heidikat72

Please delete my account as well. When valuable resources of information are banned while leaving accounts who swear and name call, this site is no longer useful for me

walk walk walk and some people have said gas-x strips help

Please do message him. However MANY of us have been all day even providing her phone number and he has not contacted her. And we just get stock replies that he won't discuss it with us. even though we didn't ask him to discuss with US but to contact HER

and just fyi - your monthly cycle will be wacky for a while too thanks to WLS. fat stores estrogen, burn fat and you release a ton of estrogen and welcome mood swings and sometimes lengthy or frequent periods. and also why you need backup birth control for a while - all that extra estrogen getting released can make you extra fertile.

mine wasn't all liquid either. I just had to get a min of 80g Protein while staying under 800 calories for two weeks prior to surgery. My dietician said that a lot of practices will recommend all liquid just to make it easy to do that and that I could do all liquid if I wanted. I did a shake for Breakfast (easy grab and go on the way to work), chicken or fish with steamed broccoli for dinner and lunch was sometimes a shake, sometime chicken or a pouch of tuna.

for my practice, they let us count all noncaffeinated liquids. so Water, crystal light, shakes, decaf tea/coffee, skim milk, sugar free popsicles (they melt into a liquid). I also still fall into the trap of forgetting to drink enough at work - get distracted and even though the insulated tumbler is right in front of me, don't. So I set a timer on my phone for every few minutes - just have the volume turned down so not everyone can hear it

best to ask your practice's guidelines. but after about 6 weeks post op, my practice was ok with one cup a day. I waited until I was 3 months out. and now I have a cup most days

my surgeon had me stop immediately post op - but at my two week appointment my bp was very high and the swelling in my legs was so bad i was in pain (one of my 2 bp meds contained a diuretic). so i started them back up at about 6 weeks post op i needed to lower the dosage on the main med (valsartan hctz) since i was having dizzy spells. about 4 weeks after that, i stopped that med altogether (again because of major dizzy spells and my blood pressure dropping very low at times). But I stayed on the 2mg doxazosin. interestingly, i had an appointment with my primary doc this morning and at almost 7 months post op, i was able to cut out the doxazosin as well - my bottom number on my bp has been periodically dropping into the 50's some days. So as of this morning - no more bp meds at all and no longer have a diagnosis of hypertension. the decision should be a joint decision with your surgeon and primary doc. and you should be monitoring very closely - your bp will start to change very quickly post op. i had some very scary near blackout moments and had not expected the drastic change to happen that soon post op. edited to add that each adjustment was made with my medical team

my plan didn't want caffeine for about 6 weeks post op and then when allowed, only one 8oz cup a day (the 8oz rule was more due to how acidic coffee is and risk of ulcers). I waited 3 months and now have my one cup a day.

my program allowed low sodium deli meats like turkey just not highly processed fatty ones like bologna or salami. For the OP - is it just tuna you don't like? what about salmon? the pouches of salmon are pretty moist. other fish like tilapia baked on a foil pouch to keep it moist. I have not had surgery yet, however, I think deli meat slice very thin such as turkey, roast beef, etc. Not greasy, fatty, etc. Easy to chew to bits. Not sure about cheese! sonkat5355

I'm a sleeve patient and while we do have the separating eating and drinking rule to follow, I do occasionally have stew/soup. I've always preferred thick stews over brothy soups anyway and stewing does help keep the meat moist and tender. I pick out the solids, there usually isn't much liquid left. I have had soup recently as well. I just eat the solids first, wait thirty minutes or more, reheat the liquid and drink it. I personally don't do pasta/rice/potatoes in my soups or stews anymore and avoid crackers too. That's my choice to stay as low carb as possible. .

when the head hunger came on with a vengeance about a week post op for me - i found activities to do. for me what worked was doing something with my hands. So I had a lot of adult coloring books and taught myself to knit during that time. I needed something active to reset my brain.

slow down your eating and make sure it is little bites. I used an infant spoon and put the spoon down and waited a few minutes between each bite.

I second Jamie's post. that blog and in particular her post on puree stage were great inspiration for me then. I eased into purees by starting with greek yogurt and once that seemed to do ok, i tried a little refried Beans, then went to the ricotta bake. and from there did purees of tuna or chicken or salmon or eggs with greek yogurt - pureed tuna salad was more appealing to me than just throwing a chicken breast and broth in a blender! Considering the puree phase is fairly short (for me it was 2 weeks), that was enough variety - especially with the flavored tuna and salmon pouches changing things up daily. Good luck, take it slow and it will end soon and you can move on to the next phase!

I lost way over 100lbs before I needed new pants. the bigger the sizes, the bigger the weight range covered by each size

the bad news - not a whole lot you can do to prevent either the good news - the hair loss is temporary and some people don't even experience it. the loose skin may or may not be an issue - depends on how much you lose, how long you were overweight, your age, and your genetics. In theory, drinking lots of Water to stay hydrated can help (it certainly won't hurt) and doing strength training to keep what is under the skin toned may help appearance as well. and if the loose skin ends up being a real problem, there is always plastic surgery (although often not covered by insurance). I am experiencing hairloss - but fortunately I started with a ton of hair so it really is only noticeable to me. So far the abdominal skin isn't too terrible but I do have flying squirrel arms already. at the end of the day, i'd rather have that than all the other health issues I was having/would be having.

correct, her blog is called the world according to eggface. she had RNY over 10 years ago and has successfully maintained. Her story is very inspirational and I often go over to her blog and read some of her early posts when I need motivation. She routinely does posts titles "a day in my pouch" where she outlines everything she ate in a day and provides recipes. And most helpful early on was her post devoted to the puree phase and ideas of what to eat then - that's where the ricotta bake came in. I made her lazy chili rellano casserole and her turkey squash casserole over the weekend for my lunches and dinners this week - both fab! and have a well stocked assortment of her eggbites (mini crustless quiches) in my freezer. these are so convenient for a grab and go Breakfast - 2 or 3 is all I need and just nuke them for a few seconds, She has a bariatric friendly website with lots of recipes. If I remember it is called the world according to eggface. I did the ricotta bake with sausage, shrooms and light Alfredo, shrimp and light Alfredo, crab, leftover turkey, taco meat, and something else that I don't recall. Have fun with it!

I think as long as you stay mindful, you should be fine. I've never been on a cruise but I imagine that buffets would have plenty of Protein options and at 3 months out you are on solid food. So as long as you think you can avoid the temptation of the starchy/sugary options, I say getting away and enjoying yourself in the dead of winter sounds great! I did a week long tour of tennessee in October (4 months post op for me). It was fine. I had some Protein Bars and pouches of tuna with me "just in case" and typically used those for lunch in the middle of the day when I didn't want to hunt for a restaurant in the middle of sightseeing (or in the middle of hiking the Great Smoky Mtns national park one day). Also on a cruise ship, you'll have constant access to Water to drink. So you might want to pack a couple protein bars or single serve pouches of Protein powder in case of emergencies. But really, I think you'll be fine. And you can get lots of walking in on the ship. Go and enjoy!

It also depends on what kind of job you have. At a desk job where you can be drinking your fluids all day, it is pretty easy to go back at two weeks. If any lifting is involved, you'll be on a lifting restriction for about 6 weeks. I went back at two weeks and was ok but do wish I had taken an extra week. I was fine pain wise (had been off all pain meds even tylenol for over a week at that point). It just happened that that week was the week I started purees and really had to start separating eating and drinking and get a schedule down for that. First week at work (it was also a new job - but a former employer and boss who knew about my surgery) it was very easy to get distracted with the work and fall behind on getting my fluids in. So in that sense I wish I had waited another week. I was also exhausted at the end of the day. So it was manageable to go back at two weeks, but I would recommend an extra week.

Just wanted to follow up - I made this yesterday for my dinners this week! Delicious! and I made her turkey squash casserole for my lunches - managed to use up the leftover turkey hanging out in my freezer with completely different flavor profiles. Highly recommend both!

appetizers (if they have a non-breaded, non fried option like shrimp cocktail) order off the light/low carb menu and plan to have leftovers (ask for a to go box immediately and put most of it in there so not tempted to over eat), and most places will accomodate if you ask them to hold the rice/potato/pasta/bun etc.

it'll take several weeks for the effects of the blood thinners to wear off. so just try to be careful because you will bruise easily for a while.

how far post op are you? were you given blood thinners in the hospital? if you are still early out and had blood thinners immediately post op (to prevent blood clots), then it is common to bruise easily for a while.

Probably excess skin/scar tissue reading as a different density on the scanner. I have bad lymphedema on the lower part of my left leg and it sets it off EVERY SINGLE TIME and I have to get the pat down in that area.