I have a date!!!!

My surgery date is June 20, 2006 at Legacy Good Sam with Dr. Hong. My friend Brandi and I were able to schedule on the same day and both with Dr. Hong. (I think I get to go first, cuz I'm older). We have Pre-admission at the hospital and our last pre-op ....post/op class tomorrow...so here it is 10:00 pm and I'm so psyched I can't sleep. I would love to hear from you all who have been through this as to what you ate, and any tricks for protein intake during those first few days and weeks after surgery. Thanks much. Good luck to you all and I can't wait to be a Loser!!!!

Terri, Congratulations! Dr. Hong is WONDERFUL! My surgery was April 25th and everything has gone very nicely. I'd love to meet you, Brandi and Kristie some time. I see that all three of you have had (or will have) Dr. Hong as their surgeon. The only way to get all of that protein and water in the few first days/weeks is to keep sipping on it all the time! I still have a hard time getting in enough water during the day, working it around the meals I need to have. It's actually difficult to get enough food in when you also have to drink enough water! Lately my tummy hasn't been appreciating water like it used to...I keep telling it tha****er is her friend! On my profile I have a list of some of the things that I've eaten in the early weeks (right now am just 6 weeks out so not too far ahead of you!) Let me know how things go with the two of you, okay? GOOD LUCK! Sharon

Hi Terri! Congratulations! June 20th will be here before you know it! Pretty soon you'll be post op and wondering how all this happened so quickly! I had Dr. Hong too and I just love him! How neat that you and your friend can go through this on the same day ... very cool! I'm 4 weeks post op today. They changed their protocols right after I had my surgery and they will start you out on liquids for 2 weeks instead of pureeds. You'll do liquids for 2 weeks and then pureed for 2 weeks. I had a lot of cream of mushroom soup and tomato soup during the liquid phase! And Safeway has a great hot soup bar ... definatley try them out! The potato soup is absolutely divine! You can puree it up and it's just wonderful! In the hospital they give you Optisource protein drinks and I found that they are the only type that I can tolerate. You can't buy them in a store but you can order them online at www.walgreens.com ... they actually taste good! Water is still difficult to get in ... but I also drink Propel. It's very good and it takes the monotony out of water. I try to drink most all of my water and then "reward" myself with Propel at the end of the day. Good luck to you! Keep us posted! Deanna

Deanna, I also liked the Optisource (caramel flavor). Haven't tried the strawberry but have ordered online (a case of the caramel and 1 sample of the strawberry. I ordered it through www.bariatricadvantage.com Sorry for the hijack, but just wanted to put in my 2 cents on the Optisource. Sharon

Hey Terri - Email me your address and I'll send you and Brandi some Protidiet drinks. They are fabulous and go down as easy as Crystal Light. They are made of a gelatin protein and are 15 grams of protein per packet. I put 2 packets in a 16 oz bottle of water. Tastes kind of like when you drink hot Jello only it is made cold...very refreshing for summer and they don't make you nauseous like some of the whey based proteins can. I also like the Unjury for the whey proteins which is the best powdered protein I've found. Also, Carb Countdown milk and chocolate milk is very low in carbs and very high in protein. 15 grams of protein per cup and only 2 grams of carbs. The chocolate is luscious and the protein intake is just as good or better than many of the protein drinks out there. Start looking for this stuff now and you'll be ready for right after surgery! Oh - and I made cream of wheat and oatmeal with the Carb Countdown milk which upped the protein enough to help offset the carbs of the hot cereal so I didn't dump. You can also make a high protein pudding using a scoop of the Chocolate Unjury powder with SF instant pudding and the chocolate (or regular) Carb Countdown and it's a fabulous way of getting a lot of protein in. Hope some of that helps! Dina

Dina , I read your post and was really interested in the protidiet drinks. I am very sensitive to dairy and was wondering if you could tell me the ingredients. I'm always on the look out for sometning different to help me get all my protein in. Thanks! Sharon

Sharon - I don't have them in front of me, but basically they are just gelatin protein and splenda. Probably a little bit of citric acid as well. The protein is one that will not set up like regular gelatin though. It's a concentrated form of the gelatin. 15 grams of protein per packet and 1 packet mixes with 5-8 oz of water. I use 2 in a 16 oz bottle of water and it's great. Put it in the fridge or on ice and it's mighty tasty. I can't hack the dairy proteins well based on the flavor. This stuff goes down really easily. The liquid concentrate is the best. Here is one place you can buy online: http://www.nashuanutrition.com/cgi-bin/ccp51/cp-app.pl?pg=cat&ref=Protidiet&gclid=COT_1PyR 0YUCFULkIgodLWMQ3g. I'd check around though - there might be places local that carry it. Dina

Here is another way to find a good deal: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=protidiet. This place has flat rate shipping of 7.50, so if you buy several items it offsets the cost of shipping. The price is the cheapest I've seen online for this stuff. Dina

Dr Hong did my bypass on May 2nd... he's a good guy! the only thing i could add to the other posts is check out isopure no carb from GNC 40 g of protein in 20 oz. makes the first few weeks easier as you're getting liquid and protein all at once. also, don't sweat if you can't follow the guidelines perfectly those first few days and weeks. just do your best, and each day will get better. walk as much as you can before the surgery, as it makes walking after so much easier!