Upcoming VSG on 12/14! (Sounding board..questions at the bottom)

Hello and congrats on your upcoming surgery. I have a high BMI, but I am newly sleeved. I will be three weeks out on Tuesday.

1) I use premier and syntrax nectar (both meet the low carb high protein guidelines). You want a variety because for some reason they went from tolerable to me feeling like I'm gagging them down. Try things like adding ice in a blender, or getting an unflavored to add to soups. My mom who is an RNYr swears by unflavored unjury protein powder. Premier also makes a clear fruit juice one (still low carb), which I haven't purchased yet, but my NUT states they are lighter and more refreshing.

2.) No binder post-op, but I think I could have benefited because I had some pretty nagging pain at my left incision site (which is normal and has greatly subsided).

3.) To hold things together (even before surgery) I buy high waisted control underwear from Walmart of all places. They are made by maidenform. They are about 8 bucks a pair. They don't do wonderful in the dryer but heck for 8 bucks vs the 30-40 you spend on other brands, I just throw them out and buy all new pair after a few months.

4.) Just mentally prepare yourself. I'm finally feeling like myself again. I definitely went through a depressed period, which seems pretty normal from what I've read due to all of the hormone adjustments and extreme fatigue. Also, don't get frustrated when the scale doesn't move. I've am having a plateau and have only lost 2lbs since my last Post op appt on the 17th. I've lost 17 lbs since my surgery on the 7th. I'm drinking less than 500 cals/day, so a little disconcerting to say the least.

5.) I'm not on solids yet. I can have clears, protein shakes, and egg drop soup. I'm a nurse and I'm very familiar with complications. All I can say is the chances of having them are slim. I have tolerated liquids, and my soup exceptionally well. It is a full-time job getting fluids in, but doable.

Hope this helps and wishing you the very best outcome.

Thanks for the response and tips about powders and Maidenform! I actually just ordered the unjury starter pack, whi*****ludes an unflavored packet. I am hoping that I can mix it with some iced coffee!

This may seem silly, but it's comforting to know that so many nurses and other medical professionals have chosen to have vsg. I just met a young man on another website that's actually a surgical nurse for a bariatric group, and he had the surgery last month. :-)

Congrats on your upcoming surgery! I use Unjury, too sweet for me, so I do 1/2 flavor 1/2 plain. Chicken flavor too salty for me, so same. No on binder & compression garment, this is 1st I'm even hearing about them- as with everything else, whatever your dr. reccommends. I'm almost at 2 months, & I'm on solids. As long as I stop when I'm sated, I'm good. The hardest/nauseating for me is getting down all the vitamins & pills, & I found the liquid, crushed, chewables challenging in thr beginning as well; everyne's bodies react differently. Wishing you lots of luck & succes in your new journey!

I have heard from several folks that it is hard for them to take their vitamins even when they're powders! I actually just ran across some vitamin patches on bariatricpal.com. Have you ever tried these? They have a wide variety including a multivitamin, biotin, calcium, etc.

I may ask my surgeon if they are effective enough for me to use.

I posted about the patches a couple f weeks ago. My dr. vehemently against, used the word "hoax", others swear by them, so again ur dr....

I find centrum chewables pretty tolerable, and I have a pretty weak stomach when it comes to these things.

1. What protein powders do you recommend? My surgical team recommended Bariatric Advantage, but they are costly and I would need to ship them. They gave me protein, sugar, and total carb requirements and said that as long as it met these requirements I could use it. Does anyone use protein powders for Soups?
   Don't invest in any large amounts of protein powder until you taste it after your surgery. Taste buds go completely wonky, and what you loved before surgery may taste like pure poison. They are too expensive to waste like this. Look instead for sample packs. Many manufacturers and distributors will send you a pack of single-servings to try different flavors (not free, but reasonable). Try many different flavors and brands. You want them to be low-carb and at least 20+ grams of protein per serving. It doesn't necessarily need to be a bariatric supplement.
2. Did anyone use an abdominal binder? Someone mentioned that this may make me more comfortable after surgery.
   With all of my core muscles useless, the binder was my security blanket for a few weeks. They gave me one in the hospital so I didn't have to purchase it separately. Give them a call to see if this is their practice before seeking one out.
3. My doctor said that compression garments will help with circulation and make me feel more comfortable under my clothing after I have more excess skin. Does anyone have a brand that they swear by?
   I'm a fan of Sweet Nothings at Walmart. They are actually made by Maidenform and in a comparison test, they couldn't tell the difference between the two. These garments do make a wonderful difference in my confidence when I am dressed up for something or work.
4. What tips or suggestions do you have? I know that everyone is different.
   Fluids are your #1 priority, and your daily minimum is 64oz starting when they remove the IV from your arm. It doesn't sound like a big deal now, but it's a full-time all day task as a post op. Drinks won't taste good or feel good going down. Try different flavors and even temperatures to help. For me it was room temp green koolaid that won. I just swapped splenda for sugar.
5. When were you comfortable eating solid food? A friend that had it said after a few months, she could eat about 3 oz. Shredded chicken or fish and a bite or two of veggies per meal. Is this about normal? I ran across one horror story online where the girl said that she couldn't eat anything at all for months and that scares me.
   Many docs these days progress you gradually to solid foods, so this may take weeks before they say you're ready. I had my surgery 12 years ago, and I was eating soft foods on my 4th day in the hospital. I survived just fine.
   
   When it comes to meat, think slow-cooked, crock-pot kind of meat first. You want the moistest and tenderest you can get. For chicken, go for thigh meat over breast meat since dark has more moisture. Don't be surprised if ground beef throws you for a loop. Even though it appears tender, it's not made from tender meats and may stick in your stomach like a rock.
   
   Also, only try one new thing at a time, so you can easily pinpoint anything that disagrees with you.

Thank you for the tips, especially the water, meat, and binder! I didn't even think of asking the hospital or my surgical team for a binder.

What protein powders do you recommend? My surgical team recommended Bariatric Advantage, but they are costly and I would need to ship them. They gave me protein, sugar, and total carb requirements and said that as long as it met these requirements I could use it. Does anyone use protein powders for Soups?

Like Valerie said, don't spend a lot of money on protein stuff pre-op. I have a VERY picky palate, and ordered samplers from every brand I could find. I found that I liked the Syntrax brands the best overall. I bought a huge tub of the Syntrax chocolate truffle or somesuch, and a huge tub of vanilla from another brand (can't remember which right now). Couldn't STAND the ready to drink (Premier) pre-op.

Post-op, I couldn't stand any of the stuff I'd gotten in the tub. They'd given me Premier in the hospital, and I liked it fine. So post-op I've been drinking nothing but Premiere. I'm going to start trying to do some of EggFace's magic with all the powder I have in my pantry. LOL.

Also, I was always a sweets hound before surgery, and it only took about 2 days post-op before I was SICK TO DEATH of sweet. Unjury makes a protein chicken broth product that's pretty good. All I had on hand at the time was the 2 packets in the sample kit, so I took an unflavored protein powder and mixed it into regular boullion.

The trick to putting protein powder in hot liquids is to mix the powder with a little bit of warm but not ho****er, then mix THAT with the hot liquid you want it in.

The other thing I did that REALLY helped the first 2 weeks post-op was I took Syntrax Roadside Lemonade and froze it in ice-pop tubes I got from Amazon. That helped me get more liquids down along with protein. Syntrax has several fruit flavors that make good ice pops.

Did anyone use an abdominal binder? Someone mentioned that this may make me more comfortable after surgery.

Nope, my doc said they didn't really help much and she didn't like using them for this surgery.

My doctor said that compression garments will help with circulation and make me feel more comfortable under my clothing after I have more excess skin. Does anyone have a brand that they swear by?

So far I'm using Maidenform and Spanx and they're doing well for me.

What tips or suggestions do you have? I know that everyone is different.

walk walk walk, sip sip sip. That is your life for the first week at the very least, and likely the first 2. Concentrate on getting your fluids in, that's the #1 complication that sends people to the ER after surgery.

When were you comfortable eating solid food? A friend that had it said after a few months, she could eat about 3 oz. Shredded chicken or fish and a bite or two of veggies per meal. Is this about normal? I ran across one horror story online where the girl said that she couldn't eat anything at all for months and that scares me.

I was allowed to try pretty much everything after about 8 weeks, but I still struggled with dense protein for another couple of weeks after that. The moister the food, the better. I was eating 2-3 oz of dense protein at about 3 months out. My sleeve started out really prissy, a lot of foods just would NOT sit well until I was a lot further down the road. I was cleared for eggs at about 3-4 weeks, but couldn't actually stomach them until after about 8-10 weeks. Eating too fast, not chewing well, and eating the wrong things would cause significant discomfort.

The biggest thing is once you're cleared for a new stage of food, don't go whole hog and try a bunch of things in the new stage. You are still better off adding in foods one at a time - eating just a tiny bit of the one new food to start, then trying a little more at another meal. If something doesn't sit well, put it aside and try something else and only go back to that food after some time has passed (for me that was a month or so). If an entire stage is appearing to not sit well, back up to the stage before it for a week or so and then slowly try it out again.

Even 15 months out, I still can only eat about 4 oz of dense protein and a few bites of something else. At this point I only have a few foods that my prissy sleeve will not tolerate, but most of them are things I shouldn't be eating anyway. LOL.