notmyname

I’m no help, but just wanted to say I’m jealous! I’ve wanted to move to Australia ever since I spent some time there in grad school!

So, I'm taking the Bariatric Fusion vitamins - you take 4 a day, at least 2 hours apart. While I usually space them throughout the day, my NUT said it was OK to take 2 together. So, here's my dilemma - I ran out of vitamins at work, so I took one this AM, then 2 when I got home at 9PM. I won't be awake at 11. I can't decide if I go ahead and take another around 10 to get my 4 in today, or assume its too much too close together so the last med won't absorb? Any advice? thanks! PS - already packed a week's worth of vitamins to take to work tomorrow so this won't happen again.

I take bariatric fusion. They’re all-in with iron so I only need to remember to take one type Of vitamin.

I had the sleeve and hiatal hernia repair October 29 and took two months off playing my french horn. Went back to rehearsal today and by the end of the 1.5 hours, I had some pain in my right abdomen when I played. Is this normal? Just my diaphragm getting back in shape? Or should I be concerned about playin? I'll ask my doctor when I see him on Friday, but he hasn't had many musician patients. Thanks!

Looks like you had your surgery about a week before I did. Good luck on Friday!

Mine was (roughly): 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months (ends up being 2.5 months), 6 months (more like 5.5 months), 1 year, then yearly after that if all is going well. I've done the 2 week and 6 week and so far I haven't had any blood tests. And the 6 wk/3mo appointments are with his nurse practitioner, not the surgeon. I like the schedule Ed_NW posted because it tells you what to expect and also lets you get your blood tests before hand. I suspect (but don't know) that the'll order blood tests at 3 months, but it'd have to be at the appt since I'm going on Friday.

You might also see if she can go to support group. The support group at my hospital is for patients and families. Several folks have brought their families. One woman brought her mother and the mom asked a lot of questions to get info from other people who have done the surgery (honestly, she monopolized two support group meetings, but that had more to do with this particular mom vs. bringing parents at all).

Reflux is a decently common complication of the sleeve. Does your doc have you on a PPI? Many will have people on PPIs for several months after surgery. I'd call your doc and ask if he can prescribe something. Although burping may not be reflux, it just may be your new tum getting used to digesting food.

A lot depends on her reason for concern. With my brother/SIL, I talked to them about the research about the likelihood of someone my weight losing and keeping it off, the mortality rate for someone my weight staying so heavy, the success rate of surgery, and the (low) complication rate of surgery. That helped them feel better.

Thanks. That was my first inclination. I’m just trying to make sure I follow instructions.

If you're a spreadsheet person, another one I created was for my weight. I log my weight once a week, then have it calculate my weekly loss, average weekly loss, total loss from my high weight, monthly loss (once a month), % from my high weight, loss from starting the pre-op liquid diet, loss from surgery, % EWL, and BMI. I also have it chart my loss from my surgery date, with a trendline (so even if I lose less than I'd like one week, I can see that the trend is still good). I also created trendlines showing what it would look like to lose 60% EWL in 6 months and 12 months and 100% EWL in 12 months. I like seeing that my current trend is below all of those (although I know it could go above as I'm further out). It helps me keep it all in perspective.

I wore a mumu home. No bra. Just my $12 cheap ass night shirt that came about to my knees and a jacket. And bring a pillow or something to put under the seatbelt - it can get tight on the incisions (although my hospital gave me a pillow for this purpose).

A while back when I was spending too much on Amazon, I took my credit card off of their system. I set an Amazon budget and bought myself a gift card in that amount - and when it was gone, I wasn't allowed to Amazon any more until the next budget period. It helped. As for walking - at first, just do what you can and increase it a bit each day. I think my SIL had be walking about ever hour and a half - starting from when I was in the hospital. I think we started with about one hall-length and got up to 6 loops around the hall before I was discharged. But the important thing is to do it.

If you get constipated - stay on top of it. I'd never been before, so I didn't really think about how bad it would be after not going for over a week. And it was bad. Most painful thing I'd had after the first day after surgery. Think about how your brain works and work with it to make sure you get your liquids/proteins/walking/breathing in. I like logs, etc. So to stay on track, I had a google doc that had a chart on it. It had a space for my required medications, A food/liquid log (time, what I had, how many oz fluid, how much protein), a place to log my exercise (in the beginning, the # of laps around my bunch of townhomes, how many minutes), a place to log my breathing exercises, and a place for notes. I kept this up for about 2 months. I was also tracking my food in Sparkpeople. Now I just track food/liquids/exercise in Sparkpeople. But, this doesn't work for everyone. Maybe you just need checkboxes or something. Really think about how your brain works to best track your needs. It made me feel better to see that I was getting a bit extra liquid/protein/exercise each day, even when I felt like I was woefully low.

I did a lot of streaming. And I watched some old shows I loved so that if I zonked out, I didn't really miss anything. Friends, West Wing. Also watched the Kominsky Method, which is really good. Read a fair amount. Set an alarm so I went walking at least a bit every hour and a half or so - I walked around my row of town houses and every time I tried to go a bit father than before. Watched a couple movies I'd been meaning to watch on Netflix.

Thanks. I'll check. But for now, my other weight loss clinic (National Center for Weight and Wellness) just started a bariatric surgery support group with their two psychologists who specialize in weight/bariatric surgery issues. It starts next week, so I'm going to check that out. The downside is that there's a fee. The upside is that I really like my therapist (who is one of the leaders) and trust this practice a lot. Plus, it'll likely be a smaller group.

I doing at least 80oz a day. Easily. ah, so that's likely not it.

Are you getting all your liquids? I've had dry eye for years (unrelated to surgery) and when I get dehydrated, it gets worse.

I also buy blocks of good cheese and cut of a few ounces at a time, then cube them and put them in snack bags of 1 oz. I vac seal the rest of the block. Keeps so much longer.

I have an old food saver and love it. I make a big vat of beans and vac seal them in small batches to freeze. Same with soups (I freeze them the soups first, then take them out of their containers and seal them up). Food lasts for AGES!

I'm now on the 2nd to last notch on my large fitibit band. Soon, I'll have to switch it out for the small band

I don't know that the husband opened the door. Granted, perhaps the husband shouldn't have mentioned it (I'd be upset at his mentioning it to a stranger), but there are just some questions that are personal and mentioning something related to them doesn't make them fair game. For example, "I just bought a new house" doesn't make "how much did you pay" into an acceptable question. Similar for the following: "I got a new job" - "what is the salary", "I'm pregnant" - "How much have you gained"/"Was it planned". I just struggle to find a situation where asking someone "how much have you lost" or "how much do you weigh" is appropriate outside of a medical setting.

You guys, I’m in heaven. Went to a play tonight, so had a protein shake for dinner before I left work. Got home late and was a little hungry. Since I am well over my protein for the day due to the shake, I was able to eat 80g of green beans. I’ve missed being able to eat more than two bites of veg (because I normally have to focus on protein). Mmmmmm. I’m a reluctant pescatarian and have been eating way more seafood than I normally would. My taste buds are happy campers with the extra veg tonight. :)

Honestly, my doc/NUT gave me the option of taking 4 Bariatric Fusion Multivitamins per day for all of my vitamins/calcium, so that's what I do. I found trying to plan individual multi/calcium too cumbersome.

So, the nutritionist at my surgeon's office is less than useful. When I ask her questions like does she have any tricks for getting more protein from non-dairy foods, she just says "There is a protein list on page 17 in your book." Yep - I know, I've read the book cover to cover several times. I'm asking for practical tips considering I only eat veg and seafood. So, I decided to make an appointment with the nutritionist at my other weight loss clinic (this place is GREAT - it is run by an endocrinologist and has endocrinologists, psychologists, nutritionists, and exercise specialists and holds group classes on everything from CBT to psychological issues in weight loss to how to grocery shop to yoga). Anyway, I am SO glad I did. We talked about how my days are set up, what I've been eating, what my goals are (more non-dairy protein and more veg, with less reflux and fewer protein shakes). She got me to realize I have a few other goals too - more veg variety without wasting food (I mean a zucchini lasts a week, so its hard to eat anything else if you don't want to throw some away!). She gave me a LOT of really good ideas on how to meet my goals and meet the goals my surgeon has set out for me. And she's super supportive. So glad I listened to myself that I wasn't getting the support I needed at the surgeon's NUT (who I still have to see because it is a program requirement). Now I need to go to Trader Joe's tonight to do some shopping.