Came to OH to prepare..but..

I used to lurk around her in a scattered fashion, trying to prepare myself for that moment in my life when IT would finally happen. I went months at a time not really checking in at all.. and now.. I am in panic mode..searching for a support group, looking on OH, looking for anything...The time has come... IT has happened. I had the full Roux En Y Gastric Bypass on May 27th, about a week ago...and I now have a hundren thousand questions rolling around in my mind so fast I can't stop to grab just one out midstream..lol.

Everything seem to happen so fast..I first checked in about it in 2007, went to a seminar...and just kind of fell off. Then all of a sudden in 2010, I called the office, they scheduled me and appointment and bam, a about a month later, I sit here trying to figure out what I am going to do with this thing...lol.

Im very HAPPY! I am very nervous. Im scared, and pretty much alone. I live with my 19 year old son who works all day... I have some great friends, my best freind even stayed with me at the hospital from thursday till Saturday, but now I am home alone and am just trying to grasp the concept of what I have just done to myself. 

My Dr. had me on Broth, Apple juice, Tea, Diet Jello, Diet popcicles and that's it...every meal was the same in the hospital. No calories to speak of, no vitamins, no protien, and when i went home, he said to keep the same diet...only clear fluids for 2 weeks. So after about a week..or up till yesterday..I was concentrating on getting my fluids all down, he told me no shakes yet. But I was getting so so weak and could hardly stay awake..felt faint and dizzy and finnally went looking for something in clear liquid thathad some substance to it..protien, calories, something..

I found something at GNC and it's in a vile type looking thingy...I don't have it here in front of me now, but it has 45g of protien..OMGosh...I feel like a new person. I had energy and life again..lol.

But this morning I woke up with a tummy ache... I thought it was from congestion..mucos in my pouch or something..I have not drank near as much today and was affraid to do anything... then i went ahead and forced myself to do just one ounce of the protien thingy..and bam....I am feeling good... so I guess i have ALOT to learn about this...ALOT more than I ever thought i had learned in the past. Any help will be greatly appreciated..:)

I am off to try to get some more things down me...

HUGS
Linda

You have come to the right place for good old fashion advice. There asre many people here with tons of experience and I am sure they will respond to your post soon. I find that each surgeon is a little different what they tell their patients. My diet was given to me by the hospital dietician that my surgery took place. I left there with so many questions and had trouble getting answers from her. One thing I would recommend is finding a dietician or nutritionist covered under your insurnace that has experience with surgery weight loss patient. At first they want you to avoid protein my did initially but gave me the green light at 2 weeks. Did he give instructions on vitamins? as you have realized vitamins, fluids, and protein are now your very best friends in life and is important to get enough everyday. Again, many people on this board with experience such as Vivian, Meggie, George, Sarah, Nina, and just so many to name them all.

I still consider myself just a mere newbie because I am still learning. One good piece of advice that has been mentioned many times on this board is to listen to your body. If you believe you have a problem call your doctor or surgeon because what your body might be telling you is a problem. I will close this post as I am writing this as I am trying to leave work. Welcome to your journey towards a new  thinner you.

Someone make some more room on the loser bench. 

I am glad that you found the protein bullets.  That is the only thing that I could tolerate.  If you start having a problem, I have known people to mix it with water.  It doesn't taste the best, but it isn't as sicky sweet. 

Our bodies can only absorb 30 mg of protein at once.  Try drinking half of it at a time.  The other thing that you need to be very careful about is drinking liquids.  If you don't you will get dehydrated, and you WILL feel tired and sick.  It doesn't matter what liquid that you drink as long as it is decaffinated and non carbonated.  As you know... you don't want it to have a lot of calories, but either way, you can count it as liquids.

I am going to tell you this.  After my surgery, my origional surgeon told me things different than what the nutritionist had told me.  LISTEN TO THE NUTRITIONIST.  While your surgeon knows your body, the nutritionist knows nutrition.

-Kim T

In follow up to what kim said...have the nutritionist talk to the doctor. They should be a team and working together and not contradicting each other!!!

Meggie

I used the Isopure in the glass bottle as my clear protein, but they had me start the vits when I got home, actually one of the IV bags had vits in it b4 I left the hospital... I would double check on the vits, I added iron after they told me I was anemic, that helped alot!

Thank you all so much everyone!!

What started out to be such a crappy morning, has really evolved nicely...and I am so happy to be getting positive feedback.

I have noticed that today....after my little episode. I have had the least amount of trouble getting the fluids down.. I did the other half of that protien thingy..oh, yea..it's right here..it's called..ProSlam!45
and I like the taste ok enough not to have to mix it..I might chill it though. I bought a case of it yesterday..and two other things that I tried and they told me I could return them if I didn't like them , so I returned them..but these are good..:) Peach flavor. 45 protein, 0 fat 0 sugars. 190 calories in the whole thing. carbohydrates 2g and nothin else.  about 1oz and a half or so.

I have sipped on and have gotten down an 8 oz cup of chicken noodle broth.

Probably another 8 oz or so of water...

1 oz of jello..all I could tolerate...

I do have a huge question.. I have been chewing sugar free gum...is that ok? is that safe? Someone had told me no. I don't want to do anything that is going to cause a dumping this early, cause Im still a bit sore from surgery.

So far feeling great...looking forward to being able to do more..

...but when the food starts..or more solid stuff starts..that's when i have to refrain from liquids 30 mins before and after right?


OK..Thanks and hugs
Linda

GUM? NO! It stirs up gastric juice...not good. If you accidently swallow it ,it could get get stuck and they would have to do and EDG to get it out. SF mints yes, sf fudgesicles yes,sf pudding yes, sf jello yes, crystal light yes, sf ocean spray yes, sf wylers from walgreens yes, sf vitamin water yes, sobe zero yes, powerade zero yes.

do you have a kroger near you.? Their Carbmaster yogurt is great, low sugar and higher protein. If you can find and tolerate milk look for mootopia it is fat free , 50% more protein and low sugar. fage plain greek yogurt, low sugar high protein. READ ALL LABELS. Just because it says lite or light meas nothing ...that can refer to coloring. No sugar added does not mean sugar free ( you would be suprised how many people do not know that). It could have a lot of natural sugar, it only means they do not add sugar to it.

Have you tried soft scrambled eggs. Make them runny, do not over cook them. Trust me that dry food is not your friend! Not everyone will tolerate eggs after surgery. I never had a problem unless they were dry but some people can never eat them again. when your mixin them add a little bit of light cream cheese to help keep them moist .

There is all so a recipe forum here on oh you might want to check out and don't gorget to get that book!!!!

Meggie

please don't think I am bossy I really am just concerned and want to get you as much info as possible!

One thing that I have noticed is that Dr Kuhn has told different people different things.  This is why I tell you TALK TO YOUR NUTRITIONIST.

 

-Kim T

Let me take a deep breath and settle down so I can speak calmly to you!!

Of course you feel better. Your body neds nutrition. When I was fat, people use to say you can afford to miss acouple of meals and live off the fat of the land and that is bs. You need a MINIMUM of 60gm of protein daily and a minimum of 70oz of decaf non carbonated sugar free fluids dailey. you need a vitamin regimen daily! Go to barnes and nobles, amazon,borders, somewhere and get the book weightloss surgery for dummies. It is a fabulous resource book. All docs plans are a little different this book is the basics but you have no plan at all.  Chicken broth is protein and fluid, go for the low sodium, cream of chicken soup and add flavorless protein powder to it maybe a little water to thin it down.Your body needs lots of protein so it can heal from the shock of surgery--you can believe me on this I am the Queen of Surgery. I have not lost any hair, I have no vit or mineral dificiency I am at goal and have maintained for 1.5 years. My problems came from the fact that I make 3x more scar tissue than normal people and it kept tangling up my organs, hence I am special.

Ok guys lets all chime in here on ways this young lady can get protein and fluids in and other resources she can go to. She need some assistance here and I am making a call out to the troopS!!

Please help
Meggie

I also had RNY by Dr. Kuhn, but he never told me I could only have clear liquids.  That does not sound right to me.

For two weeks before surgery I lived on plain soymilk -- plenty of protein, low sugar.  (I could also have had Boost or Glucerna, but I found them disgusting, so the nutritionist OK'd the soymilk.)  Then for two weeks after surgery I could eat cream soups, protein pudding, protein shakes, etc., as tolerated.  I agree with Meggie, you need some nutrition or of course you're going to feel terrible.  I on the other hand felt pretty darn good from the first day after surgery on.

Please double check with Dr. K's nutritionist and make sure you're understanding her right where the postop menu is concerned.