I've been having so much pain with my incision and it is not closed yet and I'm fed up with it. The Dr. decided that I have developed a seroma along the upper half at the top of my wound and with the weight of my big belly pulling down on the incision it has been pretty darn painful. It has kept me from walking some of the past few days and doing some of the stuff around here. I'm not weighing myself because I have a set of scales that probably were used during the 50's and it will weigh you differently everytime you get on it. As long as my cloths are getting bigger than I don't get to worried about it. I'm not getting all my protein in, close. I'm taking a different approach starting tomorrow and I'm going to try and schedule my protein shakes at certain times. For a professional dieter, I sure am having to learn a whole lot of stuff. There is no way that I can get my protein in when you are eating only about 2 oz at a time. So time to get inventive. As long as I take a protein in about every three hours than the blood sugar thing doesn't seem to bother me as bad. Hope you guys are all doing well. I haven't had time to get on the boards too much, because all I'm doing is eating and drinking and holding my jiggly belly so it doesn't hurt me. Well, at least I'm getting some exercise in!!! LOL!!

hi nancy,
you sound frustrated and about like i feel at times.. we are out about the same time on our surgery, so we both are spending time learning our new lifestlye. I also spend most of my day, trying to get all my protein drinks, water, vitamins,and now food in and i dont worry about the scales. My clothes tell me if im losing!! Seems like everyday and every meal is a challenge of whether or not my pouch will accept the meal or not. Sure have to watch the sip sip and chew chew all the time, or its easy for me to forget. Yes, i spend most of the day hoping i get it right and the pounds will keep coming off. Right now im leveled off already and wander what im doing wrong then think i didnt gain this in one month so have some patience. Remember last month we were wandering if we made the right decision , now are clothes are getting looser, i know im on the right track!!
I had to develope some patience cause i cant do what i use to do... and that depressed me terrible.. i have health issues and thats why i had wls surgery and i hope to be able to walk normal again let alone work. I just go with the flow and eat and drink when i feel i can and try not to worry about the rest..
id get the incision fixed.. i would like to not have to worry about that , especially if it hurts. Get an answer...
only a little over a month out, give yourself some time to heal...
a friend carvinmom

You two help me to remember what I felt like at a month out. Pretty much the same. I was still healing so had some aches & pains there. I didn't have the same problems as you have with the incisions Nancy, so you take care with that. I wasn't eating much yet & seemed to be constantly drinking. I had my surgery in March so it was still chilly outside.

Some of the things I used to do to get my protein in was to drink chicken/beef broth between meals. My nutr. said that I could also count it as protein & also part of my liquids for the day & it was a warm drink. I also ate a lot of cottage cheese (still do). At that point, I added non-fat dry milk to it to double the protein. I now have discovered that if I add a little splenda & some SF canned fruit to it, it is like a dessert. A little tuna mixed in with the cottage cheese wasn't bad either & boosted the protein. SF Yogurt was/is my friend also (Krogers has a Carb Master Yogurt w/ 12 g Protein & 4 g Carbs in 6 oz) & I also added dry milk to that to double the protein. Something else I found for eating at that stage & had protein is deli turkey or chicken shaved REALLY REALLY thin. I used to ask them to shave it so thin it looked like mush & explain that I had had stomach surgery & was healing. I went to several stores & never had a problem with them doing that. I then weighed it out & ate it with a baby spoon. I was using Protidiet gel packets for protein then also. 1 packet in 6-8 oz water was 15 g protein.

Well, ladies there are some thoughts for you. My case worker told me that my main job for the first few months, was going to be to get fluids, protein & supplements in. I worked at it and still track everything everyday. Good luck to you both. You are just at the beginning of a brand new you. Hang in there, it is well worth it.

Loodie, those are great ideas!
Terrific!
I think I'll try the cottage cheese. I still have so much difficulty - with everything.
carvin and nancy, just give it time. I know everything is scary and new. It will be for some time. But we'll manage.

Thank you for the suggestions about the dried milk. I was adding it to my protein shakes, but was making them too thick. Didn't think about adding to cottage cheese or yogart.

I worry when I don't get to do any walking,because of pain or because of the weather. But someone mentioned to me that we can't NOT lose if, with what we are eating at this point. Which makes sense. I know that later on when my eating picks up that exercise will be that much more important. I do love being able to put my shoes on without turning blue in the face though. I can't wait to be able to tie them in the middle of my shoe instead of on the inside. LOL!!!

Carvinmom: I did have a little episode at KFC. DH doesn't do boy toys, clothes, cars, but he loves eating out. We went grocery shopping and he decided that he would like to have KFC! I was tired and said let's just go in and I would find something to eat. I ordered green beans, but he brought back a chicken plank, mash pots, and green beans. I peeled off the deep fried crap and stuck the chicken plank in the gravy and picked up a green bean to make sure it was moist enough! I either didn't chew it well, or too fast, which is a problem for me. Then that dreaded hard ball thing started, but me took a bite of beans and a sip of water to force it on down. Almost threw up in the dining area, but make it to the restroom. My DH said that while I was a cheap date, that he'd have to think twice before he'd ask me out again! LOL! I was so embarrassed! I really have to watch the first bite because I'm always in a hurry and either take to big a bite or not chew it well. Old habits die hard, but get a few hard balls in you esphogous and it teaches you really fast.

Thanks all for the encouragement!

here's a big hug for both of you!!!

Loodie's right - believe it or not, you two really and truly ARE on track. the focus is protein, water, healing - with reasonable exercise. Thinly sliced deli meats saved me over and over and over again - and you don't even have to tell anyone why you want it that way, but after they see you a couple of weeks in a row [and getting tinier all the time!], they'll realize that something's up - and will help you.

i never went the dry milk powder route, but i DID often mix protein shake mix into yogurt or cottage cheese. either way works - as long as you get it down, you're doing GREAT!

chin up, girls, you've made WONDERFUL progress every single day, and you're already seeing HUGE changes in yourselves! it'll get better. the first three months are hard. it DOES get easier.

just focus on one day at a time, and everything will be fine. PROMISE!!!!!

oh wait - gotta discuss that unfortunate KFC issue! NAN - you are a SAINT for walking into that place AT ALL! and you made a very wise choice with your meal.

DEFINITION OF A BITE at this point: nothing larger than your pinky fingernail.

and another thing, it's been my experience that people who've had RNY fall into two major groups: the red-meat eaters and the white-meat eaters.

there are people who can eat beef, lamb, pork, and who can't get chicken down unless it's very very very carefully prepared, and even then it's hard [and i'm one of these people!]

and then there are the people who can eat chicken and turkey, but can't manage red meat at all.

fish seems to be a good choice for everyone, assuming they like fish!

bottom line, you're still in EXPERIMENTING mode. and, as my surgeon told me, go ahead and have a little gravy. after all, as he said, since you're eating about 5 bites, how much gravy could you POSSIBLY ge eating, and if it helps you get your protein down, DO IT!!!!!