heynowkc

Awesome!

I agree with the poster above me. It's better that you're not doing it at the same time. It's just bad luck that you have to go first! (He'll have the benefit of learning from your experiences!) Typically doctor's notes give no details about why you're out. You should be able to keep your secret at work. I can't see them not allowing you to be off for any medical procedure. I hope it goes well!

I'm doing pretty good as far as learning to eat with my "new" stomach. Tolerating regular foods well now since being given the go-ahead a little over a week ago by my nutritionist. I am taking it very easy though. Still eating mostly soft foods and cutting things up very small. The only cruddite I've even had the courage to try has been a raw cucumber. I'll have to try more later. I definitely haven't eaten nuts yet - and nothing crunchy. I am staying away from ALL oatmeal, granola, rice, potatoes, corn, peas, bread, Beans (except for edamame), Pasta, and crackers until (at least) six months out as recommended by my dietitian for maximum weight loss. Same goes for sweets, but I did make an exception for honey this week because I've been sick and my (other) doctor recommended to drink it in tea to help my sore throat. I was sick of the requisite 2 shakes a day, so I was also given the go-ahead to have one shake and one Quest bar per day so that has been nice. Although I realize that I no longer like the raspberry white chocolate bars because now they just taste too sweet to me. And that is a shame, since I still have almost a whole box that I bought before surgery. Whoops! As far as results go, I have no complaints! My highest weight was 491 (Sept 29th) and on surgery day, Dec 17th, I had dropped down to 422. I am currently at 375 (as of last Wednesday - I only weigh once a week!) So total down since surgery is 47lbs and total overall am down 116!!!! I had one week where I didn't lose anything which I guess you could consider a "short" stall, but otherwise I have been losing every week. I have been sick for the past 7 days so I am a little worried about my weigh-in in two days since I have spent a lot of the time resting and not being active. But I did take a bike ride yesterday (it was almost 70 here in Virginia!) and walked a couple of miles yesterday, and plan to hit the gym tonight and tomorrow. So hopefully I will see some movement on the scale. I have had one or two days in the past week where I have felt that "need to munch" and I think it has to do with being sick. Otherwise I am doing really well with that. Glad to hear that so many of us from December are doing well!

Can those of you who have had surgery please tell me what Vitamins you take and where you buy them? I am currently using Bariatric Advantage but would like to take something different when I run out of this. I take a B12 supplement every other day, and daily I take 4 Calcium supplements with Vitamin D, and 2 Multivitamins (contains biotin) daily. I stopped at the rite aid the other day to find an alternative calcium supplement that was labeled as calcium citrate. None of them were! Where do you find this stuff?

I used to be very iron deficient and I would always have dark rings. Doesn't help that I have deep set eyes to begin with, haha. It could be related to that. I just got my iron numbers up to normal right before surgery for the first time in yearrrs. I will have to make sure to take my iron supplements if it dips back down again.

Hopefully your doctor can give you a better idea of what he or she expects of you. I don't know what is "normal" or "correct" and I have a feeling it all depends on your starting weight more than anything. To be honest, reading these replies here and elsewhere on this board, I feel really sick over all of the "change your attitude" posts that people respond with when a poster is simply concerned they may not be losing what they could/should be. It's one thing to say "don't worry, you're doing great!" but it's another thing to cut someone down and (strongly!) suggest that they're setting themselves up for failure/disappointment for asking a simple question!

Maybe they mean turkey meatballs?

Next Friday I have my follow up appointment with my surgeon, dietitian and exercise specialist. At this appointment I am supposed to be cleared to return to "regular" foods (at my own pace I assume) and cleared for strength training/no limitations when exercising. So, my question(s) is(are): What is the first thing you tried when you were cleared for "normal" foods again after the soft foods stage? How did it go? There are things I am looking forward to trying. I really want to try sushi (without rice) but I'm afraid that might be a while. My favorite sushi roll as of late (the past year or so) has been a skinny (no-rice) "rock n' roll" -- seaweed wrapped around avocado and cooked eel with a little bit of eel sauce. I am terrified to try bread/rice/pasta/potatoes/etc.! Part of me never wants to try it! I am not a huge carb fanatic actually, never have been. But one of the first foods I thought about after surgery was a grilled cheese sandwich. Maybe that's just because I was eating so much Soup and broth!

Thank you so much!

day 1-4 was clear liquids day 5-14 was full liquids day 15-35+ is purees and soft foods. after that you begin transitioning to normal/regular foods The 35+ is because they want me to wait for my 6 week follow-up appointment and get cleared by the surgeon & dietitian to move on from the purees. Mine is tomorrow -- it'll be 43 days post op for me.

Okay, so I am almost 4 weeks out from surgery and am still mostly eating purees. The one thing that is NOT a puree that goes down really well has been club crackers chewed really well which was recommended by my dietitian. I have eaten these once with smoked mussels and hummus, and once or twice to combat nausea. I've only eaten 1 or maybe 2 crackers each time. Probably a total of 4-5 crackers in all, haha. (This box of crackers is going to last me months!!!) The smoked mussels are very soft (kind of dissolve in your mouth) but still didn't go down as well as the crackers. Also tuna was not a huge success. The thing is, I am getting tired of refried Beans, hummus, and beech nut baby food for Protein sources in my meals. So my question is, does any one have any good suggestions or recipes for transitioning from purees to very soft foods? I would love to hear them. (Even if they're not protein based!) I recently made Cauliflower mash from the skinnytaste website: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/03/creamy-cauliflower-puree.html and it was simply amazing, but still a puree. But it tastes so much like real mashed potatoes that I can tell it's going to be a favorite from now on! I highly recommend it! (Alterations: I did boil the cauliflower in veggie bouillon to add flavor, and added a few snipped chives at the end!)

It never occurred to me that you meant anything else. Some people are very touchy. As a candidate for surgery it would be natural to worry that you may be choosing the wrong surgery if you get the sense that people you know personally are eating poorly/large portions so soon after surgery.

@@Nikkidoodlebug What?????? She had her surgery Dec 8 and is eating that? That doesn't even seem possible! Crazy! I had my surgery on Dec 17th and I can't imagine that! I thought I was fancy with my cauliflower mash and one ounce of chicken thigh cut into tiny pieces! Even when I am cleared to go back to "regular" food I cannot imagine being able to eat like that in a week or two. That is one determined nacho-lover!!!

I only feel hungry the last 3 hours of every work day. Yep, definitely I-Wanna-Go-Home-This-Day-Is-Taking-Forever-Head-Hunger. I hit the break room and make myself some hot tea which takes me like 4 hours to drink so it lasts all the way through my commute, haha.

I live in Fredericksburg, work in Richmond, and had my sleeve in Fairfax (Inova Fair Oaks.)

Wow everything sounds like it's going great for you. My surgery was December 17th. I've been back to work for 3 weeks. I haven't had pain since maybe 2 weeks out. Still getting nauseated when I drink water/protein shakes. Hot tea doesn't make me nauseated though so I drink a lot of that. Have finally fully transitioned into soft foods, which is good because I only have one more week until my follow-up with doctor/dietitian/exercise specialist and they're going to want me to begin transitioning to "regular" food at that point. My Vitamins make me want to throw up every time so I am considering ditching the vitamins I got from the surgeon (for now) and getting something comparable to the drug store that I can stomach. I can come back to the surgeon's vitamins when my stomach is less temperamental. My vitamins are the only thing that has made me throw up this entire time. I am still struggling with the no drinking 30 minutes before and after a meal thing. I have ignored it a few times and understand why it's a rule now. I definitely can fit more (like 1 tablespoon more! but still more!) food in my stomach if I disobey that rule. I usually pre-portion out my food though, so it's not been that big of a deal but I will definitely be following the rule from now on regardless. Total weight loss since surgery as of this Wed (36 days post surgery) was 42 lbs! (Well, 41.8.) Total weight loss since October is 111. (Well, 110.8.) I have not hit any stalls yet but I lost weight very rapidly prior to surgery (69 lbs) so I feel like my body is just at a different place than most patients at this stage. (I am sure mine is coming!) Trying to weigh-in only one day/week and on the 17th of each month to keep my head level!

Pretty much everyone who knows me knows.

I had shakes, Soup (progresso light), and Protein bars. So I did cheat once. (My "big" cheat: I ate a saltine cracker and some hummus!) I feel like.. if you're eating Protein Bars and you cheat a little there's no way it will postpone the surgery. If you eat a 4-course meal the night before surgery though, you might be in trouble.

My surgeon and my dietitian have not talked about goal weight at all. Not a peep. I set my personal goal weight based on what is considered a healthy BMI for my height. I'm 5'7.5"

Thanks, @@vsg_candy !! I am definitely going to check out your videos and subscribe!

Welcome to January! Haha. Also my GYM is FULL of people who just joined for the new year.

@@Doingitformeandmyloves Two weeks after surgery all I could think about was eating an apple. My dietitian said it's because I was missing biting/chewing food. What a weird thing to miss, right?

@@roundisashape You know I have heard the pork thing from a couple people. I ate some very tender teriyaki chicken thigh last night (with the cauliflower mash) chopped into teeny tiny pieces and that went down fine. I am hoping chicken turns out to be easily digestible for me because it's a favorite. But I have heard some people have problems with it. I think the key is making sure the meat is moist, so maybe chicken breasts will be off the menu for a while!

I made my own version of "egg roll guts!" Not really sure what truly goes into an egg roll or how it is prepared, but I just came up with my own recipe: Ingredients: 1 package cole slaw mix (green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots) 1 chopped white/yellow onion 1 handful of shredded carrots (there weren't a lot in the cole slaw mix) 1 T olive oil salt and pepper 1-3 T veri veri teriyaki sauce (whatever your preference) 1 lb of ground pork - Saute the onion in a large skillet over med-high heat until clear and just turning brown at the edges. - Add the pork and cook until browned (mine was 30% less fat so there was no need to drain) - Add cole slaw mix and shredded carrots and cook until very soft, reducing heat at the end. - Add salt, pepper and teriyaki sauce as desired. It was very yummy but at my stage I definitely needed to eat it very slowly to avoid feeling uncomfortable. This was my first attempt at eating ground meat since surgery. I chose the pork over lean turkey (my first choice), chicken, or hamburger because I figured the fat in the pork would make it easier to eat and not as dry. I think once I advance I will be brave enough to try the lean turkey.

I will watch all of these as soon as I get home today. I already watched the part 1 & 2 before the others were updated. Thanks for posting. It's great to hear your stories!