JamieLogical

I had a fantastic experience with OCC. I actually didn't interact with Dr. Ortiz very much. I had maybe a 15-20 minute chat with him right before I was wheeled into surgery. I interacted a LOT with his staff, though, and they were fantastic. The nutritionist was a Godsend. She answered all my pre and post-op nutrition questions, even months after surgery when some random question would come up, I would email her and she'd reply immediately.

It can be tough. Until you are on solid foods, getting a lot of calories in can be a challenge. Just focus on getting all of your protein in first. 50g is not enough.

Scheduling the surgery depends on the surgeon and their availability. I would think you could get into most surgeons in under a month. Remember to allow time for a pre-op diet, though.\ You can use a passport card, because you are traveling over the land border from San Diego, not flying straight into Mexico. I would say to allow for at least 3-4 days.You will likely arrive the day before surgery, have surgery that next day, spend that night in the hospital/surgical center, back to a hotel or recovery house the following day, then probably one more trip back to the hospital/clinic to have follow-up testing and your drains removed (if your surgeon uses drains).

How are you possibly supposed to get enough calories to live if you aren't allowed snacks? I can eat, at best, 300 calories in one "meal". That would only be 900 calories a day.... You can eat all of that at one time?

I was on a Pepcid, but it wasn't working at all... we didn't think anything of it until I had to do a barium swallow test and as I did the test the reflux occurred and they found the problem. Interesting! Again, glad you got it figured out and the solution was so easy!

I repeated some days/weeks as well, so it took me more like 12 weeks, but it was still so impressive to me how far I came in such a short period of time.

Have you looked into the Couch to 5k Program? There are apps available for it, as well as the official web-site that has a training schedule: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml It really does work! It's crazy that you can go from only running a minute at a time to running for 30+ minutes straight, but you can! Just follow the program, repeat workouts or entire weeks as needed, and you can get there. It took me about 12 weeks instead of the target 9 weeks, but I did eventually make it to where I could run a whole 5k without stopping to walk at all.

I have been taking Vitaleph bariatric multivitamins since my surgery and all of my blood work has been great, so they must be working alright.

Congrats! Always a huge milestone!

The key is to eat VERY slowly and in tiny amounts and see what works. If something doesn't sit well with you, then hold off on eating it again for a week or so. My nutritionist did tell me not to give up on a food if it made me feel uncomfortable the first time I tried it, because the next time I tried it, it might be just fine. The key is to go very slowly so you don't eat too much of something that disagrees with you before you realize it.

I wasn't allowed raw veggies until over 3 months post-op, but when I started trying to eat them, they made me HORRIBLY gassy and uncomfortable. I'm 16 months out now and I still can't handle them. I do fine with cooked veggies though! I wouldn't waste room on a salad anyway, even if I *could* eat raw veggies. There's way too much "filler" and not enough protein. I wouldn't want to risk filling up on useless stuff like lettuce and not getting any protein in.

A lot of nutritionists don't set calorie goals. This isn't a simple diet of calories in versus calories out. You need to eat enough food to sustain your activity levels and get in all your protein. If you are doing that, then you are doing well! So long as you aren't overeating on sugar and carbs, are staying active, are getting your protein, Water, and Vitamins, then you are on track!

Surprised you weren't on Prilosec or another PPI from the get go. Could have saved you a lot of misery if your surgeon prescribed a PPI from the beginning like mine does with all his patients! It's always fascinating to me to see how different every surgeon's plan is. But ultimately, you got your issues sorted out in the end and it sounds like you've come out the other side. Best of luck!

I took measurements once a month and tracked them in a spreadsheet while I was losing weight.

Any idea how many calories you are getting? I really need to get up around the 800 calorie mark before my fatigue passed and I had the energy to live a full life again.

Lately I've been relying on Protein bars a bit too much, but here's a rough outline of what I eat at 16 months post-op: Breakfast: Protein Bar and a cup of coffee Lunch: Leftover meat from a previous dinner OR 2 oz. of cheese and 1 oz. of peanuts Afternoon Snack: Dannon Light & Fit Greek yogurt with 15 grams of granola or Kashi Cereal mixed in Dinner: Meat from whatever my husband makes. He just makes normal dinners and I skip the sides or starches. chicken, meatloaf, shrimp, sausage... whatever. Last night was teriyaki salmon loaf. Evening Snack: Protein Bar and a cup of coffee I also usually incorporate some sort of carb-only snack into my day now that I'm in maintenance in between my high protein meals/snacks. It's usually chips, crackers, candy, or ice cream. Sometimes in the morning between Breakfast and lunch or sometimes in the late afternoon, after I get home from work, but before dinner.

Weakness and fatigue are just a fact of life at this stage. You aren't getting in enough calories to sustain you. It gets SO MUCH better once you are able to eat solid foods and get more calories in.

I think it's great if you can get 1000 calories in already! It will make your recovery and adaptation to your new life all the easier. I really struggled to get up to 800 calories a day early on, which is where I felt I needed to be in order to start exercising regularly. As long as your calories are coming primarily from Protein and healthy foods, I don't think there is any reason to worry.

Nausea and dehydration are normal in the first couple of weeks. Four weeks out is a bit late to be experiencing such problems. So definitely talk to your surgeon and see what can be done to get the nausea under control. If you aren't getting in any calories and fluids this late in the game, it can really star having significant effects on your health.

DO NOT step on the scale. If the numbers drive you crazy, then don't look at the numbers. It's as simple as that! There's no reason for you to have to be weighing daily. Some people do weigh daily and handle it just fine, because they understand fluctuations in their weight and average loss over time. Some people just can't handle it, become obsessive, and drive themselves crazy. Sounds like you are in the latter category. So stay off the scale. If you want to monitor your weight loss, weigh once a month and not more frequently than that. You might also want to take your full measurements once a month as well.

I "only" lost 22 pounds in my first two months post-op and I had a higher starting weight than you. You know what? I still reached my goal weight in under a year and I've been maintaining for the last 4 months. What's the rush? Stick to the plan, do what you know you need to do, and trust in the process.

@@Steph Anie Good luck! Let us know how it goes with the water temperature experiment.

That was my exact experience as well. I don't speak Spanish, but everyone I encountered on both of my trips spoke English, so it didn't matter. And I definitely never felt scared or alone. I had excellent care and support throughout.

I was allowed to swallow real Vitamins at 7 days post-op. You shouldn't be taking your multi-Vitamin and Calcium within 2 hours of one another. Iron (in the multi-vitamin) and calcium compete for absorption. For my bariatric multi-vitamin, I take Vitaleph. And for my calcium, I take Citrical Plus D3 Maximum. Make sure you are taking calcium citrate and not calcium carbonate.