Dara

Lyrikah:

Welcome to our forum. You can always feel free to ask questions. Those of us who have been through GBS and weight loss will try to answer your questions and give you our opinion. If we don't know the answer, we'll also tell you that we don't.

You didn't say if you live in San Diego and if you're a patient of Dr. Callery or Dr. Potts. I can only tell you what I know from Dr. Callery's protocols for two to six weeks post-op. If you're not one of his patients, you should definitely also check with your own surgeon and follow his/her post-op protocols.

As far as Dr. Callery's protocols, he recommends that patients eat puréed and very soft foods. Try very soft beans and peas. You don't have to necessarily purée them, but they need to be very well cooked. Soft-cooked eggs are good. I'm not sure if you like liverwurst, branschweiger or deviled ham, but meat spreads are good...maybe on nonfat, low-sodium crackers. Peanut butter is another good choice. Soft baby shrimp are acceptable, maybe with some mild cocktail sauce. Mild, soft fish is okay, but you should be careful with tuna...some people can't tolerate it that early. Soups are wonderful--some of the post-ops have mentioned straining won ton soup. Of course, cottage cheese is great. I ate lite peach slices with my cottage cheese, after I rinsed all the syrup off.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you don't have pulverize your food until it looks like barf. There are food options there.

As far as alcohol advice, hmmm....I don't really have any great advice for you. I've never been a real "drinker." Before surgery, I used to have a margarita or a couple of Bailey's Irish Creams occasionally. Post-operatively, I had two Bailey's on an empty stomach while in Las Vegas and I dumped BIG TIME...only the second time I've officially dumped in nine months. It was horrible...sweating, palpitations, and feeling really ill. I finally went to my room and slept it off. My last comment about alcohol would be that it is basically empty calories. I've counted all my alcoholic drinks in my daily caloric intake and they cost a lot! There are other people on this forum who can give you much better advice about alcohol.

I can't remember much about when to return to the gym. My first choice was to start walking post-operatively, so I didn't really pay attention to the gym restrictions. I'm sure some of the other forum members can also help you on that one.

This surgery is life-altering, but we must also alter our life. As Dr. Callery has reminded us...he operated on our stomach, not our head. He gave us one tool. We have to fashion the other from our head. This is a big learning process. I've learned that my head is sometimes my worst enemy. If your goal is to truly change your life and your lifestyle, then you will. Good luck!

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Dara
Open RNY 4/27/04 Dr. Callery
10-15 lbs. above goal weight and okay with it