draikaina8503

I think my least favorite part of surgery has to be these Lovenox injections. Twice a day on top of the bruising I already have is rough. I kind of broke down and advanced my diet to full fluids. They had me at clears until Thursday and I just couldn’t do it anymore. I’ve been tolerating everything so far so I had a Fairlife. I was fine. I haven’t been able to find a clear Protein that I like. SEEQ is super sweet, Protein20 I only like the orange mango, I bought Isopure and tried mixing it with a flavor packet and it tasted weird. I can’t wait until I can do real food again.

@draikaina8503 - It sounds like the struggle has been super real for you, and I hate to hear that you've had such a tough time. I didn't have a drainage tube because of the type of surgery I had (as far as I know, unless it was only used DURING the surgery itself). The staples are a pain; and bending or stretching too much causing pain is 100% something I empathize with you in regards to. I was really nervous about showering with them in as well, but honestly the warm Water from the shower set to a gentle pressure did feel really nice. I also used the special soap they gave me when I washed my staple area lightly with a washcloth. I was afraid of using a loofah thinking it might snag or something.

I also feel where you (and others) are coming from on the fluids and dry mouth - I still find myself super relieved when I can finally have a drink 30 mins after a 'meal'. I will say that as long as I keep my intake moist (super soupy purees or broths) that it isn't TOO bad - and I definitely have to watch how many ounces I intake for my meals. I eat slowly, but when the food tastes good and I'm eyeballing my Protein goal it's HARD not to want to try to 'finish' my serving. I learned my lesson with my oatmeal this morning, though. It sat more heavily on/in my stomach after I ate than I expected and I struggled to have a few burps that relieved the weight and pressure I felt in my chest. Your mention of letting ice chips dissolve in your mouth helped me today - the cold really did slow my intake and provide relief. I hope you're starting to feel better now!

I created a sort of 'routine' for my mornings that I think is working pretty well, though. I try to only have a sip of water when I first wake up and them immediately prepare my Breakfast. With purees that are thick to the consistency of yogurt there's a trick where you basically just swallow your meds a couple at a time (if they are small) with a spoonful of yogurt/cottage cheese/medium thick puree. That's what I do to get down my morning meds, and as long as I don't overeat I go to have a brief warm shower afterward. The movements of me showering and standing help get my body to produce a burp or two, and putting my arms over my head when I wash my hair (yes, still some pulling especially on the left side so I have to go easy with THAT arm) does expand my torso and help my food settle. This also take sup some of the time gap I have to leave after eating before I can drink. Usually by the time I'm done with my shower, done drying, and have caught my breath it's almost time for me to be able to sip fluids again.

@Pepper_No_Salt I'm still shocked that they sent you home from the hospital on the same day. Whew. I'm glad to see you're been feeling better each day, Moving on to strained Soups was a biggie for me and I certainly can appreciate that having been one of your first planned stops! I did the same thing after I got my staples out. Today I am going to try to return to some broth for lunch and wish I had gotten more cans of chicken noodle when I went to the store. Maybe I'll try to season some of the 'cream of' soups I've got sitting around. My first try with them wasn't good, but then again they were room temperature then. Hopefully they taste better next time around!

@ShoppGirl @Onemealplan @Greekmom4 @AndreaJD- Thank you all for the recipes and information! I tried my oatmeal yesterday with the whey Protein Powder a friend had given me and honestly - it was gritty, and I was disappointed. This morning I used part of a vanilla ensure and I used a potato peeler to slice off the exterior of three strawberries I mixed in with it and it was 100x better. I actually ate about 5oz of it super slowly and regretted that as it either expanded or wouldn't quite settle.

I wasn't sick, but I was very uncomfortable for a while and had to shower and move around, then stand and take a couple of sips of cold water to initiate a couple of burps that provided some relief. Once I started to feel better I realized that the icy cold beverage helped me, and so I went ahead and had a sugar free popsicle. I took my time with it and found that the cold spreading across the inside of my chest felt very good and now I'm feeling much better. Has anyone had good luck finding an unflavored protein powder that doesn't feel gritty when mixed? Just curious - and if someone already answered this I'm sorry; trying to get caught up but not sit for too long!

@CrazyDog&CatLady - Good luck to you on your revision and thank you for sending us all positive vibes for preparation and healing! Also, welcome to the thread!

@ShoppGirl - I second what you said a thousand percent about using ALL the coping strategies you can to get through this. I'm having to completely re-learn my body, and in fact learning things about myself I never realized or understood before. The feeling of 'full' does echo my feelings of 'anxiety' and I've found that I'm extra sensitive due to that in the hour after I have a meal. I've also found that just like with the walking to get the gas worked out I also need to walk around a little bit after my meal to get my food to sit properly.

Additionally, I'm learning the importance of remaining UPRIGHT until my stomach has settled past a meal. It's not even 'going to sleep too soon after eating, it's being at too little of an incline. I've woken up two nights in a row with heartburn in the wee hours that I can only attribute to drinking something maybe too fast before going to bed, or sipping at an incline rather than sitting up completely to deal with my dry mouth during the night. I do space my Calcium out to later in the day and have been taking my multi w/Iron and ADEK about an hour after my breakfast. That seems to so far be working to stave off any nausea I would get from taking them on an empty stomach. Thank you for explaining about the B12 injections and congratulations on overcoming your anxiety giving them to yourself!

Sorry if I missed anyone - I've hit my cap for sitting for the moment. Best wishes to all and encouragement to those who have surgery in the coming days! If I recall we have two having surgery tomorrow, yes? Another set of 8/21 surgery buddies? I'll try to recap and review later!

I wish I had been given a binder. I think it would have helped a lot. But they did give me a pillow for me to use (and to let the medical staff sign lol). I use the pillow a lot. But whenever I cough or hiccup, I don't think that pillow is strong enough to help me in those times.

Right now my worst pain is where the drain was placed, which is also next to the biggest incision I have that was stapled. The drain came out before I left the hospital, but ugh, it's so tender.

I've been home for a few hours now. I passed out pretty much as soon as I got home. I'm currently sipping on a Gatorade Zero, and now that I'm out of the hospital I can do a liquid diet instead of just Clear Liquids. So there's that, at least lol. My biggest problem is Water. Doesn't matter if lukewarm or cold, straight water makes my stomach cramp. But because I am able to consume other liquids just fine, they went ahead and sent me home. The water thing is just something I'm going to have to keep working on.
My other big issue was my body did the opposite of that they expected it to do in regards to my blood sugars. AKA, every time they tested, I was in the 200-300 range when they were expecting me to go down post-op. So I came home with rapid-acting insulin on a sliding scale. Hopefully soon we can discontinue that.
For those of you asking about recipes, my doctor has me use the Baritastic app for my logging and tracking. It does have recipes on there as well, if you are looking to spice things up in the land of boredom.
Now time to catch up on posts.
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@ShoppGirl - Amazing that they had you drink Gatorade 2 hours prior to arriving for surgery. I had to drink mine the night before, and absolutely nothing by mouth after midnight. It's wild to me how different doctors prefer their things to happen.
As for taking the shots, I'm sure you are going to rock it. I struggled with the idea of giving myself shots, but over the years it just became another thing for me to put on my calendar to remind me to take.
Your question about how long to wait between trying new things, my doctor said I could not try anything new on the same day. So if I tried something and it seemed to work, that would be my thing that day. Then the next day, I would keep that for the first meal, and then as long as it still agreed, I would try something new for the 2nd meal. Maybe that helps you out some?
Thank you again for the recipe/website. The site has been bookmarked for me.
So the straw thing is for life, it sounds like? At least based on your experience.
Chewing your eggs to liquid is still really good. My nutritionist said that every bite I take from now on needs to be the consistency of applesauce before I swallow it. And that chewing even beyond that would be great. But you're rocking it!
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@Pepper_No_Salt - Thank you for the idea of mixing things in. I guess I've been scared to do that because I didn't know if it was allowed or not. How do you like the Orgain powder? I use the Owyn premade shakes and Vega powder.
They sent you home same day?!?! Holy crap, and I mean that in the best way possible lol. My doctor and nutritionist vehemently told me no straws. Apparently because you can actually suck up air as well as the liquid if you use a straw. I just don't know if that is forever, or just in the post-op period. But my stomach cramped drinking straight water no matter what temperature. However, I did exceptionally well with ice chips - letting them melt in my mouth and then trickle down with a swallow. That didn't affect me at all, so maybe see if you can get some ice chips from Sonic or something similar to maybe give you an idea of how much a 'sip' is? Another suggestion I got from my nutritionist as well as people who my husband work with that have had the RYGB is to buy shot glasses for your water. It should take you about 10-15 minutes to finish a shot glass of water.
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@AndreaJD - Thank you for the well wishes! Water was a struggle, but I was up walking on my own the next day. So I feel like I was doing pretty good for myself!
I get to start my full liquid stage today now that I'm home. But man, I can't stay awake enough to do much of anything. Hospitals and rest do not go in the same sentence, unless it's discussing negative rest. (My care team was absolutely great though, so I very much appreciate all they were doing for me even if it meant not getting nearly enough sleep.) This will be an experimental phase for me as I have to find dairy free options to make my life easier. But even if I had to literally water down yogurt, that would be better than the chicken broth I had in the hospital. lol
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@Hiddenroses - I have a bunch of staples as well, and have never experienced them before. So thank you for that explanation. Hopefully when I get mine out at the 10 day post-op, I'll be able to at least tolerate it now that I've kind of been forewarned. And yay, WrA peeps! Honestly we probably did cross paths, but in the early days of RP for me I was stupidly shy.
For your chair question - I noticed sitting in any chair for longer than an hour bothers me currently. Which they didn't like in the hospital, because they wanted me in the chair for two hours at a time. And I just... could not do it. It ached too much. Even being home now, sitting in chairs I've sat in previously, I have about an hour long time span before it starts to ache. I take that as my sign to get up and move around.
Dry mouth is a problem in particular for me. I still try to sipsipsip but I hate the feeling of dry mouth. And that's made worse by the fact that I'm a diabetic. And yes, I was thrilled (/s) to find out I was starting my period. Thank God for mesh panties and pads they had on hand. They assured me this happened quite often, but it still annoyed me to no end (especially when I'm on multiple birth controls to prevent having said periods due to endometriosis). As for poor executive function, I have that in spades as well. I had to come off my Adderall a couple of days prior to surgery because you know, they want me to go to sleep during anesthesia and not be on stimulants. And hoooo boy did that make the problem that much worse. If it wasn't for my poor husband, pretty sure I would have lost my head and left it laying somewhere.
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@Onemealplan - Did your doctor allow ice cream for the puree foods? That's kind of awesome. I don't have recommendations for that stage yet as the earliest I will get to it is 8/28 after my post-op appointment. I do remember a recipe back from one of my diet days (Weight Watchers, maybe? I don't remember) that I think might be helpful. You take a helping of ricotta, mix it with Splenda (or whatever sugar alternative you prefer), and some cocoa powder that has no added sugar. Makes it a friendly chocolate treat. I can't give exact measurements on it because I played with it some to get the consistency I liked at the time.
I also don't think I could handle the pureed Proteins lol. I'll be saving those for when I get to the final stage. I can survive on tuna for a while, especially when I'm having Protein Shakes alongside it.
They gave me a walking goal of 4 laps per 12 hour shift. i was doing those just fine, and when they finally let me walk on my own I extended how long a lap was. But I could not pass gas until they started giving me what is essentially children's Gas-x. And even now, I only pass gass within the 2-3 hours after I've had it. So thankful they sent me home with some. As for in the hospital, the only options i had was water, chicken broth, ice chips, and no sugar added hot chocolate when I specifically asked for it. They brought in 10oz bottles of Dasani water, and it would take me 12 hours to get through one of those due to the cramping. But everything else went down fine.
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@Rob Nissam - Thank you for that explanation. My left shoulder was hurting the most over the last day, and they said it was the gas pain. It was the thing that made sure I did not skip any pain medicine, because I was almost in tears over it.
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Okay, I think I got through all the posts and everyone. If I missed someone, I am really sorry. For those of you in recover, I pray the pain lessens and the intake gets better daily. For those of you who are still waiting on surgery, YOU GOT THIS! I'll be praying for a safe and healthy surgery for you, and that your recovery process is simply fantastic. ❤️

I didn't' think about that, but I'm willing to bet that's the reason. Because staples aren't flush against the skin.

I guess I have always done everything I have wanted because I was never overweight until 5 years ago. But the things I have noticed NOW (never noticed before WLS):
- I don't need to sit as often, I can stand for long periods and don't get the urge to find a seat.
- My feet don't hurt walking so much. I was traveling the past two weeks and we walked A LOT! Every time we traveled the past few years my feet would kill me, this time was a breeze.
Things I started:
- I took up Pilates. I have a bad foot (sports) injury that caused my weight gain so always had a fear of doing Pilates although I consistently worked out my whole life but was nervous to take up Pilates for some reason. Now my two Pilates classes are literally the highlight of my week.
- I look forward to weddings and gatherings where I avoided them like the plague and they used to cause me social anxiety and made me feel so down about my body.
- Changing my wardrobe LOL, I am shopping like nobody's business. I am buying stuff I never would've bought the past few years. Lingerie, crop tops, shorts, short dresses, workout gear. You name it!
- Weighing myself regularly. Was never a weigher even at my fittest and slimmest, and that's probably was what caused all the weight gain because I refused to face reality.
Things I see myself doing in the future:
- Probably getting some lip filler LOL.
- Having my third child (maybe? I put it off because I was overweight and I couldn't fathom gaining more weight)
- Getting my foot surgery (although it feels much better so I will need to reassess).

I agree with @catwoman7’s suggestion for some anti nausea meds. Hope a replacement surgeon is engaged soon. So frustrating.
I went through a phase when I found Water too heavy to drink.I relied more on green tea & flattened sparkling water & not solely plain water then. Is that how you would describe how you feel before the nausea starts? On the days you struggle with water are you able to drink other flavoured or unflavoured fluids? Were you are big drinker of sweet drinks before you had surgery like sodas? Could there be an underlying craving for sweet drinks again which is why flavoured unsweetened drinks seem tart to you now?? Our brains can work against us sometimes.
There are odd days when I don’t get all my fluids in. Life gets busy sometimes or the opportunities to drink more than a few sips at times during the day ate rare. I don’t mind too much when it’s just odd days because I know I’ll reach my goal (or drink even more) the next day & will be back on track again. (Same with Protein goals too.)

I pretty much did the same thing with the showering. I was just around the house in the as and I only had four days between so I showered before i left the hosptial. Mostly in case I had any issues infigired they could address it before I left but also so they could get the binder back on me cause they did it nice and tight and it really helped. Then I showered the night before my appointment. In retrospect I would’ve done thet the morning of because my bandage that was covering the drain hole came off and now I know it was dried blood that got wet in shower and it only looked like it was bleeding but that scared me a lot. I thought that it was gonna get infected for sure. (See- anxiety. 😬). Anyways the NP loolee at it and cleaned it then next day just to satisfy my anxiety and I’m still Alive.

I wouldn’t worry that you went to the bathroom sooner. That’s actually really good. I thing. I think my system just took a little longer to get started moving again which is why it took me till day 5 to pass gas and why I was still in so much pain and stuck there for two extra nights. I’m guessing some of that had to do with the fact that I was on heavy pain meds.

So, I know they said that I can shower with the staples in, just no scrubbing the area. Instead I'm supposed to just let the Water and soap run over the incision sites on their own. But I am so nervous about it that I bought baby wipes to do my 'cleaning' until I've healed up more. Or at least until the morning of my first post-op. I know they know what they are doing, but with my diabetes actually getting worse somehow on a liquid diet I am now terrified of screwing up my healing.
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@ShoppGirl Ooooh, that recipe sounds amazing if we can do that for ourselves. I'm adding it to the list of things to ask when I go for my first post-op appointment. (I know it won't be for a while, but I think it's good to go ahead and stock up on recipes early to avoid boredom. Though my husband's coworker who had the exact same procedure I did said you don't ever enjoy food again and he eats the same thing every day because it's only an eat to live thing.)
No clue about that Protein Powder. I have been considering getting some unflavored powder of some kind to add to meals and such going forward to help with the Protein goal. But I will admit that I also really haven't thought that far in advance lol.
Today was my first day of milk of magnesia, and yeah... I went. I didn't even feel constipated. But you said when talking to your doctor that going on day 7, 8 and 9 were normal. So now I'm wondering if I went too quickly? Since surgery was literally Friday and it's Monday now. I don't know but I do feel better after going, so I guess that's another thing that is going to be individualized.
Thank you for the milk idea. I did not add soy milk to my grocery order today, but that makes sense. Maybe I can convince hubby to go out in the morning and get some to make my life easier.
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@Pepper_No_Salt Glad to hear every day gets better! I've been stuck in awake for a couple of hours, sleep for four hours mode. So I'm still working towards hitting my goals. I hate it because I feel like I'm falling behind, but I'm not feeling dehydrated so I guess that whole "body is healing" thing is working in my favor.

So I went to my post op appt at my family practice dr. I asked about my gallbladder and she agreed that it’s really not that life altering. It’s just going to be a balance with my SADI making me malabsorb fat. I need to consume enough for my body to still function without taking in too much because I don’t have a gall bladder.
Next up was my lack of bowel movement. I finally had one day 7 then again the morning of day 8 and 9. All in the morning and all pretty regular except very loose. Then days 10 and 11 so far nothing. Today I feel like I need to go but can’t. She said to increase the stool softeners back to two a day and take milk of magnesia tonight if I still haven’t gone.
The nurse showed me how to do my B-12 shot and guess what guys I did it!! She said the needle the pharmacy gave me was bigger than I needed and gave me a smaller one to use and to take with me so I could get more. She showed me how to get it into the needle but had me do the shot itself. I think I want someone to watch me just one more time to make sure I got it but i think I got it. It did it hurt at all. Didn’t even feel it honestly. And once my hands stopped shaking it was really easy to do. I took the needle back to my pharmacy and showed them and they do Jace them and they sell them so I went ahead and got 12 so if it continues to be a monthly thing I’m good for a year.

i will add that I am home now and using the mug warmer for my scrambled eggs I am eating them out of a mug because I do not have a flare with a bottom smaller than the 4” for it to sit flush but it’s working. The eggs are not piping hot but they are staying warm.
@draikaina8503 i would probably add fat free milk instead of Water thinking it would taste a little better. I assume at that stage You just need it to run off the spoon like liquid. Similar to your Protein Shake.

I have an anxiety disorder on top of Bipolar and ADHD and I managed it. Just have to pull out ALL of your coping skills. For me that means to do anything and everything in my power to control what I can control and also to be mindful when it’s extra bad which for me is crocheting and of course take meds if all else fails. I also have to be very up front with my team about my anxiety for any medical thing. I explain that I can be reasoned with. I just need a little more patience and I can get through it. But I do have a ton of questions and once I lose faith in someone forget it. I need someone else to tell me the exact same thing so I can believe it. I wish I could remember the name of the comedian that talks about anxiety and said that sometimes she just needs someone in a white coat to tell her she is being stupid. Don’t know about you but that pretty much sums it up for me. 🤣 Honetly, just prepare as much as you can until you reach the point that you have controlled all that you can. Then when you show up the hosptial remember that your team does this every single day and let them take the wheel. You will be fine. ❤️

I just had my RYGB, so my list is a "what I'm going to do". But I've in love with a lot of these lists from you all!
* Have children and actually have the energy to run around and play with them
* Learn to sew and start making my own clothes
* Learn to dance
* Pilates
* Running and maybe even entering 5ks or marathons
* Go hiking without worrying if I will make it to the top of trail
* Get back into tae kwon do (I haven't done it since I was in my early 20s and 150lbs lighter)

All amazing goals that I'm sure you'll accomplish. Congratulations on starting down this road, so many possibilities! Btw..in regards to your #1...you will never have enough energy, healthy weight or not 😋

I just had my RYGB, so my list is a "what I'm going to do". But I've in love with a lot of these lists from you all!
* Have children and actually have the energy to run around and play with them
* Learn to sew and start making my own clothes
* Learn to dance
* Pilates
* Running and maybe even entering 5ks or marathons
* Go hiking without worrying if I will make it to the top of trail
* Get back into tae kwon do (I haven't done it since I was in my early 20s and 150lbs lighter)

Right now, you're having liquids, so feeling full won't really happen. It does for some (when I had the sleeve it did, when I had the revision to bypass it didn't) but not all at this stage. You had a lot of nerves cut, so you won't necessarily get the "I'm full, stop eating" signals right away. So you just have to be mindful of how much you're eating and how often until you're healed enough to start really feeling it.

Just wanted to pop by and give my experience! I am about 3 months post-op, and I was asking exactly the same thing in my very early days.
I remember reading so much on here about people having high restriction, and feeling full after a few mouthfuls, and I just wasn't feeling that whilst I was on the liquid/puree stages!
I had to ask my bariatric nurse if this is normal 🤣She told me that because the 'food' I was having was still essentially a liquid, it passes through the new stomach easily, hence why you don't really get a feeling of fullness. It made sense to me! So don't worry if you aren't feeling any full signals just yet.
It is only once I started eating more solid foods that I was like...wow...okay, so this is what restriction feels like! As others have said, it can vary from person to person, but I definitely feel a tightness in my tummy/chest, sometimes I get little hiccups and generally just feel a bit bloated.
I still use my FitBit to time 1 minute between every bite, just so I know I am taking it slow, and I have found this works for me!
Best of luck on your journey

I'm getting revision surgery on August 26th. Next Monday. I'm nervous, excited, exhausted, SUPER anxious (anxiety disorders and major changes don't tend to work too well together 😂), and a little terrified. I was sleeved in March of 2015 but I literally blocked out everything that happened to me pre-and-post-op. Not kidding. I reached out to my ex last week, he was with me at that time, and I was like "was I this crazy-anxious before?" and is one word answer was "yup". 😂😂
Anyway - good luck to all of the August surgery-buddies - you got this!!! 💖

Great information, thanks! I just came home from my 2-day hospital stay following RYGB, and right now all I feel is pain. So those signs of what is to come in the future are great knowledge.

@Hiddenroses i am taking the chewable Calcium from barimellts for now but will be switching back to my Bariatric Advantage chews because they taste like candy and I’m addicted. , I am doing the bariatric advantage chewable multi with ADEK and low Iron for now and I have the SADI specific all in one Vitamin from Pro Care health for later which has the ADEK, a higher iron content, and some other things that we need but I need to be able to consume a little more first.

I used to take their regular multi post sleeve with 45mg of iron after a full Protein Shake but this one has 60mg iron, plus when i’m sipping slowly as I’m supposed to to let my intestines heal it takes almost an hour to get the whole shake down which I feel like at that point half of it is out of my stomach and I don’t want to vomit. (The iron is what makes you vomit without food). At my one month appt I will ask to see if it’s safe for me to drink A little quicker. I Know after my sleeve as my stomach healed I naturally started drinking a little faster by then so I’m guessing I can.

i love that you’re creating new recipes and figuring out what works. Just FYI, I was told no strawberries Yet. I guess the seeds can get stuck in the incisions. Actually I was told nothing with skins or seeds. Although it sounds delicious and could be a go to if you don’t feel like cooking or are in a hurry later down the road.

Oh yea everyone, for future reference this has some pretty good ideas for adding into cottage cheese.
https://www.popsugar.com/food/cottage-cheese-stir-ins-27035442
You know I actually have never even tried cottage cheese which is why I was searching for ideas. I am picking some up tomorrow after my dr appt but I need to come up with ideas that I can add during purée to mix in with it if anyone has any ideas.

Hello again! Yes, @ShoppGirl - that's exactly what it was, now that you mention it that rings a bell! It was Heparin to help prevent blood clots. Maybe I won't need to B12 since I do still have my gallbladder - time will tell! I, too, had forgotten about the recipes on Baritastic until earlier today when I went to add the recipe I ended up using for the chicken salad I had for dinner. I need to get some fat free mayo; today I cheated and just used two teaspoons of regular mayo because that's what I had; and also sweet relish as opposed to dill relish. Are you taking an ADEK supplement? My nurse was insistent on my having to take them as a SADI patient post-op, so I ordered some from BariMelts that have thankfully not tasted terrible and dissolve quickly.

It's a GREAT reminder about the recipes in Baritastic - thank you, @draikaina8503 for the reminder as well! When you get your staples out I'd suggest asking them to be liberal in their application of steri-strips, especially for ones that are on the sides or at an angle. Having that extra support against the pulling really did make a big difference. Weirdly, so has using antibiotic/pain relief ointment?! I'd never really experienced 'pain relief' from that ointment (generic over the counter) but I was shocked to find that after I applied it my pain did actually lesson! Who'd have thought??

Also, I totally kept the two reusable ice bags from the hospital and have been using them this whole time because they were softer than the ice packs I had and the ice being able to move around a bit as it melted was just more comfortable. I'm glad you'll be able to get back on your Adderall and normal medications now! I will say that nice warm showers also feel really nice overall during recovery, especially if you have an alternate shower pressure setting that can go easy on the surgical site and maybe more pulsing/massaging on the back. Just my own personal experience.

I came across an inspiration idea for the puree phase today when looking around on Amazon! A friend of mine had given me about 2/3 of a container of the 30g powder Protein in vanilla and I realized that oatmeal is a great thing to add it to! I feel like if I cook the oatmeal and let it get soft and fluffy, then add in the Protein Powder with it to the food processor that I bet it will be perfect AND help me get my protein goal! Plus since oatmeal is high in Fiber it should help with regular bowel movements. I even thought I might add some of my zero sugar caramel macchiato Creamer to it in order to give it more flavor without adding an artificial sweetener. I do have some xantham gum though should I need it.

I'm planning on exploring what types of purees I can make with my greek zero sugar vanilla yogurt, various fruits, and that protein powder. I'm not sure why but something just CLICKED earlier when I was in my kitchen and I realized that between the ricotta, strawberries, blueberries, low fat cottage cheese, and protein powder that I actually have a lot more options than I'd previously considered! You can also mix Protein Shakes with sugar free pudding instead of milk - but word to the wise, learn from my mistake and don't make up too much at once because at about day 3-4 it starts to separate and get runny. Before that it's quite tasty and filling, though!

My chair isn't bothering me quite as much today after I laid a thick folded blanket down on the seat for cushioning; and I think part of my discomfort may have also just simply been from Constipation and gas that needed to be passed. I'm proceeding with caution on starting new foods that I haven't already tried, but I will say the chicken salad sat really well on my stomach. I even 'cheated' and crumbled up two Ritz crackers on top for some texture variant - it was the first 'meal' I've eaten really other than my half a scrambled egg this morning that I found to be satisfying. I'm using the timer in Baritastic to make sure I go 30 mins before and after eating without a drink - that's still been rough but as long as I distract myself the time goes by pretty quickly.

Oh - @draikaina8503 - I'm not sure if it is allowed for you per your doctor, but I've dealt with the dry mouth using sugar free jolly ranchers sparingly. I'm so sorry you're struggling with getting Water down, but glad you're getting some relief with ice chips! Sonic definitely has better ice chips; as do a few gas stations here any there. Ice chips are SUCH a nice thing to have available. I'm cursing the fact that I don't have an ice dispenser in my fridge - sadly it isn't that fancy - but it sure would make it easier to fill these ice packs than having to fight to crack an ice tray and refill lol

@Onemealplan - Yeah, what's with the ice cream? That sounds delightful lol - I mean, obviously one ounce wouldn't be bad - It just wasn't something I thought of myself as being allowed to have! Now you've got me thinking of all the sugar free varieties I saw available at Braum's in their store section! I guess I can also finally have my sugar free popsicles - Woohoo!

Also thank you to @Rob Nissam for your insight about the gas and general knowledge sharing! I hope you are doing well on your path and in recovery!

@AndreaJD - Thanks for the suggestions about what purrees are working for you! I'm all ears when it comes to tips to carry me through these next two weeks. I was thinking about my cream of Soups earlier and how I can now have them warm. I know I need to buy some unflavored protein powder --

Does anyone have a suggestion for an unflavored protein powder they've found works well and mixes well? Just curious what's working and what if anything isn't!

Wishing all of you the best in preparing, having surgeries, and recovering from them in the coming days! This forum has been invaluable to me and I'm grateful to all of you for sharing your tips and experiences so far!

@draikaina8503 wow, sounds like you are doing really well. Make sure that you give info that fatigue and get your rest though, you recover best while your resting.
Yes, The no straw thing is for life with my team. There are a very small few it seems that make this only for like 6 months or a year but MOST seem to have that rule due life.
Thanks for the direction of eating new foods. I already had a few today but thankfully so far I’m still good. I think I will do it your way from now on though. It will work out well because of course I have lots of leftovers from all I made today.
I totally forgot about the recipes on Baritastic. I have the app too to track food and stuff. I just checked the soft foods and that cauliflower purée sounds good. Not sure about the heavy cream though. I think that may be bad witb the no gallbladder thing. I think that has a lot of fat. I will have to ask. Or maybe just try it with like 1/2 cream and half 1%! Is that like making whole milk. 😆
Anyways, for anyone who is looking for a way to track progress I second that app. It tracks measurement and weight as well as exercise and Water too. And it’s nice that it lets you scan food and create meals to add things easier once you have used it for a while. And it’s free so worth a try.

I've been home for a few hours now. I passed out pretty much as soon as I got home. I'm currently sipping on a Gatorade Zero, and now that I'm out of the hospital I can do a liquid diet instead of just Clear Liquids. So there's that, at least lol. My biggest problem is Water. Doesn't matter if lukewarm or cold, straight water makes my stomach cramp. But because I am able to consume other liquids just fine, they went ahead and sent me home. The water thing is just something I'm going to have to keep working on.
My other big issue was my body did the opposite of that they expected it to do in regards to my blood sugars. AKA, every time they tested, I was in the 200-300 range when they were expecting me to go down post-op. So I came home with rapid-acting insulin on a sliding scale. Hopefully soon we can discontinue that.
For those of you asking about recipes, my doctor has me use the Baritastic app for my logging and tracking. It does have recipes on there as well, if you are looking to spice things up in the land of boredom.
Now time to catch up on posts.
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@ShoppGirl - Amazing that they had you drink Gatorade 2 hours prior to arriving for surgery. I had to drink mine the night before, and absolutely nothing by mouth after midnight. It's wild to me how different doctors prefer their things to happen.
As for taking the shots, I'm sure you are going to rock it. I struggled with the idea of giving myself shots, but over the years it just became another thing for me to put on my calendar to remind me to take.
Your question about how long to wait between trying new things, my doctor said I could not try anything new on the same day. So if I tried something and it seemed to work, that would be my thing that day. Then the next day, I would keep that for the first meal, and then as long as it still agreed, I would try something new for the 2nd meal. Maybe that helps you out some?
Thank you again for the recipe/website. The site has been bookmarked for me.
So the straw thing is for life, it sounds like? At least based on your experience.
Chewing your eggs to liquid is still really good. My nutritionist said that every bite I take from now on needs to be the consistency of applesauce before I swallow it. And that chewing even beyond that would be great. But you're rocking it!
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@Pepper_No_Salt - Thank you for the idea of mixing things in. I guess I've been scared to do that because I didn't know if it was allowed or not. How do you like the Orgain powder? I use the Owyn premade shakes and Vega powder.
They sent you home same day?!?! Holy crap, and I mean that in the best way possible lol. My doctor and nutritionist vehemently told me no straws. Apparently because you can actually suck up air as well as the liquid if you use a straw. I just don't know if that is forever, or just in the post-op period. But my stomach cramped drinking straight water no matter what temperature. However, I did exceptionally well with ice chips - letting them melt in my mouth and then trickle down with a swallow. That didn't affect me at all, so maybe see if you can get some ice chips from Sonic or something similar to maybe give you an idea of how much a 'sip' is? Another suggestion I got from my nutritionist as well as people who my husband work with that have had the RYGB is to buy shot glasses for your water. It should take you about 10-15 minutes to finish a shot glass of water.
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@AndreaJD - Thank you for the well wishes! Water was a struggle, but I was up walking on my own the next day. So I feel like I was doing pretty good for myself!
I get to start my full liquid stage today now that I'm home. But man, I can't stay awake enough to do much of anything. Hospitals and rest do not go in the same sentence, unless it's discussing negative rest. (My care team was absolutely great though, so I very much appreciate all they were doing for me even if it meant not getting nearly enough sleep.) This will be an experimental phase for me as I have to find dairy free options to make my life easier. But even if I had to literally water down yogurt, that would be better than the chicken broth I had in the hospital. lol
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@Hiddenroses - I have a bunch of staples as well, and have never experienced them before. So thank you for that explanation. Hopefully when I get mine out at the 10 day post-op, I'll be able to at least tolerate it now that I've kind of been forewarned. And yay, WrA peeps! Honestly we probably did cross paths, but in the early days of RP for me I was stupidly shy.
For your chair question - I noticed sitting in any chair for longer than an hour bothers me currently. Which they didn't like in the hospital, because they wanted me in the chair for two hours at a time. And I just... could not do it. It ached too much. Even being home now, sitting in chairs I've sat in previously, I have about an hour long time span before it starts to ache. I take that as my sign to get up and move around.
Dry mouth is a problem in particular for me. I still try to sipsipsip but I hate the feeling of dry mouth. And that's made worse by the fact that I'm a diabetic. And yes, I was thrilled (/s) to find out I was starting my period. Thank God for mesh panties and pads they had on hand. They assured me this happened quite often, but it still annoyed me to no end (especially when I'm on multiple birth controls to prevent having said periods due to endometriosis). As for poor executive function, I have that in spades as well. I had to come off my Adderall a couple of days prior to surgery because you know, they want me to go to sleep during anesthesia and not be on stimulants. And hoooo boy did that make the problem that much worse. If it wasn't for my poor husband, pretty sure I would have lost my head and left it laying somewhere.
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@Onemealplan - Did your doctor allow ice cream for the puree foods? That's kind of awesome. I don't have recommendations for that stage yet as the earliest I will get to it is 8/28 after my post-op appointment. I do remember a recipe back from one of my diet days (Weight Watchers, maybe? I don't remember) that I think might be helpful. You take a helping of ricotta, mix it with Splenda (or whatever sugar alternative you prefer), and some cocoa powder that has no added sugar. Makes it a friendly chocolate treat. I can't give exact measurements on it because I played with it some to get the consistency I liked at the time.
I also don't think I could handle the pureed Proteins lol. I'll be saving those for when I get to the final stage. I can survive on tuna for a while, especially when I'm having Protein Shakes alongside it.
They gave me a walking goal of 4 laps per 12 hour shift. i was doing those just fine, and when they finally let me walk on my own I extended how long a lap was. But I could not pass gas until they started giving me what is essentially children's Gas-x. And even now, I only pass gass within the 2-3 hours after I've had it. So thankful they sent me home with some. As for in the hospital, the only options i had was water, chicken broth, ice chips, and no sugar added hot chocolate when I specifically asked for it. They brought in 10oz bottles of Dasani water, and it would take me 12 hours to get through one of those due to the cramping. But everything else went down fine.
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@Rob Nissam - Thank you for that explanation. My left shoulder was hurting the most over the last day, and they said it was the gas pain. It was the thing that made sure I did not skip any pain medicine, because I was almost in tears over it.
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Okay, I think I got through all the posts and everyone. If I missed someone, I am really sorry. For those of you in recover, I pray the pain lessens and the intake gets better daily. For those of you who are still waiting on surgery, YOU GOT THIS! I'll be praying for a safe and healthy surgery for you, and that your recovery process is simply fantastic. ❤️

I’m curious. What did you make this morning. I have had had scrambled eggs and puréed egg salad so far. Well a few bites at least. I’m kinda scared to push it. I tried making real mashed potatoes in the food processor but that didn’t work out. They came out real thick and sticky. I added milk but it was still a fail. I’m thinking I will stick with instant for this couple of weeks just to be sure they are the right consistency. Tonight I’m thinking refried beans. I forgot to get salsa but I have fat free cheddar so that should be pretty good. I got my mug warmer today so at least it should be warm 🎉

I bet what you get in the hospital was same as I got which was heparin for blood clots. The two day nurses I had both said they were supposed to do them in the belly but didn’t want to torture me with my already sore belly so they did them in the thigh.i still baxe bruises so I can only imagine they were painful in the belly. At the time I was in pain so that sounded good. In retrospect I should’ve said I will deal if that’s where they are supposed to be I’m guessing it’s for a reason. Fortunately it worked out okay.

The NP at the surgeon who ordered the B-12 just said it’s not uncommon to need it post SADI but because if the gall bladder removal it would be way more likely. (I actually know a couple of people Who had bypass who are in if so it didn’t shock me). She wants me to do them in the thigh. She said it’s a little short needle but I was taking it with me to my family NP tomorrow morning to let her help me the first time. They gave me an instructions sheet for the injection but I have no clue how to use that sharps container anyways to get the needle off. The surgeon said to schedule a follow up with them and I may as well actually do something while I’m there. I am not on any meds that she can decrease which is why I assume they tel everyone to schedule it between a week and two weeks out. I will let you know how it goes.

That sounds way better than the scrambled eggs I tried to eat this morning! I can't *believe* I forgot to tag you in my earlier post 🤦🏻How are you doing over there? Oh I remember now! I was going to ask about the B12 injections you mentioned - that's the first I've heard of that being needed for we SADI patients. I will look it up, but curious if it was painful and location for the shots? Is it like insulin/hormone shots in the belly? I know they gave me some kind of injections in the stomach while I was in the hospital - I can't remember what they said they were for but I don't think they were B12.