Kindle

I started puréed foods at 18 days and took it VERY slow. Continued my normal liquids, and took no more than 1-2 tiny bites of something 1-2 times a day. Tried one new thing every other day or so, and kept it simple.... Plain Greek yogurt, mashed potatoes with added protein powder, diluted refried beans, diluted cream soups, etc. a small baby food jar worth of food would last 2 or 3 days. it took me a couple weeks to feel comfortable eating. Same thing when I transitioned to soft foods. Slow baby bites, and never to the point of feeling too full.

Nice summary...my experience, exactly (except I didn't see the beggars) and I gotta add Dr. Jimenez's name to my list of fav OCC docs.

Fresh ginger, Deglycyrrhizinated licorice, aloe Vera juice, camomille tea, baking soda, turmeric, apple cider vinegar and baking soda have all been toted as home remedies for acid reflux. I never really had GERD problems, but I did start drinking camomille tea postop and it always soothed and relaxed my tummy when I was in the early healing stages. And although I think baking soda may be one of the best acid-neutralizing products, The downside is it fizzes and forms gas when mixed with Water...not good for our tiny sleeves! And also realize these "natural" remedies are antacids, not a substitute for the PPI and histamine2 blocker you mentioned. These drugs work to prevent your stomach from producing acid in the first place. The home remedies try to neutralize the acid that is already there.

Yes, do tell, I'm getting bored of all my sh***.

Because my gastro doesn't have a designated "fecal transplant facility" and doesn't do enough to justify purchasing whatever AMA approved, autoclave able blending device he would need. So the transplant patient simply provides their own inexpensive blender that is subsequently thrown away. In my case, a friend was given a new fancy Vitamix Blender for her birthday. She was going to take her old blender to the thrift store, but I confiscated it. I truly feel it was fate.

Ok, first off this procedure is still in the experimental phase and my gastroenterologist has only done about 30 of these. So he doesn't have designated equipment or donor base. I have to supply my own blender and my own donor stool. My donor can't have been on antibiotics for at least 6 months. They must be free of HIV, syphillis, hepatitis, giardia, C. diff, H. Pylori and a whole slew of other parasites that could be residing in their colon. They must submit both blood and stool samples for screening. My work partner volunteered to donate, but she takes an antibiotic for a recurring skin rash so she didn't qualify. I inquired about her 9 year old son since he's never taken antibiotics in his life and he's got nice youthful, innocent, uncontaminated poo. She informed me he only goes about once/week and it's huge. Logistically, that would make it difficult to schedule the transplant procedure, and I really didn't want to "inherit" his BM patterns and overflow my toilet on a weekly basis. My PCP learned of my dilemma and promptly volunteered his wife. I am actually pretty good friends with her, so we decided this would be a great opportunity to take our friendship to "the next level". Two days ago she submitted her samples and we are anxiously awaiting the results.....oh yeah, and she can't eat any nuts, seeds or corn for the next week. If I had any food allergies, she would be have to avoid any of those things, too. In the meantime, I am taking vancomycin which basically kills everything in my GI tract. I stop the vanco 2 days before the transplant. I then have to do a colonoscopy prep to clean out my pooper. ( haven't gotten the exact protocol for this yet, but I'm sure it will be lots of FUN) On Thursday morning, my donor will take her normal constitutional and bag up the results. They will take her disease-free stool and mix it with saline (this is where my blender comes in). They then inject the poo slurry near the junction of my small and large intestine via colonoscopy. They have me take Imodium before and after the procedure to help hold it all in. Apparently introducing the slurry via nasogastric tube has also been used, but the risk of regurgitation and aspiration into your lungs makes that method more risky. (Hopefully that part turned your stomach a little bit) So the theory is her flora will set up residence in my intestines and prevent the C. Diff from being able to flare up again. All the Probiotics supplements in the world can't mimic the wondrous complexity of the genuine thing. My gastro has seen a 90% success rate with this treatment, which beats the 0% success rate I've had on the last 5 rounds of antibiotic treatment.

So,sorry your friend is not being supportive. The few people I told ended up blabbing it to the whole world, but I have had nothing but positive and supportive feedback. As for your friend's comments, does she also believe people shouldn't have heart bypass, cancer treatment, knee replacements, get vaccines, take antibiotics, or even wear glasses/contacts? Does she shave her legs and armpits? Does she wear makeup? All of these things alter our bodies. Sounds like she's a poser and only uses God to support HER agenda instead of the other way around.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/303173-fecal-transplant-scheduled/?hl=%2Bfecal#entry3424767 And feel free to make fun all you want. It's been the center of entertainment for me and all my friends/coworkers/hairdresser/family/etc. for the last week. I can provide details of the procedure as well as hilarious real-life emergency BM stories if anyone is interested.

Gotcha. Congrats on your progress, BTW!

Madam, feel free to read my latest post on my upcoming fecal transplant...I don't think I've seen another one like that on here.

Thanks! I actually had my first post op "out with friends on a Friday night" tonight. It was my doctor's son 's 18th birthday and we went to a pizza place. I drank 1/2 glass of water, had 1 piece of calamari, 3/4 of the toppings of a piece of vegetarian pizza and one bite of chocolate birthday cake. I was stuffed so I came home and rode my recumbent bike 4 miles to get my digestion rolling. Preop it would have been 2 pints beer, loads of calamari, 2-3 pieces of pizza, a big piece of cake with ice cream, and probably home to sneak another piece or 2 of pizza. Pretty good night, I'd say.

What services is this surgeon providing in your followups? I was just told bloodwork at 3 months, 6 months and annually, and a recommended EGD at 1 year. Both my PCP and OB /Gyn have offered to order the labs for the blood screenings. As for diet/nut questions, you can email or call Miranda at OCC. if you aren't having problems, I guess I don't see the point of having to meet with a surgeon for followups.

HW 238 SW 216 12/20/13 CW 175 Lost 2 pounds this week! Scheduled for fecal transplant in 6 days...ought to be interesting!

I'm in Idaho, but way over in Teton County on the Idaho/Wyoming border.

I had one for 3 days. No big deal. I stuck the drain bulb in a pocket during the day and pinned it to the front inside of my jammies at night so I wouldn't roll over on it. Felt weird coming out but didn't hurt. A friends mom had bypass and had 2 drains for 7 days. She didn't take care of them as instructed, so she had some issues, but she didn't complain too bad. (Probably because it was her fault)

Thanks and Great analogy, Miss Mac! (I've got a BS in Marine Biology, so it's very fitting). My PCP is actually very excited about the whole thing. He thinks this is all very " ground breaking" and feels they will be doing a lot more fecal transplants in the future for Crohn's Disease, IBD, and even obesity (they know skinny people have different GI flora than obese people). The bonus there is my donor is super thin...maybe all I needed was her poo instead of VSG.

Actually, apples do not contain any any caffeine. They do, however, contain 13g of sugar and the rush you get from that can be misconceived as a caffeine boost. That's where the myth comes from. I've drank decaf tea everyday since surgery. I was a 2 cups/day coffee drinker before surgery, but I weaned down to decaf preop. Unfortunately the acid from the coffee has made me nauseous every time I've tried to drink it postop.

I had a drain for 3 days, but my belly was so swollen and bloated I looked like I was pregnant. It was about 2 weeks before I could wear anything besides stretch waist pants. Even after that my jeans felt uncomfortable depending on where they sat on my belly.

I gained 5 pounds the first week

You have to get the mental stuff straight or the surgery will not work. The first few months may be fine...I didn't want to eat anything at first. But even 3 short months out I'm getting my appetite back and if you read anything from the long-timers, you will see it gets harder as the 1st and 2nd year go by. Anyone can "eat around" their sleeve (or band or bypass), If you don't find a way to deal with your food issues, you will go right back to the old habits and gain any weight you may lose initially. Sorry to be harsh, but this is the harsh reality. 10% surgical, 90% mental. Are you seeing a therapist or going to a support group?

I live 25 minutes from Jackson, (on the west slope of the Tetons where those of us that aren't millionaires can afford a house) so if you want details you can PM me. What activities are you looking for? What season?

It will not work for the gas they fill your abdomen with because it's in your abdominal cavity, not your digestive tract. Only walking will help with the surgical gas. However, I did get quite bloated with actual intestinal gas a few days after surgery and the GasX did help with that. Used it 1-2 times a day for a couple weeks till my GI tract settled down and got used to digesting stuff again. The Pemix I was given postop helped with that, too since it increases GI motility.

My Grand Canyon suggestion was serious...I used to live in Florida and took an 8 day commercial raft trip down the Grand Canyon. It was so amazing, I went back to Florida, quit my job, sold my house and moved to SW Colorado. 10 years later I went back to the Grand Canyon and did an 18 day private trip, rowing my own boat that time. Truly the best vacation ever!

Raft trip down the Grand Canyon.

Well I am only 3 months out, so not a good judge of long term restriction. You may want to check with other OCC veterans for more accurate feedback.