Luchie

My biggest fear before was waking up DURING surgery, and my biggest issue after has been a really slow, extended path back to normal food; I'm 9 weeks out and only just on occasional mush with my liquid! Also, I have terrible loose skin under my chin that's really bothering me..... BUT! Those things are passing stages or insignificant - I have low moments here & there the same as everyone, thinking 'what the hell have I done.', however I still wouldn't change my decision for anything! Good luck!

Hi all, I'm 8 weeks post op and about 24kgs down. I am having huge difficulties with food and am still throwing up anything that isn't thin Soup or yoghurt (not getting all the Water down either but I'm getting there with that). Now even the thought of yoghurt is making me nauseous and I'm sick to the back teeth of soup! Unfortunately the same thing happened with the shakes and now I can rarely take any without throwing it straight up again. I did start progressing to purée and loose soft food a few weeks ago but it really hurt my sleeve and now I seem to have gone backwards! So my Protein intake is way down and I'm starting to feel a whole lot of buyers remorse. Weirdly, there are two exceptions to my sleeves' 'liquid only' rule, neither of which are healthy options, but I'm going crazy and can't resist them! The first one is cheese - anything that turns creamy in my mouth (blue, Brie, babybel, etc), or dry crunchy things that crunch up to nothing - breadsticks, corn Snacks (quavers, monster munch, etc.). Now I'm only taking in about 120g of soup 2 times per day, plus maybe 40g of yoghurt or Breakfast Cereal mush, so my surgeon just said to concentrate on my Fluid intake, eat whatever I fancy and not worry at all about calories until my intake is up, but I can't get over the fact that I'm eating cheese and crisps!!!! The crisps are under 100 calories per bag, and the most cheese can eat is maybe 50g, and one of these is instead of a soup or yoghurt meal, not as well as. I know the cheese is helping with protein, but i'm also conscious of the fat, and the crisps do have some minor nutrition values, but..... It just all seems so wrong!

Ooh... Tofu! Interesting....... Silken or the other one?

Btw Epasseri; if you're getting your multi vita & minerals in, and drinking ok, you don't need to worry about health for ages yet; my NUT and surgeon are STILL not worried - I'm hitting 9 weeks next week! They're advice, which if you're getting your fits in should apply to you as we'll as me, was to relax and not be so worried about anything.... Drinking is the main thing.

Epasseri I know just how you feel... And a lot of people here have episodes of 'buyers regret'. If you're on purée at 4 week you're doing much better than I was at that stage! Well done! The monotony of what I could tolerate has been an issue for me, but this week, I've suddenly been able to tolerate very soft food and it's made all the difference - this will come for you too. You've made a life-changing decision that will see you be able to be anything you want to be.... A few months of tedious mush will pass and we will both get back to eating normal food and can concentrate on being fabulous! Are you craving anything in particular? My craving is beef, so I've had a lot of oxtail soup, the occasional teaspoon of gravy and I have been known to lick the plate of a friend who had eaten a big, juicy steak, just to get the flavour! That was enough for me - the flavour was all I wanted..... so find a way to have what you are craving! It really helps!

Kelly I think I could probably benefit from an IV as my skin looks dry, but I doubt I'm dehydrated enough for the UK NHS to let me have a go on a drip!!!! :-D

Thanks girls.... Epasseri how many weeks post-op are you? I saw my surgeon this week and he was happy from a health point of view but concerned about the boredom starting to get me down. He has said that he would do a stretch for me if I wanted it, and I'm thinking about it..... Really I'm hoping that just knowing that he's ready and willing to do something might be enough to help me power through, and with a bit of luck I'll only have a short time left where I'm so reliant on soup..... Having said that, I'm hoping that I turned a corner this week, after my check-up; I've managed some soft food at last! Some canned ravioli and some ready-meal cottage pie (ready-made crap is much softer than home-made - this must be the only time when ready meals are better than home-made! Lol! ) - fingers crossed this will last!!! Thanks for helping me feel that I'm not alone! :-) xxx

hey Layla, I'm 2 months post-op, and still struggling to get off liquid-only or get any protein in... my Surgeon and NUT agree that as I'm getting my vits in without any problems and I'm generally healthy, I'm covered from a nutrition perspective and until I can do it, I shouldn't stress about not getting food intake or protein in. It will come in it's own sweet time and when it does I can concentrate on protein volume, etc. The important thing is getting liquids in and preventing dehydration. Their exact words were: 'you're doing well, don't be so hard on yourself'! good luck!

Thanks guys.... I feel a lot better now! Xxx

Wow!! I'm going to put the percolator on now.....!!!!! :-D

Woo hoo!!! Look at you, hot Chica!!!!

Thanks Kristen....

Thanks Tina! I'll give string cheese a try... I've tried cottage cheese every so often throughout my life to see if (now at 41!) I'm grown-up enough to appreciate it, but I can't stand it! Do you mix it with something or have it straight? i can't believe how many people here love it- i must be doing something wrong!!! scrambled eggs I LOVE, but I think it's going to be a long time before my sleeve chooses to enjoy them sadly.... Thanks for the tips though! :-)

Btw, the straws really work for me too!!! I can drink soooo much more with a straw than by sipping!

Hi, thanks for replying.... I am in touch with the surgeon and my NUT - they don't seem particularly concerned but I can't help thinking this can't be right???? I'll look up isopure (haven't seen it her - I'm in the UK- but I'm sure it's available online).... What do you mean by a structure? An obstruction?

hiya, sorry to hear about your divorce, but what an exciting year for you! a new body, the excitement of dating again, new relationships - all at the same time! how fantastic! I had an email from my dietician last night who said the same as the surgeon; baby steps in the right direction is fine, we're doing really well and it's not uncommon for people to be where we are at our stage. As long as we're gradually improving, that's fine, and we don"t need to worry about anything. She said to be careful of that heavy, 'I've eaten a stone' feeling; she said that's what could stretch our sleeves, even if the amount we've eaten is tiny. If we do get that, it's because the density of the food is too think apparently and we need to make it more sloppy. She did suggest that tinned fish like mackerel and sardines is good for Protein if we can tolerate sloppy food - mixing with some tomato sauce if we need to loosen it. Hope that helps! Have you had lots of 'wow's from people you haven't seen for a while? I bet the compliments are flooding in now!

Btw, I found a straw helps too.... But my hospital told me not to use one! Did yours mention it at all??? I'm using it anyway....

Omg 32lbs is amazing!!!!! Well done you!!!! I'm the same as you - I can see that my clothes look different, and people around me seem to be quite shocked (in a good way!) at the change, but I look in the mirror and I just can't see it still! I still went shopping at the weekend and was wondering if I could risk buying a UK size 20 (I was a UK22) despite the fact that the jeans I'm in are a UK 16! Duh!!!! It's great hearing from you - being the same op date and so similar in our progress it's really nice to hear how you're getting on :-) When is your next check up? Just think.... We'll be in bikinis THIS SUMMER!!!!! Eeeeekkk!!!!!!!

Hiya, I'm in the 2nd week of a plateau, but I'm losing inches still too - I can't figure it out!?!?! I've lost about 20kgs all together, including the pre-op diet - how about you? I'm going back to liquids for a while I think; I can manage a few spoons of yoghurt so will look for some high-Protein ones like the one you mention... I'm in the UK and don't think we have that brand here, but I'm sure there's something similar! The fatigue is getting better every day; I still sleep a LOT, but I don't feel as exhausted now - how about you? Good news is that I've dropped 4 dress sizes already! How are your clothes looking now????!!!!!

Thanks Brandi... I'll have a look for some electrolyte - loaded drinks, but I found the same with adding lemon! Flavours definitely help...!

A lot of people have what is referred to here as 'buyers' regret' - I have too a couple of times, but it only lasts for a day or so and is similar to the standard 'diet depression' that we all know and love of when you REALLY want some fries but can't have them! For me, it comes with the question 'what the hell have I done?", but soon passes and is usually set off by food boredom (I'm stuck in an extended liquid phase - not for any sinister reason, my sleeve is just taking it's own sweet time to heal). IT DOES PASS!!!! And no, overall, there are definitely no regrets!!! :-)

woo hoo!!!! good luck and we look forward to hearing from you when you're back online!!