Search the Community

Well I had the sleeve done - This is the story. Left for Vegas on Tuesday got off the plane and headed for my appointment for Pre-surgery - everything was a go. So my wife and I hit the strip and I played black jack and won.... not much but still won. We ate normal and I did not drink alcohol. Went to bed on time for a 7:00am surgery at a surgery center. We had signed up on one of those package deals where the hotel is included. So we were up and headed to the center (by the way rent a car it is better to have the freedom to go) I went in and filled out some more forms and headed to the prep room. Met the anesthesiologist he went through a few items and the nurses were wonderful. Then I saw my Doctor (Thomas Umbach ) not long after that I was being wheeled to the surgery room. I was give something that made me feel very sleepy but could understand everyone. Then told to breath deeply two breaths and I don?t remember anything except being woke up saying surgery went fine and it is done. This was about 10:30 or so I think. Surgery was about an hour and recovery 2 . I took some pill for pain and they started me walking. It did not hurt to walk so I kept going after hearing everyone on this site telling me how walking really helped. Dr Umbach also installed a pain drip system that hung around my neck and had some small tubes planted around where the surgery took place, with a big ball that would dissipate in 3 days, this provided a pain free experience. I was released at noon to go back to my hotel which I walked and slept and drank water (very very very small sips) the fist night I had some small discomfort felt like acid reflux so I called the doc on his cell phone which was nice about 10pm and he said I could get some pepto or any over the counter acid reducer I wanted. My wife drove out to get it and also got liquid Tylenol which I recommend very much. I burped a lot and had to raise my arms when drinking water to get it down. The doc said for the first day my stomach would be swollen and until it went down it would be a bit tough. It was, but by the end of the next day it eased up. Sleeping and walking is the trick and the Tylenol made everything right as rain. On Friday we went back for a follow up with the doctor, and everything was perfect so we said our good bys and we headed for the Hoover Damn wanted to see it. I even drove ? I don?t feel the surgery hardly at all it is the drinking that lets me know it is there. So we got back from there and got our flight out back to Kansas City ? Because I have traveled so much we both were in first class so that was nice, bigger seats if you know what I mean. This is the first day back home and since the 2 weeks prior with the protein shakes to today I am down 27 lbs. I am just starting to feel hungry this whole time prior I have not had a desire to eat. I have force the drinking because I know that is good for me. I hope this helps with those who have not taken the plunge yet. I plan to keep you up to date on the progress. My doctor told me to walk everyday so my wife and I are headed to the gym in a little while, course I will be on slow mo for a while. Thanks for listening and hope it helps someone else.

It's my understanding that some Vitamins can interfere with the absorption of calcium. In addition to other meds/vitamins, Calcium needs an acidic stomach to fully breakdown for absorption in the intestines. Since most of us are taking a PPI, our stomach acid is decreased. I found contradicting articles on Prilosec interfering with calcium citrate absoprtion, one article said yes it can/does, the other said no it doesn't. So, I take my calcium mid-afternoon and right before bed. I take my Prilosec first thing in the morning. Iron and zinc are listed in this article: How to Best Absorb Calcium Supplements | eHow.com Step 1 Take Vitamin C at the same time you take a calcium supplement. Or eat a food rich in Vitamin C, such as an orange. This helps with the absorption of calcium. <LI id=jsArticleStep2 itxtvisited="1">Step 2 Eat foods high in the amino acid lysine, which is needed for calcium absorption. These include eggs, fish, lima Beans and soy products. <LI id=jsArticleStep3 itxtvisited="1">Step 3 Take a sunbath without sunscreen for 15 minutes, three times a week. Sunshine is the easiest way to get Vitamin D, which is essential for proper absorption of calcium. Stay out of the sun when the rays are strongest, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. <LI id=jsArticleStep4 itxtvisited="1">Step 4 Divide up your doses of calcium. It appears to work more effectively if taken in smaller doses spread out over the day, rather than a large dose all at once. <LI id=jsArticleStep5 itxtvisited="1">Step 5 Combine calcium with magnesium in a 2-1 ratio - two parts calcium to one part magnesium. <LI id=jsArticleStep6 itxtvisited="1">Step 6 Avoid taking iron and calcium together. It reduces the efficacy of both minerals. <LI id=jsArticleStep7 itxtvisited="1">Step 7 Avoid taking large doses of zinc with calcium. At high doses, zinc can interfere with calcium absorption. <LI id=jsArticleStep8 itxtvisited="1">Step 8 Decrease or eliminate soft drinks from your diet. They are high in phosphorus, which can cause you to lose calcium. High phosphorus intake can lead to calcium excretion in your urine. <LI id=jsArticleStep9 itxtvisited="1">Step 9 Decrease or eliminate animal-based products in your diet. High intake of animal-based Proteins causes increased amounts of calcium to be excreted in your urine. A high intake of sodium is another culprit. <LI id=jsArticleStep10 itxtvisited="1">Step 10 Cut down on junk foods, alcohol, caffeine and white flour. All of these lead to an excessive loss of calcium from your body and a decreased rate of absorption. <LI id=jsArticleStep11 itxtvisited="1">Step 11 Eat foods containing oxalic acid in moderation. Oxalic acid interferes with calcium absorption. Foods containing oxalic acid include almonds, beet greens, cashews, chard, kale, rhubarb and spinach. <LI id=jsArticleStep12 itxtvisited="1">Step 12 Use wheat bran in moderation. Excessive amounts can interfere with calcium absorption. <LI id=jsArticleStep13 itxtvisited="1">Step 13 Check your prescription medications. Some, such as glucocorticoids, can interfere with calcium absorption. Discuss supplementation with your doctor.

I’ve noticed a number of posts lately from bandsters who are non compliant due to stressful situations in their lives. I am very sympathetic to anyone dealing with difficult situations but not so sympathetic with those who deal by eating too much, or eating poorly. I can’t help but think it’s just an excuse to self sabotage. If you were an alcoholic, you would avoid drinking during stressful times. Otherwise, you would be back to drinking uncontrollably again. Same for us foodaholics...and yes, I'm a foodaholic. If stress makes you reach for a cookie or a taco, what makes you think you won’t eat a box of Cookies or a ton of tacos? We must must must find better outlets for our stress. It’s bad enough when things are not going well, but to risk your success on top of that to me is just completely destructive. I’m not saying I have the answers, I just think this is a topic worth discussing.

So I’m a newbie and my surgery is scheduled for next week on 9/27 and I’m wondering what the veterans recommend for activities to do with your partner after surgery. Date nights for us would usually be dinners, movies, or bar trivia. Movies I see how that can be adjusted by not eating bad stuff. But what kinds of things have you guys found to replace old habits/hobbies that revolved around food and/or alcohol?

They have sugar alcohols and too many make me go to much.... Just an occasional treat for me.

Before I jump into this rant, I want to let everyone know that many years ago I worked as a waitress. I know that it is some of the hardest work I've ever done, physically. The incentive is to "sell up" by selling alcoholic drinks, sides, pushing Desserts. They are making a living, and I respect that very much. That being said, can we talk about the art of listening to your customer? Unfortunately, I come from family and friends who love getting together and eating out. And I should note most of them are at very healthy, ideal weights so I'm usually the "biggest" in the group. But whether they are extremely athletic or just have amazing genes, they can order the fried app, burger with fries and a few beers. I don't mind, the food is not the problem. I'm still in that great place where I'm rarely hungry and don't have cravings. Sometimes just seeing fried foods or the smell of greasy stuff can turn my stomach now. Call me lucky? But what happens is that for some reason I'm the one the waitstaff likes to focus on. I'm the one that they ask, "Just the side salad with chicken? Are you sure that's all you want?" Or when I order the grilled shrimp appetizer, and ask them to hold the butter during cooking (please use olive oil) -- and they show up with the full entree with rice or mashed potato side. When I ask WTH, I get, "I'm sorry I thought that's what you wanted." When I'm thinking in my head, that I'm positive I said "appetizer" and even pointed to that section on the menu. Even when I order the side salad, I get the full meal portion. WTH? "I asked if it was going to be your meal and you said yes, so I figured you meant to order this one and not the side." They are all accommodating when I correct them, which I have to do in front of everyone, calling more attention to my new eating habits. They don't charge for the larger thing, take it back, etc. When they don't, I'm then trying to eat my 3-4oz of food, leaving what looks like an entire meal untouched on my plate, and I get the "Is everything OK with your meal?" question multiple times during the meal, again in front of everyone. I get it. People are human, they make mistakes. But I do not remember waitstaff getting my order wrong so often before surgery. Of course, I'm presuming they're thinking, "The fat girl will not be happy with that little food, I'll give her more." But that's a slippery slope to presume their motivations. I'm reaching a place where I don't look forward to these occasions, of eating out. It's not about the food, it's about how what/how little I'm eating is such a focus. I've used the "I don't feel well" or "I'm not that hungry" excuses, it gets me by, but it's getting old. Has this happened with anyone else?

What do you drink when you go out to clubs or partys? How did you deal with a hangover since your not supposed to vomit?

What about alcohol?

It's been a while since I've posted a new topic. Life got busy when I started a new job about three months ago. Just here to motivate others just starting on their journey, either pre-op or just home from the hospital. I finally reached my goal weight last week, just 13 months after surgery. I met my doctor's goal weight (135) just before my surgiversary Jan 30. Technically, a stomach flu helped me get there faster than I would have liked The best news (as if goal weight wasn't enough) were the numbers on my labs. I was well within all the acceptable ranges and my cholesterol alone is better than it's ever been, even from when I was a teenager! My HDL was gone up, my LDL has gone down and I dropped nearly 2.0 points in my ratio. I am over the moon!! I feel great, I eat just about anything I want, and I live a very normal, productive life. Now, when I say "anything" I want to clarify that I still make very healthy choices 85% of the time, but I don't even have to think of small portions now. What I want is all I need, I get perfectly full and I'm good. I haven't counted a calorie in months, just keeping common sense of Protein first, etc. I eat more Desserts than I care to admit to, Peanut Butter anything is my weakness. Soda is still out of my diet completely, but I enjoy Water, tea, coffee and occasional juice. Tonight I had my first glass of wine, first time having alcohol in over 14-months, and it was great. It did not treat me any differently than before surgery and I kept it to the single glass. I should post pictures soon, my profile pic is now very old and about 40+ pounds ago. I'm loving life, running, playing, sleeping like a champ - so happy I made this wonderful choice for my life! Good luck to everyone!

I am so sorry and glad your son was there to catch you! For me, that dose of wine could cause issues if I drank it before eating ..if it had been many hours since previous meal. Sleeve changes ability to handle alcohol, but this sounds like something different to me too. Keep us posted.

I find that I can eat anything in TINY bites. I had half a slice of ice cream cake when my daughter turned 18. I found that cake and ice cream go down so easily that I have to make a conscious decision to only have a little. I do go out to restaurants. Sometimes I just order an appetizer for my meal and still have leftovers. As for alcohol, I have no clue since I'm not a drinker. I never really acquired a taste for alcohol. Just remember, everything in moderation.

I am also 12 years out. Lost a lot of weight SW was 310 day of surgery I was about 265. I gained quite a bit back.... and 3 years ago started Keto and now I am about 145 (pre covid I was 135....gotta lose the covid pounds now) I was going through a divorce when I had my surgery and I never had good habits after. Basically I replaced food with alcohol (was not a drinker prior to WLS). Now I don't drink and take tons of vitamins. My labs have never been better but I still struggle with healthy eating habits. Every day though gets better and Keto was a lifesaver.

paul... i have heard that some cant handle beer but i can just fine! ive had no problems with it. also hard alcohol goes down great i just went to vegas a couple weeks ago and all i did was drink there and it was ok. the only thing i stopped taking was shots. because i dont have much food to soak up alcohol i drink a lot slower!

@@JamieLogical and @@AvaFern have made some good points above which I agree with. @@jadama22, glad to hear you have a great nutritionist as she will be a huge help along the road of your journey. Hopefully, you will find, as I have, that you can still enjoy your favorite foods, just in MUCH smaller portions, but also that you won't necessarily want the same things as you did pre-surgery. Once I transitioned to regular foods and began reintroducing some favorites (no necessarily unhealthy), I found my new tummy to be very tolerate of what I ate as long as I took VERY SMALL BITES, ate VERY SLOWLY, and CHEWED THE food until it was "puree" consistency in my mouth. Since post-surgery we're instructed to EAT Protein FIRST, I'm finding I'm not interested in the carb heavy foods anymore. If I do get a "taste" for something that's not high protein, then a bite or two is sufficient to satisfy my "taste" for it. Just remember - even though weight loss is a huge result of sleeve surgery, I believe the most important reason we do/did this is for our health, to improve our conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, non-alcoholic fatty liver, etc. You'll find your way post-surgery with the help of your surgeon, nutritionist, and all the great folks on BP. Good luck on your journey!!!

Hello all! I am curious as to how those sugar free Chocolates go down? Do you experience dumping syndrome even with sugar alcohols? Is there an acceptable amount of carbs in these types of treats? I appreciate the advice! Thanks Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@Queen of Crop I had a seroma. It should be just Fluid, not blood. The layers of your stomach that were peeled apart, didn't stick together correctly, so now your body thinks that it's injured and it's producing all of that extra fluid to try to heal you, which your body doesn't realize isn't helping much. I had a seroma for about a month, it was annoying, it required a second drain be put in, and then multiple times being drained, and then finally my doctor filled the seroma with alcohol, which did the trick, dried it all up, and I was good within two weeks. The trick to healing the seroma quickly is to avoid twisting...you want those two layers to stick back together. I caused mine because I just had to walk miles and miles everyday too soon after surgery and the twisting of my torso resulted in a seroma. Wear your binder and your compression, and think of it this way....it has to heal and it probably isn't getting any worse, so you only have improvement to look forward to!

Does your filler do a barium swallow first? Use betadine, alcohol, or other agent to clean your skin.? Use fluoro to find the port? Use lidocaine to numb the skin. Use a three way stopcock on the needle to fine tune the fill? Use barium and fluoro to determine if the ideal amount of fill was performed? thanx jones

I'm so very proud to say I'm on day 3 of the preop diet and I've stuck to it religiously. I haven't had 1 slip up. I even went as far as going to a crawfish boil at my best friend's house which was full of delicious foods and alcohol. I patiently drank my protein shakes and chicken broth. Sipped on water all night and still had a blast. My friends have been so very supportive and loving. I will admit I did bust into tears briefly from feeling a little overwhelmed. But the important thing is I'm sticking with it! I've found strength and determination I didn't know were there. I have to admit I'm feeling a bit like Wonder Woman. Lol

Addiction transfer is a very real risk and one that should be kept in mind. As an anecdote, my best friend is able to drink tequila like water with very little intoxication. It's kind of fascinating. Give her one shot of rum and she's nearly three sheets to the wind. Please do be careful, though. As @MsMocie said, bariatric programs almost universally say to limit alcohol consumption to 3-6 months post-op and likely for very good reasons, regardless of type of surgery.

Alcohol is on my surgeons No Forever list.

There are two answers for this. Medically, your nurse practitioner is correct. Emitionally, why go down that path? Alcohol is a slider with nothing but empty calories. No nutritrional value at all. I'm like you, 2 or 3 times a year I would socially drink. I think I waited a year and was almost to my goal weight before I allowed myself to have a drink. I didn't want allow anything between me and my goal. But I'm probably a little overboard of this .

Had my sleeve done 13 months ago. Quit drinking for 4 months then slowly back to it. Procedure was great having lost 120 pounds to date. Drinking more of a challenge. Desire to drink daily seems enhanced and with reduced stomach and weight you can not drink quantities that you used to prior or you will get snookered real easy. My New Years resolution will be to try and quit permanently. Loosing out on to much in life with alcohol dependence.

I have no advice because this is a huge issue for me too. I was sleeved 8/15. I get so frustrated going out to dinner and only having a couple bites and no alcohol, then just sit there forever while everyone else finishes eating. I hate it. It makes be very angry.

I was also banded this week, on Monday. Diarrhea started today, at first I thought it was from all the sugar free popsicles that I have eaten. Sugar free items have sugar alcohol which can cause diarrhea....I then looked at all my meds, my Potassium has diarrhea listed as a side effect...So I don't know!!! I see the nurse on Wednesday, at that time I can start the next phase of food....full liquids!! I still have days before I get solid food again:blink:

I definitely agree, as I sat down for my psych veal, he asked if I had insight into the addiction model relating to food. He went on to say it makes no sense to him and food is not an addiction. I launched into a 10 minute speech about my views and it most certainly is. Times of joy, eat, times of sorrow, eat, boredom, eat, birthday, eat, graduation, eat, gathering, let's eat!! Well looks at drugs and alcohol, it's all the same. As post op speaking my (triggers) are bill boards with a red bright and shiny large fountain coke from mcdonalds. Or it's my birthday where are we going for dinner. I found it hard to believe he had no insight into this connection what so ever. Food is an addiction, it makes us happy, it makes us sad, it makes us sick,it makes us salivate just to the smell of it.