Butterflywarrior

@Betty Trigo thank you. I love my surgeon, he's a neurosurgeon, not surgery eager, highly recommend and has a very nice PERSONALLY..wow!! Lol I appreciate the pt advice. I need pt now! Yikes. Hugs hang tough

Hi your post attracted my attention as I have been lurking. I have psoriatic spondylitis after years of misdiagnosis and need spine😶 neck surgery. I was in a wheelchair but walk now mostly unassisted. Wls has helped my mobility and self image despite ARTHRITIS I grew up with. Grrrrr. Good fortune!!

Yeh but again I actually said no to several of there pushy product stuff and they requested to submit it anyways which my insurance paid for and even though I wasn't billed, i was pissed off because I specifically told them no and they did it anyways. That's just not right!!! To make matters worse to me, tge scar cream is not technically scar cream, it's a really potent cream for treating serious skin conditions like psoriasis etc and they send me large bottles each month. I called them leaving a message to please return my call on my account and I got NO call back.... Just to add insult to injury, I'm allergic to aspartame and they sent me the bariatric Vitamins despite me telling them no twice. I called my clinic to clear them and this is partially my fault bc I didn't through read the ingredients but aspartame is in them and I got really really sick all day after ingesting one of those vitamins!! So yes, they are legit but tgey are also shady too and I'm not very trusting if the fact that they misrepresentescsrscar cream, pushed multiple products on me and sent them for approval anyways and nothey haven't even returned my phone calls now that they have gotten what they wanted it appears!!

LOL most likely dilaudid , it's more commonly used bc it's not as addictive in the short term and it's ten times stronger then morphine but often well tolerated.. A lot of people like how it makes them feel so relaxed..doesn't do that to me but does help the pain !

Talk to your doctor. There are non-narcotic options for recovering addicts and others who can't have narcotics due to allergy or intoleranceSent from my Nexus 5X using the BariatricPal App They can give you iv Tylenol and or torodol which is a nsaid. But via iv bypasses the stomach.... there are other options as well ..I'm sure that can be planned for in advance Agreed. Since you're recovering and don't want to be exposed to narcotics, please talk to your surgeon about alternatives. Some people do extremely well with just extra strength liquid Tylenol. Just talk to your doctor and see how it goes from there. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I was in the hospital for 2 nights following my surgery and had the morphine pump the entire time. I LOVED it. I don't know why so many people worry about it. I would say I felt ZERO pain with this surgery. I went home with liquid Tylenol with codeine. I used it for maybe 3 nights to help me get to sleep but didn't need it after that. I never used it at all during the day. it's attached to your iv by anesthesiologist during surgery...when you wake up, it will be there...I had it before on a major open surgery years ago for a number of days With my sleeve, no pump but tgey used dilaudid which is incredibly potent and powerful for the first 24hours, than they tried me on the lortab which was fine and went home with s bottle... I already have chronic pain issues and on long acting narcotic so I was worried about pain management but it all went fine and it's more difficult to manage my pain bc of tolerance to narcotics but it all went well..was off the extra meds in less then two wks.. You will be fine

Don't worry, the pain pump is pre set to a certain amount. ..u hit the button as much or little as you desire... you can't overdose I was given dillaudid all through the first day and night plys acetaminophen drips and following day I got liquid Lortab which I needed for a week and a half. I definitely had substantial pain Pain pumps are a tally better bc they give you control and remove axiety of having to wait. Research shows Pl often use less pain meds with the pump then when they have to wait for the nurse to get relief I had a pump on a previous surgery and only issue was itching with morphine and they dosed me with benedryl also the pump alarm is loud if tampered with or handled lol Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T807A using the BariatricPal App

LOL, no! InsureNutrition.com is what we were all referring to that's Ensure the nutritional drink lol with a "e'

That doesn't mean anything to me. What foods are you allowed to eat? Soft? pureed? Full diet? sorry, puree stage

I agree with the above poster too

Ugh don't know where my post went... Yes I'm neatly four weeks post op, chronic pain issues unchanged for now but have new awesome energy and diabetes is way better as is blood pressure much more stable... I use stevia since it's natural and also use g6 sports powder from GNC sweetened with stevia bc it's yummy to me especially in non fat milk... if your non lactose intolerant... there'd unsweetened nut milks of course.... I've lost 25lbs so far, and no real complications... I drink premier occasionally if necessary on emergency bc insurance paid for it... but if I drink to much, my tummy reacts badly!! I'm excited for you and me! Therr is a gal in my support group with autoimmune disease as well who said post surgery, her pain got way better and now she's jogging and 150 lbs down in less then a year I believe!! Amazing

@@LipstickLady I'm in stage 3

mmm, it varies a little but I eat 5 meals spaced 2.5-3 hours apart... usually start out with a scrambled egg or s Protein shake with skim milk meal ii wasa cracker with hummus and yogurt meal lll -lbean, low fat cheese and some cooked veggies meal iv- tuna pouch meal v cottage cheese with apple sauce I would say thats pretty average

Bums about the hip and they didn't even want me being active on the pre op liquid diet due to risk if hypoglycemia so I don't think exercise is tge issue... Sounds like it might be your metabolism... you can always ask your clinic if there is anything you can do bc your worried... maybe someone here will have a better idea?!

The sugar free stuff made my gut angry and I have autoimmune diseases but no gut ones. I had to stop all of that and find a stevia based Protein powder and was fine... The surgery itself is known to often reset and help improve inflammatory autoimmune diseases according to my rheumatologist and others Getting enough Fiber for the bowels us a bit tricky at first so you might need to troubleshoot that early in advanced

This is rough especially when ur parents mean so much to you. I'm not close to my dad either and last time I wrote him about my considering surgery and my terrible health problems, he wrote back that I needed to stop eating so much and exercise more!! Mind you, he's fat! Anyways, I realized he doesn't get it, tge end it's my life, not his On the other hand. I have a very good friend who was totally again surgery, showing me all kinds of ppl who lost weight the old way and how I could do it too! Omg, she was driving me up tge wall actually talked about her in my therapy session because she was so persistent and persuasive lol plus I wanted her support so I finally thought to invite her to a support group meeting and she came!! It totally changed everything and opened her eyes... she now supports me fully so maybe your parents will attend a support group meeting or orientation perhaps? Also, if they bring up anything about the old fashioned way, pull out the research that shows, even the biggest looser doesn't work, weight watchers , Jenny Craig...none if them can hold a candle to WLS in long term successful weight loss for truly overweight ppl.!!

Hmmmn, if your following the plan, I guess nothing... sometimed tge metabolism fights you when calories are cut so drastically especially if you were dieting before... if your in PM's, that can play a role... mmm not sure what else... medications perhaps?

really!!?? That concerns me bc I keep wondering if what I'm experiencing is normal or not... I've read here from others that tgey felt hungry alot u til they hit the final phase and then things were fine but I noticed ppl in my support group often complain about not being able to drink 8-12oz of Protein Drink in a brief amount of time or taking over a hour or more to drink it I'm able to drink mine right down in around 10-15 minutes.. Meals, I take 20 min to slowly chew and swallow but it takes more then four bites to fill me so that irks me.. .. I get all of my protein in easily supplementing with one shake a day And before I added slow burning carbs and crackers, I felt hungry and I dobt think it's head hunger.. I tried Water distraction...my tummy talked so told my NUT and she suggested tge carbs si now I have one snack with wasa cracker and hummus or Melba and hummus and one of my meals, I included some sort of Beans peas butter beans... It isn't a lot by any means but it has stopped the hunger pangs Still, it scares me a little when I listen to others struggling to eat, get enough protein, etc when I seem to have quite tge opposite problem My only struggle is getting in enough water between meals atm.. huge issue Any tips or thoughts on this....maybe I need to call my surgeons office and complain some more bc I dobt want to slow my weight loss ...

These experiences suck... I recently was to get a occipital nerve block at a surgery center and tgey called me the last minute to cancel saying I weighed to much for there equipment!! I was 314 at tge time 5'3.5 and I was offended and hurt... Many years ago, my pediatric rheumatologist told me " why don't I just starve myself" I tell you, those words still echo with pain in my head tge countless years of bullying and tge list goes on Well I'm taking back my power now!! You are too!

Are you able to eat dense protein yet? I disagree with the "slow burning carbs" thing as carbs just make me crave more carbs. chicken, eggs, cheese, almonds, tuna, shrimp... I love a piece of deli meat and cheese rolled up. Beef jerky, hummus with veggies... Any of these should help the salt cravings. For sweet? SF pudding is my go to. I should have specified she primarily emphasized slow burning carbs like Beans, humus, butter beans. Limas, black eyed peas, ...for some reason I thought slow burning carbs automatically indicated those kinds of foods but I'm not sure now, I'm diabetic and it was always told to me to eat them but I dropped it all after surgery and was hungry all the time despite protonix so NUT said add the slow burning carbs like above back in... and I do eat a Melba toast or wasa cracker after I got there permission but those aren't slow burning carbs, there just healtier carbs and it's worked to stop the hunger issue in its tracks for me although I worry about it slowing my weight loss so time will tell

This thread is very enlightening bc I thought I was doomed with straws lol Then when I had my negative experience with one by accident, that just cinched it! I like straws bc before WLS, they were my primary tool for drinkibg so much Water daily and since WLS, water has been sooo hard to get in, having to pick up my buba barrel and sip sip sip ....I much rather suck lol ha.. Hopefully after I heal more, I will be able to use a straw again

I was given a straw in the hospital and the Water bottle my surgeon gave me utilized a straw. Keep in mind that YOUR plan doesn't y to EVERYONE. [/quoquo yes. Lipstick I'm quite aware of that.. which is why I latter added about others I know that use them but also, it wasn't just something told to me Individually, it's in many weight loss surgery books and the clinic tells everyone that so I was just passing along my information and unpleasant straw experience

Oh yeh, I should add, I'm 25 lbs down 3.5 weeks post op from sleeve... off of 3/4 diabetes meds, have lots of energy, feel happier then I have in ages and highly motivated...no real complications...still learning my way around!!!

Your story is powerful and relatable to me... I got lots of resistance from friends and at first from my mom but in the end it was about me and what I know about myself I did start seeing a psychologist twice a week for my eating and other emotional issues including PTSD and bipolar which was recently dx after over 10 years of a mislabel of major depressive disorder The one thing that concerns me is tge type of surgery your getting.... I was originally going to get RNY but got cold feet, ended up psych hospital and many other health flare ups. My BMI was 52 so rny fit however when my surgeon saw me again a number of months latter, he was vety reluctant to do rny due to the realization that my depression issues are severe and I need so much meds to manage multiple medical and psych conditions. He totally said gastric sleeve was best because the RNY malabsorption can really screw up your maintenance medications and is more complex them sleeve in terms of care. My psychiatrist also shared with me that he has a really hard time adjusting medications in his bypass patients So, I'm not sure why your surgeon hasn't brought this up...maybe he doesn't realize that you have clinical depression...I told my surgeon originally but he still didn't get it until he saw my record in the computer system around a year latter, he got to see the extent of my medical and psych issues and I had been cleared by their psychologist too!! So I'm just being super candid, vulnerable and open sharing my sensitive history with you bc it concerns me a lot My surgeon acknowledged that RNY was ideal for my BMI but not for my mefical/psych history He also asked for a letter from my mental health ppl about my readiness for weight loss surgery. I'm really glad he was through in the end and my mom felt better and supported me too. My therapist knew I read, researched and was more then ready and I have his support along the journey I think your sister and mom have genuine concerns even though loosing weight tge " regular" way is not research supported for really overweight people but you do need to be emotionally prepared for it. Good fortune