bonniefide

It might be what you are eating also... maybe instead of McDonalds Egg White Delight with all their additives, you just eat a plain egg white at home? I've had those before, and even though they are basically the most healthy thing you can get from McD's, they still aren't "good" for you and the greasiness might be making you sick. :\ I would just revert to plainer things for a couple days so you can get some protein into you.

Laura - those posts you just posted make me feel sick. These people obviously missed the entire point of the surgery. It makes me sad to read stuff like that on here... when people post it, it seems like they want to have their bad actions validated and have someone tell them, "It's OK. We all make mistakes." We do all make mistakes, but 15 days out of surgery having a burger? Really? You could justify yourself back to your starting weight and all of the pain and money would be for nothing. This has to be a life-altering, life-long commitment.

I am most definitely an addict. I didn't ever eat in private, but every waking hour revolved (and still resolves) around food. My mom is an addict also and raised me that way from a young age. "We had a bad day, let's treat ourselves." "We had a good day, let's treat ourselves." "I'm bored. Let's have a snack." I honestly do not know how to associate with people without food. Every friendship I've ever had, we would get together for a meal. My new plan is to meet people for activities instead of meals. I also ditched a few "friends" that really were not healthy friendships for me and am only keeping positive people in my life that support my goals. I'm 2 weeks out of surgery, and tonight my Aunt is coming in to town and I have to go to my parent's house, so I'm scared. I told my dad that they should have dinner and when they are done they can call me and I'll come over. That way I won't have to endure as much food pressure. I can't wait for the day that it will become easier... it probably will never go away entirely, but I will accept any improvement. It took 30 years for me to get where I am now, so it'll take a while to undo all those bad habits!

I am waiting for this feeling... I still feel like a bottomless pit that could eat anything. I'm sure it's just all in my head, but it's still driving me nuts! Definitely enjoy the full feeling. You will get there eventually.

Sounds like you are doing terrific! I was sleeved the 17th. I haven't thrown up once, but have been taking Zofran every morning and did have some Phenergan in the hospital for nausea. My first week home I was a nervous wreck - I just felt hormonal and crazy. The mental hunger was driving me nuts and I just wanted food. I missed the act of chewing, the flavors, and the feeling of swallowing something substantial. I did suck on one or two saltine crackers until they were mush. I was off for one week and came back to work on Monday. I'm tired, but I have a sit-down job that isn't physically demanding, so I'm doing OK. It's been nice to have distractions. I find that as long as I keep busy, I do much better with the mental hunger and desire to eat out of sheer boredom. Heading into my 3rd week, I feel like I'm finally detoxed from sugar and caffeine and I am finally enjoying my Protein shakes. (The first few days of being home, I was SOOO grossed out by them!) I am wearing a pair of pants I probably haven't worn in over a year, and people are really noticing the 20+ lb loss, so that is exciting and motivating! Next week I'll finally be off full liquids and onto pureed. Have a nutrition class on Wednesday so I'll learn all about that. I'm excited to eat baby food!

That is a great achievement - congratulations! It's kind of scary to think of going back to eating "normal" food... I kind of don't ever want to because I don't want to end up where I was before!

That is amazing! You are giving me inspiration! Congratulations!

Congratulations! Update that ticker girl!

That's a terrific poem. I agree with it all. It is a constant struggle, inside and out.

Stay strong. RJ is right - when you have such a sudden, drastic change in the calories you are consuming, your body goes into starvation mode and holds on to everything it can because it thinks you will are starving and need to conserve as much as you can. Once your body calms down a little, it will start to come off!

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

In my humble opinion (I am an LPN) you may get some push back, just because you have a higher risk than others. Since platelets are responsible for clotting, a low count could be very detrimental (which I'm sure you know!). I am on Coumadin to lower my risk of blood clots, but I doubt you could be put on Coumadin with an already low count. (I also had Heparin shots while I was in the hospital.) All I can think of is if you had transfusions prior to surgery or were on medication to boost your platelet count prior to surgery. It shouldn't be a deal breaker, and I'm sure there are things they could do, but it would be up to the individual doctor whether they want to assume that risk. Either way, I would definitely want to find out the underlying cause of it and get treatment for it prior to having major surgery. It might be something as simple as taking B12 and folate!

OMG, I know! It's weird how much I miss the simple act of chewing. If you are anything like me, we're detoxing from not only caffeine and sugar, but we're detoxing from mindless eating, comfort eating, chewing in general, the feeling of lots of food in our mouths, and the feeling of swallowing a big bite of something. Things you don't actively think about, but once that is gone, you realize how strange it feels.

My JP drain is being taken out tomorrow (as long as all goes well and they say it can come out!) Let me tell you, I am more nervous about having this thing removed than I am about the surgery itself! I would like to hear your stories... good and bad... just so I can mentally prepare myself. My sister is taking me and I plan on drugging myself up on pain killers (obviously).

Thanks for the responses. I was hoping it would be like hitting your elbow really hard - a weird pain - if that makes sense. I was hoping it wasn't gut-wrenching!

Hi there! I got sleeved on the 17th. I'm doing a little bit better each day... I've cried every day and been an emotional rollercoaster... but I'm OK. My drain is scheduled to come out tomorrow and i'm just terrified about that!

I have that! It feels weird... like your throat is trying to drain but has a clog. It hasn't become embarrassing yet because I haven't eaten outside of my own house yet.

I felt this way. I felt ashamed that I even needed to be having surgery - like if I really had my life in order, I wouldn't have let myself get this big in the first place. I wouldn't have let myself get big and miss out living life to the fullest in my 20's. I was embarrassed to tell people and wondered what they would think of me. Even now that it's over, I have these moments of, "oh my god! what did i do to myself!" HOWEVER... then I have to think, if I didn't do it now, I could be even older than I am not, looking back, still struggling, wishing I had done something because I've missed by 30's (or 40's, or more!) This is not going to be easy. The full extent of how hard it is probably hasn't even hit me yet, but I know that I will do it. I have to do it because I want to feel better. I had a NSV today just realizing that my horrible foot pain has stopped - just by taking off 15 lbs the week after surgery. Maybe with another 15, my hips will feel good. Another and my knees will feel good. I have to hold on to that hope of being pain free, being active with my husband, and feeling proud of myself! Be proud that you are taking control now and just move forward. A year from now, you'll read your post and it will all be in the past.

I am one week as of today too, and i have been the same. Really weepy... I cried the other night watching a commercial! I knew it would be hard, but no idea that I would be this emotional over it.

I'm not gassy, but I have had HORRIBLE diarrhea!!! Actually had a bit of a sharting incident on my couch. God love my husband for helping me clean that up! Be careful w/the gas... because what you think is gas might end up being more as I sadly discovered. lol.

5 days post op you should be on liquid, trying to get some protein through a protein shake (or adding protein powder to stuff.) The hospital I went through thankfully gave me recipes - Even with the recipes though, I'm sooo bored w/dairy! Including yogurt and everything. I did have blended soup today, which was a good break. Tomorrow I'm going to try oatmeal. WHEE!

I am 5 days post op and am on a full liquid diet. I am SO SICK of dairy. I'm lactose intolerant and have been using lactaid, but I'm still majorly grossed out by milk. I would KILL for plain toast or crackers!

Mu skinny friend has been the most positive support person I have. But, she's a positive person in general! A friend you can't share that you had surgery with isn't a true friend... they are an acquaintance at best. The best decision I made was to dump a negative "friend". She was an energy vampire and sucked the life out of me!