toasty

Thanks everyone. I am over my temporary insanity / pity party and I am back to a positive attitude. You all gave great ideas. One of my favorite places to go is to our local Japanese restaurant. And yes, right now I could still go there and just get the Miso soup and only drink the broth. But it would be hell on earth to watch my wife and daughter scarfing up sunomono salad, steamed gyoza, tempura, and sushi and not be able to have any myself. So for now, I just stay home. Eventually, in a month or so I will be able to start having normal foods, and then I will be able to start enjoying edemame and maybe some sashimi (no rice). Then I will be fine, since soup and a few pieces of sashimi will almost certainly fill me up. Until then, while I am on my liquid/pureed diet, I just have to tough it out. Its not easy, but I can do it! And yes, eventually I will be able to have a cheeseburger, no bun, but with no fries and no milikshake. That will be fine. In fact, I'll probably get the chicken salad instead.

I was tolerating tuna salad pretty well, so when I go back to pureed I will eat more of that.

@@Threetimesacharm Thanks for the advice. I just saw my NUT today, and she said the same thing. She told me that many people have problems with eggs and chicken. I haven't had any problem with eggs, but oh boy the chicken... Anyway, I've decided no chicken for at least three to four weeks. And my NUT also told me to go back to full liquid diet for 4 more days before trying pureed diet again, since my stomach might not be ready for pureed foods quite yet. She said that my pouch is still probably a bit swollen and sensitive to foods, so the amounts I can eat and the types of food I can accept are going to be limited for a while.

So sorry to hear. But if they let you go home, and then you weren't able to stay hydrated, you'd be back in the hospital with an IV. Just work hard to try to drink your fluids to show them you can do it.

@@jocelyndavisss There's no doubt about it, I sympathize that it is going to be a struggle. People in their late teens to early 20's generally eat lots of things that at this point you can't or shouldn't, and they eat it in quantities that you probably never will again (or hopefully not). I know this is easier said than done, but you are going to have to learn to eat differently than the people around you. You will probably not be able to avoid the situations where people are eating things you shouldn't. At three weeks post surgery (and in the pureed stage), you are pretty limited in going to restaurants. Even Soups need to be regarded carefully, since they often have things (like chips or clams or potatoes, etc.) that you shouldn't have at this point. Later, when in the regular foods stage, going out to restaurants will be easier. As @@dhrguru said, analyze the menu at places you go out to and see if there are alternatives that work for you, or share a plate with someone else (since the amount you will be able to eat will be so small). You will always have to be careful of fried foods, Desserts, carb heavy stuff (like mac-n-cheese, Pasta, pizza crust, hamburgers, etc.), and so on. Protein will be king, and you will want to eat it first before anything else, followed by fruits and vegetables, and finally if room left carbs. Yeah, I know, totally different from what your friends are eating, and probably makes you feel upset, left out, deprived. I get it. Unfortunately, with the path you have chosen (which is a great path, and a wonderful decision for your health and for how you will feel I am sure) you will eat differently from them. But maybe you can also be an inspiration to some of them to eat more healthy too! Just focus on how good you will feel when you can wear fashionable clothes, do outdoor activities with friends, and not worry about people judging you because of your weight. And congratulations on your weight loss so far. That's excellent! I'm sure you are proud of yourself, and you should be! Good luck, and my positive thoughts go out to you. You can do it!

Got this quote from the TicTac site (http://www.tictacusa.com/en/faqs): Q: The Nutrition Facts for Tic Tac mints state that there are 0 grams of sugar per serving. Does this mean that they are sugar free? A: Tic Tac® mints do contain sugar as listed in the ingredient statement. However, since the amount of sugar per serving (1 mint) is less than 0.5 grams, FDA labeling requirements permit the Nutrition Facts to state that there are 0 grams of sugar per serving. Note that this is a slippery statement! Although ONE Tic Tac has less than 0.5g of sugar, two or more may have a significant amount. Even so, shouldn't be a problem if you only have them once a day, but if you are having them multiple times a day, then the sugar could add up.

I use both Poweraide Zero and Vitamin Water Zero. I know the Powerade Zero is sweetened with Sucralose (brand name Splenda), so it might not have the bad aftertaste you get with other drinks made with Aspertame.

In any surgical procedure, there can be complications. WLS is no different. But as in most surgeries, the chance of serious complications is relatively low. This is certainly something you should discuss with your doctor, who can give you much better information about them. That said, most WLS patients are extremely happy with their decision. You will see some people on this forum talking about pain or other issues post-op, but for most these issues are during the healing stage a month or two post-op. Real, long term issues are relatively uncommon. From my perspective, the benefits far outweigh the risk. If you don't get the surgery, what is the risk of you developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, sleep apnea, etc.? What is your likely life expectancy if you remain obese? What about quality of life? In fact, when thinking about the risks, don't just consider the risks of having the surgery, consider the risks of NOT having the surgery too.

Many people (including myself) slept in a recliner chair for the first few days after home from surgery. Much easier to deal with than sleeping in bed right after surgery. For myself, after 3 days of that I was able to finally sleep in bed OK.

I was walking this morning, and I was thinking about how to explain my RNY surgery to people who have very little knowledge of it. I have been attending a "Living Lite" program, a weekly meeting where a coach leads us through habits for living a more healthy life. Many of these people are obese, but are really not familiar with bariatric surgery. I am certain as I attend these meetings after my surgery, and my weight drops dramatically, there are going to be questions. So I was thinking about how to explain it to them. I want to ensure they don't think that it is some sort of magic pill that makes you lose weight. There is still real work we have to do in order to lose weight. Essentially, I see bariatric surgery as a guardian angel. We all know the drill for how to lose weight: control portions, avoid high-sugar and high-fat foods, chew your food thoroughly, eat mindfully (and slowly), restrict daily calorie intake, etc. Those are the "tricks" to how to lose weight. Well, guess what? Bariatric surgery isn't some magic ticket, it is a guardian angel. Whenever I eat too much sugar, I dump. Whenever I eat too much fat, I dump. Whenever I don't chew my food, I throw up. If I eat too fast, I throw up. If I eat too much (and with a small pouch, it doesn't take much), I throw up. Essentially, whenever I do something bad, my guardian angel hits me over the head and says "don't do that again". That guardian angel is with me every day, without fail, helping me to learn and develop good habits. Eventually, over time that guardian angel will become more lax. My pouch will enlarge a bit, my GI tract will adapt to accept more sugar and fat, etc. But hopefully, by that time I have developed the necessary habits to live a healthy life. If I don't, I will regain weight. The only real thing that the gastric bypass does beyond enforcing good habits is malabsorption and providing a feeling of satiety earlier. I think that's how I will explain it to people who are unfamiliar with it. What do you think?

I can barely remember recovery at all. My first coherent memory is of being wheeled down the cooridors and into my room. I know it was 12:30 when I got to my room, and my surgery was at 7:30. I took my first walk around 5:00 that afternoon. I shambled down the corridor like a decrepit person, and was exhausted by the time I got back. The next day, I was unable to eat or drink anything. Every time I tried, I had a huge pain in my pouch and it made me feel awful. I was really worried they would not let me go home the next day if I wasn't able to stay hydrated. The second day I was able to finally drink fluids, slowly, and they took off the IV fluids early in the day. That was my experience. Good luck with only being in there one day, but I know I absolutely needed two.

So, to be clear, the reason you are staying away from sugar is primarily because it contains empty calories that often lead to cravings for more sweet things. The reason most of us got obese is because we ate too many empty calories through sugar and fat. Yes, for many gastric bypass patients, sugar in significant quantities causes dumping syndrome. Same goes for fats. My understanding is that over years, this effect grows less as your stomach and intestines adapt to be able to manage larger quantities of sugar and fat. Hopefully, by that time you have developed the habits of a healthy lifestyle that do not include low-quality carbs (including most added sugars) and fats.

A month before surgery, I could barely fit into my size 46 jeans, I was really probably a size 48. I am now 11 days post-op, and I went into my closet to pull out my "old" size 44 clothes, and guess what? They were still a little big! I happened to have one pair of jeans at size 42, and they fit, although a bit snug. I lost a tremendous amount of weight during my 10-day pre-op liquid diet, and then I have continued to have significant weight loss since the surgery. I am so happy. I am keeping one pair of my big pants and shirt forever, just so I can remind myself of where I was when I'm feeling low about a stall or something.

@@sgc Although my situation was different, there were some similarities. I married at 22 the wrong person because I was inexperienced and had very little self-esteem, and she was the first person who showed real intimate interest in me. She emotionally abused me for many years. After our divorce, I spent a few years in therapy trying to work out what I actually wanted. I was terrified of trying to date at 35 years old. Then, I tried eHarmony. It was wonderful, because it is very structured. You take a very detailed online personality test, then create a profile with your picture, first name only, and your interests.. Every day, eHarmony searches for possible matches for you based on your personality, and displays their profile. You look at the profile, and if you are interested in someone, you indicate it. They are then notified you are interested. If they are interested too, then it goes to the next stage. There are about four stages, starting with each of you picking a few "canned" multiple-choice questions that the other person will be asked to answer, to creating your own questions, to sharing your 10 "must-haves" and "can't-stands", and finally to an email-like open communication system. At any point in this progression, you or the other person can decide they aren't interested, and all communication is blocked. After a while in open communication, if you feel comfortable with the other person you can provide them with your actual contact information, and hopefully eventually setup a date. This rigid structure made me feel very comfortable. By the time you get to open communication, you already know a lot about the other person, and their interests and attitudes. You have things to talk about and share. And when eventually you do come to a first date, you don't feel like you are fumbling around for things to talk about. I ended up meeting my current wife on eHarmony, and we have now been happily married for 11 years with a 9-year-old daughter. Both my wife and I were terrified of dating, and this seemed much less intimidating than the other dating sites. In any case, this sounds like an advertisement for eHarmony, but it really worked for me. If you are looking for a real and lasting relationship, and not just a fling, eHarmony would be a great place to try. All of that said, you need to be sure you know yourself well, as others have said. Therapy works wonders with that. You have to come to love yourself before you can expect someone else to love you.

I weigh myself every morning. I have a FitBit scale, that records both weight and body fat % and automatically uploads the values to my FitBit.com account. No need to record, it's done for me. I like data, so I measure daily. Now, so far I am only one week out from my surgery, so I haven't seen any stalls yet (though I have experienced stalls in the past with weight loss). But I'm not terribly worried. The scale is only a tool. It records one metric (or in my case, two). There are others: body measurements, clothing size, visual appearance, stamina (e.g., steps walked), calories consumed, etc. Taken together, over time all of these metrics help me to understand what is going on, and decide if I need to change things or if I am doing great. My self worth is not determined by my scale or any physical measurement.

I think this is going to be tough for anyone to answer for you. It will largely depend on how you feel. I had my surgery on Sept. 11, I also feel great now with no real pain, and I am walking 5000 steps a day, which for me is about 2 miles a day. I could probably push myself a little more too. A 5K is a little over 3 miles. Personally, I think this would be too much for me all at one time just yet (I have walked 5Ks no problem in the past). If I were able to take a rest along the way it would work, but all at once would be difficult. YMMV. Only person who can really answer this is you.

As always, the first thing you should do is ask your NUT or doctor. Everyone's eating plan here is different, all of the doctors seem to have different plans, so you shouldn't take anyone's experience as your guidepost with this one question. This is what your bariatric team is there for, to help you with just this sort of question. Sorry for no better answer, but that's really the best one.

On day 5 after surgery I switched completely to Tylenol instead of the prescription pain meds. No problems. Just don't take Tylenol AND the prescription pain meds. They prescription pain meds probably have Tylenol (Acetaminophen) in them, and too much Acetaminophen can harm your liver.

@@melissa042374 You can get it here: http://www.unjury.com/

I used to like to have a glass (maybe 2 shots) of my Macallan 18 scotch every so often, or a few glasses of wine (how do you think I earned the nickname "Toasty"?). And, in the future (maybe in a year or so) I may go ahead and have a glass of wine every once in a while. But as the study I mentioned earlier states, I can expect one drink to hit me like four did before surgery! I don't think I have ever had 4 glasses of wine at one sitting, and maybe only a few times in dozens of years as many as 4 glasses of whisky. I may be a lightweight, but that would have me swinging from the rafters (I know, believe me, I know). Also, all the more reason to realize that especially for us, absolutely never drink (even one glass of wine) and drive.

@@bellabloom Try sashimi instead of sushi. With no rice, you may do much better.

@@soonergirl619 I don't mean to criticize your husband, but I think you need to set some expectations with him about your eating timeline after surgery. Three weeks after surgery, your diet is still pretty restricted (pureed), and you could hurt your pouch (or throw up) by eating foods too advanced too quickly. Just the facts. Eventually, you should be able to eat a wide variety of foods and going to restaurants will be easier. But early on, I think the expectation should be that you can't eat in restaurants very easily if at all. I would hope he can support you with that at least during your early weeks after surgery. I would agree with the others: soup (with all solid stuff removed if at a restaurant) or take your own foods. If you do eat at a restaurant, be careful of hidden sugar and fat.

I haven't yet gotten to the stage where my doctor wants me to use calcium, but I've already figured out what my plan is: Morning - 1 Bariatric Advantage Chewy Bites (500mg calcium citrate + D) and 4 of my morning prescription drugs Noon - Flintstones Chewable Multivitamin (contains Iron) dinner - 1 Bariatric Advantage Chewy Bites (500mg calcium citrate + D) and 2 of my evening prescription drugs Before Bed - 1 Bariatric Advantage Chewy Bites (500mg calcium citrate + D) Saturday morning - Sundown Naturals 2500mg B-12 quick-dissolve sublingual Spaces everything out nicely, no contention between Iron and calcium. The morning is full of meds, but that's kinda par for the course for me. Other than the calcium, the other Vitamins I can get at my local pharmacy.

I've tried spaghetti squash a number of times. I must be cooking it wrong, because every time it seems to clump together into an unholy mess, especially when I put any sort of sauce in with it. A solid knot of tangled squash that ends up having to be cut with a knife. I think I do it right: I cut the squash in half, put it in a pan with a small amount of Water and bake it for about 40 mins in the oven, then when you can pierce it with a knife take it out and use a fork to shred the insides into "spaghetti". But the squash seems to clump together. Any ideas?

I had my surgery last Friday, so this is fresh in my mind! The day of surgery (day 1), after I was in my room, the nurses were giving me demerol every 4 hours. They asked me once if I wanted pain medication every 4 hours when it was allowed, I said yes, and from then on they just came in and gave it every 4 hours. The pain was negligible after the demerol, maybe a 1-2 or so. The second day, they switched me to oral Norco (Hydrocodone/Tylenol) liquid. Again, every 4 hours, but now I had to ask for it. It kept the pain level to a 3-4. At night, I would generally go 6 hours between needing the Norco without problems (I preferred the sleep). Generally, on this day the greatest pain came when trying to drink; my pouch hurt whenever I tried to drink anything, even the smallest sips. Pain was maybe a 5-6 for a few moments while drinking. Didn't do much drinking that day. Walking definitely helped. When I got home (on day 3), I continued the oral Norco. Now, pain level was 2-3. Walking helped, as did passing gas. GasX strips helped a lot. Day 4, I started taking Norco every 6 hours. Pain level 1-2 right after taking Norco, 3-4 six hours later. Walked a mile over the course of a day, it helped (probably got my mind off the pain too). Today, I stopped the Norco altogether, and have been on Tylenol. No pain when sitting down, about a 1-2 when walking, 2-3 when bending over, 4-5 when coughing. It's raining, so not much walking today. Throughout it has been my stomach area that has been in pain. Not my incisions, which don't hurt at all. It feels like maybe the muscles in my abdomen, as well as some gas too. I never had any pain in my shoulders at all. That's my experience so far.