1215sf

Hello, I am new here and I just had my gastric sleeve on Feb 13th 2014. I had no complications and am healing well. But one thing that caught me off guard was the mind hunger. There was a ton of focus and emphasis on preparing for surgery and changing my eating habits but nothing on the mental and emotional struggles that came right after surgery. First off, surgery was tough, not as easy as a lot of people said it was, and I'm sure this is determined by the type of person you are. But for me, when I got home that was the toughest. Physically I can't eat food right now, but I wanted the ham and cheese sub my husband brought home. My stomach WAS NOT hungry but my brain was. It's better today but the mind hunger was so bad it had me wondering if I made the right decision by having the surgery. I just wish after all that therapy I had that I was better prepared for this first week after surgery. Any suggestions on how to deal with this? I had my surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester MA, with Dr. Potter. Also. I am new here and trying to get a hang of the site so bear with me if I leave info out.

I wish I was at 4 weeks but I am ok today. I keep having conversations with the head hunger demon in my head. He's not winning. I like ice cold drinks so like others have said, ice pops or sugar free Italian ices help. I just downloaded a great book called Recipes for life after weight loss surgery by Margaret Furtado, Lynette Schultz and Joseph Ewing. Great recipes too, it's been helpful getting me to think about the good foods I will be able to eat rather than what I can't eat anymore.

So glad to get some feedback! I found my smell of foods became super intense after surgery. I could smell every ingredient in certain foods. That's when I realized that I really had a food issue. I have been going to tons of counseling, group and alone and we all have been focusing on fixing our issues so we were in a good place before surgery. But the feeling of holy crap I may not ever be able to eat that again kicked in two days after surgery when I was home. I realized how foolish this thought was, since food is simply to keep us alive, it's not a recreation. Which is how maybe how I have been viewing it? I did great with managing my food before surgery but actual surgery threw me for a loop. Now I understand what my doctor meant when she said people may get depressed after surgery. I am allowed to have cream Soup with skim milk, so that is satisfying. There is a clear disconnect between my stomach and my brain. My new stomach tells me to back off and I do listen to it, but my brain apparently has it's own stomach. I did realize the other day that the feelings I have right now are not real, they can't be. Also, being home is not easy, I am a busy person and work full time so being home and resting is not easy and it gives me that much more time to think about food. Today is the first day I feel normal. I am going to have some unjury chicken soup for lunch today and play some games with my step-son. I plan on going back to work on Monday and get back to my life. I see my nutritionist for my 2 week post op plan next week. I have to admit that was afraid of joining a forum, I didn't know how many people shared my issues or thought I was nuts. But it seems I am not alone. !!! Thank you for the warm welcome as well!!