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dandelion247

Gastric Sleeve Patients
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About dandelion247

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    Advanced Member

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    Female

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  1. People love to feel like they have a stake in your body, even though it's not THEIR body. By telling you to stop losing before you've reached a truly healthy weight, they're inserting a little bit of control, or attempting to. It's not up to them at all. It's entirely up to you. I like the response above -- just tell them you're working with your doctor to determine your ideal healthy weight and you'll be sticking to that plan. Best of luck! I too am 5'5" and am currently 181.5, so we're almost exactly the same size right now. I have no intention of stopping here either!
  2. dandelion247

    New subbie!

    I was twisting my body up in weird ways just to get up and down the stairs in our house. When I had to approach stairs, I'd have to psyche myself up to use them. Getting into and out of chairs was becoming hard. I have bad knees, and the extra hundred pounds was making them fail even faster. One day I realized I was heavy enough and met the co-morbidity requirement for weight loss surgery and that was the day I made up my mind. I had a good run, eating whatever and as much as I felt like for 46 years; it was time to get it under control and give myself the best chance of being alive to see my son to adulthood.
  3. dandelion247

    How long were you off work?

    I work from home but took two weeks off. I'm glad I did. The lethargy and lack of energy would have been impossible for my job. Though it's a desk job, I need to be sharp and to be able to think clearly and quickly, and there was no doing that for at least two weeks. More realistically? I think it was 3-4 weeks before I could say I was starting to feel remotely mentally sharp again.
  4. dandelion247

    Full Fat Mayo, cottage cheese, and yogurt

    Another hand up for whole fat. I can only eat the full-fat cottage cheese. Anything less and it tastes gross to me. Same with mayo or any other fat-based food. I politely ignore the suggestions to eat sugar-substitutes as well. My taste buds HATE the fake flavors and I know they're bad for my body, so I'm not going to sweat a tiny amount of real sugar here and there.
  5. I no longer desire sweet things, which I suppose is good! I'm almost 6 weeks past my surgery, so who knows if this taste preference will come back eventually. I also have always loved spice in my food but am avoiding it religiously now. Even too much black pepper is noticeable. I think my tastes are becoming tied to how well my new gastric sleeve tolerates it. If my stomach isn't happy, I begin to associate a distaste with whatever food is causing that. Unfortunately, at this point in the process, a LOT of foods are causing distress. I'm trying to be calm and hope it all settles down and eventually I can sample more foods with less worry about that.
  6. dandelion247

    Normal?

    Hi, I know this topic is from last year, but these thoughts are on my mind too as I approach five weeks out from surgery. I struggle every day with queasiness, on and off, which I suspect is related to dehydration, and I struggle with figuring out what foods my stomach will like and which it won't, and knowing exactly when to stop eating. Going one bite over is really a punishment. Doing everything just right to minimize my discomfort is exhausting and time-consuming for now, and I too am hoping that this gets less overwhelming and odd over time. And, I too hope I can eat volume that better approaches a normal small meal, as opposed to some micro-meal that DOES draw attention when in a social environment. I too have friends who are full of concern and who watch what I'm eating closely. No, it's not in our heads, sometimes people are right out there with their gawking and awkward questions.
  7. dandelion247

    Why Low Fat?

    So glad to see this topic! I've been eating full-fat cottage cheese, as well as full-fat cheese as a sprinkled topping on my pureed foods. Sometimes I mix a small dollop of sour cream in. My skin and hair are so dry, and my calories are so low, I can't imagine any good reason to limit the fat in the small amount of food and calories I'm getting. It's not like I'm even close to 1000 calories a day -- how will dairy fat hurt me? Also, food tastes so much better with a little fat in it. I might as well not be utterly repulsed by what little I'm eating.
  8. dandelion247

    Resolution of Sleep Apnea

    Further update since using the gel for 4 days -- It's helping me stay asleep longer (which is great) but I believe it's contributing to a new low-grade queasiness I've been feeling pretty much since the day after I started using it. I think the xylitol that sweetens it is causing my still-healing stomach to revolt. So now I'm faced with a bit of a Sophie's Choice -- sleep better with nausea during the day, or sleep worse with (hopefully!!) less/no nausea. I don't know if there are gels like this that are unsweetened. I'll be searching for them, because I find sweet tastes revolting these days, and besides, I hate fake sugars.
  9. Thank you so much, James, for posting the link to your PDF. I find it especially useful to me right now. I'm three weeks post-op, and looking ahead to the transition from puree to solids. I hope to try a few of your recipes.
  10. dandelion247

    Resolution of Sleep Apnea

    I've been using the Biotene dry mouth gel to assist with the crazy post-surgery CPAP dry mouth problem. It's worked better than the mouthwash, which works better than the spray. Might be worth a try, my fellow sufferers!
  11. habee, some of your urges will definitely be quelled by surgery and the restriction in place afterwards. I can tell you there's still plenty of head-hunger in me -- I find myself daydreaming about lavish Indian buffet meals... LOL... but, I know that even an attempt at 2 oz. of that sort of food would make me very physically uncomfortable, so there's zero chance of straying from my doctor's orders. People like us need to find something else healthy to substitute the pleasure we gleaned from food. I'm still figuring that out for myself. Best of luck to you!
  12. dandelion247

    Ladies: have you noticed changes in your flow?

    Thanks for mentioning it -- I'll go looking for those posts too!
  13. dandelion247

    Ladies: have you noticed changes in your flow?

    I have the same issue. I was sleeved on 8/16, and I noticed about a week ago that I was having a period, which I haven't had for at least 3 years, maybe more, due to my Mirena IUD (the one with hormone in it). I'm guessing (but could be wrong?) that it's because we store estrogen in our fat and now that our body is burning our fat, that estrogen is back in circulation. I really, really hope it all stops soon, but so far, I've had a light flow for a week. Ugh.
  14. I wish I could say genetics, or a thyroid problem, but for me, it's been a food addiction for pure pleasure. Ever since puberty hit, I've loved food for the pure pleasure of its flavor. Not sure if this qualifies as emotional eating, as I don't necessarily eat to assuage emotional pain, but I have always sought out giant portions and high-quality gourmet food. I have always loved restaurants and more recently, got into cooking complex, rich concoctions at home. I am now on a completely different path and it's surreal -- but necessary. I had my run with all that gourmand enjoyment. Now it's time to enjoy other things, like better health, a clearer head, and hopefully more energy. Seems like a lot of us eventually have a moment where we realize, "I can't keep doing this. I'll be put in an early grave."
  15. dandelion247

    August Sleevers-How are you doing??

    I was sleeved on August 16th. Was able to tolerate liquids and walk a bunch while in the hospital, so they released me after one overnight. Here are my impressions so far: Week 1 -- Hell. Most protein drink formulations contain fake sugars, which I have pretty much hated with a passion since I knew they existed. I hate the flavors and the way my body feels consuming them. So, drinking anything sweet was grating and caused me great resentment. Probably not rational, but I'm giving myself a pass. I also had a bad day about 5 days into recovery -- just crying and feeling terrible for myself all day long. On day 7, I turned a corner and felt better. Gas pains: I was fortunate and never had really bad gas pains. I had them flare up every so often, in my shoulders, but they subsided quickly. Sleeping: I created a weird pillow arrangement in my bed to allow me to sleep on my back with my upper body slightly elevated and my knees slightly bent and feet elevated. I've loved it so much, I'm continuing with it even though I'm healed enough now to sleep on my side. I took the prescribed pain meds for 6 nights after being released, to assist with sleep. After that, I stopped taking pain meds and went back to taking Ambien. Going to the bathroom: Where before I was regular, I am now lucky if I can go twice a week, it seems. Hoping this changes. Apnea: I have sleeve apnea and use a full-face mask. Combine this with not getting quite enough fluids yet, and the dry mouth that is caused is epic. I wake up and my mouth feels like lizard skin. Yuck! Not comfortable. Week 2 -- Slightly less hellish than Week 1. Took walks around the neighborhood. Was fortunately able to stay out of work a full two weeks which helped a lot with stress levels, and I'm sure that assisted with my healing. Week 3 -- I'm in the midst of it, and now I'm on puree foods (big step up from full fluids!). I'm back at work and am cleared for going in the pool. Still feeling mournful over the loss of the ability to just eat whatever my appetite craves, but I know this is for the best. Went and got a mani/pedi today to soothe myself. Trying to find other pleasures to replace excessive gourmet food! I feel a LOT better on purees, because at least now it's real food and not processed protein drinks and protein broths from powder. I was cleared to eat scrambled egg, cottage cheese, yogurt, and any puree concoction high in protein. Water: Still not getting 64 oz. a day. It's a work in progress. Vitamins: Not getting 3 chewables in a day yet. Mostly getting 2 a day. Another work in progress. Protein: Probably getting close to 50g a day, so I think I'm doing well there.

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