draikaina8503

hello everyone! Just got home. Everything went well. i had more pain getting my gallbladder removed last year. so there's some good news for those that may be nervous. Also, pho broth can be purchased at any pho restaurant. Now to nap!

I honestly think at a certain point it doesn’t much matter what they do while they are poking around in your abdomen it’s just hurts for a while regardless. I had a surprise gallbladder removal and I seem to be recovering pretty similar to most others with the surgery. I had a bit of a tough beginning but that was actually because of gas not incision pain. Hopefully yours will be the same but without the gas either

I unfortunately am very limited in Protein Shake flavors that are available. I'm actually allergic to milk, so all I can have are plant Protein Shakes. So yay for having to have the more expensive, less available flavors. >_>
I did buy a tape measure this morning when I was running errands so that I can take my measurements! My other tape measure, uh.... really put in perspective how big I was because it wouldn't go around me. Depressing but also motivating to know that I am doing the right thing for me.
Hopefully, I move to being able to have 'cream of' Soups when I get home. Though there are concerns about how much surgery they will actually be doing as I do have endometriosis. So the hope is that it hasn't spread since my last endo surgery 15 years ago, and therefore they don't have to deal with that particular complication. I am nervous about the hernia repair. I know it's common, but it's just one more thing to go through. I've been prepping myself for the bypass, not the hernia repair. LOL

Today is day 1 of the clear liquid diet to prep for my surgery on Friday! It's... going lol. Definitely harder than I thought it would be, but I'm making it through.
I'm flabbergasted that we are halfway through August, and my surgery is on the 16th and then 10 days later, I return to school to work on my masters degree. Now I'm wondering what I was thinking. LOL

I can tell you that your life will get better as a result of being lighter, but you will need to mentally adjust to the other changes that will occur. Wishing you all the best.

My surgery date is August 21st too!!!

Get yourself some small thermal cups they are great!!

Of course. I am actually looking forward to the ricotta bake. Not sure if you guys are familiar with it but it’s ricotta, marinara and low fat mozzarella cheese. Sorta like a lasagna without the noodles. There are lots or recipes some go in oven with an egg which would add Protein but I just microwaved it last time and supplemented with shakes.

Thank you so much!!😊

Oh, that makes a lot of sense. The surgeon told me two days ago that the pain in my left shoulder is coming from a nerve! so that’s exactly it no longer gas but just nerves and bloating.

Oh, I was feeling the same way with how we’re gonna go from liquid to purée. So I spoke to my nutritionist today and she said to start with egg whites, cottage cheese, cause it’s similar to yogurt and on the lighter side of things and then if I handle that well within 72 hours to progress to fish but steamed fish and tuna in a can with mayo. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for just some fish. lol 😂. This liquid diet just I’m so over it. keep us posted on how it’s going for you.!

So glad to hear it’s getting a bit easier for you and that you found something that you actually enjoy for during that stage.

Welcome back. Do not worry about jumping in. This is open to anyone. I’m sorry to hear about your COVID and hope it doesn’t derail your surgery BUT being a week post op I can tell you that coughing does hurt quite a bit so if they make you wait that could be why and you may not realize that they are doing you a favor. I hope it all works out one way or another.

I’m so happy for your roots. I swear I never realized gas pain was that bad until it was amplified to so many that were held in there. I was actually waiting at the doctors office and I needed to pass one and I would have absolutely NEVER have done this before but I lifted myself up a bit to pass it while knowing they may walk in at any second. That’s how bad it hurts to hold it in. I swear to you I am the one who has gone number two in a public restroom like 4 times in my whole life. I actually used to make an excuse to go to my mom’s house like every other night I was dating my husband and practically living with him so I didn’t have to do that at his house. I get so embarrassed about that stuff. Yet during all this. I have told everyone I know when I finally farted. That’s how much relief it brought me. For those of you still pending, trust me. I don’t care who is in the room. If you can belch or fart. Do it!! Especially at the hospital They get it.

Just dropping in to say that Day 2 of pre-op diet is going better than day 1. The Unjury Martha's chicken Soup is amazing.

Well, I started this thread and then just mostly lurked (in part because I couldn't find my pw to log back in!) my surgery date is coming up soon... August 21st, but as to whether or not it will happen is up in the air I caught covid (I think) the end of July and I have a lingering cough that may dreail my surgery date. This is really rough because I'm having to travel to Lithuania to get it done and my tickets are not refundable... I'm hoping it just all goes through.
It's been encouraging to follow all your progress and I'm so hopeful to be joining in soon. @Hiddenrosess you really motivated me to write because I also used to role-playing in wow back in 2004-5 and am also neuro divergent. Anyway, this feels like I'm awkwardly jumping into the middle of someone else's conversation... So... *slips away*

lol. I am SO not superwoman. I have bipolar disorder and I have been on medication for years but I still struggle a great deal with the depression part. My weight gain after the sleeve surgery just amplified things for me and I had let my house go for so long. I guess the anticipation and hope of the future loss sparked a little motivation and then the nervous energy kicked in which mimicked the super woman you guys got a glimpse of. I also have ADHD so as much as getting organized seems impossible for me, being that was makes my life so much easier. I used to have it halfway together though before the weight issues and i really hope to get back to that point at least. I think that’s why I’m so afraid of breaking my momentum. It was just starting to feel a little like home again and it was so peaceful walking through the doors to a house with some order to it. I so badly don’t want to let it get back to the way it was I think this weekend I’m just going to ask my husband to do a few things that I can’t do. I think he will get it if I tell him how I feel.

Hi, August buddies! I'm so sorry for those going through delays. That would suck and I would be so mad! After all.we go through to get here!
More pain today as expected due to the nerve blocks wearing off, but I just move slowly and take my meds as needed. Had just the hint of nausea so I took a Zofran and its gone now. @ShoppGirl, I had some good toots, too, and I'm fairly sure all the gas is out now. That gas pain is no joke!
@Singingbarista, I hope you get to go home today and had as good a hospital experience as I did.

@Greekmom4 - Yay! I'm so happy for you to be close to purees! I don't get to have that step until Monday. Do the shakes not treat you well? I'm pretty burned out on them and they are admittedly a little pricy but getting down two of the 30g Protein Premier/Equate/Ensure has been the easiest way for me to meet my protein goals. Premier has a crazy amount of flavors and I'd put them in the lower-mid-range price point. I really like the strawberry and as a long time coffee lover I will say the Caramel mixed with Decaf coffee was a nice morning 'perk' that made me feel a little more like a normal human. The banana one was ok, to me. I splurged and got their variety pack first off of Walmart. It's pricier that way per shake but at least lets you decide what flavors you like before committing to a four pack (or more) purchase of a given flavor.

Also - 1000% agree on the bending! That's one factor I hadn't considered because I haven't had previous major surgeries - not to have things on the FLOOR that I need, lol. Thankfully my fella has been pretty patient about getting things for me that are out of reach.

@ShoppGirl - I'm really glad you decided not to vacuum! I know how frustrating it is and must be for someone who seems so on top of things as you are, but try to be gentle with yourself! Recovering from either a gallbladder surgery OR bariatric surgery is a LOT, and you're doing both! Enjoy having that support person - and remember, I'm sure there are times when he leans on you, so it's totally ok to lean on him during this process. You'll be feeling like a million bucks and able to be Superwoman again before you know it!

That’s brilliant to reward your reaching your Fluid goal with purées. I am so looking forward to them, omg!! I already have my Walmart cart ready to go.

PS, I came to my senses about the vacuuming. Momentary insanity I think. 😂

Happy Wednesday everyone!
I spoke with the nurse today and she suggested I add Protein Water to help get me to 60 grams and my 48 oz of water. Once I get there I can start to add some puréed food. She also said it will help me start to lose more weight.
@ShoppGirl I did not think I would try a vacuum at this point. I can’t even bend over to open a kitchen drawer. I’m lucky though I have 4 teens that have been super helpful with anything I need.

Oh my gosh, I hate that for you! That's so uncool - seems like you're taking it well. I guess if nothing else you can reward yourself with a little cheat-treat perhaps before you restart the liquid diet, and at least you'll know what to expect from the liquid diet and feel SUPER knowledgeable by the time the surgery happens!

Hello everyone! I see that the mid-month surgeries will be starting, some as of today! I'm am a week and a day post-op and have to say - I'm SO tired of being on a liquid diet and am absolutely counting down to this next Monday when I get to start purees. I'm telling myself I'm excited about purees, anyway - but I think I'm more looking forward to being able to have intake that isn't 'room temperature'. I've struggled to enjoy my pudding (sugar free, made with Protein shake) because while cold it starts out nice and thick but as it begins to warm it gets slimy and watery

I had things I wanted to respond to from the many posts I've just caught up on and by golly I'm going to try to tag multiples in this post and see if it works! *Please* forgive me if this is long; I'm a writer (unpublished but working on it - fantasy for anyone curious - so overwriting tends to be my worst tendency!)

To start with, since I think this will affect pretty much everyone - I had an amazing revelation a couple of days ago that made PERFECT sense. Colace / Docusate is a stool softener, NOT a laxative! A friend of mine is a research junkie about medications (I am about almost everything BUT that) and shared a video to me of a Pharmacist talking about the absurd cost for Docusate / Colace considering what it IS. Miralax and Senna are laxatives, all Colace / Docusate does it provide lubrication to your stools so they will be easier to pass. I'm pretty irritated about this, honestly, because whileI can see the purpose of Colace/Docusate if you're severely constipated it won't actually get things 'Moving'! Literally >. I can attest to this being true because during my liquid diet the only times I had stools were when I took Senna - (obv check with your doctor/pharmacist, but seriously this helped me SO much because post-op I was again at 5 days without a stool, took some Senna, and bam.)

To @AndreaJD and @Singingbarista , our Multi-care Clinic twinsies - How's it going?! This is your week!! I'm so excited for you both and hope your surgeries go great. You've both been wonderfully helpful and insightful in all the support you've offered and I'm eager to hear from you on the other side of the adventure! @AndreaJD - I just love your attitude SO much. Yes; we are certainly in a marathon for the next few months and NOT a sprint! I'm also rethinking my approach to food and looking forward to exploring new recipes. I find myself reading and re-reading my dietary instructions. I get a bit overly excited for my family's meals, savoring the smells and almost a bit resentful when they are NOT excited about the variety of foods that are available to them to eat. My fella says he wishes I'd stop vicariously trying to 'eat' through him - and I told him that's just tough, lol. I'm going to keep right on suggesting all of the available items like a waitress at a diner selling the food until I can eat a better variety myself!

To @Justarwaxx and @Mandalynne- Today is your day!! I have you both in my thoughts and hope everything goes well for you! @Justarwaxx - Welcome to the forum, I'm so glad you joined us!

@Mandalynne - Oh I'm SO glad to hear that my mentioning the Finch app helped someone! I'm rather ND myself (in case you couldn't tell from my rambling responses lol) and for me, Finch has been almost as life-changing as this surgery. Everything always felt overwhelming and scattered, with me constantly struggling to 'get on track' with endless efforts of organizational methods, then I would slide right back 'off track' for however long. My friend code on there is YJAMJAC79Y if you want to add my to your 'Tree Friends' lol - no offense taken if you don't! I can't believe they said only ONE day in the hospital for your surgery?! Surely they will keep you longer than THAT - it's pretty invasive! Please give us an update once you're situated and feel up to doing so! Also, I'm SO with you on enjoying the smells of food cooking! I keep looking at some blueberries and strawberries that are sitting in the fridge and literally pushing my Mom and fella to enjoy a popsicle for me, lol. I can't WAIT until I'm off this room temperature everything!! Update: I'm so sorry your surgery date was postponed!

Hey there @draikaina8503 - Greetings, fellow nerd-friend! Your response about playing D+D & WoW resonated with me! I, too, am a gamer and nerd! ❤️ I have tried so many times to revisit WoW but it just is NOT the same now that I don't have all of my old friends and guildies from the 2007-2015 era around I have played WoW since 2004 on and off, and now have somewhat given up and just play Sims4. I love being able to create story and be immersed in my gaming, and always felt guilty to move into the territory of roleplaying storyline with folks when I never knew how long I'd 'stick around' on a given revisit to the game.
But here you are, only *two days* away from your surgery! I hope that everything goes smoothly for you and that they aren't stingy with the pain relief. Ice packs have been SO helpful for me, as I previously stated, and making yourself get up and walk as soon as possible will help alleviate the gas pain.
I had them get me a fresh ice pack each time before I went walking and would hold it pressed to my surgical area while pushing the stupid IV pole with my other hand. Remember, too, it's the act of walking and NOT the speed! You'll almost certainly feel the burps start to rise up and the relief that comes with that is as Shoppgirl said - it feels like a rainbow after a storm once the tooting and burps begin. Also; I appreciate you sharing that you're going through this as an individual with Au/ADHD; I'm on a wait list right now for testing and your mention reminded me that I need to follow up on that!

As a result of my opening the different pages of this thread in different tabs I feel SO much more able to handle making a response all in one go like this! For anyone having trouble tagging you have to do the @ symbol, then start typing the name of the person you want to tag with a capitol letter. It will bring up a list at that point and the more letters you type the shorter that list of names will get - you can then tap on the right name (or click, if you're using a mouse - hope this helps!)

I actually just noticed by combing through that @Pepper_No_Salt is also an 8/16 surgery ! You and @draikaina8503 are indeed surgery twins, just like you said! I bet you're starting to *really* feel it now! Or did they not get you scheduled back for the same day? I am SO glad that you got that issue corrected - I was mad on your behalf when I saw that it was cancelled!

Hello and welcome, @Farhad , and congratulations on your surgery! Which one did you have, if I missed it, and how are you doing? I hope your pain is being managed well and that are having a good recovery. It sure is wild how quickly we fatigue now, isn't it? I learned around days 5-7 post-op that standing and doing anything that requires movement side to side causes me a lot more tenderness than when I slowly walk forward for the same amount of time, and couldn't for the life of me understand why. I guess it just makes a difference on how the incisions are pulled or tugged. I've got staples that I sure HOPE they take out Thursday because I'm SO tired of them pulling and feeling weird as a rough surface on my skin.

To @Onemealplan - Thanks for your post and all of your great reminders that this journey will be very individualized experiences. We can see similarities but I've also definitely noticed how varied some of the doctor's orders for pre and post-op are. I was feeling jealous of @ShoppGirl for her ice chips, but then again she ALSO had a much longer pre-op diet than I did and we both were going in for a SADI surgery. My doctor ordered me to start with the Vitamins as soon as I got home from the hospital, and I was here worrying about how I didn't re-start my Calcium until yesterday because even though I ordered Bariatric calcium because it was STILL three big pills, so I reordered a chewable and it just got here yesterday. I will say the chewy fusion style Calcium ones are tasty and felt like a brief reintroduction to flavor town, lol. I also appreciate what you said about the difference between physical and mental hunger - that's 100% true for me. The 'idea' of food sounding nice to me I've been treating as a craving for flavor, and I've taken to trying to sate that with different flavors of Water beverages and a rare sugar free candy like a jolly rancher. I don't know if I'm supposed to allow myself those or not, but so far thankfully haven't had any negative consequences for having the occasional one. The visit to flavor town is certainly a welcome break from this shake monotony.

Welcome and congratulations to you @Greekmom4! I'm taking the Prilosec as well and am right along with you, today I am 8 days post-op. Have you been experiencing nausea still? I'm not sure if it's due to my type of surgery but I've not had much nausea in a while, thankfully. Granted, I am trying super hard to alternate sipping water/sugar free Gatorade/Propel every 15 minutes and a bit of a 30g Protein Shake every 15 minutes most of the time when I'm not napping - which seems I can never really do, because whenever I go to get flat or semi-flat I feel the settling in my chest of burps that will only come up if I sit upright fully and/or walk. I have been fortunate (I guess??) to be able to meet my protein goals for the past several days; the 30g Protein drinks are SUPER filling and feel a little heavy, especially felt very heavy at first.

Finally - to @ShoppGirl - I was rereading and realized that of COURSE your journey was different than mine, not only because we have pre-surgery differences but also because they took out your Gallbladder as well! I'm so glad you're starting to get some relief due to the burping and such. I agree, the post-surgery bowel movement made a world of difference. See also above where I discussed learning the difference between the Colace and Senna/Miralax! You're a go-getter, that's for sure! I personally wouldn't recommend vacuuming today even though I know you're SO eager to get back to being productive. You may have already done it lol - I wouldn't be surprised! Thanks for the reminder to get up and move; I took longer writing this big response post than I should have and even though I have my ice pack in my lap I know I'm way overdue to get up and move around a bit. I enjoy you your sterile strips, I've got a total of 12 staples and they tug and pull obnoxiously, plus I can feel where my body is trying to push them out and HATE it. Thursday can't come soon enough!! Wishing you the best and so thankful for your continued interactions and support

One of my audiobooks I listened to when prepping for this actually recommended it, even for regular food. Just put the food on a saucer plate and use the mug warmer.

Well my surgery got pushed back to 9/4 because of some covid issue at the hospital. So I’m going to have to start my liquid diet all over again.
I hope everyone is doing well, both pre-op and post-op!!
@AndreaJD and @Singingbarista, how’s it going? Well wishes for everyone!!