SippinAintEasy

4 weeks out. Just FINISHED what I prepared (1/4C thinned out refried beans, 1 medium poached egg, 1 teaspoon enchilada sauce, sprinkle of LF Mexican cheese blend...yum!) The only thing I've "finished" in a month other than protein drinks & feelin' fine.

Have you tried Fairlife milk? It's a lactose free, high protein (13g in 8 oz) milk you can get at most grocery stores. They even have a chocolate milk. The choc milk is a bit too high in sugar, but I just cut it with the regular fairlife milk. This was what got me through the full liquid phase. I couldn't stand protein shakes after like day two. All those chemicals burned my tongue. Pre-op I could chug em down and it wasn't too bad, but now, sippin on the nasty drinks is more than I can handle. I also found a palatable "high protein chocolate milk drink" in the chocolate milk section of Sprouts. I think it's called Rockin Refuel, the low sugar one. It's not the yummiest chocolate milk, but it was better than the premier & muscle milk shakes I was trying to get down. I feel for ya. My liquid phase was miserable. Hang in there. Stay hydrated. You got this.

Powercrunch bars are the best. Can't wait to eat them again. (4 Wks post op here)

Right there with you. The only artificial sweetener I use now is Stevia. Lots of people hate the the taste, but it doesn't bother me. I use a product called "sugar leaf" that is part sugar, part stevia. It's got 1/3 of the carbs/cals of regular sugar. I drink a bunch of vitamin water zero because it is made with stevia and erythritol and to me, it doesn't taste as sweet as aspartame and Splenda. It's becoming more prevalent. I think it's in oikos triple zero and the Chobani 100. Trader Joe's uses it a lot in their products, too.

Thanks,@KateBruin. It's crazy how different everyone's plans are. I think that's where I got confused. Reading all these posting boards, it seems pretty common that tuna/chicken salad are common. I'll call my NUT this week to double check. I'm fine sticking with the other soft foods, except I just FELT so much better with the concentrated substantial whole food nutrition in my body. If I can keep sampling chicken/tuna salad, I think my family would love me a little more these next couple weeks.

From my personal experience, any surgeon that doesn't welcome any amount of questions is not someone I would trust with this huge of a life change. I was all set to go with my first surgeon. Everything cleared, insurance approved, all the tests and then at my pre-op appointment the surgeon was so dismissive of me and my questions, visibly annoyed that I had questions and his staff lied to him about something, pinning the blame on me. I tried to shove down the inner warning bells in my head because I wanted to surgery so bad and didn't want to wait. I kept feeling uneasy about it. (There had been red flags all along with his office and their communication/information. Not to mention they treated me like an idiot.) I contacted my PCP and asked her opinion. She advised me to seek out someone I was comfortable with. When I got the clearance for the second opinion and went to the new surgeon it was NIGHT and DAY! Not only was his office incredibly competent and quick to correspond, they were all so kind and dignifying . I am so glad I listened to those inner warning bells. Yes, I had to wait an extra 3 months, but it was worth it to be under the care of a wonderful team that treated the whole person, not just the stomach. Granted, maybe the first guy would have been just fine in surgery. However, I can guarantee you there would have been no after support, nor would I have felt comfortable to ask all the questions that come up post op... and there have been a lot! Research shows that our bodies actually heal better when we feel heard and trust the practitioner to have our best interest at heart. Maybe your situation isn't as terrible as mine was, but I wouldn't be so quick to think that you're the problem. Any bariatric surgeon worth YOUR stomachs weight should know all the psychological needs that come along with WLS patients and never make you feel like you're the one with the problem for needing answers to your questions. This is just too big of a life change. You're worth getting your questions answered in a respectful, dignifying manner.

Thanks. It truly was accidental. Not accidental that I put it in my mouth, but accidental in that I thought it was "allowed." Back to eggs and cottage cheese.

I think as long as it's Tylenol based and doesn't interact with any of your other meds, it should be fine. Also, look into Zicam nasal swabs--no swallowing and it reduces the duration and severity of your cold like a boss! Get well soon

CW 259.8 GW 236 9/9/17

Messaged you

Have you looked into the Jay Robb egg protein shakes?

My surgeon's program at 2 weeks combines the puree and soft food stage. The NUT advised me to start slow with a list of 8-10 foods and then said after 2 or 3 days, if I'm tolerating those well, I can switch on over to soft foods. I, like you, have had NO problems tolerating anything except one protein drink when I was day 5 or 6. I can eat two melba toasts with 2 oz of hummus, sliced deli meat on a melba toast with greek cream cheese, tilapia, refried beans and cheese (this is the one that sits the heaviest). I haven't tried chicken or tuna salad yet, but im assuming they'll sit like the tilapia (which i mixed with 1/2 T of chipotle sauce...yumm!!!). I even had the sous vide egg white bites from starbucks this morning (took out the peppers though) and had no problems. (YAY!) Was only able to eat one, but took the second one home for lunch. That's right folks, breakfast and lunch only cost me $4. Ha ha! I, too, chew things really well and eat slow and stop as soon as I feel anything in my chest/tummy. It's been pretty successful. No babyfood for me!

Here to weigh in on the airplane thing: it really depends on the airline and how you carry your weight. Last time I flew, I was 5'7", size 22. On Southwest and Hawaiian Airlines, Frontier, I could wedge into the seat and buckle just fine, and put the armrest down (with some pressure it'd stay), United and American, not so much. For those flights I had brought my own seatbelt extender and was seated next to my child, so I didn't need to purchase another seat. (You have to be covert about the extender. They want you to use theirs, but I didn't want to have to ask.) BUT THEN!!! I discovered Southwests amazing "customer of size" policy. You have two options for getting a free second seat. (1) purchase an additional seat ahead of time and they will give you a full refund of the second seat afterwards. You have to call to book the COS second seat. Or (2) if you don't want to put the $$ upfront, when you check in at the ticket counter, tell them you need a customer of size seat as well. They discretely print you a second pass to lay on the seat next to you AND you get to preboard. It's the only benefit of being fat I've ever experienced in society. Best of luck!

....with grace towards myself. Absolutely we need to be vigilant in trying to avoid these pitfalls, but we also need to be kind to ourselves. I dunno about you, but when I had an emotional week pre-sleeve, I would eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's, or a large fry, double cheeseburger and a coke. You had what, 15 m&ms and 10 fries? Be nice to yourself. On a practical side, I like to do those adult coloring books when I'm anxious/stressed out. I also will sip hot tea (my fav is Good Earth sweet & spicy. It has a hint of sweetness and then yummy spices that tend to ward off the munchies), or put on inspiring/fun music. Hang in there!

I feel ya...currently in the soft foods/purrees stage. One thing my NUT suggested was to use Melba toast with the protein (cottage cheese, hummus, thin sliced deli meat.) the toasts basically dissolve into mush as you chew them. It has really helped me get my protein in w/whole food. I know ppl get all anti-carb crazy, but at this point I'm more worried about my hair/muscles, not an extra lb or 2.

Yeah....unless you've got other things going on, you should be fine with OTC vitamins. I had the sleeve done 8/14. The next day I was swallowing B1(100mg)$5 , chewing Centrum Chewables (2/day) $8. Two weeks out I now swallow a D3 (2000IU) $6 and take b12 $5 sublingually(melts under your tongue). Will add calcium & iron in a couple weeks. Every surgeon is somewhat different, but there's no reason you vitamins should be costing that much.

Doing pretty well all things considered. The first 10 days were rough- exhaustions, some pain, getting enough liquids in. Now, I have pretty much no pain at all unless I overdo it on housework. I just get really tired really fast. I'm tolerating liquids and purrees/soft foods well. Haven't had any real nausea and no reflux or anything. It took me a few tries to settle on a protein drink I could get down the first couple weeks, but now I am far less sensitive. It's amazing how quickly the body changes and adjusts. I'm down 20 lbs from my surgery date. It's kinda crazy. Keep in touch and let me know how your surgery goes. You can PM me with any questions and I'd be happy to answer.

Weight on 9/1: 264 Goal: 236

I was sleeved on 8/14 & just got home from my 2 week post-op with the surgeon. Excited to see I am down 20 lbs in two weeks. Even more excited to start purees and soft foods today!!!! That first bite of cottage cheese was delectable. The first 10 days were rough for me, but my body has seemed to have adjusted somewhat. I'm feeling a lot better, almost like this may just be worth it. (If you had asked me on day 10, I probably would have chewed your head off--either from anger or hunger.) Here's to the next phase of my journey!

Never in a million years did I expect to see Wildomar on this forum! I'm in Temecula and just had my sleeve done on 8/14 in Poway. Best of luck to you!

This heatwave is ridonkulous!!! I'm 16 days postop in SoCal and have been paranoid of getting dehydrated... I feel like I look like a hamster, constantly drinking little drips.

Seeing as you brought it up....I had a bean in my poo 10 days post op?!?! Our intestines are horders apparently. [emoji23]

Same here-wanted to avoid malabsorption. Also, sleeve has less potential complications and less chance of dumping syndrome. My surgeon made a good point- statistically, RNY patients tend to lose a little more than sleeve patients . However, he explained that the majority of the health benefits come from losing the first 50-60#s, not the last 5-10. In his opinion, all things equal, the sleeve is usually the wiser, less risky route. Of course if you have some other health issues, that might change which course is better.

My go to explanation is that I had surgery for some digestive issues. Only one person has probed further and I told them it wasn't my fav thing to talk about because it's kinda personal. I think people just assume I had some bowel issue. I debated not telling anyone anything but that didn't seem realistic. Now, post op, ppl understand why I'm eating weird or less and I don't feel like I have to hide my fatigue, and I've been given the space and understanding to recover without having to "hide."

And in an earlier post you said "put off these kind of thoughts..." That's stuffing. Maybe you meant something else, but QueenTiff is right when she says you just basically told her to stuff her emotions. Maybe you were never given space to express and process your own emotions. Most men are not. Your interactions on this thread are quite hateful. This could be a good opportunity for you to stop speaking, start listening and processing your own "put off" thoughts so that others around you can have the space to do so too without such harsh criticism.