ctsleeve

Thanks for this post, it's excellent. Congratulations on your great success! Keep up the good work.

I'm 15 days post-op and experiencing a similar lethargic/depressed/blah kind of feeling. Maybe it's the effect of such a drastically altered diet? Not sure, but I would really like my energy and vibrancy to return ASAP. A week ago I felt great, tons of energy. Today, after sleeping 10 hours last night, just blah. I hope you have a wonderful visit with your dad and your whole family, and that you're feeling better soon.

So sorry you're having this pain! I'm day 15 post op too. Unfortunately I don't have any advice, but I hope you're pain-free soon. Take care, and keep us updated.

I saw my surgeon today and mentioned that yesterday (first day of purees) I had cottage cheese. She winced a little and I said, "But it was on the nutritionist's list!" Surgeon said I know, I know, I just prefer the purees to be thinner. I had made an egg salad with one tablespoon of low-fat Hellmann's mayo and 2 tablespoons of nonfat Greek yogurt but now I'm worried it's not thin enough. What can I use to thin it out in the Vitamix? Water seems do-able but not very appetizing, and I don't really want a super-strong yogurt tang, but I also don't want to add more mayo. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Salsa's a good idea, I'll have to try it next time! I used a little milk and a splash of olive juice from the manzanilla olives I added, then blended it all into a smooooooth baby food (almost soupy) consistency. Tastes pretty good. Thanks for the great suggestions!

I've never seen those before - looks delicious! Definitely going to try, thanks for the great tip!

Hi everyone, Today is post-op Day 15 for me and I've had a good recovery thus far. Today I notice I have a harder time swallowing water/soup, etc. I ovulated today, and when I had the Lap-Band I always found everything was tighter at ovulation and start of period. Could that be the case with the sleeve as well? The only other thing that's different is I started purees yesterday, per surgeon's schedule. Had 4 oz cottage cheese and 1-2 oz of egg salad made with greek yogurt and mashed with fork (and chewed to smithereens). No purees so far today because I don't want to cause any problems if things are moving more slowly anyway. Has anyone else experienced tightness around ovulation/period?

Great ideas, Catherine, I will give both a try. Thanks!

Well, I'm an Aug. 8th-er but also band to sleeve. How are you feeling?

Today is my first day on purees, and I have the same concern. I'm taking it slowly today, just a bit of cottage cheese and then sticking with my liquids. I'm going to ease into the purees, and make sure I can work everything in. It's tricky - get plenty of liquids but no drinking 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after meals (my doc's recommendation); make sure the Vitamin with Iron isn't taken within two hours of milk products; take two Calcium citrate two hours apart but not within two hours of morning or evening vitamin with iron, etc. There's some juggling here I need to get used to!

Thanks for the encouraging news! Glad to hear things may normalize after my body adjusts to the new normal.

Well, I guess I have some evidence, that's for sure, lol! Today is my last day of liquids. Then on to purees. We'll see how things go with that, and I'll ask my doc on Friday about all of this.

Hmm, interesting. I'll ask about this at my follow-up appointment on Friday. Thanks very much.

Right there with you. I start purees on Thursday, and cannot wait! Hang in there, you're getting close.

Thanks so much, Southernsoul! Great tips, I really appreciate it.

I'm 9 days post-op and so grateful to have all of you on this board to look to for inspiration, reassurance and advice. I live about an hour from where my surgeon is, and I have three young children, so day to day life is pretty busy. I feel strongly that I would benefit from talking to a therapist who knows the drill when it comes to weight-loss surgery. I didn't seek out a therapist with my band (I had a band to sleeve revision), and I wish I had. I will ask my surgeon at my follow-up if she knows of anyone in my area who specializes in weight-loss therapy and/or overcoming food addictions. I want to maximize this tool and get the most out of it. This surgery cost a ton of money, I cannot squander this opportunity! Any thoughts on finding a *good* therapist to help me in this process?

Thanks, SuzyB, both good ideas!

Gamergirl, my energy levels were pretty good last week and then kinda tanked. (I'm Day 9 post-op today.) Starting Tuesday, when I was still a bit bleary-eyed from the anesthesia, I went out every morning to do an errand or two. I also wore a pedometer so I could get a rough estimate of how much I was moving. (It ranged from 7,000 to 11,000 steps a day, although I'd say the real number was more like 5,000 to 6,000. Don't think my cheap pedometer is as accurate as some.) Thursday and Friday I worked 10-hour days, with about three hours of driving each day. These hadn't been scheduled in advance. I work freelance, so they called and I felt well enough to go and so I went. I felt great, actually, and it was a pleasure to think about something other than Soups and Proteins. Yesterday after errands I crashed a little, and went to bed at 7.45. I slept for almost 12 hours and I'm feeling fine but certainly not energetic today. I think the waxing and waning is normal, but it's interesting that you mention the black bean Soup. The days i felt great, I had eaten a bowl of black bean soup blended with chicken stock to thin it out. Think I'll have another one today. Hope you're feeling better soon. It's hard to come down from feeling like the recovery is a breeze to realizing it's going to take a little while. Hang in there.

Day three is ROUGH, girl. If you had your children too... well, it's no wonder you're tired, sore and discouraged. I didn't have pain meds once I got home, but I still felt loopy for several days, plus the weird stomach sensations and fatigue. I couldn't concentrate on anything, or read, or even watch a show. Today is Day 7 for me, and I feel pretty good. Still get tired, and that six-week mark sounds about right for feeling back to normal in terms of energy. Hopefully above normal, since you'll have lost so much weight by then!

Hi Kim - also six days out (8/8, am I counting right? lol)! Congrats on making it this far. Sorry about the pup - my cavalier did the same last night and i was not a happy mama. I still feel good, but today I was tired and for the first time since I got home I actually fell asleep and took a nap for two hours. But down eight pounds since I got home (how do I change my ticker?), so I'm pleased. Keep feeling good!

I bought a pill crusher at CVS this afternoon. Amazon has a whole bunch: http://tinyurl.com/kzlmaev

I did it this afternoon - crushed, mixed with a couple tablespoons of Vitamin Water Zero lemonade flavor. Definitely not good, but two tablespoons was do-able. I did have a small gulp when I put a bit of water into the cup to get the remnants, and I felt it in my chest. But nothing came back up.

Hi, I'm an August 8th sleever who was too shy to post pre-surgery. Now I'm still a little loopy from anesthesia, so that shyness is history. I had my surgery at NYU with Dr. Kurian. She is awesome, I totally love her and everyone at the hospital was great to me. One question that seems critical in the first couple of days is how your doctor and hospital controls nausea. Any surgery that messes with your stomach is going to make you nauseated, so find out what medicines your doctor and hospital use. There are plenty out there, and for the first 36 hours post-surgery I definitely needed everything they could throw at me. But I didn't end up getting sick, and that at least did give me a lot of peace of mind. So ask your surgeon how they control nausea after surgery, and whether the orders are already in place so that when you tell your nurse that you're nauseated they already have the authorization to give you the medication you need.

This may be a dumb question, but once you crush it, what do you do? Put it in a small container of water and drink it? Am I the only person who is actually scared of drinking this horrible-tasting stuff? What a baby I am.

Thanks so much for your input. I really appreciate it!