Berry78

Yep! Could be a stomach bug, but strictures are common-ish at 8 weeks postop. Keep pushing fluids so you don't get dehydrated.

Try to stay away from alcohol for 6 months to a year. It's hard on your already stressed liver. Drink water and tea, and nibble on olives, cheese, nuts, fruit, etc. When in doubt, eat before you go.

I can't imagine staying home because of this journey. Preop liquid diet? Load up several premade protein shakes and noncaloric beverages and bring them along to the beach. Postop liquid phase? Order hot tea and milk at the restaurant. Purees? Potato soup. Normal foods? Keep a bottle of water and nuts in my purse in case nothing is available. But there is always something available. Every phase has its challenges, but the challenges are less about what you are eating and more about finding your new normal when everything else is the same. The quicker you learn how to navigate the social scene with your dietary restrictions, the happier you will be. Staying home isn't teaching you anything good. It's teaching you that you aren't worthy of hanging with your friends, and that if you can't eat like before, that you can't live like before. What a horrible lesson!

You know what I was doing 6 days post op? I was walking around nude in front of my teenage kids. I NEVER in a million years would have done that.. but I did! Surgery hormones are crazy! Things settled down for me quickly once I started getting my nutrition back up. It varies between folks how soon things settle, but hopefully you'll move through this phase quickly. Good for you, putting the scale away!

Oh, you aren't as far out as I thought. At your stage I was on soupy purees. I agree, backtrack and slow down. Good luck!

Every surgeon has different protocol.. so just ask the nurse when you are getting ready.

Absolutely! Tell him YES! And it's no lie either.

Your liver can puff up like a toad after 1 cheat meal. You've got this!

I didn't realize how huge I was at 300lbs until I saw myself on video. I bet getting someone to video you while doing normal activities with other people will help. Clothing numbers are.. just numbers, and so is the scale. The mirror lies. Video is where it's at.

If you feel better when you eat, it probably means you need to eat more often. Could be low blood sugar. Many of us got into trouble by "eating all the time".. but after surgery, we HAVE to! Hardly two hours pass that I'm not working on something, and I'm 3 months out.

Thank you.

How far out are you? Are you still on acid reducers? Puking up things that you tolerated before is not something to ignore. It could mean several things, one of which is a stricture getting started. Think about whether this seems to be a 1 day fluke, or a pattern getting started...

It is normal for the scale to fluctuate a few pounds here and there. (Up 3, down 4, and the like.) Might that be all that is going on, or has the weight been elevated for a couple weeks?

Oh gosh Hope you will be seeing someone soon that can help get you sorted out. Do you have an appointment with your surgeon again?

I suspect what happens is this: Food only comes in three varieties..protein, carbs, and fat. After gallbladder removal, fats are usually limited, leaving people with protein and carbs. Protein is usually pretty stable in people's diets, so they increase the carbs.. Voila.. weight gain. The way to minimize this is by replacing fats with veggies. But it's worth considering not getting rid of fats completely, rather just spreading them out a bit thinner through the day. You can ask the Dr. if Actigall might help. It's good for prevention and treatment of gallstones.

Oh sweety, this IS all crazy hormones. [Hugs]. You are still all pumped full of fluids from the surgery, you are bloated and swollen. The swelling will take weeks to go down all the way, and if you are constipated, it makes it worse! Please go throw your scale away. The weight will come off without you watching it. Ultimately, none of us can control what the scale says... all we can control is following our plan. Follow your plan, and have faith! And I'm not kidding about throwing or giving away the scale.

I flew in the day of surgery.. some good and bad about that. Good.. no real waiting jitters.. didn't have time! Bad.. was very dehydrated when I arrived and took days to rehydrate (pee clearish), even with the IV. I had a 6 hour flight, and that is very drying. Surgery was Monday. Stayed Monday and Tuesday at the hospital, went to the hotel Wed and Thurs, drove across the border and flew home on Friday.

I agree with the optifast diet recommendation. The goal here is to shave those pounds off, not to worry about the lifelong healthy eating plan. There is time to work on that plan later. My husband is also living with debilitating back pain. But diet is MUCH more important to weight loss than exercise. Metformin helps lose weight, insulin helps gain weight. That explains your experience. Because you are on insulin, it is really important to manage the diet/insulin dosage closely. If you go on Optifast suddenly, without modifying your insulin dosage, you will have low blood sugar attacks. See if you can find someone to help you work into the diet while tapering down the meds. Do you have family or friends that can help you? (Do shopping, be cheerleaders, etc...) You can do this!

Nausea can happen at any time, and for a huge variety of reasons. I would suspect it was from one of the new foods, considering the timing. Go back to those foods that agree with you. If that doesn't fix it, then you'll want to explore other possibilities. If it lasts more than a couple days, or gets severe, talk to your doc.

Instead of thinking about solids "soon", I really kept my mind occupied on what I was allowed THAT DAY. Try not to think ahead because that's when you will get into the... "Well, I can start this food tomorrow, so what's the harm in starting it today.." Just don't go there. Post your food list up on the wall at home, and make a production out of changing it as your diet advances. Some of the most successful people on this board keep their daily foods the same long term. (Every day they eat the exact same things). I do this 90% of the time, and I have found it very easy. The limited post op selection is good training for eating this way if you choose to.

Probably not gallbladder. Pain on those lower ribs is common, but I don't know the cause... it varies, I'm sure.

I respectfully disagree. 2oz, twice a day is wholey insufficient for 7 months postop. She should be eating at least 4oz at a time, 3-5 times a day. Not necessarily 4oz of solid steak, but at least 4oz of soup and the like (shoot, how about 8oz soup!) Of course, it's hard to tell how much she's eating for those snacks, but the snacks don't have protein, so she isn't meeting that requirement. It is hard to get 60+ grams of protein a day (unless she's drinking protein shakes), and she is in no way getting it. She won't be growing muscles, unless she consumes the protein to fuel their growth. Simple as that. If she complains of being full after 2 oz of something soft, she needs to see her surgeon again to be evaluated for a stricture.

Sure! Always love special mail

Blink, blink. Medical professionals can be so clueless To the OP.. keep trying different fluids. Warm herbal tea worked really well for me. All those artificially flavored drinks were the pits...

I'd make sure any suture material is disolvable. Once the stomach heals there is no more need for the stitches, and having them stay in there is just one more thing that could potentially cause problems down the line. I don't remember for sure if sutures are that important. I think it does help some.