Iowa_summergirl

I was sleeved 10/14...I have stopped "tracking" everything I eat and am relying on my body to tell me what is right. Most of the time it is about 3-4 ounces at a time, sticking to only three meals daily with very very limited snacking (like usually 1-2 times a week...handful of crackers or a piece of fruit). I feel great diet wise and continue to lose steadily. My family is wondering if I am loosing too fast?? Typical day: glass of milk to start, Breakfast is usually either a 1/4 piece of toast or a couple crackers with a homemade dip (lots of Protein in it--usually yogurt based). Lunch: cold cuts with some cheese, piece of fruit. Supper: whatever my family is eating but in a much smaller portion. Tonight we had spaghetti. I don't do any juices (unless I have an occasional cocktail). Also haven't done much for Protein shakes...trying to get most of it through diet. My favorite food is still homemade dips in the morning! HW: 256 SW: 224 CW: 182

I was warned that I would feel more cold after surgery with all the weight loss, so I expected to be cold this winter (hate Iowa winters to begin with)! Was wondering if I will always feel this cold? Or does your body eventually re-adjust and regulate better?

I was sleeved on 10/14...so close to you! I have my 7th wedding anniversary Monday night, and I know my hubby is itching to get me to at least "out and about" for a little while. I don't plan on much, but I would like to sip on something besides Water for a change and feel a little like an adult again. Moderation is a big part of our vocabulary, so I think that's key here too! Carbonation is out for me...I don't think beer even sounds good. Thanks for the suggestion of cranberry and vodka! Was also thinking OJ and little rum?? Have fun with the girls...I think we have to live a little...especially since we are probably feeling the best we have in years!

Love this advice...I journal everything I eat, but never really count anything. I am 8.5 weeks out, and I find that I can't eat much more than a few teaspoons at a time either. I try to keep it to 3 meals a day, but I stop whenever I'm full. I used to be a prominent member of the clean plate club...not anymore!

I think your loss sounds right on track?! I get a little irritated when surgeon's get down on patients. Sometimes I think that they think all they have to do is doing their thing in surgery, and if something doesn't go exactly textbook, they are not at fault and the patient is. Truth is...we can only do what we can do! I have always done a journal of my food, exercise, Protein, and water...so that I can show them exactly what I'm doing!

I've had a sed rate (ESR) that high, but not a CRP. Hope the results come back better....but glad you aren't too symptomatic!

Ahhh...being a mom of a 1.5 year old will make you tired...much less adding surgery to the mix! I also see a higher fatigue level if I don't drink enough and get some decent Protein. I have a hard time sleeping at night, so I don't nap during the day. Just trying to get the right mix yet!

105....wowzer!

@@BeccafromIowa ....where at in Iowa? We are in NW corner near Sioux Falls. It was 20 degrees today...I can't imagine when we get to the subzero temps that always come!

I have always struggled with insomnia. I usually have a particularly hard time with it after surgeries (I have had 23 random surgeries in my past). I usually take Ambien, Tylenol PM, and Melatonin. I have found a rapid release Melatonin that melts in my mouth. I cut the Tylenol pm in half, and take the ambien. I can feel the effects of ambien almost immediately after I take it. Normally I would sleep for 8 hours all night. Lately, I wake up at 2:30 am and that seems to be it for the night. Is my stomach processing the ambien too quickly and it loses its effectiveness quicker? Am I just in a post surgery sleep pattern? Wondering what would happen if I took half at bedtime and half in the middle of the night?

Thanks for all the insights and suggestions...lots of "lost sleep" trying to figure out why I don't sleep! Maybe I just need to relax!! Hopefully it will improve soon and I will ease into a nice routine again. No I have never even thought about this or had it mentioned...will keep it in mind!

Thank you for posting this topic...I'm only 8 weeks out, so no NSAIDs except Tylenol for me. I had a knee replacement on 9/22 and my sleeve 10/14. I've had to have two subsequent procedures on my knee since then, and so not having some good NSAIDs has been a struggle. I did talk to my bariatric surgeon about them last week, and they said that if they really needed to use something (Mobic works good for me), a short term stent of them would be fine. However they would recommend taking Prilosec with it and watching for any ulcer issues. I wish I would have waited for my joint issues to completely resolve before tackling my sleeve...that is the only regret I have so far!

I have just really started to comprehend how different I am starting to look with my weight loss. I've had people tell me that I look great, but I guess I didn't really see it. This week I did...funny how your mind can make you feel so different about yourself! I was 8 weeks this past Tuesday (10/13) and am down 36 pounds since surgery. Since I started my journey (April), I am down 68 pounds!! All of my progress has been diet related since I am not exercising much with my knee complications. I hope that I can cross that off my list very soon. Saw my surgeon last week and they thought things looked good also. I have had my share of sliming and nausea, but I have to admit I have a hard time waiting 30 minutes after meals to drink. So we think that is probably the issue. I have learned to stop eating when I feel full which happens so quickly. I can't believe how you can go from full to overfull in literally one bite. Its been nice to hear how everyone is doing...keep the recipes coming to help me with food boredom!

Do any of you have issues with your medications wearing off too quickly? I had total knee on 9/11, sleeve on 10/14, had my knee incision cleaned out for infection on 11/10, and had to have a knee joint manipulation on 12/2. So my pain has been pretty much constant and at times unmanageable. I have been on Norco throughout all my surgeries and some Tramadol and Tylenol too. Really missing the non-steroidals for the joints. But now I take my pain med (either narcotic or regular Tylenol) and it seems like two hours later it is like I have nothing in my system. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Trying to be back at work full time (on my feet) and it isn't going well, plus I'm in therapy for an hour 5x weekly.

I actually switched to the extended release two weeks ago with the blessing of my bariatric surgeon. I'm still not having the best of luck. sleep has eluded me for years, so it is so frustrating for me. Anesthesia usually really messes me up for a few weeks, and I've had two more surgeries since my sleeve. So I have never really gotten out of the post op stage from one thing or another. My medications seem like they take hold fairly fast, but they also wear out fast too. Probably half as fast as they should?! Hope to find a groove very soon! For now, they recommended the Ambien, Tylenol PM, and some melatonin which I found in a quick dissolve formula.

I have knee arthritis. I actually had a total knee replacement on Sept 22 and was sleeved on Oct 14. I'm having complications with the knee, so I am not painfree yet, but hopefully soon (infection and range of motion problems). My hope is that by dropping my extra weight, my new knee will last longer (I need it to last as long as possible since I'm only 38). My only issue is pain control in these post op times and wtth some of the intensive physical therapy I'm doing. I can't use anything aniti-inflammatory (ibuprofen, Mobic, Celebrex) and anything extended release is also out of the question. So I've been left with taking Tylenol and other narcotics every 4-6 hours. I am finding that they don't last as long as they used to...not sure if it is because they pass through my sleeve that much faster or if I'm having some tolerance built up or both. If anyone else has some helpful pain relief tips...I'll take them!~ Yep--doing ice heat elevation... Tomorrow I'm having a manipulation under anesthesia....where they crunch the scar tissue by bending the knee as far as it can...tomorrow night should be interesting!!

I've been pretty private about who I clued in that I had surgery...my boss, a few co-workers, my sister, hubby, and mom. That's it. Now that I have slimmed down a lot (and loving it!) and not eating much, I'm worried that there will be questions Thursday at Thanksgiving. I've already had a few questions like "what's your secret?" or "how are you losing all your weight?" My response so far has been..."just not putting as much in (calories) as I put out." Would like to hear your feedback...do you tell everyone who has asked that you actually had WLS? What are your creative responses?

Protein shakes seem to have so many calories...how do you guys do it and stay under 600 calories/day? I tried muscle milk this morning...tasted ok. I'm just not a fan of flavored anything like milk, waters, chewable meds, etc. I've got the unflavored stuff on order and going to give that a try in my juice.

@ jstrong630 I will also be 6 weeks on Tuesday. I have eaten a lot of potatoes and applesauce. One of my new favorites this week was a bit of pizza sauce and cheese on some wheat crackers and broiled. I also made some low fat cracker dips. Felt good to eat something that tasted good!

Soda and hamburger

I am looking for advice on handling the social ackwardness (sorry I can't spell that!!) that comes with eating very little and eating so slowly. We generally try to sit down as a family or as a crew at work, and I can't get over how weird it is to eat so slowly. Any suggestions? I feel like people are staring at the little amount I put on my plate and then watch me chew forever. I am having trouble with meats, so I've generally been avoiding them. My husband and I haven't been out to eat yet, and I'm wondering how that will ever go. Any social suggestions?? Five weeks post op today

Thanks for the insight...my husband is a very fast eater and much less on conversation until he is finished...so it is something we will have to work on together! He will appreciate me being a cheap date too (plus he doesn't have to buy any drinks for me!)

I feel like I've been out of the loop...so I thought I'd check in too! Sleeve 10/14 Starting weight: 256 Surgery weight: 224 Current weight: 202 I went thru a stall about 3 weeks out, but now have been steadily losing in the last two weeks. Hope to hit onederland this week! I have been doing good on Water, I just have to remind myself not to get behind because I can't catch up. When I get thirsty it is too late! Exercise has been a struggle. I had a knee replacement on 9/22 and was just starting to get the physical therapy really going when I had my sleeve. A few days after my sleeve I started showing signs of infection and started antibiotics. Sadly, last week my incision was still not healing well and reddish, so back to the OR I went. They opened the incision to find staph. So now I'm on two different oral antibiotics (which reck havoc on my belly), and hoping that I will finally heal and put this behind me. Trying to make sure I have plenty of Protein on board for healing! My struggles are how awkward it is socially to sit at the table and not eat much, or to eat so slowly (see new thread). I am doing really well with softs, meats are still hard for me. I can't believe how little it takes to be full. My biggest accomplishment this week was learning to not overeat and get the slimes. So craving carbs...my fav was spaghetti on toast...oh my. Excited to buy a new outfit for the Thanksgiving festivities--nothing is fitting anymore!

I absolutely hate chewable Vitamins. I have tried a lot of different ones and just can't find one I like. I am tolerating them because I know that I have to. My question is this...can you crush up a regular Calcium or Multivitamin and take it that way? I have been doing that with some of my other medications (putting it in yogurt), and was just wondering if this was an acceptable way to take supplements. I also am currently taking an antibiotic. It is in a capsule form, so I have to break it open and pour the powder on some yogurt. It is a pretty small capsule, so is it necessary to open it up? Do our sleeves not break down the capsule? Curious...thanks~

Sleeved Oct 14 and doing well with it. I am down 13 pounds since surgery. It really kind of hit me yesterday that I can see the weigh loss in my face and hands. My wedding band is almost falling off! I am on soft foods and for the most part that goes really well. I have had a couple of times when I didn't chew probably good enough and had a "stuck" episode...wowsers that hurts. Had my first post op yesterday and that was good too. Healing just the way I should. Unfortunatly, I haven't been able to do much exercise, so I think that my loss is slow right now. I had a total knee done six weeks ago and have actually had an increase in pain since two weeks after the new knee. Also having some red spots so they are questioning infection. Possible surgery again on Monday if no improvement in the next few days. Can't wait to get over all of this and get moving again!