stefletcher28
New Member
Hi Everyone
I'm now 10 days post-op following my GB surgery on the 30th June and thought I'd share my experiences a little following my first 1 day post op ramble last week! lol
As far as my weight goes here's my stats
Consultation Day 5th May - 315lb
Pre-Op Milk Diet 20th June - 308lb
Surgery Day 30th June - 288lb
Week 1 July - 276lb (-12lb)
Total Loss so far following consultation - 39lb
Immediately following the Op things were quite tender and it was difficult to lie down as I felt like my stomach needed to be supported, a couple of nights on the sofa did the trick and after that I could sleep in bed again.
The wind pain was the most annoying part, more than anything else in my experience, the shoulder aching was like having the toothache, but in my shoulder! lol
I found out very quickly that I can't stand peppermint tea or cordial so sucked deflatine virtually all day to ease it.
Not to go into graphic detail but I felt quite constipated for the first few days. I don't think I was taking enough liquids as I was nervous about the band. After a bit of googling I read that the biggest cause of this was dehydration so I upped my liquid intake and low and behold there was movement. This also helped massively with the trapped wind and since then I've been pretty much back to normal.
I'm drinking plenty of sugar free squash and having 3 tins of soup a day as well as my supplements. I started off with cup a soups like those they gave me in the hospital after my op but after 4-5 days I moved to tinned soups that were just a little bit more substantial, watered down a bit if necessary.
Some of the soups have "bits" in them and so are not smooth. I tried using the liquidiser to smooth it out but found it whipped too much air into the soup and ended up drinking what felt like bowls of cuckoo spit!
In the end I used a sieve to pass the soup through and remove any lumps that can't be broken down, the soup tastes nicer and less frothy.
I had a 3ml fill during surgery into a 14ml band and at the moment don't really feel any restriction (not that I expect to being only on liquids for another week) but if I eat my soup too quickly or accidentally forget myself and take too big a gulp of squash then within about 2 minutes I get the aching trapped wind pain back in my left shoulder and feel quite belchy. This lasts about 10 minutes and then goes off. I've had no sickness or PB'ing though which is a bonus.
I had a good test at the weekend as the weather was so hot we invited some folks round for a bbq. Traditionally I have always cooked and then never really fancied eating the food afterwards so I thought it would be ok. Luckily I was fine. I had a bowl of soup before people arrive, cooked all the food then had another bowl of soup later in the evening. I was tempted but I knew I couldn't have it so I didn't. Something that would have been close to impossible for me pre-op.
So for me at the moment, while I don't think the band is giving me any physical restriction, its the thought of it being there, helping me, that is bolstering my willpower and helping me make better choices.
Saying that, I am desperate for something mushy now! Roll on next Sunday, I'm so looking forward to scrambled eggs and chopped tomatoes, or shepherds pie, or even Yuk sung from the chinese (I know that's naughty)
I bought some super duper wifi attached scales pre-op to monitor my weight, Withings Smart Analysers or something, they're really good and automatically feed body data into things like myfitnesspal. My weightloss so far this week has been pretty static but the scales fat percentage analayser is showing that the level of fat in my body is decreasing even though my weight is staying the same so I'm taking that to mean that my body is just changing its composition hopefully in response to the new healthier me. I've gone from 50% body fat to 41% since the Op which I think is heading in the right direction at least.
I'm stepping on the scales every day but not taking the day by day results to seriously as I know from past experience there can be major fluctuations for no apparent reason. The online app does draw pretty graphs and allows me to set short term goals though so they provide me with a bit more motivation in that respect as well as satisfy the nerd in me! lol
I was back at work yesterday unfortunately and have brought my huge 1.5l Bubba Keg full of iced no sugar squash and a tin of tomato soup for lunch.
The operation wounds are nice and clean although they're getting a bit itchy which I'm taking as a good sign that they're healing nicely. Certainly no sign of infection or anything. Toilet habits are almost back to normal but would expect greater normalcy once fibre intake goes up in a few weeks time.
Looking forward to my first fill in 4.5 weeks time so I can move on to the next stage of my journey, finding the "sweet spot"!
So that's it in a nutshell, another rambling post, sorry!
Hope everyone else is doing ok!
Steve
I'm now 10 days post-op following my GB surgery on the 30th June and thought I'd share my experiences a little following my first 1 day post op ramble last week! lol
As far as my weight goes here's my stats
Consultation Day 5th May - 315lb
Pre-Op Milk Diet 20th June - 308lb
Surgery Day 30th June - 288lb
Week 1 July - 276lb (-12lb)
Total Loss so far following consultation - 39lb
Immediately following the Op things were quite tender and it was difficult to lie down as I felt like my stomach needed to be supported, a couple of nights on the sofa did the trick and after that I could sleep in bed again.
The wind pain was the most annoying part, more than anything else in my experience, the shoulder aching was like having the toothache, but in my shoulder! lol
I found out very quickly that I can't stand peppermint tea or cordial so sucked deflatine virtually all day to ease it.
Not to go into graphic detail but I felt quite constipated for the first few days. I don't think I was taking enough liquids as I was nervous about the band. After a bit of googling I read that the biggest cause of this was dehydration so I upped my liquid intake and low and behold there was movement. This also helped massively with the trapped wind and since then I've been pretty much back to normal.
I'm drinking plenty of sugar free squash and having 3 tins of soup a day as well as my supplements. I started off with cup a soups like those they gave me in the hospital after my op but after 4-5 days I moved to tinned soups that were just a little bit more substantial, watered down a bit if necessary.
Some of the soups have "bits" in them and so are not smooth. I tried using the liquidiser to smooth it out but found it whipped too much air into the soup and ended up drinking what felt like bowls of cuckoo spit!
In the end I used a sieve to pass the soup through and remove any lumps that can't be broken down, the soup tastes nicer and less frothy.
I had a 3ml fill during surgery into a 14ml band and at the moment don't really feel any restriction (not that I expect to being only on liquids for another week) but if I eat my soup too quickly or accidentally forget myself and take too big a gulp of squash then within about 2 minutes I get the aching trapped wind pain back in my left shoulder and feel quite belchy. This lasts about 10 minutes and then goes off. I've had no sickness or PB'ing though which is a bonus.
I had a good test at the weekend as the weather was so hot we invited some folks round for a bbq. Traditionally I have always cooked and then never really fancied eating the food afterwards so I thought it would be ok. Luckily I was fine. I had a bowl of soup before people arrive, cooked all the food then had another bowl of soup later in the evening. I was tempted but I knew I couldn't have it so I didn't. Something that would have been close to impossible for me pre-op.
So for me at the moment, while I don't think the band is giving me any physical restriction, its the thought of it being there, helping me, that is bolstering my willpower and helping me make better choices.
Saying that, I am desperate for something mushy now! Roll on next Sunday, I'm so looking forward to scrambled eggs and chopped tomatoes, or shepherds pie, or even Yuk sung from the chinese (I know that's naughty
)I bought some super duper wifi attached scales pre-op to monitor my weight, Withings Smart Analysers or something, they're really good and automatically feed body data into things like myfitnesspal. My weightloss so far this week has been pretty static but the scales fat percentage analayser is showing that the level of fat in my body is decreasing even though my weight is staying the same so I'm taking that to mean that my body is just changing its composition hopefully in response to the new healthier me. I've gone from 50% body fat to 41% since the Op which I think is heading in the right direction at least.
I'm stepping on the scales every day but not taking the day by day results to seriously as I know from past experience there can be major fluctuations for no apparent reason. The online app does draw pretty graphs and allows me to set short term goals though so they provide me with a bit more motivation in that respect as well as satisfy the nerd in me! lol
I was back at work yesterday unfortunately and have brought my huge 1.5l Bubba Keg full of iced no sugar squash and a tin of tomato soup for lunch.
The operation wounds are nice and clean although they're getting a bit itchy which I'm taking as a good sign that they're healing nicely. Certainly no sign of infection or anything. Toilet habits are almost back to normal but would expect greater normalcy once fibre intake goes up in a few weeks time.
Looking forward to my first fill in 4.5 weeks time so I can move on to the next stage of my journey, finding the "sweet spot"!
So that's it in a nutshell, another rambling post, sorry!
Hope everyone else is doing ok!
Steve
