Sullie06

I had wings again right around that 6 month mark. I don't eat them very often because I'm not a big fan of meat on the bone but there is a bar here that has the best wings so I've had those a few times now.

My plan does not personally require super low carb and I don't count fat at all. I avoid low-fat products at the encouragement of my NUT because she said fat is good for body functions and with my intake being so low fat wasn't a big concern. I didn't count carbs until I began soft solids and prior to 6 months I was below 50 grams a day and now post 6 months I keep my carbs between 50-100 grams.

My NUT stressed to me the importance of vegetables at my last meeting with her (8 months post op) and that often our focus on protein leaves little room for important vegetables in our diets and we need those balanced meals. She actually had me decrease the size of my protein by an ounce at two meals a day and add more vegetables.

I feel you! I would be there all night if I drank the whole thing and since I don't like to drink on an empty stomach, never had, and I cant eat and drink at the same time it would be a marathon of sipping, waiting, biting, waiting and repeat

I've found that my doctor tends to run middle of the road but leaning towards the stricter side of things in most cases. Especially carbonation, which he said is more of a discomfort causing space issue, his words

Most fats don't bother me, really the only thing I've eaten that's had a negative impact is eggs (unless it's hardboiled), I'm in the bathroom within a half an hour.

My doctor told me to wait 6 months before having any liquor and 1 year before any liquor with carbonation (beer, campaign and mixers with seltzer/soda). I've had wine maybe a handful of times and a couple mixed drinks here and there. I can't even finish a glass anymore and usually sip about half and pass it to my hubby. It doesn't effect my tolerance but I feel I'm wasting space in my small belly.

I 100% live by the anything in moderation idea at this point in my journey because I know my triggers, what to avoid personally and when I can allow myself a "treat". I didn't want to live on a "diet" for the rest of my life but instead wanted to learn to eat normally. I will be the first to admit that I allowed myself to indulge a little over the holidays and now I'm back on track with my normal diet. That being said, I'm a year post op and 12 pounds from my goal weight. When I was a month out from surgery, I was still on pureed and I followed my plan to a T. I was also not allowed alcohol before 6 months. It is absolutely dangerous to stray from the plan this early out for multiple reasons, most importantly your stomach is still healing, which I think is what many previous posters were concerned about. If you are allowed alcohol and sweets per your plan at this point, great! Indulge, enjoy and get back on track but if you are not, I would stick to the your doctors plan. Sweets, alcohol, carbs and all that will still be here in the future and you can indulge when you want then.

Hope surgery went well, welcome to the losers bench.

It's natural to be afraid, especially if you have never had surgery before but the risks are far less than obesity overtime. As for the Anesthesia, my husband is actually an Anesthesia Tech and in the last 11 years he's been doing his job they have never had an anesthesia related death at his hospital, it's not a common place thing to happen.

I wasn't able to tolerate protein shakes after surgery due to the consistency. GNC makes some good protein waters, they don't taste awful and were much easier to tolerate than shakes. I wasn't able to tolerate shakes again until almost 6 months post op.

I get a lot of my clothing at Ross/TJ Maxx/Burlington. I have to wear dress clothing for work so I have spent a bit of money on work wardrobe because I have to be comfortable too. I have bought new jeans at each size because a good pair of jeans can make you feel like a million bucks. Otherwise I buy a lot on local yard sale sites. Thrift stores have been very hit and miss for me.

Great job, you've done amazing, keep up the good work.

It's likely going to be in your medical chart, I know my whole prior surgical history is and I had to update my past surgical history for the pre-op for my pending gallbladder surgery. While prior surgery might not directly relate to current surgery in location, your surgeon is going to want to know you past medical history because it could effect medications they give as well as how they proceed in case of emergency. I mean my brother has hardware in his ankle from an accident (plates, screws and pins) and his actually had to change the way they treat him in office due to that.

I'm a year out and my eyes are still bigger than my stomach for sure. I used to keep everything as leftovers but it began to take over my fridge so now I pick and chose, sometimes I just chuck it, there are only so many days I can eat the same things.

My husband has always been with me pre-op and stayed through my surgery for all of my surgical procedures. For my VSG he and my Mom were there pre-op and then once I was out of surgery they came to see me in my room. My hubby stayed most of the time but I had a roommate so he could not stay the night. I was in the hospital for 3 days/2 nights so he spent most of his time with me and his parents watched our kids who were 1 and 3 at the time.

As always follow your doctors orders and the meal plan he/she provides to you. But my meal plan looked like this: 3 days- clear liquids 1.5 weeks- full liquids 2-3 weeks- pureed 4-5 weeks- soft solids 10+ weeks- regular diet

I found food cooked in the crock pot were a big success for me when I got to my soft food stage because the meats were cooked down very tender and the few veggies I could eat (wasn't allowed green vegetables until regular food stage) were always cooked down nicely in the crock pot. I was allowed beef early out on my plan and it actually sat better than chicken for me but it had to be ground beef consistency. This process is very much trial and error so just keep trying things, eat small bites and make sure you chew well. If something doesn't sit well, put it aside and wait a while to try it again.

She said it was rougher in the early days but now she's more used to not eating bread products and she says it helps her maintain but she does miss it. Just goes to show how different this journey is for all of us.

I have to be real careful because I do love bread, especially morning bread products (bagels, muffins, biscuits, flavored breads), but at the same time I like that I can still enjoy these items on occasion. I try and limit my intake but I will have half a bagel or a sandwich from time to time. I have a good friend who is 4 years out from the sleeve and she cannot tolerate bread at all, like even the smallest amount makes her feel awful and she struggles with it.

Bread is almost a slider for me, really weird because you wouldn't expect it to be one but I could probably eat quite a bit of bread with no issue. It just doesn't seem to trigger my restriction when I do eat it on occasion. I say avoid bread as long as possible because it can be a trigger food for sure. How many of us used to love putting back a footlong sub? For me, the bread was the best part.

My surgeon does not use binders. If you want one you have to purchase it youself. I hated it when I had it on during my cesarean so I had no interest in wearing one post sleeve.

I was there in the early stages as well. I had my surgery 12/30 so thankfully I missed the holiday season and just had my first holiday season post op at 1 year out but January was really hard for me last year. I really had some regret in the those early weeks and once I returned to work I was so exhausted I thought I could never make it through the day. I didn't start feeling myself until I was about 3 months out and back on a regular diet, you will get there. Just take it a day at a time. I would go back and do it all again in a heartbeat.

I had issues tolerating protein shakes after surgery but I found that the GNC Lean 25 shakes sat well with me. They taste pretty good and have many flavors as well. I approved them with my NUT before using because they were not on my approved list but she said to go for it. I used them for about 5 months and then switched to a protein water. As for a binder I never used one at all so I think it depends on the doctor and is more of a comfort thing

Walking is key for sure, the gas pain was the worst for me and getting it out as soon as possible was the only real relief, staying on top of the pain is important too. I took fentanyl in the hospital and was discharged on Norco but I hate the way narcotics make me feel so I started liquid Tylenol as quickly as possible and used that for about 2 weeks as needed.