Wheetsin

I could start when I was off pain meds. Which was pretty much the next day. I actually started when I could comfortably turn to check the lanes around me. B/c of the painful incision on the left side I think it was just under 2 weeks. I just answered this exact question in another thread so I know a search will yield some results.

They really are negligible. And even looking at the capacity difference from say 32 to 60, it's stil negligible. I mean, about a tsp. Wtf cares about a tsp. A tsp of food never made anyone obese, or kept them from reaching goal weight. IMO, the most important factor around bougie size (and do keep in mind the sizing is always a bit arbitrary... I doubt any two bougie patients have the same exact capacity and if they do it's a fluke) is stricture rates. Surgeons are favoring the 34 over the 32 because of the lower stricture rate (I don't remember the s but it was significant), while %EWL and other weightloss stats are virtually identical.

Well, I'll tell you what NOT to do. Don't puree a bol from Chipotle because it makes sense that it would taste the same as if you were chewing it up, that's for damn sure. I grossly blanket pureed foods as (anything you could suck up a straw), just as I grossly blanket mushies as (anything your mouth can turn to mush without chewing)... or anything the weight of my fork can condense (not flatten). I only had 1 day of purees, IIRC. I ate mostly hummus. I wasn't even eating 1 tbl, so who cares.

I really don't follow who posts what or what posts/threads are in question here, but at the end of the day, who cares? Seriously, does it really matter? If you get something from this site, or feel that you contribute, use it. That's what it is here for. If someone doesn't like your posts or "attacks" you, what difference does it make? That's one of the nice things. All it takes is a "logout". Wish I could "logout" on some people IRL! And the biggest pain points usually don't stick around long. They either give themselves enough rope to hang themselves with, or they grow tired once they don't get the reaction they're looking for. I process info fairly literaly, and "say it like it is" to a fault. I have a hard time tolerating blatant stupidity. And I info overkill because there's so little accurate info out there. Guess what... I tend to not be too popular on "support" boards, if you can imagine that. But I'm still here, because there are still things I can learn, and perhaps things I can share. Being able to really help 1 person is worth a lot of "you sucks." Support for me is information. I don't really need empathy or a (((hug))). I need someone to kick my ass when I'm not seeing the whole picture. And more generally... I'm not a vet here, but I am on one of Alex's other boards for a different WLS. I can tell you that few things get as old, as quickly, as the same newbie questions over and over and over. Especially when there are threads answering the questions pinned left and right, and a basic search would have yielded tons of info. And the overreactions, and false conclusions. Yes, it's a part of the process -- especially when people don't research the crap out of everything they're about to do to themselves... but that doesn't make it any more fun to feel like you're almost spamming b/c you post the same info over & over. Vets have their own sets of challenges and struggles. They really are "at a different place."

34, and to a lesser degree 32, seem to be the popular sizes - at least with American surgeons. (I don't really follow MX/Int surgeon info). The capacity differences between them is negligible. A 400 IIRC holds about 1 tsp more than a 34. But that's all very rough, because we're really never the exact size of the bougie anyway. The bougie is the "template" the surgeons use (some do not use them) when they cut the stomach. They look kind of like tapered worms. Here's an approximation of sizes (I saved this months ago from OH, I hate going there - think I found it in a google search so I don't know who to give credit to. I asked my program's PA if this was accurate and he said "pretty much" - so...) See - even a "large" bougie (close to a 60) is still going to have the capacity of, say, a garden hose. So I don't think one would classify a 40 as "too big"

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Which kind of laxative did you take? Some can draw fatty material into the bowel. You might have just been expelling some of it. Could it have been mucus? That's also fairly common to see with a laxative or odd bowel movement. Like you, I've never been that regular. When they were telling me "no more than 3 days without a BM" I was like... I don't necessarily go every 3 days now pre-op... are you kidding? My first one post-op took about a week, then about 4 days, then another 4 days. Then nothing, and nothing, and it's been 2 weeks and nothing... I took Miralax and Benefiber, both with Splenda-based apple juice. On the 2nd day I had a large, hard BM. On the 3rd day I had what I would call "pudding" stool x2. After the second one I had a LOT of gas and a LOT of mucus. A LOT. I didn't look at what came out, so I don't know if it looked anything like what you had (I don't even know if it came out with, or just after). But I could imagine a mucusy stool might have a fatty look to it as well. Aren't our bodies wonderful?? (sorry if the above is TMI, but sharing info doesn't help much if it's censored or euphamized).

Some thoughts... 4 lbs could easily be Fluid retention due to... anything. Don't freak out over 4 lbs, just be aware of it and monitor it. If it doesn't go back down, make some more modifications. If you're still actively trying to lose, I think you're on the right path by stopping the beer. Completely empty calories, and we just don't have enough capacity to entertain empty calories. Same with the candy & whatever else you mentioned. Well. I've only been sleeved for not quite 6 weeks, but I had a lap-band for 6 years and stalled for over a year. I had certain weights where my body wanted to stay. That stall was at 250 and I guess my body REALLY liked 250. Unfortuntately I still needed to lose about 80 more lbs! There are some stall breakers you can try, that often have good success. But you need to get your eating in tight order before you try them, or the effect will be lost. Here are some suggestions I've posted previously (copying & pasting is faster than re-typing):

If you mean a "soft stop" - not everyone has them. They seem a lot more rare than frequent. I get one sometimes, but not always. It's a quick inhale/sigh. It had to happen a few times before I realized what it was. I had a lapband for 6 years and never really had one... just a "sign" when something stuck had cleared.

For comparison with what you're eating (not that you should "compare" per se, but as a benchmark) I just finished making 1 egg + 1 slice of lean canadian bacon + 1 slice of RF cheese, all cut up together. I'm 3 bites into it and am already having to stop for a while before I take another bite. In fact I may be done, or I may be able to finish another bite or two (can't tell yet if I'm done, or just need to burp), which will be about 1/3 of it. I did finish a Protein drink about an hour ago, too... if I hadn't, I would probably be able to eat another bite or two, but Protein drinks like to loiter in my sleeve. Ok, I just burped. Looks like I'm goof for another bite or two. ETA: just finished the Breakfast. I am full, but not hurting. Took about 25 - 30 mins total. There's no way I could eat any more.

It all varies so greatly. For example, before I spoke with my surgeon I completely assumed he would do leak tests at the hospital. Mine doesn't do any leak test. Instead, he submerges the sleeve in saline and looks for bubbles (exactly how they QA things like hoses and tubes), then he scopes the sleeve to ensure everything is closed from the inside. He has never once had a leak test catch something that this combination has missed, so after 3k or so, he quit doing them. My plan also allows food advancement fairly quickly, but once you get to soft foods you stay there for a long time. Bariatric clears (sf liquids) the first two days, which is when you're in the hospital. Day 3 starts "full liquids" like purees, yogurts, strained soups, etc. I think that lasts a week. (I haven't actually read the brochure in a while). Around day 10 we're able to move on to soft foods like deli meats, cheeses, cottage cheese, canned tuna or chicken, eggs, etc. But we stay there for like 8 or 10 weeks (I'm still in that stage now). My surgeon has been doing this for a long time. He's meal plan used to be a lot more restrictive, but he found through his research & others that it just wasn't making a difference in leak rates to start soft foods sooner, but it WAS making a difference in weightloss (satiety, mainly - more dense/solid foods fill us up faster and keep us satiated longer). He's been selected to train a consortium os US surgeons, so I think he's doing OK with his decisions.

That's a lot more than I eat 2 weeks post-op (I'm about 6 weeks post-op and it's still a lot more than I could eat), but everyone is different. I haven't had any nausea or vomiting either, and not much pain other than the separated muscles at one of my incision sites. Be grateful for that, not worried, it's not a sign that something is failing, I promise. Are you "allowed" ( per your post-op plan) to eat things like swordfish at the 2 week mark? If so that's fine, and if not you might want to take it a little more basic (just for the sake of healing). Have you felt any restriction so far? Or just not during that 1 meal?

Everything you're eating is a liquid, and liquids just don't stick around that long. Well, mine kinda did, but I was never an "every day" type of girl, anyway. Rejoice in your frequent BMs. I finally had one last week after over 2 weeks of nothing. You so don't want to be there...

FWIW, I was able to eat egg without any problem this weekend. It was the first time I've tried them. I'll be 6 weeks out on Tuesday. Saturday morning we were travelling & the family wanted McD's. The only thing I ever eat there is the yogurt, but I just wasn't feeling it so I ordered an Egg McMuffin, tossed the bread, and ate half of the insides. They steam their eggs as they're fried (at least at the one we stopped at), so I didn't think it would be too bad. Went down very nicely. Sunday morning I made omlettes and had half a 1-egg omlette with cheese. Couldn't eat more than about 1/2 (of my 1/2), but I didn't have any problems with it.

I'm about 6 weeks out and just last week was able to hold 4 oz of solid Protein (but not dense) for a meal. What tpes of Proteins are you taking? If you're using whey isolate proteins that are lactose free, but still bothering you, you might want to switch to your nutrisionist about a different protein base. WPI is one of the best for us, but if you aren't tolerating it you should still have some options. Milk proteins can sneak into a lot of products, including things like flavorings, toothpaste, etc. But it's a little unusual (IMO) that you're having reactions to lactose-free products. Do "dairy-free" products bother you as well?

Here's a question back - why are you weighing 1 day into your pre-op diet? Don't do that! Liquid diets (assuming it's a low-carb or sugar free diet) purge extra sugars from your body. Your liver stores a lot of sugar, in the form of glycogen. 2 - 3 days into a sugar free diet there's usually a rush of weightloss as these sugar stores begin to deplete. Then there may be nothing for several days, even weeks. Your body is purging other fluids as well. About half of what you lose in the first week or two, possible more than half, is Fluid. This is why so may diets are quit before they can really do anything. People start a low carb diet, lost 8 or 10 pounds in a week and think "Wow I'll be at goal in no time" (not realizing only a small portion of that (if any, at that point) is fat loss. Their body depletes its stores, puts on the brakes, and focuses on trying to rebuild the stores so there's minute or no weightloss in the next week or two, so they say "Forget it, this diet isn't working, I'm not going to give up my <favorite food> and net even be losing weight..." <- and unfortuantely when the scale doesn't change, the most frequent reaction is "I am doing something wrong" so there's a really strong emotional component as well. Gaining a half of a pound is nothing. Sounds like you could very well be retaining Water. Keep in mind that 1 cup of water (8oz) weighs a little over half a pound. Most "inexplicable" weight gains are rooted in fluid.

Soy (isolate) protein has some strength, but should not be a primary protein source for us. There have been some studies published recently that show Whey-based proteins to be the superior protein when endeavoring to change body mass. Here's one you can read free online.

You might also want to try peppermint tea. It's great, natural remedy for a variety of GI issues - and a good digestive aid. Carrot juice may help too. If you'd had a lapband I'd say it sounded like you had something blocking that hasn't quite cleared yet. Since it's a different mechanic, maybe some type of esophageal or upper stomach irritation that has you a bit swollen. Or something that took a long time to clear. I made a Protein smoothie lastnight and I reacted differently to the thickness of it than I thought. I had literally two bites. 5 hours later I still could not swallow Water without some discomfort. This morning I'm still "tighter" than normal, but better.

Have you had your metabolism tested, or are you guessing it's destroyed? Because the good news is, it isn't destroyted, it's completely dynamic. (I can also guarantee you it's not destroyed, because you're alive. If you're alive, you're metabolizing.) Surgery itself does nothing to your metabolism. Your metabolism is going to slow because yes, at first we are essentially starving ourselves. Nurtuting your lean muscle mass (eating adequate amounts of good Protein, exercising, etc.) will help keep your metabolism up. More lean muscle mass = higher metabolism. Healthy fats will help as well, not skipping Breakfast, multiple small meals vs. 2 or 3 large ones, etc. How to keep from regaining - as with any other type of lifetime comittment, you just have to keep it up. Intake will still be recuded. Your exercise should be continued. A lot of people focus on low-carb for losing, and during maintenance up their carb intake. There's really no difference between freshly post-op and a year out, in terms of the potential of the metabolism. You're just able to eat a larger variety of foods, and a slightly (comparatively) larger amount of them.

Sounds like an irritated esophagus or stomach. It doesn't sound like a leak at all, but that's just unprofessional best guess. MIddle of stomach (which usually isn't actually middle of stomach) around to the back, even up through the shoulderblades, is a typical region to feel discomfort that's coming from the esophagus or upper stomach, or even referred from a bit lower or higher (we feel things in weird places... if I eat a bite too much, or drink too soon, I feel it mostly in the back of my throat). Are you taking a PPI? Did you feel "clear"/normal before the drink of Crystal Light?

I'm about 6 weeks out and mine still hurts on occasion. When I had my lapband out one of my incisions became infected, and it spread to another nearby incision. They were hard, but it was under the skin and felt almost oval - like I had an enlongated marble under my skin. The skin was angry red around the incision, almost purple, and radiating heat much like a sunburn would. It started off hard, but much smaller - more like a pea, and just sort of discolored reddish/brown at the skin. I never ran a fever. Hardness without the heat/discoloration/etc. could still be swelling, or even scar tissue.

Agree with Lissa. It also depends on the viscosity of the yogurt. Just a few days post-op I could eat most of the yogurt in a McD's parfait (I tossed the fruit/granola) - actually I probably couldn't eaten all of it wityhout a problem but I made myself stop because it seemed like more volume that I expected - but I could eat not quite 2 tbl of plain Greek yogurt. Some yogurts are not much denser than a sauce.

I would call your surgeon and ask. He's ultimately in control of what happens on the day of, so it's really his opinion that matters. I was instructed to do magnesium citrate between 1 and 5. I did it at like 4:45. It took 13 hours to kick in for me (normally it's within a few hours). So what happened -- while getting checked-in and prepped for surgery, I'm making constant dashes to the toilet. And since my midnight cutoff for drinking passed BEFORE the diarrhea started, I couldn't replace any fluids. It took 11? Maybe 14 IV sticks to get a vein that didn't just collapse. They were even going between my fingers - ouch. I have no idea if I pooped on the OR table (they won't tell you if you do, but it happens). So long story short - things like that have set times for a reason. If you want to fudge the times, just clear it with him or her first, so that if there is a delay or something, it can be accounted for. If he had known mine would take so long to kick in (not entirely dissimilar from taking it later than instructed) I'm sure something would have been done to faciliate the IV/prep process.

Hon... I lost like 200 lbs and couldn't see it in the mirror. People who can see 10 or 20 lbs differences either only need to lose about 50 lbs, or pay a LOT more attention to their bodies than I do. That's why measurements rock, and progress pics.