ShelterDog64

@@WitchySar You've found foods that work for you, so since you're pretty limited in your range, eating more of those same foods is probably your best bet. 500 calories a day isn't sustainable long-term, the side effects from eating so few calories will outweigh (har har) any good that you'll see in the form of weight loss.

@@WitchySar So what are you eating? I'm a little stumped with your sensory issues and allergies.

Over and over and over, people in the early post-op period ask "CAN I eat _______?". That blank is filled with all kinds of things, like pizza, chips, ice cream, fried chicken, funnel cakes, crab cakes, steak...whatever they're craving. The answer to every. single. one. of those questions is YES. Once you're surgically cleared to resume a full diet, you CAN eat ANYTHING. You didn't have your jaw wired shut or have your teeth pulled, so yes, you CAN eat all foods. The real question you need to ask yourself is "SHOULD I eat ________?". The only person who can answer the "SHOULD" question for you is YOU. I, or anyone else here, can give your my opinion on eating funnel cakes, chips and pizza after having most of your stomach removed to help you lose weight, but only you can decide to eat it or not eat it. So coming here and asking "CAN I?" questions is kind of disingenuous, as all of the answers you get are going to be answering the REAL question, which is "SHOULD I?". Think about that before you get defensive and angry about the answers you get from successful vets who are 2-5+ years out and maintaining successfully.

@@doxaholic Very interesting discussion so far, and I think it's a good one for us to have. I'm with @@AvaFern about having a 'type' that you're attracted to. I've always gone for slimmer, athletic guys. I used to be slim and athletic, I dated the same type and married that type as well. When I became fat, I still liked it and my guy is still slim and athletic. Friend-wise, I could not care less what their body type is, I make friends based on what's in a person's head and heart, not what the wrapper looks like. I do find myself post-op thinking that I can 'save' all the obese people I see, mostly because I know how shitty it felt to be obese and how much better life is at 180 lbs than it was at 260 lbs. Thankfully, I'm not stupid enough to think I SHOULD evangelize about my experiences, but that's my reaction now when I see random obese people as I'm out and about...nothing negative at all, and not pity either, just empathy and a little bit of sadness. And even the sadness is presumptuous, as I don't know if they're unhappy or in pain, I'm projecting my own feelings onto anonymous strangers. I have a dear friend who is about to undergo WLS and I had an amazing conversation with her a few weeks ago. It really opened my eyes and made me more cognizant of how I speak of my own weight loss. She apologized for always telling me that I look great and always wanting to talk about weight loss and surgery and so forth. She felt she was putting me down by commenting on the change, vs commenting on who I am in general. It doesn't bother me at all, the praise and 'good for you' comments, but I realized that I may be speaking of my own weight loss in terms that make her feel as though I don't value her as she is at present. That realization really made me think about being very careful when having conversations with ANYONE about my weight loss. I never want to come off as denigrating about the old, fat me...I was who I was, and I was truly doing the best I could with the circumstance I was in. I need to make sure I'm giving that same grace to others, as I don't truly know their situations and why they are the way they are.

Or their pup?!

I use the PatchMD Patches. They're great, but pricey.

@@White Sale It's SO HARD when you know you're on plan, following your surgeon's advice to the letter and still NOTHING on the scale to speak of. But, as others have said, it WILL come off. WLS failures aren't people like you, who do what they're supposed to and just lose more slowly than others...I know that you know this! I'm in a dead stall at about 6 mos out and I'm irritated by it and fed up with it...I know it's going to end and the scale will start moving again, but I'm just peeved. We can be mad together, break our stalls and Celebrate it together Hang in there!

I had a seroma after a c-section and I used a moist towel topped with a heating pad to help reduce it and relieve the discomfort.

@@sweetzcp I know I wasn't fully menopausal, was just trying to offer some commiseration. Good luck

@@White Sale@@OutsideMatchInside I feel as though I had a pretty comprehensive pre- and post-op education from my surgical practice, as well as extensive personal research and rarely have I encountered info about restriction and when/how you'll feel it. It's a curious black hole in info regarding WLS as far as I can tell.

@@Ssze1109 Why does self pay = no pre-op education, no post-op support? If I were paying out of pocket, I'd demand support. I don't know why my post is "sad" to you, I'm merely trying to explain that you CAN eat everything, it's whether you SHOULD that really matters. If that's "sad", then I don't know what to say to make you feel better.

@@sweetzcp It happened to me! I was about 10 months into menopause and had my surgery (I was 51)...I had 4 full menstrual cycles post-op, then they stopped again. My PCM wasn't concerned about it, as there's so much estrogen stored in our fat and that estrogen being mobilized is probably what caused the bleeding.

@@suzzzzz Hello friend! Happy New Year to you as well You're talking about taking responsibility for your actions and that's not behavior that's seen very often around here. It drives me NUTS the way folks want their poor choices validated. I just ate a piece of cheese toast. It was a crappy choice. If I'm lucky, I won't eat even more because I was dumb enough to have white bread which I know is a 'gateway food' for me. I own it

@@White Sale I never felt restriction in my sleeve until I was on a regular diet. Soft/mushies didn't trigger it at all, and even now, if I eat yogurt or cottage cheese, I get no 'stop' sensation...but dense Proteins? Definitely. You're doing the right thing, measuring and sticking to your plan.

We just watched Get Smart....I think @@Djmohr looks like Anne Hathaway in the movie!

I love nutritional yeast! It's so versatile, I add it to anything liquid/moist to give that umami taste that makes things so yum.

@@ozzy91 So, you 'can' have rice as soon as your surgeon clears you for all foods. I think the bigger question is 'should' you have rice. That's the one you need to consider.

Throwing my opinion in to call your surgeon...both low potassium and a potential clot need to be treated, so calling your provider is best.

I love what @@BigDog Bryan said...so much of it is expectation. I knew I'd have some pain and I did. I also knew the staff would do everything they could to help manage it and they did. It was fine. Walk, walk, walk...and drink fluids.

I had a crash c-section and just had a VSG...you can't even compare the two. My c-section recovery was horrific, recovering from the VSG was cake.

in your reply to "theantichick".... you said you were going to wait to see what the response was and attitude... how is that diff from holding on to info till you get yours..... basically you said ... if you don't like there attitude you were going to contact HIPPA... I see it as the same... The office or facility will of course send her the info she requested for herself. WLS is talking about ensuring that they take the HIPAA violation seriously and seem as though they're going to self-report, not about holding on to the other patient's info in case hers doesn't come in the mail. Big difference.

@@WLSResources/ClothingExch Sorry, I didn't see this earlier and I know it's probably all resolved, but you should definitely take the report back to the office/facility that sent it to you, and they have an obligation to contact the patient whose information was improperly sent to you in order for them to know their confidential information was shared with another patient. If you feel the HIPAA breach is not being handled with sufficient gravity, you can/should report it to Health and Human Services. HIPAA violations are fineable and also are viewed when a facility has a Joint Commission certification visit. Patient confidentiality is so very, very important...there's no way I'd let this go if I were in your shoes. I'm guessing you've already resolved it to your satisfaction, but I just wanted to reinforce the seriousness of a HIPAA violation like the one you've experienced. There's a chance your info is currently with another patient.

Since you don't know what I'm talking about, I will explain. "Centers of excellence" adhere to a specific set of guidelines including a fairly specific post op diet. I think that Babbs posted it. Interestingly, when I looked up "bariatric center of excellence KC, I noticed that many WLS doctors and clinics SEEM to squeeze the word "excellence" into the first line of their websites, I did find ONE that claimed to be accredited. However, on further investigation, there aren't any actual ACCREDITED hospitals in Kansas City, KA or MO. http://www.surgicalreview.org/locate/ice/locate-bariatric-center-of-excellence/?list=ice In my opinion, based on your stated "food plan", you received substandard care. You are satisfied with that care so that is not really my issue. My issue was that you claimed you got this substandard care at a "bariatric center of excellence". Over the past five years I have spent a considerable amount of time and energy establishing the framework for the "center of excellence" designation, which is why I was concerned. And since I now know that you did not get your diet instructions from a "center of excellence" as you previously claimed my interest in this has ended. However, pre op patients need to be aware that any surgery center can claim to be a "center of excellence" so do your homework and choose your surgeon and hospital carefully. I left a link. What governing body gives the "Center of Excellence" designation? The ASMBS recently joined with ACS to create a single national accreditation standard for bariatric surgery programs, and there are 15 accredited programs in Missouri alone. And, personally, I think it's a bit creepy and stalk-y to call another person's hospital and ask for their program's details in order to prove some point on an internet message board. You might want to slow your roll a bit on this one.

I appreciate your reply and your honesty. You make me feel human. I realize Ive got to find a better way to handle boredom. Do you mind me asking what you do in situations such as events and cocktail parties? Boredom, for me, is MUCH more dangerous than being around food I shouldn't eat...I learned after this surgery just how often I'm sitting around, working at my desk or on my computer and suddenly, I'm like 'hey, let's EAT something!!'. I have to be physically busy to keep that at bay, so I get up and DO something. I work from home, so I clean or organize or walk my pups or whatever I need to do to get past the urge to eat. Drink some Water (which we all pretty much need to do at any given moment anyway!) and wait 15 minutes. If my stomach is still screaming 'hunger' I'll have a bite of Protein, and do the water/wait thing again. It's mostly about your head, not truly needing food, so the trick is to trick your brain, not your stomach. When we're going to a social function, I make sure I put some protein in my stomach before we ever leave home, then I visualize what amount/types of food will be appropriate for me to eat. Shrimp, meatballs, grilled meat skewers, cheeses, etc....all things I can have. Crackers, breads, sweets...all NOs. Cocktail parties are easier, because I can just forgo the food altogether and nurse a glass of wine or a vodka tonic, or maybe just grab a small bit of cheese or a meatball and I'm good to go. When you're milling around in a crowd, talking to numerous people, it's less tempting to eat and less likely that someone will notice and/or comment on what you're not eating. If it's a buffet meal, I look at those starches like they're the most disgusting food I've ever seen. I think about my teeny, tiny pouch and how little I can put in it, and what on earth are mashed potatoes or tortellini going to do to help me feel better and lose weight? Again, it's SO MUCH a mind game. Your body can absolutely survive without all the crap we used to feed ourselves, it's convincing your mind that you don't need it that's the hardest. Once you start losing weight, looking and feeling great because of the weight loss, it becomes much easier to stick to the prescribed food plan. You'll SEE the results of doing the right thing, and you'll like it (at least I've liked it a LOT so far!). Then it's easier to tell your brain to shut the hell up and eat properly. The proper eating becomes more of a habit...I don't really even crave carbs much any more, and when I do, it's vegetables and fruits that I want. This is all a long, wordy way of saying that you have to give your body the mental support it needs to do this thing. You got help in the form of a greatly reduced food capacity, now your part is to use that tiny capacity to it's fullest. Crappy carby food isn't the answer, dense Proteins, healthy fats and high-quality complex carbs are the way forward. Don't cheat yourself out of this fantastic opportunity! Good luck to you and stick around...the support here is amazing and has gotten me through many tough days

First, you can't really 'stretch' your sleeve. The surgery we had removes the fundus of the stomach, which is the stretchy part, leaving just thick, muscular tissue that the sleeve is formed from. So it's unlikely to stretch...however, putting food that needs to be digested in the stomach into a new sleeve CAN cause issues with the staple line and you need to be on the lookout for signs of leaks: fever, abdominal pain and bloating. Again, not likely but possible. No hate from me, we've all felt the urge to eat things we shouldn't...my concern is that you need to develop some kind of coping mechanism to keep you from giving in to the urges. In my experience, just keeping it all out of the house isn't enough. You're going to encounter foods you shouldn't eat all the time...what is your plan for the future so that you don't indulge? It's definitely worth spending some serious time planning how to avoid/evade all the food challenges that are present in our everyday lives. I'm 6 months out and attend many social functions centered around food, so I had to come up with a plan that kept me from eating inappropriately at buffets and cocktail parties. Your challenges may be different but won't be any less difficult, so make a plan and use it. Good luck!