vangirl

Yikes Amanda! What a nightmare. Glad to hear you finally got home in one piece.

Yesterday I decided to have a store-bought soup as a treat for myself. A tomato basil bisque. It looked creamy enough, but as I was eating, I would get little chunks of garlic and basil, which I kept spitting out as I ate the soup. Today, I decided to make things easier for myself by straining the soup first. It took a long time because it was quite thick, and I discovered when I had the strained portion that the texture had changed considerably. It was much runnier, and the part I had strained out had all these tiny bits of tomato, onion, and other things that were so small that I didn't notice them yesterday. So it looks like I inadvertently had lots of tiny little chunks yesterday with my soup when I'm supposed to be in the liquid stage. I normally wouldn't worry too much except that after I ate the soup yesterday, I felt extremely uncomfortable. I had that pressure/full feeling in my chest as well as my upper back for a very long time. That feeling has now come back after eating the strained, chunk-less soup again. So now I'm paranoid that I've wrecked everything by causing a blockage or something. It's so hard to know what all those aches and pains really are! -vangirl

I am currently on day 9. I started to feel hungry on day 5. I noticed that as I was able to drink more water and take larger sips/amounts at a time, my hunger increased. How big was the piece of salmon, did you feel anything unusual when it went down? And yes, when does the big pregnant stomach go away?

They drew a tiny bit of blood from me at the time they set up the Iv port. I too asked for pain medication immediately after the surgery because I could feel the pain from the incisions and each time I took a breath it would hurt them. My mother said that they gave me some, but maybe it was saline solution because I don't remember feeling a difference. I did sleep for a couple of hours though. The pain pills in the box they give you when you get discharged do work, although I didn't realize until I got back home and went one day without them. I went to the pharmacy across the street from the hotel and bought some more, but have only used one of those (so used 5 in total, post-surgery). But I had more pain that most people seem to be reporting, so that should give an indication of the maximum a person would probably need.

She offers different types of massages at different rates. It was $70 or $75 dollars US (plus I tipped her $10) for a 50 or 55 minute relaxation massage, and she went the whole hour for me. They brought up the massage table and set it up in our room, which was really convenient. I timed it so that I could go to sleep shortly after. I think she is in the hotel lobby from 4-8pm, between the restaurant and the computer station. I'm definitely doing OK all things considered. Some people experienced minimal pain, others (like me) experienced more. But even at its worst, it wasn't so bad that I couldn't handle it. It was my very first experience of surgery, and I honestly don't think I could have had a better experience anywhere else. Like loosew8 said, everybody knew what they were doing, and did it well. I didn't have any mark at all from my iv port. I once had bloodwork taken from my hand, and that was more painful than when the nurse (Carmelita) at OCC set up the IV port. She is a sweetie too

Yikes! How long ago did you have the surgery?

I was scared too, never had surgery before, and it wasn't that bad! Honest. And the staff at OCC were really good. You know what I did to ease my fears the night of the surgery? I treated myself to a relaxation massage at my room at the hotel. There's a lady (I can't remember her name now) downstairs in the hotel lobby that does it. It's a bit pricey for a massage (in my opinion), but helped to take my mind away from things and sleep better the night before.

I really hope the back pain will get better. I could handle the surgery pain by itself, but to have that back pain return like that just blindsided me.

I just want to cry, the back pain is so bad today. I went for a slow 15-minute walk, and I was practically limping on my way back home. It hurts when I walk, when I sit, when I stand, when I lie down. The only time it doesn't hurt is when I'm lying on a heating pad, but then the gas starts to bother me when I'm in that position! What really gets me is that after my accident, it took more than two years for my back pain to stop being chronic, and by the time I had the surgery, I had improved so much that I was almost my old self again. My back rarely bothered me. To feel it coming back like this, to feel like I did in the months after that car accident is just so depressing. Sorry for the rant, I'm having a bad moment.

That's a great idea Louise! I was talking to a personal trainer today, and she told me that the selection in the US is much better than out here. I'd definitely be up for some cross border shopping in the new year. The high protein drinks here either taste awful or they have a lot of calories and don't have as much protein (e.g. 12-15g) as the awful-tasting drinks. The London Drugs high-protein meal replacement tastes good but only has 12g of protein. Boost also tastes good but has 15g of protein and 240 calories. We're supposed to get at least 30g of protein post-op. For now, I'm actually really liking this Whey Gourmet, which I found at London Drugs. It's the most palatable high-protein drink I've had so far (23g of protein, 120 calories) and tastes a lot better when I mix it with the other stuff.

My mother and I flew economy, and our seats were the kind where you couldn't life up the arm rest. I didn't have problems on the 3 hour flight back, which I was surprised by. I took a bottle of Powerade with me to sip as needed. There was some pain from the gas and incisions, but I took the medication they gave us at the clinic and that really helped. I'd recommend buying more of those at the pharmacy after you leave the clinic, just in case you need them when you get home. I had one carry on with wheels, and packed very lightly, and that helped. I was even able to drive myself home from my mother's place where I had parked my car to my place which was about an hour away in rush hour traffic.

Thanks JazzyJude! Valleygirl and I live in the same area, so that's sweet! -vangirl

Sorry to keep blabbing on, but you know what else is amazing? I have never revealed my weight to any person except my family doctor who would force me onto the scale every now and then. Even my ex-bf whom I was with for eight years never knew how much I weighed. It's the first time in my life that I've actually been able to open with people about my weight, and not have to hide it in shame. Granted, it's online, but for me it's a really huge thing to be telling people what the numbers are. What was once a shameful secret I hid for years can now be shared without fear of negative reaction and judgment. It's so freeing!

Thanks JazzyJude (((hugs))) ) Anne, my weight loss has been a lot slower compared to what others have reported. JazzyJude for example lost 10lbs in 10 days, and I've just lost 1lb in the first week. And pre-op, people were reporting losses of 30lbs in a month, 10lbs in 2 weeks, etc. and mine was a lot slower than that. I did everything by the book and didn't cheat once, so that was frustrating. So it's really hard to say what is normal weight loss because there are such differences in each person's experience. I was quite constipated and retaining water the first four days after surgery, and I'm still swollen in the abdomen, which might account for my slow weight loss. Or my body just has trouble letting go for whatever reason. But as long as the scale keeps going down, I'll be happy. It was so nice to see it in the 240s for the first time since 2003, so that hugely overshadowed the fact that it's just been a 1lb weight loss post-op.

Lol, before the surgery, I was taking a veritable cocktail of supplements that was more complicated than this drink! I have certain medical conditions that require higher doses of certain vitamins and minerals. Chewable multivitamins just don't have enough of those. Even the liquid iron I bought for the liquid stage has only 10% of the iron in the pill I was taking before the surgery. So for me, I have to be more conscious of getting enough of certain nutrients. Unfortunately, we don't get a lot of products in Canada that are available in the US. Our GNC doesn't carry the protein bullets, and we don't have Special K protein water. At least I haven't seen any in our grocery stores, and believe me I've looked!

I haven't lost very much weight since my surgery 1 week ago - maybe 1lb or so. In fact, I gained about 7lbs the day I got back home. But there's still swelling, and my body is adjusting, and I'm not worried about my rate of weight loss (yet). The important thing is, I'm below 250 today - 249.8 to be exact! I know it's such a slight drop, but that milestone has impacted me in a bigger way, because I know it's a sign of things to come. It really makes all the pain and discomfort I've been experiencing post-surgery worth it!

That's awesome! It's great to see he has come around. Hope all is well post-surgery.

This soup is incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you soooo much for posting!!!!

Haha, me too! I guess I'll have to prepare whoever comes into the picture. "Oh by the way..."

Almost immediately after the surgery, but more in the last few days, I started to experience the aches and pains from a previous injury from a car accident, especially in my back. It's really bad! I don't know what's causing this exactly, if it's the gas or what. Has anyone experienced back pain? It goes away temporarily when I lie on a heating pad, but when I get off it, it comes right back!

ERG! I left a part of the drink to finish later, and discovered that really tiny grains had separated from the rest of the drink and settled down at the bottom. When I first mixed the drink, I didn't taste a grainy texture, and I don't know what component of it is the grainy part (the whey protein or miracle reds). Anyway, I suppose it could be strained, in case the drink doesn't qualify as a true liquid.

OMG, that looks soooo yummy! I'm so going to try that! I love mexican food, and spicy things in general.

I LOVE tomato soup too! I had that the first day (yesterday) I was allowed full liquids )

I'm burping a lot, more than the other thing. I was going to ask this question myself, as I was wondering if this is something that is going to last.

Hello everyone, Prior to the surgery, I stocked up on all sorts of nutrient-laden things to prepare myself for the post-op liquid diet, to make sure I got in all of my daily nutrients and protein. So I got whey protein powder, liquid vitamins, powerade with B-vitamin complex, and something called Miracle Reds, which was suggested to me by my pharmacist who specializes in integrating traditional medicine with natural foods/supplements. You can google Miracle Reds to find out more about it, but basically it contains a whole lot of fruit and vegetable extracts, as well as acidopholus cultures and other things that sound good for you. I'm not endorsing this particular product; it just happens to be what I used. There are probably a lot of other similar products out there which are just as good or better. The problem I've had is that I don't have the stomach capacity to mix and drink all of these things separately, so I decided to combine them all together. Because the end result tasted surprisingly good, I thought I'd post the recipe here. 1 TALL glass 1/2 to 1 cup low-calorie powerade with B-vitamin complex, plain or berry-flavoured 1 scoop Whey Gourmet Strawberry Banana Smoothie (a whey protein powder, containing 23g of protein) 1 scoop Miracle Reds 3 tablespoons liquid multivitamin syrup, preferrably berry-flavoured water to fill up the glass Directions: mix everything together, starting with the powerade and liquid vitamins, then adding the Miracle Reds, and then slowly adding the whey protein powder and water. Result: A sweet, 185-200 calorie drink, containing daily vitamins, minerals, 23g of protein, an extra boost of B-vitamins, antioxidants, acidopholus cultures, enzymes, and other natural herbal goodies. It can definitely be improved upon (e.g. using protein water instead of regular water, adding liquid iron, using milk or soy milk to boost the protein content, etc.), but this is what I'm drinking right now, and it's not too bad. I'm already feeling a boost of energy. One of these a day will probably give me everything I need, if I add the liquid iron and more protein to it. It's really sweet, so I'll probably add more water next time. -Vangirl