• American Bariatrics is a free online Bariatric Support Group. Register for your free account and get access to all of our great features!

5 weeks post op excitement

Ange6012

Ange6012

Member
Hi All, Monday I will be 5 weeks post op and I am excited to be starting soft foods. This is not an easy journey by any means and anyone telling us we took the easy way out can go scratch!
I am as of today down 24 lbs, nd I'm thrilled but, I'm struggling and very tired. I have an appointment with the nutritionist finally in about 2 weeks I think and a follow up with my surgeon the following week.
I am still having pain on and off on my left side, I will mention that to the surgeon if I still have it when I see him. But I am not at all hungry, I do crave water but mostly at night. I'm struggling to get all my protein in since I'm also having pureed food. But I'm trying to keep getting to it. I'm getting half of what I'm supposed to have. Vitamins are also a struggle since I hate the taste of the chewables.. but I think the lack of iron is causing the fatigue so I am going to pay attention to getting it in.
I'm still working my journey and trying to figure stuff out.

Hope you all are feeling amazing and doing well!!
 
Thanks so much! This is not easy but I'm learning.
My vitamins are
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20220625-154044_Gmail.jpg
    Screenshot_20220625-154044_Gmail.jpg
    146.6 KB · Views: 33
  • Screenshot_20220625-154052_Gmail.jpg
    Screenshot_20220625-154052_Gmail.jpg
    151.2 KB · Views: 32
  • Screenshot_20220625-154101_Gmail.jpg
    Screenshot_20220625-154101_Gmail.jpg
    137.3 KB · Views: 33
Ange6012 said:
Hi All, Monday I will be 5 weeks post op and I am excited to be starting soft foods. This is not an easy journey by any means and anyone telling us we took the easy way out can go scratch!
I am as of today down 24 lbs, nd I'm thrilled but, I'm struggling and very tired. I have an appointment with the nutritionist finally in about 2 weeks I think and a follow up with my surgeon the following week.
I am still having pain on and off on my left side, I will mention that to the surgeon if I still have it when I see him. But I am not at all hungry, I do crave water but mostly at night. I'm struggling to get all my protein in since I'm also having pureed food. But I'm trying to keep getting to it. I'm getting half of what I'm supposed to have. Vitamins are also a struggle since I hate the taste of the chewables.. but I think the lack of iron is causing the fatigue so I am going to pay attention to getting it in.
I'm still working my journey and trying to figure stuff out.

Hope you all are feeling amazing and doing well!!
Click to expand...
I'm so glad you are doing so well. Congrats on your 24lb weight loss. Awesome sauce!
 
Congratulations on your surgery and weight loss so far! As for vitamins, some people have success with the vitamin patches after surgery. They are from PatchMD. They are what I used the first month after surgery, as I struggled to swallow much of anything for about a month and a half after surgery. Might be worth it to you.
 
Woohoo on the weight loss to-date! You are going to really savor the change from pureed to soft foods. Just ahead of you, I'm still supplementing most days with a 30g protein shake, usually for breakfast, or I split it into two servings during the day. As for vitamins, I'm switching right now, too. I was taking Bariatric Fusion chewies (Starburst consistency) 2x daily, with a calcium chewy 3x daily. But after 5 weeks, I can't take the sweetness anymore. I ordered Bariatric Advantage chewables and tried one so far to see how it tastes. Not too bad. I see the nutritionist this week and need to review these. I need to be taking iron and am having trouble offsetting it from dairy by 2 hours as I have dairy based proteins at most meals and need to take the iron with food. I am in a long stall. No weight loss in weeks 4-5+ po. I'm not really upset about it as I've read about the stalls, but hoping that my body is adapting to foods again and it'll step up the losing side of things before too long. I'm back to exercising some 2-3x/week, but not yet at my pre-surgery schedule of 6 days/week. I might need to up my water some, I think. I'm never sure how to talk about how much weight loss since we have these different markers of pre-op dietary counseling, pre-op liquid diet, surgery date, etc. I feel more encouraged when I look at the whole picture, which is really the point for me, so 38 pounds in total lost since January for me, 18 since my surgery date. Looking forward to that marker moving again! Have a great day everybody!
 
Ange6012 said:
Hi All, Monday I will be 5 weeks post op and I am excited to be starting soft foods. This is not an easy journey by any means and anyone telling us we took the easy way out can go scratch!
I am as of today down 24 lbs, nd I'm thrilled but, I'm struggling and very tired. I have an appointment with the nutritionist finally in about 2 weeks I think and a follow up with my surgeon the following week.
I am still having pain on and off on my left side, I will mention that to the surgeon if I still have it when I see him. But I am not at all hungry, I do crave water but mostly at night. I'm struggling to get all my protein in since I'm also having pureed food. But I'm trying to keep getting to it. I'm getting half of what I'm supposed to have. Vitamins are also a struggle since I hate the taste of the chewables.. but I think the lack of iron is causing the fatigue so I am going to pay attention to getting it in.
I'm still working my journey and trying to figure stuff out.

Hope you all are feeling amazing and doing well!!
Click to expand...
I/We are super proud of you! You Got This!!!
 
paula2363 said:
Any one take Flintstone vitamins? also how much Biotin do you take? I am two weeks out and Im so tired and weak.
I do get my protein in. I see my Dr. on Wednesday and my nutritionist in hopes I move on to soft foods for week 3.
Click to expand...
I was feeling exhausted, and realized I wasn't taking my vitamins. My multi has a full day of iron I was having none. Once I started forcing myself to take them I'm feeling better
 
KAT in PA said:
Woohoo on the weight loss to-date! You are going to really savor the change from pureed to soft foods. Just ahead of you, I'm still supplementing most days with a 30g protein shake, usually for breakfast, or I split it into two servings during the day. As for vitamins, I'm switching right now, too. I was taking Bariatric Fusion chewies (Starburst consistency) 2x daily, with a calcium chewy 3x daily. But after 5 weeks, I can't take the sweetness anymore. I ordered Bariatric Advantage chewables and tried one so far to see how it tastes. Not too bad. I see the nutritionist this week and need to review these. I need to be taking iron and am having trouble offsetting it from dairy by 2 hours as I have dairy based proteins at most meals and need to take the iron with food. I am in a long stall. No weight loss in weeks 4-5+ po. I'm not really upset about it as I've read about the stalls, but hoping that my body is adapting to foods again and it'll step up the losing side of things before too long. I'm back to exercising some 2-3x/week, but not yet at my pre-surgery schedule of 6 days/week. I might need to up my water some, I think. I'm never sure how to talk about how much weight loss since we have these different markers of pre-op dietary counseling, pre-op liquid diet, surgery date, etc. I feel more encouraged when I look at the whole picture, which is really the point for me, so 38 pounds in total lost since January for me, 18 since my surgery date. Looking forward to that marker moving again! Have a great day everybody!
Click to expand...
I love that we can share our experiences! I do agree that as we begin adding food, our bodies go into shock lol.
It's good to be able to celebrate each other's goals, needs etc. We are all different, we all will experience this process in different ways. I will woohoo everyone's accomplishments lol
 
Ange6012 said:
Vitamins are also a struggle since I hate the taste of the chewables.. but I think the lack of iron is causing the fatigue so I am going to pay attention to getting it in.
Click to expand...

there are SO MANY pill hacks. one of my faves is the little senior citizen plastic pill crusher. it looks like a yo-yo and you just insert and twist to powder. then put it in some jello or jelly or pudding or whatever works for you and swallow it fast. you could also use a few ounces of water with metamucil mixed in to make it thick, add the powder and drink really fast.

more important than merely vitamins is to avoid pills that have an enteric coating. this is just paint to keep the pressed powder from coming loose, but it's bad for us. it's best to run it under water and wipe it off, then quickly take it.

yes, i did take flintstones. i read the label and they were identical to Centrum. but ultimately i was able to figure out how to take my meds without malabsorption. search the archives here and also reach out on the WWW. there are many many solutions.

oh, and im 15 years out and take 22 pills a day for various reasons, and i just take them with water or chew them. no problems.
 
Ange6012 said:
Hi All, Monday I will be 5 weeks post op and I am excited to be starting soft foods. This is not an easy journey by any means and anyone telling us we took the easy way out can go scratch!
I am as of today down 24 lbs, nd I'm thrilled but, I'm struggling and very tired. I have an appointment with the nutritionist finally in about 2 weeks I think and a follow up with my surgeon the following week.
I am still having pain on and off on my left side, I will mention that to the surgeon if I still have it when I see him. But I am not at all hungry, I do crave water but mostly at night. I'm struggling to get all my protein in since I'm also having pureed food. But I'm trying to keep getting to it. I'm getting half of what I'm supposed to have. Vitamins are also a struggle since I hate the taste of the chewables.. but I think the lack of iron is causing the fatigue so I am going to pay attention to getting it in.
I'm still working my journey and trying to figure stuff out.

Hope you all are feeling amazing and doing well!!
Click to expand...

Wow 5 weeks! I guess each person is different and each surgeon takes their own approach. I had my surgery on the 21st of this month and on July 5th I am allowed to start eating eggs (any way except fried) tuna and chicken salad with full fat mayo ( no add INS likes onion or relish etc, but I can add boiled eggs to the tuna salad) as well as over cooked vegetables ( specific veggies) and continue with the protein shakes.

I hear ya on the not taking the easy route! 1 month liquid diet is something many of my friends say they could never do!
I'm still healing as well. Not having anymore pain in my gut though, just feeling like I'm bloated every time I have to drink my protein shake.
My Dr told me to get some gas x for that which I did.
I had an allergic reaction though to the glue used to seal my incision sites, and to the prep they used on me before surgery. So my Dr put me on a steroid 5 day pack for it. I still have huge black and purple bruises as well from the 3 heparin shots they gave me. The one on my tummy itches like crazy but the ones on my sides are fine. No pain from them either.
I'm married and have 2 adult sons that still live with us, so I'm still cooking dinners for them and ugh it's so hard smelling that food cooking for them and not having a tiny taste of it lol. But I don't even lick my fingers when I make them treats lol but I don't make treats with any wheat flour or sugar. All coconut or almond flour and the only sweetener I use in their baked goods is Swerve or Splenda scoopable (generic brand)

I am so looking forward to the 5th for my first scrambled egg!

I am so happy for you! Enjoy your first meal! Even if it is only one or two bites! You earned them!
Congratulations on 5 weeks ... You did it!!
 
Thanks so much everyone! I love this forum for the support and freedom to speak on things people in our everyday live could never understand.

I've been feeling good, moved up to 1/2 cup of food but rarely do I finish it all.

Something concerning me is calories now that I am eating. Since figuring out how to use those prepared protein shakes I can't drink straight and eating my calories per day are very close to 1000. So today I decided to go back to my protein powder which is 110 cal per serving and 25 gms protein. Because it's mixed with water it's thin and I can get it down.

Isopure Low carb protein powder. I'm using dark chocolate, but I also have unflavored and Tahitian Vanilla.

I'm making up a full days worth giving me, 50 gms just from the protein, then I'm sure I'm making the rest up in food. I will track and see.

I may also make up a batch today of the Isopure clear citrus and really make sure I'm getting it in :)

Food has been ok, I made a white chili the other day with ground turkey, ground chicken and white beans. It was delish! Another night I made chicken fajitas of course no tortilla for me.

I am down 26lbs and it's going slowly, I am curious after today's start of over 100 calorie savings if things change
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top