Something to CHEW on!!!

Hey guys, Since my surgery, I have had several people write me about what to do the first couple of weeks out of surgery. I have always tried to help and finally decided to pull together stuff I used and post it rather than just send via email, in the hopes that it may help someone else. Remember, I am not an expert, only a friend who is trying to drudge a path though all of this also. The following is some idea's I either used or ran across. Hope you find out what works for you early on. One of the biggest things that surprised me, was just how small my tummy/pouch was. I KNOW, I know, I read all about it, but when it came time to actually practice it ... it was still somewhat of a surprise when I could not get down more than a couple of sips at a time. This was concerning to me because I knew how important it was to not dehydrate. Given that, I soon realized that I needed to get in fluids at all cost. Of course, at first I was not able to do 64 oz ... but I worked hard at getting there. I was never without a cup of fluids in my hand (rarely am still - unless I have just eaten) Another thing that I found incredibly hard at first was not to drink and eat at the same time. I tended to take "just one small sip" ... not a good habit that needs to be broke right away and pre-op if at all possible. I no longer sip while eating (haven't for about 4 to 5 months), and on the rare occasions I have tried, I now get too full and that leaves me feeling horrible. In the first several months, I noticed that extreme temps seemed to work best with my fluids. Sometimes that was ice chips, other times that was something warm. Warm usually worked best for me early morning or if I drank something warm about a half hour before I ate, it helped the food to settle on my tummy a bit better. But in the very first couple of days home, ice chips were my very best friend. I had a cup of fluids in front of me all day long. If one temp does not work well, be sure to experiment to see if something else does. Now I drink my water pure, no additives at all and I drink it room temp (something I NEVER thought I would do) However, I was not able to do pure water for quite a while after surgery. It had a terrible metallic taste to me, which I have since found that is normal for us new posties. I did drink water with flavor, such as lemon, crystal light, fruit 20, propel and etc. I found that full strength was always far too strong for me, so I diluted just about everything to barely any flavor. Whatever it takes ... just do it ... you need to find something that will work for you so you won't have to deal with dehydration on top of your new surgery. A couple of other ideas, warm water with crystal light lemonade and splenda, warm diluted jello, warm broth. Remember to focus on your fluid intake and watch your urnine output (it should be a pale yellow and essentially no scent - except sometimes you may get a bright neon yellow with the B vitamins - if you are not accustomed to vitamins this may shock you a bit - but you know the difference between diluted urine and concentrated urine, so be watchful for that). I found this posted and thought it had excellent information for you to review. I don't necessarily recommend everything carte blanc ... but it is certainly something to chew on! "One of the main challenges for a gastric bypass patient over time is to maintain hydration. Your body needs just as much fluid after the surgery as it did before surgery, yet the new stomach pouch limits you to 1-2 ounces at a time. (NO MORE GUZZLING!) Maintenance of fluid intake may also be difficult because of the necessity to take in food or fluids, and not both at once. You must compensate for this by taking small amounts of fluid on a near-constant basis. Usually this means that you should carry your fluid source with you at all times. *** We cannot overemphasize that the liquid must be a caffeine-free & calorie-free liquid. Patients who use fruit juice or other calorie-containing liquids for hydration may experience inadequate weight loss because of the calories in these fluids, and can experience dumping syndrome from the sugar. Caffeine is a stimulant, diuretic and irritant and can cause ulcers in the new pouch and add to dehydration and low-iron blood (which we already poorly absorb iron post-op). Drinking at least 64 ounces of fluids post-op is a necessity. Water is the body's best source, and serves the purpose to aid digestion and absorption of food; it regulates temperature and circulation, carries nutrients and O2 to the cells of the body and removes toxins and waste. Dehydration can cause/aggravate constipation, kidney stones, urinary infections, high or low blood pressure, difficulty controlling diabetes and migraines. Dizziness, clumsiness, muscle cramps in arms and legs, dark yellow urine, fatigue, irritability, are sunken eyes, low blood pressure and fainting, bloating, and a fast, weak pulse -- are signs that dehydration is setting in. Fluids should be consumed on a near-constant basis, but not during meals and not soon following food. If you drink during your meal, you will tend to wash the food out of the stomach pouch, and consume more food than is desirable. It may seem strange at first to eat without drinking but it works fine. A good tip here is to actually not have any fluid on the table while you are eating. In addition to reducing your overall food intake, this new habit will encourage you to chew more thoroughly before swallowing, because you will not count on the fluid to wash down half-chewed food. Also note that soup is kind of like drinking liquids with food - soup is not an absolute "no-no" but recognize that it should not be a regular part of your diet. Liquids should not be consumed for about an hour after eating. This is because the food actually forms a plug that blocks the outlet from the pouch until it has all passed through. If you drink liquids on top of this plug it will create a very uncomfortable sensation and may also force food downstream more quickly than it should go. A brief review on coordinating liquids and food: Sip liquids constantly, even just before eating. Don't drink liquids while eating. Don't drink liquids until about one hour after completing your meal. When the stomach pouch is mature (six months or more after surgery) it is useful to wait two or three hours after eating before consuming liquid. If you must choose between liquids and food (frequently true in the first months after gastric bypass) - choose liquids! CLEAR LIQUIDS IDEAS: ***(VARIETY IS THE KEY TO GETTING THROUGH THE FIRST 2 WEEKS!)*** Broth any flavor (canned or made from bullion cubes) or strained soups such as chicken noodle without the noodles! Cup of soup brands strained. ½ strength apple or cranberry or grape juice (OJ may be too acidic at first). Full or ½ strength Ocean Spray lite cranberry juice varieties (white, cran-grape, cran-raspberry, ****tail) these have 40 cal a glass vs 120 cal a glass of regular juices and are made with splenda. Available at Wal-Mart and PC. Diet VS Splash (Wal-Mart and PC) 10 calories a glass and made with splenda, full strength or watered in ½. Crystal lite (PC or Wal-Mart or Hannaford) any variety (decaf tea, lemonade, fruit punch etc), diet Tang (Wal-Mart) diet Kool-Aid any variety (Wal-Mart). Decaf tea or herbal decaf teas or decaf coffee hot or iced. WATER try it iced, warm or with a little lemon or lime to flavor, many like to add a little splenda to change the taste! Water may have a metallic taste initially this is normal and goes away. Fruit 2O (bottled or/& they make a frozen Fruit 2O in raspberry and lemon! YUMM Hannaford has these). Skim milk, regular or ½ strength (if not lactose intolerant) Stewarts has 10 grams protein in a cup vs any other skim has 8 grams. Diet Jell-O (you make or premade varieties). Sugarfree popsicles (popsicle brand has original and tropical fruit flavors at PC Hannaford and Wal-Mart). NO-Sugar added Fudgesicles (popsicle brand). ***TIP Keep a journal of each hour in a day for the first week of fluids. Write down what you drink in the hour and what activity you do! You should move every 1-2 hrs even if it is just walking around the house to avoid respiratory or circulation problems. This helps keep you mindful! Remember you cannot catch up on fluids later in the day!" END QUOTE @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ I just want to add that I am concerned enough about the tannins in tea and coffee (both reg and decaf) with vitamin absorption, that I rarely drink these ... they are special occasions only for me. The Fruit20 water ice can be found at BJ's (Thanks Kristina). Obviously, the other stores listed may not be in our area, but at least it gives us an idea of what is out there. One more tip ... I found that with the personal size servings, while it seemed more expensive, I really saved money in the end because of less waste. Also, make sure you do not overbuy. You will be eating very little, and your tastes may continue to change after surgery. I deal with this all the time ... it may work for me today ... but who knows what tomorrow will bring. It may work for everyone else, but won't for me. Oh and one of the very biggest things ... your journey is your own. It may not fit the mold of friend A, friend B or anyone else. If you compare yourself to others, you are setting yourself up. This road can be very easy for some and very difficult for others. Try to remember that while we are all a support group; don't expect your journey to be like anyone elses. Trust me on this one ... been there, done that and it can truly wreck emotional havoc and allow you the sense of personal failure. Please, please do not allow yourself to go down this road. I am still trying to pull myself out of it and it is hard. Here I am with 75% excess weight lost and I was thinking that I had failed at this. As a matter of fact, I had considered checking with the doc about a revision because of the failure(CRAZY - I can now see)!!! It took a very wise post-op of about 4 years to shove some numbers in front of my face to make me realize that, while no, I had not lost as much as everyone else around me, I had in fact lost 75% of my excess weight and that is considered high end on the success scale medically speaking(50-75%). AND I am not yet finished, I am only 10 months out. So again, I beg of you to keep everything into proper perspective. We are not guaranteed a models figure or anything for that matter. Our real hope with this surgery to become less obese and to hopefully help cure some of our co-morbidities. Anything else is simply icing on the preverbal WL cake (sugar free of course *grin*) I wish you all the very best in finding the road that best fits YOU in YOUR journey. Hugs and kisses! Tammy

Wow, Tammy...some really great info that I had actually 'forgotten' about. What a great reminder!!! (((hugs))) -Karen

Tammy, What you did was great for us newly post-ops. I loved the fact that you gave reasons and variations on everything. I printed this out and will look at it often. Thanks again. Love, Kathleen

Wow.. Thank you Tammy. I wrote down lots of notes in my composition book. I really appreciate you sharing all that valuable info.

You are very welcome Rose ... please take anything there and weigh it against what your doc has told you ... and if anything is different, please listen to your doc. Obviously he knows better what is best for you. These were just some tips that have helped me and some friends along the way. I also have a list on my profile that I made up for a couple of my little angelettes with some stuff that I put together to help them before and for the first few months out of surgery. If you are interested, it is about 3/4 of the way down the main page of my profile. You will see a list of several links ... the link is called "Tips and Tricks" I believe. Best wishes to you!!! Hugs, Tammy

Thanks for taking the time to share this....means alot