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Just had surgery on 10/29, new to the site, and looking for discussion partners

Chancelet

Chancelet

Member
Hi everyone. Found this site after an internet search. Thought I needed to try and build some connections for this drastic life change. I had the sleeve done on Tuesday. I'm still excited about it, but am leery about all those darned food commercials! I fast forward over most, but some do catch me. Has anyone been battling the suggestive hammer of food commercials? Have you gone to restaurants yet? Has it been an issue?

Would love to have discussions on topics like these and others.
 
Welcome Chancelet!!!
At 7 weeks after my surgery, I was allowed regular food. I went to a restaurant with a friend and ordered a nice large meal of Catfish, carrots, and green beans with iced tea. Yum, yum. I ate a couple small bites of each and took the rest home and enjoyed it for several more meals. Of course I don't mind left overs. :)
 
Welcome Chancelet!!!
At 7 weeks after my surgery, I was allowed regular food. I went to a restaurant with a friend and ordered a nice large meal of Catfish, carrots, and green beans with iced tea. Yum, yum. I ate a couple small bites of each and took the rest home and enjoyed it for several more meals. Of course I don't mind left overs. :)
 
Cheyenne said:
Welcome Chancelet!!!
At 7 weeks after my surgery, I was allowed regular food. I went to a restaurant with a friend and ordered a nice large meal of Catfish, carrots, and green beans with iced tea. Yum, yum. I ate a couple small bites of each and took the rest home and enjoyed it for several more meals. Of course I don't mind left overs. :)
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Thanks Cheyenne. :) Seven weeks is a long time! So glad you enjoyed your first real meal though. This is my first week, and tonight, the second full day from the hospital, is starting to get rough. Wanting to have a piece of candy that the trick or treaters didn't get. :eek: I'm supposed to go 2 weeks of mainly liquids, then 2 more weeks of a little more solids, then regular food.

I see the surgeon again in two weeks. I'm hoping I would have done well enough by then to get the okay eat a bit more on regular foods.

What do you think was the hardest thing for you during those 7 weeks?
 
Well, my surgeon stressed over and over to me that I couldn't have any type of solid food in the beginning because it could overstretch the newly made pouch and break it open and I could die because my stomach contents would leak into my body, and at the very least I would have to have emergency surgery to redo the stomach. He said not even to take large gulps of liquids for the first 3 wks because that could break the stomach open too. Just sip, sip, sip. After 3 wks the stomach wont break open. At 2 wks I was allowed to eat applesauce. At 3 wks I was allowed tiny bites of soft fish like tuna and flakey soft white fish but no chiken pork or beef til 7 wks. At that point I was cleared to eat anything, but just a few bites would fill me up. In the very beginning I really didn't feel like eating my jello or drinking my liquids. It was a real chore for me, I felt so full the second I put anything in my tummy. After surgery, I was kept in the hospital for a week because I just couldn't get enough liquids in. I was given intravenous fluids and blood transfusions while in the hospital. Then I felt so much better but still had to work hard to get my liquids down. That was the hardest part for me.
 
About the food commercials.. when you see them, just think of them for another galaxy in outer space lol. They go straight over my head cause I know they are not an option. Period. We are here to help each other and after all we went through to get to this point, we cant succumb to money making commercials. Things are different now after surgery our tummy is tiny. We really aren't hungry, it's just old habits die hard. Eating was fun in our family.. we had a great time all together eating and enjoying life. However as my weight climbed, life wasn't so great anymore. I have to make good food choices now. I have made up my mind. I wish I would have done this years ago. When you see another food commercial, just know it's for another world, not for us. Good luck!
 
Food commercials are hard. I just look away, except when some big disgusting Hardees commercial comes on. I look at it and think how sad it is that Hardees spends all that time and effort making a bigger, higher calorie, higher fat hamburger that nobody should be eating.
I haven't gone to a restaurant yet, but I do have a sit down dinner party to go to this week. I don't know what I'll do, because I'm sure that there will be nothing on my plate that I can eat, and I don't feel like explaining to people at the table.
 
Thanks for your comments Cheyenne. I will try and see them as from another planet, or at least food for another species!

Yes, I think you need to be even more so careful with the bypass. Hope you truly overcome that liquid intake. It is hard for me too, since we can't take big swallows. They gave me pudding the second day in the hospital, the day I was released. I need to make sure I keep the foods soft like that and not push the mark.

Karinina, I think going to family or friend gatherings will be harder than going to a restaurant. I've done neither yet. I hope you can find some soup that you can have at your dinner.

So far, the hardest things for me are getting enough liquids, and slowing down when I eat. How my stomach reacts after taking one or two spoons too quickly reminds me to slow down, but I'd like to remember to do so before I get that reaction. I guess so many years of eating too fast take a bit to get over.
 
I love pudding.. I don't know how I missed out eating it. Just didn't even think of it... I did have some yogurt though, the surgeon did warn me not to overdo eating it, he said he had one patient who was eating ten a day. So I was careful to only eat one a day. I also have always eaten fast. If I get distracted like the phone rings, I start gulping my food and then it hurts so I think hey I have to slow down. Eventually I will get this all done right, I hope. LOL
 
Oh yes, we all need to not overdo any of it, including drinking too much water at once. I add stevia to the yogurt. It's not the greatest, but it's something different.

Isn't it why they give us so much time off... to relearn how to eat? My pain isn't that bad, I may take medicine later today, before my sister comes to go for a walk and to go to the store to get some pudding and jello! :)

Made some good broth today. Added garlic, black pepper, paprika, a couple drops of tapatio sauce, and parmigiano cheese. Quite delicious.
 
eating slowly was the hardest thing for me to relearn...I was always used to gulping (my profession doesn't help all that much either). I also learned that when I thought I was "hungry" I was actually "thirsty", so I learned to sip on water, ice chips, crystal light and popsickles all day. It made mealtime MUCH easier. I had my surgery right before Christmas, my family new, but oh all those christmas goodies! I learned to eat before I went to a party. It was easy to just carry around a small plate of veggies and not really eat them. It'll be harder with a sit down dinner, I think. I learned that the more you talk and "act" like you're eating, the less suspicious you are. I also was the one who would help the hostess clean as they went...kept me busy and away from the food.
 
I add sugar free jams/jellies to my greek yogurt to mix it up a bit...also, Unjury has an unflavored protein powder that mixes SO well...I've made MANY a chocolate pudding with no one noticing that it was SF and full of protein!
 
Right now, I'm still on liquids and soft foods. Will see the doctor for the first time after the surgery on the 14th. Hoping to get the okay for real food. I keep dreaming of eating amuse-bousche sized delicacies. I'm doing okay though. Avoiding the commercials, and when I do see foods I'd normally love to indulge in, I use Cheyenne's tool, by I tell myself it's dog food they're eating or showing on TV. That helps for the most part. Went to the movies, and not getting popcorn, phew! Dog food, that's all it is, dog food!!

I'm getting better at eating slower. It's still a weird feeling... the food or even drinks going down. Does that feeling last? And the gas coming up after eating and drinking a bit, how long does that last?

I do add sugar-free jam to greek yogurt too! along with stivia. It's pretty darned good. Still need to get popsicles.
 
Use the commercials to get up and walk around. They can't tempt you if you don't see them!!! I am super paranoid about leakage and busting a stitch that I will probably extend my soft food/puree stage by a week or 2. A big part of this is a life style change and a way to re-work your brain. The surgery only takes care of the physical part but unfortunately you have to work on the mental side of it. Food addiction may be poo-poo'd by most of the masses as an excuse but studies show that when a food addict eats it triggers the same parts of the brain as an alcoholic or a drug addict. I would look for a support system similar to AA or even work through the 12 steps yourself. The biggest thing about food addiction is that you need food to survive but you don't need alcohol or drugs!
 
take along

Karenina said:
Food commercials are hard. I just look away, except when some big disgusting Hardees commercial comes on. I look at it and think how sad it is that Hardees spends all that time and effort making a bigger, higher calorie, higher fat hamburger that nobody should be eating.
I haven't gone to a restaurant yet, but I do have a sit down dinner party to go to this week. I don't know what I'll do, because I'm sure that there will be nothing on my plate that I can eat, and I don't feel like explaining to people at the table.
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Can you take a little something along that you will be able to eat? Maybe a Jello salad or Jello and fruit desert? "as a Thank You for Inviting me"...
 
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