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I hope that helps! Something I forgot to mention - drink lots of gatorade!! It helps replace the electrolytes you lose in all the trips to the bathroom. Dr. Martinez told me to drink TWO cups after every trip to the bathroom. I can't say I actually did that, but I did drink it throughout the day. It also has some calories to keep you going - in a form that will work better for you right now than juice. Keep us posted on your progress!

I will be thinking of you both today and hoping for good news. Good for you for seeking support for yourself - it will make it easier to give your mom the support she needs. >

Hey, whatever works! Congratulations! That's awesome. :lb13:

Hi there - I'm still on liquids so I haven't encountered this type of problem yet, but I just wanted to send a hug at least > and let you know that you are not alone in your struggle. I'm so nervous about making this work and I feel like I've been obsessing about food so much since being on liquids. I think that the reality is that this will be hard. Well worth it, but hard. You might want to see if you can find some activities you enjoy in the evening - social activities, needlepoint, whatever works for you - just something you can enjoy other than food. Hopefully in time you will also adjust and will be able to get real satisfaction from just one or two slices of pizza, or whatever. :lb4:

Hi Trina, I had surgery last Tuesday and had pretty severe diarrhea starting on Friday (every hour at least despite taking the max dose of Imodium) and on Sunday I called the OCC and Dr. Martinez called me back (I was worried about going back to work Monday). He advised taking Kaopectate (2 tbsp every 6 hours) and to add a nondairy protein shake. I went to the drug store and the only nondairy shake I found was Glucerna. I think it was mostly the Kaopectate that worked wonders - my tummy felt much better within a few hours and the trips to the bathroom got less frequent. The Glucerna felt great - felt like the equivalent of a huge meal after all those clear liquids!! Yesterday I only took the Kaopectate a couple times, and only 1 tbsp because I could tell it was getting better and I didn't want the reverse situation to end up happening. I started on full liquids yesterday and I'm feeling SO much better. The diarrhea is actually gone (haven't gone since yesterday early evening). I really think that the creamy soups and protein drinks are helping me a lot. I also started taking a probiotic on Sunday per Dr. Miranda. Everyone is different, I was a little nervous about the full liquids too, but they've been a huge relief. I hope they work for you too! Good luck - I hope you feel better soon. Susan

Congratulations! I'm so glad to hear you're feeling good. :lb10:

Thanks for the question. I'm just starting on creamy liquids and these responses are helpful to me too.

Oh Julie - I'm sorry you're having such a rough time! Try not to let yourself get so stressed - it doesn't sound to me like you're eating that much! I'm far from solids myself so I don't really know what you're going through yet, but just try to be kind to yourself. You've just completed a major effort with the pre-ops and the post-ops. You're doing great and I have a lot of confidence that you'll do great with the band - just give yourself some time to adjust to it all. >

Sorry to hear about that! But thanks so much for sharing. I just booked my first fill appt today at the OCC for 8/15. I'm going to be in San Francisco that week anyway, so it works out well to take a quick trip down there. But I was just wondering - what if I don't need a fill yet at 7 weeks? But then thought, even if I'm doing pretty well a little fill won't hurt... your post makes me think that I'll probably be wanting it by then. :lb4:

Hehe!! :girl_haha:

I've heard that obese people actually have more muscle in their feet - to help hold the weight. So I guess that's part of why they get smaller with weight loss - not just less fat, but less muscle. BTW - congrats on your success Dr. Luke! Awesome pics. =D>

Nice!! I hope to follow in your footsteps (haha) and get back to a 10. Love your new summery pic!!

I'm glad you're feeling good - too bad about that egg not going down though. Beef for dinner seems a little ambitious, especially since even an egg didn't go down so well... I'm sure you will chew chew chew - and I hope it works out great for you. Certainly sounds yummy!! Congrats on the 22 pounds!! :lb21:

Congratulations!! That sounds like a great first meal - funny that you weren't hungry all day! I can't wait for mine. It's funny - like you, I've been fantasizing about an egg, but I want mine fried, with a piece of toast. :girl_sigh:

That's awesome! I'm an 11; when I lost a bunch of weight a while back I went down to a 10 - I hope to do that again! I'll have to hold off on buying shoes for a while...

Dr. Miranda told me that I could add liquid yogurt starting on day 4. She said to wait until day 7 if possible, but day 4 was fine. I emailed her about my diarrhea (sorry I seem to mention this in every post this week!) and she actually specifically said that I should make sure to eat the liquid yogurt to help replenish the good bacteria in my system. Hope that helps.

Good for you mona!! :good3:

I hate to say it, but I think the norm is actually 1-2 pounds a week.

I'm glad you had a fun trip!! Too bad about the pounds, but it's clear that you're facing up to the reality and are ready to get back at it. Even skinny people gain a few pounds on their vacations! Good luck weaning off the cocktails!

That's what they say. Try to remember that as you get smaller, each pound you lose is a bigger percentage of your weight. If you're 250 pounds and lose 5 you've lost 2% of your weight. If you're 150 pounds and lose 5, you've lost about 3.5% of your weight! Hope that helps a bit! P.S. - you're both looking beautiful already!

Welcome back Trina!! I'm sorry to hear you're feeling like crap. It's amazing how we all have different types of reactions. My sister and I were banded together and we've had very different reactions - she's had bad shoulder and neck pain while I've had none. She was feeling uncomfortable and bloated in her belly and I had more what you have - the tightness in the chest. We both had diarrhea, but mine was much worse. (Incidentally I finally called the OCC yesterday after 3 days of it and Dr. Martinez called me back within minutes and gave me some advice and I'm at work today for the first time and feeling SO much better - gotta love the OCC with such great care, even on a Sunday!!) Anyway - the good news is that it WILL pass. I hope you're feeling better soon! >

That is really awesome :lb16: Like everyone else - I'd love to see some pics! Show yourself off!! :girl_hide:

That was awesome Paula! I can so relate to the feeling of falling into the "shit". And I love the whole bridge metaphor - I'll definitely remember this, and I'm sure it will be helpful when I find myself falling towards the shit. Learning how to clean yourself off and get back on that bridge is, I believe, even more important than focusing on never falling off. The fact is that we will fall off every once in a while. If we don't learn how to get back on the bridge it only takes one slip to ruin everything. Thanks for the post! > Susan

Good to see your face finally!

Good luck!! You'll do great. :lb11: