JoiaRox

Dude - Molly - we're sleeve sisters! Just realized that we have the same surgery date! 9 days post-op whut whut!!

I'm a fan of unjury - I have 4 of their flavors that I've been using daily (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry & chicken Soup). I've never been too picky on Protein powder, though, and find that if you google "Protein shake recipes," you'll find some creative uses for what you already have! For instance, this morning's protein shake was: 2 handfuls of ice 1 scoop of vanilla cream protein 1 cup brewed coffee 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk 1/2 frozen banana All of the above are allowed by my doctor and made a yummy drink for me to easily get some protein in! Heck, it's 1:30pm and I've already consumed 57g protein today. Long story short - I think any Protein Powder is just fine, but start googling how to be more creative with it!

My problem is that I have always *been* a fast food person - heck, I even worked in two different fast food restaurants through college! I wouldn't put it past me to throw a Nachos Bel Grande or Quarter Pounder w/Cheese in a blender by the time next weekend gets here...lol. P.S. I'm totally kidding...but the chili from Wendy's isn't too bad, nutritionally, for ya!

Sounds like you're progressing normally! Keep working on your fluid/protein intake and I'm sure your doctor will be happy! The gurgling is absolutely normal - I'm gurgling as I type (sipping on tomato Soup at the moment). Our bellies are healing and working on letting things get through . As for the cramping pain, I'm sure that's normal as well - random cramps and pains have been part of recovery thus far for me as well. If it gets more serious, definitely consult with your doctor!

Congratulations on your decision, and best of luck to you! Going into the pre-op diet, surgery and life changing post-op with your head being in the right space is key! Way to go!

Seriously - the crackers are essential.

Back when I was a LapBander, one of my FAVE purees was this: buy an order of chili at Wendy's...it will come with crackers. Go home and dump both the chili and crackers into a blender and puree the heck out of it. SO GOOD. I get to start purees next weekend and I guarantee I'll be stopping at Wendy's!

LOL @VSGKirk - I, too, am a rotisserie and found I had no problem sleeping in my bed immediately after surgery. If I noticed discomfort, I slept atop one of my European (large square) pillows to cushion my tummy.

Who says you have to eat/drink when out socializing? Chances are, no one's paying attention to the food/alcohol you're consuming - it's more about the atmosphere, friends, conversation, jokes, etc. Sip away on water and just enjoy the camaraderie! I'll admit, I was anxious heading to a party last night at a wine bar...but my ice water was just fine and I enjoyed catching up with people I hadn't seen in awhile! My boyfriend later asked me what food they served and, honestly, I had to answer "I dunno...I think I saw some cheese?" I'm still on the "full liquid" stage so I steered clear of the hors d'oeuvre table completely!

Normal is whatever your body allows - 48 lbs?! You are a ROCK STAR! Sounds like you are well on your way to a new life! I'm envious of your loss, so you should be celebrating that!

I'd recommend that you call your doctor first thing tomorrow to have the conversation - whether it's good or bad news, you need to know...and your doctor will be the best person to give advice on what to do.

LOL! No worries

Also? I would like to be a "Pretty Pretty Princess." How do you customize your title?

That sure is love!! I bake most weekends for my office and baked some coffee cake while I was on my pre-op diet. I return to work tomorrow for my first day since my surgery and am contemplating baking some Breakfast Cheese Danishes today...while on full liquids. LOL! I'm either a glutton for punishment or stupid.

Best of luck to you! While I didn't have a LapBand as long as you did, I was ecstatic to have it out in March...and was sleeved 9 days ago. I, too, felt better prepared mentally for this surgery than my previous one. I'm hoping our extra work makes all the difference this time around!

I had my surgery on a Friday and took the following week off. I return to work tomorrow for a total of 6 days off (plus 2 weekends). While I can't report yet on how it goes, I'm sure I'll be fine to work but tired at the end of the day. I went to a retirement party last night that was 80 miles from my house - handled the drive there and back fine, but was weak/tired after 3 hours of chatting with people I hadn't seen in awhile and being on my feet. Despite the party being at a wine bar, I happily sipped my Water all night . Work tomorrow won't be as draining (I won't be on my feet nor talking to people constantly), so I'm confident I'm ready to go back! At 9 days post-op, I'm pain free for the most part and able to get all my liquids and Protein in each day. My only residual symptom is weakness...but, heck, I'm taking in very few calories - that's to be expected while my body continues to adjust! Factor in what type of work you have to do - if you have a desk job, a week should be plenty of recovery time. If you want to take more, do it!

8 days out and I'm able to take large enough sips where that "OHMIGOSHI'MTHIRSTY" feeling is finally disappearing.

As an FYI - as I've gone through the process of both LapBand removal and then a sleeve with my doctor, I've gotten more into "vaping" nicotine. He's always eager to see what new apparatus I carry with me - he thinks it's totally neat! Clearly, he has no issues with it. Again, that's MY doctor. YOUR doctor has to be comfortable with your health.

If you're talking LapBand removal and the sleeve, yes. My removal was done in March and then I was, essentially, treated as a new patient applying for the sleeve. Luckily, the requirements were fairly easy and I was approved on the first submittal.

Found a similar thread for ya: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/27894-no-straws-after-gastric-sleeve-surgery/

Do what you feel you need to do if you're unable to reach your doctor over the weekend. Personally, I didn't have liquid bandages - I had steristrips. 4 of the 6 had come off prior to my 6-day post-op visit with my doctor and he peeled the remaining steristrips off that day. As long as the wound has closed, it should be fine without anything holding it together at this point.

The warning against straws is that (a) you can introduce more air into your system and ( you tend to take larger "sips" with them. Having said that, I've found that I'm fine with both warnings and am happily sipping an unsweetened iced tea through a straw as we speak .

Overeating got me to my highest weight - and, as others have said, I LOVE that I'm not hungry anymore. Granted, I'm only 8 days out...but I'm forcing myself to sip some soup right now just because I need the protein. I can recognize that I'm not hungry, and I sat right next to my boyfriend as he ate chicken nuggets on our way home this afternoon - no interest in them whatsoever!

I was amazed that I *didn't* have gas pains this time around (I previously had a LapBand and LapBand removal - bad gas pains both times). I flew through recovery other than being tired! I'm 8 days post-op now and looking forward to work on Monday .

Since yesterday wasn't a model day, let's talk about Thursday (6 days post op): Breakfast (8am-ish) - 3 Multivitamins (chewable) and a cup of coffee with SF creamer; took about an hour Trip to Doctor for 10:15am post-op appt. 1 hour away, drank 24oz. Water on the way and bought a 32oz unsweetened iced tea for the way home (took me the rest of the day to drink, off an on) Stopped at grocery store to buy some more yogurt, Soup, etc. lunch (2pm-ish) - Campbell's Cream of chicken soup mixed with 1 can of water and 1 scoop of unjury Chicken Soup Flavored Protein powder (ate half in about an hour); Calcium Citrate chewable Vitamins Snack (4pm-ish) - Jell-O chocolate Fudge SF pudding prepared with FF milk and 1 scoop of Unjury Chocolate Splendor Protein Powder (ate half in about twenty minutes) Nap for about an hour dinner (7pm-ish) - Protein shake (12oz Unsweetened vanilla Almond milk, 2 scoops Vanilla Cream protein powder, 4T Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder, ice - blended all up) - took about 4 hours to get down; 3 multivitamins (chewable) My "exercise" would have been the walk to and from the parking lot to the doctor's office and the walk around the ginormousness that is "Wegman's" (grocery store). Being so soon post-op, I haven't yet started back on any kind of exercise. However, I did manage my minimum water intake and 80g of protein, so all is good!