Back from Mexico with the DS and lots of questions

[galaxygrrl]

Hi all,

I"m back from Mexico and newly DSed! I had my operation on Friday, Saturday was friggin miserable, but, today Wed was great. I walked two miles, I have lots of energy - though not sustained yet - and I'm thinking pretty clearly.

I went to Dr. Esquerra based mostly on the the feedback from this board. The care was amazing. I had four doctors stop by and check on me twice a day for two days. It's a different medical culture than the US.

I'm lucky to have my follow up Primary Care Doctor actually be a DSer. I see her Friday.

So, I have a bunch of questions.

Food questions

• I'm not hungry much - first time in my life! BUT, all food smells so good!!!! And it looks so good. Since all I had for 7 days now is a liquid diet, that might be it. But, is this normal. Once I start eating real food, will this go away? And food will just be food and it will be like pre-op? The good news is I'm not thinking about the food all the time like before, but it certainly captures my attention when I see or smell it.

• I have to be on a liquid or mush diet for a month. In terms of hot sauce (which I add to everything) and pretty acidic foods - pickles, lime juice, etc, how long do I really need to wait for these types of food. Avocados are on phase three which starts on day 20 (thank god, this mush and liquid diet is killing me). I have plans for 10 days of guacamole. Part of the problem is I'm really not a sweets person - I like savory and flavor and there is not much of that on the 30 day diet.

• So, I'm on this Liquid mush diet for 30 days and then, the instructions are add other foods and see how you feel. Generally, how long is it until you can get to a stable diet of real food. How much do you really need to try food, see how it works for you, etc.

Pill questions

• I'm suppose to mush my pills for 10 days. There are two that have some coating on them and there is nothing I can do to mush them. They have a coating on them - maybe time released. Anyone had any solutions?

• So, I'm seeing my primary care doctor on Friday, but I did not get any real direction on all of these supplements I'm suppose to get. Does the Dr do blood work and then, tell me what I need? Does insurance cover these? Do I need to get them from a certain place for insurance to cover these - ie pharmacy?

New Internal Plumbing

• I expected the runs, but I'm under the impression that it gets better over time. Does it? It's not uncontrollable, it's just a lot per day.

Thanks again for your support and help here.

Cheers!

Beth

 

[Munchkin]

Congratulations!!!! Sounds like you are doing great!

Pills, take them and don't worry about it. Slowly. 1 at a time. Don't just toss back a handful like you used to do. You will be able to take them like that again, down the road. SOME of us have problems with time release meds. Look yours up and see if that's what they are, just be aware. The reason some switch to meds that are not time release is because our transit time can be a lot less than a normie, especially in the beginning. Docs will frequently give wrong info on what to take and how much of it. The best place to start is look at the DS list on vitalady. It's pretty complete. Read all about supplements on this site(BF) too. There's a whole section for you to absorb.

Until you know what you are doing, this supplement stuff can feel like a job! I can promise you the day comes when you don't have to even think about it anymore. You just do it. The DS will take over your life for a while but it's temporary. When you start your vites, add the iron in last. You may have to wait a while till you can tolerate it. It will take you a while to assemble all this stuff. In the meanwhile, a quick and dirty fix would be to take 2 prenatal multis, calcium citrate, and a bunch of dry D. This is just a temporary, better than nothing, fix. Read labels...that dose of calcium citrate is most likely 4 pills!

I was eating salsa on day 6 and I never had a problem with it at all. Same with hot sauce and pickles. All you can do is try a LITTLE and see. Be reasonable...just because you CAN blenderize that habanero into a liquid doesn't mean it's a good idea right now! As far as I am concerned, guac IS a mush food. I never gave limes and lemons a thought either. I always put lemon or lime in iced tea and used it in cooking. Wasn't an issue. And those are certainly liquids! Do you like Asian? Try some egg drop soup! My postop instructions were easy, food as tolerated. But I found out fast I had to eat a lot more slowly and take time between bites.

You may have some temporary food aversions or find strange things you really like. But chances are you will go back to what's normal to you in time. Right now your big job is to 1) Drink, and 2) Heal. Always have fluids with you and drink all the time. Food is great if you can tolerate it but fluids are more important. Keep track of your liquids until you are sure you are getting enough.

 

[CaraOC]

Hi all,

I"m back from Mexico and newly DSed! I had my operation on Friday, Saturday was friggin miserable, but, today Wed was great. I walked two miles, I have lots of energy - though not sustained yet - and I'm thinking pretty clearly.

I went to Dr. Esquerra based mostly on the the feedback from this board. The care was amazing. I had four doctors stop by and check on me twice a day for two days. It's a different medical culture than the US.

I'm lucky to have my follow up Primary Care Doctor actually be a DSer. I see her Friday.

So, I have a bunch of questions.

Food questions

• I'm not hungry much - first time in my life! BUT, all food smells so good!!!! And it looks so good. Since all I had for 7 days now is a liquid diet, that might be it. But, is this normal. Once I start eating real food, will this go away? And food will just be food and it will be like pre-op? The good news is I'm not thinking about the food all the time like before, but it certainly captures my attention when I see or smell it.

• I have to be on a liquid or mush diet for a month. In terms of hot sauce (which I add to everything) and pretty acidic foods - pickles, lime juice, etc, how long do I really need to wait for these types of food. Avocados are on phase three which starts on day 20 (thank god, this mush and liquid diet is killing me). I have plans for 10 days of guacamole. Part of the problem is I'm really not a sweets person - I like savory and flavor and there is not much of that on the 30 day diet.

• So, I'm on this Liquid mush diet for 30 days and then, the instructions are add other foods and see how you feel. Generally, how long is it until you can get to a stable diet of real food. How much do you really need to try food, see how it works for you, etc.

Pill questions

• I'm suppose to mush my pills for 10 days. There are two that have some coating on them and there is nothing I can do to mush them. They have a coating on them - maybe time released. Anyone had any solutions?

• So, I'm seeing my primary care doctor on Friday, but I did not get any real direction on all of these supplements I'm suppose to get. Does the Dr do blood work and then, tell me what I need? Does insurance cover these? Do I need to get them from a certain place for insurance to cover these - ie pharmacy?

New Internal Plumbing

• I expected the runs, but I'm under the impression that it gets better over time. Does it? It's not uncontrollable, it's just a lot per day.

Thanks again for your support and help here.

Cheers!

Beth

Welcome back!! I too had my DS with Dr Esquerra in February. I'm about 80 lbs down to date. I would highly advise you to take it slowly as this surgery can kick your arse at first. Someone less challenged than I will post the Vitalady vitamin regimen which is a good place to start with supplements. Learn by everyone else's mistakes and life will be more simple. Be sure to get the correct forms of the fat solulable vitamins ADEK. I spent a lot of money buying the wrong ones and those in particular have to be purchased in a dry form since you can't absorb the oil based versions. Don't go nuts buying protein powders either. I did and it too was a big waste of money. I now buy the premier protein shakes by the case at Costco. The calcium supplements in particular will firm everything up in the poop department but it will forever be a different world. I have never pooped my pants and that was my biggest fear. Be sure and get you hydration status right or you will feel like crap.

 

[Susan in Tennessee]

I second everything that Cara said! I, too, went to Dr. Esquerra and had virgin DS on June 10, 2016. I had no energy to speak of for about 5 weeks then it was like a switch had been flipped. I didn't start vitamins for at least a month, then made the mistake of taking all of them rather than easing into it gradually. I became very constipated and was miserable and it was no easy task to get things cleared out. I wouldn't wish that on anyone! It's still something I have to watch very closely and I do require several stool softener pills per day!

As for your prescription pills, if you can swallow them there shouldn't be a reason to crush them. I know they told me to dump the contents of the Nexium pill onto my tongue and I did that a few days then started taking regularly with no problems.

I didn't stick with the eating timeline entirely they gave me. I was so sick of the liquids due to the pre-op diet that I couldn't stand liquids for long. I'm not advocating this but just being honest about what I did. I did eat some soft foods early on such as mashed potatoes and gravy, pintos and cheese, thick creamy soups, yogurt, pudding, etc. Actually, I rushed all my phases and didn't seem to have problems. I did have acid reflux and was advised by Esquerra's office to double the Nexium to morning and night then to two at morning and one at night. What I'll never know is whether my early eating contributed to the acid reflux. The reflux problem seems to be getting better and I am backing off the dosage some now. We put 4 inch blocks under the two legs of the head of our bed and I think that has helped as much as anything and it's really not noticeable while in bed so we'll just leave that.

My taste was very out of whack at first. Sweet things were nasty. I'd think I wanted something then I'd get it and ewwww, no, get it away from me. That, too, has improved and my taste buds are about back to normal, I think. Before surgery I LOVED diet coke and I wouldn't have believed it, but a week or so after getting home my husband was drinking one and I took just a tiny sip to see how it tasted to me now and I couldn't believe how awful it tasted to me. I wasn't going to drink it anyway but I was just curious as to how it tasted. I don't even think of Diet coke anymore.

My favorite protein shake has also been the Premier Chocolate Ready to Drink. We don't have Costco nearby but I found it online from Costco and it was cheaper that way than at Walmart, etc. as I had been getting it. I have one for breakfast many mornings, or I should say, first breakfast! LOL

I wish you continued success and smooth sailing!

 

[Larra]

Welcome home!
Be careful with the spicy stuff. Eventually you'll be just fine with it, but right now your sleeve is healing, you might say wounded, and spices are hard on wounds.
Your body has stores of vitamins to get you through the first few weeks. Then start taking them gradually. I never crushed a pill, and I'm someone who has trouble swallowing pills, so you should be fine if you swallow them individually.
Each surgeon seems to have different recommendations. Mine allowed soft foods from the time we got home, so I ate things like scrambled egg, shrimp, etc. However, I had absolutely NO appetite and didn't care if I ate or not, so we are talking very small amounts here, like a bite or two. Just take it slowly and if your sleeve is telling you that you've had enough, believe it. One bite too many and you'll throw up (ask me how I know!)

 

[aaa]

Good to hear all went well. If you PM me your email addy, I can send you the docs. regarding eating and pills (what/when) my surgical team and DS nutrit. give to DSers. Also sample menus for the first month.

 

[veronicaj5]

Ok so I'll comment on the poop.. I had my sleeve turned into the full ds on july 5th, I'm eating regular food and it all depends on your fat intake and the type of fat... (cheese is my number 1 killer also one of my favorites). Your lab work depends your insurance company and how everything gets submitted. I use the celebrate brand vitamins at the suggestion of my nutritionist and a calcium citrate 3 times a day each, and I haven't needed anything extra (hopefully it stays that way)

 

[galaxygrrl]

Thank you everyone!!!!!! (and yes, Larra, I'll take the hot sauce slowly ;-) ) It's so weird, I'm not thinking about food much, but when I see it, I'm like Yum!)

 

[southernlady]

Ok so I'll comment on the poop.. I had my sleeve turned into the full ds on july 5th, I'm eating regular food and it all depends on your fat intake and the type of fat... (cheese is my number 1 killer also one of my favorites). Your lab work depends your insurance company and how everything gets submitted. I use the celebrate brand vitamins at the suggestion of my nutritionist and a calcium citrate 3 times a day each, and I haven't needed anything extra (hopefully it stays that way)

It won't and it's easier to get your levels down than to bring them out of the toilet. You aren't taking nearly enough. What about D, K, B12, A, and others? And the Celebrate is pricey. Most of us use a generic Centrum equivalent (2-3 a day) just to fill in the holes from others we take separately. Recommended list is here http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/vitalady-links.11/ and you can find most of what you need from our store: http://bariatricfacts.org/pages/store/

 

[veronicaj5]

It won't and it's easier to get your levels down than to bring them out of the toilet. You aren't taking nearly enough. What about D, K, B12, A, and others? And the Celebrate is pricey. Most of us use a generic Centrum equivalent (2-3 a day) just to fill in the holes from others we take separately. Recommended list is here http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/vitalady-links.11/ and you can find most of what you need from our store: http://bariatricfacts.org/pages/store/

I take the multi adek celebrate chewable 3x a day and a generic calcium citrate 3x a day. I haven't had my three month lab work yet to see if I need to up anything but the amount in them per my doctor is enough. (so far)

 

[Butterfly]

@galaxygrrl , glad to see you're home and healing! I haven't had the d/s (yet) but had the sleeve so I get some of what you're saying. I just wanted to wish you healing thoughts and bookmark this thread for the future (I hope!).

take care

 

[DSRIGGS]

I take the multi adek celebrate chewable 3x a day and a generic calcium citrate 3x a day. I haven't had my three month lab work yet to see if I need to up anything but the amount in them per my doctor is enough. (so far)

The adek is absolutely worthless. Please do yourself a favor and listen to what Liz said. Go to Amazon and order dry Biotech A,D & K and either now foods or Biotech dry E.

 

[galaxygrrl]

Thanks all.

Update of the day: Surgery last Friday, so today is one week. Down 11 pounds, but more importantly, my diabetes is gone. Thank good my diabetes is gone.