Dave In Houston

I was 67 when my surgery was done 6 weeks ago. I have high blood pressure and sleep apnea. I also have pronounced reflux problems. Things are already getting better. The surgery was a big leap, but I'm glad I did it.

I had to crush my pills for a week. I took them with yogurt. I would put a little yogurt in a spoon, add the crushed pills, then cover them up with yogurt. I tried to swallow the whole spoonful without letting the pills touch my mouth. It was a bit less disgusting that way.

It's very kind of you to say so. I've read 30 or 40 pages of this thread, and you folks do some beautiful cooking. If I'd read more before I posted, I'm not sure I would have posted my pedestrian offering.

I'm six weeks post-surgery, and based on my experience, there's no need for you to worry.

Dinner tonight was a tiny chili cheese omelet. It was pretty tasty. I ate it all, though I would have been smarter to leave a couple bites. 310 calories by my reckoning.

I had surgery about six weeks ago, and I seem to have lost my taste for food, so I'm reading this thread with great interest. Before surgery, I loved to cook and I loved to eat. Now it seems that the only things I really enjoy are cottage cheese with pineapple and sugar free popsicles. On the good side, including the two-week pre-surgery diet I've lost 39 pounds. I'm the meal-preparer in our house, and my wife comes back tomorrow night after a three week visit with her family. I need to figure out some things that we can both eat, because I don't want to prepare two separate meal plans.

I sing in a gospel quartet and a barbershop quartet. I have the most fun in those 2 groups. I get to sing harmony, and the singers are good. I also sing in the church choir and from time to time I sing a solo in church. I haven't had stage fright for a long time. I guess if I can't see the audience because the house is really dark and the lights are really bright, I might still have a bit of nerves, but I forget about it because it's so much fun.

I took proton pump meds for 20 years before surgery. When I told my voice doc I wanted to get off them, he asked whether I'd ever considered weight loss surgery. Up until then I hadn't, so that was the start of my journey. It's good to get off the proton pump meds because they can cause bone density problems. Since my surgery a little over a month ago, the surgeon has me on omeprazole 40 mg. I think he wants me to take them for six months. The idea is to protect the vulnerable spots while they are healing.

I found myself depressed the first few days after surgery. Preparing for surgery was really intense, with lots of appointments and tasks to complete. Then afterwards, nothing to do but wait and heal. It was kind of a letdown. I'm a singer, and the same thing happens to me after a big performance, no matter how well it went. Rehearse, get psyched up, rehearse some more, perform, then nothing else to do.

Grace and peace be with you and with all your family and friends.

My doc told me at the one-week followup that I should remove the glue in the shower. That didn't work too well, so I took it off with Goo-gone, which has some xylene and some mineral oil in it. That takes it right off. I also have problems getting calories and especially water when I'm out doing errands. I never really get hungry, but I've started to carry a water bottle with me. I'm an amateur singer, and getting dehydrated is really bad for voices.

My surgery date was 5/28, so today is one month later. The good: My pain was only moderate, and was manageable with just acetaminophen after the first couple days. I haven't had too much gas pain or nausea, either. I'm never hungry. I've lost 23 pounds since the surgery (33 including the pre-surgery diet). I'm wearing one size smaller jeans, and after losing another 5 pounds or so, I'll try the next size down. I'm also wearing one size smaller polo shirts. The bad: If I eat too much or too quickly, I get quite uncomfortable. One one occasion, this resulted in vomiting. I've also had some constipation. Crushing all my meds for the first week was awful. I was mixing them with yogurt, and they cut right through the yogurt flavor. The chewable vitamin I'm taking is unpalatable, and makes me slightly nauseous. I do all the cooking in our house, and preparing separate meals for my wife and for me during the first few weeks was time-consuming. I need to do better on planning my eating and drinking. I'm drinking way less water than I used to, and I'm afraid I'm not getting enough calories either. I know I'm getting the recommended 60 to 80 grams of protein because of protein shakes. I'm also not getting on the exercise machine enough. (I have a bad hip, so I can't take the long walks I used to take. The hip pain is decreasing a bit, though.) I'd be pleased to hear observations from more seasoned surgery veterans about what to expect in the coming months, and any suggestions you may have to offer.

Thanks for responding. You're sure right about the feeling I get when I eat to much making me careful not to overeat. In the old days, I never would have left two or three bites on my plate. These days, I'm very conscious of whether my gut is saying I'm full. Doesn't bother me to throw something out or put it away for tomorrow, if it will help me avoid that feeling. I did take Miralax once a few days after surgery. The amount I took worked a little too well. I'll try a bit less next time. I'm on normal foods now, but my wife is out of town to see her folks. When she gets back, I'll probably start her on whatever I eat. I don't like vegetables much, but I guess I'll prepare more when she's around. Before surgery, I would serve those pre-made chopped salad kits. Have you used them? They're mostly cabbage and carrots, with very little lettuce. I don't know whether I want to chew a mouthful of cabbage until it's the consistency of applesauce.

Wow, Matty. Your statistics tell me you're a remarkable story. Did you log everything you ate? I feel like I should be logging but it's a real pain. The hospital recommends an app called Baritastic, but I don't feel like typing on the phone. In the past I've used a PC program called DietPower, but the user interface is really clunky. Right now I'm weighing portions carefully to keep from eating too much, but I'm not logging them. I have a big roll of fat around the waist. How much weight do I have to lose before that goes away? Also, did you tell people about the surgery? So far, I have told family and close friends. I suspect it will soon become common knowledge, but I'm not going out of the say to tell people. BTW, I'm actually down in Sugar Land.

I'm three weeks post-surgery, and doing well. There was very little pain after the first few days. I'm on soft food now. Today I had 1.8 ounces of tenderloin steak and 2 ounces of mashed potatoes for breakfast. Lunch was a fried egg, half a turkey sausage patty, and half an English muffin. For dinner I had fish tacos: 3 ounces of fish, 2 small Mr. Tortilla tortillas, a tablespoon of guacamole and a tablespoon of salsa. The tacos were really tasty, but were either too much or I ate too fast, because it made me quite uncomfortable for an hour or so. (Edit: I do best when I use a knife and fork to eat, taking very small bites and chewing until it's the consistency of applesauce. When I eat something with my hands like a taco, it's hard to be sure the bites are small enough.) I had protein shakes mid-morning and mid-afternoon, so I think I'm getting enough protein, but I fall behind on the water. In 5 weeks including the two-week pre-surgery diet, I've lost 29 pounds, and I fit into the next size smaller jeans with room to spare. So don't be nervous. It will be great.

20 days after surgery, I can drink on in 15 minutes or less. I think that's faster than I'm supposed to be drinking them, but it doesn't seem to give me any problems.

After my one-week post-op visit, my doc told me I could go from full-liquid to puree diet. He also said I didn't have to grind up soft white fish or scrambled eggs if I chewed them well. Last night for dinner I had an ounce of commercially-prepared breaded cod, with 95% of the breading removed. I also had a quarter cup of mashed potatoes. It was great! For lunch today, I had a scrambled egg. To be precise, one egg and one egg white. As I was eating, I was thinking, "Everyone tells me to stop eating when I feel full. I don't know whether I've ever felt that. I wonder what it feels like to be full now." Then, about the last bite, I realized I felt full. Thirty minutes later, I was miserable. It wasn't quite pain. It was more like pressure. It felt like somebody was inflating a basketball inside my gut. I tried to take a nap and couldn't. I sat in the recliner. No help. I tried moving to a different position. Every time, it would feel better for a second, but then the pressure resumed. Finally I was lying on the floor moaning. I made the wise decision to crawl to the bathroom. After being there for 5 minutes, I finally vomited. (Forgive me for being graphic here, but we're friends, right?) I expected to see a bunch of scrambled eggs, but instead there was just a tablespoon or so of clear saliva. This was about two and a half hours after I ate the eggs. The pressure didn't stop right away, though it began to diminish. Twenty minutes or so later, I felt well enough to scrape myself off the floor and take the elevator downstairs. It took another couple hours before I was back to normal, though totally whipped. If you have any "Don't ever do this" stories, please share them. I would be thrilled get the advice that could help me avoid an episode like I just went through.

He really didn't tell me I could start on soft foods. He said I could start on purees, but he also said soft white fish and scrambled eggs can be treated like purees. I haven't had an egg since that episode, though, even though now, just short of three weeks, I've been on soft foods for a week. Maybe I'll try one today.

I like spicy, so I pureed some chicken curry, then thinned it with chicken broth to make a thick soup. Refried beans with a little salsa on top were also tasty.

I agree with this post. Years ago when I was on a diet of protein shakes, I lost about 40 pounds in two and a half months. After the first few days, I wasn't really hungry any more. I recall having special vitamins, so you might ask the doc's office if you should start bariatric vitamins if you're going to do just shakes. You might also ask the person who did your psych consult for a referral to a therapist to help deal with the disappointment.

I'm on traditional Medicare, and they pay almost everything. It's very easy to get approval, too.

I just had my surgery on 5/28, so I'm still at the "Puree" stage of diet. Still, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to manage 60 to 80 grams of protein every day. For years, I have used Wonderslim brand protein shakes sold by Diet Direct. One envelope is 15 grams of protein. I would mix them up with ice and milk so that I would get 25 grams of protein in a very shake-like food which was actually enjoyable. Since surgery, I left out the ice to lower the volume. That ended up being more like pudding, but still tasted good. The next thing I tried was to mix in one scoop of Orgain brand vanilla flavored protein powder. This powder tastes too artificial to me. Now my shake is just tolerable, not enjoyable. (I don't like this powder in my Cream of Wheat, either.) I may try some of the protein soups as between-meal snacks, but I'm certainly interested in other suggestions.

I'm really not on soft foods yet. Still at the puree stage, but the doc told me that soft fish and scrambled eggs could be eaten during the puree phase if I chewed them well. The plan my hospital puts out calls for a week on full liquid, a week on puree, then two weeks on soft foods before getting to my long term diet. After that experience, I will surely be careful when moving to the next phase. It's hard to for me eat a puree slowly, because it really doesn't have to be chewed. Maybe I'll try putting the spoon down between bites to draw things out.

I just brought clean underwear, a pair of gym shorts, and a T-shirt. I didn't even wear my shoes on the way home, because they put me in traction socks. Maybe it's different for a woman.

You got this! No reason to be nervous. Everything will go fine, and you'll have a new tool for losing weight.