NikkiDoc

I take the Celebrate chewable with Iron. My NUT said I can have 2 Flintstones. I got those when I ran out of Celebrate. I will give the rest of the Flintstones to my husband. I don't like the flavor as much as the Celebrate and the Celebrate has iron. I was given a sample of Bariatric Advantage chewable and that was fine. My NUT said I only need to take one a day of either of these since I am a sleeve not bypass. Do you think it is the capsule that isn't sitting well versus the multivitamin itself? If so, then any good chewable multivitamin may work. I personally don't like gummies and know a few doctors that don't think they are a good delivery method and not just for bariatric patients. My chiropractor won't get his kids gummy Vitamins because he does not believe they are as bioavailable. I found I could not find an adult chewable at Target that was not a gummy. The only non-gummy kid's one didn't have iron. I have a pre-surgery history of low iron so want iron.

Internal stitches and glue. No bandages. The glue took a few weeks to finish coming off.

My doctor said I can have alcohol at 6 months. Same with carbonated beverages. I had half a sip of DH's beer the other day, just enough for barely a taste.

If you are always hungry it may be that you are dehydrated or have acid reflux. Both of these can present as hunger. Make sure you are measuring your food and eating really slowly so your brain has time to catch up to your stomach. Make sure you are eating solid Proteins that fill you up. Do not eat slider foods that go down easily but digest quickly. I primarily eat Protein. I have very few simple carbs. I may have a couple of wheat thins twice a week, 2 of hubby's fries another night. I do not have oatmeal, bread, potatoes, corn, lima Beans, Pasta, rice. Most of my meals I start with a meat/egg/cheese type protein and then have a few green vegetables. I have a Protein shake in the morning then 4-5 small meals/snacks. I keep busy in between. Work, ride my horse, go to the gym, yard work, house work, cruise the internet. I don't watch TV so I don't see the constant commercials for food.

My doctor cleared me to ride horses at 4 weeks. I waited for 6 weeks as my horse has a bit of a buck especially after not being ridden. I didn't want to have issues in case my ride became and unplanned contact sport as in contacting the ground. I second Bufflehead my guess is my surgeon would have recommended 6 weeks for contact sports but I also had a hiatal hernia repair.

If she is really only drinking clear liquid and only half a Protein shake a day then there isn't much to be processed as a BM. I don't think I had anything beyond a tiny squirt until I got to pureed food. It won't hurt to call her doctor's office but not surprising either. I second what everybody else is telling you. Clear liquid stages and full liquid stages your stomach isn't going to tell you much of anything useful. You need to get plenty of liquids and more protein to heal. I was having elevated heart rate occassionally due to dehydration. I personally prefer Matrix and Nectars Protein shakes to Premier. I don't find them as thick or sweet. I sleeved 2/2/2015 and stll drink one each morning. This way I am guaranteed half my protein needs per day. It makes it much easier to get in my protein that way. The pre-made are more convenient but I just make mine and one for DH the night before. I leave for work at 6 am. Early on in your sleeve journey you may need to eat when you are not hungry just to make sure you get your protein in. You will need to listen to not eat too much at a time. I drink a shake and then eat 4-5 small meals per day. If I waited until I was hungry I would eat maybe 2 meals other than the shake. I just cannot eat enough at once to get my remaining 31 grams of protein.

I took pictures and measurements the night before surgery. I remeasured after 1 month. I am overdue for measuring for 2 months. I have not taken updated pictures. Maybe this weekend I will find time for both. The night before surgery was not my heaviest. My heaviest was 257 at the start of the 6 month supervised diet. I was at 241 for the start of my pre-op liquid diet and 230 on the day of surgery. I also avoided the camera whenever possible.

I find adding something like Mio or Crystal Light or making decaf iced tea helps me with my fluids.

I recently picked up 2 maxi skirts from Target. Buy one get one 50% off. I figure they are forgiving and should fit for awhile. I can sew a little so I figure I can always take it in and hem it if necessary. I picked up a couple of fancy Vneck tshirts that had lace around the V at Walmart to go with the skirts. Boscov's tend to be decent on prices. I bought a few shirts to shrink into from Deb Shop when they were going out of business. Forever 21 is a similar store and frequently has some inexpensive stuff on sale. Goodwill can be a good place to find stuff but go in when you have time and patience. I don't know who thought arranging things by color instead of size was a good idea. Having to pick through the entire rack to find my size is a pain in the butt.

Call your insurance company each one is different. I have Horizon BC/BS NJ. I would have needed BMI of 35 and co-mobidity or 40 + BMI no co-morbidities. I had to show proof of a supervised diet in the last 2 years through my PCP, weight watchers, Medi-fast. Since I did not have that I needed a 6 month supervised diet. I did it through my PCP office as a combination PCP and nutritionist. I needed 1 psych visit. Additionally my surgeon required lab work, an upper GI, H Pylori test. If I had any symptoms or was heavier I would have had to have a sleep study. The other doctor in the practice requires all his patients to see a pulmonary doctor to evaluate for sleep apnea and if the pulmonogist recommends it then a sleep study. Once the surgeon's office sent the proof of the 6 month diet and the psych eval in it was approved quickly. Sent on Tues and approved on Thursday afternoon.

I am 2 months out from the sleeve. My co-worker is 6 years out from the band. She has lost the weight and kept it off. However she still has problems where food gets stuck or she vomits. She has days where she can eat a chicken thigh and the next day she cannot. This is the same chicken from the same big batch she made over the weekend. In contrast I have thrown up once. I was newly eating solid food, was out with friends and had a little too much plus a couple of sips of Water with dinner. Once I got rid of the last two pieces of broccoli I had it was good. I have less eating issues than the friend with the band. She could not do things like crunches or heavy core exercise for 2 years after surgery since it would pull at the port. I don't have any issues like that. I have had a really really easy recovery. Minimal pain meds, never had gas pains, the sleeve is fine with everything I have tried. Really soft, very thin sliced deli turkey made me crampy the first time I tried it. I think it could "pack" in the sleeve. If I have it with a little veggies or crackers it is good. I have eaten ground beef but have not tried something like a steak yet. I was walking quickly after surgery. I started riding my horse about 7 weeks after surgery. I delayed an 10 days since I lost an argument with an immersion blender and had 5 stitches in my L index finger. My friend would never recommend the band to anybody even though she was successful from a weight loss and maintenance perspective. At this point I would recommend the sleeve. ETA: Oops. I forgot I had a hiatal hernia repair at the same time.

I would suck on an Ice Breaker SF mint. Cinnamon and Wintergreen were my favorites. They are a fairly strong mint so mosto of the time I would only need 1/2. The bad breath/BO will go away. For me it was once I got to puree.

Just be careful to not stock up too much before surgery. Many people's tastes changed after surgery. shakes they liked pre-op they hate post-op. Becoming lactose intolerate post op isn't uncommon. I have a case and a half of Premier sitting in my dining room that I don't want. Too bad it is too expensive to ship. I would happily give it to somebody that likes the Premier.

I have been pretty open about having the surgery. But I understand that not everybody wants to be. I like the vague stomach problems. Or straight up say "I am not comfortable talking about it. But I will be fine." The polite way of saying "None of your business" But I tend to be pretty direct.

Mine went away after I went to "real" food. It was better during the pureed stage. I found that Cinnamon or Wintergreen Breath Savers were a great help. They are SF and pretty strong. I would suck on half of one and either throw it away or save the other half for later. I would place it in the lid of a Water bottle to save it.

I had clear liquids for 1 week post-op. I drank a lot of broth. Won ton Soup without the won-tons/green onions, and the broth from french onion soup were my favorites. Second week was full liquids. I don't think the 1 week of clear liquids post op is uncommon. I never had food dreams.

I second the Nectars and from the same company Matrix. You can get samples bags of each. I got mine from MyBariatricPal. I primarily use the Matrix vanilla or Peanut Butter Cookie. I even got my husband to start drinking a peanut butter one each morning. I bought the 5 pound bag from Lucky Vitamin as it was the least expensive place I could find. I add thawed peaches or mangos to the vanilla or SF Hershey's syrup. I just got a 6 pack of the SF syrups. I added salted caramel this morning. I added Kiwi once- never again. My NUT suggested adding extracts such as almond to the vanilla. You can add peanut butter to the vanilla instead of buying the Peanut Butter Cookie. I generally do not like fruit "flavored" anything. I love real fruit. I actually liked the strawberries & cream, orange cream in Matrix and in Nectars strawberry Mousse and the strawberry kiwi. The Matrix and Nectars are not as overly sweet as the pre-made. I liked the Premier well enough. But once I had the Matrix/Nectars I no longer could drink the Premier or EAS stuff. Hubby tried a Vanilla Premier. He also much prefers the Matrix Vanilla or Peanut Butter. I actually have a case and a half of Premier sitting around- chocolate and strawberry- free to good home.

I had the hernia repair at the same time. I had a really easy recovery. No gas pains. A little nausea right after surgery, which is common for me. I actually threw up in recovery on 2 prior sugeries but not after the sleeve. I really just felt like I did WAY too many sit ups. That really tight feeling that gets worse when you sit and loosens up if you move around. By Day 5 or 6 it was like I had done too many sit-ups.

I was fine with Atkins, EAS and Premier Protein until I tried Matrix and Nectars by Syntrax. I bought samples from MyBariatricPantry. They are sooooo much better than the pre-made shakes. Much higher in protein too. 23 grams plus 7 grams for the milk. They mix up well, not as sweet as the pre-mades. I have Matrix Peanut Butter Cookie and the vanilla. The vanilla I can do all kinds of things with it. I can add peaches or mangos or strawberries and puree with the immersion blender. I use no sugar added frozen fruit (thawed). I added SF Hershey's syrup. I just picked up a 6 pack of SF Da Vinci syrups. I now have brown sugar/cinnamon, pumpkin, gingerbread, salted caramel, vanilla and one other I can't remember. I love strawberries but don't like strawberry flavored anything. I liked the Matrix Strawberry and Cream and the Nectars Strawberry Mousse. Orange and Cream was good. The fruit ones are subtly flavored not overly strong. I know the Fuzzy Navel is a favorite for many people. My co-worker who banded 6 years ago likes the Orange Cream. She will add either OJ or Milk. The pre-mades are convenient but now that I have had the Matrix and Nectars there is no going back. I have a ton of Premier chocolate and vanilla sitting in my dining room. I need to rehome them. Anyone local to Pottstown, PA or Wilmington, DE want them? Free to good home. Too much money to ship.

I decided on the sleeve since I didn't want the whole malabsorption with the by-pass. The whole dumping thing weirded me out too. I have seen on this board where plenty of people have lost well over 100 pounds with the sleeve. The sleeve also gives you the option of adding the duodenal switch if you aren't losing enough weight. To me it seemed less invasive and more flexible than the by-pass. I would consider talking to other surgeons too. It may be that this surgeon has not done as many sleeves and is therefore more comfortable with the by-pass and by-pass follow-up.

I aksed out of curiosity. I didn't even ask until I was in pre-op getting prepped for surgery. I don't think that it is important to ask about. It wasn't like I was going to change my surgeon's mind on what size to use and I wasn't going to change to a different surgeon that used a different size. The bogie is a guide that helps prevent the stomach from being too small. However every surgeon is a little different on how close they staple to the bogie so that will make a difference in the end size. I guess if surgeon A uses a 36 but doesn't staple super close to the bogie and surgeon B uses a 40 but staples really close to the bogie then the stomach could wind up the same size. I did like hearing my surgeon's explanation on why he chose the size he did.

My surgeon used a 40 bogie. It appears that size is becoming more common and may become the new "norm". There is minimal difference in size between a 36 and 40. I had a catheter. Getting back in bed after walking was interesting. The convenience of not having to get up to pee while I was groggy the first night: priceless. My surgeon allows alcohol and carbonation after 6 month. Not sure about gum since I don't chew gum. I have been using straws even though I am not supposed to but have not had any problems. I was leak tested while still under but had a swallow test the next morning to make sure liquids would go down. I think they were more concerned with swelling closing things off. I was lucky and never had the post op gas pains. It is interesting how much varies from surgeon to surgeon. OP- Good luck with your journey. Sounds like you have a surgeon that is willing to answer your questions. I consider that to be a good sign of a surgeon that wants to work with you.

My doctor said no OTC NSAIDs. He will let me take Celebrex once a day but not twice a day- the lower dose. He feels the Celebrex has less gastrointestinal side effects than most OTC NSAIDs.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/diet-exercise-treatment-for-obese-patients/ I found this to be an interesting article. I found it gave a little insight on why many of us can lose weight but put it back on again.

One of my problems prior to WLS was that I was constantly hungry. By removing 80%+/- my stomach I don't get hungry the way I used to. Then when I am hungry I can only eat a little bit at a time. Prior to WLS I would eat 3 meal plus 1 snack a day. Those meals are larger than I can eat now. I now eat 3 meals plus 2 Snacks. I am not real far in this journey so I can't tell you I will succeed in keeping all or most of the weight off. I do know dieting and exercise alone wasn't working.