Elisabethsew

Congratulations on the great loss!

Campos had it done on 4/2 and Ernesto had it done on 4/3. One of the male RNs had it less than a year ago and said he lost 106 pounds and is at goal. It's interesting that the surgeon (Campos) elected VSG over the band.

Welcome Jackie, I revised from a band to a sleeve on 4/1 and am very happy to have the band out. Congratulations on being almost at goal. I look forward to hearing your experiences with the VSG surgery.

I think the mental part is the hardest. I grabbed a 4 oz diet pudding and my instinct was to dive in and make it gone in a flash like pre-surgery. Instead, I had to consciously only put a small amount on a spoon and "test" how a little went down. Head hunger is another issue. When I have dinner and see another person eating a "normal" meal and I'm about to start in on my Soup, I "think" I am starving. I didn't feel that way before I saw the food. When I can't make it through the can of soup because I'm full, I recognize head hunger from physical hunger. Since I never achieved real restriction with the band, this is all new to me.

Happy Easter and Happy Full Fluids! I'm still doing my soy slender drink for breakfast and the liquid in/liquid out seems not to apply to me... thank God!

It sounds like your Dad is capable of making his own decisions so he's aware of the consequences. If he's fallen twice and continues to make his own decisions, you can't do anything. I would not put my life on hold waiting to see when the next shoe will fall. If something happens and you're unable to run to his side, your brother, kids, etc. will have to handle things until you are able to tend to them. When I had my surgery, the man who had it the same day that I was there was permitted to leave a day early but it's only 3 nights in the hospital. For me, the recovery from the revision was a lot easier than the banding. Happy Easter/Passover.

I hope all is well with your Dad. Maybe he needs to be in a better supervised environment? Two falls in a short period of time seems excessive.

Congratulations on your surgery and I wish you all the best!

The same thing happened with my drain site about 2 days ago but I'm a medical person so I knew it was normal. Today, I just have a bandaide on it and all is fine. When I showered, the last of the coverings came off the trochar sites and the incisions all look good. Enjoy your full fluids and Happy Easter!

Thankfully, tomato soup tasted the same. I made a can and used water instead of milk and took my time eating it. I was stuffed 3/4 of the way through but it was delicious. I'm wondering if cutting out part of the stomach is the causative factor in the altered taste/smell sensations?

Yes, that stuff had a sickening, sweet smell to it.

I'm glad we have the option of going to the soft diet after 7 days because it won't be such a struggle to get the Protein in. I don't like creamed cereals so I'm sticking with the soy slender drink for Breakfast. When I was banded, ricotta cheese was a savior. Four ounces of the skim milk version gave me a good protein source for lunch and kept me satisfied. I was making a Peanut Butter and jelly sandwich yesterday for a friend (no meat on Good Friday) and the peanut butter did not smell "right" to me. It was a brand new jar and my friend thought I was nuts because it tasted and smelled "normal" to him. I am finding this very strange but the only part that effects me is the coffee. I'm drinking tea to get fluids in but I'm not much of a fan and I LOVE coffee. It still smells awful. Sigh! The post-op instructions say to stay on soft diet for as long as you need to and not to attempt solids until 30 days have passed. You're wise to listen to your body and do what feels right. Congratulations on making it to the one month point! You must be feeling great.

LOL. I woke up this AM and tomato soup was the first thing I thought of! It's on the menu for my dinner tonight. Another person told me to freeze 60 cal Jello puddings and then eat them like ice-cream. I checked the full Fluid menu at my hospital and was surprised pudding was on that menu.

nchaka, Susan speaks the truth. We both did great with Dr. Aceves. I've been an RN for over 2 decades and specialize in critical care so I watched everyone and everything like a hawk. LOL. I truly think the U.S. has a lot to learn from how things are done there. Certainly, the care was top notch!

I was dissolving them up until last night. They taste horrible dissolved! I think the pill is too big to swallow whole so I took a scissor and cut that sucker right in half. It's not scored but the scissor halved it perfectly and made it possible to get down. Since I was not sure how it would split, I cut it inside a sandwich bag fearing it might crumble.

Make mine honey turkey breast on rye with lettuce and light mayo!

My secret weapon is Kelloggs lemon protein water. It comes in 16 oz bottles and has 50 cal and 5 g protein. I literally keep one in my labcoat pocket and store others in my office. When I'm out rounding, I am constantly sipping. The few carbs balance with the protein and keep me going. It tastes like a mild lemonaide and I found it with the breakfast bars. You might want to give a 4 pack a try.

You should try a bunch of different protein powders before surgery to see what you like. I can't deal with the taste of ANY of them and got the OK to use Soy Slender but that's only 7-8 g protein and 70 cal in 8 oz. I hit post-op day 10 tomorrow and accepted that I would not be able to get in the required protein until I moved off of clear fluids.

LOL, thanks Susan! I'm so ready to go to full fluids tomorrow. I can't look at another cup of broth! I've been baking for Easter today but never craved that kind of stuff. I'm a hot bread and butter person so it's nice to not have it in the house. What I have noticed is that things SMELL differently. I LOVE coffee but a freshly brewing pot of coffee in one of the units at work last night made me sick. It did not smell like coffee. I'm wondering if it's related to anesthesia. I've had general before but this was my first spinal/general. Being 9 days post-op, I would think anesthesia related events are over with. Hmmmm... perhaps I'm just weird. LOL. Happy shopping for your Easter full Fluid dinner!

You're correct. I misread your post and attribute it to the lack of food. LOL. I got a whole 8 g of protein in yesterday.

Sigh! Sigh! Sigh! And here I was so thrilled to be moving to full fluids early. I got email at work from WASA who delivered the "oh no you can't" news so, once again, it was chicken broth and a sugar free ice pop for dinner. Thankfully, working 14 hours last night kept me busy and I'm sleeping for a few hours today. Tomorrow, it's full Fluid day and I AM having that damn tomato Soup. LOL.

Wasa was asked by the owner of this forum to provide that information because so many members were requesting it. If you have a problem with this, feel free to contact him (Alex) or an administrator (Susan). I see this is your 4th post. It might be wise to "look around" and review the forum before posting something that, while maybe not intended to, is insulting. Thank you and Happy Easter/Passover.

The day after surgery I was up walking all over and on my laptop answering emails and even grading my students' papers. I started my post-op thread 2 days after surgery from Mexico. As for my cell phone, it picked up the American tower in the hospital so I could receive and make calls. The night in the hotel, I was on a Mexican tower so I could only text message and receive phone calls. Have you looked into renting or borrowing a laptop? You could always call the Dell people and tell then you want to cancel because they can't get the laptop to you in time. Chances are, they will send it in time rather than lose the sale. If not, cancel and go to Best Buy. You have your choice of MANY brands (love my HP) and can have it THAT day.

I agree with you Susan. I wake up with nausea and a headache and it's related to the diet. You're at the one week mark so you too can advance to full fluids/mushies. Go for it! I bet some decent protein intake will make us both feel better.

Susan, Reading this post from you was like getting a million dollars. LOL. I am DEFINITELY moving to full fluids for dinner and have my tomato soup packed for work. LOL. I think it's important to get the Protein in and for me, I've been lucky if I get 25 g /day in. THANK YOU!!!! Stacy P.S. I read over the post-op diet in the hospital but must have been under the influence of drugs. LOL.