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So I am just over a year out and lost 115 pounds in total. Got approved for skin removal surgery for my stomach, Had that done last Friday I had no idea how much this would hur. My bypass surgery was cake compared to this I can still hardly move anyone who has been through this have any recovery recommendations?

My skin is saggy too! pants help LOL!! but yes I have a booty with wrinkly skin on the bottom...doenst look great naked but until I win the lotto I wont be able to get all the work that I would love to get done for a while LOL

Hi, everyone, I've just caught up on posts after being away from the site for a bit. I would love to comment on everyone's posts because we're all going through such similar things. I'm really proud of us for the changes we're making. @ShoppGirl, I think you are correct about the treadmill being narrow and having to balance on it. I was shocked to find that walking on a treadmill is very different from walking on the street, but it definitely is. I have a treadmill that I walk on during meetings at work (I work from home) and that's a lot easier for me than walking on the street. But I had to set it under a stand-up desk because trying to balance on the narrow thing would be a full-time job and I couldn't pay attention in my meetings. (Also I'd probably fall off of it a lot.) My first week back to work was exhausting. I was just fried at the end of each day, even though I work from home. My hubby had his prostate out on Friday. He was able to come home the same day, which we were not expecting but it was a very nice surprise. I'm plenty recovered enough from my surgery to do stuff for him, so we're doing well. But it's obvious to me that I'm still recovering, because I get tired much more easily than pre-op. I'm proud of myself because I planned and brought protein drinks to make sure I got nutrition throughout the day. All day, I had been aware of the hospital cafeteria, which is close to the surgical waiting room, but I knew that I was not going to go in because I had no reason to. Back in the day, I would have had the perfect excuse to go nuts in there while I waited for hubby's surgery to be done! Then, since I got to take my husband home, I ended up being at the hospital later than I expected, so I had to find something to eat and ended up having to go there. So I had my first experience of eating somewhere other than home. I was able to find appropriate protein in the right amount, and that's all I had. I had my first post op visit with the PA, who told me not to worry about the fact that I don't have fullness cues. She said by 3 months it may get harder to get things down, because scar tissue hasn't formed yet, and also by 3 months, I'll have developed a much better sense of what's going on in my body. Surprisingly, she said that if I'm doing pureed easily, I could move to soft. So that was a great surprise and I'm enjoying the soft stage. I can eat more of a variety of things. It's going fine, which still bothers me because I wish I had more sense of restriction. I worry that I'm going to return to old bad habits! So I'm being careful to measure, and I tell my Baritastic app everything I'm eating! The thing I'm currently struggling with is that eating only 1/2 cup at a time, I've been eating only one thing and focusing on protein. I'm finding myself craving things like fruit and vegetables. So I had a couple florets of broccoli tonight which was great. I read a sample diet for the soft stage that had entries like, "2 bites of _______". I am going to focus on eating more fresh things, now that I understand I can just have a bit less of whatever my protein is and "2 bites" of something fresh. I'm also struggling with getting all the vitamins in, since I have to separate the calcium from the iron from the multivitamins. There are only so many hours in the day! I know others have mentioned this, so at least we're all in the same boat, and we'll figure it out. I am losing maybe half a pound a day. I know that's a lot, and I had a couple of non-scale victories the other day. I had to go in to the office for a meeting, and I put on a dress that had been too tight to wear. It fit perfectly! And the sandals I wore zip up the back. They'd been hard to zip because of my fat ankles, but now they are even a little bit loose! On paper, I've lost 30 pounds from my heaviest, but it doesn't feel or look that way to me. I'm only 5 feet, so that much weight should be quite obvious, but it isn't. That bugs me some, but I know I'm just beginning and I WILL be able to see the difference when I lose more. I'm happy that I can move around and get some exercise. I thought I'd be just weak from taking in so few calories, but I'm not. Occasionally, I'll get a little lightheaded, but it's not bad at all. I was able to do my pre-op treadmill routine (3 30-minute walks daily at 2.0 MPH, which means 3 treadmill miles a day) although I did have one day when I got a little lightheaded and had to turn down the speed just a bit. Today was the first time that I actually felt "hungry" since surgery. But it was mixed in with a desire to eat out of boredom as well as some head hunger, so I'm not quite sure what the deal was, exactly. I am trying to just pay attention to that stuff and ask myself questions about how I'm feeling, without any intention of acting on it. I think I will do better if I start eating more of a "meal" type diet with mostly protein but a little of things like vegetables and fruits, so that I have some variety and am getting in some varied nutrients from food, not just my vitamins. And yes, I STILL have a little of the sticky stuff from the hospital on my skin! What is that about?

Found another product that is really awesome. It’s called a running belt by HAWEEL, but I got it for walking. It’s like a Fanny pack but it’s flat and has three pockets. The middle one holds you phone and the one on the left zips opens at the top and the bottom and has a mesh pocket sewn into it that drops out so you can put a bottled water in there. It has an adjustable band so it I’ll work for many sizes (although I only have maybe 4 or 5 inches to spare with it loose enough to not bug my incisions and my waist is currently 45” so I’m thinking it goes up to 50” but will go down to our goal weights). It has another pocket for like a key and some cash and it’s water resistant plus it has a reflective strip across the front for if you get stuck out when it’s dark (doesn’t go across the back though so if you plan to be out in the dark I would get a sash or vest or whatever that’s reflective). Anyways it’s only $16!! There are others on AMAZON that only fit a certain size, won’t fit a water, don’t have the reflective strip and they are like $40 which we would need a new one every couple of months. I am so thrilled with this thing. Ooh and it also has a spot where your headphones can come out if you use corded ones. This is exactly what I needed to walk all around the neighborhood. The mesh bag also has a little strap to better secure the water so it doesn’t shake if you wanted to use it to jog or run. Just thought I’d pass it along. https://a.co/d/74c2Yps

Hey everyone, it’s me again. I woke up early this morning feeling pretty good and refreshed. I think I’m still proud of myself for doing my walk last night. I told my husband that I was proud and I know that it’s not really that big of a deal but it feels huge to me and he reminded me that after my sleeve I never exercised so it is a big deal. When he would mention it I would just tell him what my surgeon said that it’s really a pretty small part of weight loss. I left out the part where he said that it is still important for physical and mental health though. So I guess the fact that I am less that a month out this time and trying a different approach already is a pretty good thing. I went to do my grocery pickup this morning and got my supplies for my first week of soft foods which I get to start tomorrow 🎉 I ordered a lot more that I need for sure. The guy just kept adding bags to the trunk and my fridge has never been so full. I got out my book that my Dr gave me and it doesn’t mention a portion size for soft foods. The handout the hospital gave me says 1/2 to 3/4 cup though so I guess I will stick to 1/2 cup to start and make sure that’s okay. I just took a little nap since I woke up early and plan to walk again tonight. I have been scouring the Internet for a solution to my shorts riding up. The best thing I can find is to put a boning in the seam so I think I may order some and give that a try. I guess I have to drag out my sewing machine and relearn how to thread it and all that so I’m not sure how long I will procrastinate before I do it. I did order a pair of inexpensive yoga shorts to wear in the mean time and good news is when I measured my waist and hips to get the right size I realized that I have lost two inches in both. My only concern I have now is that one incision that’s dented in still. Everyone says that they think It will be fine but i just don’t know I think it’s going to stay like that honestly and worry that when I lost and it’s extra skin it’s going to look even worse. I guess no one but my husband will ever see it but I really wish it would just flatten out I hope everyone else is having a wonderful holiday weekend and feeling better and better each day. I know that I am.

Wow! Looking great! No amount of booty workouts would make my saggy past its prime fallen off the tree and sitting in the field for two weeks booty pop tho! Too much skin is too much skin 😕 my peaches have been ran over and are now roadkill pancakes!

"I mean all the hoops that are required for weight loss surgery, I haven’t done anything like this for any other surgery It really feels like discrimination. How is it that in this day and age they are still getting away with it.?" I wholeheartedly agree. I think about this when I think about skin surgery not being covered by insurance because its "elective" "plastic surgery" yet transitional surgeries are covered and "elective". Both are to help with how we see ourselves, what our inner selves are, our mental health! The differences are one can cause bad rashes, difficulties wearing clothing and getting around/exercising, back pain/skeletal pain from excessive hanging skin weight and is caused by treating a disease. The other involves self perception as well and can cause mental distress, yet is readily covered by insurance and yet involves "healthy body parts." To me it IS discrimination, why cover one without question but not the other? Heck, transitional doesn't even require therapy now. Both are major changes in a life. I always got the impression insurance companies refuse to cover skin surgery because we "brought it on ourselves" opposed to it being an actual symptom from a disease. I have rosacea which is purely a visual thing yet its covered, as is acne, warts etc...all covered. Yes, they're cheaper to cover, but are a disease that's visual that's covered they also won't cause a secondary problems. They will even cover breast reductions for back pain, why not excessive skin for back pain? I personally found no worth to the therapy session, I knew and know what caused my obesity and what I needed to do to get healthier. Some may not. It should be voluntary or required if people start to back slide gaining weight after surgery but to me beforehand was pointless. It would have been more helpful to cover the changes in your life that would be happening. Yes, I was also required to do a group session with ppl who had gone through it or were..but it was a structured topic put on by the dieticians. Perhaps if they offered mentors or group sessions for dealing with life changes..that would be better..ppl who've gone through it, not someone schooled on what its supposed to be like..that would be better opposed to a size two I've never battled with my weight therapist/dietician!

Okay so maybe I’m just the last to know and if so ignore me but SPANX makes clothes!! My friend just sent me a Facebook post of some denim pants they make that look like they will be so perfect even as we get closer to goal to sorta hold in any excess skin.

I never really noticed in my weight loss period because it was Covid times and I wore the same old stuff everyday. I was years out of the habit of looking in mirrors too. Nowadays, almost 3 years out, I buy clothes in my size -UK 14 - and they fit me all over. Like people say. the weight / fat distributes itself around your body after you stop weight loss. I haven't had any skin surgery either. People actually ask where I buy my clothes ! and copy me ! Where is the Vogue camera man when you want him ? Ha !

My surgery was robotic and they took my gallbladder unexpectedly too. I’m guessing one of them things means more incisions? I think if you have any oil on your skin they don’t stick so it would make sense that fresh out of surgery I was squeaky clean and they would stick longer than at a follow up appointment but also it has to do with if it’s an area that has to bend. My top ones came off but the lower ones all stayed. oh yea. I remember them first scrambled eggs. Best eggs of my life. lol. The mug warmer really helps for that to keep them warm throughout but I found it was only really good for that. I tried it with the refried beans and it didn’t keep them as warm.

So at one point when I was in the hospital someome said I had nine incisions including the drain but if i did it was tiny and healed before I left cause I left with 7 steri strips and a band aid where the drain was. Anyways, out of 7, only two had fallen off. The NP commented on the fact that it was unusual today and said if any start to lift I could take tjem off. Well after my shower one was lifted a little so I carefully took it off and I do not reccomend it unless they are pretty loose (looser than mine was). It pulled and it hurts quite a bit. Of course ask your team if they suggested differently but from the patient perspective it doesn’t feel very good.

Well, today I go for my first post-op appointment. Thinking I may be on a liquid diet just a little bit longer. I met my fluid and protein goals on Monday, but then yesterday I did not because I was so sick I was in bed for literally the majority of the day. We'll see what happens. I think I may have gotten overheated because we went out yesterday morning so that I could get a haircut after my husband's doctor's appointment, and while he was in his appointment I did walking laps around the parking lot. And we have a heat wave striking again. But we'll see what happens. I'll try to post an update after I get home from that. Oh, I did remove the CGM sensor that had blisters forming around it. Well, they also formed under it. And... it wasn't pleasant. I essentially have a large hole in my arm now from where it took quite a bit of skin with it. I have also had an uptick in pain the last few days. I had taken myself off my pain meds completely, but I've had to take one a day since Sunday. I'll be discussing that with the doctor today too. Has anyone else experienced that? Also, real talk - Cottage cheese has always disgusted me because of how it looks. So someone please tell me what it tastes like, since I'm probably going to have to learn to like it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl I am allowed to use milks (lactose intolerant so non-dairy milks). I've just been adding water to the one shake because it's super thick. Like, imagine drinking a milkshake through a tiny straw. That kind of thick. I'm less worried about protein on that one because it's 32g per bottle. I just have to be able to drink it for it to matter lol. I am sooooooo sorry about your a/c. I can't stand heat and I would probably be living in a hotel if ours went out right now. But I do know what you mean. I can't do much of anything right now still. I've been pushing myself to at least do dishes when I can, but even that is a bit much for me sometimes. But we're gonna get over this hump and then we're going to get our houses back in order! I do hope your a/c is fixed quickly and cheaply. Update - Glad to see your a/c just randomly decided to start working again. Any chance that the outside unit had frozen? Splenda is a Godsend, honestly. I've had to be on it for years already with my diabetes. I was told I could use any artificial sweetner as long as I didn't go overboard with it. So that is good to know for when I start the puree stage! I'm curious to see how much my taste buds have changed since surgery. I know a couple of people who can't stand even the smell of eggs now. I really hope that's not me. I love me some eggs. I was also told post-surgery, fish is going to be a go-to meal once I can get there. Like at least once a week, kind of thing. As someone who used to work for an allergist - the prick test is just for contact items, like fur and dust. If you are concerned about food allergies, that would be a multitude of appointments for each one you ares scared of. Because they have you actually eat the food while you are there in the office, and then you have to sit there and wait to see if you have a reaction. "It's just me and my hubby and if it bothers him then he is perfectly capable of doing it himself." This, 100000000%. lol. Hubby has asked me what I'm cooking for lunch/dinner, and I just stare at him for a long few seconds before it clicks what he just asked me to do. Then he's like, "Oh, nevermind." I do need to be better about limiting my bending and such. I'm obeying the weight guidelines, but I'm also of the opinion that if I can do something, I should do something. My husband has a stressful job (911 dispatcher) with crazy hours. And he has taken over a lot of the things that I was doing pre-surgery. So I feel like I have to do what I can to help him out too. I've been on Pinterest a lot lately, saving recipes for me to try later on. I am going to probably have a fight with my husband on certain things - like ground turkey for tacos, I already know he isn't going to be on board with. But that might be a thing where I make my food ahead of time and am like, "Okay, this is what I'm having on this night. If you don't like it, you're on your own to figure out food." But that skinny scampi sounds like it might be delicious! You'll have to let us know! I hope the eye appointment wasn't too terrible for you. Kudos to you on making plans for a healthy rest of your life. I need to really sit down and start figuring that out myself. My fear is that I work 3 jobs. While I'm off for 2 months for 2 of them, I worry that any kind of set schedule I make for myself now will get thrown out the window when those get added back. Right now, I'm trying to walk in the mornings before the heat gets too bad. And I have a cycle machine that fits under my desk, so I use that throughout the day. Once they let me, I definitely need to figure out how to get some weight training in. I'm still pulling sticky stuff off of me after multiple showers. It's not just you. This stuff just doesn't want to go away, which was good for surgery. But now it needs to go. LOL I definitely do not like the sleeping the majority of my day and night away because it's preventing me from having a schedule. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Onemealplan You said you can only eat 2oz of food every 3 hours. Are you meeting your protein goals with that? My nutritionist said that even at the puree and soft food stage, I'm expected to supplement my protein goals with protein shakes still. I'm still in the liquid stage, but it takes me an hour to finish an 11oz protein shake. I have yet to feel 'full' but I do know when I've pushed too far because I start to feel kind of sick. The lack of feeling full terrifies me, honestly. Which, I know it's just my anxiety but at the same time I'm like, "What if I have already screwed my stomach up because I didn't feel full????" Hopefully I get some reassurance today at the post-op. But I do get that mental hunger thing. It's been particularly bad lately because I just want SOMETHING that isn't liquids. Hopefully as I progress, I can start kicking that to the curb. I have a vacation coming up in October that I'm trying to prepare myself for. I should hopefully be on soft foods by then. As for the servers, one of the audiobooks I listened to in order to prepare for surgery suggested heading that off immediately. Just telling them up front you recently had a surgery so you will not be able to eat while you are recovering. One of my husband's coworkers who had the RYGB just orders water when he goes out with his husband. Sometimes he'll sip on it, sometimes he just leaves it sitting there. All depends on when he last had a protein shake. They offered you a surgery video? I haven't heard that. I would be interested in watching it if that's an option for me, but it may not be. How big of bites are you taking at this point? I'm just curious so I can start mentally planning for that vacation in a couple of months. (Man, am I so ready for a vacation, even with the dietary changes.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt I've also had extreme fatigue. If I was dishes, I'm having to rest for an hour. I'm not doing anything more than that right now because I just physically can't handle it. But yeah, there are lots of long naps during my daytime, which is also affecting my abilitiy to get fluids and protein in. Glad to hear that you've gotten better! I know yesterday was a bad day for me out of nowhere. I'm blaming heat, but I don't actually know what the problem was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @RRenaeL23 and @Pepper_No_Salt - Good luck at your next appointments! I hope you do get moved up to pureed foods! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Hiddenroses Interesting! I was told they would not move me on to the pureed foods until I was regularly hitting 60g of protein daily. They said nothing about whether or not I was active. I'll be curious to see what is said when I go to my post-op today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Meme Campbell I hope your surgery went fantastically and you are recovering well! I know that liquid stage sucks, but it's for a good reason. Just keep reminding yourself of that.

You'll need to get used to feeling the cold, once you loose all the weight you won't have as much fat to keep you warm 😂 I think you are plenty focused as it is and we all have cheat days, they will just be a smaller portion size for those post-op. Friday is my pizza day now if I am eating at home and it is just 1/5 or 1/4 of a frozen pizza so that one pizza lasts me four to five Fridays. Sadly my Amazon doesn't have the travel version of the scale in stock as I would have liked that for my holiday next month, just to help me make sure I am still on track as I will be doing a lot of walking I hope (if my knees don't complain too much).

There is this heat/ ice pack thing for lower back pain that is pretty cool I bought on Amazon that works great for the intended purpose called Magic Gel But I just asked my husband for an ice pack and when he grabbed this one instead of my usual I thought hey, worn backwards that may actually work for the belly too and it does. It comes with a warm pack and an ice pack and the band that Velcros around your waist has a mesh pocket for an ice or heat pack. Most of my incisions that are painful are lower and this doesn’t cover the entire belly all the way up for the incisions under the breast but it can be used without the belt for that if need be. It does cover the lower incisions quite well For size reference I am currently at 229 pounds and have it loose and have about 4 extra inches. It fit with room still when I was 258 too. I just didn’t measure how much extra at that time. It’s neoprene Tao it does have some stretch as well. Just FYI if you do get it, I was warned by my NP no heat on the incisions themselves and ice for only 20 minutes at a time. Like set an alarm it’s that important. But it feels really good while it’s on there and this one can be worn while walking around even. Just passing along anything I find that works ❤️‍🩹

I just had my 1 year blood work done for the bariatric surgeon, and everything came back normal except the fact that I'm anemic (that's nothing new, thanks to my systemic lupus). Here's what I had done: VITAMIN D, 25-HYDROXY VITAMIN B12 VITAMIN A TSH VITAMIN B1 (THIAMINE), WHOLE BLOOD LIPID PANEL PREALBUMIN IRON PROFILE HEMOGLOBIN A1C FOLATE FERRITIN COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL CBC WITH DIFFERENTIAL My PCP also got the results and said she was happy with them and set me up with another iron infusion (I have to get them twice per year). My surgeon was happy with the results and said sometimes our bodies just do what they're going to do and we're along for the ride. He said if I get tot he point that I physically can't function because of the weight loss, then he'll look into ordering additional testing, but as of right now, while it's unusual to still be losing at this stage, it's not unheard of so he's not particularly concerned. It's nice that HE'S not, but nobody seems to take into account that I AM. I keep explaining how I feel, how I look, how I don't have energy or strength, how I'm losing muscle, how I'm always so so tired, how I can't shake the circles under my eyes or make my skin look healthy no matter how much collagen or serum or cream I use and nobody seems to care. He literally commented on the fact that he could see and feel my bones, ribs, etc... I said "yes, I know. That's my point. Look at my hands and feet. They are bones and veins. No fat at all." And he said it would even out in time. But all that's been happening is I've been getting smaller and smaller the more time goes by.

I'm definitely nowhere near an unhealthy bmi ON PAPER, but I also know my body. I can see and feel my bones sticking out. My husband and kids hug me and they feel my bones and tell me I feel like I'm gonna break if they squeeze me because I feel fragile now. I look like I'm losing muscle, and frankly, I feel really weak compared to how I use to feel. I have permanent circles under my eyes. My hands and feet are boney and veiny and my skin literally hangs off my body, including my face. I'm always tired, even though I get plenty of sleep. I'm one of the curvy, big bones girls. I carry my weight in such a way that I can weigh more but not look like it. So right now, I look sickly. But more importantly, I don't feel right. I feel not great, which is the opposite of what I wanted when I started this journey.

Thank you It's frustrating because for nearly 26 years, all I wanted in the world was to be thin an healthy again. And now that I am, I'm complaining because I'm too thin. But I'm getting a lot of comments about looking sickly and boney and too skinny. And I agree. I can see and feel my bones sticking out. My husband and kids hug me and they feel my bones and tell me I feel like I'm gonna break if they squeeze me because I feel fragile now. I look like I'm losing muscle, and frankly, I feel really weak compared to how I use to feel. I have permanent circles under my eyes. My hands and feet are boney and veiny and my skin literally hangs off my body, including my face. I'm always tired, even though I get plenty of sleep. And my clothes and rings literally hang off me. Nothing fits at all. I'm always hungry, no matter how much I eat, no matter how often I eat, and no matter WHAT I eat. I'm just praying that things start to even out soon. This is a really slippery slope, and I could find myself in disordered eating territory really easily since I only seem to hold on to weight when I restrict my eating. I don't want to get into doing that and have that become my new norm.

🤔 Definitely food for thought. You brought up some very good points. I just am leery of adding fruit and or veggies since I am extremely carb sensitive. Perhaps I'll slowly introduce a few more. Its just difficult to add something without removing protein since I'm restricted to 800 calories and fruit adds a lot more calories. Tbh, I don't know why I'm hung up on reaching my goal, perhaps its because I'm very goal-centric, if I don't reach my goal to me I'll feel as if I've failed, even when I haven't. I've always up until the last ten years weighed 105-108, so I felt 120 was reasonable for my small frame and height. Plus, I'm still classified as over weight! I am still heavy for my height. Lastly, I still have quite a bit of fat on my small frame (its not All just skin) so, if I'm being honest I do need to lose the rolls on my stomach and arms. I know the difference between skin excess and skin with fat. Perhaps 140 would be a better goal..I don't know. I do understand I'll never be what I was, but I feel perhaps it was the doctors and dietician's jobs to tell me 120 wouldn't work based on my starting BMI, my age etc, and explain reasonable surgical expectations - they didn't which is why I assumed it was obtainable. Thank you for giving me lots to think about, either way I still have 6 months before I am put on maintenance or my weight loss is set as I was told by the doctor. I appreciate your insights. Oh and no, I've never had a DEXA scan. I've never heard of it. Also, its about time that gymnast got off my back - no more freeloading!

I have absolutely NO boobs left. I was a DD and now I just have empty skin sacs. OMG I hate it. And my poor booty just went and effed off. We don't know her anymore. All saggy and flat now when I use to have a bubble butt.

So I went with the SADI and I am two weeks post op now. I did have loose movements for three days but only the one in the morning and since then I have been constipated or normal but back and forth. It’s weird because everyone warned me about diarrhea and that hasn’t happened yet. Does it wait until you are on more normal foods maybe?

Hello again everyone! I'll start by saying I'm sorry it takes me so long to post my responses. This is because while I do skim posts from my phone, especially when I see an email that has me tagged I find it so much easier to type and properly respond from my desktop computer. So - If I 'Like' a post' just know I'll likely later mention something in one of my long summarized posts, like this one! Yesterday was exhausting for me; I slept poorly Tuesday night due to heartburn and tenderness on the left hand side. I did get a few things done yesterday, though, including making it to Walmart finally to get my returns processed. I'm not sure why I thought I'd need extra bandages and such after my surgery, but I didn't. That said, after reviewing the cost of canned soups and canned chicken, I decided just to buy a rotisserie chicken! Honestly, that's proven to be easier and more economical because after deboning it there is plenty of flavorful chicken to either puree into chicken salad or puree with chicken broth and some canned peas/carrots as a kind of 'no noodle' soup! I also had a ridiculous epiphany this morning - cooking and straining our fruits BEFORE mixing them with yogurt or ricotta works WAY BETTER! This should have been obvious but in my addled mind I've been either 'peeling' the strawberries, or like this morning I thought I'd put the whole blueberry yogurt smoothie through the metal screen to strain and hey - that worked POORLY! Lol - silly the illogical things we do at times, eh? Or maybe it's just me, idk! Oh - I ALSO realized yesterday evening, when I had basically zero energy nor desire to mess with dinner but still was far short of my protein goal that I hadn't started taking the Collagen yet that I bought to help my hair, skin, and nails. Lo and behold when I scoped it out (I ordered Nature Target Multi-Collagen Peptides from Amazon) that one scoop DOES have 9g of Protein! I truly felt like I was cheating the system when I poured a scoop in about 4oz of Gatorade Zero, Orange and called that my dinner. I'm not sure what caused me to sleep better last night - the fact that I held/hugged a pillow ( Thank you again @draikaina8503 for mentioning the pillow your nursing staff gave you!) against my left side during most movements throughout the day, the fact that I was extremely tired, the relief from hearing from my doctor's office, or just time and healing in general) but I DID sleep well and today has gone more smoothly for me. As of today I'm 17 days post op, about a 1/4 of the way into my two weeks of puree diet. @ShoppGirl - I haven't noticed about white spots on the tongue after different types of protein drinks because I've been really aware of any 'filmy texture' so rinse my mouth after each meal, but I do feel like the Ensure is thicker and takes more effort for me to rinse after drinking. Thanks for mentioning the Protein Water! I'm going to look into that to see if it will help me meet my protein goal of 60g/day. @draikaina8503 - I haven't noticed much as far as skin sensitivity goes although my bruises from where they stuck me have taken an AGE to heal! I've been worried about you and hope that the incident with your doggo didn't leave you with any lasting damage (I may see a post about that later as I read). Are you taking Collagen Peptides by chance? I noticed one of the Youtubers who documented their own surgery journey dealt with breakouts afterward while taking Collagen and wondered if maybe it was impurities being purged from their skin as a result of the Collagen itself. If not I'd definitely mention it to your surgeon and double check (not that I think you'd miss anything since you seem VERY thorough) that some ingredient you're intolerant to hasn't snuck its way into your routine. Update: Oh good, I'm glad you got some reassurance from your physician's office. Wow - congratulations on the return to school! The start date is rolling right up, isn't it?! Yeah, timing - eesh - I feel ya! Best of luck in finding a comfortable position in which to do your course work, and the energy to tackle everything at once! So far though it looks like you're nailing it and no reason to think that success won't keep right on coming! Oh - and yeah, I guess I AM blessed to have been given this little bottle of Hibiclens! I had noticed that there was one of those tubs in my hospital room when I got ready to check out and there was another bottle of it in there as well as a couple of 'No rinse' shampoo caps. I snagged everything out of it - figured if my insurance was paying for it, I was gonna grab it for possible later use! I wish I could hand you this extra bottle, honestly! @Pepper_No_Salt - Wow; goodness! Yeah; honestly it sounds like you're doing way too much! I'm only just now starting to feel up to helping load the dishwasher, and today I managed to slowly sort through the clothing in my chest of drawers for size/quality of condition. Even then, I had to have my fella open the drawers for me because it's older and they stick a bit, plus pulling anything makes me tender, much less bending and pulling at the same time! I can't IMAGINE trying to tackle everything you just listed at this stage. I know we all heal at different rates but my surgeon's office told me yesterday that the pain *I* have been mainly experiencing, a pulling/tugging on my left side, can take up to a month or two to recover from. She said to remember that despite how the surface appears to have healed that there is a LOT of repair and healing happening internally. She also said that as frustrating as it is to just try to be patient with myself because the body is adjusting in a lot of ways between not getting hardly any carbs, learning to get its energy from different sources, i.e. stored fat, processing our intake of protein/water differently, and literally healing multiple organs (for me, SADI, intestines and stomach from the sleeve portion) and that takes a lot out of a person. @Justarwaxx - Oh my goodness, that sounds VERY anxiety inducing! This is your body and your journey, I absolutely suggest contacting your surgeon's office to see if they can send you some kind of guideline on what to be doing at your different stages. Also, I will be honest - that sounds like a lot of calories to be intaking during your liquid diet and I can't help but wonder if you're drinking maybe the wrong particular protein shake? I don't say that because I think you SHOULD worry about calories specifically but you DO need to worry about sugar intake. I got tripped up because my surgeon's team gave me a booklet guide for the whole process and I'm not supposed to drink any protein shakes that have less than 15g of Protein and more than 5g of sugar. The protein shakes are deceptive as heck, though! Example: The off brand Equate ones I got are Max Protein with 30g of Protein and less than 1g of sugar, and one time I accidentally bought their Protein Plus which had 20g of sugar in each one! They tasted great - but at the cost of all that sugar it was a hard pass! Also if you are drinking regular Gatorade or Powerade I could see that being a factor; I'm on Zero Sugar for my non-protein beverages. I can totally see how you'd feel at a loss - I spent 10 months working up to my surgery (because I had to quit smoking, etc) and I still feel like I'm winging it. If your surgeon's team didn't mention it, I will - there is an app called Baritastic that is free on the Google Play Store. You can scan the items you intake or search them on the 'Food Log' and it usually pulls up the correct information and lets you put what percent of the listed serving size you consumed. I do suggest checking at least one time to make sure it's pulling up the correct information that matches the Nutrition Facts listed on the item. After that it will be recorded in your 'Recent' list and you can just choose it easily that way. Baritastic also has a built in Timer for 30 minutes you can use to track when you stop drinking and can start drinking after a meal - once you're past the liquid stage and move on to meals that's pretty important across the board as far as I know. The 'No drinking 30 minutes before, during, or after a meal' is important because due to the adjusted size of your stomach it can only fit a certain amount, and you could get overly full of water before or after a meal otherwise, leading to you being sick to your stomach or feeling miserable overall. Honestly, I've been setting a timer when I sit down at my computer as well so I don't get absorbed in what I'm doing and sit for too long. That's been helpful! Best of healing and well wishes to you all - Oh, finally updated my ticker but bummed I can't put 'SADI' as my surgery type. Oh well! Adding: The Finch App continues to help me navigate these waters, big time. I open my free Finch app (Also on the Google Play App store) more often then I open Facebook or any social media. Taking care of that silly cute cartoon bird and getting rewarded for taking care of MY personal business is such a benefit to someone like me who is almost certainly ADHD/Autistic at some level. I even use it to remind me to log my food/liquid intake in Baritastic. OH and I did make solid contact with the testing center I've been on a wait list with - looks like I'll at least be able to get in to a counselor soon, though I'm still on the wait list for actual Autism testing. Ok - that's all for now!

I sent a message to my bariatric office along with some pics. They said it looks fine to them and it is possibly my immune system just being in overdrive slightly. I did also send the pic of the blisters around my CGM sensor to my diabetic office to see if there's anything in particular I can do for that one. The response was to spray Flonase on my skin and allow it to try before attaching a sensor. So I guess that means I need to take my sensor off. I'll deal with it in a bit. Too much energy to walk up the stairs at the moment. Next stress on the list - I return to school for my masters degree on the 26th. Timing, y'all. LOL But in good news for me, World of Warcraft's new expansion hits early release for those of us crazy enough to preorder tonight. So I'll have something to keep me entertained hopefully while I'm taking times of rest. (Also time to mute all the people so that no one spoils anything for me.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl Thank you for the idea about the proffee. I've decided I'm going to test the limits of my lactose intolerance and get some Premier Protein to see if I can handle it, and that sounds like a good way to have it. I need to go buy decaf coffee as I don't currently have any. I've been drinking Protein 2O since before surgery. They're not bad but they leave my mouth feeling super dry. I'm guessing that's the protein in it. But the Protein 2O are only 15g of protein. Which ones are you drinking that are 20g? I'm very curious. I haven't noticed any white chunks on my tongue after drinking any protein drink at this point. Just the dryness from the Protein 2O. If it happens with others and not the Premier, but you're also drinking the Premier with coffee... it may be the coffee that's helping? I'm not sure on this one. I hope your trip to your crochet group went well. If you need to get up and walk around for five minutes during the group, definitely do so. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Hiddenroses I'm going to talk to my husband about ordering that GENEPRO that you mentioned and ShoppGirl mentioned. I need something to help those numbers along lol. Though two of his coworkers had the same procedure done, and they said you never eat for flavor again. You just eat because you have to eat. Which is slightly depressing but if it gets my health back... I'm still going to try to have flavor and such as I go along, but the GENEPRO is probably going to help me out in the puree stage a lot. Right now I'm surviving on protein shakes and protein water. And yay for the pillow working! It's been a lifesaver for me, honestly. I couldn't get up and down in certain chairs without it. Okay, I'm legit jealous that you got a foaming pump style bottle of the stuff. I was literally given 2 packets of the gel and had to use both the last two showers before surgery. So they gave me nothing else for after that. I think I might feel better about showering if I had more of the stuff. Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. lol ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @RRenaeL23 Look at you, go getter! A mile and a half one week post-op? Holy cow! I'm definitely not up to that yet, so congrats on your achievement! I've got a cart started of things that I'm looking at on BariLife.com. Not sure about Clean Simple Eats, but that's another resource you might want to look into for getting smoothies and such. It's where I got my vitamins. This cart is currently things I want to run past the hubby to see if we can get for my puree stage, which should be after Wednesday if I can ever meet my fluid and protein goals beforehand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt I'm looking into that variety pack on Amazon myself. I'm beyond tired of the mixed berry at this point, since it's the only flavor in town that I can drink currently. lol Definitely take it easy if you are hurting a lot. I know I tend not to take my pain pills unless I'm pushing an 8 on the pain scale, but you also definitely don't want to do more damage to yourself. I have no idea how you have managed to hit your water and protein goals already, my surgery twin, but congrats to you. I'm definitely on the struggle bus with that one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Justarwaxx Did they not give you any contact information? That's so bizarre. My team gave me the contact information like five times to make sure I had it. Are the calories you are consuming from things on the plan? If so, then I don't think it would be a problem. But definitely make sure you reach out and try to find someone to contact to help alleviate your anxiety. I will also say that calories were not mentioned to me by my bariatric team. They are not concerned with calories as much as protein and carbs overall. Fruit and oats were also not on any of my liquid stages, like ShoppGirl said. But if they are okay with it for you, then it sounds like you are doing everything right by your team. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lots of love to anyone I missed! We got this! Everyone who just had surgery, I hope you are healing well. And everyone waiting, it will be worth it.

Hello all, I'll get caught up and respond soon. But... did anyone else develop hypersensitive skin post-op? I have two blisters forming near one of my incisions, and I just noticed the skin around my CGM sensor (the thing that monitors my blood sugar without sticking my finger all the time) is also developing a blister. I just noticed these things in the last couple of hours, and I'm wondering if I should say something to the doctor or if this might be kind of normal?

I have tried and my boobs are just empty skin sacs 😭 nothing can help them. Ugh I get smaller and now I look saggy. I was big and looked rolly. Cannot win!

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