August Surgery buddies

[Hiddenroses 97]

Oh - just remembered I kept meaning to say this to you @draikaina8503 - I was given a small foaming pump style bottle of the Hibiclens and have just been using a couple pumps of it on my incision area like they had me do Pre-surgery (I accidently had said post surgery previously)

[ShoppGirl 4,728]

Does anyone else get white chunks on their tongue from the Protein Drinks? If I’m out and don’t brush after each one I get this and it’s pretty disgusting. I asked the NP during my appt and made sure it’s not like thrush or anything I really think it had to be the Protein. Doesn’t seem to happen with the premiere Protein Shake i do in the mornings but it does with the core power and the protein 2.0 drinks. Guess I may have to do premiere if I’m out and can’t easily brush even though I don’t love them without coffee mixed in. It’s always something it seems.

[draikaina8503 71]

Hello all, I'll get caught up and respond soon. But... did anyone else develop hypersensitive skin post-op? I have two blisters forming near one of my incisions, and I just noticed the skin around my CGM sensor (the thing that monitors my blood sugar without sticking my finger all the time) is also developing a blister. I just noticed these things in the last couple of hours, and I'm wondering if I should say something to the doctor or if this might be kind of normal?

[Pepper_No_Salt 49]

@draikaina8503 I got a variety pack from Amazon. I might see if I can get a just Orange-Mango case.

Today I met my Water and Protein goals but my incision pain on the right side has been out of control. I tried to take just Tylenol today but the biggest incision has just been to much. I think I overdid it as well. Two of my adult kids live with me (20, 23) and I thought I’d only need help until Monday but this has been harder than I thought. School restarted for them and so I’ve been home alone trying to manage the dogs, take care of my rabbit and her room, one of our cats keeps escaping and I have to chase him. It’s just been exhausting. Hopefully I feel better by Saturday because I have an event I have to leave the house for and I go back to work (wfh) on Monday.

[Justarwaxx 148]

12 hours ago, Hiddenroses said:

Hello everyone - checking in and feeling kind of lousy post morning routine - as I seem to sometimes feel for about an hour after every 'meal'. I'm sure this will get easier with time; I hate this puree stage though and I hate not being able to drink 30 mins before and after meals! Everything wants to stick on its way down. Ugh. So - #1 - Protein powder!

My nutritionist suggested an unflavored Protein Powder called GENEPRO. It's even lactose, GMO, and gluten free. I ordered it on Amazon this morning. The description states it can even be used in place of flour and that it should be mixed with room temperature fluids before being added to other items. So - I'm going to give it a try. It's only 11g of Protein per serving but if coupled with protein rich foods like ricotta, low fat cottage cheese, or zero sugar yogurt I think it just might do the trick to help me meet my protein goals. Here's hoping!

@draikaina8503 - Oh my gosh, my heart goes out to you and your sweet, confused furbaby! That sounds absolutely AWFUL. I'm so terribly sorry you ended up in that pain as a result of an overly eager, loving pup. I hope you managed to bring it back down to a tolerable level and that no long term damage was done! I know that I slept terribly last night between two doses of Milk of Magnesia working their way through my system, having heartburn, and the tugging/sharp pain that would shoot up from my left side in a brief flare when I moved wrong. I did some research and I'm pretty sure what I'm experiencing is from the stitch they used to keep my stomach 'in place' and that it will loosen some over time. I'm trying to work on posture and wanted to let you know I got to thinking of what other people have mentioned on here and thought of that pillow you talked about being given! I hugged my own round support pillow against my abdomen at one point finally and *poof* relief. So, thank you, again!!

So today is surgery day, I believe, for @Averdra and @caseyash30 - Bidding you both the best of experiences and hopefully minimally painful recoveries! Remember, walk walk walk, ask for ice, and sip SO slowly. Be cautious about laying at any kind of incline until after you've had a good burp or two, or at least 'feel' the Fluid trickle down! The posture you're in when you sip can make a HUGE difference - try to put your shoulders back and keep your spine as straight as you can manage - it helps! I strongly suggest staying ahead of your pain, and also staying ahead of constipation! If you get to day TWO with no bowel movement, take a dose of Milk of Magnesia - especially if you're also taking narcotics! (Obviously with doctor's ok! )

Also, your date must be coming up, @Ladygrey, I'm guessing? Sorry if I missed you posting the date! How are you doing, @Justarwaxx ? You're about a week out now, I believe? @Farhad - Also sending you the best and wonder if you're at purees yet? (I may have missed a post!)

I also wanted to toss a message out there to @Mandalynne ! Maybe I've missed your posts, but you had your surgery on the 14th, right?? How you doing over there? I hope the Finch is still helping you out! I have my Water goals on there and also assigned myself the task 3x day to do my Baritastic app entries, as well as take my Vitamins (separate from also taking my Calcium since I can't take the Iron & Calcium together) I would absolutely be at a loss without that app and am SO grateful it's free. Let me know if you want to add me on there - it doesn't share personal information but lets your added 'Friends' send and receive cute little good vibes from your Birb. Only mentioning in case you didn't know, a friend had to tell me and once I started interacting with friends my dopamine boosts went up tremendously because I wanted to be able to dress up my Birb to go visit others.

I'm so sorry if I missed responding to you in the chaos - I'm curious how your pain management is going and if you found an alternative to narcotics for your recovery? I'm in a limbo state myself with pain management right now - I have chronic pain conditions that were previously treated with an opioid by my primary care doctor but even though I stretched what was given to me by my surgeon I'm having trouble managing my chronic pain plus recovery. I thought of you and your question as I'm trying to mainly handle things with Tylenol myself right now, and lots of ice packs. It's rough and I agree - this is probably one of the hardest things I've EVER done.

Welcome, @RRenaeL23, and congratulations on your surgery! How are you doing now? Are you still on liquids? How goes the pain / protein / fluid goals? Good job on denying yourself the fruit - you might pick up some sugar free popsicles to help when those cravings hit in case you don't always feel up for a walk! Also - I haven't taken the time to update my tag in quite a while, either, and I really need to. Oh well, limited chair time still for me! I'll get to it!

That's all from me for now - thinking of you all, whether I tagged you here or not! I tried to do another recap of the thread from top to bottom and apologize for not having taken the time in this post to respond to everyone I've missed along the way. I'm working on it!

Hi 👋 aww so sweet of u to follow up! Yes today is day 8 and I'm on fuller liquids but I feel so lost 😢 I literally have no communication with the any of the team in the hospital.. I have so many questions and I don't even know who to contact 🙃 I had a panic attack yesterday because I felt like I've actually consuming quite the calories..so I was wondering if that's OK since we are still in the liquid phases? By quite the calories, I mean less thank 1k a day. I really don't know what to do or expect. I will Try to ring the hospital today for some more insight.

Hope you do better with your protien intake! It's all learning from here!

[ShoppGirl 4,728]

5 hours ago, draikaina8503 said:

Hello all, I'll get caught up and respond soon. But... did anyone else develop hypersensitive skin post-op? I have two blisters forming near one of my incisions, and I just noticed the skin around my CGM sensor (the thing that monitors my blood sugar without sticking my finger all the time) is also developing a blister. I just noticed these things in the last couple of hours, and I'm wondering if I should say something to the doctor or if this might be kind of normal?

I haven’t had anything like that with any of my surgeries I would call the Doctor.

[ShoppGirl 4,728]

5 hours ago, Pepper_No_Salt said:

@draikaina8503 I got a variety pack from Amazon. I might see if I can get a just Orange-Mango case.

Today I met my Water and Protein goals but my incision pain on the right side has been out of control. I tried to take just Tylenol today but the biggest incision has just been to much. I think I overdid it as well. Two of my adult kids live with me (20, 23) and I thought I’d only need help until Monday but this has been harder than I thought. School restarted for them and so I’ve been home alone trying to manage the dogs, take care of my rabbit and her room, one of our cats keeps escaping and I have to chase him. It’s just been exhausting. Hopefully I feel better by Saturday because I have an event I have to leave the house for and I go back to work (wfh) on Monday.

Please be careful. You are still very early out from surgery. I know that some of it is your circumstances but the last thing you want is to harm yourself. This is a pretty major surgery. The incisions on the outside are deceiving, the inside requires a lot more healing time. I am off all of my pain meds too and was trying to play tough guy at a week out driving myself and all of that but the NP had to tell me to slow down. This is not a race. I am two weeks out now and today will my first big outing to my crochet group where basically I drive 30 minutes and sit in a chair for a couple of hours then drive back and I’m a bit nervous if Im being honest after realizing that just going to the dr and then grocery pickup 5 minutes down the road took it out of me a few days ago. Just be certain to listen to your body and ask for help if you need it.

[ShoppGirl 4,728]

4 hours ago, Justarwaxx said:

Hi 👋 aww so sweet of u to follow up! Yes today is day 8 and I'm on fuller liquids but I feel so lost 😢 I literally have no communication with the any of the team in the hospital.. I have so many questions and I don't even know who to contact 🙃 I had a panic attack yesterday because I felt like I've actually consuming quite the calories..so I was wondering if that's OK since we are still in the liquid phases? By quite the calories, I mean less thank 1k a day. I really don't know what to do or expect. I will Try to ring the hospital today for some more insight.

Hope you do better with your protien intake! It's all learning from here!

Every team has their own calorie requirements for each stage. Did they have you speak to a nutritionist? What are you “eating” in a typical day?

[Justarwaxx 148]

3 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Every team has their own calorie requirements for each stage. Did they have you speak to a nutritionist? What are you “eating” in a typical day?

I spoke to one before I was discharged and she told me the most basic stuff

1 week clear fluids

1 week fuller fluids

4 weeks purees

Then some examples of food to have during each stage.

Qtys are like cup wise but no mention of calories anywhere.

I am currently on full liquids so I'd have a protien shake premade or powder using almond milk or normal milk + frozen Berries

Greek yogurt low fat non flavored

And I made a oat and chicken chicken Soup which I blended and I have q cup of it a day.

I did call the dietitian today and she said just eat healthy and I am eating right

No mention of calories 😭😭😭 I am literally fetching info on this website or tiktok and just going eith it with the knowledge I got.

[ShoppGirl 4,728]

13 minutes ago, Justarwaxx said:

I spoke to one before I was discharged and she told me the most basic stuff

1 week clear fluids

1 week fuller fluids

4 weeks purees

Then some examples of food to have during each stage.

Qtys are like cup wise but no mention of calories anywhere.

I am currently on full liquids so I'd have a protien shake premade or powder using almond milk or normal milk + frozen Berries

Greek yogurt low fat non flavored

And I made a oat and chicken chicken Soup which I blended and I have q cup of it a day.

I did call the dietitian today and she said just eat healthy and I am eating right

No mention of calories 😭😭😭 I am literally fetching info on this website or tiktok and just going eith it with the knowledge I got.

My team doesn’t really give specific calorie goals either. But everything on the list is no added sugar and non fat or low fat so with the little portions we are eating it doesn’t add up to a lot. Plus it’s not all about calories anyways. You also have to consider fat and carbs )especially added sugars). What you’re describing sounds well under 1000 calories to me though. Have you really added it up? I mean my ready made Protein Shakes are 160 or 180 calories. Even three times a day is 540 and then a tiny bit of Soup? I mean the fruit and the oats were not on my full liquid stage if that helps. But they are allowed on puréed Which I’m assuming you will be in very soon. But if they are in your list of food that are allowed then I’m guessing they know about how many calories you are getting and it’s okay. I honestly think you are doing fine. It’s so easy to stress over every little detail because we have fail at diets so many times but when you go to your post op appointments take your food log and if they feel Ike you are off track they should tell you what changes to make.

[draikaina8503 71]

I sent a message to my bariatric office along with some pics. They said it looks fine to them and it is possibly my immune system just being in overdrive slightly. I did also send the pic of the blisters around my CGM sensor to my diabetic office to see if there's anything in particular I can do for that one. The response was to spray Flonase on my skin and allow it to try before attaching a sensor. So I guess that means I need to take my sensor off. I'll deal with it in a bit. Too much energy to walk up the stairs at the moment.

Next stress on the list - I return to school for my masters degree on the 26th. Timing, y'all. LOL

But in good news for me, World of Warcraft's new expansion hits early release for those of us crazy enough to preorder tonight. So I'll have something to keep me entertained hopefully while I'm taking times of rest. (Also time to mute all the people so that no one spoils anything for me.)

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@ShoppGirl

Thank you for the idea about the proffee. I've decided I'm going to test the limits of my lactose intolerance and get some Premier Protein to see if I can handle it, and that sounds like a good way to have it. I need to go buy Decaf coffee as I don't currently have any.

I've been drinking Protein 2O since before surgery. They're not bad but they leave my mouth feeling super dry. I'm guessing that's the protein in it. But the Protein 2O are only 15g of protein. Which ones are you drinking that are 20g? I'm very curious.

I haven't noticed any white chunks on my tongue after drinking any Protein Drink at this point. Just the dryness from the Protein 2O. If it happens with others and not the Premier, but you're also drinking the Premier with coffee... it may be the coffee that's helping? I'm not sure on this one.

I hope your trip to your crochet group went well. If you need to get up and walk around for five minutes during the group, definitely do so.

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@Hiddenroses

I'm going to talk to my husband about ordering that GENEPRO that you mentioned and ShoppGirl mentioned. I need something to help those numbers along lol. Though two of his coworkers had the same procedure done, and they said you never eat for flavor again. You just eat because you have to eat. Which is slightly depressing but if it gets my health back... I'm still going to try to have flavor and such as I go along, but the GENEPRO is probably going to help me out in the puree stage a lot. Right now I'm surviving on Protein Shakes and protein Water.

And yay for the pillow working! It's been a lifesaver for me, honestly. I couldn't get up and down in certain chairs without it.

Okay, I'm legit jealous that you got a foaming pump style bottle of the stuff. I was literally given 2 packets of the gel and had to use both the last two showers before surgery. So they gave me nothing else for after that. I think I might feel better about showering if I had more of the stuff. Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. lol

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@RRenaeL23

Look at you, go getter! A mile and a half one week post-op? Holy cow! I'm definitely not up to that yet, so congrats on your achievement!

I've got a cart started of things that I'm looking at on BariLife.com. Not sure about Clean Simple Eats, but that's another resource you might want to look into for getting smoothies and such. It's where I got my Vitamins. This cart is currently things I want to run past the hubby to see if we can get for my puree stage, which should be after Wednesday if I can ever meet my Fluid and protein goals beforehand.

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@Pepper_No_Salt

I'm looking into that variety pack on Amazon myself. I'm beyond tired of the mixed berry at this point, since it's the only flavor in town that I can drink currently. lol

Definitely take it easy if you are hurting a lot. I know I tend not to take my pain pills unless I'm pushing an 8 on the pain scale, but you also definitely don't want to do more damage to yourself. I have no idea how you have managed to hit your water and protein goals already, my surgery twin, but congrats to you. I'm definitely on the struggle bus with that one.

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@Justarwaxx

Did they not give you any contact information? That's so bizarre. My team gave me the contact information like five times to make sure I had it. Are the calories you are consuming from things on the plan? If so, then I don't think it would be a problem. But definitely make sure you reach out and try to find someone to contact to help alleviate your anxiety.

I will also say that calories were not mentioned to me by my bariatric team. They are not concerned with calories as much as protein and carbs overall. fruit and oats were also not on any of my liquid stages, like ShoppGirl said. But if they are okay with it for you, then it sounds like you are doing everything right by your team.

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Lots of love to anyone I missed! We got this! Everyone who just had surgery, I hope you are healing well. And everyone waiting, it will be worth it.

[ShoppGirl 4,728]

3 hours ago, draikaina8503 said:

I sent a message to my bariatric office along with some pics. They said it looks fine to them and it is possibly my immune system just being in overdrive slightly. I did also send the pic of the blisters around my CGM sensor to my diabetic office to see if there's anything in particular I can do for that one. The response was to spray Flonase on my skin and allow it to try before attaching a sensor. So I guess that means I need to take my sensor off. I'll deal with it in a bit. Too much energy to walk up the stairs at the moment.

Next stress on the list - I return to school for my masters degree on the 26th. Timing, y'all. LOL

But in good news for me, World of Warcraft's new expansion hits early release for those of us crazy enough to preorder tonight. So I'll have something to keep me entertained hopefully while I'm taking times of rest. (Also time to mute all the people so that no one spoils anything for me.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@ShoppGirl

Thank you for the idea about the proffee. I've decided I'm going to test the limits of my lactose intolerance and get some Premier Protein to see if I can handle it, and that sounds like a good way to have it. I need to go buy Decaf coffee as I don't currently have any.

I've been drinking Protein 2O since before surgery. They're not bad but they leave my mouth feeling super dry. I'm guessing that's the Protein in it. But the Protein 2O are only 15g of protein. Which ones are you drinking that are 20g? I'm very curious.

I haven't noticed any white chunks on my tongue after drinking any Protein Drink at this point. Just the dryness from the Protein 2O. If it happens with others and not the Premier, but you're also drinking the Premier with coffee... it may be the coffee that's helping? I'm not sure on this one.

I hope your trip to your crochet group went well. If you need to get up and walk around for five minutes during the group, definitely do so.

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@Hiddenroses

I'm going to talk to my husband about ordering that GENEPRO that you mentioned and ShoppGirl mentioned. I need something to help those numbers along lol. Though two of his coworkers had the same procedure done, and they said you never eat for flavor again. You just eat because you have to eat. Which is slightly depressing but if it gets my health back... I'm still going to try to have flavor and such as I go along, but the GENEPRO is probably going to help me out in the puree stage a lot. Right now I'm surviving on Protein Shakes and protein Water.

And yay for the pillow working! It's been a lifesaver for me, honestly. I couldn't get up and down in certain chairs without it.

Okay, I'm legit jealous that you got a foaming pump style bottle of the stuff. I was literally given 2 packets of the gel and had to use both the last two showers before surgery. So they gave me nothing else for after that. I think I might feel better about showering if I had more of the stuff. Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. lol

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@RRenaeL23

Look at you, go getter! A mile and a half one week post-op? Holy cow! I'm definitely not up to that yet, so congrats on your achievement!

I've got a cart started of things that I'm looking at on BariLife.com. Not sure about Clean Simple Eats, but that's another resource you might want to look into for getting smoothies and such. It's where I got my Vitamins. This cart is currently things I want to run past the hubby to see if we can get for my puree stage, which should be after Wednesday if I can ever meet my Fluid and protein goals beforehand.

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@Pepper_No_Salt

I'm looking into that variety pack on Amazon myself. I'm beyond tired of the mixed berry at this point, since it's the only flavor in town that I can drink currently. lol

Definitely take it easy if you are hurting a lot. I know I tend not to take my pain pills unless I'm pushing an 8 on the pain scale, but you also definitely don't want to do more damage to yourself. I have no idea how you have managed to hit your Water and protein goals already, my surgery twin, but congrats to you. I'm definitely on the struggle bus with that one.

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@Justarwaxx

Did they not give you any contact information? That's so bizarre. My team gave me the contact information like five times to make sure I had it. Are the calories you are consuming from things on the plan? If so, then I don't think it would be a problem. But definitely make sure you reach out and try to find someone to contact to help alleviate your anxiety.

I will also say that calories were not mentioned to me by my bariatric team. They are not concerned with calories as much as protein and carbs overall. fruit and oats were also not on any of my liquid stages, like ShoppGirl said. But if they are okay with it for you, then it sounds like you are doing everything right by your team.

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Lots of love to anyone I missed! We got this! Everyone who just had surgery, I hope you are healing well. And everyone waiting, it will be worth it.

So glad to hear that the blisters are okay. I’m certain you will love the proffee if you are an iced coffee person. You can do it with any shake if you do better witb another brand. I personally like the caramel and I’ve only seen it in the premiere but you could do fairlife In chocolate or vanilla too if they settle better for you. I really like their core power shakes. You can do it with any type of Protein Drink honestly. They do have a generic at Walmart in Carmel that’s cheaper and tastes just as good but the macros are not quite as good. For The coffee I got the Folgers instant singles packs.They have them at Walmart for a buck a box. I make a cup of hot water in the Keurig and mix it in and then put it over any big tervis cup full of ice. I use half for one proffee but if you really like coffee you may like it stronger which I would make it the night before and skip the ice.

The protein 2.0 With electrolytes is 15g but the one without is 20g. I get the strawberry watermelon on Amazon. I actually was confused about the cause of the low magnesium. We talked about all the changes I had made and I thought she said it was the B-12 that can throw off magnesium but it was actually the electrolytes in them drinks. Anyways I cut back to one of them electrolyte drinks a day and took the magnesium supplement and the cramping is gone so just be careful with those that you don’t do too many.

The crochet group went really well. It was so good to see everyone since it’s been 3 weeks. It was also pretty cool to get dressed in normal clothes and be able to see a difference in my body. I have lost 27 pounds and I couldn’t see it in my track pants and athletic shorts but I could see and feel it on my normal clothes which aren’t nearly as uncomfortable as I expected with the binder on.

Anyways, they have been such good cheerleaders for me in all of this. And said they can tell that my mood is so much lighter and they are so glad that I am on the other side of it because they knew how stressful the decision to do this was for me. I brought my purée egg salad with me. I could’ve waited and ate it when I got home since I was only gone for 3 hours but I thought they would get a kick of my tiny two ounce container and they did. I told them that many people who got their stomach cut actually eat like 1 ounce at this point and they were amazed by that.

They wanted to be sure I was allowed spices at least which I thought was pretty comical. I told them I was missing my Ms. Dash because it’s big chunks and one suggested putting some in the food processor to make it more of a powder which I’m anxious to try. I’m trying to stay away from salt since it’s been a month that I’ve gone without so if it’s ever a good time to kick it now is. Another lady also suggested a product called no salt. But I think salt is pretty sharp so I’m gonna try to just stay away from it at least for now.

[ShoppGirl 4,728]

One thing I forgot to mention is that while I was driving today I felt like my seat was laying too far back. I think it seriously may be because my butt is smaller. I just asked my husband if he adjusted the seat while I was in hospitaL and he said no. My very first NSV!!

[RRenaeL23 26]

@draikaina8503

Thank you for the encouragement and information regarding the smoothie recipes .

[ShoppGirl 4,728]

So my team said that my steri strips would start to fall off between two and three weeks out and that’s okay but I was hoping for closer to three weeks, lol. The one that’s just under my breast was almost off. I guess my real bra rubbed it so I pulled it off. My husband says it looks like it shoud be fine to him but I’m nervous about it anyways. I think when I’m going to be wearing a real bra I will just put a band aid over it for a while just so it doesn’t rub.