desertmom

Should I be able to drink a whole cup of broth in about 15 minutes,no problem? Please tell me if I should drink less at a time?

So we are having our first international visitors and have been going out to lunch and dinner every day since Monday.They leave on sunday again.I havent found it too difficult once I made the choice to just survive this week.I still have the pain in my abdomen and back all the time and I have some acid issues and this crazy throat that just feels so hairy/fluffy and is driving me crazy.I had zero energy all week and I look like a ghost with these dark circles around my eyes....that is until tonight. We had a big BBQ cook out here at our house tonight.There were crisps,biltong (dried meat) and hummus and mutabal.I had a few crisps and few tiny pieces of biltong.Then I had taste of red wine and then I had 1.5oz o fillt steak n 1/5 of a baby potato,just a bite really.Just relaxed without overdoing it but enjoying every moment of it. I am shocked to see how easy the crisps goes down...I wont be eating that again.Th guilt wanted to overwhelm me afterward but then I realized that I am normal and I ate very little when all is said an done.I am petrified of the scales however! Maybe this will be the night that I sleep well....I really need a good nights rest. xxo

ok,today is the first day that I feel a little lost in this journey. I have had a hairy furry feeling with a white coating in the back of my throat since surgery.It doesnt go away.I have been on daktarin gel and on mycostatin and it doesnt help which makes me think it is not thrush. How do I get rid of this feeling?I want to gag and am constantly busy trying to fix this issue.It is the most aweful feeling I have ever had and I regret having this surgery if only for this.I wish I could just feel normal again.If this horrible feeling goes away I feel I will have my life back. Help!

Hi Even though I am only a month out and I am still struggling a lot and still have 97 pounds to lose,I also wish I did it years ago when I wanted to go to dr Himpens in 2003 to have the sleeve instead of of the band.At that time it was a brand new procedure and everyone I spoke to about it said I was crazy....I should have been brave then..o well,never too late and now my new life has begun. xxo

So I worked out if I have 2 oz of lamb 3 times today I will get 45g of protein.With one shake it will be 70g and I will be good to go.Well,this sleeve doesnt like that much meat at all.I had 1.5oz and another 1.5oz and voila,reflux.Then I realized I had forgotten to take my nexium this morning. Well,my old default is 3oz of sweetpotato and well,the reflux is gone and I feel ok. You live,you learn. I must say I am still stunned at how little I can eat.It takes a lot of getting use to.And my family is visiting next week.I will have ro figure out what to order when we eat out.At this point soup sounds safe.It is frustrating to not be able to eat but also exciting in a way. One thing I am getting a bit paranoid about is the whole issue of calsium absorption and getting enough iron.I will have to try and find calcium citrate in different form than the huge tabs it comes in here in Dubai.Then I will have to figure out the iron thing as I am so constipated all the time now that taking iron is just not even an option.

Oh,I wish I had this issue.I am not making light of your problem but on the other end of the stick I just have to stop myself from consuming to many calories. If you are very low carb then it is a little diffcult to just up calories but add a little complex carbs like sweetpotato or get yourself a Protein bar that would add 200 cals easlily. BUT if you feel fine with where you are with your calories and if you have enough energy and if you are happy with your weightloss,do as you please with your calories.only you can know what you should do. xxo

Hi,ok so you say drinking colas your stomach have expanded and you have a lot of food cravings.You will have to stop the colas,sugarfree or normal.It is not good for your stomach and for acid either. When we eat a lot of sugar or refined carbs like in crisps,bread,potato rice ect. It causes a lot of food cravings in us.So even though you might have eaten anything in little portions before your stomach expanded,you will have to take care not to trigger food cravings. So, the food rules again. Protein first.Always.Then the veggies,then the carbs IF you have space which you shouldnt really. 3 meals and 2 small Snacks per day. 64oz of Water ............AND YOU WILL lose the 10kg's fast again. Te unfortunate thing is the sleeve have to motivate us to change our habits or it will not work.I am really saying this for my own benifit as I am learning that one will always be able to regain wieght again,even with Gastric bypass.DS is the only surgery that is difficult to outeat....but the Vitamin issues with that is just too much. You can do this.Just start being mindful of the fact that your stomach is still smaller than what it was before so losing weight should technically be easier than before. Good luck. xxo

So we are born again christians that have this little tradition to celebrate a traditional seder meal and this happened tonight at our house. The lamb(a whole one) was cooked by a friend that is a chef and it was as soft as you could ever get lamb.I had to have some.So,I had 2oz of lamb,1 teaspoon of hummus,one teaspoon of mutabol,1 teaspoon of garlic cream.Well I took longer than the allowed time to eat it and I had to drink some tea to help soothe my belly.Now I didnt finish the hummus,motabol or garlic cream...just had a tiny liitle of each and the idea that I could eat even just 4 bites were fantastic. There is still a quarter of the most tender lamb left and I found my little one in the kitchen scoffing some lamb.A that moment I really regretted not being able to do the same.I went and made myself a cup of tea. xxo

On Monday I am getting my first overseas visitors post sleeve.We will be doing all kinds of stuff like a dhow dinner cruise,a dhow cruise to Musandam,a beautiful area in Omani waters where you snorkel and of course eat! A desert safari,and of course eating in the desert...o and lots more.This will be a real challenge for me as I dont know what to try and eat at events like these.Will have to think this through carefully. Beginning of May is th next set of visitors...we are going to stay in a desert resort that makes the most devine food...o well,no better moment than these ones to teach me to accept my new life without th loads of food I always ate. xxo

Jippee,the weight is coming off.I am down 24 pounds and I am getting excited about this new way of life. It will be very easy to do to many calories in a day.I liquidized 4oz of chicken breast with 2 tablespoons of ff creamcheese and it was 220 calories.then I had 2 oz of my homemade meatloaf which was another 150 cals.the milk in my tea per day works out to 150 cals per day.then at 4 I had a protein bar because I felt like it and well that was another 180 cals.that totals 700 plus a bonbell cheese at 50 totals 750 and I havent had dinner yet.So this is where the discipline will have to start. 1 protein drink per day at 220 cals and 50g proteins per day.Then,no more liquidized anything.I will now learn to eat solids.People says that chicken and tuna is soft foods but I will have to make it soft. I will really have to learn how much to eat.I am going nuts as I dont think I will be able to keep to such low calories.Anyhow,lets see what happens.

There are 2 things I have to accept at this point. I make these minute little portions of soft food and then,just when I start to get into it,Im full.I am physically satisfied but mentally I am freaking out.I do tend to eat the rest of it later because of the head issue.And because if I dont I would also be one of the people complaining not getting beyond 300 calories per day. Number 2 is the not drinking after eating.This is something I will have to start practising very seriously.I am not managing it now.I feel if I dont get a little sip of something when I finish eating all the food sits high in my esophagus and I cant get it down,even if it was only 3 baby bites. One more thing.I've had this thick white coating on my tongue and in my throat since surgery.I put myself on mycostatin thinking it was thrush.Well,it didnt help,even high dosage of it. Yesterday the pharmasist gave me daktarin gel and it seems to help.I take a 1cm piece of gel and gargle it and keep it in my mouth for as long as possible.The one thing that seems to make the coating worse is tea and sweeterner.I cut out the milk to see if it was the milk but it didnt get better without it. The feeling in my throat is thich and fluffy and horrible.I really hope this goes away soon. I feel great.I lose like half a pound every day still.Should just walk more.

over the past few weeks I have been on a real roller coaster emosionally. The thing is I did have a what the heck have I done moment while still in hospital but once it was done,how can that matter? I am never an eternal optimist about anything but I cannot look back to often,I just get so angry with myself for lacking the self discipline needed to eat normal. So,I have little moments when I really want to eat...just to eat,not because I am hungry.Then I have moments when I have the pain in my back and abdomen that I am scared it will stay like this forever.Then I have moment s when I think I can drink/eat too much of the liquidized food.Then I fear the acid which I know is present as it affects my voice. Most of all I fear failing at this,not losing the weight,eating when I shouldnt,staying fat! BUT THEN I HAVE MOMENTS WHEN I REALLY BELIEVE THAT MY FUTURE WILL BE EASIER.That I will lose weight and be able to have fun with my 11 year old. That everything will be ok. I dont dwell on any one of these things for too long.They are all fleeting emosions.At the moment I am trying to be patient with not eating solids and to drink enough and to not over do it during the day. And that is good enough for me for now. Xxo

What freaks me out about this calorie thing and stalls in weight loss is the fact that last year I was eating between 1500 and 1700 calories per day,burned about 500-600 with exercise and I lost between 3-4 pounds every week for 18 weeks WITHOUT A STALL.I subsequently fell off the wagon ergo the surgery but still...what is the low calorie and stall thing about?Is it not because of the low calories that we experience the stalls? I am so not sure about all this.My surgeon says no sweets,no fatty food,not too high carbs,protein first,veggies second.No calorie counting! Good luck with the stalls.Maybe stop counting calories for a week or 2 and just eat sensible..might just give one renewed energy for the fight.

Hi,no idea what it is.I used mycostatin for quite a few days as I thought it was thrush.Now I am suing daktarin gel but it doesnt make much difference. If it is still here by next week I will phone the dr. If anyone knows how to get rid of it,please shout!

There's been a lot of things going on in my head over the past 3 weeks.I have to come to terms with a lot of stuff.Being mindful has never being one of my strong points.The moment something gets emotionally uncomfortable,I would just retreat in my mindless world of eating.Since I cannot do that anymore I have been going through a bit of depression I think. I have to face the fact that I just dont heal as fast as I wanted to.When I walk I still get this pain in the back...really badly.The white coating on my tongue is a nightmare for me.I struggle to swallow and hate this fluffy feeling I have in the back of my throat.It should go away at some point,I cant wait! Being of the kind that always thinks I know better than everyone..lol..I planned on doing my protein with food only.Now I am on soft foods I thought I would do it for sure!Well,its not happening is it?I can do quarter cup of food at a time.I opened different cans of stuff (expensive stuff!) that I kind of feel obligated to eat,but it takes days to finish a can.I will start cooking clean foods from today so I can see how many calories and proteins I am really eating.the past 2 days I did a protein bar per day that is calories that I consume and then I didnt feel like food. This is really more difficult than I thought it would be.Getting on with my life is difficult.Planning everything ahead of time is what gets to me. My head knows it is going to get easier.My lying deceiving heart is just petrified that I will not lose weight.

O my,yours looks completely different than mine.I am so sad I didnt take a picture of mine when they showed it to me.It was wider,shorter and rounder. xxo

Are you drinking Protein drinks though? It is really very important to get at least the minimum of 60g of protein per day even if ou dont eat.I am only 3 weeks out and think about food a lot but cannot find anything that feels ok to eat either. It will change.I have seen with my friends that time does change the eating thing again.Just get your protein and try something different to eat every day. Good luck.

Oh,and the white coating on my tongue and in my throat that is just not responding to any meds...mycostatin or daktarin.

Hi 2 things driving me nuts at the moment. 1. It feels like my vision is 40% worse than before the surgery.I have to really focus my eyes to see straight. 2. My memory seems to have evaporated.I have messed up every pin number we had.I am so anxious the whole time.feels like I am forgetting stuff I'm suppose to be doing.This really is a huge concern at the moment.I do not have the luxury to not be "all there" even for a few days...

Tonight we had friends over for a BBQ for eath hour.The disconnect I feel with food (even knowing what to give the kids for dinner every night is a nightmare to me,I just cannot think about food) was an issue but my friend and my housekeeper took over and all in all it was a great success. I really dont have an interest in people or going out at the moment.Its as if I have lost interest in life as it was.I know this will get better when I start eating again.I suppose part of what I feel is just a lack of energy because of low calories. Life just seems so boring at the moment.I cannot walk for longer than 25 minutes.Shopping seems a bit pointless.Cant swim yet,wounds are not healed yet.But day by day I am feeling stronger and I know soon it will all be better and back to some sort of nomal. It really sounds as if I am whining but I am not really.I said I would be honest and I am.Eating was a big part of my life and I suppose I miss dealing with my emotions by eating.So,I will keep truckin and I will overcome.All will be good in the end.Down 22 pounds today. xxo

It ia just such a new thing for me to have to focus on protein drinks,food and fluids.Before we went to church this morning I had to have a cup of tea,make a protein drink,pack some water and some mushy lunch as we were going out directly after. I just cant wait to start eating so I can have a protein bar instead of the drink and better even,to eat 65g of protein per day. I have 4 more days of mushy food then a few weeks of soft foods.Just the fact that I will know how much I am ingesting is so much better than guessing how many cals my liquids actually have. Must say,I am starting to love this smaller stomach,I ate a little sweetpotato today (mushed not liquidized) and I really felt full after 3 teaspoons full.I also notice I have less restriction at night than during the day...weird!

hi I am quite frustrated at the moment.I am 2 weeks post op and every time I try and go for a walk I get a very serious pain in my abdominal area (left) and my back.I also get this when I stand for a while and when I get tired. Is this normal?

Think about the hunger.I felt like that too until I decided to acknowledge it was all in my head and that is not called hunger but "I want to eat".Honestly,physically the hunger has been cut out.Th hunger that is there now needs to be acknowledged for what it is and then needs to be dismissed or do what I did.I satisfied my want for good food by watching cooking channels and thinking of a future with great,healthy teeny tiny portions of food...gormet food.And then the hunger went away. Point is you cannot eat right now.You will eat again,but not right now.And drink something as often as you need to...I must say Clear liquids for my dr was Soup with no fibres in it,even if it wasnt clear,in the second week. Good luck and it does get better every day.You'll see.

I am so sorry you have to suffer with Clear Liquids...I admire you for not having cheated before.I am on mushies from today and it makes a huge difference.Phone your dr and tell them they are killing you.Ask...he can only say yes or no. O,you have lost 5 pounds more than me since surgery...a little reward for your liquids I think. Good luck.

It often seems to me that people make things up as they go along.Very often,depending on who they are talking to,the story changes to suite the audience.About events in their lives,about the way they feel about thing and the way they have experienced it.Human beings are great at self deception and deceiving....not always on purpose either.Often to make things seem better.Often to make ourselves look better and often because we just dont remember things the way they happened.I have friends that had this surgery and the way they remember the early days now is not the way I remember it at all,and I did go through this at some small level with them...what they ate,how they felt,how they reacted to things. The purpose of my blog is to expose the way having a surgery like this makes me feel.What it does to me physically and my reactions to it.How it affects my every day life and what my expectations are. Now,I live in a country where no one is prepaired to admit they had this surgery.Support group is in early developmental stage and my great therapist left abruptly in the middle of last year sans a 65 pounds regain from me and the surgery as a result. I do not work outside of my house and I have a full time live in housekeeper.I have 2 kids,one at uni and one going to middle school next year.I have a lot of free time on my hands at the moment as a whole lot of my close friends left the country last year and the friends I have left are the people that we mostly eat with and have coffee mornings or tea with.That in itself is slightly challenging for me at the moment.Eating out,going to Friday "brunch" (lunch like on sunday) going to lunch with friends and eating cakes at coffee shops for some reason,mostly peoples birthdays or going away teas, are big passtimes for us here.o,when we are not to heavy or ashamed of the weight gains we also exercise together when we can agree on which class to do.Life as an expat is different.life in the middle east is different.It is a good life with lots of disposable cash and no family support structure and a lot of heartache over good friends leaving.It is a trancient society where no one ever really gets to know anyone too well...they will leave again so you just dont invest too much of yourself in people anymore...10 years experiencing all this teaches one how to protect your heart.All this might seem very trivial to some but I do not need to defend my life or justify the way we live anymore.This was the first thing I now had to overcome.This is my life and it is great. We are blessed beyond believe with a wonderful church and wonderful people in church.Our kids are healthy and doing great.We have enough money to travel a lot and life in general...just great. This surgery is a big thing in my life.I believe I am as positive as I can be about it.As for my feelings about the long term outcome.I know I will have to make this work.At the moment it is still a little overwhelming to me that it is school holiday and insteat of going to stay at a beach resort we will stay home...the eating thing is just to complicated for me at the moment.Summer holidays are coming up in little less than 3 months.This is the time of year we go back to our home countries for 2 months or travel to europe to holiday,how will I cope with that?The lack of routine always gets to me during summer and the family back home do not know about this surgery. I am,and will go through all 120 different emotions every day and I will acknowledge each and every one of them.Pay attention to the good ones and let go of the bad ones.That is the way I will earn to deal with the new me.The me that cannot eat away pain.The me that constantly think about food.The me that realize that my hunger has always been in my head,and it feels no different now. This is how I will overcome using food for fun and learn to be normal.I can feel all this and not react to it.Not act on it.Not give in to it.I will be honest about everything I eat and feel. I will win this battle to become normal.