A Bunch Of Questions...

[bloomerific 5]

Hey kids,

I'm kind of a newbie, kind of not. I joined in the spring, but had previously been on LapBandTalk since late 2007, so technically...I'm not a newbie. Big lurker, though!

I'm Sally, 35, 11 days out of my revision. I had my band removed in late May/early June and had never felt better to have that contraption out of me! My surgeon is a god among men, and had told me that he wishes that the sleeve was a viable option in September '08 in my area, he would've sleeved me then (that sounds dirty, ha ha). Nice to be here, and actually posting!

So, questions.

1. I can't tell when I'm full (granted, I'm only on full liquids until Thursday), until I start to hiccup or a little reflux (which my doc clearly says is not actual reflux, I don't have GERD or nothing, it's on the heartburn side but not really?). Can any of you tell before that?

2. I feel like garbage most days. Is this just me recovering? I can go out for a while, but I barely can walk my dog without sweating and sitting down when I get back in my apartment. Even at my weight, I've never been like that. I'm actually afraid to go out for a long time because of it.

3. Holy food addiction, Batman! I don't remember this after my band, but then again, it was only a week of liquids with it. I watch commercials and food shows and just fantasize about a steak sub!! Which is ridiculous but is probably just leftover thoughts about the 2 months without the band, ha ha. I was pretty strict while on my band, I just had a low tolerance for the saline and in the end it just prolapsed from me vomiting basically every day. Does anyone else feel this way about food on TV?

4. I've lost 20 lbs. in 11 days (I know it will stall, I'm just on the bigger end). I hope that that's not leading to anything bad!

5. I'm nauseous off and on...too much Protein Shake maybe?

6. I plan on making this sleeve my b**ch. But I know there will be times that I will have the opportunity to eat "wrongly." I know that we can tolerate sugar, etc. a bit more than Joe Schmoe with a bypass, but how much? I'm talking ice cream here, peeps. I'm not big on chocolate and stuff unless it's in Reese's form, but on occasion...I'm not looking to cheat per se, but I'm a freakin' human.

7. I'm supposed to stay away from really strenuous activity for 6 weeks...when did you guys go back to the gym and jump on a dang elliptical? I have always loved physical activity--my problem that as I got bigger (my top weight was 465, I lost 100 lbs. with my band, got sleeved at 362, and am now at 341) I couldn't do it anymore or as much. I want to drop as fast and as healthily as possible...that means cardio and protein! Any ideas in the interim to do light exercise as well would be helpful.

8. This liquid phase is so gross, just thought I'd put it out there. I remember hating Protein shakes for months after my band...but making real ones (with fruit and yogurt) is what I miss! The powder and milk is just gross!!!

Okay, enough of the ADHD.

[traceyinflorida 499]

First let me say welcome and congratulations on your revision!

Let me see if I can tackle some of your questions.

1. It's harder to tell when you are full when you are on liquids because they tend to slide through, just like they would have with your band. Once you start eating food you will definitely know! You will feel it and it happens with very little food at first, particularly dense Proteins.

2. It takes a while to feel better and everyone recovers differently. I was functional after my first week, but I was definitely not 100%. You have just undergone a major surgery. Cut yourself some slack and allow yourself time to rest when you need it. Also, I found I felt worse if I was not getting enough Fluid. Concentrate on getting all of your fluids in. Also, I found that as I was able to get more Protein in, I also started to feel much better. I found this really difficult in the beginning because mostly what I was eating was broth and I did not tolerate more than four ounces of a Protein shake at a time. I was told that it takes two weeks to a month to fully recover.

3. My first couple of weeks (mainly when I was on liquids only) food commercials, people in my house eating foods, signs for food would make me drool. Things that normally would not have even appealed to me (like a sandwich sign at subway) would jump out at me and make my mouth Water. As soon as I could actually eat food again, this went away (thank goodness!) Now I find that things that normally would have created a desire for me, such as the lady at our grocery store with big plate of samples of my favorite donuts, have very little effect on me. It's not to say that I never have cravings, but for the most part thoughts of food no longer consume me. Because of your body's limitations with food and having cut out a lot of surgar and carbs, you will find yourself actually craving things that are good for you.

4.Celebrate your great 20 lb weight loss! Don't panic and be patient when you stall. It happens to everyone. In two months since my surgery, I have experienced two stalls. They are never permanent and I have lost a total of 38 pounds post op.

5. At two months, I am still nauseous off and on. Some days I will have no nausea, some days I will experience it all day. I have read on another thread in this forum that this happens to many people. I see it as several factors. First, your body is still healing so some things or amounts will agree with your stomach more than others. Sometimes it may be a little dehydration. I always get nauseous when I have not had enough to drink and it tends to snowball a little if I am not carefull. Another factor may be acid. My doctor had prescribed Prilosec and it helped a lot. Finally, sometimes my Protein shakes are just fine, other times they make me nauseous. I think it depends on all the other factors I mentioned.

6. I have tolerated sugar well. My family loves the new frozen yogurt place that conveniently opened in town right before I had my surgery. Sometimes I get a small amount of the sugar free vanilla with a little bit of the candy toppings. The best part is that I enjoy it as much as when I used to get the huge bowl. Please note (for those that may admonish me on this forum for eating off plan) that I have only done this twice in 9 weeks. I will occassionally have chocolate with no problems. But, I make sure that sugary treats are not in my house because I find a lot of those types of foods, like ice cream, are sliders (they go down easily and do not make me full). I know myself well enough to know that when I eat too much sugar, I start craving MORE SUGAR. I do not want to go back there again.

7. Ask your surgeon about exercise. I was cleared for all exercise at my 7 week visit with my doctor. I was allowed to walk to my heart's content before then. I wasn't in a big hurry to exercise, so I never thought to ask if I could do it sooner.

8. You are right, the liquid phase sucks! I was not really a big fan of the pureed phase either, quite frankly. The good news is that in the grand scheme of things, it is a relatively short period of time. (although it certainly does not feel that way when you are in it!!)

I hope that helped at least a little. You will be feeling better and eating 'normally' before you know it!

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

tracyinflorida

that was a heck of a mouthful with your responses to bloomeriffic - all great info

I know my small sleeve couldn't have eaten all that for my meal

Kathy

fellow sleever

can never hear good info repeated again and again

[traceyinflorida 499]

LOL, Kathy! I am quite sure my sleeve could not have handled all of that in one meal either! I didn't realize I had written a novel until I went back and looked at it after your comment. I guess it was pretty long. Bloomerific had a lot of questions!

[bloomerific 5]

Yeah, I guess I do have a lot of questions...I just feel like I'm on an island. I use the search option all the time, just felt I needed to vent!!

[traceyinflorida 499]

Bloomerific, ask away! That's what I love about this forum. Everyone is so helpful and supportive. I was so happy when I found this site. I have a couple of friends that did bypass years ago, and they are pretty supportive when I need it, but they seemed to have amnesia about what the first several weeks were like. It was so nice to find a group of people who were going through it at the same time, or who had just been through it, as well as all the veterans sleevers out there on this site who are so helpful and inspiring. It's so nice to know we are not alone!

[Emeroldzz 8]

That was a great response. I am a week out and I am experiencing things with nausea on and off, being exhausted like Bloomerific. Thanks for posting!

[Wheetsin 714]

If you haven't seen it, there's an entire forum here dedicated to band -> sleeve revisions. Lots and lots of us have been down that path. My best answers below in blue.

1. I can't tell when I'm full (granted, I'm only on full liquids until Thursday), until I start to hiccup or a little reflux (which my doc clearly says is not actual reflux, I don't have GERD or nothing, it's on the heartburn side but not really?). Can any of you tell before that? For me the full sensation came later. And I still don't always get it, or recognize it. Early on I had a soft stop. That lasted about a week, then it went away. I have much of the band sensations, especially in that I can eat and feel comfortable, and then maybe 30 - 60 minutes later start to feel like I ate too much. My "hard stop" (not really) is a sort of stabbing pain that radiates through my throat.

2. I feel like garbage most days. Is this just me recovering? I can go out for a while, but I barely can walk my dog without sweating and sitting down when I get back in my apartment. Even at my weight, I've never been like that. I'm actually afraid to go out for a long time because of it. You're probably in the grips of "the fatigue." It's miserable, and really wipes you out. Search for "fatigue" and you'll see that many, many people get hit with it 1 - 2 weeks post-op, and it can take several weeks to really go away.

3. Holy food addiction, Batman! I don't remember this after my band, but then again, it was only a week of liquids with it. I watch commercials and food shows and just fantasize about a steak sub!! Which is ridiculous but is probably just leftover thoughts about the 2 months without the band, ha ha. I was pretty strict while on my band, I just had a low tolerance for the saline and in the end it just prolapsed from me vomiting basically every day. Does anyone else feel this way about food on TV? I don't.

4. I've lost 20 lbs. in 11 days (I know it will stall, I'm just on the bigger end). I hope that that's not leading to anything bad! Expect about 15 lbs of that to be Fluid loss - dehydration, movement of glycogen out of your liver, etc. It may stay gone, or some of it may come back once you are able to hydrate again. After the first two weeks, the losses you see should be primarily from fat. Except for "large" fluctuations, which are almost always Fluid.< /span>

5. I'm nauseous off and on...too much Protein shake maybe? Never had nausea, so I don't know. But I'm ony now (about 5 mos out) able to tolerate Protein shakes. They were too darn thick

6. I plan on making this sleeve my b**ch. But I know there will be times that I will have the opportunity to eat "wrongly." I know that we can tolerate sugar, etc. a bit more than Joe Schmoe with a bypass, but how much? I'm talking ice cream here, peeps. I'm not big on chocolate and stuff unless it's in Reese's form, but on occasion...I'm not looking to cheat per se, but I'm a freakin' human. We do not automatically dump, though we can (someone with a "normal" stomach can dump - to be fair.) As with the band - you will metabolize whatever you can get down - this is generally not a malabsorbtive procedure, so you still have to take 100% ownership. So "how much" -- the answer is really, "whatever your sleeve's capacity is at any given time." Most of us find that 2oz - 4oz of most foods satiates us once we reach decent capacity, but before we hit a year out. Around the year mark it seems like intake increases.

7. I'm supposed to stay away from really strenuous activity for 6 weeks...when did you guys go back to the gym and jump on a dang elliptical? I have always loved physical activity--my problem that as I got bigger (my top weight was 465, I lost 100 lbs. with my band, got sleeved at 362, and am now at 341) I couldn't do it anymore or as much. I want to drop as fast and as healthily as possible...that means cardio and protein! Any ideas in the interim to do light exercise as well would be helpful.ue to a torn ligament in Walking is about as light of an exercise as it gets. Swimming. I cannot do many impact exercises due to a torn ligament in my knee. If you're still actively recovering, do some arm stuff - Wii on the couch, whatever.

8. This liquid phase is so gross, just thought I'd put it out there. I remember hating Protein Shakes for months after my band...but making real ones (with fruit and yogurt) is what I miss! The powder and milk is just gross!!! You can still doctor your shakes up. You just need to do it within the constraints of your post-op diet. I.e. if fruits are not OK yet, use SF syrups or some PB2 or similar. It will help.

Okay, enough of the ADHD.

[bloomerific 5]

Wheetsin...this is in Band to Gastric Sleeve Revisions. Thanks for your responses, though!!! The SF stuff is what's killing me, mainly because I think anything SF is SO FAKE that I can barely stomach it...literally. It just goes against nature somehow. I'm not into sweets anyway (with some exception, obviously) but the SF stuff really is getting to me. Probably too much of it.

Thanks to all of you for your responses...I can do the liquids for one more day!!!

[Wheetsin 714]

Why yes, yes it is!

[Izuri 428]

1. I don't have any kind of feeling like that I'm approaching full. I do sometimes (especially when I'm eating soft food) get a little burp/gas that happens about a bite and a half before I get pain. The pain is under my sternum and a little to the left if I eat too much. It usually takes a few minutes to go away. I have been trying to weigh everything before I eat so that I can avoid this. 2oz or less is what I can get in soft foods. I don't seem to have much of any problems with full liquids.

2. I feel like garbage sometimes too. I do think this is just our bodies adjusting. I try and remind myself that my body is used to like 3000 calories and I'm putting in 500-700 on a good day. We are constantly in a deficit and it's taxing. I do find that when I get in all my Protein and extra Water that I tend to feel better.

3. I am not gonna lie, sometimes I resent the people on food commercials, lol. It drives me nuts to watch them even though I'm not actually hungry. I try and flip the channel/turn down the sound/etc. I am still having problems adjusting to what I eat vs seeing what everyone else eats. Sometimes my mind feels frustrated that I can only do a couple oz, but I always end up glad when the scale comes down =)

4. The heavier you are, the faster your initial loss will be. Plus, early on we are losing a lot of Water weight that has been built up. When you are in surgery/post-op they pump a ton of fluids into you, plus you are retaining fluids to begin with. You may not lose 20lbs in 11 days again, but it will keep coming off!

5. Are you giving yourself enough time to eat? I find that when I eat too fast I can get a little bit of nausea. Are you getting in all your water? Maybe a different flavor of Protein shake would help cut down on the nausea, or smaller amounts but less time between them

6. I don't have a lot of idea how much of sweets we can eat as I have hardly ventured into that territory yet. I tried a small amount of carbsmart breyers vanilla ice cream the other day and my stomach threw a hissyfit. I will be staying away from sweets for a while longer...lol. But we're all human! I'm sure we'll have some here and there.

7. I'm also on the no exercise until 6 weeks out so I've got about 3 weeks to go. I have been walking at least once a day and on good days I'll go out twice a day. I walk 30 min - 1 hour depending on how I feel. Some days I get no exercise in. I asked my doctor if I could do the elliptical since it was close to walking (at least it was in my mind) but he said that you use your abdominal muscles to stabilize yourself on it and he'd like me to avoid that. Pretty much he said walking was my only option for now.

8. Are you allowed to make smoothies yet? I know they were allowed on my full liquid diet. I made one with fage 0% greek yogurt vanilla flavor, bananas, strawberries, one scoop of vanilla Protein powder, and a bit of skim milk. It went down good and tasted pretty good. Plus the Protein in it was fantastic! I think it's one of the only days I went over protein goal, I couldn't believe it.

It sounds like you are doing awesome - hang in there!!

[ann48 18]

Bloomerific- Dr. Hoffman is saving me also!! He did my band it Aug. 2010, removed my band last week Monday and will be doing Gastric Sleeve on October 1st at BGH. He is awesome!!

[ConnieSings 12]

This has been a great discussion topic and I have enjoyed reading everyone's responses...

Sally... I am just now 4 weeks post op!

I had lots of nausea and took medication for it well past the 2 week mark. I also, still have some nausea, just not the extent that I did earlier.

Fatigue is a huge factor for me... I'm a little older than you... 54 and have other physical issues so all that plays on me as well.

Even with your questions and taxing issues, it sounds like you are doing great. You have received some great advice here...

I have loved reading everything and it's great whenever we are all able to find folks so close to our own situation. Take your time... don't get in a hurry and listen to your body...

God Bless You on your journey...

[Emeroldzz 8]

Conniesings: I too am 4 weeks out. Yep, I get nausea on and off but not to the extent at the 2 week mark. I'm a little older too at 50 years old.