PorkChopExpress

I'd really like a plate that would keep my food warm, since I now have to take so long to eat. A plate that you could heat up that stays warm for 30 minutes or so would be awesome. I know that's not what you're talking about here, but something to think about

I think what most people think is "hunger" post surgery isn't actually hunger. The stomach rumbles a lot after surgery, which is a combination of gas, acid and the stomach just adjusting to the new size, healing, etc... Most experienced patients say that passes. And the ache would be some combination of recovering from the surgery, and the acid buildup. But you've lost the portion of the stomach that produces the hunger hormone, so you shouldn't have traditional hunger. Never discount the "head hunger" in the weeks following surgery, either. It's a real thing.

The swelling and tightness is gas, and swelling from the incisions. The gas takes a few days to move out (and you have to walk a lot to get that to happen) and the swelling from the incisions takes a couple weeks to mostly go away. Just be aware that if you get pus, an incision site is very red and hard, or hot to the touch, you may have an infection.

What people misunderstand is that the gas is not in your digestive tract to start with, so anything you put in there to help with gas isn't going to make a big impact. The gas is in your peritoneal cavity, far from the reach of anything you can ingest. It permeates the tissues via a kind of osmosis, and only does it if you're moving. It usually takes me 3-4 days before the big farts start coming and I feel a lot of relief (I've had 3 abdominal surgeries). But anti-gas medications don't really help get rid of anything but what's already in your digestive tract, only movement gets it to leave your abdominal cavity.

Crystal Light and water. I've been mixing the Genepro flavorless protein with the Crystal Light and that works well. Was sick to death of shakes. I'm still struggling to get 64oz after three weeks post-surgery, because the meals take away so much of my daily drinking time. It takes a long time to get a 16 oz cup down. So until the stomach increases in capacity a little bit more so I can take bigger drinks, I expect it'll be a challenge.

Yeah most of the surgeons seem to feel six weeks is the time it takes your stomach to fully heal up. Once the stomach and incisions are fully healed, no reason you shouldn't be able to lift.

Pure grit and determination, and focusing on the fact that it had a time limit. I kept reminding myself that I made this decision because I knew I needed to make some major changes, long-lasting changes, and so I started feeling like the pre-op diet was a test of my will and dedication to the process. I started taking pride in not cheating, after a while...no matter how much my stomach rumbled and ached. And sure enough, after surgery, it wasn't a concern anymore. I couldn't even imagine putting anything in there for several days! One thing that I did do that helped mentally though was, the week prior to the pre-op diet, I went ahead and had whatever meals I would miss. I must have had buffalo wings 4-5 times. And after a while, I think it made something click in my mind and realize that I was being dominated by food. Why did I feel the need to do that week or splurging...wasn't it an acknowledgement that it was food that was at the wheel, and not me? So it ended up being a helpful part of my "letting go" process, which then had to continue for the first 10 days or so after surgery. But I'm in a much better place now, and am embracing change.

Two days post op, it's impossible. Don't worry about it, just do your best to sip all day long, pretty much. You aren't going to make it to 64 ounces for a while. In fact, after I got onto eating mushy foods three times a day, I have found it hard to get my 64 ounces again. Having to wait 30 minutes before and 45 minutes after a meal means that I have lost almost 4 hours of my day, when it comes to drinking...and it takes me at least a couple hours to get through 16 ounces or so, it seems like. It's tough! But the thing is, if I'm getting in the neighborhood, I'll be okay. I have been getting around 50 ounces the past week, and honestly there were a lot of days pre-surgery where I didn't get close to that, I'm quite sure. Particularly because I was still drinking Coke and dehydrating myself. As long as I'm not cramping up and am not getting those dehydration symptoms, I feel like I'm doing okay. But just give yourself time, the stomach needs to heal up and it's still swollen...will be for another week or so. Don't push it and don't force it too full, let it heal up. You don't want to pop staples or sutures!

"Don't judge me" is your defense mechanism. It's probably how you try to control people around you who then enable your behavior. Because we don't have to live with you, we can call you on it when you're screwing up...and you are. Everyone here knows you are. In fact, we don't have to be at goal to know a WLS surgery patient claiming to be digging into a fried chicken wing doesn't have their mind right about the process. You KNOW fried chicken isn't good for you. None of what we're saying here is brain surgery. You just WANTED it...and that's your brain controlling your actions, because it isn't your stomach. Your stomach told you exactly what it thought of that decision. You need to get control of your mind...and you aren't going to be helped by justifying your decision, not owning it as a mistake, and complaining that people are "judging you" when what we're doing is pointing out an error in your thinking. No support group or therapist in the world is going to let you get away with saying, "It's my journey, I'll do what I want!"

A good support group doesn't support you when you're screwing up, they call you on it. Most of the people here are trying to reform their behaviors and attitudes about food, they didn't think that getting operated on was going to fix their problem (it's not), because the problem is in their head. The surgery is just a tool to help enforce rules. The fact that you had a normal stomach wasn't what made you obese, and having a smaller stomach won't stop you from gaining weight. The internet and support groups are littered with people who regained the weight, or couldn't lose after surgery. A lot of them STILL not putting the blame where it needs to be - on themselves. To come on a WLS board and proudly post that you're gonna have some fried chicken, weeks after your surgery, and expect support for that just blows my flippin' mind...and it tells everyone here that you were NOT mentally ready to have this surgery, and are not mentally where you need to be in order to succeed long-term. So we're gonna call you on it, in the hopes that you'll actually do some soul-searching about whether you REALLY want to change, at all. It's not too late, but the fact is...right now, your attitude is not going to be conducive to success. "You're so judgmental. I just wanted some fried chicken, what's so wrong with that?" What's wrong with that is, if your mind was right, you'd be just as taken aback as all of us are that you even thought to eat that crap right now, so soon after surgery and so long before you've reached your goals.

It's interesting how easy it is to identify the people that are likely to be the WLS cautionary tale of the person who only lost 40 pounds after surgery and then regained it plus 20 more six months later, and say WLS "didn't work for me." Wash that fried chicken down with some Coke, and then when your stomach has a little room, have a cookie. You got this.

Excellent. My wife is also obese (she's right at 40bmi) and she's got three siblings, two of whom are sisters. She is the heaviest of them and she compares herself a lot...and it's no wonder, because her parents (especially her father) are BRUTAL toward her about it. They make the most insensitive comments, it blows my mind. I don't like my in-laws anyway, at all...but things like this make me really dislike them. It's hurtful to my wife and I see how it affects her. She is also planning on getting the surgery this coming summer, when she has time off from work (she's a teacher). She talks about remembering being cute in High School and wearing the kinds of clothes she liked, and she wants to get back to that. I don't ever have a memory where I wasn't being made fun of for my weight, all the way back to elementary school...so for me, it's wanting to have a life I never got to have, and to be a good example to my kids.

They make a lot of canned snack type stuff that you can take with you on the go. I've seen chicken salad, tuna salad, hummus, all that stuff with crackers in snack sizes that work perfect. I actually had a hummus one today, I only had two of the six crackers that came with it, just heaped on the hummus and ate the rest with the little spoon that came with it You're probably going to be at the "try anything" phase as of week 7 so you can also probably hit some restaurants. Have no fear, just be smart about what you're getting...this is your life now, so it's time to get used to it right? Someone told me that Subway will actually give you the meat from a sandwich in a cup and charge you less for it, so that's a good way to get Protein, in slabs of turkey. I'd get a little cup of spicy mustard and dip it, myself! Taco Bell has the refried bean option that works, I've had that a couple times now. You just have to find places where you can get smallish servings of things, since you can't store it. You could get a grilled chicken sandwich most places and just eat the breast meat with a little sauce, I would probably hunt down an Arby's and see how I did with some roast beef, myself. Just keep the carbs under control and focus on finding sources of protein...and take your shake stuff. You can do it! I've got an inter-state move coming up in late November (week before Thanksgiving) and I'm going to be week 8 post-op at that point, it'll take me a couple of days driving so I'm already planning what to do in my head, for food!

It sounds very much like pancreatitis, or a gall bladder attack. You need to get seen right away, don't wait.

This process is a serious education, but you've started. The one thing that bothers me is that you said you want to lose fast so that your Mom will stop making fun of you. One thing I'd suggest to your thinking is that you not make this about external factors. It's time to really do some soul-searching and figure out what has led you to this point, where you are going to pursue weight loss surgery...and to realize that you aren't doing this for anyone but yourself. It will be you that must brave the surgery, you who must undertake the recovery, and you who must modify their thoughts and behaviors to achieve the success you're looking for. Nobody is going to do any of it but you. And be prepared for the fact that you may discover you have some serious resentment toward your mom, when she starts treating you differently after you lose weight. Or anyone else in your life, for that matter. You're going to go through massive changes and people in your life won't necessarily fit "the new you" anymore. A lot of the success stories on this site and elsewhere attest to that fact. But if you make this choice, make it for yourself...and do the psychological part, because it's the most important. You need to really be dedicated to lifelong change. Good things will come, in time. But it's a fight. Also, you'll find that you get a lot more educated about nutrition, through this process. Your question about the Protein shakes? The answer is simple: Any diet in which you consume fewer calories than you burn every day is going to help you lose weight, and the greater the gap between how much you consume and how much you burn makes that weight loss speed up. But it may not be the healthiest way to do it. Your body has requirements that need to be met, in order to stay healthy and function optimally. I expect that your surgeon has a nutritionist and a program that you'll go through that will get you up to speed on everything. Go to them, and really invest in the process...so that by the time you reach your surgery date, you will be a "subject matter expert" on your nutrition and how to succeed It's time to cast off the old you and look forward to the new one, and that's more mental than physical. Good luck!

Great story. I was picked on by kids my age growing up and teased for being bigger, and it can all really add up to demolish your self-esteem...and then weirdly, we end up becoming what they say we are. It just starts a vicious cycle that it is tremendously hard to get out of. We're doing it, though! You've achieved a lot, congratulations. I can't wait to join the ranks of those who've reached their goals, after suffering for so long.

Band always seemed really non-committal to me. I figured if I was going to do surgery and make a permanent change in my life, having something I could just get taken out wasn't going to help me get where I needed to go. Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App

It was going to be sushi from my favorite place, but I spent about two weeks splurging and by that point, I had gotten it out of my system and realized that I had basically been celebrating the hold food had over me. So I just had a sandwich at subway and that was it. Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App

I've got a desk job, I was back to work after a week (basically nine days, with the weekend). No problem.

Protein shakes. That is about the only way you're going to get what you need right now. Three meals and protein shakes, and you'll get in the neighborhood. I just BARELY get to about 600 calories right now, three weeks into it. Also, make darn sure you're getting all your vitamins as you should be. And you may want to see about a blood test to check your vitamin D. I take a supplement for that and it has helped my energy, as I did have a deficiency even pre-surgery.

@@OKCPirate Thanks for the info on lifting. I'll probably get going on that in another week or so...the abdomen is feeling pretty up to snuff recently, so I think it should handle some basic lifting. I won't get into a "real" program of strength training until I around 20-30 pounds from goal, I think. I recently bought some Nivea lotion for tightening/firming skin, so I'm trying to get into the habit of using that. I hadn't heard about the cool shower tip though, I'll try that too. Anything that'll help! I know that at 45 and after a lifetime of being obese, it's unlikely the skin's going to be too forgiving but anything I can do to aid in recovery is good.

Worst part of the whole process, I think! Aside from the mental hurdles you have to get past. But just keep remembering that there's a time limit on it, and you're setting the tone for the rest of your weight loss journey with that pre-op diet. It's important, do your best

What they're basically telling you is that the way you think about food pre-surgery cannot continue, post-surgery. The way you think about food is what has gotten you to the point where you NEED surgery, in the first place. So there needs to be a dedication to changing your thought process about it. After you've had weight loss surgery, your stomach real estate is VERY valuable...you can't put much in it, and your body requires certain things - above all, Protein. You will find that you start to value things with higher nutritional value, that meet the needs of your body to function, or to gain muscle. That doesn't mean you can't still want things to taste good, but your priorities have to change. Noodles have next to no nutritional value and they expand in your stomach...and when your stomach hardly holds anything, it's a wasted meal to eat a bunch of noodles. Could you? Sure you could. But if your mind is right about getting your life turned around and getting fit, you won't WANT to. That's what they're saying. Getting your mind right and changing your attitudes about food is probably at least 80% of succeeding with WLS. If your mindset is still, "Someday I will be able to eat like a normal person" then you're not there, yet...because after WLS, you will NEVER be able to eat like a normal person, again. Your priorities will be MUCH different than theirs.

Yeah, looks like we are on very similar trajectories then! I'm definitely going to avoid the scale, I'm probably only going to weigh at the doctor's office, but we'll see. The way I see it, my clothes tell me all I really need to know.