October 2023 surgery buddies

[ChunkCat 729]

On 11/16/2023 at 12:24 PM, Charlie21467 said:

Hello all my surgery buddies. I have a question for you. Prior to my surgery I was not a coffee drinker, and I still am not, but I got my caffeine from drinking diet coke. I'm very fortunate in that my surgeon told me if you need to take a drink of Diet Coke go ahead and take a drink of Diet Coke just don't drink a lot of it. Since October the 2nd I have managed only to have four of the mini cans of soda. I do have a weakness for mountain dew. I have had two Mountain Dews and two Diet Cokes. I know I cannot be the only one here that does not drink coffee. Have any of you tried soda?

No and I most likely won't for at least a year. My program doesn't allow caffeine for 6 months post surgery so withdrawal was just a reality I had to deal with! Dehydration is a huge risk early after surgery, it can cause kidney and bladder issues along with headaches and nausea. Also, carbonation bloats the stomach and irritates the lining of it. With a normal stomach most of us don't notice this, but with a small, healing stomach it can really irritate those sutures and create pressure and bloating. If you're surgeon said it was okay, have at it, but I wouldn't touch it, it's just not worth it.

[Crystal Minta 5]

I had Gastric Bypass on Oct 23rd ♥️

[New To This23 102]

On 11/16/2023 at 9:24 AM, Charlie21467 said:

Hello all my surgery buddies. I have a question for you. Prior to my surgery I was not a coffee drinker, and I still am not, but I got my caffeine from drinking diet coke. I'm very fortunate in that my surgeon told me if you need to take a drink of Diet Coke go ahead and take a drink of Diet Coke just don't drink a lot of it. Since October the 2nd I have managed only to have four of the mini cans of soda. I do have a weakness for mountain dew. I have had two Mountain Dews and two Diet Cokes. I know I cannot be the only one here that does not drink coffee. Have any of you tried soda?

I had Roux en Y. I was an on-and-off caffeine drinker. not a regular coffee drinker, but when I was on the caffeine I would drink one Diet Coke a day. My team said to stay away from carbonation because it would make me uncomfortable and gassy. Yesterday I tried Diet Coke, simply because I was tired of Water. I took a small sip and found it absolutely disgusting.

Have you tried crystal light? just for some flavor or if you want caffeine have you tried the caffeinated version of MIO? You can just add either one to water and they have so many flavors.

[Charlie21467 11]

7 hours ago, New To This23 said:

I had Roux en Y. I was an on-and-off caffeine drinker. not a regular coffee drinker, but when I was on the caffeine I would drink one Diet Coke a day. My team said to stay away from carbonation because it would make me uncomfortable and gassy. Yesterday I tried Diet Coke, simply because I was tired of Water. I took a small sip and found it absolutely disgusting.

Have you tried crystal light? just for some flavor or if you want caffeine have you tried the caffeinated version of MIO? You can just add either one to Water and they have so many flavors.

I have not used crystal light, but I have used other water additives. I have also had snapple diet peach tea which is very low calories and the Lipton diet peach tea as well. I have had only 4 of the mini cans since my surgery of soda. 2 mountain dew and 2 diet coke, and 1 of the diet cokes I threw half of it away. They did not bother my stomach but I felt a little guilty drinking them. Lol

[Daytrppr 10]

I had my VGS on 10/16- and was losing pretty regularly. I have noticed a stall just recently and I even went up a little. I was just released to regular food though so I know I’ve eaten more carbs lately. I’ve got to get back to my Protein Shakes but the taste of them makes my tummy upset.
the worst part is trying to get my Water in- it’s been next to impossible. I’m just not thirsty or tempted to drink. Sugar substitutes trigger dumping now so additives like crystal light are out. I’ve done lemon and orange zest and it works for a day or two and then it’s back to the drawing board. Coconut water (urg empty calories) and Gatorade are now my go to- so frustrated.

[Daytrppr 10]

I was getting ready to back into the office for the first time since my surgery (3wks post op and a week and a half of Covid). I’ve been living in pjs and lounge pants (comfy bra when needed-right ladies?). I was shocked at how loose my jeans were. But I visited my storage room and pulled out my “skinny clothes” -let’s be honest- we all have a full range of sizes squirreled away. I really want to save money, especially now that the medical bills are finally making themselves known- so I don’t want to buy anything new. But I’m looking at these clothes and thinking this isn’t me… this isn’t me… but I’m also not sure who the real me is, yet. I don’t feel like me anymore… I know there’s more change to come, so having an identity crisis this soon is crazy right?

[kendajones 20]

I haven't seen any posts in a while -- how is everyone doing? I had a sleeve on 10/9, lost 19 pounds really fast, then at 2 weeks, hit a stall that lasted about 3-1/2 weeks. It was very frustrating and I felt like I had messed something up or done something wrong. I wondered if this was not going to work for me and yet I was permanently stuck with a tiny stomach. I hated seeing all the social media posts of all the people who seemed to be continuously losing weight every week while I stalled -- even though I knew not to compare my journey to other people.

But even during that long stall, I had to stop wearing a bunch of clothes that were too big, I moved my Apple watch to a tighter setting on my wrist, I was able to stop taking all blood pressure and diabetes meds because my levels were all normal or low, and I even completed a 5K (walking it mostly but still!!)!!! My doctor told me not to worry about the scale -- that "it would catch up." So I just didn't weigh for a while, though I stayed the path on eating, Water, Protein, and movement.

Well, today I got on the scale and have now lost 31 pounds since my surgery. The scale is catching up. What a relief! I'm sure that I'll stall again at some point, and I'll be in a better mindset to just stay consistent and keep with the program and have faith.

[SomeBigGuy 110]

Congrats! That is great progress! Look how much you're able to do now that you weren't even a couple months ago, its amazing! Glad your health is improving so quickly!

Yeah, I'm dreading my upcoming stall. I it's "when" and not "if" it happens for everybody. Just have to remember its just your body coming to terms with the drastically different caloric intake, and it will freak out periodically along the way. As long as we stick to the plan, we're still burning fat, even though our body is offsetting the scale number with Fluid retention while it panics. It took years for us to put the weight on, so anything shorter than that makes our body interpret it as a threat. Once it realizes you're maintaining your health while burning the fat, it will gradually release it. Weight loss won't be linear, it will look more like stair steps with the occasionally brief increase (again, "Fake weight" since its fluid retention) before it steps down again.

[Charlie21467 11]

Hello surgery buddies. 10/03 here for my sleeve. I managed to make it through Thanksgiving without getting sick from eating, but did manage to catch covid the day after. I've been isolating and barely eating at all. I had a televisit with my nutritionist and I'm cleared for regular diet, but I can barely keep most foods down. I splurged last night and got a kfc bowl which is mostly mashed potatoes but after 5 bites I was done and it came right back up. I am so tired of Soup and I'm dying for real food. Have any of you been dealing with anything similar?

[SomeBigGuy 110]

@Charlie21467 - sorry to hear you ended up with Covid, that's no fun even without recently having surgery! Hoping its a mild case and you recover quickly!

I just had my sleeve last week, so I haven't moved to solid foods yet, but my surgeon and their team advised me to start small when it comes time to stepping back up to normal foods. Basically after Protein Water, shakes, and broth, move to lower calorie cream based Soups, then greek yogurt, then pudding, then cottage cheese.

Once I have those, they told me to start with finer or ground meats, like canned/pouch tuna or chicken, and try mashing it up as fine as possible first. Then work up to straight out of the can. It is more processed, but the texture is more forgiving on our healing stomach tissue. They suggested I try beef last, as it tends to have more issues with intolerance after a surgery. Try a small amount of ground beef or even puree, and if you get sick off it, wait 2 days before trying again. Once tolerated, then stair step it up to more solid textures. After all of that, then work in more fibrous vegetables.

They did tell me to avoid potatoes and carrots, primarily due to the large amount of starch (carbs) that will offset the fat burning, but also because my pre-op was very low carb (not quite Keto level though) and reintroducing something really heavy in starch/sugar too soon could lead to vomiting.

Hope this helps, and let me know if it works for you!

[Charlie21467 11]

3 minutes ago, SomeBigGuy said:

@Charlie21467 - sorry to hear you ended up with Covid, that's no fun even without recently having surgery! Hoping its a mild case and you recover quickly!

I just had my sleeve last week, so I haven't moved to solid foods yet, but my surgeon and their team advised me to start small when it comes time to stepping back up to normal foods. Basically after Protein Water, shakes, and broth, move to lower calorie cream based Soups, then greek yogurt, then pudding, then cottage cheese.

Once I have those, they told me to start with finer or ground meats, like canned/pouch tuna or chicken, and try mashing it up as fine as possible first. Then work up to straight out of the can. It is more processed, but the texture is more forgiving on our healing stomach tissue. They suggested I try beef last, as it tends to have more issues with intolerance after a surgery. Try a small amount of ground beef or even puree, and if you get sick off it, wait 2 days before trying again. Once tolerated, then stair step it up to more solid textures. After all of that, then work in more fibrous vegetables.

They did tell me to avoid potatoes and carrots, primarily due to the large amount of starch (carbs) that will offset the fat burning, but also because my pre-op was very low carb (not quite Keto level though) and reintroducing something really heavy in starch/sugar too soon could lead to vomiting.

Hope this helps, and let me know if it works for you!

Thanks for this post. It's really strange how some things set my stomach off and others don't. I used to say I had an Iron gut because I never got sick, but that's not the case any longer. Lol

[walterblock1 32]

10/30 sleeve update
10/30 I was 355
11/29 I am 313 feel great have a lot of energy ready to get back to working
Glad I made this decision to go through with this process got 100 more to go to get to my goal I’m pushing the only one in the way is me

[Charlie21467 11]

Hello my fellow October surgery buddies, I hope everyone is doing well. I had my sleeve surgery on October 3rd and two weeks ago I was cleared for regular diet. I'm wondering if anyone is having a similar problem as me... here lately it seems no matter what I eat I am getting nauseous and throwing up. I spoke to my doctor about this a couple of days ago and he said that I just have to eat slower and smaller portions. Last night I had one Ladle of homemade vegetable beef Soup and got sick shortly after. I'm wondering if any of you have experienced anything like this and how you have managed to overcome it?

[Arendiva 23]

I haven't posted in a few weeks. November was incredibly frustrating since I stalled for most of the month of November. But the scale is moving again and even when it wasn't I was still losing inches so I'm staying positive. I'm 38 pounds down from my first appointment in July and I'm 18 pounds down from the weight I was on surgery day October 20th. I'm still hoping to be 50 pounds down by the end of the year but I know that with 12 pounds to go and only 23 days left that is a bit of a reach goal.

[Tanith 3]

Hi all, can’t say how relieved I am in some ways to hear people are having the same challenges.

Had the sleeve on 10/30 and while have lost 21kg / 46lba so far, if anything it’s getting a lot tougher.

On one hand the extra energy and the ability to wear clothes several sizes smaller is an absolute win that genuinely has made me laugh out loud at times.

Just really struggling with eating and drinking. Am only getting maybe 50% of the recommended Water daily and even that’s a massive, massive fight. A cup of water can take 2 hours to drink or on days like today even longer. As for three small meals of soft food, I’d probably kill to manage that right now. A few spoons of Protein yoghurt for Breakfast and if am lucky a few spoons of puréed potato / fish / scrambled egg is about as much as I can manage (and most days I feel really uncomfortable after even that). Am taking my team, chowing everything extremely carefully but no joy.

Per diet plan should be moving on from puréed food to soft food but after trying it for two days, looks like it’s a no go.

Interestingly am not in the US (am in Poland these days) and here the approach was quite different. There was no specific pre-op diet at all which I found weird. That said, surgeon was incredible and the surgery itself went very well. I guess he felt confident enough shifting an enlarged liver (I have fatty liver disease anyway so maybe he thought that it may not help enough to make it worthwhile)

Anyway, good luck all