I really need advice...

[soozant]

I went to Mexico and got the Gastric Sleeve January 22 and everything went fine. The problem is I have had very little restriction. Almost immediately I could take big gulps of liquid and within 2 weeks I was eating whole fruit. I know I was not suppose to eat those things but I tried them to see if I could and I never had any issue. The only thing that feels different is I'm lactose intolerant now, which is not a huge deal. I have left a message and the surgeon has not gotten back to me yet but what should I do. I saved for a couple years to get this and spent 6 grand to now have nothing to show for it. Any help is welcome

[Bananna]

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

[soozant]

Do you have difficulties in life with communication because you missed the entire point of the thread?

[Kindle]

This isn't an exact science as far as measuring goes, but try this.... First thing in the morning take a 16oz container of cottage cheese. Eat as much as you can in less than 5 minutes. Don't chew each bite 20 times like you are supposed to, you want it kind of thick in your sleeve for this experiment. Eat just until comfortably satisfied, not over full. (Unfortunately At this stage you may not know what that feels like yet, but give it a try). Now subtract what's left from 16oz and that's a rough estimate of your sleeve size.

BTW, what size Bougie did your surgeon use? Did he oversew the suture line? Were you given a barium swallow with X-rays or flouroscopy postop so you could actually see your sleeve?

[Muted_Tummy]

If your surgery team is unresponsive and unsupportive, make an appointment with your PCP stat. You need a medical person in your corner. If you have insurance and it pays for nutrition/dietician, set up a few appointments (tell PCP you need this). You need some informed medical support. I'd say the same with therapy. Lots of transitions will happen this year and having someone neutral to talk it all out with is helpful.

[soozant]

Thank you!! That's a great idea and I will try that. I have no idea what size ect.. he used or did. At the barium test I easily swallowed the liquid without any problems and never have had to chew slowly ect.. Everything from the beginning has gone right through.

[sraebaer]

I was given a huge "bible" of what to eat when. I was on protein drinks for the first two weeks, then added different foods each week after that until at 6 weeks I was cleared for all foods. But I had rules to follow, like protein first, no drinking before or after eating, etc. If you eat protein, like any kind of meat, you should feel restriction. Have you tried chicken? That's the point of protein first, eat that and you will be too full for anything else. If you are able to eat a whole chicken breast or pork chop, something is wrong, and i would follow up with a doctor.

Basically follow the rules and you'll do fine.

[tina833]

Hi Susan,

I have not felt the exact same restrictions that others talk about either though I have not tested them like you have for fear of causing a leak or stretching my pouch and because I want this to work so badly. I need this to work since I am so big and need this major life change because I not only want to live but want to live more abundantly. I don't want to continue to be miserably fat the rest of my life. I'm tired of not being able to do whatever I want because of my fat restrictions.

While I agree with the others about contacting a health professional for help, I also have a few suggestions.

Were you given a nutrition plan to follow? If so, get on this plan despite having to make yourself do so without the help you assumed would come from your sleeve. Buy yourself whatever measuring tools you need to do this including a food scale. My own digital food scale has been a life saver for me because it has kept me from eating more than I should. This one cost me $20 instead of the cheapest one I could have bought for about $6 but considering how important this is to me, it was worth it. Also track your food to make sure you meet all of the guidelines you are suppose to meet for your protein intake and your fluid intake. MyFitnessPal is a pretty good online tracker that you should be able to find through Google.

If you were not given a nutrition plan to follow, there are plenty on the internet that are pretty similar or just reach back out to us and some of us have plans online that we can share.

Get all of the necessary vitamins that your nutrition plant recommends. This is also a good reminder of what you are doing. You want to follow the plan so that you will be successful.

One thing that has helped me is simply searching on the net for whatever issue happens to come up and including gastric sleeve surgery in the search. For instance, just last night I was wanting to finally take a bath instead of a shower since my wounds seem to be healing. So I did a search of "how soon can I take a bath after gastric sleeve surgery?" It brought up a lot of discussions on this issue to where I saw the majority of responses were 6 weeks after surgery. I had previously been told to wait until I saw my doctor for my follow-up visit which is this coming Tuesday. Since it has only been a little over 2 weeks since my surgery, I figured I should at least wait to get the okay from my surgeon.

Go to the thread on this forum that shows before and after photos and just look at them for however long it takes. I went through them a few weeks ago and have started again just recently. I look at a few each day to remind me of why I am doing this and where I want to be as soon as possible. Every now and then I run across one that reminds me of me mainly because of their starting weight and I will click on their profile to see if I can find some words of wisdom to help me to stick to the plan.

Last but not least, I'm not sure if you are a praying type person but that has worked immensely to help me through all of this.

I hope you find your answers and can get back on track sooner rather than later.

Oh and speaking of a physician and/or nutritionist, it is very important that you find one who will help you where you live so you don't feel like you have to go through this alone. And of course, you still have us.

Tina

[Pam G]

I've been called "Negative Nancy" often, so my first thought was....did they actually remove enough of the stomach?

Here in the US anything that is removed from the body is sent to pathology....I'd see if there is a pathology report.

[Kindle]

I've been called "Negative Nancy" often, so my first thought was....did they actually remove enough of the stomach?

Here in the US anything that is removed from the body is sent to pathology....I'd see if there is a pathology report.

That's a great suggestion. I had my VSG in Mexico and they did submit my removed stomach tissue to a pathology lab. I got the report within a few weeks but I had totally forgotten about it until now.

[Belle2]

Soozant: Please do not eat whole fruits or anything close to those kinds of foods yet. You are risking your life. I had a leak and almost died. It wasn't my fault at all, but if you knew what I went through, you wouldn't eat that stuff yet. My leak was a few days after surgery, and I was only sipping liquids. You are at a risk for a leak if you eat those things so soon after surgery.

[Ann2]

How much are you eating in a typical day -- food, amount, calories, protein, etc.?

[Pam G]

Belle2, did the leak not show up when they did the barium swallow test?

[soozant]

I never tried any other food until week 8. I have been starving following the amounts they say and need to eat more to not be hungry. I'm completely healed but eating a full cup of food is not a problem for me in the least. I can eat chicken, raw veggies and absolutely everything I have ever before and I feel NO restriction or difference in eating them, It feels like I wasted my money. For anyone who says follow the plan ect.... you know how we all got here and we are all over weight and the hopes is the sleeve helps, mine doesn't seem to be small enough because I am not receiving help from it. I know I am probably just screwed and this is what it is because I can't afford to redo it and I'm fairly certain they will not offer the fix free of cost. I'm devastated and am trying to stay on track and lose but it's not much help than when I didn't have it.

[soozant]

Thank you!!