mrshall617

HW 242 - one week prior to surgery - start of pre-op liquid diet SW 230 surgery date 6/18 CW 222 My first follow up is tomorrow. I moved from liquids to pureed foods this past Saturday and I'll be on pureed foods for 3 weeks then I'll move to soft foods for 4 weeks. Other than struggling with walking and still having lots of fatigue - I'm doing great and don't regret my decision to do this at all!!!

I'm so glad I have extra time before I have to try to attempt to deal with work. I don't think I could deal with the stress right now! I'm glad your boss recognized that you needed to go home!! How was yesterday?? Congrats on the 20 lbs down! As of this morning I'm also down 20 I'm on the pureed phase as of Saturday and will be for 3 weeks. I'm still getting my protein in through 2 Protein shakes a day though. Since the Premier Protein has 30 grams I know getting 2 of those in - I've got my min of 60 grams in. Any more from any other source is extra. My biggest issue is getting in my walking. My hubby and I went down to Baltimore for the weekend to go to an Orioles game and I got quite a bit of walking in on Sunday. But now my legs are so sore I'm having trouble just getting from one room to the next in the house. Getting 20 mins of walking in a day has been a struggle for me. I have my first follow up appt tomorrow. I'm afraid I'll get in trouble about that even though everything else has been going well....

I'm too new to give you any advice on the stall, I'm only 1 week out - sorry But I wish you luck with it. I wish the Plexus could have been a good answer!

I start pureed foods on Saturday - this thread was quite helpful! I'm glad I stumbled across it! Thanks

Hi ladies - how are you feeling today? Are you able to lay on your sides yet? I'm still struggling with energy and still feeling so weak! I hate this feeling! Other than that I feel like I'm doing pretty well. The weakness is keeping me from getting all my walking in though. I'm only able to get a couple of minutes in at a time and I'm not going often enough to get the full 20 minutes a day. How are you ladies doing on your walking? Do your docs want you to walk 20 minutes a day?

I too have suffered from migraines for years. Since surgery 8 weeks ago I haven't had one headache. I think eliminating gluten from my diet has helped the headaches. Interesting - I had a nutritionist take me off gluten a few years ago to help me with migraines and it didn't help my migraines at all but it DID help my knees! I have already had several headaches since I got home, no migraines luckily but just some regular headaches. I've used the liquid pain meds that they sent me home from the hospital with to alleviate them. The liquid diet does seem to be making a difference for my knees - not 100% but the pain is not as bad as it was pre-surgery. So that's a good thing

I tried it a few months ago - before I even contemplated wls. It did nothing for me, it didn't impact my appetite at all.

I had my surgery on June 18 also. I'm sorry you had so many extra issues! I didn't have the hernia. I had my gallbladder taken out during my surgery. I've been able to get liquids down fine - well, without any pain but I am feeling something like heartburn sometimes, so that slows me down. My biggest issue is the tired/weakness as well. I'm just completely exhausted! I'm done with liquids on Friday then I move on to pureed foods Saturday for 3 weeks then soft foods for 4 weeks. Our docs are all so different with their protocols!!

My dr put me off work for 5 weeks. I'm barely one week out right now but planning on taking the whole time. My company has "continuance pay" for salaried employees so I don't have to use any pto for my time off except to exhaust my sick time. I've seen that some people go back after one week - feeling how I am right now I honestly don't see how people do it. And I have a desk job!!

I guess I'm lucky, I've been able to sleep on my sides since I got home - no major pain from my incisions. That sucks that you gained so much from the IV fluids! I didn't gain but I had expected to lose from not eating anything and didn't so I figured it was all the fluids they pumped into me. I did experience some diarrhea yesterday for the first time, as well as my first bm. My biggest issue is I feel SO weak. I'm having trouble getting out of bed. I haven't really been doing the walking that they want me to do because I'm afraid I am going to pass out. I'm not actually having any trouble getting my Protein shakes in so I'm not sure why I'm so weak. I need to call the dr's office today because I think they screwed up my 1 week follow up appt. They scheduled it for 7/2 - that would make it a 2 week follow up! Maybe that's not a big deal, I'll call and see. Anyone else still feeling really weak??? Good news is I'm down 3 1/2 from surgery weigh in

How is everyone feeling now that you're home? I'm on full liquids as of today. I've only had one protein shake that took me about two hours to drink. I'm still really weak...I guess because of the lack of calories over the last few days? I finally took a shower today which helped me feel human again though. I'm not really feeling any pain from my incisions....just mild discomfort.

I had a rough first day but all because of the gas pains. The pain meds kept everything else under control. Luckily I didn't have any nausea. The gas pain settled right in the middle of my chest and was killer. I was stuck in recovery for 4 hours while they waited for an empty room for me. I want able to get up and walk until around 9:30 pm. The nursing staff at this hospital is amazing though! I couldn't have asked for better care! They took the catheter out this morning and u was able to go on my own about half an hour later. I got up to walk every time I got up to pee which was about every hour. When I finally got lunch the smell of the chicken broth almost made me gag but I got about half of it down. I ate about 1/3 of the Jello. Now I'm being discharged and just waiting for a wheelchair to take me to the front door! New life here I come:-) I really haven't had much pain from the incisions or from my stomach. .. mostly when I move from one side to the other and it feels like the day after a hard core workout. I just want to go home and get some sleep in a less noisy environment! !!

I'm about to leave for the hospital. Taking my phone and iPad with me so I can stay in touch. Good luck today everyone!

Ouch that's early! LOL Lucky you though - I'd rather get in and get it going!!! I have to be at the hospital at 8 am - surgery at 10 am.

I got my time too - I'm at 10 am Wed! It's getting more and more real!

I'm not sick of the shakes yet because I'm SO HUNGRY! LOL I've only been on liquids since Tuesday though - have you been on longer? I only had 4 different types of shakes to choose from for the pre-op phase but I get a whole ton of options to choose from for the post-op phase so I figure I'll switch it up afterward. Although the Premier has the most protein so I'll probably still be drinking these to make sure I get my protein in! YES! I am loathing my shakes. It makes it harder knowing I will have to rely on them for my protein weeks after the surgery too. My head is playing mean games with me. All I can think about is all the foods I want. We have this though. We've worked so hard for months to get here, we can do it a few more days! I am a little worried about the day before. I have been told I can't have anything but clear liquids. No shakes. Popsicles and broth are my friends I guess. I have to cut out the veggies and fruits the last 2 days but I can still have the shakes! I think I'd faint if I was restricted to clear liquids - I'm already so weak!!!

Mine is 7 days and my nurse practitioner explained that it was to shrink the liver in order to make it easier for the surgeon to have a clear path to the stomach during surgery. I don't know why the protocols vary so much from one doc to the next though....

My nutritionist told us that avocado was considered a fat, not a veggie. We could count 1/4 of one toward our 2 tbl of fat per day.

@@stacielynntate - it's interesting how different all the docs are on their protocols with the pre-ops and the time off requirements! I could work from home as well but I'm going to take advantage of the 5 weeks off that my doc gave me - luckily my work will pay me for the whole time so I'm just going to take the time to heal and get used to my new tummy!

@@LivingProof - yes, I was impressed when he suggested he was going to do it! It's definitely made it easier for me (well, as easy as it can be!) knowing that he won't be eating dinner in front of me. Yes, our whole lives are about to change - for the better!!! :-)

I'm on June 18th as well! Started my liquid diet on Tuesday and I'm down 9 lbs as of this morning. Hubby is doing the liquid diet with me as a show of support :-) My doc has me out of work till 7/21. How long is everyone taking off work? I need to do all my shopping to tomorrow. Nothing like waiting till the last minute!

I hope it works out for you this time!

I had to get poked and prodded a little but it was for my surgeon, not for the insurance...I had to get bloodwork, ekg, chest xray, abdominal ultrasound, endoscopy, colonoscopy, psych eval and nutrition counseling (1 session).

I got approved the week before last and scheduled for June 18th! I started my pre-op liquid diet on Tues and I'm down 9 lbs in 4 days. I had a raging migraine the first couple of days and couldn't take the Excedrin Migraine that usually helps through those headaches. My migraine medicine wasn't helping at all. But now I'm doing much better. Just hungry Surgery is only 4 days away...excited and nervous at the same time!