3 WEEKS POST OP
This is from an earlier post so I will modify it a bit. I am three weeks, 2 days post op and things are looking up. I had a rough surgery, had blood pressure and bleeding complications, but everything worked out. My surgeon, Dr. Anez, and the staff at Inova Fair Oaks are the best and the Lord blessed me through the crisis and I am so grateful. 
I last weighed on May 18th, and had lost about 17 pounds since May 10 surgery. Have not officially weighed in since but will next Wednesday, June 8 for my second checkup and diet review by the nutritionist. 
I have had some good days and "not so good" days. Had some instances of throwing up when I drank something too fast, but it made me feel better. I am doing better with my water intake and this is great because
I love water - unflavored or flavored. 
Some days I wake up hungry and some days, I wake up feeling relatively satisfied but I try to take in some food and use plain yogurt to get my meds in (Prevacid). I hope to lose at least 40-50 more pounds by the end of June and I hope that I can achieve this through increased walking activity. I plan to join Curves when my surgeon gives the okay.
While in the hospital the first week, the liquid and pureed diet was okay; however, by the last day, I was gagging 
at the sight and smell of the pureed food so by the second week I switched to soft foods as the nutritionist said that the food had to be soft and mushy - moist and soft. I am following this guideline along with the low carb (3 or less) and the no sugar/nonfat policy on all food. The only items I puree or grind up at home are chili (1-2 tablespoons of Wendy's Chili is wonderful; I don't know the fat content at this time but reasoned that perhaps a tablespoon or two was not that bad), beef tips, and chicken, and some vegetables.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, I had a 4 oz crabcake from Wegmans that I used to comprise 4 separate meals from Saturday to Monday. That was great! I spent $9 but it was worth it because it was 99 percent crabmeat!! 
In the mornings, I find that nonfat cottage cheese with banana or sugar free apple sauce is best. I am very careful about drinking cold beverages in the morning. I can eat some Egg Beaters and tried some Trader Joe's veggie sausage but that was a disaster! I lost my appetite for everything that morning. I have also eaten 2 tablespoons of oatmeal with 1 oz of Myoplex French Vanilla. That Myoplex can flavor a lot of things like that including coffee. 
The oatmeal was very good and I did not need any Splenda or anything in it!
Up until yesterday, I could not tolerate the smell of coffee, but had a jar of Folger's Decaf just in case. Yesterday, I added a half teaspoon of decaf to 4 oz of Myoplex French Vanilla, added about an ounce of very hot spring water and that was the best cup of coffee I'd had in weeks!
I am now officially off caffeinated coffee since May 6th (yeah!), and it was a struggle because I loved Starbucks mild coffee! I had been drinking coffee since I was 10 and the last time I had stopped drinking coffee was before my youngest son was born 16 years ago!
As I used coffee for my morning and daily pick me up, I can now feel my lost energy that was generated from drinking coffee coming back naturally. Also, I believe that not eating sugar has a lot to do with this. I used to eat a lot of sugar laden products and drank coffee just for the over the top sugar I added.
I do feel that this surgery was worth it and will be a great success for me because I really desire to be at a healthier weight. I thank God for all of you because your posts "keep it real" and let me know that I am not alone in this struggle, and that this is a battle that can be won!
Some of the soft foods I have tolerated well (baked and ground up chicken, tuna, salmon, Trader Joe's meatless meatballs, peaches, applesauce, mashed banana, mashed green beans, steamed soft broccoli and cauliflower, peanut butter, crabmeat, baked fish, squash, sweet potato). As most foods are very well tolerated, I am very creative, but extremely careful because I made a promise to myself not to saboteuge myself in this effort. I use very little fats (low cal margerine) and that is good because I loved butter on everything (I mean real butter!). I don't add gravy to anything - jus****er, and sometimes a small amount of margerine because I hated the smell of the pureed chicken in the hospital!
Surprisingly, I don't miss sugar; my taste buds and my sense of smell is very keen. The sugar free/low carb products that I have found in the grocery stores are working out very well, and I know that my health is better for these efforts.
I used to have a tremendous amount of swelling all day in my legs and ankles, and my legs went down substantially post surgery. Now my ankles and feet only swell if I am up too long or walking too much. Also, I have not had to use my CPAP since leaving the hospital and my husband says that my snoring is almost quiet! 
One other wonderul thing is that I can now go 30 minutes or more on the treadmill or just walking around without my back and knees hurting, and without getting terribly out of breath.
This surgery was a blessing and life saver to say the least. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, and I will do the same for you all! 
Love and prayers!!! Vanessa
I last weighed on May 18th, and had lost about 17 pounds since May 10 surgery. Have not officially weighed in since but will next Wednesday, June 8 for my second checkup and diet review by the nutritionist.
I have had some good days and "not so good" days. Had some instances of throwing up when I drank something too fast, but it made me feel better. I am doing better with my water intake and this is great because
I love water - unflavored or flavored.
Some days I wake up hungry and some days, I wake up feeling relatively satisfied but I try to take in some food and use plain yogurt to get my meds in (Prevacid). I hope to lose at least 40-50 more pounds by the end of June and I hope that I can achieve this through increased walking activity. I plan to join Curves when my surgeon gives the okay.
While in the hospital the first week, the liquid and pureed diet was okay; however, by the last day, I was gagging at the sight and smell of the pureed food so by the second week I switched to soft foods as the nutritionist said that the food had to be soft and mushy - moist and soft. I am following this guideline along with the low carb (3 or less) and the no sugar/nonfat policy on all food. The only items I puree or grind up at home are chili (1-2 tablespoons of Wendy's Chili is wonderful; I don't know the fat content at this time but reasoned that perhaps a tablespoon or two was not that bad), beef tips, and chicken, and some vegetables.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, I had a 4 oz crabcake from Wegmans that I used to comprise 4 separate meals from Saturday to Monday. That was great! I spent $9 but it was worth it because it was 99 percent crabmeat!!
In the mornings, I find that nonfat cottage cheese with banana or sugar free apple sauce is best. I am very careful about drinking cold beverages in the morning. I can eat some Egg Beaters and tried some Trader Joe's veggie sausage but that was a disaster! I lost my appetite for everything that morning. I have also eaten 2 tablespoons of oatmeal with 1 oz of Myoplex French Vanilla. That Myoplex can flavor a lot of things like that including coffee. The oatmeal was very good and I did not need any Splenda or anything in it!
Up until yesterday, I could not tolerate the smell of coffee, but had a jar of Folger's Decaf just in case. Yesterday, I added a half teaspoon of decaf to 4 oz of Myoplex French Vanilla, added about an ounce of very hot spring water and that was the best cup of coffee I'd had in weeks!
I am now officially off caffeinated coffee since May 6th (yeah!), and it was a struggle because I loved Starbucks mild coffee! I had been drinking coffee since I was 10 and the last time I had stopped drinking coffee was before my youngest son was born 16 years ago!
As I used coffee for my morning and daily pick me up, I can now feel my lost energy that was generated from drinking coffee coming back naturally. Also, I believe that not eating sugar has a lot to do with this. I used to eat a lot of sugar laden products and drank coffee just for the over the top sugar I added.
I do feel that this surgery was worth it and will be a great success for me because I really desire to be at a healthier weight. I thank God for all of you because your posts "keep it real" and let me know that I am not alone in this struggle, and that this is a battle that can be won!
Some of the soft foods I have tolerated well (baked and ground up chicken, tuna, salmon, Trader Joe's meatless meatballs, peaches, applesauce, mashed banana, mashed green beans, steamed soft broccoli and cauliflower, peanut butter, crabmeat, baked fish, squash, sweet potato). As most foods are very well tolerated, I am very creative, but extremely careful because I made a promise to myself not to saboteuge myself in this effort. I use very little fats (low cal margerine) and that is good because I loved butter on everything (I mean real butter!). I don't add gravy to anything - jus****er, and sometimes a small amount of margerine because I hated the smell of the pureed chicken in the hospital!
Surprisingly, I don't miss sugar; my taste buds and my sense of smell is very keen. The sugar free/low carb products that I have found in the grocery stores are working out very well, and I know that my health is better for these efforts.
I used to have a tremendous amount of swelling all day in my legs and ankles, and my legs went down substantially post surgery. Now my ankles and feet only swell if I am up too long or walking too much. Also, I have not had to use my CPAP since leaving the hospital and my husband says that my snoring is almost quiet!
One other wonderul thing is that I can now go 30 minutes or more on the treadmill or just walking around without my back and knees hurting, and without getting terribly out of breath.
This surgery was a blessing and life saver to say the least. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, and I will do the same for you all!
Love and prayers!!! Vanessa 
Hey, Vanessa!
Looks like I just missed you at Fair Oaks! My surgery was on the 20th with Dr. Chebli. The folks at Fair Oaks were great. I had back surgery at Reston Hospital at the end of March and while Reston was quieter... the nurses were much more attentive at Fair Oaks.
FYI, the Prevacids now come in sublinguals! It's very new. Dr. Chebli prescribed them for me but since I'm sensitive to aspartame which they have in them for sweetness, I'm taking liquid zantac instead.
I went back to work Tuesday and get a bit tired by the end of the day but am doing very well. I think I'm lactose intolerant so I'm doing my protein shakes without dairy. I've done very well with pureeds thus far... homemade chili, chicken, tilapia, egg salad, chicken salad, etc.
Are you going to the support groups at Fair Oaks?
Kathy
lap RNY 5/20/2005~ 5'7.75"~ 276/244/228/?? (consult/preop/curr/goal)
Hubby Rich open RNY 8/5/2004~ 6'5"~ 450/437/258/??
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