June 2024 Surgery Buddies

[obxlvr13 1]

On 6/30/2024 at 10:51 AM, Mel M said:

I just had my surgery on the 27th and am home from the hospital. I have been having a hard time with tracking how much I have been taking in with Water and Protein. Any tips or tricks to help track it so I make sure to try to reach my Protein goal? I use the baritastic app but it doesn't allow me to go in and just put single ounces on some of my shakes.

Also, I am experiencing a burning sensation on the right side lower part of my stomach. Any idea's what this could be from?

I would track it by how many Water bottles you are drinking. If you are using a glass/cup, pour the water from the bottle into the cup so that way you know when you are done, how many oz that was. I think it is important to keep the water intake high while trying to get the protein in but that can take a few days to be able to do both.

[obxlvr13 1]

Question. I am about 2.5 weeks after surgery. Earlier this week I was feeling good. Minimal pain and all. Now I feel like my deep stitch hurts more than it did before. Sitting here I feel fine but it is definitely sore to the touch and when I get up and walk. I did a lot of walking today so maybe that’s it but it’s making me a bit nervous. Trying to stay on top of Tylenol every 6 hrs bc I definitely cut back on those since I was feeling better. Anyone else experience this?

[ItsAllJoy42 0]

The first time I did a lot of walking, more than 10-15 minute, my deep cut did the same. I did take Tylenol, and the pain eased. I also had my mom look at it to see if it was red or oozing. It wasn’t, but if it had been or if the pain continued, I would have called my program. To be safe you should call the nurse. Better to know for sure you’re okay than to suffer in silence.

[Fars 29]

I felt discomfort in days I exerted more but that subsided with rest

anything that doesn’t resolve or worsens I would immediately contact the doc

[Clark Griswold 47]

Hi everyone, how are y'all getting with your post op diets, exercise and wellbeing?

Here's my experience so far after getting the Gastric Sleeve procedure on 13th June 2024...

Immediately after surgery

It was pretty rough for me, I woke up in a lot of pain, so much so that the nurses had to give me 30mg morphine for the pain. I was in a recovery room for the first 24 hours (standard procedure for the private hospital in the UK i went through) After the initial 24hrs I was moved back to my room where I felt a lot better. Even able to eat an ice pop and a small cup of Tomato Soup (sipping of course) and sipping Water every 5-10 mins.

Week 1-2

I quickly moved onto the liquids phase, in which I must have taken in around 2-300 cals per day through Protein Shakes and watery Soups. I must admin this phase was the hardest for me, managing the pain meds as well as trying to drink as much liquids as I could in a day. It just so happened there was an international football (soccer) tournament on in Europe in my first 2 weeks' recovery so was engrossed in that! I also started walking 1 mile per day and upping that to almost 2 miles by the end of it. My weight loss was drastic in this phase but my word I was lethargic/got tired v easily and not up for doing much.

Week 3-4

Puree stage - finally I felt I was able to get some proper food in me, and a few days after starting this phase, my weight slowed right down - the dreaded (but expected) 3 week plateau kicked in. I went around a week and a bit without any weight loss, despite me sticking to the recommended diet. I am not going to sugar coat this, it was a bit disappointing standing on those scales after a week, but I knew this would happen so meh I guess. Still walking 2 miles per day during this phase and now feeling I have a lot more energy.

Week 5-6

Week 5 started with me starting to lose a pound every 2 days or so, so my body seems like it has adjusted to the inro of more foods for the 'soft foods' stage. I also started back at the gym doing some cardio work on top of my walks, and oh boy I have so much more energy for it! I am now around half way through week 6 and had my first appointment with my nutritionist and he is blown away by the progress I have made/am making. He gave me further chewing tips to make sure I am not overeating as I have been sick a couple of times when I've eaten too quickly and not realised I'm full/satisfied. He is now happy for me to start introducing more fibred meats and more complex foods, like a little Pasta and a little bit of rice, to test the waters.

Struggles so far:

• Reminding myself I have a new stomach
• not eating what family members are eating e.g. Sunday dinner
• Eating too fast resulting in vomiting
• Extra attention from people who have noticed a loss in weight (47lbs and counting since pre-op liver diet). Since I've been overweight most of my adult life, I carried a lot of shame internally, so its in my nature not to talk about myself/get photos taken etc

Wins so far

• Losing a lot of weight and all the benefits that go with it.
• Being more present with my family. Having the energy to do everything they want to do (I have a wife and 2 kids, girl 11, boy 7)
• Clothes! I have dropped from XXXL to XL already. Which was a surprise when I packed to go to a 5 day getaway with my fam in week 5
• Mental health - the mental benefits come as such a relief. I no longer feel down about my weight (although I know I still have a ways to go)
• Confidence - generally just feel I can be more myself - hopefully some here will resonate with this.

be great to hear of your journey so far, so let's have it folks, we're all in this together