I am home!! Surgery 5/27 Questions

I cant belive it is over and at no point did I feel like I was dying. Only had one big gas pain the second day of sugery. Feels great to be home, but finding it hard to get in protein and bottled water now taste like sewer water. I am almost afraid to say it but I am shocked that waht a major sugery this is and how Dr Bauman did everthing I feel good. Sure hope nothing goes the other way in the next few days. For protein I have tried Ensure high protein, American whey protein, Nector tea (hated this and love tea). I would love to know what you are eating to get your protein & liquids in. The first couple of days everthing tasted the same and I loved the taste. Example chocolate in protein. orange taste of orange sunrise crystal light until yesterday. Now no matter how much I brush my teeth my mouth taste awful and NOTHING TASTE GOOD. Did you experiance this? Is it gases from my stomach coming back up or something? Glad to be on the losing side, Betty

Hey Betty, I am 1 week out and had some battles last week. For me I treat my protein as an all day sucker. I keep it in the frig and walk there every few min. and sip. It stays cold and that has made a difference. ALSO, I quit blending shakes. All of the air was just yuk! So I bought Slim Fast Low Carb. An 11oz can gives me 20 gms protein. ONLY 11oz.!!! The shakes fluffed up to 20oz or MORE! And I couldn't finish them so they ended up down the drain! When I get up I start off with about 4 oz apple juice or V-8 and use that to take meds. At lunch some broth and more juice of choice. Dinner tea V-8 and more broth. The 3 Slim Fast's fill in between all of my tiny meals. It breaks it up much better for me and I'm getting lots of other tastes at mealtime instead of a BIG shake. You'll find your sweet spot, just keep reading and asking questions. I'm 15lbs down as of this morning so I am VERY pleased!!!! HUGGS

The bad taste is probably ketosis - it will make your mouth taste yucky, your breath smell, and put an icky coating on your tongue. My Nut said to drink 6 oz of grape or cranberry juice for a couple of days and that would help. It's because your carb intake is down to about nothing. It does get better. Try mixing your nectar iced tea with CL iced tea. That tends to help me... Good luck! Becky -16lbs, 13 days out!

Try Isopure at FNC. I'm living on that and sugar free Jello. I do great with that. Barb

Thank you so much for all your suggestions. I had not tried slim fast or V8. My husband went to GNC and got me Isopure ( blue bottle & orange bottle) and Fruit20. All of it taste awful. Can I have decaf ice tea that I brew with splenda? Any one ask there Doctor? I cant call mine and as****il the AM. Sure hope this awful taste in my mounth goes away soon!

hang in ther Betty I swear it gets better!! wjb

Decaf iced tea with Splenda should be just fine, as is Crystal Light plain iced tea (which is decaf). Have you tried any of the unflavored proteins like Unjury or AnyWhey? You could mix a scoop of that into SF pudding or chicken broth. V-8 has a good strong flavor that would disguise the protein aftertaste, too. If your mouth tastes horrible, that's normal. Those Listerine breath strips are strong and sugar-free, definitely worth a try. Did you stock up on Gas-X or Mylanta Gas or something similar? If you had laproscopic surgery, you're going to really appreciate something that helps the gas go away. Make sure you walk as much as you can, as often as you can.

Hi there! I just found a terrific website tonight at one of the OH patients. Maybe you could check it out. I am really interested in trying her products. www.bariatriceating.com Good luck! Alexis

Every product I've tried from her has been great And she's always adding new products. Jean Lap RNY May 24

I found the protein solution! I had a hard time with protein, and it was NO FUN. I actually dumped on the Optisource protein on day 3 (I'm 8 days out). Eewwww. I bought Designer Protein from GNC in Chocolate, and one scoop has 18 grams of protein. I mix it with only 1-2 ounces of water and can usually get a full scoop in at one sitting. It's not as nasty or strongly flavored as the others, either. Kind of mild and truly chocolate flavored (not that imitation taste). It makes everything SOOOO MUCH EASIER!!! Gina Milligan - RnY - 5/23/05