JanJan19

Hey Jess! I am so with you!!! I went into it not worried about the pain at all, because I had ankle surgery (plate & screws) several years ago & felt no pain. I was like, no big, I got this. All I was worried about was nausea. Woke up, an hour or two later I was like... holy crap this is so painful it cannot be real. Felt like I'd been stabbed. I'm day 16 or 17 now & feel absolutely fine. The pain was manageable after a day or so and gone altogether in a few days. My nausea was terrible the first night. Dry heaves, etc. But better the next day. My gas wasn't too terrible. Hunger - AGREED. And whenever someone says "it's head hunger" I kinda want to scream. Cause the first week post op, you're eating nothing. Why wouldn't you be hungry? I was starving. You ate nothing the day before surgery. Nothing the day of surgery. The day after you're at like, 100 calories of soup. Yeah, you're hungry, IMO. I was like no hunger thing is a LIE. And I was willing to break about 85 laws that first week for some eggs and ground beef. Not sure when you're allowed to incorporate food in, but for me it's SO MUCH better with actual food. Now that I'm eating, I'm finally not hungry. HAHA. But for real, I'd never have been able to eat this little without being hungry so that no hunger thing will probably even out for you in another week or two. And you'll notice that every person on this forum seems to have different instructions from their doctor. Mine doesn't care about coffee, at all. Others are no coffee for like, ever. Yet mine was anti jello & pudding the first two weeks which many encourage you to have. *shrugs*

Depends on your doctor. My doctor was okay with CAFFEINATED coffee the day after surgery! He said if I normally drink it, to go ahead and drink it so I don't go through caffeine withdrawal. I prepped beforehand and cut back to about one caffeinated drink per day, and I've been fine drinking it, from day 2. I also have a personal goal of drinking 65oz of water daily, above and beyond any coffee or protein shake. That helps me keep my coffee intake down because most days I'd rather start cracking at the 65oz goal than have another cup (that I do not count towards the goal.)

MFP is MY Fitness Pal? Is it from Underarmour? A blue screen? I'm going to get it.

What are you using to make the graph? Is it something on this site or an app?

I don't want to enable you by saying this, but every plan is so different. You would need to ask your dr why he had you on that specific diet to be sure. My pre-op was only a day of liquids. The previous week was a list of no carb foods I could have. So you're probably fine - but again I'm not your dr!!!! Also I feel ya. I would have been climbing the walls at two weeks of liquids.

I wait at least 30 min after eating to drink. If it's been an hour I drink no matter what to keep the fluids going. Actually I shouldn't say "no matter what." It's just not difficult to drink. I'm wishing it was more difficult. Not for liquids I guess, but 2 weeks post op it just feels very "normal"

I am a little bit. On the one hand, I'm like hey, I'm 18 pounds down! Fab! But on the other hand, it's already slow & it's the first 2 weeks. And that 18 includes the pre-op. As long as it slowly continues, I'm fine with it, but it is intimidating. Also, I have zero issues. Which is GREAT right? Except at 2 weeks post op nothing makes me nauseous or uncomfortable. I stick to 4oz servings and those are fine, I feel satisfied. But it's easy to get 4oz down, it doesn't take me forever. I don't have to time myself between bites because I'm so uncomfortable, none of that. I see people struggling with 1/4 cup months and months post op & I worry that it's too easy for me. Example, I want to believe if I eat something bad I'm going to feel sick. But I sorta suspect that I could eat half a cheeseburger right now & feel just fine. I'm NOT testing it, but you know? I'm also having NO issues getting fluids down. I get down at least 65oz of water a day. I don't include coffee or protein shakes as part of my oz. 65oz, no problem. I see people barely able to get to 40oz and they're including their protein shakes and I'm just like... why is this not harder for me? Because I sorta worry it should be.

I feel like I'm a slow loser too because I see so many people who lose 20 the first week or some crazy number. My first week post-op was 5 pounds. I'm happy to take it slow and go with the flow but for sure, the panic sets in sometimes when you compare. Which is bad, I know I know.

I'm only 14 days post-op so I don't have any long term advice, but I had some of the same concerns prior. After, even this soon after, it just sorta doesn't matter. Your worries are totally valid, but It's IMPOSSIBLE to know how your body will react. Start putting money aside for plastics if it helps alleviate the anxiety. Hair grows back. You got this!

My surgery was 5/23 and that large incision is the only thing left that hurts in the slightest. Zero problems overall. But I'd describe the pain level as mildly annoying, not a 10. Maybe a 3? And my pain was AWFUL the first 24 hours - 48 hours but faded off.

holy overachiever!!!

My instructions say it's fine. Sloppy joe mixture, meatloaf etc.

Congrats on your journey!

Hi Mike! I just want to say I'm normally very financially conservative but.... this is too important to delay. Find the money & don't feel guilty spending it on this. Also, appeal your insurance. And research what they cover or don't cover to see what the standard policy is. Another thing to consider - the insurance out of pocket maximums. My insurance technically covered this, but my out of pocket maximum is $7,900. Which at this point I've paid. Currently my insurance is insisting that the hospital only should have billed me $672 instead of $4,700 for my portion, so idk, maybe it'll end up costing me less than $7,900 but I pretty much assumed at the start that they'd find a way to bill me up to that maximum. So taking that into consideration - is it cheaper to self pay in Mexico and not waste time fighting with your insurance? Maybe? I'm 12 days post-op on a VSG and have similar stats to yours, though I'm female. Same age. And I feel great. The first couple days I was like omg what barbaric thing have I done to myself? And right now at 12 days I'm in that doubtful/impatient stage where I'm elated over the weight I've lost, but also comparing to others and anxious this will all stop working blah blah. BUT, I'm so glad I did this. There is no way I could consume as few calories per day as I am without a smaller stomach. Just no way. Best of luck on your journey!!!

For my stay in the hospital I put the following into a little travel makeup bag so I could have it in easy reach on the tray table & stuff wouldn't be rolling around: Toothbrush & Toothpaste (my mouth was so freaking dry & nasty I brushed my teeth at least 4x that first night) Hand lotion Face lotion Eye drops (some people get very dry skin after surgery, figured having these on hand wouldn't hurt) Chapstick I had a second bag with all my chargers. At home: Sugar free popsicles Diet Snapple Protein shakes Whatever soup you're allowed

I will add - as much as I feel no need to tell anyone now, in my head I'm planning on telling everyone once I get to goal. Mostly because I want to proudly say "this is what I did," for those people that might be considering it too. I don't want to come across like "oh, new me? I took up jogging!" cause like, f that. I don't want to make someone struggling with their weight feel worse for their struggle. VSG is a very helpful tool. There's no way I'd be eating 500 calories a day without it. If I had more guts I'd probably just announce it right now, but I don't really want to be stared at WHILE i'm in the process.

I only told my mother (I needed a ride home from the hospital) and a few close friends (one of which has had VSG and one that has had the band). The friends I've told have been mostly supportive. The one that is two years post VSG (and hugely successful weight loss) I don't talk to as much because she's super militant and like, idk, her bedside manner so to speak wasn't jiving with me. I thought she was going to be a great resource, but it didn't work like that. Eventually I'm going to have to tell a lot of people (work situation) but I'm going to deal with that as it comes. I'm down 15 pounds total. I have a work function in August & I have no way of knowing now if my weight loss will be noticeable or not. So I'll think about it then.

How is everyone in the May group doing??? I'm 12 days post op & struggling with getting protein in. I'm doing great on getting 65oz of water, but protein I seem to end up with around 40. Whomp whomp. I keep telling myself it'll be easier to up that number when I can add beef & chicken to my diet.

I'm 7 days post op & I just ate 2 oz of cottage cheese. *side eyes myself* Except it went down just fine & I'm going to punch myself in the face & throw up if I have to eat another sip of soup. Am I the only one who's cheated post op & should I expect to die in an hour or two? (kidding) I'm not even craving bad things, I just cannot take soup or protein shakes. CANNOT.

I've had tomato bisque, broccoli cheddar, chicken tortilla (all Panera via grocery store & all blended). They all went down just fine. The tomato is the most risqué so far on my stomach. But also, nothing really seems to be bothering my stomach & I feel fine. If you don't feel like you want to try it, I wouldn't.

Thank you Vee. I had to step away from this thread (and the site) for a solid day because wtf. I guess I know better than to post now. I'm the only one that knows my body & what it's feeling ya know? I'm at 500 calories or less a day. I'm drinking water non-stop and I'm real happy for everyone that has zero hunger but 50 calories of soup wasn't doing much for me.

Do you have grocery delivery near you? Or Costco delivery? (they carry the shakes) Sorry to hear you're feeling bad. Only you can determine if it's "normal" bad or if you need to call your dr. Don't be afraid to reach out to them if you think you need it! I was sleeved 5/23. I feel overall great, but I'm noticing in the last couple days how tired I am and low energy. But I'm really not getting as much of the protein or water as I should be & I know I'm recovering from surgery & also have a massive work deadline, so heh.

Oh of course! I was thinking you were well into post op! Is your surgery date coming up soon?

You're not alone. I swear on day 3 or 4 I had a dream that I found a box of Cheez-it's and ate some. I woke up all "oh no I ate a Cheez-it!!!" for that first few seconds until I realized it was a dream. I'm so sorry you're on soups at 3 weeks out. I'm counting the freaking days till 14 to get to eggs and tuna etc. My post op says I can have pureed meats at that point too, but I might go slowly on those. We'll see. I'm craving ground beef or ground chicken so badly. Are you allowed creamy soups? Try blending a baked potato soup?

Purple, it's been like five hours and fine. Why no soup for you? Are you still clear liquids?? My dr was creamy soups on day 1 (though I didn't want them so I stuck to clear until like day 3)