Looking for support

[bettyboop2088 19]

Hello Everyone

I wanted to share my story and get support moving forward with my new lifestyle because so far it is a struggle. I had a tumor on my stomach and the procedure to remove it ended up being a gastric bypass. The surgeon was not sure what type of bypass until he got in there so it ended up being the Sleeve. During the surgery my bowel was clipped in error so two days after going home I was back in the hospital deadly ill; I barely made it through that and the healing process has been long. I am now at 9 weeks post op and learning what I can and cannot eat. It is really hard to drink liquids so I was wondering if anyone else struggled with this at first and does it get better?

I am almost afraid to swallow any food that is not almost liquid and I am wondering if I am just freaking out too much and could try a little more then just Protein Shakes, mashed potatoes, Soup, and cottage cheese?

I get this feeling in what's left of my stomach that is an empty feeling or more like a big air bubble and it is annoying; I was wondering if anyone has experienced that and if it goes away?

Thank you for the support I am glad I found this site - Betty

[Pescador 1,374]

Sorry to hear you had such a bad time of it, and I know it was scary. We were given extensive manuals telling us what to eat and at what stage. Were you given anything? I remember about two months out I could eat soft chicken, but I ate too big a bite and had a scare. I remember being scared to eat salad, then was told to get those salads going! Never had a problem after that. I loved refried Beans with a little taco sauce. Now we can eat anything to a degree, and I almost wish I could go back to the days of good restriction where broth And a half shake satisfied me. Good luck on your recovery!

[krista132 213]

Hi Betty,

Sounds like you had a rough start with this journey. Sorry to hear about that. I would definitely recommend that you go see your dietician. They can lead you in the right directions of what to start out eating especially with your bowel trauma. I would recommend that you start by eating easy, soft foods: eggs, plain shredded chicken, smoothies etc. Introduce solid foods slowly.

As far as the "bubble" feeling, it does lessen with time, but I still get bubbles when I eat certain foods or drink liquids but not as bad as when it was right after surgery.

Good luck with everything!

[VSjrs 43]

I am so sorry to hear that it has been such a rough go. I also had an extremely hard time with recovering, although there were no complications at the time of surgery, there were definitely some red flags after. I couldn't keep any liquids down, I was constantly vomiting and constantly nauseated. It took until week 5 for me to start feeling semi normal. Here are my tips for you:

Chew your food to the consistency of apple sauce

take lots of time in between bites

do not drink 30 min before or 30 min after you eat

listen to your body

I also have the "bubbling feeling" and it hasn't gone away for me. Whether I eat or not, it is there. I agree, it is extremely annoying.

Don't psych your self out too much. Most likely when you start eating solids, you will be just fine. Just be careful of foods that will cause extra gas in your stomach.

Good luck!

[Thinny 30]

Wow..you pretty much have to do everything in reverse that we're doing. Get educated by reading here and you tube videos on VSG help too. You can find folks with similar issues. Have you ever even considered wls? My doctor told me that vsg was discovered by accident. Patients like yourself with stomach cancer and the like have the procedure and voila' they were losing weight suddenly -even if they didn't really need to.

Anyway you can catch up and make changes rather quickly if you read here and watch videos. Don't skip all the pre-op stuff and go straight to post op. Read everything!

Your down 45lbs I hope that a good thing. It'll all work out for you. God Speed.

[bettyboop2088 19]

Thank you all for the support it helps I am excited that I found this forum