ShoppGirl

I had the Sleeve 3.5 years ago and I’m pending revision to SADI or bypass (Bypass if he gets in there a can’t do SADI for some reason). From what I have seen on these boards the post op pain level for the sleeve and bypass is pretty similar year still different from person to person. I think the main difference between someone with an easy vs tough recovery depends on whether any air gets trapped in there and causes gas pain. I was really fortunate with the sleeve that I didn’t have any gas pain at all and my recovery was quite easy. I was up a couple hours after being back to my room Bugging then nurses with questions about my urine output 🤣 At one point I even questioned whether they had somehow forgotten to do the surgery. I did feel like I had done about 1000 crunches. And I had to use the bed rails to assist in sitting up for the first day but if I was just lying or standing I felt normal. I even said I didn’t need pain meds right away. They said they suggested they wean me down because I was already on some and may not know it if I’m in pain. I went home the next day on just Tylenol but with a pain script just in case. I did feel fatigued for a while so I took naps daily and I waited the full two weeks before I did much as instructed but I FELT like I could do most things if I had tried. It is an adjustment to remember all the vitamins and figure out what to drink or “eat” and when but I set alarms on my phone and that helped quite a bit. I actually just created alarms for every half hour and then toggled them on as needed to plan my day. You are a step ahead of the game that you are already here and established where you can get support and ask questions if you have any I didn’t find this site until a couple of days before so I was still figuring out how the thing even worked while working through the rest of it. The people here are incredibly helpful to answer questions, cheer you on or just let you vent if you have a bad day. The main thing to keep in mind is your goals and your reasons why you are doing the surgery and that will get you through it. If you ask everyone if they have any regrets about Weight loss Surgery the most common response it that they only wish they had done it sooner. After a few months you should be in your new groove, just losing weight and noticing that you can already do things you haven’t been able to do. If you haven’t already, Check out the “weirdest non scale victories” thread on this site. It sorta turned to just normal non scale victories but it’s pretty inspiring

How long have you been doing it? I guess it’s been about a year for me now. I belong to a group that meets weekly with people who knit and crochet with a lot more experience. They all say that I will want to try knitting at some point and most of them do both. I actually picked up the hooks for Tunesian Crochet but haven’t done anything with them. Maybe I will give that a go during recovery. It may be a better distraction since it’s new and will take more focus. Does anyone else have any cool hobbies they plan to use when they need a distraction in this process?

Wow!! You don’t get much notice at all. Sounds like you are mentally at about the same point as I am anyways. When do you start your Pre Op diet? I just started this morning and I am t trying to get down a shake right now. It’s one that I used to like but it seems like a weird consistency. I think I may have spoiled myself with the fairlife ones when I was trying out flavors. They are so much smoother tasting to me.

Well my surgeons front office staff is consistent in giving me the wrong information at least. The nurse doing my paperwork said that my preop diet was two days liquid diet. I said last time I did a week of the LSD she said no it’s just two days but she would double check. Well when she didn’t call I called the office and they said yep two days but it sounded like they just checked the paper she gave me and hadn’t asked him. So thankfully I made an appt with the NP and she said that it should be two weeks of the LSD plus two days of liquids so I have to start in two days. Yet another shining example of why I don’t trust anything that they say. Who knows what would’ve happened when he found out on surgery day that I hadn’t done the diet at all. I would’ve been so devastated if they postponed me Thanks to @SleeveToBypass2023 though I did find out that they have a patient portal so I can skip the front office and message the Nurses and Doctor instead. Of course the front office wasn’t sure how to get me logged into it 🤣 they told me to call the help number on the site. The FAQ’s say that the office has to send me an invite first though with a code so I’ve got to ask the surgeon about that on Monday too. Shocking, right? Anyways, I have to wrap my mind around starting the pre op two weeks sooner than they said (a week sooner than I expected her to say). I am definitely doing to be wasting some food since I just bought groceries expecting to have another week. I am making a grocery order to pickup up Monday after I see the surgeon. I have the two shakes for breakfast and lunch. It’s honestly not too bad. I have to do two shakes but I do get a low carb dinner and a snack at least. Not complaining after seeing others having to all all liquid. I am going to get pretty board with it after two weeks though I’m sure. I wish I liked more of a variety of shakes. I like the cafe late or proffee a lot but of course that’s caffeine. Which it doesn’t technically say no caffeine but it seems like they told me that last time. Adding that to my list of questions too. The questions that the nutritionists should have answered but I was told no LSD so she didn’t go over it. 🤦‍♀️

Yea, they keep sending me texts inviting me to do surveys and I’m like y’all don’t even want to get me started. lol. I am just glad that I’m on the portal now (thanks) and he said that If I have any issues post op that I would have no problem getting him. Starting the Liver Shrink Diet today is making it pretty real. I am still a tad nervous but finally I am at the point I can be nervous AND excited!!

I am so excited for you. Let us know how it all goes. I am vicariously packing right along with you.

Thank you both for thinking about me. Yes. I did have appointment and no they did not know how to get me onto the portal 🤣 . They told me to call the help line which I did end up doing and they just sent me the invite and I took it from there. The Dr answered all of my questions. Most of the stuff that I was told by the rest of the staff that I questioned I was right to because they were wrong. I’m not gonna stress over it though. I got all my answers now and feel much better about things. He promised that if I need him post op I will be able to get him and I am supposed to be on the pre op diet starting today which I did just in case so I’m good. It says my surgery is at 7:30 in the patient portal but they haven’t called me yet. I’m wondering if that’s correct or they just put everyone in for 7:30 and work it out the day before.

It takes a while to do it without headaches so start sooner than later. I had to rush the process a bit (long story) and it was pretty stressful knowing that my body may not cooperate with my timeline. Thankfully I had my last caffeine yesterday. 😮‍💨

Thanks. I am actually looking at my book now and it lists regular caffeinated or decaf beverages on the clear liquid diet which is days one and two post op. I knew I was offered coffee in the hospital for my sleeve but wasn’t sure if it was decaf or regular because I don’t drink it unless its loaded with other stuff. I was allowed when I asked pretty early out to have caffeinated protein shakes but didn’t remember exactly when that was. I know that a lot of doctors disagree on this toplc but apparently I am allowed to have it from day one. Ironically it is NOT listed as a drink option on the liver shrink diet. Not sure why but I have an appointment with him today so I will be asking. I am totally weaned and didn’t have any this morning but I am dragging a bit. No headaches though knock on wood. I know that it’s always tough for me for any procedure to go without it even for the nothing after midnight that’s always required. If the procedure goes too late I wake up with a headache begging to drink the caffeine that I bring with me so I guess it’s better to just stay off of it or keep it to like one a day anyways at this point.

Don’t forget to pack something to go under yoiur hosptial gown since they are open in the back and you will be walking the halls.

I woke up with a waist binder on from my sleeve which is pretty thick so it wouldn’t have really mattered so long as the waist was not too too tight. Like i wouldn’t wear jeans but looser leggings, pajama pants, track pants, shorts. Whatever you have. My incisions we’re pretty tiny and covered with tape (and then the binder) so in terms of like rubbing I don’t think it would have mattered. Not sure if everyone gets a binder though. To answer your main question my lowest incision was just below my belly button the highest is about 2 or 3” below my boobs if I’m wearing a bra 🤣 Assuming you’re going straight there and straight home i would honestly just wear whatever you are comfortable in. I wore Nike pants with slides and socks because I didn’t want to have to deal with sneakers 🤷🏼‍♀️ it wasn’t my finest fashion statement but I figured it’s a hospital everyone there is worried about their own stuff. The sundress was a good idea if you are comfortable in them. It would probably be easiest to put back on. No bending which is good. Ooh and I wore the same thing home as I wore there too. They had me change first thing when I got called back. I Just brought underthings and toiletries but I wasn’t allowed to shower. I did use my tablet, phone and chargers. Good luck tomorrow.

Darn it. Well I’ve been crossing my fingers for you that something comes up soon.

Any news on a new surgery date? 🤞

Well I went back to the NP to clarify and it turns out I am supposed to do a two week LSD AND a 2 day all liquid one so I start tomorrow morning. My LSD diet isn’t to bad compared to some. I get one small low carb meal and a snack of like sugar free non fat yogurt. Breakfast and lunch is shakes. I pretty much knew that I was going to have to do more than two days once I talked to the NP but I wasn’t expecting 16 days. Yikes 😳 How is everyone else doing?

Wow. I’m surprised you made it a week with the caffeine withdrawal headaches. I’m glad you didn’t have any issues from drinking it so soon post surgery. I am weaning myself off it now and I tried cutting back too fast the first day and woke up with a massive headache at 2am so bad that I downed some. I am down to my last day actually. I should be caffeine free tomorrow. 😁 and I start my preop diet the next day I THOUGHT I had more time between the two and I was going to do lower carb to sorta detox from those before preop but the office messed up and I got alot less warning. Oh well stuff happens I guess. Just trying to keep going forward. Anyways, I guess my point is that I definitely second the cutting caffeine. I did it further in advance with the sleeve and really wish I hadn’t cut it so close this time. It has been stressful thinking what if it’s too fast and I can’t get there. Especially for me being post sleeve because I can’t just take an Alieve and Tylenol doesn’t do anything for me. I can’t even imagine dealing with everything post op and having a withdrawal headache on top of it all.

I think it was Dr Matthew Weiner that said that blending fruit made it lose some of its nutrition. That being said, I was allowed to have them if they were homemade or made from simple ingredients. If you like them I really reccomend a nutra bullet. They are so simple to make at home. If you do buy it out somewhere consider a child size if they have one. You would be surprised how filling they are plus the calories can add up pretty quick in the larger ones. Tropical Smoothie Cafe has a kids Jetty Junior that is 12oz strawberry and banana which is 190 calories (80 if they make it with Splenda). They have their nutrition info for all their smoothies online. Of course there is not any protein in it. They have whey protein powder as an add in It says 110 calories for 16 grams. Just watch them when they make it if you ask for Splenda. For some reason they tend to forget by the time they get to that part.

You may want to tell your dr if you had to stop taking your antibiotics halfway through. That’s usually not advised. Maybe they can give you something different. No, I don’t know anything about Instagram.

Ooh so you already know about proffee. I love it. I am lending revision but 3.5 years out from sleeve and I still like my proffee.

A lot of peoples tastes change a bit post surgery. Usually it’s temporary but I’ve heard a lot of people say it about sweet stuff. Some people have to dilute the protein shakes with milk to make them palletable. Another trick if you like iced coffee would be to mix in some coffee if you are allowed regular or decaf. I usually take a big cup, dump in the whole shake and then add coffee to the top but you may want even less of the shake. I buy these Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee packets at Walmart that you can mix right into a bottled water so it’s already cold. It’s $4 for 6 of them but I only use half a bottle per day so it’s not that bad. If you remember to mix it at room temp and then refridgerate it you can get regular brew ones in Folgers for like a buck a box. I’m just not that organized. I have tried it though with the decaf and it works. You have to shake it and then go back to it a few times.

I am going to ask specifically for the invitation Monday before I go into my appointment with him.. I’m hoping that someone in there can at least do that. I mean I’m sure I can figure it out from there. I’m assuming it’s the same basic concept as the one I have for another dr. If they really don’t know how to do it I actually want to let the dr know though because they should be able to help with something 😂 . I’m usually not this bad but I’m starting to get annoyed that I have to spend my time and money going to extra appointments because of them.

Ooh. What about the protein shots they sell right here on bariatric pal. Maybe they would be better for you.

Did anyone tell you about the ricotta bake. That’s another thing that is good on purée/soft food. It’s basically lasagna without the noodles. You can bake it in the oven but I just microwaved it. Ricotta, marinara (without chunks) and low fat cheese. Some recipes that you bake call for an egg which may be better but I never tried that one. The refried brand reminded me because I basically lived on them two things for a while.

Ignore this. Sorry

I haven’t heard of the gel either but I do remember something with the powder and adding it to the broth. I think it’s best to mix it into a little that was room temp and heat up the rest then mix the two together. I never tried it but someone said it was the solution to it being lumpy when mixed in the hot soup. So if you do try powder and it doesn’t mix well, maybe try that. Let us know more about the gel though if it does work out. Sounds like it could be better to mix in food? Is it whey protein though. That’s the one I was told we absorb the best post surgery.

Well for the shake since you are making it maybe you can just make Half and then take the ingredients with you to make the other half. Hopefully you won’t have to do it for too long. You should get to where you can drink more once the swelling goes down some more and eventually you ideally will be able to get all of your protein from food. in terms of what’s allowed at this stage though, I would try to stick to what your doctor has on their list. I think most people have scrambled eggs on either purée or soft foods. Is that on your list? Those could be made ahead and heated up if you have a microwave at work.