ctsleeve

Congrats! You're rocking it!

Daydra, thank you a million times over for your thorough response. It's more comforting than you could know - I was a wreck about this last night! I will take your suggestions, stay in close touch with my doctor and above all else stay on top of Fluid intake. I also like your suggestion about staying away from low-cal foods on days when I'm struggling to get much in, and about the drinking rule. I'm able to get 60+ ounces of fluids every day, right now at least. If that starts to slip, I will contact my doctor right away. Thank you again for sharing your experience and what worked for you. And especially for your kind reassurance!

I'm nearly five weeks out and for the last week or so I've had a low-level, persistent nausea. It's not horrendous, I haven't thrown up at all since surgery, but the nausea makes getting enough Protein much, much harder. I didn't really have nausea until about four weeks (other than the first few days after surgery). Has anyone else experienced this? Does it go away at some point? Because.... ugh. It's making everything else a lot harder.

I'm at nearly 5 weeks (tomorrow) and have this onset of nausea that is making me not at all interested in eating and worried that this is some sort of twist. How did they realize you had a twist? Which anti-nausea medicine did you take that helped? I have some zofran and reglan, and the prilosec/prevacid I take in the mornings. I'm feeling so discouraged by this nausea. I was feeling so good and being so careful to follow the rules and do everything I can for a smooth recovery. I am incredibly anxious that this is going to turn out to be a big problem.

Egad, that must have been awful to be constantly nauseated. Glad it's at least somewhat better for you now, let me know how you're doing.

Thanks for responding. I actually saw my surgeon today and mentioned the nausea, she didn't seem overly concerned. I'll give it a few more days. I'm not getting dehydrated, I'm getting a minimum of 60 ounces of water/Isopure every day. Maybe I'll ask about getting my blood levels checked.

Also four weeks, and feeling similarly. This weekend was a little hard because we had a big party and a separate big family dinner. I nibbled on a turkey and cheese rollup during the party and had some Soup during dinner. Overall, I'm weary of trying to get Protein and Water in -- shakes are too gross, I can do Isopure but it's a chore, solid (soft) protein takes patience and time, I'm not exactly full of vim and vigor, I know I should start working out but I have so little energy... Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to have lost the weight I've lost, but the life adjustment is still hard enough that it overshadows the weight loss a bit. This thread is encouraging, thanks so much to everyone for posting that it does get better.

I've read several posts now about people whose sleeves flipped and/or twisted after surgery. This is a complication I haven't heard of, and I'm completely scared to death of it. It sounds like a total nightmare. For those who've experienced or know anything about this, how does it happen? For how long after surgery is this a possibility? How do you know it has happened? And how do doctors fix it?

Are you not supposed to use NSAIDS anymore? My doctor said it was fine once I was able to swallow pills again (after four weeks of crushing).

Yes, of course you're right - a pound is a pound. Sorry for the gaffe lol.

Hi, I had my band for three and a half years. I had the band to sleeve revision in one surgery, which went well. Ask your doctor how many leak tests s/he does. The disgusting swallow on Day 2 was one of mine (and it also took a while for that to go through my sleeve because of swelling). My surgeon did a leak test with blue dye during the surgery as well. Different doctors seem to have different theories and practices about leak tests. Good luck and best wishes for your surgery and a quick, uneventful recovery!

You know this already, but muscle weighs more than fat. So your weight loss may slow, but your overall appearance (and, more importantly, how you feel) will improve as you build muscle. Muscle mass burns more calories at rest than fat, so as you start to improve your muscle mass you'll burn more calories during regular activity as well. I was in the best shape of my life when I regularly worked on muscle building as well as cardio. Good luck!

A pill crusher was key for me. Didn't think to get one before surgery, so had to shlep to the pharmacy afterward.

The orange and grape frost, watered down and on ice, have worked for me. They all have a chalky aftertaste that's weird, but I'm getting used to it. It's a relief to get protein in that way.

I'm three + weeks out and just can't force the shakes. I've been drinking one Isopure every day. I don't love it, but if I Water it down and add tons of ice I can stretch a 20 oz/ 40 G Protein bottle into 60 ounces of Fluid for the day. It makes all the difference in my daily protein intake.

If you want a Protein boost, substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream. Really helps add protein grams. I found starting mushies (my nut said purees, but I think we're talking about the same thing) tough. I couldn't get enough protein in at the beginning, so I alternated the liquids that had worked well for me (blended black bean Soup with chicken stock to thin it out and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt was a mainstay for protein and fiber) with the mushies. That seems to work better. As for what's good, I think if if you can put it in a food processor or blender with some kind of liquid you can do pretty much any high-protein stuff. I poached salmon and mashed it with Greek yogurt (instead of mayo). That was good. I"ve blended a little milk, Greek yogurt, hard-boiled eggs and a couple manzanilla olives for egg salad. You could blend a little milk, cottage cheese and some diced soft peaches. The ricotta bake, the Mexican refried beans/taco sauce/cheese are all good too. Good luck, it'll get easier. I ate an entire 4 oz cup of cottage cheese the other day, and felt good. It was like Christmas lol.

Glad all went well! Are they giving you any meds for nausea? I really needed them the first day or two. Every day will get easier. Hang in there!

I'm on day 2 of the three-week stall, so I guess I'm in the club nobody wants to join now too. Tomorrow will be three weeks since my surgery and I went from 212 on Monday to 213 yesterday and today. UGH. Getting 60+ ounces of Fluid and 60+ grams of Protein daily, plus some walking. Have not gotten above 700 calories daily, including everything. I'm looking forward to being on the other side of this. It's comforting to read everyone's stories, so do keep them coming!

I've had dumping episodes a couple times, both from Soups that I think must have been too rich and/or had too much fat. The first was a butternut squash crab bisque from Whole Foods that I brought home and blended, the second was the chicken tortilla Soup at Chili's that the kitchen blended for me at the restaurant. Both times about 20 minutes after I ate I started sweating, heart racing, needed to lie down and then some quality time in the bathroom with the runs. No fun at all. My doctor said usually dumping happens from sugar, but I don't think either of these soups had a lot of sugar so I think it must have been the fat. Anyway, no fun. I'm really cautious now, and I make most of my food by myself!

I use a capful of Miralax every day to keep things moving, in addition to staying hydrated. So far, nothing terribly painful.

Right there with you. While I didn't have much in the way of pain, I found the recovery slower than I expected. Fatigue definitely plays a role - I sleep 8-10 hours every night, and I rarely did that before. But I'm just trying to focus on staying hydrated, rocking the Protein and getting lots of sleep. Stay in touch and let me know how you're doing!

Twice now I've had episodes of "eating" (drinking, really - still on liquids) something and within 20 minutes having nausea and sweats, followed by diarrhea. Both times this happened after I ate something from a restaurant. I've had almost exclusively homemade Soups and I know what's in them, but once I got some butternut squash crab Soup from Whole Foods, and today I had a chicken tortilla soup at Chili's. In both cases, the soups were blended and thinned, but must have had cream or too much fat. Is this dumping? And will it always happen when I eat something too creamy/fatty/sweet? Does it ever go away? Thanks for any insight!

I'd call both the hospital and the anesthesia practice. If you mention lawyers, they won't talk to you. Tell them what happened and ask how they expect you to know whether the anesthesiologist is in network if you aren't advised ahead of time. Then ask if *any* of the anesthesiologists at the hospital are covered by your insurance - if the answer is no, your surgical coordinator should have known that and disclosed that to you. Good luck.

I used 2 tablespoons of nonfat Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons of light mayo and some pickle juice to thin out my tuna. Had to add a little Water too, to keep it really thin. It was a bit of a mess, but it tasted fine and there's good Protein with the tuna and yogurt. Good luck!

This sounds amazing! Totally going to try it. The Greek yogurt doesn't curdle?