JamieLogical

Complications can and do happen. Fortunately, they are very rare. Bariatric surgery has a lower mortality rate than knee replacement surgery. Would your parents tell you not to have knee replacement surgery if your knee was bad? I think this is definitely a decision you need to make for yourself, though it's nice to have the support of the people around you. If you do decide to proceed with the surgery, I am sure your parents will support you once the surgery is over and you are coping with your new life. I can see why the situation with your neighbor would cause your parents to panic, but they need to keep things in perspective. If your neighbor had died in a car accident on the way to work, would your parents ask you to quit your job so you wouldn't have to drive to work anymore?

Sounds like you maybe still have some swelling that is making your restriction worse. Just do what you can and talk to your surgical team if the dehydration gets any worse.

I can't take credit for it. I read it somewhere here on the forum about making deviled eggs. The recipe called for some of the yolk to be mixed in. There are some good qualities to the yolk. However if you need to watch Cholesterol its best to leave it out. Dietary cholesterol is meaningless. Many studies have proven that. Cholesterol in your body comes from fat, not the cholesterol in foods. So I guess you could argue not to eat the yoke because it's high in fat, but not because it's high in dietary cholesterol. The FDA is even considering lifting the requirement to display cholesterol counts on nutrition labels, because it has no actual impact on people's cholesterol levels.

I would say 60 grams is a bare minimum for Protein. It seems like a lot of surgeons/nutritionists recommend about 65. My nutritionist wanted me to work my way up to 100 as soon as I could. I would say I got there around the 3 month mark and have been able to manage it pretty easily most days since then. As for carbs, I don't actually count carbs. I just know I don't get many because I work so hard to get my protein in. There are carbs in my Protein Bars, but they are offset by "fiber" and only have a total of 3 net carbs each. In my lunches and dinners, my only carbs usually come from sauce. I do usually have one greek yogurt a day, which has about 9 grams of carbs on its own, plus I add half an ounce of either Kashi Go Lean Cereal or some granola to that on my cardio days, which is about another 9 grams for a total of 18 grams. So my best guess is that in a day I get about 45 grams of net carbs?

I'd love to tell you it gets better. It does eventually, but it probably won't in the next 14 days. Not only will you have all the anxiety over the upcoming surgery, but the pre-op diet can be a real bi*** depending on how strict yours is. Hang in there. This is where you are going to start needing all the patience you can muster!

Congratulations and thanks for finally coming forward and posting. I know a lot of people don't feel comfortable posting, but it's important to help out the new folks by posting the good and the bad, so they know what they have to look forward to. Hopefully your success story will help give others the courage to choose WLS for themselves! Wow. 148 pounds is a LOT to lose in 6 months. You must be feeling fantastic!

I think almost EVERYONE experiences post-op depression, so you are not alone there! Coming to terms with the reality of the impact WLS is going to have on your relationship with food for the rest of your life is pretty tough to deal with. Plus the restricted diet gets old fast. It feels like a full-time job keeping track of your Water, Protein, and walking. Trying to schedule everything so you aren't eating and drinking at the same time, but you are still eating and drinking a lot. Going through such a rough time and not being able to turn to food for comfort the way you probably have during every other rough time before It's tough. But it get's so much better. I promise you it does. You will adapt to your new relationship with food. You will move onto more substantial food stages where you'll start to be able to eat enough to not feel tired and run down all the time. You'll find foods you can eat and enjoy. It all just takes time. Patience is definitely the chief virtue for anyone going through their WLS journey. You will need a LOT of it in the coming months.

Have you tried experimenting with different temperatures for your water or different flavoring? I can't tolerate room temperature water. I need it to be SUPER ice cold. I can handle hot beverages, like tea and coffee no problem. But I can't do anything in between. Some people find it easier to get fluids in by adding flavoring like MiO or crystal lite packets. When I'm really dehydrated, I drink G2. It does have some calories and I know I'm not supposed to drink my calories, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I find I can drink it very quickly and easily and it's very hydrating.

In the mushies phase, you are still pretty limited. Cottage cheese, string cheese, and greek yogurts were my go-tos. Once you are onto solids, you'll have many more options. I don't like jerky, but I do like "beef" sticks. I put beef in quotations there, because I rarely get ones made with actual beef. I get turkey and other more exotic meats (buffalo, karibu, alligator) when I can find them at places like Bass Pro Shop. I also snack on lightly salted peanuts (not a fan of nuts in general, but I like peanuts). I still rely pretty heavily on greek yogurt, 9 months out. I also still do string cheese sometimes.

Glad to hear you are feeling better today. You will make lots of progress every day for these first few days. It's amazing how quickly your body can bounce back. Just make sure you take everything very slowly and don't push yourself too hard too fast.

I think it's pretty normal to feel hungry still in the early days post-op. For me, it was mostly head hunger. I would see commercials on TV or smell food around me and I wanted to eat it, even though I knew I physically couldn't and it would make me terribly ill if I tried. After those early days, I had some "hunger" feelings that were actually thirst and/or acid. Also, I had a drain, but it was removed 2 days post-op, so didn't have it as long as yours.

It's very quick, easy, and painless. Plus it's super cool. I feel bad for the people who don't get to do barium swallow tests. They are pretty neat!

I really think the low carb thing for sleevers just stems from the restriction more than any ketosis-based Atkins-style diet. We have so little room for food and we need so much Protein, that it really does just not leave any space in our routine for carbs. For instance, one of my favorite meals pre-op was this Pasta dish my husband makes with pasta, italian poultry sausage, peppers, onions, and diavlo sauce. I'm 9 months post-op now and he still makes this dish, but in order to get enough protein for a meal, I eat the equivalent of one whole sausage and a couple tiny bites of the veggies with sauce and I am BURSTING. No way I could have room for ANY of the pasta, even if I wanted to, which I really don't at this point. If I did swap some of the pasta for sausage, then I wouldn't get enough protein. In order to hit my 100 gram per day protein goal, I need 16-20 grams of protein from my dinner (factoring in the protein I get from the rest of my meals/snacks on a typical day). The italian sausage is 19g. So eating any less of it would simply not be enough for me to meet my protein goals.

I couldn't agree more. Definitely get regular blood work after surgery. I had mine done a 1, 2, 4, and 8 months post-op so far. Next one is scheduled for 1 year, since all of the others came back great.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that I always have Kashi Cereal or granola with my greek yogurt on days I do cardio.

Yeah, I tried keeping up with my cardio in the beginning, but when I did the math and realized I was only "eating" about 450 calories a day on the pre-op diet and burning about 500-600 through cardio, I realized it wouldn't be long before I just collapsed. So I ended up having to cut way back on my cardio as well. I literally got to the point in those first 4-5 days of the pre-op where it was too much physical effort for me to even wash my hair!

I do eat some carbs. But I shouldn't and I know I shouldn't and I suffer the consequences when I do. For the most part, it's easy for me to avoid carbs in my day-to-day eating, because I have a pretty set routine and in order for me to get in the 100 grams of Protein my nutritionist recommends, I simply don't have ROOM for carbs. That being said, I still emotionally eat on rare occasions (SO MUCH better about it than before). And I also still get exposed to things like cake and ice cream at parties and occasionally partake. I don't want to completely deprive myself for the rest of my life, so when social events present themselves and I eat a few carbs, I just brace myself for the inevitable stall or even slight gain on the scale. I'm not in a race to reach my goal weight. I want to still live a full and happy life. So if having some cake at a birthday party means one or two extra days until I reach my goal, it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. But as for daily eating, it's protein first, which means no real room for carbs.

Yes.

Try taking several short walks a day instead of one long walk. Energy is a real issue in those early days when you are barely getting any calories in and are using so much energy to heal. Walking is important, but it should be short and frequent, instead of one long walk.

Congratulations! You are looking great! Hopefully feeling as great as you look too!

I have had to take omeprazole daily since I had my sleeve. My surgeon prescribes it for the first 2 months for all sleeve patients and then has them try to go off of it. When I went off of it, I immediately had terrible reflux issues, so I went right back on it and have stayed on it. For me, though, taking one extra pill a day (I already have to take a ton of vitamins anyway) is no big deal. I would MUCH rather have to do that than have all the potential downsides and complications of RNY. But everyone has to weigh the pros and cons and make that choice for themselves.

Hang in there. It's rough in those early days, but it will get better. I dealt with dry heaving a few times the first full day post-op and lots of gas pain, but it did get better!

I never had to take chewables, thank God. I was allowed to swallow whole pills at 7 days post-op and never had any issues. So I have been on normal pills the whole time. I take: Vitaleph Bariatric Multivitamin three times per day Omeprazole 20mg two times per day Probiotic once a day 500mg Vitamin C once a day 200iu coq10 once a day 1000mg Omega 3 once a day 500mg Beef Gelatin once a day 1000iu Vitamin D once a day 630mg Calcium + 500iu D3 once a day 500mcg Vitamin B-12 spray once a day My surgeon/nutritionist only require the multivitamin, calcium+D3, probiotic, and B-12. The omeprazole is for my acid reflux I've had since surgery. The CoQ10 was recommended by my PCP for my carpel tunnel syndrome. The Omega 3 and Vitamin C I take just for general health. The extra vitamin D I take because I avoid the sun like the plague and have been taking it for years and years. And the Beef Gelatin I started taking post-op because it's supposed to help with skin elasticity.

Well, price isn't the only factor. There is a lot to consider when picking a surgeon and facility. There's the old adage, "you get what you pay for." And while there are many qualified surgeons doing VSG for very reasonable prices, paying a little more for a surgeon and facility you are 100% confident in is worth the peace of mind.

How have the first couple days of your pre-op diet been?