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Most people that had WLS went through what you are going through, so no, you aren't alone. We survived and so will you. I was on liquids from December 4 till January 8 when I had my surgery, so yes, I understand how hard it can be through the holidays. My motivating factor was to have the safest, complication free surgery and recovery as possible. My surgeon also had a weight loss requirement for me and he flat out would not have performed surgery if I didn't lose enough. That was enough to even get me to start my preop diet 2 days early and I lost 22 pounds instead of the required 12 pounds! But I was also very excited to get started losing. So get excited!! Quit focusing on the now and concentrate on getting to your ultimate goal. Have fun with what you CAN eat and drink. A good positive attitude goes a long ways towards being successful. The WLS lifestyle is FOREVER and these few beginning weeks are barely a blip on the radar of the big picture. You can do ANYTHING for a few weeks. And like you said, you might as well get used to it.

The only one that can answer your question is your surgeon or nut. With my program I was allowed broth, and by adding unflavored Protein powder to it, it basically had the same nutritional value as a Protein shake. Postop I ate cream Soups with unflavored Protein Powder by the gallon...

I just use a regular metal strainer. I found the mesh/woven style worked better than the plastic ones with holes in them. Should be able to pick up in any Walmart or even grocery store. And yes, yogurt is a funny thing.. We were encouraged to start the drinkable yogurts like Siggis and Kefir on day 4, mostly for the Probiotics, but weren't OK'd for the thicker Greek yogurt until purees 3 weeks out. I guess if you added milk to Greek yogurt it would become a drinkable liquid.

I've liked Spirutein, Raw protein, and Raw Fit. Jay Robb has a line of egg protein powders. Any whole food/natural food store is going to have a lot of choices. Even GNC has a small section of hemp/pea/rice protein powders.

I don't cook, so I kept it simple and easy.... Huevos rancheros....scrambled egg with cottage cheese, refried Beans and green chili Hummus Plain Greek yogurt flavored with Protein powder, Torani syrups or pureed fruit. Cottage cheese with Muscle Milk cake batter Protein Powder (tastes like cheesecake) Mushed avacado with garlic salt Added unflavored protein powder to every kind of broth and cream Soup I could find. Pureed any with chunks.....tomato, cream if shrimp, French onion, butternut squash, broccoli cheese, split pea, bean, wonton, egg drop, chili, tortilla soup, clam chowder, lobster bisque, etc Pureed tuna fish with mayo and mustard Bob's Red Mill 10 grain Cereal....savory version with unflavored protein powder, bacon and cheese. Or sweet version with vanilla protein powder and pureed blueberries. Mashed potatoes and mashed yams with unflavored protein powder. And continued into pureed stage still drinking at least 2 protein shakes/day to make sure I was getting all my protein.

It's a pretty subtle difference, but for me, if it could pass easily through a straw or pour through a strainer it was liquid. If not, it's pureed. Another difference was purees can go above the rim of a spoon without spilling and liquids can't. I added unflavored Protein powder to Soups in both stages. For liquids, the soup got pureed and strained. For pureed, I didn't strain them.

I like Premier chocolate but don't like their vanilla. Quest vanilla, Syntrax vanilla bean and Muscle Milk Cake batter are my tasty favorites. You can order dozens of samples from Nashua Nutrition and taste tests em first without forking out a lot if $$$$ for a big tub.

My PCP does my blood work. My surgeon and his staff were always available for questions by phone and email, but I never really needed any other followup. My Mexico surgeon has a nutritionist on staff for consult via phone or email but I never used her services. They do send emails occasionally, checking on my progress.

Another option to OA is Smart Recovery. I only just ran across this program and really liked the concept. It is a completely different approach to addiction than the better known 12 step programs. It works with self empowerment strategies to deal with addictions and get on with your life. It does not portray addiction as a disease or you as a "victim" of that disease, but rather provides exercises to take control of your life and change your behavior. And isn't that what we were all told we had to do in order to be successful with our WLS? Their website is smartrecovery.org and besides face to face meetings, they provide online meetings, an online forum, printed literature and a handbook. I am by no means an expert, since I only just discovered this last week and just downloaded the handbook onto my iPad. But it is the first addiction therapy program I've ever found that actually appeals to me. I am all about taking responsibility for your actions and being proactive in improving what you feel you need to improve in your life. I talked to a friend of mine that is a therapist and she said it is a good program IF you follow through, just like anything else. She does recommend it for people than may not find the spirituality of the 12 step programs appealing. The online resources makes it nice if you can't make it to meetings.

well you sure are lucky that you only had to pay $4,000!!!! I'm sure if you had to pay the $21,000 like most of us, you probably would not have had it done!!!!!! Lucky girl!! Actually, if you add up the over $15000 in insurance premiums I've paid over just the last 5 years alone, plus the $6500 I paid for surgery in Mexico, I've paid more than the $21,000 you are looking at if you stay in the US. That's more than 1/2 of my annual income, so yes, it's possible if you make it a priority.

You need to find a therapist that specializes in bariatrics and eating disorders. addiction transfer is very common and well known post WLS, but you can also transfer one eating disorder (overeating, binging, carboholic, etc) for another (bulemia, afraid to eat, guilt over eating, etc). A therapist familiar with WLS complications should be able to help. Ask your surgeon (or better yet, his staff) for recommendations. Or talk to a local weightloss support group for suggestions. You sought out a specialist to perform the physical part (surgery). Now you just need to seek a specialist to help with the mental part. The first cant work without the second. And yes, you DO deserve to be happy, no matter what your weight.

Personally, I think GoFundMe is a seriously abused forum. Unless you have firsthand knowledge of the cause or individuals, you have no idea what your money is ACTUALLY being used for. Anyways, My insurance does not pay for WLS at all, either. I found a FACS certified bariatric surgeon at an International Center of Excellence in Mexico. He had better credentials, more experience and lower complication rate than any bariatric surgeon within 200 miles of me. I skimped and saved for over two years and paid cash for all but $1000 for my surgery. I put the last $1000 on a 0% credit card that I paid off within 2 months with my tax return. If you want it bad enough you can make it happen. Your family is being ignorant and unreasonable by withholding their support for a very viable, affordable option of going to Mexico! I received the best care I've ever had, had an easy, pain free recovery, no complications, and even two years out they are still in contact, keeping tabs on my progress. Beats the hell out the US surgeon that created a hernia while removing my gallbladder last month which I will now need a second surgery to repair.

You should take your vitamins with a bit if fat (whole milk, peanut butter, coconut oil, regular cottage cheese, piece of bacon or cheese, etc). The fat soluble vitamins ....A, D, E, K.... need fat in order to be absorbed. Otherwise they just pass through. A friend of mine who had bypass 8 years ago recently developed a bleeding disorder due to low vitamin K. I always take my multi with the fattiest meal of the day.

On work days I have a large travel mug of coffee or tea for breakfast. Sometimes, if I need to get gas I will grab a muffin or cinnamon roll or breakfast sandwich at the gas station. Eat 1/2 of the muffin or roll or just the egg and meat out of the sandwich. But more often than not my first food on a workday is a Quest bar around 10:30-11am Weekends I always have breakfast, pretty much whatever I'm in the mood for, usually a high Protein option.....omelet, protein pancake and sausage, Bob's Red Mill 10 grain cereal with Protein Powder,bacon and cheese, Greek yogurt with flax seed and Kashi go lean cereal, etc. This morning I had a scrambled egg with cheese and salsa and 1/2 grapefruit.

I'd take the NSAID. I just had both saphenous veins ablated and varicose veins removed. I was ordered to take 800mg ibuprofen three times/day for a week to help reduce the inflammation around the veins. That's a really high dose but they were very adamant. My surgeon said it would be OK as long as I took a PPI and carafate while I was on the NSAID. but I am VSG, not bypass, so you want to be very careful....carafate won't do a thing for your disconnected stomach. Talk to your surgeon about a temporary "safe" dose. Besides the NSAID, they've also gave me the RICE orders, so welcome to the club!

Between pre and postop, I was on liquids for 34 days. I got sick of all those sweet shakes and flat out didn't like Jello and SF Popsicles. My lifesaver was Soup. I added unflavored Protein powder to every broth and cream soup I could find. Any thicker cream Soups I pureed and strained first to make sure they were truly liquid. Broccoli cheese soup, vegetable beef soup broth, cream of mushroom, cream of shrimp, wonton soup broth, hot and sour, French onion, Cajun chicken broth, potato leek, tomato, butternut squash soup, etc. Just thought you'd like some alternatives.....

Response time played a major role in my decision of which surgeon to use. I figured if their front desk staff was too disorganized or incompetent and/or the surgeon was too busy to speak with me preop, what kind of aftercare and followup communication would I be looking at? This was one of the factors in finding the neurosurgeon that did my cervical fusion, too. I want my medical team to be falling over themselves to be helpful.

For me, clear fluids meant you could see through them. Liquids meant they could pass easily through a straw. As the integrity of my staple line was at stake I did not deviate from my program in the slightest. Call your surgeon or nut to clarify.

Congrats on your progress and thanks for posting! I Was wondering how everyone has been doing. Today is actually my 2 year sleevaversary and I just found this thread. I had a really tough year but weight-wise am doing just fine. Rather than repeat my story, here is a link to the thread I posted earlier this month....highlights and pictures. http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/356638-two-years-ago-today/?hl=%2Bdecember+%2B2013

First, make sure you are drinking plenty of water(even more than the usual recommendation of 64oz). Second Take your supplements every day. Then moving on..... My first suggestion is Try eating completely different than you have been. Different veggies, different Protein sources, Different fruit. Add in a complex carb like Bob's Red Mill 10 grain Cereal. Cut out simple carbs if you've been eating them. Cut out processed foods if you've been eating them. Eat at different times of day. Your body is in a rut. Throw stuff at it it hasn't seen before. Doing what you have been doing isn't working so mix things up. It's not always about the calories. My second suggestion is try the 5 day pouch test to kind of reset things. A lot of people find this can jump start a weight loss stall.

It's OK to just stick with fluids for now if that's all you can tolerate. Protein shakes, water, tea, crystal light, vitamin water, life water, propel, broth and pureed/strained soups with unflavored protein powder added. My program called for fluids for 3 weeks. Even once I was on pureed I only ate a couple tablespoons a day for another week or two. I never did vomit, but I had no problems progressing as slow as I needed to. Your surgeon's office is right....hydration is more important than food right now. And you can get all the protein you are supposed to get even in liquid form.

I only wish. I'm two years out and I fight head hunger almost every day. The first 6-8 months were actually the easiest. It basically comes down to breaking old habits and building new ones. Finding something to distract you when the head hunger strikes. Developing coping strategies that don't involve food. I drink Water when I want to snack. I clean. I go for a hike. I take a pottery class. I groom the horses. I play with my dog. You just gotta find what works for you. The surgery was the easy part. Our heads are tougher to fix.

No

"I just don't think it helps to scare anyone with worst-case scenarios. Some people could really find relief with medical help but may now choose not to seek it out of (unnecessary, in my opinion) fear. " I actually feel the opposite. Knowledge is power and to make any decision without knowing both the good and the bad is irresponsible. Burying your head in the sand doesn't make the bad stuff go away. I spent days (probably weeks) reading about WLS complications and worst case scenarios before deciding to have VSG. Did the same before having my cervical fusion, cholecystectomy and endovenous ablation. Of course it was scary, but better to be prepared for all possibilities than be surprised and disappointed if they happen.

I am NOT against taking antidepressants as prescribed by a doctor in conjunction with therapy or counseling. I've been on 3 different kinds. And while they helped some, in the end their benefits were not worth the negative side effects. My best friend committed suicide 8 months ago. He had been on antidepressants for years following a breakdown and was doing very well. However, he had recently stopped taking them (without telling anyone) and I have no doubt that contributed to his state of mind when he decided to pull the trigger. Looking back now I can almost pinpoint to the day when he stopped them based on the changes in his mood and behavior. Perhaps he'd still be alive if he was still taking his anti depressants ?? For him, the pros certainly seemed to outweigh the cons. And I was more than happy to take the Xanax prescribed by my doctor after his death. An occasional anti anxiety on my really bad days definitely beats the daily self medicating with alcohol that I opted for after my brothers death. So my post was not meant to be anti-drugs. I just wanted to share my experiences and stress that even prescribed medications can cause harm. But they can also be beneficial. Everyone needs to make informed decisions about the best way to proceed with their WLS journey and that's exactly what the OP is doing by posting here. And would it make you feel better about my "claims" if I posted my brothers autopsy report and mothers ER notes?