RoadToMe

I am 3.5 weeks out from surgery and had my first nsv this week. I took a trip for the weekend and was very happy to find that I didn't need a seat belt extender on the airplane! It was a great feeling. What non scale victories has anyone else had?

Thanks ladies, great suggestions!!

I'm fairly recently sleeved, but now not on any of the restricted diet stages. Finally real food! Easter is going to be my first party/gathering and I'm trying to think of a good bariatric friendly dish to bring. Does anyone have favorites or suggestions for parties?

Ohh! I didn't know that's what it was. Thanks! I did try that but it didn't take the number away so I kept the notifications on but just turned off the badge app icon(the red indicator). Thanks for your help

Thanks! The annoying part is though that I've only participated in 10-15 topics, but the red icon on the app itself (for iPhones anyway) says that I have 69 notifications. Every day it grows. But when I go into the app I can't find anywhere that 69 things are trying to get my attention. I don't know if this is what everyone else is talking about, but that's what I'm dealing with.

Me too! I thought about turning notifications off all together since I get emails when someone replies to a topic I've participated in. So annoying!

Idk if this is just coincidental, but last week I started eating my quest bars again as I was finally in the stage of my diet that allowed them, and I have gone to the bathroom every single day for the past 7 days. I'm 6 weeks out and the first 4 or 5 were pretty rough, I think I was going once a week at that point. I tried miralax but it takes a couple days and it says not to take for longer than 7 days. Smooth move tea works quickly but tastes gross. I've heard good things about citruce land colace but have never tried them. Good luck

What protein powders or other protein products have you tried that are 100% whey isolate? How did/do you like them? I'm struggling with every protein I try.

I know all of our surgeons and dietitians say different things, but mine said do not drink (or eat) more than 4oz in an hour as you run the risk of stretching your sleeve. And in the beginning you're more susceptible to stretching so I was terrified to put anything in. I was also told to avoid straws like the plague. But if those things are working for you, I say go for it!! I'm not getting in nearly enough fluids or Protein still at 5 weeks out so whatever you find that works for you, stick to it. Wow.. 4oz an hour. Sorry but I don't think You'll ever get your fluids & protein in. Unless you never want to sleep. Now I know we aren't supposed to encourage people to go against their surgeon's instructions, but you absolutely cannot stretch your sleeve with liquids. Your surgeon is an idiot if he truly thinks this. Unless you have a blockage or stricture fluids run right through your sleeve into your intestines within seconds. Liquids simply do not stay in your sleeve long enough to do any stretching. I've literally seen this with my own eyes by watching my own barium fluoroscopy 3 days postop. The liquid ran down my esophagus, through my sleeve and into my intestines within seconds. I also did a barium swallow on myself several months postop just to compare the size of my sleeve with my previous full size tummy (I did one a couple weeks before surgery). If I didn't shoot the first X-ray within a couple seconds of swallowing the barium, I'd miss seeing it in my sleeve because it was already into my intestines. And like @@cindyw41 mentioned, unless you stay up and drink your 4 ounces for 16 hours every day you will never reach your 64oz minimum. And it sounds like you aren't. Apparently your doctor doesn't mind his patients walking around in a chronically dehydrated state by giving the misinformation he is giving. I hope you figure out a way to get in all your fluids and protein soon. That's what I thought!! I haven't been sticking to that 4oz because, like you said there's no way to get it all in at that rate. I just thought it was weird

I know all of our surgeons and dietitians say different things, but mine said do not drink (or eat) more than 4oz in an hour as you run the risk of stretching your sleeve. And in the beginning you're more susceptible to stretching so I was terrified to put anything in. I was also told to avoid straws like the plague. But if those things are working for you, I say go for it!! I'm not getting in nearly enough fluids or Protein still at 5 weeks out so whatever you find that works for you, stick to it.

I'm also 5 weeks post op. For the first 2 weeks after surgery I had no energy at all. Weeks 3 and 4 I was starting to get it back, but not 100%. Last week (week 4) there was one day when I got a full nights sleep, woke up, then went right back to bed and took a 4 hour nap. I could have slept that entire day but I made myself get up because if I didn't get something to eat I was going to throw up. I think our bodies are still recovering a little and definitely adjusting to this new life.

I have taken miralax a couple times for bm issues. We have a powdered form of it so I just mix it with water and you don't even taste it. I'll sometimes go a couple days without going to the bathroom and that's when I know I need to take it.

Thanks for that info! I've only tried isopure's zero carb clear drinks, I'll have to try the powders. I looked into genepro when I heard people talking about it but it's a blend of Proteins and I don't seem to handle blends very well. At least that's what I think it is that I'm not handling.

Thanks, I'll check it out!

Thanks! I've never heard of precision engineering protein but will definitely look for it. I just heard about Syntrax Nectars, I will have to look that up too. I've tried premier but don't really like them.

You guys progressed faster than I, I'm still on puréed. Although I just admit I have been kind of eating some things that would be more considered "soft foods" and not puréed (that's my next stage, then I get to regular food). I'm not getting as much water or protein in as my nut would like. And I'm also struggling with some head hunger/cravings of foods and eating habits of my past. I didn't think I would feel that way so quickly post op. Am I alone in that?

You're welcome! Glad I could help. A full kitchen will be wonderful. You will do great [emoji846]

I'm post op one month exactly. Before surgery I rarely got a period, I'm talking one or two times a YEAR. When I got home from the hospital, I got my period the very next day. As if the first week post op isn't terrible enough! Well, 4 weeks have gone by and guess what I got today. I couldn't believe it. I've never had a regular cycle.. and I never realized how much I liked it that way lol. Who knows how this will change though, I know I'm very early in this process.

I had my sleeve surgery 1/20/16 and I took a 3 day trip to Las Vegas on 2/11/16 (3 weeks post op). Now, I know everyone recovers differently but I was completely useless for the first 2.5weeks. I was worried about taking my trip but started to get some energy back a couple days before I left. I completely understand what you're going through. I apologize in advance, this may be lengthy, especially since it's fresh in my mind. I think the most difficult thing is going to be food. At three weeks I was supposed to be on a puréed diet. That was incredibly difficult while traveling!!! I am having trouble with Protein shakes post op, no matter what I try I just can't stomach them. That would have been my go to, but I just couldn't do it. I ate mostly yogurt and eggs and those 1 oz packages of peanut or almond butter (I can't remember the brand. It's all natural, no sugars or anything). But, I also ate things that weren't puréed. I didn't have a choice in some places. There just aren't many options on a puréed diet. I did get sick once from eating 2 French fries. I just didn't want to spend so much money on an entire meal when I really shouldn't have been eating any of the foods they had to offer and would only be able to eat a couple bites anyway, and I figured French fries were soft so I just took a couple from someone else's plate. Not a good idea! No more fried things for me!! It didn't help that our hotel room didn't have a fridge or anything, so I couldn't buy yogurts or anything to keep in the room. I did, however, make sure I had a Water bottle on me at all times. I'm not sure what stage of the diet you will be on during your trip, but I would definitely consider what your options would be. As far as rescheduling your trip, and I'm assuming that this is just for pleasure since you're wondering about postponing, I would do some research online or by phone. Look at where you will be staying and local restaurants and any outings you have planned. Most places offer menus online, try to find things that will work for your diet. Even call them and see if they will be accommodating. Also, look at who you will be traveling with. Do they know about your surgery and diet restrictions? Are they going to be supportive and understanding? I think if you will be able to find foods that will fit your diet you will be fine. I had energy back by that point and besides having trouble with food, I had a phenomenal trip. Good luck with your surgery and have fun in Hawaii!

These are great NSV's!! Way to go everyone! It's exciting to hear some that I hadn't thought about before and can add to the list of things I look forward to with my new body.

That's awesome! I have the same bag of clothes from previous weight loss attempts. I'm 40lbs down and am noticing I need to pull my pants up all the time, even yoga pants! And shirts and sweatshirts that used to be a tiny bit bigger than I needed, just enough that I felt like I could hide behind them, are now way too big.

Wow that must have felt good! I'm just now starting to notice a couple items of clothing are fitting differently.

Ohh that's exciting! I look forward to that day.

I too had incision pain for a while. I am three and a half weeks post op now and it is pretty much gone. The incision that they removed the stomach from was the one that hurt the longest for me, and it actually felt like it was the muscles around it that they had to go through that were bothering me the most. It was just sore and tender for a while. I also had the glue on my incisions. I was putting ice on all of my incisions in the beginning and then switched to heat and both of those helped tremendously. My pain meds never really did anything for me so I didn't take them once I was home. The only time I feel any pain around my incisions now is if I'm sitting up straight for a long time I'll sometimes get uncomfortable, especially if I'm wearing jeans or a bra or things that are more constricting.

I just heard about genepro for the first time the other day at a support group at my hospital. They also mentioned inspire protein powder and syntrax nectar. I need to look them all up because I desperately need to up my protein. I also heard about fairlife milk, that has a lot of protein in it. I picked up some of the fat free and it wasn't too bad. I like your idea about the unflavored protein, too.