Akka

Constipation will be a thing if you don't get enough fluids. Eat Popsicles, drink water or crystal light, or hot tea. It is so hard to do, but the more you drink, the easier it is on your bowels. The more protein you have, then you need more fluid as well. Doc said not to worry too much about the protein the first few weeks. Liquid, liquid, liquid.

My dietitian and doc do not allow protein shakes the first week unless they are watered down to a clear consistency. Only CLEAR liquids the first week. Sounds like you had a ton of gas moving around causing the pain. I'm feeling a little better today, and it's day 4 for me, and I still have not met my daily fluid or protein goals. However, I am adding more each day.

Update Friday - Ensure clear is easy to drink. I set my alarm to go off every 15 minutes, and I take a 1oz drink of the ensure and a 1oz drink of water. I'm using the little clear 1oz medicine cup the hospital gave me to make it seem like less of a challenge! Ensure clear has a ton of sugar though: 180 cal, 18g Sugar, 37g carb, 8g protein, 10oz fluid.

I just ordered the lemon flavor. Will get it on Saturday. Thank you. I had never heard of this. A friend is also going to bring me a pack of Ensure Clear tonight to try.

I just started at the end of day 2 post op. We'll see how long it lasts... I'm so not looking forward to a long period.

My doc said that it could hurt in your chest cavity and that was normal. Walking is the only way to alleviate it, supposedly it is reabsorbed into the body through activity. Walk every hour.

The plan they gave me at the doc said only clear liquids the first week. So that would rule out the protein shakes, yogurt, etc.

I only want to drink Water. I tried adding Isopure non-flavored whey Protein to some hot tea but it tasted horrible. I have no desire to eat anything, or drink anything but water. I've also just started my period today. Lovely. Please give me advice on how to structure my day to get in the 48-64 oz of Fluid and 40-60g of protein that I'm supposed to have the first week.

How did you finally decide to go for it? Each time I felt the urge to shed the extra 100-150 lbs, I would check into bariatric surgery. I would talk to friends and family. I would sometimes go to the initial consultation with the surgeon and even to the psychologist to discuss the options. Each time I walked away from those conversations with doubt and fear. If I would just exercise, it would be easy to lose weight. If I would just eat healthier foods, it would be easy to lose weight. The years passed, and the weight increased. I joined a lousy gym, and didn't go because I had no one to care for my children long enough to spare me the time. Then, I joined a great gym, hired a personal trainer, and got serious. Expensively serious. A year later, I had a little more muscle mass, a lot more strength and endurance, but still the same size and weight. I never changed my diet, so the exercising may have kept me from gaining, but it wasn't enough to reduce the weight. Lesson learned: throwing money and time at the problem doesn't help. A couple of years earlier, the doc said I was pre-diabetic. Said I should start taking Metformin. Said no exercise or diet would help me because my body was storing everything as fat. I took the medicine for a week, then promptly had my first ever anxiety attack, while driving. I couldn't breath. I couldn't swallow. I thought I was going to pass out and wreck the car. I decided to never take Metformin again. So what if my sugar levels were a little high, and so what if I was almost diabetic. I wasn't - so it didn't matter to me. Then. In late September of last year, a splitting headache put me in the hospital with Viral Meningitis. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, I had the Herpes virus in my spinal Fluid. I didn't even know I had Herpes. No outbreaks, no issues. Doc says maybe it stemmed from the chicken Pox I did have when I was a child. Other docs said no. During my 4 day hospital tour, the nurses decided I had high blood pressure, and then low blood pressure, and full blown diabetes, and a UTI, and low Calcium, in addition to the virus cruising around my spine and brain. It was a wake-up call. Something had to be done to fix my body. I signed up with my first ever Primary Care Physician, based on a recommendation from my brother. I went to talk to him, and it cost $200 just for a visit. I didn't let that deter me. I was on a mission to Fix Me. The doc was patient, funny, sarcastic, and said you don't need any medicine. The hospital just wanted to cover themselves. You could fix all of this with bariatric surgery. I shrugged and said no thanks. I'll try the healthy eating option first. Then I talked to friends again. This time I had two actual bariatric success stories in my family. They both had the sleeve, and lost over 100 each. They looked fantastic. Aside from some strange new food allergies, all was fine. Then in a one on one with my manager, he asked me if I'd ever considered bariatric surgery. Out of the blue. Funny that. Well, he went on to say that his wife, his daughter, and two of his cousins have had successful sleeve surgeries with a particular doctor named Charlotte Hodges, and that I should consider it. I looked at him and said, "I will think about it." On October 13, 2016, I walked into the New You Bariatric Center and said, "This is Deborah!" Now, I'm sitting here, with a strong desire to pour out my experiences, because I'm still afraid, still have doubts, but my surgery for a full gastric bypass and two hernia repairs is scheduled for Monday. On my birthday!