Emilie.Lancaster

So... Why not multitask? Listen to NPR and sip coffee as you walk?

Ugg, I understand. Helpful people achieving the opposite effect. Glad you said "fagetabout it" and got your shake.

I'm still figuring this out myself, but my husband has been banded for years, and he knows that a bite of chicken means he's DONE. He says it is because the chicken is stringy and fills the hole.

My first week. I couldn't get ahead of the dry heaves that first day. Ended up discharged from outpatient at three, and in the ER by 11. The trick was not the pain meds, but the nausea meds. ZOFRAM rocks! Discharged two days later. Isopure Apple Melon. Chicken broth. Timed pain and nausea meds. Walking up and down the driveway. Popsicles. Imagine mushroom soup. Giving over control. And then back to work.... Week 1 sucked. Week 2, better.

I find that a menu is simply a list of ingredients available in the kitchen. Ask for exactly the ingredients you want. On a small plate. As a side.

@@BLERDgirl A-ha! I had foamies yesterday! I kept burping up the fish (that is new this week. I get fish!) I got trout at a restaurant and it was too dry, and I chewed the whale poo out of it, then on the way home, I kept burping foamy fish flavor into my mouth. Didn't get better until I barfed half an hour later. I'm not impressed with the foamies. Think I learned everything I needed to know from this experience the first time. Don't need to repeat it.

Please explain slime and pb to the newbie?

Gum? Try a plastic spoon - the soft bendy type. Or the stick in those popsicles.

It takes about a week for the strips to fall off. The openings for me were well healed over, but still angry red. Bits of dissolving sutures were sticking out. Don't pull those....

Read the The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruez. Especially that part about how everyone has their own reality, and also rule #1: nothing is personal.

I think there are hormones at play here also. The body has shoved some "junk" into our fat cells for long term storage. Now that we are burning through the reserves, the stuff is coming g out. I was overly tearful over happy and sad stuff the last few days. I'm tense and jelly in waves. Things that I would let slide before, seem more in need of a response now. I know how you feel.

@ I'm good. Today is the end of day 14. I am down about 20 pounds. Can do just about whatever I want physically, my incisions are all closed, but are still angry red. The first few sketchy days are behind me. I have not thrown up. My tummy is itchy and I look forward to the next two weeks to see what happens.

Initial meeting Nov. 23, surgery Dec 8. 13K$ in Atlanta.

So, someone said treat your sleeve like a new baby, be gentle and introduce things slowly. And as we all know, pregnant bellies are itchy bellies.... So that explains it. Maybe.

Day 13: I pooped. Normal. Not painful. Just a run of the mill poo. The tummy no longer rumbles like a volcano. The bites of mush I had today stayed down. The pain I still have is relieved by two Tylonol. The wounds are all red welts now, not scabby or open. I even went swimming. I judge if I'm getting enough liquids by counting the times I say to myself, oh I gotta pee. I think the worst is behind me, and the best is ahead. So endith day 13.

Potassium levels?

I did self pay. Once you say, I'm buying! the hoops are few. I went to my initial meeting with the doc on 11/23, and was scheduled for 12/08 at the first appointment. I had a pre op day with a nutrition course, and tour of the surgical facility, and that was it. Total, I paid 13k. I did not use a medical loan, as I got a much better deal using my Credit Cards. I worked out which had 1.9percent for 6 months and go 0 for a year on a new card, and worked payment out for myself. I was never going to qualify with my health insurance, and when I found that out years ago, I waited. New husband, who had lap band, encouraged and supported this big expense, and now, I just need to count my proteins, ounces of water, and expect my weight to fall and my next car to be used. Totally worth it.

When I lose a ton of weight, my feet did shrink. Think of it this way: not only do you lose Pudge from your piggies, you are pushing down on your dogs less when you shed 100 pounds.

Wish I had done this at 24. 42, me, and I am, let's count, on day 12 post, (12/8/15) and I am feeling like I can go dangle my legs in the pool. I am 18 pounds down since surgery. I see it in my face. I am going to start puree soon, but I did have a few reasons of sweet potato puree last night and all went well. I didn't see that happening a week ago. I'm walking around with it folks who have no idea I had surgery 12 days ago. I'm that healed. Give it two weeks to get ready for the rest of your life.

I'm 10 days post op, i went to the christmas breakfast this morning. Watching people eat giant plates of food was interesting. I know that I will never be able to do that again, nor want to, but I was repulsed by the gluttony of it. Very repulsed. Weirdly repulsed. I am not sure why I feel this. Anyone have à clue or a similar experience?

@@caressaxoxo I grok. Three days out had me back into the hospital in extreme pain. Put your mind on auto pilot and roll through the pain. You must keep going forward as there is no going back. No chance ever of a do-over. It will heal. All of it. Broth sucks? Don't have it. Take the popsicle. Everything is swollen and sore on there. It isn't easy to adjust. Sip and take your pain killers. It will look better after some rest.

I'm about a week ahead of you, and it gets better. The improvement day to day is remarkable in week 2. The first BM for me was like trauma, the second almost a week later, was worse, but easier to recover from, so there is that. Try taking your pills with hot water with lemon. It gets easier to swallow pills as the swelling goes down. And that also bothered me: if I can't eat something that isn't chewed to paste, how come o can swallow all these pills you prescribed, doc? Turns out you can. Lastly, are you taking anti nausea meds? Might help with the gagging.

I need pictures. What does healed look like? I'm about 11 days out now, and the strips have fallen off 4/5. The biggie is still hiding, but the other 4, they don't seem open. There is puckery scaring. Pictures of closed and not?

Pantyhose. Huge mistake.

panty hose compress the incision points and the newly stapled stomach. I was hoping for some tummy support, but it is a disaster of painful squashiness.