30 days post-op - Slime-o-rama

Pssst - once her tummy heals she should be able to do NSAIDS just fine. That's one of the reasons I chose the surgery - the other is that I take a @$!^$^&#%^ steroid every day of my life.

Glad she's coming along.

I ditto what others have been saying.

How are you making your shakes?  If you use a blender bottle, it often allows much less foam.  And you can let them sit for a tiny amount of time to de-foam in the fridge.  I usually shake in a blender bottle and then pour over ice and don't experience any foam.  These should be able to be purchased at any vitamin shoppe/GNC or maybe even your local grocery store for less than 5-10 dollars.  I also drink mine with a straw and that helps a lot too.

I do think you should perhaps call your surgeon if these intolerances make no sense.  You could very well have a stricture.  I especially worry with the water.  Are these tiny sips or big gulps?  If you can't drink water, that worries me a lot because you can become dehydrated so quickly post op and repletion can become almost impossible, plus it causes nausea which makes eating even harder.

Make sure to do tiny small bites.  Your stomach is very small, so filling the whole thing up with one big bite can cause a lot of protest.  I used to just put a little food on the tip of my fork or spoon.  Bigger bites will come a little later.

Cottage cheese sat heavily for me for a very long time, so this does not surprise me.  V-8 juice is strange, but acidic and kind of thick, so that could be it.  Vegetables are often poorly tolerated for a long time because of the fiber.  Ricotta cheese can also sit heavily, plus any tomato product in there can also be very acidic. 

I slimed a lot when I overfilled my stomach, either with too big bites, not properly chewed bites, or something similar.  

Again, please call your surgeon.  Take a step back in the diet.  Keep up with the sipping.  1 month really is not too far post op and tolerances vary by person.  I had slow diet progression too, so I know it sucks.  Feel better.

Even if you were a sleeve patient, the response would be "this isn't normal, get thee to a doctor".

Sleeve patients typically experience slime/foamies when we've eaten way too much. It's the saliva coming back up because it doesn't have any room to go down, and bringing a little bit of company with it.

Some folks occasionally experience them with certain foods, but it's uncommon (other reactions like lactose intolerance are not - I'm just talking slimies here) and I've never heard of anyone having it with small amounts of a large variety of foods.

Sounds like you might need an endoscopy to see what's going on.

Yup.

I'm wondering if the sleeve is too tight...or just a little swollen from "abuse." 

Sue- Would you say a 38 bougie is about right?

I have NO idea.  I have no idea what MY surgeon used on me!!! 


ETA:  I also have no idea how long my common channel is.

 I just checked the surgical summary report that was provided to me before I was discharged from the hospital. Looks like they used a Cook tube No. 48 fr. Compared to the 30 and 32's on some people that seems sufficiently large. My common channel is 100 cm.

I have no idea what's right for a DS sleeve, but my sleeve is a 40f and it's working well. I'm beginning to believe with sleeve patients, as with DS, surgeon technique is everything.

Some surgeons are leaving a lot of stretchy stuff at the top and bottom and only making the sleeve narrow in the middle. That's asking for a stricture or blockage early on and a stretched out sleeve down the road, IMO (the part these surgeons are leaving behind is the stretchiest part).

We have sleeve patients who can eat 4 oz at a couple months out with 32f or 34f, where I can eat less than 2 oz at 6 months with a 40f. Who knows what they'll be able to eat a year out or more - I don't hold out much hope for their long term success with a restrictive surgery that doesn't restrict.

With the DS, do they generally make larger sleeves since you guys have malabsorption?

I've HEARD...but I don't know...that it varies from surgeon to surgeon and that some prefer larger sleeves and shorter common channels and others prefer smaller sleeves and longer common channels.  Another YMMV thing.