Losebig

You definitely need to call your surgeon if you haven’t already. Fainting is not normal and could be dangerous depending on what is causing it (could be severe nutritional deficiency, blood pressure etc - but not normal). You should be able to hold down liquids, so want to get that checked out. Nausea meds could help, but you could have something else going on. If nothing else they can do an IV to get you back hydrated and that might help everything else.

My office said every other day or so, but no longer than 3 days. They suggested 1/2 to 3/4 a dose of miralax daily. That has worked wonders and I went from severe issues the first 2 weeks to having no issues now.

It kept me from going home the second day because they started as we did the discharge paperwork. The nurse did an IV while I was doubled over to get in pain meds and something to stop the spasms. They said it was probably due to swelling pushing on nerves and everything being inflammed. I had a LOT of swelling due to the hernia repair and some of the nerves go through that area I guess. The good news is it caused no damage and after a little extra TLC went away. I ended up getting a full work up and CT scan the day after I went home because my heart rate went crazy. Everything looked fine and they theorized that it was caused by electrolyte issues due to them pumping too much in the surgery or due to adrenaline because of severe pain (I couldn’t get pain meds in because of the hernia swelling). That episode earned me a nice trip in an ambulance, another 4 days in the hospital and a full work up for leaks, blood clots and heart issues. Luckily everything came back totally fine and by 2 weeks out the spasms were gone and haven’t come back. All that is a long way of saying if they get bad and you can’t get stuff in call the surgeon and get ahead of it!

Its really common to need to change blood pressure meds a few time after surgery (and hopefully get off them all together). If you can check your BP a few times and see if its staying too low and talk to the Dr about changing meds. The spasms are something I had and they SUCKED. I ended up having some extra hospital time because they prevented me from getting anything down and I had some issues come up because of it. The good news is they went away after about 2 weeks. Ativan actually helped reduce the spasms if I caught them early and could still get a pill down. If not I’d end up dry heaving for hours with severe pain. On the sound you describe I haven’t heard that or had that. I’d just keep an eye on it and see if you have any other weird symptoms like a fever, swelling, etc. Hope you feel better soon.

I forgot to ask how many and found out day of (some do 3 holes VS 5). The incisions are so tiny that for me 4 of the 5 aren’t even really visible 2 months out. The bigger one does look like a cut a little less than an inch long, the others are just slight discoloration, but no real cut. I have trouble finding all of them now. Unless you’re planning on stomach modeling you should be fine with the regular ones, they’ll mostly be invisible and to anyone looking they won’t appear to be surgical scars because they are so tiny. One thing they did say is keep them out of the sun for the first year or they will darken. My stretch marks and beauty marks are way more prominent.

Thank you both. I love the cheese it idea! I'll give it a shot.weird thing is I didn't even like them pre surgery. Agree on the carbs, if you eat them you just want more. Definitely should be easier after a couple no carb days

Bright red means its near the exit, so not as concerning as dark red. It's likely hemroids. Stool softener should help and it should go away fairly quickly. If it doesn't talk to your team. Unfortunately its fairly common with hard stool or if you are constipated and straining. The joy of WLS :-)

That pork sounds amazing! I'm fairly boring food wise, so the best I've had recently is ground turkey cooked with taco seasoning in a bowl mixed with a little bit of sour cream and refried beans. Lots of flavor and tons of protein. Usually I do 3oz of turkey, .5 oz of sour cream and 1 oz of fat free refried.

Definitely a few trolls on here lately....

I’ve had this for sure. I have a very short temper and get super angry over nothing and then am fine. I’ve gotten better now that I’m aware of it and I try to give everyone much more benefit of the doubt. I don’t want to attack people or anything, I just have NO patience. Part of it is hormones for sure, the other part is I have no mental energy if that makes sense, so anything that takes energy is frustrating.

I have inflamatory arthritis, but the surgeon thought I had gout (was mis entered in the chart). He told me a flare up after surgery is very common and I couldn’t take steroids to help or NSAIDS. He said usually it improves once you lose the weight. The condition I have is sort of similar, but not uric acid related (just random joints get super inflammed and steroid injections are the only thing that helps). Luckily since surgery I’ve had less inflammation. So I’d just be aware you may not be able to use normal meds right after surgery and may have a flare, but long term you’ll be ok.

We’re not suppossed to have many carbs until 6 - 12 months out. Potatos, pasta, bread all expand a bit in your stomach. There were a lot of restrictions in the first month. I had grapes a month out as well as other fruit and it’s fine, but with my protein goals there isn’t much room for it. Alchol isn’t suppossed to be until the 4 month mark.

Amazing how little fills you up. How do you do with the spice? I’ve had a little pepper jack, but holding back on spicier stuff for now.

Yes. Emerson hospital center for weight loss has an excellent program. Total time was probably 3 months, but could have been 2 (I delayed because of work). The program is fantastic and you can do a free online or in person seminar to get an overview. They are great initially and do a full program with nutritionists etc. post care has been great too with regular follow ups, nutrition testing etc. you get a comprehensive packet covering diet stages and everything else. The program tracks their own stats and complication rates are well below national averages and weight loss is above average. They do hundreds per year and often do revisions if other centers had issues. Not sure on costs as I was insured and haven’t seen a bill. They do have folks that work with you on costs including insurance and payment plans. I think they may be able to get some aspects covered via insurance for you. They do have info about each insurance and their requirements so it is worth a call.

Congrats! Getting closer

I’ve done pulled chicken and as long as you chew a lot it is good and a bit less fatty. You should be fine, but watch the portion if you are sensitive to fatty items

A couple ideas for you. If you are in MA it may be cheaper for you to buy a health plan on the state exchange that covers the surgery. Unfortunately open enrollment just closed so you would need a qualifying event or to wait until November to enroll. There are some great programs in ma. Lowell general and Emerson hospital both have fantastic and well rated programs. They can also help figure out insurance options.

I haven’t had the pleasure yet, but if I eat too fast or too much I get severe pain, feel really naseaus and wish I’d throw up to make it stop. After about 30 minutes it eases, but until then any activity, conversation or anything but sitting is horrible.

Haha, I was saying the same thing the other day. My 2 and 3 year old eat more than I do. They do notice too, for a while my son refused to eat because he didn’t see me eating much and wanted to be like me. Pretty amazing when you think about how little we’re eating!

I had the same issue, it got better. In the meantime if you still have it you can try melatonin (get ones that dissolve). They can be taken in the middle of the night if needed. Benedryl also works well (I use half a dose). It's the ingredient in simply sleep or Tylenol pm.

I find warm beverages go down much more quickly. I use light hot chocolate and 24 oz of water. I can drink it in 15 minutes or so and it’s a great way to catch up on liquids. I travel with packets of it. I often will do 2 of those a day and 1-2 powerade. I also carry a small ziplock of each days vitamins, they are the hardest part because they have to be separated so I use my phone timer. For travel protein I find a piece of chicken can be gotten almost anywhere. I also will order a hamburger, hot dog or sausage and only eat the meat, which covers a lot of possibilities. Drinking in the car works well and like others I try and drink a lot in the am. I ate 3 oz of chicken breast in a baggie yesterday while driving because I missed lunch and was behind on protein.

The things I packed that I used the most were a pair of sweat pants (keeps you from mooning everyone when you walk around), an eye mask (lets you sleep even if your roommate has a light on all night) and ear plugs also for sleep. I used my phone and ipad a bit, but not a lot, most of the time I was asleep or walking. I was able to shower at the hospital and brining my own hypo allergenic shampoo and soap was important and useful.

Defiitely agree. I’ve had some of the foods that used to be awesome (my glazed donut) and they just don’’’t have the same effect. They’r not worth eating and whatever they used to give me before they don’t give me now. That’s great from a eating well perspective, its bad from a coping perspective because even little amounts of those foods aren’t interesting anymore. Definitely a change. I’m hoping for an exercise addiction.

You’re doing great. Just keep pushing, losses can be lumpy. We share a date, l’ve lost a little over more than 10 lbs more than you since surgery (296 to 253 as of this am).... so we’re not too far apart. I’m a guy, which means faster loss most likely. My program says I’m in the middle of the ranges they expect, so you would be right in range too. Some lose faster or slower, but we all end up the same. Hang in there!

Let us know what the dr says. Don’t mess with it, it could range from very minor to extremely serious depending on what is bulging through