Arabesque

No sorry didn’t experience air travel for that length of time. But I’d be concerned about how to manage my food intake on the flight especially at about 3/4 weeks out. Depending upon your plan, you may only be on the purée stage or beginning soft foods & you may find your tummy is pretty sensitive &/or fussy after surgery. You may struggle to eat the food provided on the plane & ensure you’re following your plan & meeting protein & fluid goals. Sorry if I sound negative. Others may have advice on how they managed in a similar situation that soon after surgery.

There are so many plans with different expectations & requirements. As @Hop_Scotch said if you’re following your plan all is good. My plan didn’t have a caloric goal only portion size. If yours doesn’t either & you would feel more comfortable with one, ask your surgeon & dietician for some guidelines. I used to check my calories randomly for my own interest. I had a low calories intake - only about 900 calories by goal. I consume about 1200/1300 (3 meals & 3 or 4 snacks) to maintain my weight as it is now at almost 2 1/2yrs (am in my mid 50s, small frame, not overly active). If I was more active I’d eat more calorie dense food. Good luck.

The first week is always difficult on the all shake diet (my surgeon called it hell week) because you are breaking a lot of your addictions & dependencies (sugar, carbs, caffeine, etc.). Any weakness, headaches, etc. you may feel in hell week are the withdrawal symptoms. The second week is always easier. The shakes will start the ketosis process, burning your excess stored fat for the additional energy your body needs to function & start the weight loss. Slowly introducing the shakes a week earlier sounds like a way that may ease the transition. You pee out the fluid they pump you with in a couple of days. Doubt they would prescribe a diuretic unless the fluid was causing other health complications. But of course we’re all different & our surgeons have different post surgical plans. Those first 24hrs I would have been glad not to have to pee any more than I did. Plus they kept me on IV fluids for 24hrs so to get up & pee, I had to buzz a nurse to get them to disconnect the IV then steer the stand to the bathroom. Good luck.

That’s a good place to begin if it is what your surgeon & dietician recommended. What else you may need will depend upon you: what you’re lacking & your ability to absorb nutrients. A blood test will show what you are lacking in. It may be iron, calcium, vitamin D, one of vitamin Bs, etc. or nothing at all. I only took a multi vitamin (one in the am & one in the pm). Took a Vitamin D & magnesium briefly but dropped it when subsequent blood tests showed I had more than enough. About two months into maintenance I stopped the multivitamin too. I absorbed plenty of nutrients from the food I ate & didn’t need any supplements. Three monthly blood tests continued to endorse that until about 2 yrs after surgery (18 months in maintenance) I had my gall removed & now I don’t absorb protein as well. Not happy! Was prescribed Creons but still no other vitamins are needed. Another blood test in a couple of weeks to see if they’re helping.

Depending how they react in your digestive system you could end up being the stinky thing at work 😉😆.

Depending how they react in your digestive system you could end up being the stinky thing at work 😉😆.

Yeah, it can be hard especially if you have a set lunch break & eating at your desk is frowned upon. When I briefly worked in retail it was almost impossible to eat enough in my one 30 min break & I was post goal then. And tinned fish can smell like cat food in a small lunch room - shudder! I took diced chicken, soups, pork sausages (from butcher), meatballs, savoury mince, bolognese (no pasta but sometimes zucchini noodles), cheese, yoghurt, etc. I found a great recipe for mini individual frittatas but it was after I stopped working but they would have been great too.

Water is predominately absorbed in your intestines not your tummy. Because water is absorbed not digested like food, you don’t have the same possible issues with malabsorption of nutrients from poorly digested foods after weight loss surgery. The sipping continuously vs gulping down glassful at a time is a new mind set. Plus at the early stages, you can be a little wary to drink in case you feel discomfort or your not really hungry & you don’t feel like drinking either. And the taste of water can be a little blah or it can feel almost heavy to drink. Remember, all fluids count: your shakes, broths, tea, etc. as well as water. We should always have been drinking 64ounces or 2litres of water a day but many didn’t so suddenly having to do so can be challenging. @Lisa LoVuolo could you update your profile with your surgery date, height, starting weight, type of surgery, etc. it helps others to offer more appropriate help & suggestions if we know how far a long you are, your type of surgery, etc.

Yes, contact your surgeon. Surprised they didn’t do an ultrasound on your gall bladder (& abdomen) because it does sound like the gall grumbling could be the cause. It was the first thing my doctor ordered after my first experience.

Looking great @Dtrain84. Those muscles. Hot!! But what about your fabulous wardrobe? Good excuse to buy more great suits & jackets & of course coordinating accessories.

It happened to me too. I had heavy hooded eyelids & now when I put eyeshadow you can actually see it. Plus when I put on eyeliner & mascara it doesn’t end up on my droopy heavy eyelids. Whoo hoo!!

It really comes down to what you can tolerate.. Personally, I’m not good with really cold (except gin & champagne 😆). The cold cramps my tummy. Room temp is my preference & I found warm or hot drinks most soothing. I would warm my chocolate shake … & pretend it was hot chocolate.

Hypoglycaemia was my first thought. I have random episodes (light headed, cold sweats, want to vomit but don’t, diarrhoea cramping but nothing, almost faint) but not during or immediately after eating. Water, cup of tea, a few blueberries or strawberries help me. Contact your medical team.

What are kitchen sink cookies @Starwarsandcupcakes? The mind boggles. 😁 Sorry you’re disliking your job so much. When you just want to keep driving past your office or dread walking in the door, it’s time to move on. It’s just not worth the angst.

Will you feel like you did before surgery? No. You won’t feel the same as you did because you’ve had pretty major surgery, changed your digestive system & you’re losing weight so every week you’ll experience new things you couldn’t do before. For a few weeks you’ll experience post surgical issues like rumbling, spasms, changes in your taste buds, nausea, discomfort, etc. but these pass as you heal & recover so you will feel better from that perspective. You may experience low energy, low blood pressure, foamies, dumping, hormonal fluctuations, etc. Some will pass after a couple of months, others once your weight stabilises. You’ll also discover how your new tummy works & identify how long to wait between eating & drinking, what doesn’t sit well, gives you the foamies, etc. I still gurgle but I usually know why like eating dairy often causes it for me. It’s an individual thing. During surgery, they pump you full of air & fluids so many people come out of hospital weighing more than they were the day they were admitted. You will lose at your own rate. There is not a single right amount to lose each week. There are average rates but some are naturally slow losers & some are fast losers. Losing 4lbs in your first week is pretty darn good. Remember, it’s not a competition. You’ve never experienced anything like this before so feeling unlike yourself & anxious about things is not uncommon. It will be ok. Give yourself time to heal & recover & to work out your new eating plan, your tummy’s likes & dislikes, etc.

Congrats on your surgery. I’m pretty much a newbie when it comes to maintaining weight - almost 2 1/2 years since surgery - but choosing a way of eating that is sustainable has been key for me so far. That is a way of eating that allows me to be healthy, make nutritious food choices, maintain my weight & still be able to live my life the way I want to. If the food choices you make & the amount of exercise you have to do to maintain your weight is so restrictive your lifestyle is compromised you won’t be successful simply because you can’t keep doing it forever. I watch what I eat pretty carefully. I don’t track everyday but do random checks. I watch portion size, cook most of my own food & carefully read the nutrition panels of any food I do purchase. I’m realistic to know I can’t predict what the future will bring. I may make some changes to what I eat in time. Sometimes life throws a pile of crap at you & I may put on some weight but I hope I can manage to keep a weight that is still reasonable & healthy. But I don’t let what ifs & maybes compromise or undermine what I’m doing. Stay positive & embrace all the opportunities this surgery affords you.

People can be the worst. I don’t understand how some people think they have the right to openly make critical judgements about others to their face or in their hearing. I had people tell me I’d lost too much too & minister at my church took me aside & asked if I was ok. My uncle told my mother I looked like death. But I don’t get those comments anymore - or at least no one says it to me anymore 🙂. If I try to look at the comments from family & friends more positively, I think for some it is a shock. Even if they knew when you’d been slim in the past, they forget & they find it hard to see you as slim again. It’s almost if they have a form of body dysmorphia in how they see you. Strangers can go to hell!! The seemingly sunken eyes, gauntness does pass. For me it improved when I started eating more carbs & generally more calories when my weight stated to stabilise. Plus your remaining fat seems to resettle. That uncle who said I looked like death now says I look great. Hopefully, this will happen for you too & you won’t have to hear such rude & hurtful comments. Sorry you have have had some health problems. I you’re able to manage your IBS & you don’t experience more obstructions.

Oh I hear you. I used to say my tummy is like a contrary 2yr old who throws random tantrums. Most annoying is when you tentatively try to eat the food your tummy revolted against two days later & it’s fine. WTF??? I’ve found it can be little things that set off the tantrum. Food a little too dry, too oily, too fatty. Ate a little too fast. Drank a little too close to eating or sometimes seemingly just for the hell of it. Thank gracious it’s the exception not the norm now.

Oops, yep confused the date of your surgery. Thought it was 3 September. You Americans write your dates backwards 😆.

So sorry you don’t feel confident &/or comfortable with your surgeon. But this sounds like a conversation you will need to have with your insurance company. They seem to have lots of the decision making power in the States. Hope they support your desire for a new surgeon & it’s an easy transition.

Iceberg lettuce is a slider food for me but I still eat lots of it every day. I love my lunch time salads. It’s a high water content food, extremely low in calories & has some good nutrients so wins all round really. Other salad greens like spinach, rocket, etc are a but coarse for me so can only eat a little. Popcorn can cause bloating & wind. If it’s a slider for you though this wouldn’t be as much of an issue. It does contain some great nutrients. I guess the other consideration is how it’s cooked & what you add to it - salt, butter, sugar, etc. There have been a few posts about it previously & there seems to be mixed reactions as to whether it’s ok or not. It may be something it’s best to avoid now on your plan since your only 4 weeks out but is ok in the future. Of course if your doctor says it’s ok & it doesn’t restrict you in any way, watch the portion size & pop away.

As everyone has said. Very common. Remember you aren’t consuming all that much yet so if you don’t go for a couple of days it’s ok. I’d take a stool softener after day 3 so there would be movement on day 4. Any longer & it would become painful. Add some soluble, not swelling, fibre to your diet too. Just add to your shake, yoghurt, milk, water, etc. Congrats on having some movement.

Yeah, damn pleats. Love them but … That’s a lovely skirt, @Sophie7713. Would be worth the ironing torture I think. Especially love the white nail polish too. How long will you be living in your temporary home & why a temporary residence? Are you building a new home or still looking for the perfect place for the three of you? Oh my injury was a battle between a mandolin & a sweet potato & my thumb lost. They had to graft my skin back on. Silly thing to do but so limiting cause it was my dominant hand. God bless must nieces who took me to the hospital, did my washing, washed my hair, did some cooking for me. Want to see a pxt of your new winter flats. These are my latest addition. Actually, that’s not true. There have been several other shoe purchases. Hello, my name is arabesque & I have a shoe addiction. 😉

Certainly not trying to diminish what you’re experiencing. Just offering some suggestions, things to think about or discuss with your medical team. Head hunger encompasses more than just cravings it’s just the most obvious one that most relate to. But it’s also eating for emotional reasons: to sooth in response to anger, sadness, depression, anxiety, stress, etc. Head hunger is also habit driven eating. Like always eating when you go to the movies, watching tv, before you go to bed or eating very regularly (every hour or less). Also eating because you’re drinking alcohol & socialising. Plus perceptions of what is ‘enough’ food as I mentioned before. Because, if we’re honest when we’re obese, our body has plenty of stored energy in our fat it can burn if our body needs more calories than we’re currently consuming to function. It’s what we need to happen if we are to lose weight. Major surgery is stressful & doesn’t matter how ready you were for this surgery it still is an emotional roller coaster of various degrees. So that could be contributing. Is your esomeprazole prescription or over the counter? You may be producing too much stomach acid so you may need a higher dose - 20 or 40mg. The acid will make you think you’re hungry though you’re not. You eat & your tummy uses the acid to digest that food & the pain/pangs go so you think yes, I was hungry. Once you get onto solid foods this should reduce - more acid is needed to digest the denser food than just liquids & purées so you’ll use more of what you are producing. Hunger pains/pangs do not necessarily occur only when your hungry. They are the result of many triggers. Not the best article about the causes of hunger pangs but it may be a little helpful. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321725#symptoms. My tummy gurgles, groans, squelches, often (it’s doing it now 😆) but is not related to me needing to eat. (Remember how when our tummy would gurgle people would say you must be hungry? Not necessarily true.) It can be from what I ate (dairy causes it sometimes), drinking too fast or having too big a swallow, or even resting my iPad on my chest when I read at night. Can be a bit embarrassing but it seems to be how my tummy works now. I hope you can find a way to manage & help what you’re experiencing. And I hope your medical team returns your call soon. So frustrating when they don’t follow through with support. All the best.

A lot will depend on how much loose skin you have. But really the only way to get rid of skin that has been stretched out is to have it surgically removed. Sorry. ☹️ Depending on your age & genetics you may have some retraction of your loose skin but unless you’re young, with good skin elasticity & weren’t at your higher weight for a prolonged period of time, it won’t be a noticeable bounce back. Radio therapy tends to have only short term benefits around stimulating collagen growth. I had several weekly sessions (12 in a package deal) on my face & neck. Did it tighten my skin? No. Did it reduce any sagginess? No. Did it smooth & even out texture? Yes. Was the treatment & accompanying facial soothing? Yes. But you can always give it a go. You may see more benefit then I did.