orionburn

I know it's unusual for guys to have a UTI but lucky me managed to have it twice when I was younger. Definitely call the doc. UTIs can get stupid nasty in a hurry. Hope you feel better soon.

Came in this morning at 292.2 which puts me 26 lbs down since surgery. Tomorrow will be my 4 week follow-up appointment. Hopefully will be cleared to go back to normal foods. I am beyond burned out on Protein shakes, yogurt, and cottage cheese! I'm mixing things up as much as I can but have had to rely on those to hit my daily protein goals. All in all still doing pretty good. Really wanting to get back to the gym so hopefully doc gives me the okay for that as well.

Good luck! Hope everything goes smoothly and you have a good recovery.

The first 3-4 days were tough for me, but once I got past that hurdle I was fine. You have to just keep in mind that the better you do the easier it is for your surgeon and the better for your health. I knew my doc didn't mess around and if he got in there and saw an enlarged liver he'd cancel the surgery. It's only two weeks! We've abused our bodies for years so although it might seem like making up for that time it is just two weeks. It'll go quicker than you think. Keep yourself busy and stay strong. You can do it!

Congrats!

Because McDonald's is known for their high protein fries...lol

Ricotta bake. I wish I would have made this sooner on my soft food stage. This recipe gets passed around a lot because it's so good! Just scroll down a bit and you'll find it. There are other good ideas on there as well: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html

Best wishes to you. Hope everything goes well and you have a speedy recovery!

Does your program require a pysch eval? If so that is a good opportunity to be open and honest and talk through some of it. You aren't the only one that questioned whether this was the right decision to make. For me the health benefits outweighed the potential cons of surgery. The last month as been a big eye opener for me. Being on a liquid diet prior to surgery and then post-op was a big mental reset for me. There are things that I miss, but I also realize now how much control they had on me. As much of a physical change as it is for our bodies you definitely have to prepare yourself mentally. Needing some help to sort through issues is nothing to be ashamed of. It pains me seeing people post-op dealing with struggles because they never addressed them prior to surgery. When you're on the other side it's a big wake up call that yes, I may not be able to ever do X, Y, or Z again. Like you, however, those things aren't worth the change of adding years to my life. Like NWJill said the first month can be pretty tough. I'm on the pureed stage and should be back to regular foods later this week. Our meal plans will be different from now on, but I've also been preparing myself that it's okay if my wife has Pasta and I don't. There's no reason for me to deny things that she enjoys. I simply won't have any. For me the struggle hasn't been as bad because of the weight loss. I'm 3 1/2 weeks post-op and feel better right now than I have in years. You have legitimate fears and concerns. My doc said he doesn't like patients that aren't worried to some extent...lol. It's just a sign that you realize this is a big change and not a magic wand. Definitely take this period of time to talk with somebody. It'll be worth it in the long run.

People seem to handle carbonation differently. Generally it seems most can't have it. The carbonation just doesn't sit well in our smaller stomachs. For others though they can drink some in moderation. I was a Diet Dew nut prior to surgery. Do I miss it a bit? Sure. But I also know I was drinking too much and it wasn't good for me whether it was diet or not. I honestly thing kicking soda is a big reason why I've felt so much better post-op. We all have our own things we struggle with, but this is part of the problem with not facing addictions before the surgery. Getting a sleeve doesn't fix those cravings. For me I've been too preoccupied with everything else going on to miss sodas that much. I have a wide enough drink selection to keep me satisfied. All I can suggest is to keep as much good variety of drinks in the house as possible.

My sleep cycle was all jacked up for the first week once I was back at home. I had a prolonged stay at the hospital due to some complications so the continual wake-up calls every 2-3 hours for 6 days wrecked me. For the first few days at home I would wake up at 2 a.m. and then just be up from then on. I didn't do anything special to get back on track. Just took my body some time to get back to normal, but it did after a few days. It can be frustrating but it'll get better!

I had a prolonged stay in the hospital due to my spleen deciding to spring a leak, but still I was barely using my pain meds by the end of my stay. Granted I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, and the first two days were the worst, but still it wasn't anything as bad as I thought it would be.

For most it's just temporary, but for some it takes weeks to get fluids down without much fuss. I'm 3 1/2 weeks post-op and although I can't take a big gulp I can take larger sips on a consistent basis. Anymore I can get 32 oz of Water down within a few hours of waking up. Water moves through an empty stomach quickly, but the early days were rough when things were still swollen.

I don't recall the exact name but it was a mix of generic Vicodin and Tylenol. I took it on a pretty regular basis the first few days, but within a week I was only using 1 or 2 a day. The pain wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. Was more of a dull ache than anything stabbing.

Any track record of intestinal issues? Unfortunately this is one of those things where it could be a hundred different things and don't want to come off being one of those guys saying "you must be suffering from this!" Only thing I can relate it to is from a case of diverticulitis I had a few years ago. That can happen almost anywhere in the intestines/colon. I get flare ups every now and then and can tell the sore spot when food moves past it.

Mine wasn't a big deal. Spent about 10 minutes talking with the therapist then about 30 minutes doing a huge test. The test was pretty straight forward and basic psych eval. It's best to just go in and be honest and chances are you won't have much fuss.

I didn't get anything to go home with. My doc was only worried about you being up and about and not just lying around all day. He pretty much feels walking is the best medicine against clots.

My doc typically wants his patients off work for 4 weeks, but told him I could only do 2. Technically I was off for 2 1/2 weeks as my surgery was on a Wednesday. I went back to work last week. I too have a desk job but am not up/down that often. It wasn't so bad but still felt very tired. The exhaustion really is the bigger battle than any pain I ever experienced. My energy levels are slowly getting better and better. My only complication this week was that I caught a cold so that's had me wiped out on top of everything else. Work wise it's been fine. I was stir crazy after being at home for that long so it did me better to get back to work.

That sounds right. Typically my nut says to aim for 60-80g of Protein a day, but during the pre-op stage I was well over that. I had the same issues as you. I started mixing in Benefiber into my Protein shakes and that helped, but I did have to rely on a laxative once or twice. Benefiber is great to keep things regular but for me it doesn't do much "afer the fact" if you know what I mean.

Not getting in enough fluids & Protein can definitely impact things. How are you doing on your protein intake? Don't forget Protein shakes count towards your daily fluids.

I was planning on telling everyone when it got close to my surgery date but at the last second opted not to. Only my immediate family, work, and a few close friends knew that I was having it. My main reason is that Facebook is such a cesspool at times I didn't want to deal with the people that would say it's too risky, you don't really need it, blah blah blah. Towards the end I was second guessing myself a lot on whether I wanted to go through with the surgery, but I knew it was what was best for me. So maybe part of my backing out of telling people was because I was afraid they would talk me out of it. I'm 3 weeks out and still haven't made any sort of formal announcement to people. This weekend I plan on saying something. Mainly because I'm down about 40 lbs since I've seen most people and I don't want people to think I'm sick or anything. It probably comes down to the general ignorance of people. I get so tired of people that just say it takes will power and exercise. It's like somebody that doesn't understand what being an alcoholic is like and telling somebody "just stay out of bars and you'll be fine!" They don't understand the core of the problem in our battles with weight. Those types will never change. Maybe that's the real reason - I'd hate to know good friends or family are that ignorant...lol

Walking always seemed to help me. Even if I just stood up for a bit and paced around the room it seemed to help. I've noticed that if I'm sitting on the chair/couch and sit too long after having a shake it doesn't sit well. I'm really trying to get into the habit of getting up immediately for a few minutes after a "meal".

Might be a bit of both. My stomach was really swollen the first two days and everything seemed to want to sit on top. Honestly I can't imagine trying to have Jello that soon after surgery. Getting my water and protein drink mixes was hard enough. I had a hard time with gas and couldn't get any out despite walking. I'd get a few small burps here and there but never seemed to be enough. Hope you have a speedy recovery! The first few days are tough but don't worry, it does get better!

My doc's office sells products from Health Wise. They had a Protein mix for drinks so it was thinner than a shake and were fruit flavors. While I didn't thoroughly enjoy them they were easier to get down some times and they had 15g of protein per 8 oz of Water. Stuff ain't cheap, but it helped me get through the early stages. Are you mixing your shakes with milk? I know water isn't all that appealing to some people, but mixing it that way might make it go down a bit easier. I had to sacrifice protein for water intake the first few days until it got easier to drink my shakes.

The site can be confusing with all the subforums. The more you navigate around the more comfortable you'll get with it. Best thing to do is go through the sections and read what others have posted. There are definitely a lot of pros/cons to having surgery. It's a big decision to make for sure. I went back and forth for several years on having surgery and finally made the decision to do it around May of last year. Had a lengthy process and had to wait a few extra weeks to get a surgery date, but am now 3 weeks post-op. The site has a lot of good info so don't be afraid to ask questions.