already. Things are going smoothly so far! Tomorrow my mom is driving me to a large plant nursery where we can browse the plants and I can get some walking in- they have lots of trails. Looking forward to getting out of the house!

I don't think I'll feel up to it for a few weeks- just had surgery 2 days ago. But that doesn't mean that my husband and I can't do other things together! . I also use a "personal electronic device" for the early days- for me, the big O helps me naturally treat my pain levels and helps a lot! Always has- I also have chronic arthritis since I was 17 years old. Try mixing things up if you're not up to the full meal deal yet!

My husband and I have been TTC for four years without success. It was one of the major reasons for having the sleeve surgery two days ago. Husband's numbers are fine, I'm not dx with endo or PCOS or anything like that. Doctors wouldn't do IVF at my weight, we were even open to looking at adoption and many countries have a max weight limit for adoptive parents now! I decided it was better for my health and my baby's health to get me healthy first, then TTC again. I just turned 34 and my doctor wanted me to wait 1 1/2 years after surgery, but I told him "I'm 34 and I want to have three kids- one year wait is all I will agree to" and they were ok with that- just not any shorter time frame! So now I have an exciting year to take care of myself and then, God willing, a baby in one form or another! It took my mom 10 years to get pregnant from when she started TTC in her early 20's , so I'm not too thrilled by that precedent. But my doctor says fertility goes very high after sleeve surgery, so we'll see! Good luck to all you TTC sleevers out there!

I just got sleeved yesterday, and my husband was sleeved exactly a year before me. I remember when his incisions started itching and asked my doctor if there was anything I could take to relieve that. They said I could take Benadryl tablets or use Benadryl cream to help with that. Nice to know!

Just sleeved yesterday so now I get to join in on all the fun! My sleeve is named Scarlett O'Sleevie!

Both great names and very clever!

All done- I am officially sleeved! The recovery room was a little bit tougher than I thought- I woke up moaning with pain around 5 out of 10. I had hoped they'd already have my pain managed, but they got pain and nausea meds on board very quickly and I started feeling better. I was wheeled into my room and my husband and mom were there to greet me. I was pretty loopy for a while but after a few hours started responding to my family's jokes, and conversation. I was able to get up and go to the bathroom- yay, no catheter! I also started walking the halls in my hobbit feet slippers to get the gas out. I did 4 laps of the hospital floor the first time, then 8 later in the evening, followed by another 8 laps. I was told 17 laps makes a mile, so I've already walked a mile in total! I've been drinking protein shakes and tolerating them just fine, burping as I go. Dr.McMahon my surgeon came by and said my surgery went textbook, that my anatomy was perfect for the sleeve and my staple line looked great! Things are looking good for me being released at around 2pm today. Yay! I came up with a sleeve name with the help of my mom and sister last night- my sleeve is now dubbed Scarlett O'Sleevie! I hope everyone has a smooth recovery!

I found a name for my new sleeve- thanks in part to my mom and sisters brainstorming. My sleeve is now officially dubbed Scarlett O'Sleevie!

I'm sleeved! I checked in at 7:30am and they soon called me back to get prepped. The nurse too my med history, the lab came and drew blood and pick up a urine sample (good thing I had any!). I changed into my gown and robe, and since I was on my period, I let the nurse know and she gave me some disposable hospital underwear to wear and a pad. I was bummed about this, until my mom reminded me that there was a silver lining- all my girly parts that I was worried about being exposed could now be covered by the underwear! My surgery was around 11:20- before that I got an anti-blood clot shot in my stomach, got my IV started, saw my anesthesiologist and my surgeon Dr. McMahon even popped by! When they wheeled me back, I kissed my husband goodbye and then I saw the surgery room- big, white, clean and except for Dr.McMahon I had an all female team! Girl power! They transferred me to the narrow surgery table with an inflatable thing under me which sort of reminded me of air hockey- they just slid me over with no effort! I was chatting with folks to keep from being too nervous and I think the anethesiologist wanted to shut me up so she said, "ok, here comes the oxygen!" The mask was put in my mouth, she had me breathe deeply a few times, and then she put the good stuff in my IV. At the same time, I noticed the oxygen had a weird chemical smell, and the next thing I know, I was waking up in recovery. My pain level was about a 5 out of 10 and I was a little nauseous, but they quickly got that under control with drugs. According to my surgeon, my surgery was textbook and I had the perfect anatomy for the sleeve and the staples lined up perfectly! Prayers answered! Before I knew it, I was in my room with my mom and my husband. After a few hours, I was walking - 4 laps around the hospital floor with my hobbit feet slippers and using the bathroom. I didn't need a catheter and didn't have a drain (my surgeon doesn't use them). I drank an ounce of water which I tolerated great and then got a protein shake which I've been nursing ever since- burping gas up as I went. Doing great so far- thanks for all the prayers and well wishes! Here's me before surgery and after- walking the hospital floor. I hope everyone else's recovery was smooth!