July 2020 Surgery anyone?

[IWantTheDream 179]

Tomorrow is my one month surgery anniversary and I cannot believe it has gone by so fast . I have to say the first two weeks where not good and I really regretted it. But I still hope I did the right thing. But yesterday I was allowed normal food. So I tried shredded lettuce and thin tomatoe slices with tuna. I was in heaven! I am so glad my stomach still likes lettuce. I think I would have been really sad if I couldn’t have lettuce anymore. Oh I also splurged this morning and had 2 inches of sprouted bread that I toasted from Wegman’s. It was spot on amazing. Hope everyone is feeling great and enjoying there anniversary!🙂

[Double_Me 133]

Hi all, my first post here! I'm a little late to the party, but I had my RnY Gastric Bypass surgery a little less than two weeks ago. After some initial discomfort due to the anesthesia I've been struggling to get my Protein Shakes down. I've fortunately been able to eat full liquids starting my second week which has been an enormous relief- I never thought I could enjoy cottage cheese with a little bit of salt so much!

I've been making an attempt to cook and prep my meals and limit canned/processed foods. My go-to's have been the aforementioned cottage cheese w/ salt and low fat greek yogurt with a homemade cherry 'jam' (cherries cooked down with a little splenda, lemon juice, Water, and blended). I also made a caramelized onion & rosemary whipped ricotta dip, which turned out to be delicious and tastes richer than it actually is.

I also attempted to make a 'mango lassi' style Protein Shake with some freeze-dried mango, greek yogurt, skim milk, and GENEPRO. It turned out to be too much for my stomach to handle, but I hope to try it again down the line...

I love food and cooking, and I also still love eating... which, in part, is how I got to my high weight. So far the surgery has helped me be satisfied with a 2 oz serving, but undoubtedly this will become more difficult for me in the future. I even saw it this week, when I was saving the best looking bite of my yogurt for last. I could have put down the yogurt a little earlier, but I wanted to finish my portion for that last bite. This is obviously a habit I want to break, so best bites first from now on.

Looking forward to reading your stories! My surgery was late in July, so a lot of you must be close to 1 month out. How's it going?

[kellym1220 473]

10 hours ago, Double_Me said:

Hi all, my first post here! I'm a little late to the party, but I had my RnY Gastric Bypass surgery a little less than two weeks ago. After some initial discomfort due to the anesthesia I've been struggling to get my Protein Shakes down. I've fortunately been able to eat full liquids starting my second week which has been an enormous relief- I never thought I could enjoy cottage cheese with a little bit of salt so much!

I've been making an attempt to cook and prep my meals and limit canned/processed foods. My go-to's have been the aforementioned cottage cheese w/ salt and low fat greek yogurt with a homemade cherry 'jam' (cherries cooked down with a little splenda, lemon juice, Water, and blended). I also made a caramelized onion & rosemary whipped ricotta dip, which turned out to be delicious and tastes richer than it actually is.

I also attempted to make a 'mango lassi' style Protein Shake with some freeze-dried mango, greek yogurt, skim milk, and GENEPRO. It turned out to be too much for my stomach to handle, but I hope to try it again down the line...

I love food and cooking, and I also still love eating... which, in part, is how I got to my high weight. So far the surgery has helped me be satisfied with a 2 oz serving, but undoubtedly this will become more difficult for me in the future. I even saw it this week, when I was saving the best looking bite of my yogurt for last. I could have put down the yogurt a little earlier, but I wanted to finish my portion for that last bite. This is obviously a habit I want to break, so best bites first from now on.

Looking forward to reading your stories! My surgery was late in July, so a lot of you must be close to 1 month out. How's it going?

You are a girl after my own heart! I cannot eat the same thing over and over and over...which is probably how I ended up here! My full liquid diet does not allow for anything but Protein Shakes, strained Soup and yogurt...but I cannot wait to get to the puree/mushies stage! Plans are being made and all recipes are welcomed!

[Repeatingthoughts 77]

TMI the Constipation is REAL. I bought Medicated Laxative Suppositories and it worked like a charm.

[Swjtes 27]

Happy Anniversary to the July 7th surgery pals! We did it and survived the craziest of times:) I for one have had ups, downs and some emotional trials and now know it is worth it. 34lbs down! Hitting the ones again is so close ... my next goal:) Got the good ahead to include more seafood and actually laughed about how happy that made me. What a difference one decision and learning to push myself has made. Congratulations to everyone and keep pushing especially for those with the bathroom issues bc I for one know how that is really painful.

[Repeatingthoughts 77]

hope everyone is having a great weekend. how are you all feeling?

[kellym1220 473]

Dumping syndrome is real...I got cocky and made some egg drop Soup with 2 eggs and ate/drank it all... probably way too fast! Fifteen minutes later, it started and three hours later I feel like everything I have ever eaten is gone. And the whole time I'm thinking "at least I'm losing weight" - ugh!

Now, I am re-committed to not pushing the guidelines and staying on the liquid diet until Thursday!!

[Double_Me 133]

8 hours ago, kellym1220 said:

Dumping syndrome is real...I got cocky and made some egg drop Soup with 2 eggs and ate/drank it all... probably way too fast! Fifteen minutes later, it started and three hours later I feel like everything I have ever eaten is gone. And the whole time I'm thinking "at least I'm losing weight" - ugh!

Now, I am re-committed to not pushing the guidelines and staying on the liquid diet until Thursday!!

I was so surprised when my nutritionist was saying that people tend to struggle with eggs post-op. But after having tried a scrambled egg and regretting it, its entirely true. I can sill barely believe it! I miss them so much!

I'm doing well, I've been trying a variety of foods to make sure my stomach is used to everything and I haven't developed any allergies or serious intolerances. I had cod poached in milk, leeks, and saffron. A 2 oz MD crabcake with no breadcrumb/cracker filler. Prosciutto actually went down very well- I peeled off most of the fat, and didn't swallow any sinuey parts. Beans have been well tolerated too, I've had both refried beans and white bean dip. Tomorrow I plan on blending some smoked salmon with ricotta and maybe a little light cream cheese. Also going to roast a sweet potato, blend it with some GENEPRO, milk, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove and baking once more... going for something like a pie filling. I'm eating better now than I was before surgery!

My calories are coming in at around 400-600 per day. I've been able to stay at 1 Protein Shake a day and get another 30 g from food, where I'll eat 4 2 oz portions in the morning, noon, dinner, and snack.

I've lost no weight for the past 3 days, but including my pre-op diet the timing is spot on for the dreaded week three stall. Hoping it will be over soon and I'll see a decent loss!

[Lychee 22]

Oh my Double_Me, will you adopt me! I can cook but I don't have the imagination to come up with these delightful combinations! Keep them coming, I'm taking notes😋

[INEEDABUDDY 46]

On 8/6/2020 at 5:22 PM, Solo4ever said:

I went thru exactly the same thing. I now take dulcolax daily, papaya enzymes after every meal, 1 meal that is oatmeal daily, and i bought a reusable ****** bottle and literally do a warm Water enema about every 3 days and im almost normal. sometimes i have 1 BM a day, sometimes its every other. im 6 weeks post op. Hang in there, and I agree, of all the things that are difficult about this journey- the constioation has been the worst part!

Anyone tried prune juice? I drink gerber appleprune juice, if I don't see one in a day. Please know that every product that is used to go to the bathroom better does pull Water from you intestines thus needing more water to go to the bathroom. They can be addicting as well. PLEASE TRY to get more involved with fruits like melons vegetables like cucumbers to add more water in. IT WILL GET BETTER !

[Pandemonium 515]

100 minutes to my next follow up appointment with my surgeon. Tomorrow will be the 5 week mark. I'm still weighing whether to ask to begin integrating pureed foods into my diet or not. He wanted me on Protein Shakes only for 8 weeks, but said it was up to me when to start integrating other foods. I decided the 5 week mark was where I'd draw the line.

Then he threw me a curveball on Friday by adjusting my diet so that I do two Protein shakes and 1.5 Protein Bars. I've tolerated the protein bars with no issues (other than the fact that my tastebuds are a wreck and my favorite bars taste kinda horrible now). So now I'm debating whether I can do this shake and bar only combo for a couple more weeks or if I should stick to my guns and ask to start on normal foods on the proper consistency.

[BigSue 1,372]

4 minutes ago, Pandemonium said:

100 minutes to my next follow up appointment with my surgeon. Tomorrow will be the 5 week mark. I'm still weighing whether to ask to begin integrating pureed foods into my diet or not. He wanted me on Protein Shakes only for 8 weeks, but said it was up to me when to start integrating other foods. I decided the 5 week mark was where I'd draw the line.

Then he threw me a curveball on Friday by adjusting my diet so that I do two Protein shakes and 1.5 Protein Bars. I've tolerated the Protein bars with no issues (other than the fact that my tastebuds are a wreck and my favorite bars taste kinda horrible now). So now I'm debating whether I can do this shake and bar only combo for a couple more weeks or if I should stick to my guns and ask to start on normal foods on the proper consistency.

That is so weird. I'd be interested in knowing your surgeon's reasoning behind this extreme post-op diet. Yours seems to be an outlier in slow post-op diet progression. What really surprises me is that he said you can eat protein bars. I assumed the point of the "protein shakes only" diet was about staying on liquids, but protein bars are more solid than pureed foods. What kind of protein bars are you eating? I am looking forward to being able to eat protein bars again (I love love love Built bars). I'm getting tired of shakes!

[Pandemonium 515]

1 hour ago, BigSue said:

That is so weird. I'd be interested in knowing your surgeon's reasoning behind this extreme post-op diet. Yours seems to be an outlier in slow post-op diet progression. What really surprises me is that he said you can eat Protein bars. I assumed the point of the "protein shakes only" diet was about staying on liquids, but Protein bars are more solid than pureed foods. What kind of protein bars are you eating? I am looking forward to being able to eat protein bars again (I love love love Built bars). I'm getting tired of shakes!

His reasoning behind it is that his experience has shown that the reintroduction of regular food into the diet is when he sees the weight loss begin to slow. So apparently he likes to do a very slow progression and keep to liquids for as long as possible so as to maximize the immediate post-op weight loss. I'm not sure if I buy into that entirely.

The protein bars surprised the hell out of me too. I was like "ummm...that's not pureed and I'd barely qualify it as a soft food". Of course, the way he has me eating them is that I cut the 1.5 bars into 4-6 pieces and then I spend 20-30 minutes eating a single piece until they are gone. So I'm only really consuming about half an ounce each time. My bites are small and well chewed so I've avoided any discomfort or vomiting so far. But it still seems weird to me that I get to have protein bars before I can have eggs, yogurt, or cottage cheese.

I've been eating Think bars, which are one of my favorites. I also love the One bars, but I am out of those at the moment. I also LOVE Built Bars, but the majority of their flavors are only 15g of protein and my doctor wants me doing 20g bars.

I'm gonna be curious about my weigh in today (and tomorrow at home) since it doesn't feel like I've lost much this week and thought I might be looking at the first stall, but I go out of my way to only weigh myself once a week. Otherwise I'd probably drive myself crazy.

[Pandemonium 515]

Appointment well pretty well, though apparently it was supposed to be an over-the-phone appointment, though this was not communicated to me. So I showed up at the office, Fortunately, my doctor was able to see me in-person, which I was more comfortable with since the last visit was 4 weeks ago and 6 days post-op. Felt better to have someone look at my incisions and assure me they'd healed up perfectly.

Their scale said 2 pounds lost since last week, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow which is my official weigh in day to record it on my scale.

My diet plan is now 2 diet plans now to give me the option of using normal food.

Still doing 2 Celebrate shakes, only switching from 1% milk to almond milk. And then I have the choice between doing 2 20g Protein bars or doing 1 20g Protein Bar and 4 "forkfuls" of a protein source (approximately 2 ounces). Recommendations are scrambled eggs or yogurt first and then try chicken and fish if no issues with the eggs or yogurt. This makes me much happier. My goal is to try 5 days on the all protein shakes/bars plan and then 2 days where I mix in regular food.

[Double_Me 133]

On 8/9/2020 at 6:26 AM, Lychee said:

Oh my Double_Me, will you adopt me! I can cook but I don't have the imagination to come up with these delightful combinations! Keep them coming, I'm taking notes😋

Be careful what you ask for! You might get stuck with some failed experiments 😆

Smoked salmon turned out great and well-tolerated, I minced 1/4 of a shallot and 3-ish capers and folded it into 1 T of low fat cream cheese with a little lemon juice and salt. It was delicious, next time I might add some everything bagel seasoning!

The sweet potato 'pie' was less successful. After baking, it turned out to be fairly rubbery and was difficult to get down. I think next time I'll just have the sweet potatoes mashed with the spices and GENEPRO without a second bake.

My stall finally broke today after a week! Lost 4 lbs in 2 days.