Search the Community

What does your program recommend? My regimen was: 2 weeks clears (I did 17 days) 2 weeks of full liquids (my surgeon let me just do one week) 2 weeks of mushies 2 weeks of soft solids then slowly progress to regular solid food I followed a few different variations of surgeon's post-op diet. This one is from Dr. Aceves, and it gave me some ideas to break up the monotony of the "regular" stuff on the full liquid and mushy stage. POST-OP DIET: Here are a few ideas concerning the post op diet Day 1 thru 5 ( Clear Liquids Only ) fruit juice ( apple, grape, cranberry ) Propel broth Jello-O Water Tea Protein Water by Kellogg’s Water popsicles Clear Protein drinks only ( example Isopure, unjury ) Day 6-10 ( thin liquids ) All of the above and: Natural Vegetable Juices ( example Carrot, V-8 juice ) Protein drinks mixed with water ( example Matrix ) whey nectar Protein Mix Day 11 thru 20 ( full liquids ) Cream Soups Yogurt Jello-O Boiled pureed fruit ( example apple, pear) applesauce Watermelon, papaya or melon in small pieces Low fat milk 1 or 2% Water, Propel, tea Soy beverages sugar free pudding Protein shakes and protein powders mixed with milk Day 21 thru 30 ( soft food ) Soft food should be the consistency of a thick liquid ( no chunks or solid material ) and it should be chewed very well before swallowing until it is a liquid consistency ) Tofu Low fat cottage cheese Cereal oatmeal Precooked pureed rice Low fat Yogurt Yogurt mixed with fruit very well blended Cream soups eggs Boiled pureed fruit ( example pear, apple ) Watermelon, papaya or melon in small pieces Boiled pureed vegetables Beans Day 31st and beyond ( solid food ) Fish, Chiken meat Turkey Vegetables Fruit A diet consisting of 800 calories and 70 grams of protein should be your goal. There is a book called " Weight loss Surgery for Dummies" Authors: Kurian, Thompson and Davidson You might find it helpful. I contains several recipes and ideas on what to eat after surgery Grilled Marinated Tuna with Lime Herbed Beef Patties Turkey Meatballs Seafood salad chicken Salad A diet consisting of 600-800 calories and about 70 grams of protein should be the goal Protein will not only help you heal and build muscle mass but acts as a natural appetite suppressant. Concerning protein supplements here are a few ideas: Isopure protein drinks - 40 grams of protein per bottle. Isopure you mix with water - 50 grams of protein. You can find them at GNC. "Protein Water" by Kellogg’s - 5 grams of protein per drink. You can find it at WallMart Unjuryclear protein drinks - UNJURY Medical Quality Whey Protein Isolate. Great Tasting Whey Protein Supplements for Everyday Health! High Protein and High Quality. Not so good tasting. New Whey Nectar Protein mixis very good but it is kind of expensive. It is said to be one of the best tasting protein products in the market today. You can get itat GNC or on line www.google.com/products?client=safari&rls=en&q=whey+nectar+protei n&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title Some patients enjoymaking popsicles and Jell-O Jigglers out ofproteinliquid. Others enjoy Swanson Clearbroth that comes in a can . But most enjoydelicious homemade broth using chayote squash for flavor ( they strain the broth to make it clear) CHICKEN AND FRESH VEGETABLE BROTH 2-3 pieces of chicken for every 2 bowls of broth1 celery stalk 1chayote (hispanic grocery stores)1 carrot 2zucchini2 small tomatoes 2small onionscilantro (optional) salt to taste - BOIL chicken pieces for approx. 20 minutes - ADD celery, chayote, and carrot - SIMMER 30 minutes - ADD zucchini,m tomatoes and onions - SIMMER15 more minutes (cilantro is optional) - STRAIN and serve. You can also buy powder chicken broth that contains 10 grams protein per serving. You can find it on Amazon.com, it is called ProCel When you start on full liquids try Matrix 5.0 protein drinks. Protein shakes and mixes are very good tasking.You will need to wait until they are allowed in you food stage. Advocare high protein drinks called “Meal Replacement shakes “have Vitamins added to them andare a great optiontoo FOLLOWING THE POST OP DIET IS VERY IMPORTANT REMEMBERWE ARE TRYING TO PROTECT THE STAPLE LINE THE SCAR TISSUE IS STILL FORMING AROUND IT DO NOT OVERFILL YOUR STOMACH AND DO NOT JUMP ANY FOOD STAGES

AMEN!!! With that sort of attitude, you will be VERY successful with your surgery and everything thereafter! I too have been the FAT girl of my friends. I wasnt always the fat one, but the past 10 years I have been. In 2000 I was the skinnier one getting all the attention from guys. Now, if I walk into a store and patiently wait for a clerk to finish with their current customer and a pretty, skinny girl walks up with a question (even though I had been standing there for 10 mins), I get ignored while that girl gets help. It is annoying!! But, I look forward to the day that I turn heads again, particularly my husbands.....lol. Best of luck with everything!!! You will be just great!:cool:

They found mine during my testing for lb too. My surgeon wouldn't even consider doing them at the same time although I wished at the time he would bc my ins won't pay for LB but they did for Gb. Of course better safe. I had my GB out on 6/29 and my LB is Fri 8/10. I got my energy back about 8 days post op but felt like it was a breeze. Hope I do so well with the LB! Pennie

I would like to lose another 25 pounds but at this point if I don't I am now going to worry about it as long as I maintain the weight I am currently at. I went from a 26 to a 14. A size 10-12 would be good. I had lost 28 pounds more two years ago, it just fell off after hitting a plateau for a year and then it came back and here I am and this is where I have been for two years now. Thanks for your comments.

Could that be where your port is? If so, it will swell up & down for weeks. I'm 10 wks out and still get some bulging at port site.

First, congratulations on your loss so far--and way to go with the exercise/training routine!! That's something I still haven't gotten in place yet, so I think you're doing GREAT! I got to a point about 9 or 10 months out where I plateaued for a LONG time, several months, in fact. I wasn't doing anything different--my body just sort of settled in place. I eventually got to goal and realized that I had additional weight to lose; I'm 6'2", and nobody "official" had given me a goal, so I was sort of flying by the seat of my pants there. Back to the point--this summer, I've been focusing more on eating tons of fresh vegetables and fruit and incorporating as much raw produce as I can into my diet--my sleeve is still really small and picky, so I don't eat a lot of junk anyway, but I've been making an effort to eat a much more veggie-heavy diet. In the last couple of weeks, I've dropped three pounds--and I'm 14 months out. So my suggestion is to keep doing what you're doing in the gym--GO, GIRL!! and maybe tweak your diet to take advantage of the summer crop of vegetables. Sometimes I think our bodies just need to chill for a while at a particular point, and then they start losing again. Don't give up hope--you're doing all the right things, but maybe shaking things up diet-wise will move you off that plateau. Check your salt intake, too. HUGS to you, and I can't wait to see your continued progress!

Mines did not use staples but have to change dressing everyday but they look good after 10 days.

I am only one week post op and I have not lost an ounce since surgery. I lost about 13 lbs on my pre op diet (10 days prior to surgery). I feel like I am still holding on to a lot of edema and swelling from the surgery. I have to stop weighing myself everyday. I think I am going to wait one week b4 I weigh myself again..... who am I kidding. I will wake up, strip naked and get on the scale in the morning like I do every day.

I thought after four days I would be at least 75% and slowly crawling back to 100% but that seems to be too far gone from the truth. Yesterday was feeling well, I wasn't sweating a lot, I barely felt any pain besides that damn acid reflux. So I wake up this morning and oh boy the drama begins. First I wake up with acid reflux that won't go away for nothing, then when it finally goes away and I hop into the shower I became very dizzy and discombobulated. Taking a shower actually took me so time because I began to feel Ly incisions stretching with every movement and pain just happened to tag along, no surprise there. I finally get dressed up suit and tie, you know the whole 3 piece. As soon as I put on my tie I start sweating like crazy and became disoriented again, Smh. After sitting down for a while and making some protein shake I bean to sip on it. Everything was getting better, so I thought. I looked up at the time an I'm already an hour late for work, mind you this is a fresh new job that I got before surgery. Now I'm in a rush to ER to the train station because I realize that I am in no condition to drive ANYWHERE with these dizzy spells pop in on me like an unannounced relative. I start walk to the train station and I begin to have stomach pain from the vigorous walking. When I finally get on the train I find a seat and sit down. I reached into my suitcase to grab a bottle of water and it slips out my hand and rolls across the train. I Lear my bag in my seat and make my way towards the elusive water bottle that refuses to roll back. When I finally grab the bottle I returned to my seat only to find my suitcase has been replaced by an elderly woman. So now I'm in pain, pissed, sweating and becoming extremely aggravated because my stop is literally 12 stops away then I have another 9min walk to catch my connecting train to my final destination. The train decides to be an a*****e and goes local which made it a 19 stop train ride. Mind you I'm standing up in this train that practically enjoys rocking from side to side like an isolated baby carriage. This motion starts to stir up this discomforting feeling within my guys that slowly begins to aggravate me with each repeated motion. Now I'm jus mean grilling the elderly lady who took what was rightfully mine. When I finally get to my stop my legs and calves are burning and my stomach is knotted up like Christmas lights. I have no choice but to walk slowly in hopes of unknotting this irritating condition that is desperately trying to fight me at the moment. With all this going on I come to find out that my connecting train has already left and another one would not be appear till 30 mins from now due to a technical difficulty along the tracks going northbound. Now I'm over 2 hrs and 30mins late feeling the, pardon my mouth, weathered down **** in the middle of road. When the train finally decides to come it is PACKED UP, practically overflowing, like shaken soda bottle, with people. I mean getting a foot in a door was like trying to fit a a mans size 14 foot into a woman's 6. I mean it was totally ridiculous. If there was ever a fire hazardous this would be the ultimate definition, period. I decide to wait for the next train, since I'm already late I doubt it could be any worse. So I wait and the next train is jus as bad as the last one who passed. I jumped on it and I couldn't have been more uncomfortable... People were pressed on me like starch. My stomach starts to hurt again... Acid reflux l, so I popped a Tums and drank some water. I finally get off the train at my destination walk into my new work site which I find to be gorgeous only to find out that I will be starting working officially in a week because they are still going through an organizational reconstruction... Just my damn luck

I like the idea of a monthly thread as well. My weight loss has slowed down tremendously, but I'm still dropping sizes in a hurry, so I'm not too worried about the scale. I've lost 94 pounds and nearly 10 sizes. I'm in between size 18 and 16, depending on the cut of the clothes. I started in a 24/26, so I'm thrilled. I'm still trying to stay around 1,000 calories a day and I'm doing very well with my Protein and Water goals. I've also been ramping up my exercise as I go. I'm now doing 30 minutes of cardio every day. 3 days a week I add in a second 30 minute cardio session. 3 days a week I do weights for my full body. On Saturday I rest, but I am still doing either cardio or a lot of walking on Saturdays. I had an EKG recently that shows how much good the cardio is doing me, along with chest x-rays where they could actually see my lungs without all that fat in the way!! Althought I don't talk about it much now, my libido is still extremely high! It really sucks when you're single!!

Was able to do 2 10 minute miles today on the elliptical machine this morning. That felt damn good

I will have my surg. 01/12 and i am sooo excited but nervous at the same time!!!

My surgeon said no more than 10 pounds for at least four weeks. (Was able to go back to Curves in four weeks--but weight lifting at the YMCA had to wait until seven weeks and with lower weights). Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but although your external stitches will seem healed, there's a ton of healing going on INSIDE that needs to finish... PS By that time, your child will be about a year old and hopefully, require less lifting for you...

.No you didn't have surgery for just 34 pounds. I had my surgery on Jan 26th. It will be 4 weeks Tuesday. I lost 20 pounds in the first 10 days and haven't lost a pound since Feb 3rd. That is a stall. By the way 34 pounds in 5 weeks is great. That is over 6 pounds a week. I would suggest you do a search on "embracing the stall" there are several threads about this topic. It night help you understand what is going on.

Biotin, lots of Water, Protein and ure oregano oil addresses and eradicates scalp problems such as inflammation, dandruff and sweat. It is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-microbial in nature. If you have very little strand fallout, along with good hygiene and maintenance practices, it is believed that your hair will be able to grow at an accelerated pace. I have used oregano oil in the past and I did notice some benefits, including what looked like slightly faster-growing and stronger hair. When to use: Use weekly or bi-weekly as a part of hair and scalp cleansing regimen. If you are being challenged with hair loss, balding, dandruff, head lice, scabies or inflammation of the scalp, you may want to especially consider using pure oil of oregano. How to use: Create a topical hair/scalp rub for general maintenance to avoid hair loss and promote maximum scalp health. Mix with other oils, as pure, undiluted oregano oil can be a skin irritant. It is recommended that you dilute with carrier oil at a ratio of one to four. Add a few drops of pure oregano oil per tablespoon of shampoo to get rid of scalp infections or dandruff. If you are creating a topical ointment, you should use one ounce of pure oregano oil in four ounces of coconut oil on clean scalp. Once hair has been washed and conditioned, part your hair row by row and massage oil mixture into scalp for best results. If your scalp is particularly sensitive, dilute mixture to a more comfortable ratio and rub in. If you desire, you may rinse entire head after 10 to 15 minutes, as the smell may be strong even after dilution.

This really is pretty good tasting, IMO. It also gets you a lot of protein for not a whole lot of drinking or calories. 12oz of 1% milk (8.2g protein, 102 calories, calories from fat 21, 2.4g fat, 12.2g carbohydrates) 3 scoops of GNC Pro Performance AMP Wheybolic Extreme 60 Chocolate flavor (60g protein, 280 calories, 10 calories from fat, 1g fat, 7g carbohydrates). Mix together, chill, and drink over 3 sessions. You get 68.2g of protein for only 382 calories, and best of all, it tastes GREAT. Also, the GNC powder that I listed has amino acids which should aid in recovering from surgery. http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3509954

You probably won't be able to get a clear answer to this out of the insurance co., but you can try. I'd suggest two things...talk to the insurance expert/billing person at your surgeon's office as they deal with your insurance company requirements all the time (I've gotten the best info. about my insurance from this person...mine said "If you fall below the 35 BMI then you won't need the surgery." They can't legally tell you not to lose weight, but if you ask the right questions they'll 'tell you'.). You can also do a post (put the city/state and insurance co. name in your title) on the insurance forum here and you'll get replies from others who have the same. It's so different even within the same co. I am not allowed to fall below the minimum 35 BMI before approval, and also I should not lose much weight (5-10# ttl...I'm expected not to succeed at loss), but others here are expected to lose like 10% of their body weight and some are allowed to fall below the 35 or 40 BMI thresholds (I have BCBS also, but the requirements are different even within my same state of PA). Good luck (and make sure you're well above your threshold for the consult as they'll weigh you).

I don't have complete info for you, but I can help you with part of your question. I think by the "Inamed" band, you're referring to the 9.75 and 10 cm bands (that both hold 4 cc's of fluid). The reason your question could be modified is that the VG band is made by Inamed too. The VG band is 11 cm in length (thus larger than the other Inamed bands) and holds (I understand you don't care about how much they hold but someone might) about 11 cc's of Fluid. So, the largest of the Inamed bands is the VG. I have no idea how the VG compares in size to the Sweedish band. I also don't know if there's a difference in where the two bands are placed on the stomach -- that could impact your question too. Happy searching!

So I am pretty sure I know where my port is, as I have been able to feel it since surgery. It is located just to right of my belly button and I can still feel it there. But I have a new lump just above my belly button that has just appeared today. I dont know what it is It doesnt necessarily hurt but I am kinda concerned about it. I have felt pretty good the last couple of days and did a little bit of very much needed housework and some laundry. I made sure that I didnt pick up anything heavy. I am going to call the doctor in the morning, but wondering if anyone has heard of this as of yet. Post op is 10 days out.

Hello everyone. I was recently diagnosed with hypothyriodism in 8/2019. After realizing this, I started the process to get approved for VSG and was approved for a 8/2020 surgery date. I then pushed my surgery date back to 12/2020 because I am so afraid of the unknown. I am 5 ft 9 inches tall and I weigh 269 lbs currently. I have always been super athletic and my calves and thighs are huge and are very muscular. I have a three year old daughter and lost 22 lbs during my pregnancy just so that I could deliver with my OB vs being considered high risk and having to transfer to the hospital where I worked in high risk OB. My highest weight has been 275 lbs. Please someone with hypothyriodism please share some insight with me. Here are my biggest fears. Loosing too much weight too fast. Not being able to tone my body and my biggest is not being able to ever drink 2-3 gallons of water day every again. I currently take Synthoriod 75 mg and I have found a new endo Dr. Please someone share some info with me.

Shepard’s Pie This will look like the traditional recipe when it comes out of the oven, but the topping is made from pureed turnips and cauliflower flavored with butter! You can steam the veg's for the topping while you make the filling. FOR THE FILLING 1 medium onion - 1/2 inch diced 3 garlic cloves - crushed and minced 4 ribs celery - 1/2 inch diced 1 cup green Beans - chopped into 1/2 inch pieces 1 small turnip - 1/2 inch diced or 1 small rutabega, diced+steamed 15 minutes *1 lb ground beef, turkey, lamb or other meat 1 roma tomato - diced (optional) 3 tablespoons Water 1/2 teaspoon margoram - optional sea salt & pepper to taste *rutabegas take longer to cook than all the other ingredients for the filling so its important to pre-cook it. In a large skillet with lid: heat the water over medium flame. Add ground beef and cook until getting crumbly, breaking it up with your spoon. Add all the diced veggies and stir well to combine. Cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes, add a little water if you need to so that they can actually simmer. just enough so there's some liquid bubbling, veg's shouldn't be swimming. Add marjoram, sea salt & pepper to taste and pour into 9x9 baking dish, or a large pie dish. FOR THE TOPPING 1 large head cauliflower - chopped 2 medium turnips, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes butter, sea salt & pepper to taste Steam the cauliflower and turnips until very soft. Put them into a Cuisinart fitted with the double blade and puree with some butter -2 or 3 tablespoons, salt & pepper to taste. If you don’t have a Cuisinart, mash them with a potato masher, they will be a bit more lumpy, but just as good! Spoon the cauliflower mixture over the top of the beef mixture, gently spreading it to cover all the way to the edges of the dish. Sprinkle with a few dashes of paprika and place on a baking sheet (to catch any drips so as not to mess up your oven). Place into a preheated 350 oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or just until you can see it getting bubbly, and the edges of the topping are a bit browned. Every oven is different, so its a good idea to check it after 10 minutes! Then keep an eye on it. A great winter warmer, and it really is quite easy once you've diced & chopped... Lovely with some chopped parsley on top for garnish.

WELL PEOPLE I HAD MY SURGERY ON JUNE 25TH. SURPRISINGLY I REALLY WASNT THAT NERVOUS JUST READY TO GET IT OVER WITH. THE PAIN WASNT AS BAD AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE JUST VERY ANNOYING BECAUSE IM A PRETTY ACTIVE PERSON. I WOULD TRY TO GET UP TO DO SOMETHING AND THE PAIN WOULD KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO ME THEN I WOULD PROCEED SLOWLY LOL. I HAVE MY GOOD DAYS AND MY BAD DAYS. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES THE OTHER DAY I WAS EXCITED ABOUT THAT.I THINK THE MOST ANNOYING THING HAS BEEN THE CHEST DISCOMFORT. I OFTEN FEEL REALLY BLOATY AND GASY IT SORT OF FEELS LIKE THERE IS A HUGE BURP STUCK IN MY CHEST THIS HAS BEEN DRIVING ME CRAZY. WELL IM LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD AND STARTING A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE, I CANT WAIT UNTIL I CAN START WORKING OUT. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR SUPPORT:thumbup:

Welcome! I'm getting banded April 10, so we're heading down the road together. There are a lot of great people here and great advice. Hope you stick around!

Hi Caroline........ So nice to meet you!! England!! WOW I would love to see where you live!! I had WLS 10/29/07 I have lost 29.5 lbs to date!! How are you doing so far?? Good luck to you!! Connie in South Alabama USA

hi, i'm new to this site. i got banded on feb. 10, 2006. so far i've lost 28lbs. i wish i knew about this site before i got banded. there are so many different issues anything u want to know about. how do u set up one of those weight graphs on the botom of your postings. understand i am not very computer literit. i think those are cool.