JamieLogical

It was Day 5 or 6 post-op for me. But take it easy and don't do more than your body can handle. Make the other person do all the work!

I just have random soreness in my abs. Sometimes I feel just fine. Sometimes I go to get up off the couch or get out of bed and I feel like someone just stabbed me. I woke up in the night last night with terrible muscle pain on my left side and had to shift around until I could find a comfortable position.

I'm 5'6" and I would love to just be in size 12 jeans. I am VERY bottom-heavy (see my gallery pics) and a size 12 is the smallest I've ever been in my adult life. The last time I was in a 12 I was probably 15 or 16 years old. So first goal is definitely to get down to a 12 in jeans and we'll see what happens from there.

The only medications I was warned off of were aspirin and ibuprofen. I'm only supposed to take acetaminophen for pain, which is what most cold medicines have.

I had a head cold two days post-op that lasted over a week! I took liquid cold medicine and nasal spray with no issues. The liquid cold medicine was GROSS, though, so if you are already experiencing nausea, it may not be a great option.

Tomorrow will be three weeks out for me and I've only lost 10 pounds. I did lose 24 pounds pre-op, though.

There's a calculator on this site that might help you guestimate it, but there is absolutely no way to know for sure. There are far too many factors involved to some up with an accurate number. https://www.realize.com/do-i-qualify/potential-results/comparison

I'll be three weeks out tomorrow and I still have swelling in my abdomen. So even if it's not "normal", you're not alone.

My surgeon just said no drinking 5 minutes before eating and wait 20 minutes after. I guess different surgeons have different recommendations, just like with everything else!

If they are paper tape, steristrips, you leave them on until they fall off on their own. You can shower with them on, but don't scrub them. Lather soap above them and let it drip down onto them. Pat dry.

This is an excellent article about a few ways to reduce excess skin. By no means are you guaranteed to have no excess skin if you follow this, but it is helpful and effective. http://www.muscleforlife.com/how-to-get-rid-of-loose-skin-after-weight-loss/ My advice is to stay very well hydrate, moisturize at least twice daily, and do toning exercises at least twice a week on all of your problem areas. You can also try a few different supplements that *might* help. That article mentions Vitamin C and Beef Gelatin.

That is completely normal and exactly how I felt. It's what makes getting all your Water such a challenge. I would march in place in my living room while drying to drink water. That feeling lasted a little over a week for me, maybe 9 days. I still got after that, but not as often. So not with every single sip anymore. It gradually gets less and less, though I do still get it (20 days post-op), usually first thing in the morning, when I take my first few sips of water.

I got every kind of creamed soup I could get my hands on at the grocery store and strained them. My favorites were campbell's cream of shrimp (just in a can, has to be mixed with milk), campbell's tomato and sweet basil bisque (comes in a plastic container with a black label), and my grocery store's fresh-made buffalo chicken chowder. I wasn't relying on soup for protein, because I was having a protein shake for breakfast and dinner, I was just relying on them for calories and variety.

That completely depends on what foods your surgeon allows you to eat. 8 days post op I was allowed protein shakes, drinkable yogurt, and clear liquids. I had a protein shake for breakfast and dinner and strained clear soups for lunch. 10 days post op I was allowed to switch to strained cream soups. I really didn't bother with "snacks" because I wasn't hungry and because the sugar-free jello and popsicles I was allowed didn't have any calories, so why bother?

On the liquid diet you aren't going to any more "full" than you do with Water. So just "eat" on a schedule. I had a Protein shake for Breakfast, strained Soup for lunch, and another Protein Shake for dinner. I didn't bother with "snacks" like Jello or popsicles, because I wasn't hungry and they have no calories, so what's the point? I just started pureed foods and I definitely get a full feeling from things like scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, tuna salad, etc.

This is going to sound horrible, but I'm glad you posted this, because it makes me feel SO MUCH BETTER about what I'm going through right now. I just had my surgery on Sept. 1 (19 Days post-op) and while I've had some challenges, they all PALE in comparison to what you went through! My god, if I had to endure what you went through I don't even know what I'd do with myself. Here I am feeling sorry for myself trying to figure out how to start getting 800 calories a day in by Monday (I'm at 650-ish now) so I can start exercising. I struggled with Water some in the first few days, but I've been getting my 64 oz. in for close to a week now. I only had dry heaving the very first day after surgery. I started my pureed stage yesterday and so far so good, just have to eat SUPER slowly. Took me over 45 minutes to eat a scrambled egg yesterday. But I am right on track. Been taking my 3 multi-Vitamins a day for well over a week now. Also taking 2 Probiotics, B12, Calcium + D3 (only getting one of those instead of the 2 I'm supposed to), as well as all my old supplements from before my surgery. So, I'm super sorry that you had to go through all of that, but it makes me feel like I should definitely be able to "suck it up" when it comes to the minor problems I've had!

My pureed phase started yesterday, Day 18. I am now allowed purees, greek yogurt, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, pudding, chicken/tuna salad, and soft oatmeal. Prior to that it was: Day 2-4: Clear liquids (Water, gatorade, crystal lite, broth, strained clear soups) Day 4: Added drinkable yogurt Day 7: Added Protein shakes Day 10: Added strained cream Soups On Day 28 I can start soft foods, including ground meats, legumes, canned veggies, canned fruits, and soft whole grains.

From what I've read, ankle weights in general are a bad idea for anyone, not just WLS patients. Here's a helpful article: http://www.sparkpeople.com/blog/blog.asp?post=you_asked_is_it_safe_to_wear_wrist_or_ankle_weights_while_walking_or_exercising If you want to try to build muscle to help fill out or prevent excess skin, you should be doing specific weight training exercises.

My google-fo returned the same thing initially, but there are no results specifically listing "TJ Bariatric Center" as listed on the receipt in the video. I did, however, find the website that they also show in the video and that is the site for Dr. Almanza. A google search for "Dr. Almanza Bariatric Center" also doesn't return anything concrete. So I don't want to say that it's definitively Dr. Almanza either, since I can't find anything tying his name to that receipt. I'd hate to drag good surgeons' names through the mud based on the poor reporting in this video. So please don't jump to any conclusions that it's Dr. Garcia, Dr. Vazquez, or Dr. Almanza. Edit: I found a couple of written articles about this story and none mention the surgeon. They all list "TJ Bariatric Center" or "TJ Bariatric Center" neither of which turn up ANY specific Google results. So it really is impossible to say who the surgeon was based on the info in these news stories. Please please please don't jump to any conclusions about the surgeons based on the little info we have. As far as I am concerned, it is shoddy reporting on the part of these news agencies not to name the surgeon.

Edit: I found the website that they show in the video. Here is a link: http://www.weightlossagents.com/ In the footer it lists Dr. Almanza and Dr. Martin Yanez. Looks like Almanza is the Bariatric surgeon and Yanez is a plastic surgeon.

I had a mild case of oral thrush. Is your tongue white? I think mine was brought on by a combination of the liquid antibiotic I was on post-op, as well as the dry mouth caused by dehydration in those first few days when I couldn't get all my Water in. I have fought it off with apple cider vinegar rinses 3 times a day and a chewable probiotic containing acidophilus. It never got to the point of being painful or anything, so I didn't bother going to the doctor or dentist about it. Now it's almost completely cleared up.

I hate that stories like this reflect badly on ALL Mexican surgeons. The headline doesn't call out a specific surgeon, it says "Mexico Surgery Warning" as if the "mistake" this patient made was traveling to Mexico for her surgery and not her choice of surgeon. It's stories like this that make friends and family members freak out when they find out we're going/have gone to Mexico for surgery. There are complications and malpractice all over the US too, but if for instance, a Wisconsin surgeon has a complication or a death, the news media doesn't warn everyone against going to Wisconsin for surgery. Hundreds of us on these boards have had very successful, complication-free surgeries in Mexico. But you don't hear about those in the news. You hear about cases like this that are framed in such a way that they reflect badly on all Mexican surgeons, no matter what their level of expertise and success.

Could it be heartburn? Are you on an antacid?

It was not a super easy recovery for me, but I did run 0.82 miles on day 4. Not by choice. I had to run the whole length of O'hare airport to catch a plane! I really never had much pain after the first or second day (had serious cramping until they pulled my drain out). My main problems were a terrible head cold that I developed 2 days post-op that lingered until this past Monday (so 14 days post-op) and the gas/gurgling/burping with every single sip of Water. SOOOOO hard to get your water in when every single sip is an uncomfortable ordeal. I'm 16 days post-op now and my cold is gone, I'm getting more water (still not easy), and most of my Protein (having to rely on shakes still, though). I came back to work yesterday and I was TIRED by the end of the day. Really exhausted. I've also found getting ready for work in the mornings to be pretty tiring, since I have to do so much in such a short period of time. While I was on sick leave, I could get up, use the bathroom, brush my teeth, take my meds, and lounge on the couch for a while while I had my morning Protein shake. Then I could take my shower at my leisure and then lay in bed for a while before getting dressed. Now it's this whole routine that I have to do in under 45 minutes to make it to work on time, then I have a long walk from my car to my office. By the time I get to my cubicle, I can't wait to sit in my chair! Eating is still a challenge. I am not supposed to start the soft/pureed stage until Thursday, but I went ahead and had some cottage cheese on Monday. That went pretty well, so I figured I could try some tuna salad yesterday. THAT was a mistake! I didn't throw up, but I was only able to eat half of the 2 oz. serving I'd prepared before I felt SUPER burpy. I'll be holding off a few more days before I try that again. So it's back to just Protein Shakes and some Soup (maybe a little cottage cheese again) for today and tomorrow at least.

Honestly, there is little you can do to prevent the hair loss once it has started, because your hair loss NOW is a result of your lack of protein three months ago. Anything you do now might help you grow NEW hair, but it won't save your old hair.