Dale P.

Hi, first I'd like to apologize for my last topic here about soda. I came on very strong based on perceived perception from threads on various forums from a decade ago and that wasn't far to you all. The responses were pretty awesome! I am one week away from my 6 month mark since surgery. My surgery wounds have healed tremendously on my stomach and my IV marks are also almost completely dissolved. Throughout the months, I've tried small bits of things such as a burrito, a slice of pizza, and bread (for a hamburger). My body would immediately react and I would need to find somewhere to vomit even after one bite. Since then, I avoided them completely. I recently celebrated my birthday and in the past week. I tried the above mentioned things. I fully tolerated third of a slice of pizza from Marco's Pizza without even burping! This morning I had a pre-packaged breakfast burrito (210 calories) and again, I was surprisingly able to tolerate it! I didn't get to see my pops on my birthday so he took me to a burger joint tonight for a belated birthday dinner and I ordered the smallest hamburger deluxe with a small order of fries. Usually I'm able to eat the burger patty just fine, but the waitress didn't bring me a fork so I cautiously took a bite of the burger as a whole. I was able to eat half of it and a few fries with no problem! I've still been following the no drinks 30 before or after. My question is, did I reach a new milestone in my healing process (so to speak)? Any advice would help :) I still had no desire to overeat these foods, but I'm still just shocked that I was able to eat them without any trouble!

Thanks for the responses! Yes I am planning on having these foods once in a while and not a regular thing. I took the rest of my burger home to go and today I just ate the patty with no yearning from the bun. I've been doing a lot better on meeting or exceeding my protein and fluids intake! The MyFitnessPal app has been a big help as well and noted that the aforementioned foods weren't very helpful with protein. I'm down 107 pounds since my pre-surgery diet and 83 since the surgery itself so I'm hoping to stick with what got me here!

I'll start by saying save me the bible thumping crap about soda! I started drinking Diet Mt. Dew again recently as I'm three months post-op. I've found that getting a fountain drink and putting in lots of ice and then letting it sit for a while helps with de-carbonating it. Is there still carbonation? Yes, but it doesn't make me feel as bloated as drinking straight from a can does. I also didn't gain weight and get a huge belly as warnings have said elsewhere...I'm at 61 pounds lost since surgery and 85 since starting my program so I think I'm doing just fine. The same people who say listen to your body are the first to cast stones, but I'll say to those who have sacrificed so much, a soda won't kill you!

I haven't tried the MD Zero yet, but I've had a few friends recommend it! I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the response!

No, I'm actually a 5'11" teacher and runner who's making it work! I just hate to see people get ganged up on, esp. newbies that don't know any better. So you're saying in 5 years out I'll have failed? LoL! Nah, I'm taking full advantage of this second shot at life by being active and treat myself once in a while. Everything else is being followed pretty much...

I was diagnosed with gerd about a year prior to surgery and I was open about it with my bariatric team. I still have it, but it seems better. If anything, I burp a lot more and have less heartburn.

I started caffeine again 9 weeks after surgery and I haven't had any problems.

I remember posting in December 2019 and a poster wanted to see a male before/after pic. The first one is from my highest weight ever at 314 in August 2019. I am now 244, 70 down since then and 46 down since surgery on December 17. I've been active as a basketball referee and playing pickup games in basketball. I also walk around 3 miles a day at work; not all at once, but in spurts throughout the collective day. Aflac paid me for my surgery through my hospital indemnity policy so I thought that was great! My health insurance paid their part 100% so I'm looking at getting a loan soon to pay off the rest. It was well worth it!

Hello, I put the date symptoms occurred as my date of admission (surgery) via the AFLAC app. They will then ask for a physical in the past year and your surgery/hospital notes. This was a pain in the butt, but it paid off!My AFLAC agent said to submit it anyway because I didn't know if they'd pay it, but they did! I also included my endoscopy from a few days before that and got paid for that also.

Hey all! I frequented this board regularly for many different scenarios prior to my surgery that I had on Tuesday, December 17th at 7:30 am. For my pre-op diet, I was very active as a basketball official and also playing in open gym so on those days I would add in extra protein filled calories. I still lost 18 pounds on the two week pre-op while giving up pop and all the foods I normally liked to eat. I was also sick with a nasty cold and I was worried that I might get postponed. I had an endoscopy upper GI four days before my sleeve procedure and the surgeon cleared me for surgery that day. When I checked in on the morning of surgery, I was given two shots of meds to help prevent nausea. One of these meds made my very hot, agitated, and uncomfortable! I even asked if I could back out because I was so uncomfortable. Luckily the anesthesiologist came in and gave me something to help me relax. I went into surgery and laid on my side. There were a lot of people there with one woman trying to make conversation, but before I knew it, I was out. When I woke up I had a very sharp pain in my chest and was sweating profusely. They put wet clothes over my head to cool me down and also ran two EKG tests on me. They eventually decided that it was just gas or a sore esophagus from the procedure. When I went to my room, I remember feeling the pain in my chest. There was no incision pain then and to this day, I still haven't had any incision pain. On the day of surgery I was given ice chips and some broth to drink. I got very little of both down and slept the rest of that day and night. I was given a regular Powerade by mistake and downed about an 8th of it before the night shift nurse realized that was a big no no. (It was so good though and went down smooth!) The surgeon was going to release me on Wednesday, but I still had that gnawing pain in my chest so I stayed an extra day just to be sure since I'd be traveling 3 and a half hours one way! Each morning, I'd get my blood taken and give shots and pills. I was able to do a lap around the floor finally as my first attempt resulted in a coughing and gagging fit. Getting the IVs out before being released was a great feeling! I've been at home since Thursday and I got 50+ oz. of liquids in that day and 64 oz. in on Friday. I had a shaved ice and it went down so easy! Protein shakes are becoming repulsive now, I gag just thinking about them but I got one and a half of them down. I thought gum wouldn't be a big deal, but whoa my new pouch did not appreciate the attempt!! I've been reading things on here to get more protein in. I even saw someone post about sugar free Lifesavers as a treat, awesome! Thanks for all of your help. I'm down 10 pounds since surgery when I checked on Friday morning.