bunch of questions

I've been saving up questions to ask the experts. =) By the way, I'm down 24 pounds since my lap RNY on 5/12/04. I can't wait until Wednesday when I'm able to try my first bite of "real food." 1 - Salad? How do you do lettuce? Seems like it'd be hard to chew completely and would be easy to get stuck in the stoma. At what point did you start doing lettuce? 2 - Watermelon? Watermelon sounds like it'd be a good and easy thing to get down, since it's mos****er and would go down easy. 3 - Sugar? When you can't get something sugar-free, how many grams of sugar are too much? 4 - Lightheadedness? I've been struggling with lightheadedness lately. I'm not having much sugar, if any, and wondered if it could be low blood sugar? Anyone else have that problem? That's all I can think of for now, I'm sure I'll have more along the way! angie lap RNY 5/12/04 272/248/145

HI, Try a small amount of lettuce at a time and chew, chew, chew. It works really well for me now. Watermelon goes down really well but be careful of the runs--it really can get things going. Lightheadedness can be from dehydration, increase your water intake. Be careful of sugar, Good luck, Mary

Angie, Hi! Sorry that I haven't responded sooner. Having computer glitches at home, so am responding at work. As for salad - I didn't try salad until quite a while after surgery. Actually, it goes down really well and I have never had a problem with it. Just be sure to get your protein with it. Yesterday, I had a salad with chicken and shredded cheese and "Light Done Right" ranch dressing for lunch. Yummm. Watermelon - I have had it a few times and it went down well. But again, remember that it cannot be your main staple at a meal because there is no protein in it. I was eating sugar free popsicles after week home from the hospital. I can eat those and some sugar free hard candies, but be careful, because the sugar alcohols can make you really gassy and cause diahrea. I know, because I ate too many sugar free reeses peanut butter cups one night. I also have to watch having sugar free things in the house because of control issues. They end up being red light foods for me, especially if I am tired or have PMS. I think that sometimes, I even dump on sugar free things like ice cream. I have had some really bad experiences with it. About the amount of sugar grams you can eat, I am unsure, because I won't even try it. I don't even lick my fingers when I have something like sticky marshmallows on them from my toddler. I am too afraid of dumping and don't want to know if I can tolerate sugars. As for the lightheadedness - I have been having some myself. My surgeon's office said it may be anemia, because lack of iron, but then they didn't order any tests. I have labs coming up in a couple of weeks. With everything, be sure to check with your surgeon. Your dietician should also have recommendations for food intake. Good luck and God bless, Andrea

Salad & Watermelon... well... i didn't try them until i was alot further out than you. At this point in time you really need to be concentrating on eating your protein FIRST and THEN going to the veggies and the fruits. I still have a problem getting in the veggies and fruits... because im full of protein. I do lettuce fine now at 10 months out. It really isn't that filling as it chews down to literally nothing. Just remember the dressing. I tried ranch dressing once... OUCH... too much fat... i was dumping for 1/2 a day! I find that i use less dressing when i put it on the side, measured out and "dip" my lettuce. Watermelon should go down pretty good. I did have a problem with tomatoes from the garden right after my surgery. Because they feel mushy..i guess i didn't chew them as well as i thought..and it got "stuck"...hurt like hell for about 20 minutes...felt really sick..but couldn't throw up. So remember to chew well. Everyone's Tolerance for sugar is different.. i've heard that 10 grams or less is where we should stay. I guess if you get too much you'll know it. Most of this is trial and error. I refuse to try sugars because i dont want to KNOW if i can eat those. I just stick with sugar free or nothing. The lightheadedness definately could be blood sugar...i dont really get light headed when i get low and im diabetic...i get shakey and nauseaus. Some people say that they get light headed when they are dumping also. I did get light headed in my first 2 months. I think it might just be our bodies adjusting to losing soo much weight soo quickly. Hope this helped. Ask more questions if need be...ill try to help as best i can. Good luck! ~~Dawn Phillips

Angie - First of all, did your surgeon give you an eating plan to follow? If so, that would be the way to go. Everyone's surgeons are different. Salad - I wasn't allowed to eat salad until after 6 weeks. Protein should really be your priority right now. Watermelon is so full of sugar (carbs) that it is not a good food choice this early out for you. If you want to incorporate fruit, berries are a much better choice with less carbs. Sugar - everyone handles sugar differently, but remember sugars in milk and fruit are different than refined sugars. So milk and fruit shouldn't bother you in the same way. Lightheadedness can also be caused by dehydration. Are you getting enough water in? You are so newly post op, so be gentle with your new pouch you don't want to have complications. The weight will come off if you follow your surgeons guidelines. Good Luck!