August Surgery buddies

[ShoppGirl 4,331]

Feeling a little adventurous today. Made my purée egg salad with onion. It’s defiantly tasty. And so far so good. I know that there was onion in the fresh salsa I had with my refried Beans but I only used a teaspoon full and not all onion so this was a lot more. I never had any issues with my sleeve but enough people talked about issues post Sadi with random foods I am more nervous this time. The thing is when they are talking “issues” I think they are talking about diarrhea so as long as I am home I guess it’s not the end of the world.

[Hiddenroses 85]

@draikaina8503 - It sounds like the struggle has been super real for you, and I hate to hear that you've had such a tough time. I didn't have a drainage tube because of the type of surgery I had (as far as I know, unless it was only used DURING the surgery itself). The staples are a pain; and bending or stretching too much causing pain is 100% something I empathize with you in regards to. I was really nervous about showering with them in as well, but honestly the warm Water from the shower set to a gentle pressure did feel really nice. I also used the special soap they gave me when I washed my staple area lightly with a washcloth. I was afraid of using a loofah thinking it might snag or something.

I also feel where you (and others) are coming from on the fluids and dry mouth - I still find myself super relieved when I can finally have a drink 30 mins after a 'meal'. I will say that as long as I keep my intake moist (super soupy purees or broths) that it isn't TOO bad - and I definitely have to watch how many ounces I intake for my meals. I eat slowly, but when the food tastes good and I'm eyeballing my Protein goal it's HARD not to want to try to 'finish' my serving. I learned my lesson with my oatmeal this morning, though. It sat more heavily on/in my stomach after I ate than I expected and I struggled to have a few burps that relieved the weight and pressure I felt in my chest. Your mention of letting ice chips dissolve in your mouth helped me today - the cold really did slow my intake and provide relief. I hope you're starting to feel better now!

I created a sort of 'routine' for my mornings that I think is working pretty well, though. I try to only have a sip of water when I first wake up and them immediately prepare my Breakfast. With purees that are thick to the consistency of yogurt there's a trick where you basically just swallow your meds a couple at a time (if they are small) with a spoonful of yogurt/cottage cheese/medium thick puree. That's what I do to get down my morning meds, and as long as I don't overeat I go to have a brief warm shower afterward. The movements of me showering and standing help get my body to produce a burp or two, and putting my arms over my head when I wash my hair (yes, still some pulling especially on the left side so I have to go easy with THAT arm) does expand my torso and help my food settle. This also take sup some of the time gap I have to leave after eating before I can drink. Usually by the time I'm done with my shower, done drying, and have caught my breath it's almost time for me to be able to sip fluids again.

@Pepper_No_Salt I'm still shocked that they sent you home from the hospital on the same day. Whew. I'm glad to see you're been feeling better each day, Moving on to strained Soups was a biggie for me and I certainly can appreciate that having been one of your first planned stops! I did the same thing after I got my staples out. Today I am going to try to return to some broth for lunch and wish I had gotten more cans of chicken noodle when I went to the store. Maybe I'll try to season some of the 'cream of' soups I've got sitting around. My first try with them wasn't good, but then again they were room temperature then. Hopefully they taste better next time around!

@ShoppGirl @Onemealplan @Greekmom4 @AndreaJD- Thank you all for the recipes and information! I tried my oatmeal yesterday with the whey Protein Powder a friend had given me and honestly - it was gritty, and I was disappointed. This morning I used part of a vanilla ensure and I used a potato peeler to slice off the exterior of three strawberries I mixed in with it and it was 100x better. I actually ate about 5oz of it super slowly and regretted that as it either expanded or wouldn't quite settle.

I wasn't sick, but I was very uncomfortable for a while and had to shower and move around, then stand and take a couple of sips of cold water to initiate a couple of burps that provided some relief. Once I started to feel better I realized that the icy cold beverage helped me, and so I went ahead and had a sugar free popsicle. I took my time with it and found that the cold spreading across the inside of my chest felt very good and now I'm feeling much better. Has anyone had good luck finding an unflavored protein powder that doesn't feel gritty when mixed? Just curious - and if someone already answered this I'm sorry; trying to get caught up but not sit for too long!

@CrazyDog&CatLady - Good luck to you on your revision and thank you for sending us all positive vibes for preparation and healing! Also, welcome to the thread!

@ShoppGirl - I second what you said a thousand percent about using ALL the coping strategies you can to get through this. I'm having to completely re-learn my body, and in fact learning things about myself I never realized or understood before. The feeling of 'full' does echo my feelings of 'anxiety' and I've found that I'm extra sensitive due to that in the hour after I have a meal. I've also found that just like with the walking to get the gas worked out I also need to walk around a little bit after my meal to get my food to sit properly.

Additionally, I'm learning the importance of remaining UPRIGHT until my stomach has settled past a meal. It's not even 'going to sleep too soon after eating, it's being at too little of an incline. I've woken up two nights in a row with heartburn in the wee hours that I can only attribute to drinking something maybe too fast before going to bed, or sipping at an incline rather than sitting up completely to deal with my dry mouth during the night. I do space my Calcium out to later in the day and have been taking my multi w/Iron and ADEK about an hour after my breakfast. That seems to so far be working to stave off any nausea I would get from taking them on an empty stomach. Thank you for explaining about the B12 injections and congratulations on overcoming your anxiety giving them to yourself!

Sorry if I missed anyone - I've hit my cap for sitting for the moment. Best wishes to all and encouragement to those who have surgery in the coming days! If I recall we have two having surgery tomorrow, yes? Another set of 8/21 surgery buddies? I'll try to recap and review later!

[ShoppGirl 4,331]

@draikaina8503 I had a drain with the SADI. Then again it could’ve been because it then gallbladder removal.

I just came from my doctors office. I woke up with a cramp in my right calf and didn’t think much of it but it was still bugging me at like 2pm and the more I thought about it it’s kinda weird when I didn’t do anything yesterday. Plus it is only on one side.

Good news is She doesn’t think it’s a blood clot. She ordered an ultrasound to be safe I’m just waiting for them to call me. She thinks it low magnesium. The typical bariatric Vitamins don’t contain it but with SADI we need it I have the SADI specific vitamins but haven’t started them yet because they are higher Iron and I can’t stomach them without being able to eat more food at once. So she called me in an rx for separate magnesium to take until I can take the other rx.

[ShoppGirl 4,331]

Okay. I am not new to the purée diet but I am new to the possibility of dumping. Everything on the list is no sugar that is specific but I am allowed puréed veggies so I thought I would be okay with a few bites of veggies with teriyaki. They have 6g of sugar per serving a glass of 1% milk has 12 g but of course one is natural and one is added. Well I guess the fact that it’s added sugar really does make a big difference because I had like 3 bites and waited to see how I reacted and my face started to feel warm. I don’t even know if that means dumping but it was enough to make me wait. I will start with lower added sugar and work my way up to be sure that I’m not going to dump. If I am going to dump on a tiny bit of added sugar I really hope it’s temporary. Then again I guess it will keep me in line.

Edited August 21 by ShoppGirl

[Pepper_No_Salt 40]

I think my least favorite part of surgery has to be these Lovenox injections. Twice a day on top of the bruising I already have is rough. I kind of broke down and advanced my diet to full fluids. They had me at clears until Thursday and I just couldn’t do it anymore. I’ve been tolerating everything so far so I had a Fairlife. I was fine. I haven’t been able to find a clear Protein that I like. SEEQ is super sweet, Protein20 I only like the orange mango, I bought Isopure and tried mixing it with a flavor packet and it tasted weird. I can’t wait until I can do real food again.

[RRenaeL23 21]

I am new to the forum. I had my Bariatric Sleeve on August 14, 2024.

[ShoppGirl 4,331]

@Pepper_No_Salt are them injections for blood clots? Are you doing them on yourself? I had them in hospital but once a day and they did them in the thigh. I still have cruises. I guess they have their reasons if they said stomach though.

Did you try the core power shakes. They are made with fairlife. I actually liked them because they are not as thick as some others so they may be a good choice for you right now. They have them at Walmart up front in singles if you wanted to try them. Or Amazon sells 12 packs

Edited August 21 by ShoppGirl

[ShoppGirl 4,331]

4 minutes ago, RRenaeL23 said:

I am new to the forum. I had my Bariatric Sleeve on August 14, 2024.

Hello. What stage are you on? How is it going?! I am 13 days out. Post SADI revision surgery. My recovery has been a little more challenging that it was when I did my sleeve.

Edited August 21 by ShoppGirl

[RRenaeL23 21]

Tomorrow, I will be one week out. So far I have been doing well. Today I really wanted to eat grapes and some plums but I am still on the full liquid meal plan, so I went for a walk instead. 😀 My first post-op follow up is next week, then hopefully I will advance to the puréed meal plan. Hopefully, your recovery will become less challenging.

Trying to figure out how to add my information and pre-op pictures.

[ShoppGirl 4,331]

11 minutes ago, RRenaeL23 said:

Tomorrow, I will be one week out. So far I have been doing well. Today I really wanted to eat grapes and some plums but I am still on the full liquid meal plan, so I went for a walk instead. 😀 My first post-op follow up is next week, then hopefully I will advance to the puréed meal plan. Hopefully, your recovery will become less challenging.

Trying to figure out how to add my information and pre-op pictures.

Thank you and Good call to do the walk. I wish I could handle the heat so I could start walking outside. I’m hoping as I drop a little more weight I can.

When you get to purées you have to Google ricotta bake. It’s like lasagna without noodles but it’s so good just make sure if your marinara has chunks you purée it first

To add some of the information you can’t be on a phone. Not sure if you are on a computer but it’s easier.

Edited August 21 by ShoppGirl

[draikaina8503 68]

Well, last night was.... bad. My dog came out of nowhere and jumped on me, his paw hitting right over a set of staples. 85lbs of "I just want to love you!" turned into absolute misery. It was 7am before I could finally fall asleep between that and suddenly having diarrhea, which I don't know if they were related or what. I didn't have anything that I wasn't supposed to have, so I'm not sure what caused the latter symptom. Anyway, it's been a day of sleeping on and off to catch up on last night. My cuddlebug of a dog doesn't understand why he can't be on mama currently.

I don't know if it's because of the pain or the diarrhea, but I definitely did not feel as good today as I had been. Walking even five minutes at a time felt like I had run a marathon, whereas before I was able to easily walk in ten minute increments. (I probably could have easily gone fifteen minutes, but I didn't want to overdo it.)

Tonight, I came up with the idea of thinning my vanilla pudding with half of a premade vanilla Protein Shake. It worked! I'm still eating on it slowly, but I'm glad to find that my random idea was actually good for something. LOL

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@ShoppGirl

Glad to hear your adventurous egg salad seems to have gone well! I'm looking forward to having even just plain tuna at this point. 7 more days to go on the liquid diet for me, though I may personally extend it a little longer. I know I'm doing my best, but I am concerned that I'm not already meeting goals. (Yes, I know, I had surgery on Friday and the goal is to build up to it.)

I'm really glad the doc doesn't think the cramping is a blood clot. It is definitely something for all of us to keep an eye on and definitely be annoying about. I tend to err on the side of "if it gets worse, I'll call" but I know that won't work with the RYGB recovery.

Your potential dumping with teriyaki sauce makes me extremely sad. Oriental foods of all kinds are literally my favorite things ever. I knew I would have to really moderate them a whole lot after surgery, but I was sure hoping they wouldn't cause dumping. Maybe if we make our own teriyaki sauce, we can avoid it?

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@Hiddenroses

I may try to take an actual shower on Thursday after what you said about warm Water. I want to make sure my husband is available to help me, just in case. He works as a 911 dispatcher, so he wasn't actually able to take off work to help me at home. But he's being as supportive as he can and helping as much as he can when he is here. So that's just my own personal precaution - waiting for him to be around. I wasn't given a special soap for washing post-op. Just told to let the water and soap run over the incisions and such without actually scrubbing at them. Did they give you another round of hibicleans?

I'm sorry the oatmeal sat wrong with your tummy this morning. I hope you got relief over the course of the day. But I definitely feel you on the eyeballing my Protein goals. I know my stomach is still recovering, but part of me feels like I have to have those goals met NOW. I am glad that the ice chip thing helped you out!

Kudos to you for creating a routine. I should with my autism and ADHD just so I have less things to screw up on lol. But I've really just been trying to relax and take it one day at a time, each day. Your routine sounds really nice and doable. Might have to borrow a few steps of that when I'm feeling less bleh.

I do totally agree with what you are saying about remaining upright. I have to stay that way even with water. Any other liquid? I'm fine. Water and food? Yep, no incline for at least fifteen minutes.

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@Pepper_No_Salt

I was actually surprised that my doctor didn't send me home with Lovenox injections. I kind of thought that was standard procedure for most post-op situations now. But I guess that is how he emphasizes to make sure I'm moving around.

The only flavor of Protein20 in this city is a berry flavor, or a cotton candy with caffeine in it. And my doc is very strict - no caffeine until six months post-op. I didn't realize they had caffeine when I bought them. So I guess I'll just leave them on my pantry shelf until that time rolls around. They seem to have a decently long shelf life. Did you get other flavors from Amazon?

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@RRenaeL23

Welcome to the forums and to your new life! I hope you are recovering well from your sleeve surgery.

Good on you for choosing a walk instead of falling into temptation. It's been hard on me, but I've managed to not stumble so far. And I know what could happen if I do, so that should be enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.

[ShoppGirl 4,331]

@draikaina8503 I’m so sorry to hear about your incidence with your dog. That sounds really painful. I can’t believe you are walking for ten minutes at a time already at 4 well now 5 days out. I suppose I probably could but haven’t been pushing myself to do it. I need to get my butt moving. I totally get you’re wanting to shower with someone there. Since I was at the hospital a little longer I was allowed to shower when I went home. I asked the dr and took my first shower at the hospital before I left. The nurse was totally not happy about it and didn’t try to hide it but I wanted to know I was there if something happened and I wanted the, to put my binder back on because they did it real snug and it felt so much better. Since then I’ve taken a few showers but the first few of them were in the evenings when I’m not alone. I have steri strips on my main incisions but I had a bandaids covering the hole that the drain left and there came open In the shower and the incision was still open and I was glad someone was there. I didn’t want to be bending and twisting and all that while I found another band aide and my anxiety made me freak our that the dirty Water got inside it and it was going to be infected so he talked me down from that. Well sorta. I had an appt the next day and I asked the NP to look at it and clean it just in case. 😉

For those of you trying to figure out a morning schedule one thing to consider is having proffee for Breakfast. Then you can rehydrate without having to wait and take meds and Vitamins whenever. I have a caramel shake with like 1/2 cup coffee over ice. (Decaf for now) and it’s pretty delicious. Play with the measurements if that’s too sweet but it’s an option.

[Hiddenroses 85]

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!

[ShoppGirl 4,331]

@Hiddenroses that GENEPRO is the one I was asking about. I have it and mixed it in pudding and I couldn’t taste it but I wasn’t sure how to mix into hot things. You say to mix with Water first, huh? It’s a tiny scoop compared to most powdered Protein so one scoop is not really as much as your thinking I bet. When we get to more normal portions we may be able to add more than one scoop even but I’m not sure about how much it would change the texture.

Has everyone else discovered protein waters yet. They were obviously handy in the liquid stage and full liquids when you get sick of shakes but even now in purée they are good since we are not consuming enough food to get all of our protein. I try to have a drink after each meal and they are 20g protein so that combined witb the 5-10g I get in my 1/4 cup serving is pretty much 30 average per meal (my breakfast shake in my profeee is 30 by itself. My goal is 72-108g so around 90 is good I figured.

Edited August 21 by ShoppGirl

[RRenaeL23 21]

Thank you Hidden Roses! Today marks my one week post op day. I was able to get a mile and a half walk in this morning although it took about 45 minutes but I am okay with that and plan to keep moving forward. So far I haven't had any major cravings other than wanting grapes and plums which I can't have at this stage. I have been trying different smoothies and I recently purchased from Clean Simple Eats. You do need to read the labels on some of their products but I am satisified with their smoothie packets. Fairmilk has been a great substitue when I am wanting something new. Looking forward to my post surgery appointment next week and being able to start my soft/pureed foods.

My starting date in March 2022 was 281lbs. I completed the move program through the Department of Veterans Affairs and lost 43.3lbs. My gastric sleeve surgery weight on August 14, 2024, was 245.7lbs and my current weight as of this morning is 235lbs.

Wishing all a great day and awesome journey.

Edited August 21 by RRenaeL23