no onions

Totally unprepared for a round of sneezing that occurred this evening. No pillow near to hold against me. Three times in a row followed by me yelling a long drawn out "mother f'er". The experience didn't kill me, I guess it made me stronger. Regardless, it was immediately follow up on by taking 1/2 a pain pill and a lot of grumbling. Still grumbling.

@kiks @Sleevefornellie Good luck to both of you.

Though I was allowed anything on the pre-op diet (up to 1400 calories max) I didn't enjoy the pre-op diet. I probably went to bed early a time or two because of a headache or just overall malaise. The second week was much better and by the third week, I had it down. Keep your long term goals in focus and dig way deep. July 7 will be here before you know it and you'll be in a better starting position for the road ahead.

The tickers are part of the profile section in your account settings. I set mine up using the computer - I don't see a way to do it from the mobile app (what I am typing from now).

C2F - wanted to add this to my original post and couldn't figure out how. I think we may have similar cats.

My energy comes and goes. I have a follow-up on Friday as well. I'm overly cautious about amounts of water/protein (liquid) intake speed so am not getting enough of either probably - but doing better each day. Updates on Friday?? Best wishes!

I would discuss it with my surgeon. That would be no fun to have! I developed thrush after I used Flonase frequently one summer. My mouth was so sore. Good luck to you.

In the hospital, I slept in the bed for just a little while and then moved to the reclining chair. It was easier to get in and out of. At home, I'm using a wedge memory foam pillow that I bought on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/InteVision-Wedge-Pillow-Quality-Removable/dp/B009HHLBKK/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1434912448&sr=1-1&keywords=wedge+pillow I'm normally a side sleeper and am sorely tempted to try it, but the pulling feeling puts me right back onto my back (at the incline). My Dr. didn't recommend one or the other as far as incline, but I read on the boards (here) that I could be more comfortable.

@@GinaSq and @@simplyamy Are you having these problems while taking a prescription like pepcid or prilosec? I'm really curious about whether you've been taking this medicine already. @@Shustar - mentioned taking 2 per day - I'm taking 2 generic famotidine (pepcid) each day and haven't experienced the reflux yet. I'm hopeful that my prescription prevents this complication. Good luck to you all.

Best wishes - you will do great! I second the pillow recommendation. I forgot mine and just asked the nurse if I could take one from the hospital. She said absolutely - she gives them away all of the time. :-)

@@thecakewasalie Your surgeon is FIRED! I'm glad you're not tolerating his nonsense. I'm not prone to violence, but I'd consider a good throat punch for someone who told me to come back in 2 years to be re-sleeved. Actually a good kick in the nuts would be effective too. My patience has been tried on your behalf.

I had my surgery on June 17. I'm scheduled to be out for 4 weeks and I'm going to take complete advantage of the extra time. My job is stressful, but doesn't have much manual labor (I guess I schlep my laptop to conference rooms). I don't think I would be doing anyone favors by going back early. It's all an individual experience though and sometimes the economics of the situation make the decision of when to go back for you.

I had my surgery on June 17. I'm on full liquids as well and really haven't eaten that much to be honest. I'm trying to stay hydrated and take a bite or two of yogurt, cream of wheat Cereal and sip or two of premier Protein when possible. I'm just not super hungry and think I'm a bit swollen still. What I did notice is that my surgeon's office provided a different post-op 6 week diet guideline than the one the nutritionist in the hospital provided. The discrepancy concerns me so I'm going to stay with the most restrictive diet until I can discuss it with the surgeon's office next Friday.

My recommendation would be to go to the unjury website or my bariatric pantry and purchase some sample packs so you can get an idea about taste. Before surgery, I wouldn't have thought twice about using a magic bullet/blender to make shakes. Now that I'm a few (barely) days past surgery, I wouldn't want all of the extra air introduced. I bought some premier Protein shakes (Vanilla) at costsco and have been trying to drink those. They seem really sweet to me.

I've lurked on the boards long enough to know that many people choose to keep their surgery entirely private, some are very public and some tell a few people. I recently told my team (@work) that I would be taking a LOA for about 4-weeks. I decided that I wouldn't tell them why, but changed my mind during the conversation. I was very prepared for any negative reactions - they did not come. They were nothing but supportive. I didn't realize just how emotional I am over this entire issue (weight, surgery, etc) until I actually started speaking. Typically, I'm pretty reserved, but during this conversation - I felt like crying. Anyway, good experience, moving on.. I told a friend (who had lap-band) and she was interested and not judgmental. She did explain that she wasn't happy with her lap-band, but understood that my surgery was a different tool. This conversation was pleasant and I wasn't emotional about it. So moving on... I told another good friend (she is overweight) and she was obviously concerned. One of the things she said to me, "I feel like people who have surgery just haven't tried hard enough." I sort-of expected that she might have a judgmental response and was prepared for it. I simply replied, that "20+ years of trying very hard, finding success and weight loss, but not being able to keep the weight off, is very hard work and doesn't indicate any lack of trying on anyone's part." What can one say to that? Not much if they are even slightly thoughtful and self-aware. I went on to explain that she needs to reconsider her mindset - people use the surgery as a tool, not a panacea. WLS is not a quick fix, it's not magic. With all of the above said, I'm glad I told the people I mentioned. It's a personal decision and not for everyone. If you choose to discuss WLS with others, be prepared for a variety of reactions from them and from yourself. Best of luck to everyone!

@@Kushka I can relate about having just a boat-load to do before going on leave.

@@Miss Mac - I bought some of the smooth move tea for just this scenario. I haven't tried it yet. I'm severely disappointed to know that it (possibly) tastes like licorice. I don't suppose it tastes like red licorice instead of that foul black licorice? I'm sure I already know the answer.

File this under #yuckity-yuck and #butseriousquestion. I've only a few days until surgery and the question hit me - I will get straight to the point -- When using the bathroom (#2), was anyone limited by the surgery and did you have difficulty, uhm, cleaning yourself? This isn't an issue for me currently, and I'm hoping it isn't during recovery from surgery. If you had this issue, what did you do to help mitigate it? Thanks!

@@DreamsComeTrue15 me too (June 17) - best wishes to you!

@@smiranda - in addition to what you've mentioned, I'm bringing qtips (cotton swabs), travel size shampoo, travel size bodywash and biotene mouthwash. I don't know if I will be able to use the mouthwash, but if allowed, it's supposed to help with the dry mouth feeling that we will experience from not being able to drink. At least that's what I read on here somewhere. I may add some moist-towelettes or something to my list to wipe my face.

@@Kushka - I have experienced eye-twitching, but only (as @@Inner Surfer Girl) when I'm terribly stressed out and very tired. Oh - and there's usually a computer monitor involved. I would be interested to know if you find out what is causing it. Hope your twitch resolves!

Awesome! Great before and after, very happy for you. This is tough stuff and I like to see and hear from people who help reinforce my own decision.

@@xxjosettexx You can do it! And I'm going to do it too.

@@Bluesea71 The lidocaine cream that @@AngelaWilliamsMD mentioned (right down to the plastic wrapping) was the only thing that made it possible for me to do my back and shoulders. The first time I did it without any analgesic or numbing and thought I might die. It was awful. My fallback option under consideration was to consume copious amount of alcohol (probably not a great idea)!

@@IcanMakeit In addition to hating onions, I hate fried eggs. @@Babbs - yuck, yuck, yuck. The Most American Thickburger. I was watching some documentary/drama on Showtime called 7 Deadly Sins, hosted by Morgan Spurlock and... they did an episode on gluttony. There is some place called The Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas that specializes in the opposite of healthy food choices. Naturally, they have sexualized the experience with pseudo-nurses* as servers . Here's a link to their menu -- http://www.heartattackgrill.com/heart-attack-grill-menu.html