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gamergirl

Gastric Sleeve Patients
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Everything posted by gamergirl

  1. gamergirl

    Complex carb ideas

  2. What does your doctor/NUT say about the throwing up? Sad that you're still having that after all these weeks. (((Hugs)))
  3. gamergirl

    Lap scars

    We were told not to put anything on there for a month after surgery
  4. How are you feeling?
  5. Oh mine too! I asked the doctor. He said my stomach was REALLY big but my husband's stomach was HUGE! So then of course I wanted details. How much bigger than average? Why? Had we stretched if? And on and on. And really they had no concrete answers. They said stomach sizes just vary a lot, that we hadn't stretched ours, that's just how it was. So no real answers just thus view of really big and huge
  6. gamergirl

    Natural obsessiveness?

    Oops I just posted in the vet's forum! Sowwy!
  7. gamergirl

    Natural obsessiveness?

    Speaking as someone with a ph.d., you know what the difference was between those of us who graduated, and those who quit? Those of us who graduated didn't quit. Really. That was it. Persistence. We put up with whatever BS, jumped through whatever hoops, dealt with inevitable delays and were like stubborn MULES that were NOT going to quit until we had it. The ones that quit lost patience. I don't think I was always intelligence, ability, or anything intellectual. Persistence. Same thing that made you keep at it until you hit weight/fitness goals. How many guys like you quit on the weight a long time ago? But not you, right? My first 3 years were no problem. Due to health, pregnancy, unsupportive spouse issues my last year took me four years. Persistence. Good luck. You will do great.
  8. We have set our alarms and eat at 7 am, 11 am, 3 pm and 7 pm whether we want to or not..most of the times. We skipped our 3 pm once and it was not pretty. Both of us light headed, hungry, cranky I cannot STAND frozen berries in shakes which we used to have daily before surgery. I am not super happy with the 4 times a day Protein shakes but a) I down them as though they were medicine, and try not to care about the taste, which they are in fact. And b)I try to make appetizing Soups with either enough protein in them, or we up the protein content with unflavored Protein powder. 1 more week of full liquids before we can do soft foods. Maybe that will be easier.
  9. This seems to vary by surgeon. I know mine doesn't use them after surgery.
  10. three more days for your surgery right?? Good luck! I did post 2-3 more days in my blog if you are interested.
  11. When pre-sleeved, I wondered what it was going to feel like right after the surgery. i read everything I could, but I still wanted more, more, more. I'm writing about my experiences to give back to the community that helped me prepare for this surgery. It's a very long post but hopefully it answers some questions about what we might go through, physically, mentally and emotionally. I'm 5'6, HW 230, SW 222, CW 215.4 and I'm 47 years old. Day of Surgery (Friday) I find myself calm, not nervous and ready and prepared thanks to hours spent on this site. I move to a gurney where they inject me, and the next thing i know I'm waking up and there's an oxygen mask on my nose.I keep trying to take it off, and they tell me not to, that I need the oxygen. I fight it a little. Finally, I say I know I'm not supposed to take it off, but I need to breathe, I'll put it back. The doctor checks on me and sees me fighting it, and says it's okay to take it off. I tell them I'm nauseated and they give me something. I feel so little pain that in my dream state, I keep waking up from a half-sleep thinking, Oh I have to go to surgery today. And then my brain reminds me it's already over. I can't believe it. My husband comes out of his surgery and once he is awake, I make him walk with me. We push our IVs along, marveling at how okay we feel. I'm okay, he's not so great. He's nauseated his chest feels tight, but there's not too much pain. We walk all day in little bits. My mouth is dry but I rinse it several times, and use my chapstick. We're fine. Night-time is not fun. Nurses in and out every two hours, injecting one or the other of us. R has really bad heartburn so I'm trying to take care of him. We get through the night. First Day Post-Op (Saturday) Cannot WAIT for the ice chips! such a gourmet treat! They arrive and we find we can't really eat them as we should. Two little ice chips and it feels like you have an elephant on your chest. R is worrying about shoulder and chest pain, and I assure him it's not a heart-attack, just gas pains, and keep walking. I nap a lot. He sneaks out and overdoes the walking and increases his pain. But the doc says his gut sounds better than mine, and to keep in mind that pain & symptoms don't mean a poor recovery. I wonder how the heck we'll ever consume 64 oz of Fluid. Second Day Post Op (Sunday) Time to go home. We get a bottle of grape juice. Yum! but again, can't imagine how I will finish that little 8 oz bottle. We drive for 12 hours today. Well, I drive. R sleeps the whole time, which is how his body recovers from anything he ever has. I'm happy to be able to do this for him. We stop in Austin to see my son, try to drink some powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury chicken. The warm Soup feels good. We sleep for an hour and I'm refreshed enough to drive home. Keep trying to drink, probably didn't even get in 16 oz this day. That night, I force the fluids and I'm miserable. Walking up and down the hallways after a long day. I realize this is a lesson. If I ever overdo the food, this is what it's going to feel like. No bueno. This is my "WTF did I just do?" day. Thanks to this forum, I know that's common and I let the emotions come. Third Day Post Op (Monday) Lots of sleeping going on but guess what? We can drink easier now! At least 38-40 oz today including a nectar Fuzzy Navel! I'm amazed at the progress in just three days. I stop the pain pills. R is cranky and depressed today.We're arguing about stupid sh*t. I tell him it's the hormones, the trauma, the lack of calories and carbs and that it will all be okay. I do 20 mins on a stationary cycle, R walks the dog a mile. Now my brain shifts to the big changes. Such as, if I'm not always thinking of food, what am I going to do with that spare time? I kid you not. My existential crisis? What the hell am I going to pin on Pinterest now if not recipes?? I realize front and center food has been in my life and am so grateful we were able to get this surgery. Fourth Day Post Op (Tuesday) Feeling like a pro today! I forget I've had surgery and gulp. Ouch. But a shake, an unjury chicken soup, egg drop soup, 2 G-2s, and 2 popsicles! Yay me! So of course, now that is good, I'm the weepy one today. There's nothing wrong, I just want to cry. But I don't cry easily so even though I try, I can't cry . No pain, all good. R gets energy back. I'm not there yet and want to sleep. We go out to get something, I'm exhausted. But I do 2 ten minute sessions on the stationary bike. We try Chike with caffeine. Mistake. Feel sick. Today I make an important decision. In the past, I've always focused on the outcome. Was I losing weight? No? Then let me change my diet AGAIN. How about now? No? So what if it's only been 4 days I better change again. This time, I will not do that. There's a plan here. 800 calories, 80 gms of Protein, less than 50 of carbs, 64 oz of Water, and walking/cycling. That's it. Until I hit goal, that's the plan. Focus on the plan and the results will follow. I know this from reading others' experiences. I decide to focus on my actions and let go of the outcome. Big move for a control freak I tell R that now that I am not constantly searching for the best diet, the superfoods, the one ultimate way to lose weight, It has freed up so much psychic energy, that I'm shocked at how much of my time I had devoted to obsessing about my weight. I chose the best way for me. The time to stop looking is over. Time to start DOING. Fifth Day Post Op (Wednesday) liquids not a problem. Protein not a problem. Can you believe that? It's only day 5 but we're getting all liquids in. What a change. I can NOT stay awake and sleep from 9:30 am - 12:30 pm though. Work intrudes and I take 3 meetings over the phone. Couldn't have done that without the nap. I feel energized. We go out to run and errand and go to the grocery store to buy ingredients for soup which we will start on Saturday while the kids are home. The grocery is full of sample ladies and although I rarely ate samples, it's a different feeling when you can't. I feel different to everyone around me. I realize that I'm different from the others around me in one more new way, but it's a way that doesn't show, unlike my skin, my weight, my ethnicity. It makes me feel like I'm harboring a secret. Weird feeling. I am happy I'll be able to cook again. I make my son an omelet with cheese, and I find I'm a little tempted but not bad. But I've had food dreams all day today. I want a grilled cheese sandwich with the crisp outer crust and the gooey cheese, I want tomato soup, I want chicken kebabs, I want, I want. I drink my shake. I will do nothing to compromise my recovery. Sixth Day Post Op (Thursday) The day has just started who knows what awaits, but R has lost 20 lbs in 3 weeks, and I've lost 15 lbs. Last time I lost 15 lbs it took 6 months of clean eating and walking 4 miles a day. I'll take this! I now believe that I will lose the weight. I was sure I was going to be that freak of nature that couldn't lose it because I only lost 6 lbs on 2 weeks of pre-op, but now I believe. Today we will do our liquids, our protein, our walk/cycle and tomorrow will be a better day. My next goal? Visualize myself thin, and be able to see myself wearing cute clothes and start pinning those on Pinterest. Not there yet. What a difference six days can make!
  12. gamergirl

    Complex carb ideas

    Here you go. Everything in parens, she has recipes for. I can send another page too if you or anyone else wants more examples.
  13. gamergirl

    Complex carb ideas

    Dude! I think I found you the perfect book! It's called Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan. http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/ So the recipes look good, no problems but what is really good is her weekly cook-ups. She does some basic Proteins (grill chicken, brown ground beef and one other). And some steam sautes of vegetables. She makes a batch of sauces. And then shows you how to do various combos of proteins and complex carbs with different sauces, to get entirely different tasting meals which she calls Hot Plates. I'l try to attach a picture so you can get an idea. Basically she has 17 different sauces or seasonings that you can borrow from. It seems super-efficient to me. It's a Paleo cookbook so very high on Protein. I think you will like.
  14. gamergirl

    Egg drop soup on 3-week post op diet?

    We did it, which is not to say it's okay I guess. But we made it at home because the store-bought stuff had junk in it that really didn't taste good to us. That yellow color and that thickness is not normal! We heated broth with salt and pepper, and then when boiling, we mixed a little cornstarch and Water and poured that in. Poured in the beaten egg, stirred three times with chopsticks and put the lid on and turned the stove off. After a while, we put it in our cups and poured 2 drops of hot sesame oil for flavor and it was yummy-licious. We also tried puree-ing it in our blender to pulverize the eggs, and that works too. It's so easy to make at home, i'd go that route if possible. I don't know about fake coloring, MSG, etc in the restaurant stuff.
  15. My b-complex gummies have 500% the RDA. You'd think that should work equally well, right?
  16. gamergirl

    Today I feel DOWN

    before surgery, I used to put on 4 lbs the week of my period. Maybe that's what's happening with you? This was my week as well, I am very down today, no doubt due to the hormones, and I didn't lose anything. In fact, I made sure to drink my water, and my weight went up a pound. I'm sure that's a lot of what is going on with you as well. It will pass and we'll both feel better soon. In the meantime, (((((hugs)))))
  17. Wow, i just posted saying I'm so tired and then I see this. I'm 15 days out maybe, but I am very tired and was hoping for some energy. I guess it's all normal. Hang in there!
  18. gamergirl

    Post-Op Full liquids Creamy Shrimp Bisque

    I also made the mushroom and chicken Soup and pureed that. VERY flavorful if you like mushrooms. Separately, I posted a Lobster Bisque I made up yesterday on this forum that was very tasty.
  19. That level you're reporting, it's your TSH? Or something else? if Tsh, Your thyroid is hyperactive at that range which should help weight loss. "normal" ranges are between 1-5. Anything under, is hyper, anything higher is hypo. But many, many people are symptomatic at 2 or less. I have to be close to 1 otherwise I have trouble. Get a copy of the blood test because they also measure T3 and free T3 and those ranges are different.

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