Arabesque

Another one of your niece’s amazing creations @GreenTealael?

I can end up all sweaty & flushed in the face when regurgitating with the foamies. Even developed petechial haemorrhages after one particularly harsh experience. (There was something stuck down low & my body struggled to bring it up.) Wasn’t pleasant.

This sounds like the foamies not dumping. Food that is too dry or coarse or if you eat too much or too quickly will set off the foamies. Sometimes a food sensitivity can set it off. Food gets stuck or you’re over full. Can start with coughing or throat clearing, runny nose, maybe your restriction or a tightness, extra saliva & then maybe bringing up the excess thicker saliva & finally maybe regurgitating the stuck or excess food. It usually passes quickly once the food is brought up or moves down. The symptoms are triggered more in the upper tummy region so simply put everything (the offending food, saliva) moves upwards until maybe or eventually vomiting/regurgitating. Dumping occurs by eating foods with too much sugar or high fat that passes rapidly into the intestines. The symptoms are triggered from here so simply put everything moves downwards so maybe or eventually diarrhoea.

I only got to about 600 calories at 6 months. Took me another year to get to 1300. Yes some programs, encourage people to consume around 1000 calories at about the 3 month mark. But you can only eat what you can physically eat. I even had that conversation with my surgeon at the 8 month mark when I had pushed up to about 900. He understood my position and was happy I was working at increasing my calories even though it was a slow process. I eat about 1500 calories now which according to those BMR calculators is about what I would need to consume for my age, height, activity level & to maintain my weight. It’s plenty of food. I don’t feel hungry. Some will say you need to get your calories up or your body will go into starvation mode & you’ll stop losing. Didn’t affect me like that. Didn’t slow my losing more than what is expected to happen. Didn’t stop me reaching my goal or exceeding it. But we are all different so your experience and needs may be totally different. If they do say increase your calories, don’t tie yourself up in knots about it. Just slowly increase your intake as you’re able. It naturally increases as you progress anyway. Those recommendations are based on averages too. Remember the recommended calorie intake for a woman is 2000 calories. I’d be as large as I was if I ate that much. lol!

As @AmberFL suggested, I’d start tracking your food intake. You don’t have to do it religiously to begin but just to start the routine & also get an idea of what you’re eating (nutritional value, calories & portion sizes). Then you could make small changes over the next few months like adjust your portion sizes, swap out some cooking styles or ingredients to healthier ones, try new recipes, drop a snack, etc. Also an opportunity to start to reflect on your relationship with food. Do you eat to comfort or sooth yourself (when you’re sad, stressed, anxious, angry, etc.)? Do you crave certain foods when you’re bored? Are you an hormonal carb or sweet? Do you have any eating habits like always snack at the movies or watching tv or have to have cake or a muffin with your coffee, etc. And so on. And, yes, start incorporating some activity into your week. Good opportunity to try some different things to see what you enjoy. You don’t have to embrace everything all at once. Simple small changes are always easier to adopt & adapt to than jumping in the deep end. You have time before your surgery. Second the advice not to buy up big in protein shakes. A temporary change in your taste buds is very common after the surgery and many find a flavour or brand of shake they enjoyed before the surgery in the pre surgery diet is disgusting after. Things can become too sweet &/or salty, the texture can be off putting and for some it’s the smell of certain foods. It can last upwards of around 6 or so weeks. I’m in Australia so none of the prolonged wait you have to go through. My surgery was not quite 4 weeks after I first met with the surgeon so I didn’t really have time to do anything - lol!

Yay! And I’m glad the Sister apologised. (Bet your heart dropped though when you saw her at the sister hospital & realised you’d have to deal with her and her attitude again until she apologised.)

This sounds a little like what I occasionally experience if I rush my breakfast or have it too early. General weak feeling, a little nauseous, doesn’t last long. From what I’ve worked out it’s related to hypoglycemia specifically reactive or postpradial hypoglycemia which can occur if you’ve had stomach surgery like us. It occurs after you eat unlike hypoglycemia which occurs when your glucose levels drop because you haven’t eaten. ( I have this occasionally too which I manage by eating regularly & taking electrolyte drinks with me if doing anything more strenuous than usual.) They think your body produces more insulin than you need to digest what you’ve eaten which then cause your glucose levels to drop which is why it occurs shortly after you eat. Maybe the bite or two of dessert or chocolate, signaled your body to produce additional insulin to process the sugar??? I don’t have added sugar in my breakfast but of course there’s natural sugars in the milk & blueberries which I think triggers mine.. Generally it doesn’t occur as often as it originally did which could be being more careful about situations that can cause it or just time since my surgery. Wouldn’t give up about not being able to have a small sweet treat at some time in the future. Worth a conversation with your doctor anyway.

Ooh, I enjoy crumbed calamari @Tomo. (Can’t see your pxts though. ☹️) Have to admit I buy it pre prepared & then air fry it. Only have it rarely as it’s processed & is impregnated with far more oil than I like.

It may not be available in the dosage I need @SleeveToBypass2023. Plus I need progesterone too & the estalis patch has both. I don’t mind the twice a week. I just set a repeated reminder on my phone - Wednesday morning & Saturday night. I had an acupuncturist tell me yesterday I should get off HRT because one of my fibroids has grown recently. Two things I dislike: men giving advice about menopause & its treatment when the advice downplays the symptoms & effects and anyone who says HRT is bad for you. He even said he’d cured fibroids with acupuncture. I call BS on that one. Just think you could have had acupuncture & not surgery & a hysterectomy for your fibroids @SleeveToBypass2023. Grrr! Just fix my golfer’s elbow. Sorry, hijacked your original post @Dchonlee.

That’s crazy that they don’t use anaesthetic right from the get go. Twilight anaesthetic is amazing. It was years ago but I remember them putting in the mouthpiece & nothing else until the cup of tea & sandwich they gave me after. It’s all an odd memory though like it happened to someone else & they told me about it. The after effects are pretty mild to non existent too not like general anaesthetic where you can feel wiped out for a couple of days & generally off. Hope the next one is a completely different & easy experience.

Nothing like completely avoiding the digestive tract. I love the convenience of only having to change the patch twice a week. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get my script filled - supply dramas sigh! My GP swapped me to a gel & a progesterone pill for two months hoping the patch would be available by then & also hoping I’d absorb enough progesterone to cover me for the short term. They’re hoping end of August for the patch to be back which means I’ll need four months of the gel & tablet. Unexpected effect of being smaller was I was told to rub the gel into my upper arm. Tried that but I’d had to rub it over my entire arm because of the amount of gel & it still wasn’t enough skin. I now rub it all over my butt & tummy. That’s only 1 pump. I’d be rubbing it all over my body if it was two pumps. Lol! PS I found eucalyptus oil really great at removing the sticky residue left on my skin from the patch.

I was on HRT but still had some breakthrough menopausal symptoms before surgery. After surgery, the hormonal flush got rid of all of them to the point I was considering dropping the HRT or at least reducing to a lower dose. But once I lost the bulk of my weight the breakthrough symptoms came back … strongly. Actually I had to go up to a higher dose. PS. I developed some absorption issues after my gall was removed two years after my sleeve surgery. One thing that was affected was the absorption of my oral HRT. My GP prescribed a patch instead and everything settled again. Something to keep in mind if you have a bypass or any issues with absorption.

Estrogen is stored in your fat. As you lose weight it is released into your blood stream. This additional estrogen or estrogen flush causes your emotions to go haywire (like major PMT) & changes to your menstrual cycle (heavier/lighter, more or less frequent periods). Plus in general, this is a pretty emotional & stressful time. The surgery, the reduced eating, the structured eating, etc. all can mess with your emotions too. It does settle eventually though when differs person to person.

Great advice from the others. I’ll add track what you are eating now, how much, what & how often. It can help identify where you’re veering off course. It can also help to note your emotions or why you may be eating when you do. (Why do I want this snack? Am I bored, angry, sad, happy, frustrated, etc.) Then start making changes. Make one or two changes every two weeks or so. For example, cut back on portion sizes & up your fluids, then reduce how often you eat (drop a snack) & meet your protein goal, then try switching up your ingredients & cooking styles, etc. It’s easier to adopt & adapt to one or two small changes at a time than making huge changes all at once. Also find a therapist who can support you as you work through your relationship with food. If you didn’t see someone before your surgery, your team should be able to recommend someone who deals with bariatric patients & disordered eating.

If you are one the majority of us who lose our appetite & interest in eating, you won’t care about drinking the shakes, soups, bone broths, etc. or not think you’re eating g enough. I only drank two ‘meals’ a day during that stage , consuming about 200 calories. Remember your body has a lot of stored energy to keep it functioning effectively. The shakes, soups, etc. also count towards your fluid intake so that makes it easier to get your fluids in. I did things like diluted my soup & shakes, so more fluid & just sipped until they were finished. Drink during the night too. I still drink every time I get in or out of bed (which is often because you know you drink you pee 😁) If you do feel hungry, it may be head hunger not real hunger coming from the stress & emotional effects of the surgery especially if you ate to comfort or sooth yourself. Find something to distract yourself: read, contact a friend or family member, craft, play a game, do a puzzle, check your socials, go for a little walk, sip a warm drink like herbal or green tea. Don’t worry if you don’t hit your fluid & protein goals straight away or even every day. It’s not easy at first. As long as you’re close to your goals & making an effort you’ll be okay. The first 24-48 hours after surgery, I slept a lot. After that not much. Slept pretty well at night & then maybe a little nana nap in the afternoon was all. Really just rested with my water, shake, etc, beside me. Many people are back are work after a week or two. Write down why you decided to have this surgery & what you hope to achieve. Create a list of small wins you can achieve a long the way (each time you need a smaller clothing size, first time you can walk up stairs without puffing or discomfort, not needing an extender on a seat belt, etc. what ever is applicable to you). Put these in prominent places around your home - on the fridge, pantry, bathroom, etc. and read them whenever you need a reminder to stay on track. You’ve got this.

I wasn’t told not to use a straw either & like some of the others I did pretty much from after surgery simply because it helped me sip. I even used them to sip my soup. I only did it for probably the first 2 months as by then I had mastered sipping & knew how much I could manage with each swallow. After that initial period I found it much easier to drink from a glass or cup than anything else. Actually I’ve never really liked drinking with straws or using those sippy cup lids on takeaway beverages but that’s me. Use whatever works for you to get your fluids in. If you find straws helpful use them just be mindful of possibly swallowing more air.

Don’t think the small amounts you eat in the beginning is how much you’ll eat forever. After surgery your stomach muscle is very tight so it can’t tolerate much. But as it heals, and you start to introduce more foods, it slowly starts to soften (not stretch) & is able to tolerate more. I was told, though I began with 1/4 - 1/3 cup from the puree stage, by about 6 months I’d be up to about a cup. Which was pretty accurate for me. I’m 5 years out & from about 2 years, I was pretty much eating a recommended portion size. Check the nutrition panel of processed pre prepared foods and google recommended portions of other foods or ingredients to give you an idea. Generally about 3-4ozs of protein & a cup of vegetables, 2 eggs, a small apple, etc. Some days I can’t/not interested in eating that much, other days it’s the perfect portion. The liver shrink diet is not to actually shrink the liver but the fat around the liver. This is to allow your surgeon to have better vision of & access to your tummy during the surgery. This diet does differ surgeon to surgeon, patient to patient. Generally it’s two weeks of a shake three times a day. However, some are four shakes, others two shakes & one lean protein & steamed vegetables meal. Others are only for a week or a couple of days. Mine was keto for two weeks (I started a couple of days earlier). Some people lose seemingly a lot of weight, others only a few pounds. It’s one of those things linked to how much weight you carry. It can be tough as you may experience withdrawal like symptoms (from stopping/reducing sugar, carbs, caffeine) for about 5 days. Apparently my surgeon’s patients who did the two week all shakes called the first week hell week. While tough, remember it is only for two weeks and the big picture benefits & wins makes it so worth it. All the best with your surgery.

I would avoid the V8 juice because of its low protein content. You need to get your protein in even before surgery (it’s good practice for after surgery too). Why waste those calories on something that won’t benefit your protein intake? You are consuming a lot of fluids which can be adding to any water retention you are experiencing too. Are you peeing a lot more? Give it a few more days for your body to get used to the low calorie, all fluid diet before worrying about the scales. All the best with your surgery. Exciting!!

Are you feeling head hunger or real hunger? That’s the important question to ask yourself when you think you’re hungry. Generally if you’re craving a specific food, flavour or texture it’s head hunger. Are you feeling, tired, angry, bored, frustrated, sad, etc. Then it’s head hunger. Are you hormonal? Head hunger. Did you eat to sooth & comfort yourself before surgery? Again head hunger. The surgery is stressful. You can be emotional & because of the flush of hormones, hormonal. All triggers for head hunger. Plus your head is telling you this tiny amount of food is no where near enough food for you, you need to eat more. Yep, head hunger. Plus the more you think about food & eating the more you want to eat. For many of us, what we always thought as being hunger signals aren’t signals for real hunger. They’re signals for head hunger but they were the ones we always responded to by eating. Real hunger signals are different. For example I feel restless like something is wrong. I don’t immediately think I’m hungry. Actually I usual argue with myself that I’m not hungry until I realise that logically I could be hungry (missed a meal, only ate a small portion or only a snack for a previous meal, has been several hours since I ate, etc.) Distraction is often the easiest thing to do to overcome head hunger. Go for a walk (as you’re able), read, ring a friend or family member, craft, do a puzzle, sip a warm drink, anything to take your mind off food & eating. Stick to your plan & try not to go off course. This is when your new good habits begin & relationship with foods starts to change. You’ve got this.

Vegetables on a chilli are pretty well cooked so I can’t see a problem. I ate well cooked vegetables in soft food. Threw quite a variety in soups, mince dishes, anything I cooked slowly for at least an hour. If you still are a little worried just do a quick blitz with a stick blender, mash with a fork or potato masher or use a sieve to make sure there isn’t anything too dense or coarse. Leaks are pretty rare but you still need to be careful while you’re healing (about 6 weeks or so). Now if you said you’d eaten raw vegetables in the purée or soft stage I’d be saying: no, stop, don’t.

I’m so frustrated & angry for you @ShoppGirl. I would let the surgeon know about the conflicting & contradicting information you’ve been given by the reference materials the office provides & the staff & their reluctance to actually answer questions you have. I would also tell them, you are concerned about the after care & support the team will provide after your surgery. Personally I wouldn’t trust a receptionist to answer any medical questions. All they should do is refer you to the qualified person or offer to arrange to get an answer from them for you. At least your surgeon answered your questions.

I use zip lock bags when freezing all my leftovers & extra serves (my freezer is full of them). Just make sure they’re cool before freezing so they don’t ice up. I reheat in the microwave Sometimes I thaw on the bench others times in the fridge, or defrost & warm in the microwave - depends how organised I am. 😁 I use a 12 x half cup muffin tin.

Doesn’t she know that BMI is widely discredited these days? All it should be used for is as a guide not a rule. One of a number of tests & data sources to inform a person’s health & risk for health issues including waist size, height to waist ratio, blood & glucose tests, dexa scan & any other relevant medical tests. I found these 2 articles with a simple google search (BMI efficacy). There were lots. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/publications/health-matters/is-bmi-accurate#:~:text=Studies%20have%20also%20shown%20that,is%20inconsistent%2C”%20Russell%20says. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265215

The eggplant lasagne is really just a moussaka. Traditionally lamb mince is used but you can use beef. And use cinnamon & all spice instead of Italian herbs like basil. This is a pretty simple recipe for it: https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/classic-moussaka/88513a78-4b3d-4546-b985-32f4c33382a7# I’m not a great lover of eggplant but the small ones are usually tastier as a side than the large ones but the large ones are best for cooking in things like the moussaka. You can also make the magic quiche (or frittata) as muffins (often called savoury egg muffins or just egg muffins). Some recipes say use 6 eggs but I used 10 so that was almost one egg in every muffin. Great to freeze too. I used to make them a lot (until my tummy said nope I don’t like eggs now) with caramelised onions, roasted capsicum, feta, cherry tomatoes, frozen mixed vegetables (defrosted & patted dry) or whatever I happened to have in my fridge.

Nope. We don’t even call them shrimp. They’re prawns. Shrimp was used in the original ad solely for the tourist market so you’d know what was being barbecued. You were all lied to. 😂 PS - There aren’t kangaroos hopping down our streets either.