JamieLogical

I definitely sucks when you are in the moment a few days/weeks out and you are wondering if you will ever feel normal again. I had my share of despair and regret in those early days. All I can tell you is what you already know, it DOES get better. And it actually gets better really fast in the grand scheme of things. Hang in there.

That's about how much I cut off. If you look at my gallery, you can see how long my hair was in my before pictures and then how long it was a few weeks ago in my progress pictures. Those progress pictures were taken about 3 months after I cut it all off, so it had grown out some by that point.

Your surgeon's office should have no problem providing a letter.

I know right? I was like "they do realize why I'm here, don't they?"

I'm 5 months post-op now, but still eating the same as I was at 4 months. I don't track calories, but I know the calorie counts for my protein bars, yogurt, and cheese sticks. Those come out to 510 calories per day. In addition to those, I have meat of some sort for lunch and dinner every day. Assuming those are close to 200 calories a meal, I'd be at 910 calories per day right now.

Their nutrition doesn't hold a candle to some other bars on the market. You should definitely look into other options post-op. You can get more protein and less fat and calories from better bars.

They gave me some paper underwear to put on along with my gown and booties, but they were too small so I went commando.

That seems fast to me. My advise would be to try to follow your surgeon's recommendations, but be prepared to slow down and go back a step if necessary. I didn't start solids until 40 days post-op. Purees were 18 days post-op. And soft foods were 28 days post-op.

I highly recommend this article: http://tinyurl.com/pu2fv2d

At five months post-op, I really can't wrap my head around the idea of having room for bread. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have managed most of an open-faced egg sandwich on a tiny piece of whole grain bread (only ate 3/4 of the bread) a couple of times. But those few times I was SO FULL. My physical restriction is the reason I don't eat carbs, not any real fear of the effects carbs might have on my weight loss. I simply don't have room for them if I'm going to get all my protein in.

Sounds like the same gas pain I experienced. Have you tried taking GasX? Marching in place helped for me as well. PS: I had my surgery in Mexico as well. Do you have a number to call for questions and concerns? They should offer you some support over the phone.

I lost 7 pounds my first week and only 0.4 my second week. Don't stress about it. I know it's frustrating. I was frustrated too, but I promise you that in the grand scheme of things, it's meaningless. The scale will move down. You will lose weight. This isn't a race. If it takes you 6 months or 16 months to get to your goal, what does it matter? You WILL get there!

I was allowed to continue taking my birth control pill right through surgery (it's tiny). I was also prescribed an anti-nausea pill that I took daily immediately after surgery. I was allowed to start taking my supplements (all were pills/capsules/gel caps) 7 days post-op.

I gave up caffeine when I started my 15-day pre-op diet and wasn't allowed any again until 30 days post-op. I literally counted the days! It was ROUGH. Giving up caffeine AND food at the same time was unwise. I probably should have quit the caffeine first, so I was over that hump BEFORE I had to give food for my pre-op diet.

It's rough so soon after surgery. You aren't getting many calories and it's very hard to get all your Protein and Water in. Hang in there! If you get your protein and water, it really will help, even though it seems so hard. I was pretty tired an miserable for several weeks post-op. Especially when I had to go back to work. The fatigue was a challenge for sure.

Awesome that the person who received the photos ended up being so cool about it! Gotta be nice having a random stranger rooting for you! I can't even imagine how embarrassed I would be if something like that happened. This is why I have my husband take photos with a digital camera, not a phone!

Welcome to the loser's bench! No lie, the next few days (weeks?) are going to be rough, but you WILL get through and you WILL feel normal again.

Do you genuinely have no other options for employment? I would never continue to work in that sort of environment.

I informed my regular doctor and she had no issues ordering bloodwork for me and doing follow up post-op. Had I had any major complications, I am sure she would have referred me to a local specialist. If you end up in the hospital, you will for sure receive treatment.

Welcome to Onederland! I just recently returned here myself and it's fantastic!

I was the exact same way pre-op. I think it's completely normal. I have been much less obsessed post-op. I even went multiple days at a time without visiting these forums!

You mean once you were on solids? That makes sense. I had assumed the OP was referring to the full liquid diet immediately post op. During that phase, I was only allowed to eat the liquid part of Soups (strained out the solids), since I wasn't allowed solid foods yet. I haven't eaten soup since I moved beyond the liquid phases, since it's not a good source of Protein.

Thanks for all of that info! It looks like the main concerns are the calorie content, fiber content, and the fact that they seem to spike blood sugar in some people. I never considered them a good source of fiber, since the type of fiber they use is what I consider to be "fake fiber" or "stealth fiber". Just like you see in all those other "high fiber" products from Cereal to ice cream that use inulin, polydextrose, and maltodextrin to artificially inflate their fiber content. I haven't had blood sugar issues, so that's not a concern to me either. The main thing I would be concerned about is that lawsuit claimed the calorie content was 20% higher than labeled. If that is true, then I'm getting about 60 more calories per day than I thought, but I don't track calories, so that is not a huge issue either. Now if it were 100% more calories than labeled, I'd be more concerned! My main worry would be that they don't actually contain as much protein as advertised and none of the links you posted indicated any evidence of that. PS: I'm only 5 months post-op, so it may be an issue for me later on, but I am NEVER hungry right now.

I was on prescription strength for 2 months post-op and then went down to the 20mg over-the-counter dosage.

Family Medical Leave Act My employer offers up to 30 days of paid "catastrophic leave", but requires the submission of FMLA paperwork in order to qualify. My surgeon's office (Obesity Control Center) was perfectly willing to fill out the FMLA paperwork for me, so I don't see why your's wouldn't be willing to provide a note or whatever is necessary for you to qualify for time off at your job.