lizonaplane

I took lots of pills starting a few hours after surgery. I also take Miralax sometimes. I never found stool softeners to help at all. A few times I've had to use a suppository laxative if I haven't gone in 4 days or so - this was recommended by the nurse practitioner at my surgery center. I also find that moving more, drinking more fluids, and drinking coffee/tea helps.

It turns out that most meats have almost as much iron as beef, so eat whatever meat/seafood you want. Veggies may have good amounts of iron, but it's usually non-heme iron, which is harder for your body to absorb. It's hard to get enough iron from food unless you are eating enriched/fortified foods, and most of those are not that healthy (think sugar-laden cereals and bread and pasta). Be a label sleuth and figure out some good options. I'm not sure if the iron added to enriched foods is heme or non-heme iron.

You can do this! I didn't have a liquid diet; just low carb/low fat/high protein. But even if you do have a liquid diet before surgery, it's just a week or so, and then it's done! The first few days when you are getting over the sugar addiction are the hardest I hear. I had some gas the first day or so after surgery, but it wasn't a big deal. I had a fair amount of pain and took three pain pills total over three days. For reference, I took 4 pain pills in ONE day after some dental surgery. Don't let these things scare you; in the grand scheme of life, they're over in the blink of an eye!

I didn't have a recliner, but I did have a wedge pillow and slept on my back, which I don't normally do. It was hard to get up out of bed and the wedge pillow helped. I would have liked a belly binder because when I was walking around my belly moved and my incisions hurt. Some surgery centers provide these. Also, I would say to have your house clean and laundry and dishes done because it will be hard to do these right after surgery. I found it easier to get my fluids in when I kept a water bottle right in my hand or right next to me on the couch. Good luck!

I felt this a lot early on, except that I was hungry. eating was hard and nothing tasted good. After a few months (I think by month 3-4) I started being able to enjoy food again. I am 7.5 months out and I still find that things like ground meat (think chili or hamburgers minus the buns) or fish/seafood works better for me than chicken breast or steak, but I'm getting better at eating cuts of meat. I find that food needs to have a sauce on it, especially if it's going to be reheated. I'll use cheese sauces, fat free greek yogurt, refried beans, salad dressing, mayo, etc as sauce. Tomato sauce would probably work, but I don't like it. It does get better!

I'm sorry that happened! It's so frustrating, I know. I had just started exercising and met with a trainer and immediately got biceps tendinitis and only now months later am I able to do upper body work again. But, like others said, you can do other forms of exercise for now, and your toe will heal. The positive thing is that you WANT to work out! On a side note, you will still lose weight even if you don't exercise since you just had surgery. I barely exercised for the first 6 months or so after surgery, and I still lost a ton of weight. Exercise is very important for general health and for maintaining weight loss, but really, losing weight is all about eating better. You can't outrun a bad diet!

I travel for work, so I'm in a different office/desk every week, sometimes every few days. If I can't easily pack it in carry on, I can't use it, unfortunately.

yeah, I saw all the heated clothing on Amazon, but I'm not sure about packing it on flights. I barely have enough room for my fleece. Most had mediocre reviews. I ordered some hand warmers and thermal pants and tops, and we'll start there. Thank you for giving me such wonderful suggestions, everyone!

I had occassional GERD/heartburn when I overate prior to surgery. I am 7.5 months out and I've only had heartburn once - after eating crackers. I know many people get hiatal hernia repairs with sleeve. But I'd ask your doctor whether they recommend bypass or sleeve.

Walking in your house isn't enough. Walk around the block. Hope it gets better soon!

I've never heard of heated socks. I'll have to see whether they can be brought on a plane (I fly every week).

I gave up on low fat. With low fat, I'm miserable. Low fat makes me more constipated too, and hungrier. I eat cheese and butter sauces, but also fat free Greek yogurt, or you could use tomato sauce, wine/vinegar based sauces, salad dressing, mayo (or low fat if you must). I use refried beans as a sauce, too

There are lots of soy foods that are good protein, and you can get dairy free/vegan protein shakes, although I find them gritty. You just have to work harder to get your protein in if you are vegan.

I agree with @ShoppGirl. Meat is hard, and I find I do better with ground meat, fish, or shrimp. If I want to eat chicken breast, I make sure it has lots of sauce or cheese on it, and I chew it really well and take smaller bites. I think that's probably what's going on.

I took all of my pills a few hours after surgery. Talk to your clinic, because the real issue is taking it BEFORE surgery. After surgery it took me a long time to take pills, but now I can take all 10 at once like before.

I brought my fleece throw blanket to the site I'm working at today - I bought it for airplanes. It's not really helping. I can't really get hot drinks all day long, since I'd have to buy them. I always think I'll be warm enough because I SHOULDN'T need a winter coat when it's 60 degrees out, plus it's hard to bring a winter coat on a flight!

I eat some carbs. I eat a lot of fruit and some starchy veggies. I also eat a little bit of bread or french fries sometimes. Rice doesn't sit well with me, but sometimes I really want sushi so I'll end up eating some. I often order ramen and just eat the protein, veggies, and broth. I've never really been a pasta person. I eat low carb wraps, but when that's not available, I just eat the protein out of the sandwich. I try more to avoid added sugars. I eat around 80-100 g of carbs a day. I'm 7.5 months out.

I like to make things with ground turkey, chicken, or beef. It seems to be easier for me to eat ground meat, even at 7.5 months out. I like chili, ground turkey stroganoff (no pasta!), spicy chicken lettuce wraps without the lettuce (I still can't eat lettuce), taco meat with shredded cheese and greek yogurt instead of sour cream, refried beans (also with yogurt and cheese), low-carb tortillas filled with 2% shredded cheese and chorizo refried beans fried in a pan with spray as a quesadilla served with ff plain greek yogurt...

Update: I initially started this post WAY back. I've gone from a 3x/24 to a M/10! What I did was buy some stuff at thrift stores, and then a few things in stores/online, just enough for a week's worth of clothes in any one size. I have found that I can actually wear things a BIT big, so for example, the pants I just bought (one pair of casual pants and one pair of jeans) are a size 10, but today I am wearing size 14 dressier pants, which are loose, but since they're stretchy, they don't look ridiculous. Also, I have some shirts in every size from S-XL that fit. I had all sorts of hopes to get everything from thrift stores but in the end, I am too picky for that. I have been donating my "bigger" clothes on Buy Nothing or if no one in my neighborhood wants them, I donate them to the thrift store. Mostly I'm able to give my bigger clothes to my neighbors on Buy Nothing, so they are not going in a landfill just yet!

What are you confused about?

Agree with what everyone said. I wouldn't assume it's menopause. I didn't get my period for several months after surgery. I hadn't had it for ten years since I'd been on continuous cycling birth control (I HATE my period) but I thought I'd just wait for my period to come back before starting the pill again. I also was not sexually active so I knew I wasn't pregnant.

I've seen a lot of posts about people who weren't even due for their period but got it the day of surgery. Just tell the hospital what is going on, and they will take care of you. They are used to body fluids LOL. Good luck!

I can try one of those. I thought the silk undershirt would help, but it hasn't helped at all! thanks

for me, it doens't matter how many clothes I put on - if I am sitting, I am cold. Being constantly cold is terrible.

My grandmother used to say I had a pretty face too. It was years before I realized she was essentially saying that was the only thing about me that was pretty (because I was so fat). People are telling me I look younger now, and people also used to tell me I looked younger than my age (42). I don't use ANYTHING on my face. No makeup, no products, just water to clean with.