mom2ag

I met with my surgeon today and discussed the vitamin patch. He does have concerns overall about their absorption. However, since I had the sleeve he explained that absorption issues are not really an issue as with a patient who has had gastric bypass. Plus he said that the patch should be better than nothing (which is where I am right now). He will run blood work in three months to check. He also said at that point if my labs come back good that he will put me on a good prenatal vitamin and that should be all I'll need moving forward. So I'm going to try the patch and ordering it today.

Has anyone tried vitamin patches? What has your experience been? I'm having a hard time taking my supplements as they make me sick to my stomach...I just heard about the patches and am considering trying those. I would love to hear anyone with experience with the patches. Thanks!

Hello paddyski, I am feeling MUCH better. Thank you for asking. Yesterday was a significant improvement for me. It was my first day that I was able to go for a short walk (only the length of 5 neighbor houses and back) but a start. Baby steps. It was a beautiful day (mid-60s) so when we returned I sat in my rocker outside for about 3 hours and watched my family clean gutters and work around the yard. It was such a blessing to get the Vitamin D and just be outside. I figured I was still following quarantine orders since I was not interacting with anyone. I am finding it a little difficult to get all my liquid and protein in on some days, for the most part I'm good. I have to take my antibiotic treatment for the c. diff every 6 hours, so that requires me waking up constantly. If I have a hard time falling back asleep, it has effect a few days where I don't even start eating (drinking) my protein until 10:20am and at that point it's very hard to get it all in during the day. I've made a conscious effort to wake up by 7:30am no matter how tired I am and begin my fluids/protein and just take naps along the way. I know once I complete the antibiotics (Thanksgiving day) it will be a huge improvement in my sleep, which of course will help with my healing.

I would love to try a cream of mushroom soup. Do you mind sharing your recipe? My husband made a homemade tomato soup for me last night and it was so delicious and savory and warm.

Update: My family took to me to the ER on Saturday and after running X-Rays, CT-Scans and lots of blood work and cultures, they found that there was extreme inflammation of my colon and determined that I had contracted C. Diff (Clostridium difficile). They believe the antibiotic that was given to me during pre-op altered the balance of the good bacterial in my gut, thus allowing C. Diff to multiply and make me ill. This is not common. Took awhile to find the right balance and dose of pain medicine to manage my pain, they put me on a lot of fluids (and potassium) as well as started treatment for the C. Diff. The first round of treatment is 10-days of antibiotics and being quarantined. They kept me in the hospital for five days and began my treatment on the 2nd day once the cultures came back positive. I was kept on clear liquids only for the three days in the hospital and then they allowed me to progress to the Bariatric High Protein Liquid. My dietician was awesome and brought me all the protein supplements and such to keep me going while in the hospital. I am home now, yet still quarantined. A lot involved with that (including a lot of bleach). I'm staying on track with my post-op diet and today will be the first day that I'll actually reach my liquid and protein goals (which is exciting). I'm not allowed in the kitchen so I am relying on others to make my food. So far so good - but like someone else posted, I am getting tired of all the sweets. Please pray that this initial round of treatment will work and that there will be no need for a round two. The doctor told me that it's a much more intense treatment and lasts for 30-days. Yikes. I weighed myself today and the scale shows that I'm down 7-lbs from surgery date of 11/7/18. I'm happy with that loss considering everything. I can't help but wonder if next week will be a bigger loss once I get all these fluids from the hospital out of me. Seven days admitted in the hospital total - that's a lot of fluids! Unjury Chicken Soup Protein Powder - I lived off that while in the hospital. I really enjoyed it and had no issues with it. They key is to make sure the temperature of your liquid is no hotter than 140-degrees. I use a thermometer and then found that from boiling to sitting, that's about 5 minutes for 1 cup of water. As long as your not gulping and sipping slowly you should be fine. I actually use baby spoons to help me take small bites. I hope that helps, because that is my favorite protein supplement that is on the savory side. That's all for now. Going to take a nap and try and recover from this infection!

My sleeve was on 11/7. Went into it with complete peace. Woke up in recovery in excruciating pain. Unfortunately the pain medication that my surgeon likes to use is Toradol and I'm allergic. It seemed to take them all day Wednesday to try and get my pain under control. The gas pain was very real and painful. I had breakthrough bleeding multiple times in my belly button and they couldn't get my oxygen levels stable. Day 1 post-op they finally re-cauterized my belly button and sent me home with liquid Tylenol. Day 2 (Friday) at home was okay. I walked throughout the house and sat up and took multiple naps in bed. I focused on clear liquids. By Friday night I started running a fever of 101.8 that lasted for the next 16 hours. I loss ALL control of my bowels with no warning at all!!! I was not expecting that. My stomach has been in severe pain and each time I took Tylenol it seemed to get worse. The on-call dr didn't seem to be too concerned with any of it. My hubby went and got g2 Gatorade and diluted an ounce for me and that did wonders....and then I took one tiny sip of the liquid Tylenol and the bowels are out of control again and the stomach is cramping. I've officially taken myself off of pain meds, as they seemed to have been doing more harm than good for me. Praying I can sleep through the night without having to jump and run to the bathroom (this type of movement doesn't help my pain level). Anyone else experiencing anything like this? With all the diarrhea, I am pretty sure that I became dehydrated also. So I'm focusing solely on liquids. Today is Day 3 and I've drank a total of 21 - ounces of liquid so far.

My sleeve was on 11/7 and I have also been experiencing major back pain. It reminds me of the back labor I had with my son. Today is Day 3 and it's been very painful. I'm hoping it will improve. Did your back pain improve yet?

Me neither!!! I was sleeved on 11/7 and was expecting pain, but not to the degree in which I am still experiencing. Day 3 post-op has been the worst for me (which is today) - so I'm praying it will all get better moving forward.

I was delighted to hear that my surgeon did not require a liquid diet pre-op either. Woohoo!!! Although I do have one protein smoothie a day (either for breakfast or lunch)….just because I like them. I haven't tried Premier that many are writing about. My care provider recommends Unjury. I've used protein powders in the past with my family and always liked them. I find the Unjury protein powder to be delicious with everything I've tried so far. I feel like the liquid protein and pureed nutrition stage will be easy and short. I haven't even tried to wrap my brain around the soft mechanical foods yet.

I just learned today that I will be sleeved on November 7th. This is something that I have silently considered and prayed about for more than a decade. Then I had two different doctors (within the same week) suggest I look into gastric sleeve. That was September 24/25 of this year. Everything has been going so smoothly and I have complete peace about the surgery and confidence in my surgeon. God has cleared the path swiftly and I am so excited for what's in store next. I immediately eliminated my one cup of caffeine each day and am thankful that it went smoothly. I anticipate the most challenging part is going to be not to drink water while I eat and to eat slow enough. I anticipate that to be the absolute hardest part for me. My life is so busy and I do everything in a hurry....this surgery and lifestyle change will definitely impact more areas than just diet and exercise for me. This will truly force me to slow down and I'm excited about that...just hoping I don't make myself sick while I learn what it's like to not be on fast pace.

Thanks so much for the feedback. This confirms my thoughts. I will confirm with my surgeon as well.

Hello. I am new on the board and am in the pre-op stage for Gastric Sleeve. My surgery will be either early November or late December. I hope to find out for sure this week. My question is in regards to chiropractic adjustments. I've been having regular adjustments but I'm wondering if this is something I should put a pause on until after recovery? Has anyone had adjustments (specifically for their back and hips) post-op? I have to lie on my stomach and there is a good amount of force and I don't want to cause any damage or unnecessary stress to my stomach during recovery. Thanks so much for your feedback.