Arimi

Brooks Levitate 3s are my favorite shoes. I walk a lot as I’m a nurse who works 12 hour shifts. Three days a week at work I walk 3-5 miles per day. I used to love ASICS, but now they feel too narrow. I had some Sauconys that were great for awhile, but they stopped making that model a few years ago. The Brooks Ghost model I also find comfortable. It’s hard to give a blanket recommendation because the models change so often. If you are unable to get to a shoe store for a fitting you might want to try Amazon. Sometimes I can find a good deal on an older model of shoe. Try the shoe on a clean surface and return it if it doesn’t work out. Check the return policy on any shoes you might buy from Amazon because sometimes there is a 3rd party seller, but in general, I’ve been able to return shoes easily.

When I got to the solid food stage at my one month follow up the PA told me to eat 800 calories per day. I am a nurse, and when I work 12 hour shifts I’m often too busy to meet my goal of calorie intake. What I have noticed is that one day when I managed to eat only 630 calories for the day my appetite/urge to eat felt stronger the next day. At work I often drink protein shakes because I don’t have the time to sit and chew one ounce of food every 10 minutes as that was also recommended. I really make an effort to get my 800 calories. My BMI was at 50 when I started 2 months ago and my BMI is now 44.

The first time I could drive after surgery I was driving past restaurants and feeling sad about the great meals that I used to eat. Today, getting close to 3 months out I’m camping. I’m feeling grateful for how much easier it is to walk on the beach and swim in the lake. I’ve stopped my obsessing about how much I’ve eaten and when, where my next meal is coming from. I still drink Protein Shakes because I don’t get enough Protein otherwise. I feel grateful for the change.

I was listening to a Bariatrician discuss stalls with a support group recently. She said if a person stalls they should eat 100 fewer calories per day for 7 days and she said that would fix the stall. She also said, and this is a pain, but we must write down all of our calories every day to make sure to cut down by 100.

Does anyone know of a good tasting vegan protein powder? If you do, where was it purchased and what is the name of it?

I was warned by a Bypass patient that she would be feeling the effects very quickly and had very low tolerance for alcohol. She also told me that in 45 minutes “I’m sober as a judge.” She is >10 years out and suggested no drinking. I was craving soda too. Bought a small can of Diet Pepsi and shook it enough to get all of the carbonation out. I drank it and realized...not the same...the craving went away and flat pop...😞.

Same! The right sided one where they pulled out my stomach hurt the most. My surgeon said that incision is, I don’t recall if he said sutured or stapled, but abdominal wall requires closure to avoid a hernia. Even 3 weeks post if I twisted a certain way I would feel a sharp pain. The abdominal binder helped a lot, I slept in a recliner chair because I couldn’t bend enough to get in/out of bed. I set my watch alarm for every 6 hours to remind me to take Tylenol in a timely manner for 3 days. My surgery was 3/17–no pain now for weeks. Just wish I would have had surgery sooner because I feel so good now!! Hang in there.

I will paste this from WebMD. “Generally, nicotine will leave your blood within 1 to 3 days after you stop using tobacco, and cotinine will be gone after 1 to 10 days. Neither nicotine nor cotinine will be detectable in your urine after 3 to 4 days of stopping tobacco products.Nov 9, 2020” I have only seen the cotinine test used to rule out smoking before organ transplant. I work with pre-transplant patients and have never worked with WLS patients. I had quit smoking over 20 years ago and was not tested for either, but tomato—tomahto...I’m sure that some surgeons do test. I quit cold turkey > 20 years ago. In my mind I didn’t think of it as quitting. Total rationalization I know, but I told myself I wasn’t allowed to go into the gas station to buy cigs and that plus some nicotine gum after the 3 days (I was getting grumpy) did the trick. No smoking will help with improved healing and reduced risk of cancer. Quitting smoking while following WLS diet and restrictions will be hard. Some therapy and support groups might help. Be well and good luck to you.

By BMI I most likely qualified for bypass, however, I recently had some autoimmune issues and was put on Prednisone. With bypass prednisone is not allowed ever so I ended up with the sleeve.

I was allowed to drink 50/50 water with crystal light before and after. I bought a bunch of Crystal Light from Amazon. One day while trying to drink my chalky awful tasting protein shake I decided to dump 1/2 a Crystal Light strawberry packet in the protein drink. Much better!!! I’ve also used the cherry/pomegranate flavor in my vanilla protein drinks.

Stayed a second night because I couldn’t urinate for about 8 hours the next day even though I was full of IV fluid. I didn’t want to leave without that issue fixed. The second morning of hospital stay they checked my blood sugar and it was only 70. That is the bottom end of normal so they brought me some 1/2 apple juice 1/2 water really quickly. My diabetes went away so much that I now carry a piece of hard candy in my purse just in case I’m feeling low/shaky. I had a lot of pain at the site where the portion of my stomach was removed. My Dr said that’s the area where my abdominal wall was sutured to prevent a hernia. They told me that 70% of patients go home the next day. I’m glad I stayed and had my blood sugar managed. Good luck to you!

I’m 3 weeks post sleeve. After moving to purée stage I was feeling hungry more often. Yes get the protein in first. My directions are 1 scoop of protein powder must have 20 gms of protein and below 12 gms of sugar. I mix the protein powder with almond milk. I got a jug of protein powder that tastes terrible so I got some dry peanut butter powder from Amazon for more protein. I mix only 4 ozs almond milk, protein powder 1 scoop, 2 Tbsp of dry peanut powder plus one Tbsp sugar free Greek vanilla yogurt. Tastes like a peanut butter milkshake which if you like peanut butter tastes pretty good. Somewhere I read the difference between head hunger and true hunger. I find that useful. Make sure you are drinking enough water because dehydration can be confused for hunger. My diabetes immediately went away so the surgery was well, well worth it in my book. Good luck!!

March 17th for me. I’ve already been weaning off of caffeine as I won’t be able to get it at the hospital post-op. I get a headache early afternoon so I’ve worked on reducing my intake. My pre-op diet starts 3/9. Have to take in only 1000 cals/day to reduce the size of my liver during the pre-op stage. Good luck everyone! It’s a gift to ourselves to live a longer and healthier life.