I was really scared to get the staples out ... thought that would be the worst part of this whole thing but it was a piece of sugar free/fat free cake! They put little band-aid strips over each of my cuts and said to leave them on for 7 days. So far so good!

Hello Cherri! I hope this e-mail finds you home and recovering well. I got home on Thursday and seem to be doing well. I have a really wierd rash on my stomach and leg and it is hard to get comfortable sleeping sometimes, but it is getting better everyday. Isopure has saved me although I find it hard to get all my liquids in. No vomiting yet - some diarhea - lots of peeing! The worst thing about the whole thing was the hospital stay afterward. But I even survived that so I can survive everything! Take care! Kris

Meats, steam veggies (not to mush) are very dense. When they say protein ALWAYS first this is one of the reasons why. Dense foods fill up your pouch and take longer to digest and keep you full longer. Also this is where your protein, the stuff that helps you heal, get energy and feed your body comes from. While yogart, protein drinks are good for you they can be considered slider foods. Example: take a zip lock baggey and file it with a protein drink or yogart and put a pencil size hole in it and squeeze. Next grind up some meat or chew(this is best) and do the same thing. Your intestional opening from your stomach newly out is not much larger. Meat stays with you longer. My doctor does not recommend protein drinks after a month out. He says it is important to learn to eat your protein and come back to certain foods that may have made your pouch upset. I do shoot protein bullets to help up my protein when I need it. But a year out you will find you can eat about anything and your taste budds do come back when those nerves heal. Which isn't a good thing LOL!!!! Now slidder foods will also be considered foods well chewed, fat based or that will melt and 80 percent of the time things you don't want to let back in Example: Potato chips (yep you'll start with just 3 and if they don't make you dump they'll start adding up**** cream (even low sugar or sugar free has calories), regular yogarts, regular coffee cream flavored or unflavored, mash potatoes, salads and dressings (pile it up with eggs and meats with a little dressing and go for that first next the lettuce), cream soups. Veggies cooked in fat or grease, southern style! Basically if you shouldn't have it, it's going to be a slider food. Something that slips in and slips right out and doesn't leave you feeling full. Now crackers and pretzels can fill you up but there is almost no nutrion value for us here. Watch Fatty meats!! Barilla Plus pastas in the gold box has 10 grams of protein and the good omega fats. It is denser than regular pastas but it taste good. Some folks are talking about the miricale noodle, no fat, almost no calories and alot of protein. This is a tofu noodle and can be ordered online or found in Asian markets. Tofu picks up the taste of flavors. There are different brands so check out the contents and protein and carbs of the brand you look at. Just remember slider foods and yes protein drinks most times will leave you hungry and wanting more so remember to try to eat solid proteins or softer ones like eggs cheese, cottage cheese( depends on the curd size). The key is how well you chew and the time it takes your stomach to like it. Nothing about this surgery is easy, it hurts, it's boring and can be a real tear jerker and some people have the nerve to say we took the easy way out. We know better they are just ignorant but we will forgive them. Follow the rules gang, get those toddler, spoons and forks and small pudding or dipping bowls, not a soup one. Keep measuring your food even months out don't get into the habit of eyeing it than taking just another bite. Off course you can't do it eating out and you have to judge. BE SCARED to taste the forbidden foods, like sweets and chips cause they may not make you sick and that will be a real issue down the road. Read the Graduate board and ask them questions like what they would of done different and what things sneaked in to watch for. They will be honest. And lastly you have got to committ to some form of life long exercise!!! I have been stuck for almost 3 months now and it is my own fault on top of being a year out. My doctor told me the honey moom phase is 6 months and from than out I will loose alittle at a time but my commitment to life style change will decide how much more I will loose or gain. So I guess you can figure I stopped walking and we all know what I need to do. Wheather or not I don't need to loose more, I would like to, I do have a very saggy butt, invision 2 sharpee' puppys side by side, all I need is a tatoo eyeball on each cheek!! Not to mention very saggy upper arms. Good Luck everyone! And follow the rules, try not to cheat but you will but fight it and owe up to it espically to your doctor.

Hi there I am 34 years old and had my lap RNY July 23. I am feeling wonderful! I left the hospital without my blood pressure pills and diabetes pills. I also have been very fortunate to not have any complications. I did gain 25 lbs of fluid while I was in the hospital, but I have since lost that plus 13 lbs. I am glad I did it now and didn't wait any longer. Good luck

try protein drinks, sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles for a crunch. they seem to help me