Central Coast says hello

You're welcome, Nicole - I wrote down the questions I wanted to ask, and as you saw, a lot of it was stuff we'd talked about. Of course other peoples' doctors and dieticians will have said differently, but that's how it goes.
Chris :afro:

Thanks for taking the time to send your post chris, It was good to hear what your dr said cos as you said it was all relevant to what we have been talking about.

Thnaks again

Nicole

Oh, I'm glad my post was helpful.
Steph, I don't think he meant that at all - just that it will be 6-8 weeks to be fully healed. I asked him if I had to do anything special to help it, and he said no. I just answered another post of yours on another thread and it seems that the acid might be your problem. I hope you get some relief soon.
Asnewme1, thanks for that info. I'm also on another site where they do stats, and everyone's different, and lots of people have lost more or less than the doc - but I just thought I'd post what he said. Other docs may say something completely different, too.
Btw, I'm 51 years old, if that helps. But I have decided I don't want to do the ticker thing.
Chris :afro:

Your post was really helpful and it is great that you have lost 10 kg already.
On lapbandtalk.com the banders use a lot of graphic tickers and their signatures often include the date they got banded or a little graphic organizer like highest/surgery/current/goal weight. There are a few sleevers and they seem to include the same sort of information. Then as you scroll through the posts you can get an idea of how fast other people are losing. Also a lot of them include their age on their signature which helps you gauge how fast you might lose. So if you go to that site and type in gastric sleeve you can get an idea of how quickly other people are losing. Just a thought

Wow Chris, thanks for sharing that info. I was especially interested in the HH stuff. Do you think he meant when he said 6-8 weeks for recovery that would mean that eating could be difficult or the swelling will take that long to subside? I wonder if the occasional pain I get with eating food in my chest is a result of that.

Hi everyone - a warning that this is a long post!
Just got off the phone with the doc for my post-op appointment - 3.5 weeks out.
Since some of the things we talked about are things that people have asked about or discussed in this forum, I thought I'd put some of the info down here.
Firstly, he's happy with my progress and said that both the sleeve op and the hiatus hernia op went well, with no problems. Always good to know that!
Okay - we've talked about stomach capacity before. He told me that pre-op, the stomach is usually about 800-1200ml, holding about a full pizza.
Just now, its "functional capacity" is about 150 ml. When I told him I can fit in a full Optifast in about 20 minutes, he said that's because after 20 minutes, the first 50 ml has already gone through the stomach. And he said that was fine.
When fully healed, and back on to normal foods, he said it would be approximately 200-250 ml.
I told him I had some discomfort and he asked if it was just beneath the breastbone. It is. He said it was the acid sitting in the top of my stomach and that it would go after a while. That's what the Nexium is for. He said I'd have to take it (or Pariet is okay too - which I used to have, so have stacks left) for at least 6-8 weeks, then try going off it. But he also said some people then have to go back on it for 6 months and try again, and that some even have to continue taking it for years. And this happens more in people who have had the HH repair than those who haven't.
Oh, by the way, he also told me it would take 6-8 weeks to be fully recovered from the HH repair.
About having citrus juice or other acidic products after the hiatus hernia repair - he said no problem, except for the fact that there's 150 calories in a small glass of orange juice, so not to do it regularly. There are no other foods that I need to be careful of, either, in relation to the HH.
Regarding weight loss, he was pleased with my 10kg since the op, but warned me that it would get harder from now on, and that the next 20kg will come off very slowly in comparison. In fact, he said that my aim should be just to lose that 20kg by Christmas. Then he told me that, with the sleeve, the bulk of the weight loss happens in the first 9-12 months. In fact, by the 9 month mark, you will have lost most of what you will lose in the first year. So to take advantage of that and lose as much as you can in that time, because after that it will be really hard work again. He said that at about the 3 month post-op mark, when you're back on real food again and enjoying it, is when people find that they start "making mistakes". But he also said that if we don't start munching out on chips and nuts and stuff, and continue to make mostly good food choices high in protein, there shouldn't be a problem. Oh, and of course to stay away from fatty foods!
About how often to eat - I told him that I've been eating every 3-4 hours, so usually 4 times a day, and he said to aim to go back to 3 meals a day as soon as I had enough energy to do so. I wanted to know how that would affect the diabetes, and he said it would be fine. Oh, and by the way, he also told me that an average person puts on about 9kg when they go on to insulin - studies have proven it! Between that and the anti-depressant that I take, which also puts on weight, I think I'm only just beginning to lose the weight that I've put on by myself!
He wants to set eyes on me in 2-3 months, so no phone appointment next time!
That's all for now, folks - just wanted to share, since it was all relevant to recent discussions.
Chris - who's still marvelling over those bones in her hands (and told the doc, who laughed)
:afro:

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Looks like I've got a few questions to ask Dr T on Friday.
I'll try taking one whole, and see how I go.
Chris

Im the same i just take enough water to get it down.....then make sure i have a good drink a little later.

Hi Nicole,

I must admit that I don't take it with all that water. Just a little bit that I swirl in my mouth to make sure that it will go down.

steph :flower:

The info i have i reflux tablets is not to break them or crush them otherwise they wont work. not sure if the nexium are very big but the pariet are not. I would guess having to take so many mouthfulls of water to take them broken up would be worse for me then just taking it. Just be relaxed when you take it and you should be ok.

Nicole

Hi Chris,

The following is from the instruction packet for Nexium :

For patients with swallowing difficulties
The Nexium tablet can be placed in half a glass of non-carbonated water (mineral water is not suitable) No other liquids should be used. The tablet may be gently mixed and care should be taken not to crush the tablet. Stir until the tablet dissolves into little pellets and drink immediately or within 30 minutes. Rinse the glass with half a glass of fluid and drink.
The pellets must not be chewed or crushed.

Hope this helps. When I broke mine in half yesterday morning I thought i'd better read up as it caused a blockage for a few hours.

steph :flower:

Chris ive been taking my pills whole with water since the night of my op have had no problems at all


Cheers Sue

Chris if it makes it easier for you take your pills with your food. I got into the habbit and still do. Rather than water I put mine on a spoon of yoghurt for breakfast and swollow them that way. Sounds odd now I say it but it was just a habbit I got into and kept doing.

applesauce

Hi everyone
I was talking to some of you about taking medicines today over the last couple of days, but blowed if I can find the posts - and the search function didn't help at all!
So I decided to put it here, and hope that you'll find it as you go along.
Once again, I wanted to say thank you.
I just took my Nexium (should have been this morning, but I forgot). Up until today, I've been dissolving it in water.
But some of you told me you'd been taking tablets from early on, so I cut up my Nexium into smallish pieces and took them one at a time. That was in about the last 20 minutes or so - and so far, so good.
I can feel them - but it's not a problem. I hope it stays that way, because I'm having dinner soon!
So thank you for sharing and giving me courage...
Chris

Thanks Hayley, I appreciate the support.
Like you, I get overwhelmed when I think of how much there is to lose, but I'm trying not to think that way at the moment - after all, that's what the surgery is there to help me with, so at least this time I'm not going to fail completely!
And you're entitled to have a moan - certainly the rest of us do!
Chris

Thanks, guys. I appreciate your input.
I am actually doing the small goal thing - I just didn't have an ultimate destination in mind.
I'm feeling pretty good that I've hit the 25kg mark now, since the beginning of the year, and of course the next 25kg should come off a with a little less angst - I hope so, anyway!
So 120kg is my next goal, and then 110, and then 99.9 (I figure I won't be satisfied with 100 then).
I haven't done the rewards thing because I think losing anything is its own reward, but perhaps I'll re-think that one too.
And I just looked at 87 again - and that's less than 40kg away from where I am now, so I think you might be right - it is achievable. That would be so great! If I can get there, I'll be a very happy little vegemite.
Chris

Hi chris

why dont you have short term goals instead that way you get a boast along the way. My first goal is 80 kg then i will re- access and see where i want to go from there.
So you could have to get to 99kg as your first goal like you said....its a great feeling to get into double digits
Then maybe 5 -10 kg goals from there and treat yourself at your small goals like jezzy is doing...

Just a thought...

Nicole

Hi Chris,

I think you goal of around 87kgs is definitely realistic - you have come this far and I believe that it is possible. My Dr basically said to me that I would lose 60-70% of my excess weight just by the op alone and the rest was up to me (if I started exercising I could then lose the additional 30-40%). At the moment for me I am setting small goals of getting to the next weight range (e.g. into the 140's then the 130's) but I guess the more I lose the more realistic it will be that I can step up my exercise levels. I really just want to feel fit to the point where I could play a sport or do something energetic without feeling like I was going to die LOL!!

I reckon set your goal and go for it!!!

Oh, no! LOL
I don't want to have a blog - thanks for the thought, but I don't want to be that public, nor have to keep it up regularly.
I'd rather just keep it on the WLS sites...
Chris

Hi Chris you should make a blog page to track your journey. just a thought

Hi guys
I thought I'd just mention that I'm working on writing out my experience of this op, but have started at the beginning, as several people have asked me for it. It's getting quite long, but I'm up to the hospital part now, so hopefully it will be finished soon. I'll try to break it into manageable pieces, and label them, to make it easier, but not sure where to put it.
At the moment, I'm doing half Optifast and half purees, and that seems to be working well for me - for now, anyway! When I talked to the dietitian, I asked her about which protein powder to use, and after some discussion she suggested I go to the health food store (which I did, but they were not very helpful, unfortunately) or order in Pro Forma from the chemist, which is what she uses at the hospital. So I've put in an order - I'm concerned about the amount of protein in the purees, so want to have it on hand to make sure I'm getting enough.
I've only lost 6kg since the op, and only 1 in the last 4 days, so I'm a bit envious of those of you who have lost a lot more. But then, I lost 20kg before I had the op, so I guess it's all relative, isn't it? I know, we're all different, and it's no use comparing, but still... :oops:
I haven't really set a goal for myself, but after talking to some people yesterday, wonder if that would be helpful. The doc said I could expect to lose around 40kg with the sleeve, but I know that a lot of you have lost more, so I'm not sure what a realistic goal would be. I was 150.5kg at my heaviest, but only 131 when I had the op and now I'm down to 125. At the moment, I think I'll be happy to just get down to 99, but there's a woman I met who I found out yesterday was 87kg when I met her, and I thought she was pretty good - curvy and fleshy without being huge. That would suit me, but I'm not sure if I'm being unrealistic here. What do you think?
Chris

Oh, yes, apple juice was my best friend for about the first 5 days, Nicole. And to think I didn't drink it much before! LOL

Hey chris,

Just thought i would add that they are the two things that go down easiest for me also....i lived on apple juice for 2 days.

Nicole

Hi everyone
Well, it's Saturday and I was sleeved on Monday and got home yesterday.
As I said in my last post, I'm doing okay. I'm on full fluids now, but although I was supposed to be having them in the hospital, could only get down milk and apple juice until yesterday.
I have a disgusting headache though, which I can't seem to get rid of. My usual strong headache meds would probably work, but as I can't take any pills yet, even crushed up, I'm battling on with just liquid panadol. Actually, it was so bad on the way home from hospital that I got hubby to stop off at the massage therapist on the way home to see if that would help. It did, but not enough.
I'm going to post a long one with my whole op experience, but might start a new thread for that to make it easier for those looking for that info.
Naturally I'm exhausted too, so will do that long post later in the day. Didn't sleep well, and have been up for an hour now and totally stuffed!
Bye for now
Chris