FocusOnMeNow

Technically cleared for "swimming"/submerging in water after 3 weeks but NOT released for full activity until sometime later. So just be aware that even though you may be cleared to get into the pool you might not be ready to go back to your pre-surg swim right away so take it easy and get as much exercise as is comfortable for you but stop and/or take it easy if you start to feel pain and strain.

Also agree with other posters to stay ahead of pain. That is why I took the liquid Tylenol second thing after waking each day (first thing was zofran, an anti-nausea med that helped me keep the liquid Tylenol and everything else down). I hope this helps[emoji4]

I took liquid Tylenol for two weeks after returning home from hospital. I did not take one single dose of narcotic from the time I woke up from my surgery because they made me too nauseous. They were able to give me an iv NSAID and also gave me some kind of lidocaine-ish pain med at one of my incision sites that was inserted under my skin during surgery and not removed till about three days after I arrived home from the hospital. So your mileage may vary if you do not have that. Try the maximum dose of liquid Tylenol: the over the counter dose of "extra strength" Tylenol is 500mg of acetominophen x 2 tablets for a total of 1000 mg. If you are taking children's liquid Tylenol you will need to adjust the dose for yourself. I was able to find 8oz bottles of Tylenol "Sore Throat" liquid on Amazon whose sole ingredient was acetominophen. It tastes like a shot of jäger Meister but it does the job with MUCH less nausea than the narcotics without ANY risk of addiction. BUT there are side effects to everything so talk to your doctor about what your maximum dose of Tylenol should be. For most people it is about 3,000 mg per day, but if you have any pre-existing liver issues your mileage may vary so please confirm with your doctor. Thousands of people each year actually do overdose their livers from over the counter pain meds containing acetominophen. So if you feel the need to go over the amount of acetominophen recommended by your doctor then that is also a good indication that you may need to continue with the narcotics. Many people take them only at night for a day or two or three and then give them up altogether. I personally also think it's a good idea NOT to dull all pain because that pain signal also lets you know when you are overdoing it when you are reaching too high, lifting too much, or pulling too hard. It helps us set appropriate limits with our activity so that we can HEAL, which is not a bad thing. At the same time if you can't get any rest because you are in so much pain that is also not helpful for healing, so transition to Tylenol when you can and take the narcotic when you need it most. I hope hat makes sense[emoji4]

I would agree with other posters that it sounds like insecurity. You should let her know that you worked really hard to meet your goals. That you are wondering what is REALLY bothering her? AND want to know how you can better support her in meeting her own personal goals (which may or may not be weight loss). Or does she just need more affection and/or attention from you? In order to meet our goals many of us really have to focus on ourselves for the first time in our lives, which is good and healthy. Although we should never stop putting ourselves first and taking good care of ourselves. There is a natural ebb and flow to life where we all need a little extra support here and there. It's all about leading a balanced life which includes nurturing relationships. However, if these kind of negative comments continue then that may be a different situation altogether.

They pump you full of fluids when you are in the hospital so that you do not get dehydrated once you return home. Actually once you are able to get those extra 8oz or more in each day it will really help rid your body of more water weight and fat. I know that it's counter intuitive but it's true.

How far out r u? 20 oz in an hour sounds like a LOT. I am 9 months out and that would be strain. There is a reason why they say "sip sip sip". How to get 64 oz in a day you ask (and yes that is the standard minimum goal for all WLS patients as well as human beings in general to avoid dehydration but with this as in all things please confirm with your doctor because no one on this forum is qualified to give medical advice). Anyway, if you take in 1 oz every 7.5 minutes, that would be 8 oz per hour for 8 hours you would make your 64 oz in a day. "Sip sip sip" is not a joke. It's a mantra and a way of life for newbies.

Get your protein in anyway that you can[emoji4]

I think most if not all of us have this problem. I am 9 months out and my plain water intake is starting to increase but I have been a "vitamin water zero" and "true lemon" junkie for quite awhile now;-)

How bout ask your husband to man up and do the cooking for a little while during your recovery (and/or offer them all a nutritious protein shake for breakfast and let them know that they can help themselves to whatever else they wish from the fridge. Also you can avoid some of the hunger by waking up a few minutes earlier and getting in some liquid protein and fluids BEFORE its time for HIM to start cooking breakfast so you are not as hungry. You had this surgery to take care of yourself. And if you want to be a success (which I'm sure you do) then taking care of yourself and putting your own needs first can NOT stop when you are discharged from the hospital. And yes we've all cheated and I would like to think that most on this forum have also gotten back on track. You can do this! You can take care of yourself! You can ask for what you need. And if your husband or anyone else in your life cannot make the adjustments that you need to be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy, then you will have to make the necessary adjustment (like fixing only protein shakes or something else that works for you) yourself. I generally do not support trying to push your diet on others but you have to set some kind of boundaries. If nothing in your life changes except on surgery day, then your body is also not likely to change the way you want it to. It takes practice and patience but you need to learn what your limits are and then stay within those boundaries yourself and avoid trigger foods, have your protein first so that you're not so hungry, breathe in the oxygen from your own air mask before you help others. Many of us got to where we needed this surgery because we had been "oxygen" deprived for so long. So take a deep breath and take care of YOU! [emoji4]

How far out are you? I was instructed to limit my exercise to walking for the first 8 weeks. And honestly I could not really attempt to lift weights or anything until about 12 weeks (even though I was "cleared" to do what I was comfortable with at the end of 8 weeks).

I was not allowed to take whole pills for 8 weeks (not until week 9) so maybe that is the reason, given that you are only 4.5 weeks out.

Two words: Premier Protein ... The best protein/carb ratio I have ever seen with lots of vitamins and fairly affordable at Walmart and SAMs.

Congratulations![emoji3][emoji322]

Lift weights and do as much varied ab work as you can. My mom had bypass and although far from perfect (there is a lot of loose skin) she did say that 2 years after she reached her goal weight that the lose skin has shrunk by half. I am only 9 months out.

Measuring is good: best advice my NUT ever gave me is: do NOT use your sleeve as a measuring cup. I used medicine cups for the first 4 weeks. I bought a set of about 36 new single serve containers so that I can make a batch of just about anything and freeze it, so my freezer is always well stocked with a healthy lunch or dinner. I still have trouble when I eat out because the portions are SO enormous and often so incredibly greasy. Keep in mind I use a ton of grass fed butter and full fat cheeses and other stuff in my own cooking but restaurant food is often just swimming in oil.

How can you get dumping syndrome from a protein shake? When protein does NOT cause dumping? Sounds more likely to be lactose intolerance. And there is a very simple way to avoid it: stick to the diet that your NUT gave you. Also one study is not the end of the story. They didn't say 45% in fact have dumping syndrome, it said that they had symptoms that MIGHT be suggestive. And yes when I eat crap ....wait for it... I feel like crap. So what do I do... I try not to eat that stuff. I LOVE that my new tummy dictates healthier food choices. I crave protein and veggies. I cannot tolerate junk food. That is a good thing. That is why I got the surgery.

I am only 9 months out but may also have a healthy perspective. First of all, the surgery is on your stomach, not on your head or your heart. Many of us may not realize it but we have been stuffing our feelings with food. I have lost 91 lbs and still have about 40 more to go. It is coming off much more slowly now, but what am I doing to ensure that I NEVER GO BACK? I'm going to a therapist, going to Overeaters Anonymous, reading lots of very helpful self help books (don't have time to read? Listen on audible on your way to and from work or when running errands or cleaning house), I am journaling nearly daily while sipping on my morning coffee/protein shake. I still need to step up my exercise (if I want to make it to my personal goal, as far as my surgeon is concerned I'm already a big success). So if you have to do all that, then why do the surgery? Because it is a radical step to take care of yourself, which is something that most of us had not been doing very well pre-op, because let's be honest, if we had we never would have gotten to be morbidly obese. Also there is in fact a "honeymoon period" for the first 3-6 months. When you're losing a pound a day, you feel good about yourself. You are NOT hungry at all, and you actually start craving healthy foods. You feel like hey, I really CAN do this. During that time (ideally you start pre-op), you really start working on your issues, exercising, setting boundaries and taking care of yourself in many other ways. Here's a hint: it is NOT about the food. It's that you have to work on meeting your own needs in healthy ways. You have to make the changes in all areas of your life to set yourself up for long term success. That in my opinion is the difference between those who are successful long term and those who are not. At least that is what I've heard from those who have had "revisions" (aka second surgeries). Reading and participating in bariatric pal is also immensely helpful in learning to accept others and yourself. I was self pay and it was worth EVERY PENNY! Good luck and take care of you[emoji6]

Ok so maybe have another shake to ease you through this. Or try to space the timing of your shakes so that you can still have one at 3? On my pre op diet I could have 5 shakes and two bars a day. How many are you having?

I would STRONGLY recommend that you try Tylenol in the daytime and only take oxy AS needed for sleep. It is a highly addictive medication. 1 in 4 people who take it WILL become addicted. 3 times a day for more than 3 days is too much. Long term result could be that you are still in pain but also have a wicked and dangerous addiction. Thousands of people die from overdose each year. Most of them started on legit medical dental advice and prescriptions. Families are destroyed. You may want to discuss with a pain management specialist some other options for managing your pain.

Zofran ... A dissolvable form that melts in liquid. It's the bomb and it was the first thing to go down every morning for my first 4 weeks.

It's perfectly normal. Enjoy the pound a day while it lasts[emoji4]

I also have never heard anyone say their doc was ok with it, but maybe I will if I finish reading this thread? What I have heard tho from post ops is that even when they tried to drink it months-years out it hurt. You should be aware that I had a similar stance on caffeine, but I actually did follow my doctors advice and didn't even try it until the 9th week (he told me no caffeine for 8 weeks). What did I find? That my poor sleeve could barely tolerate it. I did about 1/2 cup of chai tea diluted with 1/2 cup of vanilla protein shake bc I could certainly not tolerate any coffee. I could not even tolerate a half and half coffee mixture for several more months. Moral of the story....99 times out of 100 your doctor is recommending something for a valid medical reason. Also you might find that you don't even want or need or even like the same things post-op as you did pre-op. An example is that I loved chocolate shakes and never wanted a different flavor pre-op, but when I went to have my first post-op protein shake I couldn't even phathom a chocolate one. I just craved plain vanilla. I'm 9 months out and still have a ton of chocolate protein shakes in both ready to drink and powdered form sitting around my house which I will probably never drink. I myself was an absolute Diet Coke fiend pre-op. I was willing to give up the food. I was willing to give up the alcohol. BUT when they told me I had to give up caffeine, I resisted A LOT. I thought it was silly and unreasonable but it wasn't. It was totally legit. Long story short...you need to realize that you are possibly addicted to soda which is why you don't want to give it up. You need to make a commitment to taking care of yourself and your new sleeve. You may find that once you wake up from surgery you have a LESS THAN ZERO desire for diet soda. More importantly please try to hold out for as many weeks as you can because all that carbonation could literally pop open your new tummy if you try it too soon post op. I did not mean for this to be a lecture. I just wanted to share my experience with you and ensure that you weigh the potential benefits (I personally don't see any) vs the potential risks in your own decision making process. Good luck!

If your surgery is June 3rd and you have truly not smoked since April 15 you will pass the test. BUT this is not to be trifled with as your lungs need to be tip top before during and after the surgery. Otherwise complications (including pneumonia and repiratory failure) can ensue so please stay smoke free and you should even steer clear of the second hand stuff.

There are so many multiple kinds of antinaseau meds: zofran, phenergan, scopolamine patch, etc there is bound to be something out there that can help that she is not actually allergic too.

OMG A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Your transformation is amazing and inspiring. I better get mused to the gym. You look great and more importantly you must be SO PROUD[emoji4]