Kindle

So the vet and I were out working cattle today. We had to vaccinate, trich test, deworm and tag 14 bulls. Basically, they are run into the chute one at a time, we do our thing and then release them out the front. At that point there is nothing between us and the bull, but they normally just wander off towards the open gate where they are released into another pen. Well the ranch hand responsible for this step was not running them out of our pen in a timely manner, so 4 bulls ended up together in the pen with us and two of them started to fight. At this point, all you can do is run for your life! They were slamming and crashing into everything and I managed to scramble to the top of a six foot fence. But before I could jump down on the other side, they came crashing right through the fence I was on. Fortunately, it was near the big barn door and I leaped up, grabbed the door frame and swung myself up off of the splintering fence as the bulls scrambled around under me. I had to hang there, basically by my fingertips until the bulls ran off into another pen. The ranch guys were quite impressed and I played it off as no big deal....Just all in a day's work. But there is no way I could have even made it to the top of the 6 foot fence, much less pull myself up out of the way 100 pounds ago! So catlike reflexes and superhuman agility are now my new favorite NSVs.

Refried Beans were allowed in my pureed stage, and was pretty much the first solid thing I'd had in over a month. eggs were also allowed, so I ate a lot of huevos rancheros minus the tortilla in my pureed and soft food stages. If you are allowed, try some over the weekend in the "safety of your own home" and see how it goes. If all is good, Just order a side of beans and cheese. Sipping on the broth of tortilla soup would be a good option, too. Nibbling on the insides of a chicken taco may be OK, if the meat is really tender and you chew really well. Actually I just saw you had surgery like 10 days ago. I was still on liquids at that point...didn't get to soft foods until 5 weeks out. Maybe stick with the soup to be safe.

where did he get his bison? It's my second favorite meat ???? Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the 4H pig I got this summer and the 50 pounds of grass fed angus steaks and burgers that one of the local ranchers gave to me and the vet to split. I'm loving it cause I hate grocery shopping. Thank goodness for large freezers and my vacuum sealer!

Ditto, I had dermabond and was cleared to shower day after surgery. I was told not to scrub the areas with soap and to pat dry, not rub.

You are not a slow loser because you haven't even gotten to the losing phase yet. You are full of fluids they gave you IV, your body is swollen and traumatized and now starved due to lack of food. I weighed the exact same 11 days postop as I did day of surgery. And the only reason I weighed so soon was because it was New Years Day and I wanted a starting and ending stat for 2014. But really, all you are supposed to be doing at this point is getting in all your water, Protein and vitamins. As soon as you are cleared, you need to start eating and adding calories. You are probably dizzy due to lack of nutrition (8oz of Protein Drink is barely anything) I was drinking 2-3 12oz Protein drinks by the 5th day. I sipped from the time I woke up till the time I went to bed and had plenty of energy to return to work after 7 days. And weighing yourself is not necessary right now. Just relax, let yourself heal, get in as much as you can and step on the scale in about a month for a pleasant surprise.

Prilosec is actually better absorbed in the bloodstream if taken on an empty stomach. I took mine first thing in the morning. You may want to try and get it in 1/2 -1 hour or so before lunch. Food can interfere with absorption and lead to inadequate treatment, according to the "Drug Information Handbook."

My dogs love that I have leftovers! But I do have a lot less now that I bought a food saver vacuum sealer. I am single, so only cooking for one. As soon as I make something, I divide it into individual portions, vacuum seal and freeze it. Makes my dogs sad ????. And here's a tip for stuff that is soft and would get squished when vacuumed....freeze it first, then vacuum seal. When I was in college my mom used to make me individual "TV dinners". She was used to cooking for a family of six, so she always had tons of leftovers once we all grew up and moved out and it was just her and my dad. She saved the little plastic trays from lean cuisines, etc and would put a plate full of food in them, freeze it, then vacuum seal it. She would stock up and I Would bring them back to school with me when I was home for a visit. It was GREAT having Mom's homemade cooking. As for the beef, I hunt and got an elk this fall. I traded some of it for a friend's venison, and I'll give a lot of it away, but I also gave the game processor instructions to make smaller bundles....1 steak per pack instead of 2-4, 1/2 pound burger packs instead of 1 pound, etc. And I've already made some of the roasts into Jerky because I eat that everyday. It's working out great for me, so I don't know if that's an option with your butcher.

I was encouraged to have drinkable yogurt starting day 4 to help replace normal flora. Nut didn't care if it was FF, you can't possibly take in enough calories at this point for that to matter. But not all yogurts are the same...read ingredients. Siggy's was the best option I found, with Kefir coming in second. The rest were way too sweet for me and more geared towards making parents "think" they are giving their kids a healthy snack when it's actually loaded with sugar. As for the frozen Protein drink idea, that's all I ever did. Never once had a store-bought SF Popsicle. And I make protein "ice cream" all the time with Protein powder, milk, Greek yogurt and Torani syrups. Just finished a batch of banana with chopped peanuts and started a batch of red velvet cake with Carmel syrup and chopped walnuts. I think I'll do mint chocolate next.

I was on 40mg omeprazole once/day for 2 months. My surgeon stressed this was mandatory whether I had acid symptoms or not. The PPI helps produce a less acidic environment so your incision can heal better. As for the hunger pains, take some maaloxx when you feel them. If it's acid, it will go away pretty quick. If it doesn't, eat something.

Ditto to what bkrchk said for me....except the part about journalling. I never tracked my food or counted calories. I had this surgery so I wouldn't have to be on a diet ever again. I'm a year out and have been maintaining this same weight for over 3 months. I have no forbidden foods and don't feel restricted in my choices at all. This doesn't mean I sit around and eat cake and ice cream, it means I made the mental and emotional changes so I don't WANT to eat those things. The foods I crave and eat are high Protein, healthy food. And if you read any of my posts you will see I, too am a huge believer in a balanced diet including fruit, veggies and grains. There just happen to be some foods that are better choices than others in all of these categories. I choose the healthier option 90% of the time, But I also eat deserts, bread, Pasta and drink alcohol, in moderation...like I said, I'm not on a diet. In making this decision, you need to look at the long term outcome. Most of the things people are nervous or scared about occur within the first few months or year (pain, nausea, leaks, strictures, infection, constipation, diarrhea, hair loss, restricted diet during the losing phase, food intolerances, GERD, appearance of loose skin, etc). But things change drastically after that and you are left to deal with a new normal for the rest of your life. Some of the short term issues stay with you, but some don't. The potential long term changes are the ones you need to determine if you can live with. Don't base your decision on those things that are temporary. Keep researching, talk to a counselor or psych, attend support groups and talk to both successful and not so successful WLS patients. Figure out why they have different outcomes and see if you're willing to do what it takes to be one of the successful ones. Your concerns are valid and need to be taken into consideration, but in the end, you need to be 110% committed to the emotional and mental part of WLS or you will be miserable and the surgery would have been a waste of time and money.

So why did you pick him? What was your criteria? What kind of research did you do? Who else did you look at?

My feelings are kind of mixed...I'm proud of my accomplishment and appreciate the comments, but still a little embarrassed as I'm not big on attention. If they say "you look great, have you lost weight?" I say yes, thanks . And then they usually ask how I did it, so I end up explaining all about my surgery and eating Protein and avoiding carbs (in a nutshell). Fortunately, after a year, most people I know have already seen my weightloss, have asked all their questions, know all about traveling to Mexico for WLS, and now we have other things to talk about. And all the positive comments and resulting conversations are kind of my motivation for continued success....since everyone knows I had WLS, I'll be DAMNED if I become the one they can make this comment about.... "I knew someone who lost a lot of weight after surgery and then gained it all back in a few years"!! Nope, not gonna happen.

I couldn't do artificial sweeteners or plain water, so I drank decaf herbal teas, Vitamin water, lifewater, pedialyte, dilute 100% fruit juice, dilute Powerade, chicken broth, beef broth, Swansons tortilla soup base, and strained wonton and hot and sour soups. Added Un jury unflavored powder to the soups and it wasn't too bad. Tried isopure but it made me gag. I've heard genepro mixes well with everything and has no taste, but I've never tried it.

I rarely get a lunch break, so my go to daytime snacks are protein bars, mixed nuts, and jerky. I also drink a 24-32oz smoothie with 30-40g protein and 5-10g fiber in between afternoon appointments. Dinner is whatever I'm in the mood for. Tonight I had a stuffed red pepper made with elk meat and zucchini. Last night it was 1/2 beef burrito (just the beef, beans, tomatoes and cheese on the inside, not the tortilla) and 1/2 pork tamale. Tomorrow I'm going to a friends house and she is serving chicken Alfredo over pasta and green beans with slivered almonds. (I'll have the chicken Alfredo and beans but will pass on the pasta and drink wine instead ???? ). Most nights, in addition to dinner, I usually have a couple snacks....apples and peanut butter, raw veggies dipped in cheese spread or ranch dressing, frozen pineapple chunks, V8 juice with olives and pickles, cottage cheese, guacamole with pita chips, Greek yogurt, etc.....As well as a big cup of decaf tea at bedtime. I'm in maintenance, so I definitely eat more carbs and fat than I did when losing. Basically I enjoy everything in moderation....just eating like a normal person.

The protonix probably helped prevent gastric upset from the steroids. Thats why mine recommended Prilosec while on the pred. Sorry to hear about your hives...that sucks!

Fortunately, I haven't met any of those kinds of doctors. I had surgery in Mexico, and have had excellent "regular priced" followup care from my PCP and gastroenterologist. And really, the only surgery related followup I've needed in the last year is bloodwork...don't need a bariatric specialist for that. The gastro got involved over a non-surgical issue, and he could care less if I had surgery in Mexico. In fact, he supported my choice of getting WLS despite it not being covered by my insurance. He said it was obvious my surgeon knew what he was doing and was impressed with the results.

HW 238 SW 216 CW 137 TPL 101 TPG 88 Down a pound this week....getting geared up for the holiday feeding frenzy!

Thanks for the link. I wonder if there's been any other studies to see if revisions are successful for people that had a "successful" bypass, but then gained their weight back.

@@melodyssss how are you doing?

Thanks everyone! The rest of the week was much less dramatic....just a couple scratches from a pissed off cat.

Check with your doctor about the stockings. I was provided with crotch-high compression stockings that I put on and wore everyday, Including on the plane, until I got home. And as per OCC's cardiologist, I bought an incentive spirometer from Amazon to use preop and postop. He had emailed instructions how to use it and how often. I was actually able to increase my lung function by about 20% even before surgery.

Hey, if it makes you happy, go for it! There are worse addictions ????????????????????????

@@bobbyswife that's a great analogy! I might be using it, because posts that whine about stalls and slow weight loss make me crazy! (Especially when they aren't posted in the "Don't Sweat the Stall Stuff" where they belong!)

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Actually, all five of us that had surgery that day were feeling about the same. We even went on a group shopping excursion the next day. I chalk it up to an outstanding surgical team... They were 5 for 5 that day!