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Found out today that my doc requires 4 weeks liquids, 4 weeks mushy and 4 weeks soft .. That's 3 months of not chewing !!!

Hang in there ! I am pre op but one thing my doctors at the Bariatric Clinic stressed is only weighing 1x per week (hard I know) our bodies can fluctuate 1-5 pounds a day according to their reading material due to water retention. Your body is still healing as surgery is major trauma even though you may feel fine it is recovering. You are doing great just keep it going:)

I've been kinda watching my resting heart rate because it's a good measure of how your health is improving (or not!). In the past few years like when I take my BP at home or at the dr's office, I've never noticed a heart rate below about 72. I've measured it the last 3 nights and am getting readings in the high 50's and low 60's!! I suppose it's a result of my recent love affair with exercise....but WOW....so soon and with such good results?? I've only been at it about 6 weeks! Lets see.... 10 beats/min = 600 beats/hr 600 beats/hr = 14,400/day 14,400/day = 5,256,000/year 5,256,000/year x 30 years = 157,680,000 heartbeats saved Hmmm...I think I just added 6 years to my heart's life! :biggrin1: Could that be right??

i suggest calling your surgeon. i was OK on the treadmill after 2 weeks and strength training after 4, but every surgeon is different.

Hi Chubba, I felt the same as you. I hate vinegar. What I did was to mix my tuna with my salad and then it seemed like I had a dressing with my salad already. Not ideal, but better than balsamic vinegar to be sure. I had tea with skimmed milk as my drink. Jill told me that was fine. (or coffee if you are a coffee drinker, although I don't know if you could drink it with milk? I don't drink coffee) I also substituted some of that cottage cheese with one Protein shake, I had that for Breakfast. It helped break up the boredom. I've said this before, so sorry for repeating myself, but this diet is very binding, so I'd advise you to take something. I now put Benefibre in my morning Protein Shake to help avoid that. (although my diet now has more fibre than it did with that one!) It's only two weeks, it was hard, but it goes quickly! I lived for my chicken breast each night! Mary

Philli, I only have a band - no plication - and I'm what you might call a successful bander. You don't need plication to help you lose, though I'm sure it's easier with it. In my opinion being at the right fill level is super important. The right level is when you can eat solid Protein first, veg second, carbs last of an amount that is equivalent to about a cup of food and it keeps you full for 3 - 4 hours. If you're struggling to hold down liquids, you are too tight. And yes, even a little bit out can make the difference. The difference between too loose and green zone can be as small as 0.1cc (which is why I don't get people insisting on aggressive fills because you can easily push past the green zone into the red zone) The band works best in the green zone. For some people that last fill that takes them to green zone may be uncomfy for a week because the fill will make the stoma swell and therefore make you feel over-filled, but it should ease AND you need to be able to drink at least. And bringing it back up is just irritating your stoma even more so the swelling never goes down. My advice is to get a small amount taken out. When the swelling in your stoma eases in 2 weeks, go back and get half the amount taken out put back in. Wait a month, and if you still are getting hungry in under 3 hours after eating solid food, then go get a little more. Slow and steady from here on in. You're close to the green zone, you just need to find it.

Hi Everyone, I joined this forum back in December 2005 just a few months before having my first lap band done. I now have my 3rd lap band and still feel at a loss. I stopped coming on here for a very long time cause I was just getting so down and frustrated with the whole thing. My first band slipped and I had that one replaced. The second one broke inside me, the buckle broke and it took me so many appointments with the surgeon to try and listen to me when I was telling him that it wasn't right. Now I have the third one in and that was done almost 2 years ago. I have gotten no where in the whole time that I have had all these bands put in. I feel like giving up but at the same time I don't. A couple of days ago I got a fill done, it's too tight. I can't even swallow a drink properly without having to bring it back up. I have had pureed soups and opti slim shakes since getting the last fill but most of those end up coming out again. I read somewhere that a guy had a fill and it was too tight for him but he stuck it out for a couple of weeks and because he had lost a little weight,from not being able to consume hardly anything, it made his band that little less tight for him and now he is fine. This is what I am wanting to do aswell, see if I can stick it out for a couple of weeks and see if it changes. Has anyone else done this and has it worked? I've always been on a constant battle to lose weight and no matter what I do it just doesn't want to come off. I admit I don't always exercise but when I did I still wasn't having much luck.I'm hoping there might be others that have had a fill that was too tight but stuck it out and it losened up a bit. Thank you.

Sorry about not posting sooner. Have been really tied up at work. its been 24 days since I have been sleeved. Feeling great, I wasn't feeling so great the first week (obviously right) week 2 was getting better and I think after week 3 I got back to my normal self. Protein intake is going great, I went to sams and picked up this box of 12 count 11oz Protein drinks. 30g of protein per serving. I have one during mid afternoon at work. I start my day with the powder 25g protein shake in morning with my prilosec. I try to get in some food with protein usually chicken breast (you can buy at wal-mart comes in 2 pack for $3.88, garlic herb marinated, you dont even have to warm it up) and i also pick up at walmart a box of chicken breasts in cut up pieces usually found near where the deli meat is, also very cheap and rich in protein, which I eat in small bites throughout the mid morning to mid lunch. Food is still in test mode, I do not get hungry that much anymore. the first two weeks - i was craving alot of food, especially since i was laying around watching TV, i never noticed how many commercials came on about food until then. Now i do not care for it, i am saving so much money by not eating out, because i eat healthier options, and the best thing is go to wal-mart and pick up their deli items. keep at your desk or at home and eat little bites throughout the day, i learned that if you eat little bites throughout the day, you feel alot better instead of trying to fill yourself up like we used to do in our pre-sleeve days. After week 3, I started the solid foods, I ate the whole chicken breast serving in one sit in and i felt so full and bloated and i felt like i was going to throw up the whole time. It took walking around and staying active to push the food down. I learned my lesson not to do that again. Now I just cut up the meat in small pieces and eat in increments throughout mid morning to mid lunch. Finally I try to polish off the day with another protein protein shake if I can. Have been slowly working out, nothing crazy. I go to the local park and walk the trail at my own pace. I get in about 2 miles everyday. I started lifting a little bit of weights every other day, havent had any problems yet. Have lost 25 lbs so far, I stalled for a week during week 3, but then slowly started to see 1lb lost here and there. Weight before surgery day was 250, now I am 221. It seems like the pace is about 10lbs a month, we will see in September how it goes! Hope your surgery went well, hang in there, it gets better I promise! If you need anything just post it!

I fought for the sleeve vs the RNY for 3 main reasons: 1. I need to take NSAIDs post-op for osteoarthritis, and with RNY you cannot take NSAIDs ever again. 2. The sleeve just seemed so much simpler and involved less messing around with my insides. I can understand the concern about wanting to make damn sure that this surgery works and you lose the weight. Originally I was considering the DS, because the stats made it sound like way more of a sure bet, until the surgeon's PA talked me out of it, citing all sorts of problems. The outcomes for the sleeve are turning out to be pretty comparable to other forms of WLS, but like any procedure, it's possible to "eat around" the sleeve (or eat around a RNY pouch, too) and not lose enough or (horrors) gain back weight. 3. I knew my own personal food demons involved eating too large a quantity of food at one sitting. I didn't make bad food choices, I just ate too damn much. I longed to be satisfied with small portions. I felt the sleeve was the answer for me.

Tink: thanks for the laugh! Camilla: thanks for the details, that is going to be my story. and I'm stickin to it! Cova: enjoy you're downtime in the sun, no way I can pull off a vacation. I think I'm the week before you at MI w Dr Garcia Unbe: not ready to play advocate. Thanks everyone, it's a load off!

I'm getting banded on 3/12/13, and I'm curious what/how many scars you have from this surgery? I understand its done laparoscopically but my surgeons office showed a video that looked like many arms of a machine entering you? Not sure if I knew exactly what I was watching? I'm not scared of having scars (actually have 3 major scars), I'm just wanting to be 100% on what yo expect! Thanks in advance!

I'm almost 3 months out. No problem, eating small amounts slowly etc. Minor indigestion problems... Until today I ate a sausage too fast, and I vomited. It came up red. (now I had had some ketchup on the sausage, so I'm hoping it was that).. It was, however, a very bright red and blood-like color. Is it possible to tear something this far out? What symptoms will I get if I've really damaged something here?

I definitely have the fear of the unknown. I really honestly don't want to get too thin, my build I think doesn't become me at all. I've been too thin before, so I know its true. I just want to be fit and healthy. I want to be able to sustain a marathon someday - but turning myself into a runner I will be on the thinner side. It might be a difficult balance, as its already seeming difficult to stop losing with the sleeve. I'll just have to figure it out when I get there. However, I'm thinking I'll start thinking about stopping once I get to about a size 8, not caring how much I weigh. I'm a 14 right now so I'll begin my pondering in about 3 (6) more sizes.

It's hard when u work nights but try to eat a small breakfast like egg sandwich if u can tolerate wheat toast or just soft wheat or a small cup of oatmeal, then make a tuna, chicken salad or something u like that has protein for ur lunch or dinner at work if u need something in between take a protein drink or bar that u know makes u full these r just sugesstions but u need to find out what makes u full for the four hours so maybe it will help I have been trying diffrent things the other day I could only eat half of a whole wheat tuna sandwich and it held me from 3 pm till 8 pm and of cours I was busy so I didn't have time to think but I knew how my tummy felt so I thought that was pretty good & I go for my 3rd fill this wed , hopefully I won't need any mor but I have lost like 46 lbs since Sept so somethings working lol , I also have a variable scedule sometimes it's day, afternoon or nights so my body doesn't know if I'm up or down However I know I get up in the morning eat my breakfast , make something then I know I'll want later then I go back to sleep if I can then off to work I go. sometimes 6 days a week and I'm a deli clerk so I'm around food all day long oh ya I work in a grocery store lol

Thanks, very inspiring. I know we will all have our quirks in this new journey. Yesterday was one week since surgery. I feel so much better.

welcome Newbie you have a new healing tummy. i doubt you were able to chug the slim fast down 1,2, 3. you drank slowly i'm sure. per NUT at a later time you will be able to gulp many newbies have trouble drinking at this early stage. glad you have no problems - no problem with what you drank - great to get in as many fluids as possible towards 64 oz here is a drink to your health - cheers

Lynziv i was the same as you. Lost 17pnd to begin and put back on 3 from going onto food. Im 9weeks out and still struggling here. Had my 2nd fill last week and have some restriction but still no weightloss as of yet.

Hi everybody. Looking for some input and would really appreciate your help. I just had RNY on 4/25, so I'm 4 days post-op. Every day has been better than the day before but geeeeez the gas pain is worse than anything I've experienced with any surgery I've had before. I'm up walking every hour, stretching and getting massages from my husband, but the bubbles are stuck in my shoulders and under my ribs. Horrible, stabbing pain! I've been trying so hard to get the recommended Protein and liquids in, but it feels like a full-time job. My stomach feels like it's going to burst its so full when I've only had 2oz of Protein Drink. I'm trying to get 2oz/hour in, plus a SF Popsicle every few hours, but I can't imagine drinking much more. It's such an uncomfortable feeling all day every day, and then taking meds? Feels like they're huge and scrape all the way down. I'm a rule follower by nature and I'd like to follow the post-op rules, but is it the gas pain causing this horrible overly-restrictive feeling?? How much have 1-week-out RNY people here been able to drink? Please tell me drinking will become easier soon. Also, have felt so remorseful this week but am slowly coming out of that fog... just mostly scared to face this new reality. I'm 18lbs down since 4/11 (when I started pre-op diet), but need hope this super tight feeling will go away so I don't get dehydrated. Thanks everybody. ❤️

Ann in st louis, hi! Sorry I am behind on my sight. So exciting to see you and your sister on here. I will ask about dr eagon's support groups. They also have them on wed's now. I will call tomorrow and let you know. I am getting nervous and excited. I am having my surgery @ Barnes West. I have to be there by 5:30am so will be getting up around 3:30am. I will be tired without the anesthia, lol. Enough about me, how are you doing?

Hmm.. I guess I have a strong stomach in that sense because I haven't really had any issues like that. But maybe that will change in the future. I'm six months and a week post op. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

as for protien intake. are you logging your food somewhere, believe it or not a lot of food have protien in it you would be surprised. i also have a problem with getting in my cals im suppose to do 1200 i get 800-900 a day. but if you are jogging you really need more cals and protien. do you have a nut to talk to? i eat until i feel full or i feel bubbles or that feeling in the top of my tummy. i am almost 3 months out and lost 35lbs since surgery and i started lifting weights for my arms also they are horrible. lol reeally talk to a nut about your cals and as far as good food high in cal thats hard to find it either has to many carbs or fat.

Ok so I have bought all the powders highly recommended on this forum including Syntrax fuzzy peach nectar, optimum nutrition gold standard whey (Cookies and cream) and another one by optimum nutrition called hydro-whey which is good also, and it's not that they don't taste good, its just that I cant drink even 8 oz before I start to feel gross, sick, bloated and gassy. So, I remembered I went to a really good naturalist a while back when I was having issues and she ran the "ELISA" testing on me which tests not for acute allergic reactions (called IgE antibodies), but delayed intolerances/sensitivities (IgG antibodies) which can range from anything to gas, bloating, cramps, to muscle/joint aches to neuro issues like mood swings/irritability. So, I looked at the results which I had not reviewed in quite awhile, and it says I have severe antibodies (>5x the normal amount) to milk products and moderate antibodies (>3x the normal level) to eggs, yolk and white. Now my mom argues with me that I could always tolerate milk and eggs fine before surgery, but I always tell her it's not that I tolerated them, but I really didn't care if I spent a half hour on the toilet if it meant that delicious pint of ice cream (I know, true confessions), and I also made the point that I think I took A LOT more of the offending substance to affect me so that I did care (because my stomach was much larger), and I usually didn't get to that quantity. And my third argument to her, and I have no clue if this has any credibility, but I did tell her that maybe I didn't notice it that much b/c I was eating so much other crap, bread, Pasta, oats, fruit, veggies etc. etc. and when I first got the results back for "milk" sensitivity I just thought "oh I can take a Lactaid and I will be fine", but then just learned yesterday that milk intolerance is NOT the same as lactose intolerance. Lactose is only an intolerance to one part of the milk-the sugar, which is called the lactose. but milk is made up of whey (which is the watery stuff, and makes up 20% of the Proteins found in milk, and casein, which are the lumpy white globs seen in sour milk. Therefore "milk intolerance" is very different that "lactose intolerance." and unfortunately there is no way to avoid symptoms like with lactose intolerance, you just have to avoid milk products. sorry if you already knew all that, but I found it interesting b/c alot of people who get tested and have a "milk" allergy or intolerance just think they are lactose intolerant, which is what I did. so then there are the eggs, which I don't have as high of a sensitivity level to, but I would like to avoid. which leaves soy. Now I do have a history of breast cancer in my family, and I know soy messes with your thyroid and also mimics estrogen (and my doc thinks I may be estrogen dominant already), but I also know that for the next couple weeks, I have to get my Protein in somehow, and this seems to be the only way, because the only proteins I know of are milk protein concentrate/isolate, egg white, whey isolate/concentrate, (which is made from milk), and soy isolate/concentrate. My antibody level to "soybean" came back completely negative. I also I don't think by taking soy protein for a few weeks until I can eat solids is going to give me breast cancer. I think it is long term use that many professionals advise against. So, I really don't know why I gave all that info, (maybe it will help someone else, and I had also been asking for whey powder recommendations and I wanted to explain why I am all of a sudden now asking for soy). But because the only powders I didn't mind the taste of were recommended by users on this forum, and I know NOTHING about the world of soy protein isolates/powders, maybe there are some soy lovers, vegetarians/vegans who can give me some good tasting ones? thanks and merry christmas/happy holidays and for those of you that are a day or two out, today is day 4 for me and I am just today starting to feel "normal" again, less bloating, etc.

ME TOO! Her and I are both nurses and we talk about it all the time. Makes no sense but they did say they think there is a correlation to what is going on with her bypass.....especially the kidney stones. She actually got septic from the kidney stones which caused a massive UTI and it went systemic... landed her in the ICU. She has had consults with infectious disease, oncologists, rheumatologists, urologists... you name it. It is so frustrating that they can't figure this out. She was doing really good for about 3 months and just a few weeks ago she started feeling run down again and they ran blood work only to find her blood counts were all low again, white and red... they had to give her another Iron infusion.. matter of fact the day I had my sleeve. She came to see me after her infusions. They are sending her for more tests. I will add you to my friend list and email you if they come up with anything. Hang in there... I know its maddening. :/

Just get through it. It is only 1 week out of your life and the first chapter of a whole new adventure. It really helps to reframe the experience into a positive instead of something "dreaded." There are going to be a lot of ups and downs on this journey and your decision to be positive and forward looking makes all the difference in the world in how well you navigate the challenges. You are being given an amazing, life changing gift. You will be healthier, stronger, more active, and live longer with better quality than you can imagine right now. Keep pressing on - the reward is well worth it. You got this! Only 1 week - let the countdown begin!

Do not be so hard on yourself. It is a process that takes time to figure out. I am 3 1/2 months out and about a month ago I stopped at McDonald's and got a milk shake by the time I got home it all came back up and I finally figured out that I am lactose intolerant to full fat milk. So it is definitely a learning process. Hang in there you can make it through this.