May 2023 surgeries

[CarolineLittle 92]

1 hour ago, Synlee said:

Hello, any insight , help or advise needed.. it has been 1 month and half since i had my GS and its been a severe struggle.. multi trips to the ER, I was put back in the hospital for over a week recently, and now back in hospital and possible a transfer to a long term care facility.. I have not been able to eat or drink since my surgery May 8th.. anything that i do put in my mouth and swallow returns violently. I have had a PICC line with TPN in for 2.5 weeks, this is the only this keeping me alive right now, I don't want this to be my life.. has anyone out experienced anything similar to this? if so pls give me some advise . they have don all kinds of scans, xrays and scopes looking for cause, but all looks normal.

Oh hon, how awful! I'm not sure anyone in our group can help, post it somewhere else on the message board, hopefully other members can help. I've been thinking of you a lot.

[CarolineLittle 92]

Search TPN, there's quite a few posts on here.

[Synlee 17]

On 6/27/2023 at 2:57 AM, CarolineLittle said:

Search TPN, there's quite a few posts on here.

Thank you for your thoughts, I am at such a loss here.. I will keep searching for anything that helps.

[hills&valleys 130]

On 6/27/2023 at 2:18 AM, Synlee said:

Hello, any insight , help or advise needed.. it has been 1 month and half since i had my GS and its been a severe struggle.. multi trips to the ER, I was put back in the hospital for over a week recently, and now back in hospital and possible a transfer to a long term care facility.. I have not been able to eat or drink since my surgery May 8th.. anything that i do put in my mouth and swallow returns violently. I have had a PICC line with TPN in for 2.5 weeks, this is the only this keeping me alive right now, I don't want this to be my life.. has anyone out experienced anything similar to this? if so pls give me some advise . they have don all kinds of scans, xrays and scopes looking for cause, but all looks normal.

Hugs and healing powers to you. I know it must be frightening not knowing the cause of your issues. We are all rooting for your speedy diagnosis and recovery. Please keep us posted.

[CarolineLittle 92]

How are we all going?

I'm good, just waiting for my dinner to cook. How is everyone going hitting goals? Water is a struggle still, it's a really cold winter here which doesn't help. Something I really need to improve on. Protein is going much better these days, I'm getting around 60 grams daily. My dietician said 80, that's a bit out of reach atm. Although I have a Ninja Creami on the way and I'll be making very high protein frozen yoghurt, can't wait!

Hard to believe we're in the second month of our new lives!

[LindsayT 594]

2 hours ago, CarolineLittle said:

How are we all going?

I'm good, just waiting for my dinner to cook. How is everyone going hitting goals? Water is a struggle still, it's a really cold winter here which doesn't help. Something I really need to improve on. Protein is going much better these days, I'm getting around 60 grams daily. My dietician said 80, that's a bit out of reach atm. Although I have a Ninja Creami on the way and I'll be making very high Protein frozen yoghurt, can't wait!

Hard to believe we're in the second month of our new lives!

It's going great. Meeting or exceeding all my goals. I'm down 50lbs since the preop diet, maybe more. We've been on vacation and my scale is all over the place when I use it on the RV floor. I can move it 3 times and it reads 3 different weights, so I need to find a good solid surface to get a more accurate reading. What I am struggling most with is getting exercise in. We walk most days, but I'm still really weak from years of neglect and need to add strength training. Here are my preop and 2 month post op pictures. Hope everyone is doing well!

[CarolineLittle 92]

Fantastic Lindsay! Can really notice the difference! You're really inspiring, it's been clear from the start how committed you are to being successful.

I understand the exercise, I'm the same. Strength training is a great idea. I'm going to look into that.

[LindsayT 594]

1 minute ago, CarolineLittle said:

Fantastic Lindsay! Can really notice the difference! You're really inspiring, it's been clear from the start how committed you are to being successful.

I understand the exercise, I'm the same. Strength training is a great idea. I'm going to look into that.

I appreciate the kind words. It's definitely a challenge and a lot harder than I thought. But totally worth it!

[rockystart94 2]

Hi, I am really at loss of words to express my concern. I had my surgery on may 24 and it’s almost a month and half. I had 4 weeks of liquid phase and lost about 20 pounds. After which I was OKed to move to purée stage. I hit a stall ever since and that’s not the worst , I regained about 8 pounds without any cheating or deviation from my plan. I am scared on what to do and currently super depressed about it. I know stalls are common and tried to get my mind of it, but regain is what upsets me most. Has anyone experienced it ? I don’t know on how to proceed and food makes me scared.

[AmandaD. 35]

Hey! I just hit a month post op and the past week or so I’ve noticed every day my weight fluctuates 4lbs (roughly)… has anyone else noticed this? I feel like losing/gain 4lbs a day seems a little crazy… just wondering if this is another one of those “wait it out moments” for us. Hope everyone is doing well!

[Livinit 2]

I have been there, almost 2 months out and there were days where I was up 4-6 lbs and it took a few days to get back down, I asked my doctor and she said it’s Water weight, and to be mindful of the sodium, once I started checking and avoiding the salt I have had a solid decrease of around 15-17 lbs a month since, currently 67 lbs down, and a few lbs from my mid point, feeling amazing as long as I stay away from carbs, sugar and grease

[Lipman 47]

On 6/27/2023 at 3:18 AM, Synlee said:

Hello, any insight , help or advise needed.. it has been 1 month and half since i had my GS and its been a severe struggle.. multi trips to the ER, I was put back in the hospital for over a week recently, and now back in hospital and possible a transfer to a long term care facility.. I have not been able to eat or drink since my surgery May 8th.. anything that i do put in my mouth and swallow returns violently. I have had a PICC line with TPN in for 2.5 weeks, this is the only this keeping me alive right now, I don't want this to be my life.. has anyone out experienced anything similar to this? if so pls give me some advise . they have don all kinds of scans, xrays and scopes looking for cause, but all looks normal.

Synlee, sorry for the late reply (been out of town). My buddy's wife had similar issues, although not as bad as you. She couldn't keep anything solid down, but could do liquids. It lasted for over a year with multiple revision surgeries to try to open up her esophagus. Finally, she switched doctors and he was able to solve the issue. She is eating real food now and doing much much better. I hope everything gets better, but if it persists, you might look at visiting another bariatric doc just to get a second opinion.

[Lipman 47]

On 7/5/2023 at 10:40 PM, rockystart94 said:

Hi, I am really at loss of words to express my concern. I had my surgery on may 24 and it’s almost a month and half. I had 4 weeks of liquid phase and lost about 20 pounds. After which I was OKed to move to purée stage. I hit a stall ever since and that’s not the worst , I regained about 8 pounds without any cheating or deviation from my plan. I am scared on what to do and currently super depressed about it. I know stalls are common and tried to get my mind of it, but regain is what upsets me most. Has anyone experienced it ? I don’t know on how to proceed and food makes me scared.

Rocky, hopefully the past 10 days since you posted this your weight has started its gradual decent back down. It is a long process, so don't fret over daily/weekly movements (I know that is way easier said than done). Water weight can really move the scale from day to day. You might be dehydrated one day, then over the next week your body starts to retain some of the water that is has dropped over the past month. It is pretty normal I would say. During my 5 week stall, I went up 4 pounds, but have since dropped that and more. When you look back on this 12-18 months from now, this will just be a blip.

[Lipman 47]

Hey all, back from my 2+ week vacation and wanted to give an update:

First, you look awesome Lindsay!

Second, the update (2 weeks traveling around Germany and Italy):

Protein was VERY hard to hit. The "on the go" protein mixes that I brought got real tiresome real quick. I wasn't able to do them everyday. Thankfully, I got approved to have Protein Bars the day before I left, so I made use of those pretty heavily.

Water was also VERY hard to hit. I wasn't keeping exact track, but based on the color of my urine, I wasn't doing great. I was also sweating a substantial amount too, so I needed even more water. The 30m no-drink after eating restriction was a killer. We would stop for some food, I would grab a nice cold bottled water, then have to wait 30m for it to warm up to 80 degrees before I could drink it (I never realized how spoiled I was with cold water)

Exercise was easy. Nothing specific, but we averaged 15000 steps a day so I counted that

There was a significant amount of cheating:

• I would usually order a meat based meal, but then try a bunch of different pastas from my family (tiny bites, but 3 or 4 different ones usually). I also occasionally had a bite or two of bread, and ate a piece or two of pizza.
• I drank wine...quite a bit. We had a couple of wine tastings booked, but I would also do wine before dinner with all my family.
• I had a grand total of 3 bites of gelato (which I am pretty proud of). The kids got gelato pretty much every night, and I only stole 3 bites as I wanted to try the flavors (coconut, stratiacello, and milk???)
• In addition to wine, I did have a glass+ of champagne (so double dip of alcohol and carbonation)
• I had unapproved meats. I didn't always have good options for meat, so there was a couple of nights I shared steak with somebody, or had some other non-approved meat.

That being said, I only ever had one stomach issue on the whole trip. I ordered a plate of various meats (ribs, bacon, sausage). I am not sure what the problem was, if I ate too fast, didn't chew enough, or it was too fatty, but I had a pretty quick reaction and didn't feel good at all. There was pain in my stomach area for about 15 minutes. After getting up, walking around, and burping a WHOLE lot, the pain passed.

Overall, I was very happy with how it all went. While I have a decent list of cheats above, other than the wine, I really only had a bite or two of non approved stuff each meal. My stomach felt great 98% of the time, and....I lost 9 pounds!!!

[LindsayT 594]

7 minutes ago, Lipman said:

Hey all, back from my 2+ week vacation and wanted to give an update:

First, you look awesome Lindsay!

Second, the update (2 weeks traveling around Germany and Italy):

Protein was VERY hard to hit. The "on the go" Protein mixes that I brought got real tiresome real quick. I wasn't able to do them everyday. Thankfully, I got approved to have Protein Bars the day before I left, so I made use of those pretty heavily.

Water was also VERY hard to hit. I wasn't keeping exact track, but based on the color of my urine, I wasn't doing great. I was also sweating a substantial amount too, so I needed even more Water. The 30m no-drink after eating restriction was a killer. We would stop for some food, I would grab a nice cold bottled water, then have to wait 30m for it to warm up to 80 degrees before I could drink it (I never realized how spoiled I was with cold water)

Exercise was easy. Nothing specific, but we averaged 15000 steps a day so I counted that

There was a significant amount of cheating:

• I would usually order a meat based meal, but then try a bunch of different pastas from my family (tiny bites, but 3 or 4 different ones usually). I also occasionally had a bite or two of bread, and ate a piece or two of pizza.
• I drank wine...quite a bit. We had a couple of wine tastings booked, but I would also do wine before dinner with all my family.
• I had a grand total of 3 bites of gelato (which I am pretty proud of). The kids got gelato pretty much every night, and I only stole 3 bites as I wanted to try the flavors (coconut, stratiacello, and milk???)
• In addition to wine, I did have a glass+ of champagne (so double dip of alcohol and carbonation)
• I had unapproved meats. I didn't always have good options for meat, so there was a couple of nights I shared steak with somebody, or had some other non-approved meat.

That being said, I only ever had one stomach issue on the whole trip. I ordered a plate of various meats (ribs, bacon, sausage). I am not sure what the problem was, if I ate too fast, didn't chew enough, or it was too fatty, but I had a pretty quick reaction and didn't feel good at all. There was pain in my stomach area for about 15 minutes. After getting up, walking around, and burping a WHOLE lot, the pain passed.

Overall, I was very happy with how it all went. While I have a decent list of cheats above, other than the wine, I really only had a bite or two of non approved stuff each meal. My stomach felt great 98% of the time, and....I lost 9 pounds!!!

Thanks for the compliment. We're on vacation too (nothing as fancy as Europe). It was our year to visit family. And y'all know how that goes... dinner our, picnics, BBQs, road trip food. 😫 My husband and I shared most of our out to eat meals, but we went to all our favorite restaurants from home, so it was hard to just ordet something that was bariatric friendly.

It's been hard keeping track of food, water, and weight. I've lost, maybe 2 lbs, but have definitely maintained while we've been gone. We get home tomorrow and am looking forward to getting back to my normal routine.

Sounds like you enjoyed your trip. We've only ever been to England and even then that was when my husband was stationed there in the military. I would love to go back some day.