MSinger

As far as your activity.. you are still healing and on a very low-calorie diet.. so do what you can. It's typically recommended to be up and moving at least every 4 hours in order to prevent blood clots. I'm just doing laps in my apartment as I live on the second floor and don't want to get stuck going back up. It may seem like contradictory advice, but you gotta get plenty of rest and stay active. So do what activity you can and make sure it's no more than 4hrs since the last time you've been moving, but make sure you rest afterward. Hopefully, you'll be able to tolerate more, go longer distances, need less time to rest, and seeing gradual improvements from one day to the next.

I'm having trouble drinking my full liquids and am taking a product called ProStat. It's a protein syrup that has 15g of hydrolyzed collagen protein per 1oz, sugar free, and 100cals/oz. I do have to warn that the taste isn't bad, but it does smell, sort of like lunch meat. I pinch my nose when I take it which helps mask the smell. I double checked with my NUT and she said it's fine to take (I recommend you do this as well), it also says right on the bottle it's for people who have had bariatric surgery. The max recommended dose is 3oz/day, which is 300 calories and 45 grams of protein. At least then you can get a jump on your protein and focus on getting more fluids in.

It's really hard to say without knowing your history. I'm not sure what your level is, but if your level was critically low, your Dr would probably have been alerted. If you really want an answer on this, I'd recommend calling your Dr's office to discuss.

10 weeks out I can see people taking liberties and giving recommendations, but within the first two weeks I really feel people asking "can I eat this" type of questions should be referred to their surgery team/NUT instead of us answering these questions for them. I'm not sure why anyone would take it upon themselves to tell a person what they can eat during this period, particularly if it's something that is generally not allowed. You don't know their medical history, the surgeon and nutritionist's plan, or how they will react to the foods you were able to tolerate. Everyone is different. There are some folks who just cannot accept hearing no from their Dr's office, and decide to post here to see if they will get a different answer. I'm a nurse and I can tell you from experience, stuff like that does happen. People are free to post whatever they want, of course, but I do wonder if the willingness to answer these questions enables more inappropriate questions being posted. Someone who is less than two weeks out should be calling their Dr's office... not asking a bunch of strangers.

I'm not on facebook so maybe I'm missing some of the context here, but this is a person immediately post op, the most important stage to make sure you are 100% compliant, and this person is seeking permission to break their physician's orders. This case is not just someone asking to "cheat"... they are potentially endangering themselves. I'm sorry, but I would not have reacted to that post well at all. There is a difference between someone 3+ months post op asking if they can have pizza/soda/beer, vs someone who just had surgery risking surgical complications just so they can have ice cream. Maybe this fb group is just catty (which I have heard can be the case), but this crosses the line from asking for permission to "cheat", to risking post op complications because you're not following your prescribed diet. ETA: I am not the type of person to coddle or enable anyone. You will get a straight answer from me. Maybe that comes off as blunt or rude, but I do see some folks here asking for "permission" to do things they know they shouldn't. I feel this is basically an attempt to shove their personal responsibility onto a bunch of complete strangers, and I can see how that can grate on the nerves of some of the posters.

I'm not planning on taking anything the scale says seriously until I am a month out.

I can't stand plain water now. I was always a big water drinker preop and never liked flavor infusers, now I'm depending on them to get my fluids in.

I just had surgery this past Tuesday, had a very poor response to anesthesia and had to stay 2days inpatient. Discharged home for one night and had to return to the hospital because I wasn't peeing. Stayed for another 2 nights and just got back home (again) a few hours ago. Despite all of this, I have zero regrets. My first night was horrible and yes I did ask myself what was I thinking, but once I stabilized those questions stopped. What you're going through is very natural because this is a big decision, but in the end it's a step towards better health

Are they cramping up on you? If so, you may want to make sure you are getting enough electrolytes (calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus). If you're drinking lots of water you may be diluting your electrolyte levels, so double check the nutrition labels on everything you're taking.

Very inspiring Congrats on your success!

Hey all, so I was sleeved on 5/23. I am so grateful for everything I've learned from this board just by reading people's stories, so hopefully, someone can benefit from mine... My surgery was at 9:15 am this Tuesday. On my way to the hospital, I was complaining to my sister that I wish my surgery was outpatient instead of I day inpatient stay because I was so sure I'd be fine and just wasting my time in a hospital... boy was I wrong! Apparently I don't tolerate anesthesia well at all. I woke up in the PACU in horrible pain and severe nausea/gagging/abdominal spasms that were almost nonstop. The last time I had surgery was when I was a kid and I just remember waking up and feeling a bit of pain then.. I thought it may be the same. I was transferred to my unit for my first night and every few minutes I was calling the nurse for pain meds or nausea meds, or both. They had me on 3 different types of medications for nausea, 2 different pain meds. Despite this, I was still having significant breakthrough pain and nausea. I couldn't get out of my bed at all, let alone walk a few hours after surgery. The entire time I kept thinking what the heck did I do to myself and I wondered whether I'd be sent home feeling this way. I didn't get more than a few minutes of sleep the entire night. All of the nurses on the floor did everything they could to help me out and I could not be more grateful for such a wonderful team caring for me. The next morning I was still on max doses of all the same medications, but I was starting to feel better. Started walking with the nurse's assistant and took a few more laps around the floor throughout the day. I had lots of secretions in my lungs that was keeping my oxygen saturation down, so I had to clear them out. By evening time, I was more stable, but I still had not peed and was not passing gas. This may be TMI but they had to catheterize me 5 times I had to stay inpatient for another night so they could monitor my urine output. This morning I woke up much better, just trying to take in all of my fluids, but I'm getting small bouts of nausea from just one 1oz of liquid per hour. It's slowly getting better, but I'm still behind on my fluids. Anyway, I'm so happy to finally be home. I'm gonna keep drinking fluids like it's my job. I also wanted to add a couple of things people may find helpful: First, if you are out of surgery and having trouble tolerating plain water, try a flavored water. I never was much of a fan of flavored water pre-op, but it helped me so much after surgery. Second, if you are having bouts of nausea, ask the nurse for some alcohol prep pads (the ones they swipe you with before you get an injection), place it under your nose and keep inhaling. This may seem strange, but it kills nausea and worked great while I was waiting for my IV nausea meds to be administered. I hope my story didn't scare anyone off. Everyone responds to anesthesia differently, I guess I'm one of the unfortunate people who have a hard time with it. I also hear for most people the first night is by far the worst, and that was definitely the case for me. I started feeling much better by the next morning. Good luck to everyone!

I'm so sorry this happened to you and hopefully, you are stable now. I'm going in for surgery this Tuesday and I'm glad to have read your story. I read up on typical symptoms of stable line failure, but I have never considered the possibility of a hematoma. I really appreciate you sharing your story and hope you are on the mend from this.

Hey all, I'm in my pre-op diet phase right now, and I'm drinking 3 premier protein shakes and a cup of broth in the evenings. It's tough, but so far, it's going well. I am obviously very fatigued, but I feel like my calorie intake may be too low. I was getting ready to go out today and almost passed out. My stats are 6'0/309/35yo female. I'm taking in about 500 calories a day, give or take about 20/day. I asked my NUT if my calorie intake is too low and she said not to be concerned about it since I'm only on it for a little while and it shouldn't cause problems. So I just wanted to ask around, how many calories were you all getting in during the pre-op diet?

Hi, I'm on preop diet too, and going in for the sleeve on 5/23. Do you have any more information on why Premier Protein is bad? It's 30g protein per 160cals... that seems like a good ratio. Are the calories too low? I've been doing my liquid diet on premier protein shakes and I definitely feel worn out, but my NUT said they're ok to use preop. Anyway, good luck to you... we have less than a week to go!

Hang in there. The first 4 days are the worst, but it gets so much easier after that. Keep plugging away and take it day by day.

I went to my PCP to ask for weight loss help for 2 years. She never thought to suggest weight loss surgery. She never gave me any other help than to tell me to watch my calorie intake. To be fair, I never considered surgery for myself until I saw my Gyn this January and she recommended looking into it. I don't think it's fair of a PCP to tell you what their opinion is on bariatric surgery. They should be able to give an unbiased clearance to proceed (as long as you don't have any contraindications to surgery). But some are against it for their own reasons. If your doc happens to be the type to think negatively on WLS, just ask if you are healthy for surgery, and if so, whether they can just write the clearance for it. Try to stick to the facts and leave their opinion out of it. If PCP says no to surgery, ask why and what you would need to do in order to be cleared for surgery. If they're not willing to give it to you no matter what, I'd suggest seeing someone else. There are plenty of Dr's who have a good opinion on WLS, and you shouldn't be barred from this opportunity due to one Dr's opinion. Hopefully, your doc will approve, and my post is unnecessary, but just in case...

Congrats1 Go show that surgery who's boss

I would recommend you call your plan and ask them. It's most common to go through nutrition counseling by a credentialed professional, so if you don't like your PCP, maybe see if you can follow with a NUT that you like. If your plan allows medically supervised weight loss from a chiropractor, make sure they tell you that directly. I wouldn't recommend settling with "it shouldn't be a problem" type of answers.

Hang in there and ask for a supervisor when you speak with someone next. Sometimes the people quoting benefits mess up. They don't always know how to read the technical jargonish benefit plan language. There should be a specialist who is familiar with the benefits of your specific plan, so keep climbing the customer service ladder until you get confirmation of what your benefits are. Good luck! ETA: Also, ask for an Explanation of Benefits letter (EOB letter) to be mailed out to you.

I'm gonna have combined physician/dietician visits at 2weeks, 3months, 6months, and then yearly. Blood draws every 3 months.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but if I were in your shoes, I'd be looking to get a second opinion. From my understanding, the psych eval is to make sure you do not have any obvious contraindications to surgery, such as inability to give consent, untreated psychiatric problems, active eating disorders. This book issue... yes, I do think you should read it - having additional resources is always a good thing. But did they not tell you about reading the book PRIOR to your appointment? It sounds like there is agreement that you do not have an untreated eating disorder but you are still being treated as though you do? Again, this is just my opinion of what I would do, I'm not telling you to do it. Trust your gut.

Congrats to you! That's one less thing to worry about

Congrats, I hope you have a speedy recovery!

Good luck to you. Please check in when you can and let us know how you are feeling!

Check in with your insurance company. I'm not sure if this varies from state to state, but for IL there is a 15 calendar day time frame for the insurance company to respond. My paperwork was sitting with insurance doing nothing for an entire week because the first page of the fax was cut off in transmission. Not sure how that happens, but I had to twist so many arms to get my review done.