New KiD to the OHIO weight page - had my surgery this past Tuesday at Riverside

Hello all, so I live in Gahanna, had my surgery with Dr. Meyers at Riverside, that all went great, except they like every other hospital can use a half dozen more nurses per shift to cover all of the patients needs. It was difficult to get the nurses attention. I love that hospital, but I am sad by the state of the number of nurses they have employed to care for the patient. Anyway, all that said, now I am home and trying to learn how to eat, when to eat, and what is enough or to much. Why do I feel worse in the middle of the night? Like I am all alone and no one can make it any better. I have lost five lbs so that is exciting, but trying to get this food thing together is a pain in the @#@*($& if you know what I mean. Today I was out and stopped in a Smootie King store to ask if they had any sugar free smoothie, and could I purchase the kid size? No sugar free, can't sell me the kids size. I went across the parking lot to Carub Coffee drive thru to ask if they had any ice tea decaf or a sugar free smoothie, no one had that on their menu either. SO go outing in public has been a challenge already, and keeping up my strenght right now is an issue. Speaking of which I just gotta very sleepy, so I will close for now. Please join my friends list, and talk to me OHIO. Blessing Sami Sue

Sami, I hate to say this, but early on, it's real tough to get stuff you can eat out in public. It does get better! Just follow the guidlines from your hospital. If you need help, feel free to send me a PM. Sip and rest! Talk soon, Doug

congrats on your surgery! yes- getting "safe" things in public can be a real challenge--even things like egg salad can send one into a dumping session--it happened to me--who in teh world thought they would have sugar in the egg salad from a local coffee shop???!!! when in doubt-do without! i keep very weird hours but would love to hear from you- i'm up by fremont and toledo area.

Hi Sami Sue --  congrats on your surgery!  I am also a patient of Dr. Myers -- 9 weeks post op.  Don't push yourself -- you are only 4 days post op and you have lots of time to learn to eat.  The thing with Dr. Myers is that you can't eat for the first 3 weeks.  Stick with your proti-diet, unjury, etc. and you'll do great.  Several of my "pre op" friends advanced their diets too soon and have all had complications. I know that I had some "head hunger" during the first week -- you might be having that too, but resist the temptation to go looking for smoothies, etc.  I know it's hard, but it 3 weeks you can have purees and your energy level will pick up dramatically!  One of my favorite things during those first three weeks was pureed cottage cheese, thinned with milk and then mixed with V8 juice, and then heated up.  It was like pizza soup and it had enough protein to give me some energy.  Hang in there -- you've been through the hardest point and next week you will feel 10 times better!  Please email me if you want to chat.  Good luck! Alex

Hey Sami, Congrats on your surgery.  I too am a pt of Dr. Myers.  I love him.  I am only three months post RNY and my life is already better.  I am not a smoothie fan but I have found something I can drink from Starbucks so any "coffee shop" should be able to make this for you.

SF/FF/decaf iced vanilla latte w/ extra ice. 

It was wonderful.  It helped me thru the first few weeks when I really wanted something to drink instead of protidiet or a protein drink.  And there is protein in that FF milk.  I never dumped on this.

Good luck

Yea for you--I had my surgery on June 18 and had major complications in the hospital, but i am much better now.  Monday I start on all "real food," so it does happen! Liquids were tricky, but FOLLOW YOUR PLAN. It is temporary and goes pretty fast. One thing I made that was pretty good was 1 cup of organic chicken broth (check labels for sugar) mixed with 1 tablespoonof instant cheese-flavored mashed potatoes. Nuke for about 2- 3 minutes. When it comes out, stir in 1/4 cup egg beaters (good for protein) it is very tasty and satisfying. I felt better with the savory flavors and warmth, rather than the cold and sweet. Smoothies at home are pretty easy--try 1 scoop choc. protein powder, 1/3 banana (frozen is even better) and 1 tbls.natural peanut butter (skippy now makes a version) add about 1 c water or half water and half ice--blenderize-- Also good are any cream soups with cottage cheese blended--it you don't have a hand held immersion blender--get one--well worth it--for the liquids and purees-- There are actaully some good recipes in the book from fresh start-- Eating stuff you make assures you of quality ingredients-- Welcome to the journey!!!!!!!

Hi there!   I just got my surgery date, Sept. 17 at Riverside!  Woo hoo!  I will meet with Dr. Myers for my pre op next week... any advice on what to take to the hospital with me?  How long is the stay?

Mary