Kay07

Hi everyone! Quick question, does anyone have any tricks for managing pain at an incision site? Out of the 5 I have, only one hurts. Aleve/Tylenol doesn’t seem to work on it. Thoughts?

You all are so strong and ambitious, a great inspiration

Taoz I am right there with you! 3 days post op and Aunt Flo came 2 weeks early. This suuuuucks!!!!

So I pre-cooked a lot of food for my family. But they apparently ate it all the great pigs. But my husband refuses to allow me to cook because he thinks it’s in humane to make me prepare something I can’t eat. He’s a gem [emoji4]. But I still try to do it anyways.

This entire post had me smiling First, you should ween yourself back into exercise so as not to send your body for a total spin. Walking a dog can be a great exercise, unless your walking my dog who literally stops every five feet to cower from some anxiety causing event, like a moving leaf, a flying bird that comes within 200ft, or a car driving past the road, or good lord a kitten within her visibility lol! As for moving... that is definitely expertise... most strenuous! I hate moving.

Trademark that!

Hi Debbie! I am also from the Boston area, and MGH is an amazing establishment. I did not have bypass, but I did have the sleeve 2 days ago that also consisted of a hernia repair (although she said mine was small). Truthfully? You are going to be fine. It really is going to make a HUGE difference. The gallstone thing, that is a possibility. I would discuss it with your surgeon. I actually had my gallbladder removed several years ago due to acute attacks and they are NOT pleasant. They may decide to remove your gallbladder alltogether. But recovery is what you make of it. If you don't follow the guide book from your surgeons, then recovery CAN be difficult. But if you do, it can also be amazing. A few rough days followed by living a new life. This tool can and will open so many doors and windows for your life that you never knew existed. Again, MGH is amazing. If it hadn't been a PITA for me to drive into Boston for each appointment, I may have gone there. I had Dr. Julie Kim who is the cheif of Bariatric Surgery at Tufts and Mount Auburn and she was AMAZING.

It's okay to be super conflicted. Many people find comfort in food. Though my weight gain was medical, I didn't help it by eating chocolate all the time that's for sure. As someone who also loves to cook, this was hard on me as well. I make delicious homemade bread that I now won't be able to eat. I just started baking a few months ago and was making some crazy awesome cookies and deliciously pretty cakes that my family are now all constantly demanding... and I can't eat any of it. It's hard, its a mind f***. BUT it's okay. I've found new recipes to try. New angles to come in at. I am addicted to my spiralizer and making veggie pasta. (although I am now 2 days post-op so I won't be eating THAT for a month or so!) The true trick is to divert your obsession into something healthier until you can work through your food issues. Food is a wonderful thing, and life is too short to not enjoy it. But for the next several months, you life should be about you reaching a level of health that will allow you to open that restaurant, instead saying "Big Daddy's Bistro" haha So moral of the story, its okay to feel emotional and want to celebrate a few food funerals. But just remember that your health trumps all the food highs. Good luck with your surgery, and good luck forging a newer and greater path for you and your family!

Not sure if by a couple of days, but my surgeon had mentioned that if I found the thicker fluids (protein shakes/yogurt/pudding/jello items harder to handle that I should focus on my fluid intake for the first 3 days. I also purchased protein water, so that actually helped me significantly. I mixed it with benefiber and diluted the taste with extra water so it turned at 15.9oz 15g protein water to a 24oz, and was able to get LOTS of fluid, AND LOTS of protein. If you dilute it, its not too sweet. Another option you can do with the shakes is mix them with liquid. I mix my premier protein with my decaff coffee. I love it! I got 10g of protein in (about 4oz of premier protein) mixed that with 4ox decaff coffee and drank it over the course of 40 minutes for a decent fluid/protein group.

Hi Ryla, What does your surgeon/nuitritionist say? Additionally, why don't you post your daily meals here? A lot of the vets on here may be able to offer advice.

I had hep shots in the hospital 2x a day. Didn’t have to continue them after leaving hospital though. As for pain relief, they said I could use Aleve capsules. They are smaller than the Tylenol and actually work on pain. They also sent me home with Oxycodone but I’m trying to steer clear of those. I did have the delaudid, but they also gave me toradol who he’d helped me stay off the delaudid.

Best of luck Coppola’s!!! You will do great

I am so sorry you had a rough time! My first day was a horror, and I will say the pain is worse today than yesterday, but mostly on 1 incision site which is the one I believe they pulled the stomach through. Lot's of that "pulling" sensation there. I hope it goes very smooth from here on out!

I know there is still small traces of caffeine in decaff coffee. My team lets me drink that, which is good because I still love my premier protein + decaff coffee post-surgery.

I am very interested in this as well. Especially if people decided to get a personal trainer. I was hoping to join at 2 or 3months post op with a PT once or twice a week. They are just so expensive around here.

Ah, no just the Milk of Magnesia for me.

Thank you Kim!

You know what they say about great minds!

Depends on what you mean by cleanse. I had to do 48hours of liquid diet only with Milk of Magnesia taken each night. So I took MoM Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday night. Drank only liquids Sat and Sun, then had my surgery on Monday.

Hi there. I voted 3 months but it varies significantly from person to person depending on insurance. Some insurances do not carry stipulations such as a 6 month diet program. Mine had no conditions other than going to a center of excellence. My first appointment was 3/15 for orientation, weigh-in and consult with Dietician, then 3/22 w/dietician, 4/5 with psych/surgeon, then 4/6 for final clearance with dietician. I submitted my paperwork that day and was approved in a few hours and was scheduled form my surgery which I just had on the 14th. So all in all, it was about 2 months for me, but I will admit my case seemed a bit faster than the norm. At the last minute, my insurance introduced a policy that would require 6 months of supervised dieting, and so we scrambled to get my approval in before that went into effect. My advice, contact your insurance and find out first hand what requirements they have. That will give you a good idea of what to expect.

I hope you do as well! I followed the advice on here, overhydrate the day before so the dehydration doesn't make you too sick walk as much as possible. I think those two things greatly helped me. The first day was ROUGH I won't like about that.

I am sorry ti has been rough for you! Have you tried focusing fluids over protein at this point? My surgeon recommended that too. I also purchased protein waters to be a bit easier to keep down.

First and foremost, I am sorry about the delay. I had something similar happen to me where they said may 7th, which then got bumped to may 14th. Although I had a much longer warning time, but it still sucks having to wait. Second, I actually took my surgeon's advice and put my scale away. The scale is never kind to me. I always feel like I've lost more than I actually do, and get discouraged. My team believes scales reinforce the wrong aspect of the surgery. Their motto is: "The numbers on a scale shouldn't define whether or not we succeed, its how we feel that should define our success." Even my nutritionist wouldn't set an amount or goal weight, although according to the charts I should be 135 (I think I'd look terrible that low). Instead we set milestones. Such as I want to shop in regular stores, or I want to be able to do a 5k without feeling like my heart is going to straight up beat out of my chest! Putting the scale away is not for everyone though. That's what I've decided to do, but again do what makes you happy and what you think will help ease you!

Good morning! Like you, my schedule is always on the go go go. I was worried about maintaining the pre-op diet after returning to work, which admittedly I have not done yet as much surgery was just 2 days ago. However I started the diet before leaving for surgery, and was able to successfully eat on the go and still fit in line with the diet. My office has a cafeteria, but we also have plenty of restaurants on the good. I would bring just a small sandwich bag of 1 scoop of unflavored protein powered and mix it with soup broth I would buy from the cafe or restaurant. I was able to successfully keep up this way. I also purchased things I could leave there, like Greek yogurt single serve cups, or oatmeal packets. The option I favor is packing a full day's worth of meals in my lunchbox thought but totally understand that this is not always a possibility!

How’s everyone doing post op?!