New to the forum!

Hi Everyone!

I just had gastric sleeve 4/20/15. Everything confuses me because even the doctor's office doesn't follow the book they gave me so I figured, I'd ask some questions here.

1. I went in Monday for my 3 week checkup. The dietician said I can eat anything I want as long as I chew chew chew. However every where I read I should only be on soft foods now.

2. I have shortness of breath...sometimes. Sometimes I can jog around a store and sometimes I can barely make to the living room. They've decided that they are going to do a chest x-ray to make sure my lungs are cool but as anyone else had this problem?

I have a hard time getting in 64 oz. of fluid and 60 grams of protein. I tend to rely on the shakes and the dietician said I should only be drinking 1 a day at this point (30 grams) but I'm getting better.

Also I've lost 20 lbs, is that good at 3 weeks out?

I'll stop now but thanks for answering and I'm sure I'll have more.

Hello Mañana

Welcome to ObesityHelp!  We are glad that you have joined our OH community.  

As you check out OH, you'll see many features and tools that are created for our members as you embark on your WLS journey.  OH is a great place for support, research and tools to assist you with your journey.  Here are a few suggestions:

About Obesity
About Weight Loss Surgery
Medical Necessity
Post-op Planner
BMI Calculator
Health Tracker

We also have a great HELP SECTION with tutorials to assist you with navigating our site. If you need our assistance, you can reach us at [email protected]

We suggest you post this on your surgery type forum Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum (VSG) to reach out to those that had the same surgery as you.

We look forward to your updates

Welcome!

1. Eat as your doctor's plan tells you to, even if you see others here doing differently. Most of us have different instructions, it's best to stick what your surgeon who did your VSG specifically recommends.

2. I felt a bit wheezy once in a while, probably because my body had a lot to adjust to. It's great that they're doing an X-ray, that's the best way to find out what's up, fingers crossed that it turns out well!

Adjusting to fluid and protein is often a problem for many of us. Make sure to carry a water bottle with you all day long and sip constantly! I had an easier time drinking when I had things like sugar-free lemonade and Mio, so you may want to stock up on those. It's also helpful to find high-protein snacks you like and can count on having every day, bonus points if you don't need to cook them. I always keep Greek yogurt, string cheese, and pre-made tuna salad in my fridge.

20lb is great progress! Keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine. Congrats!

Thanks for the answers!

Julie,

My doctors plan in the booklet he gave me said I should be on soft foods at this point. It was his dietician that said I could eat whatever I wanted as long as I chew it well. At this time I'm going by the book because quite honestly I don't think my stomach is ready for anything more yet. I know at some point I need to "figure out" what I need to eat instead of relying on the shakes but I also don't think I'm ready to eat just anything I want at this point and to be honest I don't want much right now.

That sounds like a good plan-- probably best to err on the side of caution!

I felt the same way regarding "real" food at first, too. I ended up making a list of things I could try, and then having one new thing a day to see how my stomach handled it. Eggs didn't sit well at ALL at first, but I had no trouble with tuna or yogurt, so it took a while to work through things.

I just ate tacos and mini candy bars. They sat the best.

Welcome to the loser's bench! 

My surgeon's group didn't require me to do clear liquids/liquids/soft foods, etc. before trying real food.  I was told to do as you also.  I couldn't do anything super dense or even a little bit greasy.  Follow your stomach's cues.  

You're less than a month out so it's normal to have problems getting in all the water and protein.  Focus on the water first - you should notice it gets easier over the next couple weeks to get all that in.  You need to start early in the morning and keep it up all day long.  

And 20 lbs in 3 weeks is AWESOME!  Just look around at other people's weight loss tickers.  Keep up the good work 

Congratulations and welcome! You'll find that we all have different eating plans right after surgery. For me it was liquids for 2 weeks, puree for 2 weeks and then I was able to have soft foods. Our stomachs are still in the healing process even after 3 weeks and you don't want to irritate your new stomach. Protein is definitely difficult after surgery. It took me almost 3 weeks to finish one protein shake during the entire day. This will get better. But try and concentrate on getting your water in, this is really important. Try some sugar free popsicles, sugar free jello, your favorite soup (make sure if it has chicken and vegetables to put through a strainer) and unsweetened juice diluted with a little water. Regarding your breathing, are you still using the incentive spirometer? This is meant to help you exercise your lungs after surgery. Hang-in-there, it really does get better.

Welcome, you will get great information here.  Follow your teams plan.  Mine was modified by the Nutritionist too.  They explained that the booklet was based on a very conservative approach but since I wasn't having any issues, they accelerated it.  Good Luck!