Those dreams are normal.  Once I was back to eating food again, they went away.

All department stores carry size 16.  Never walk into Lane Bryant (I used to call it Lame Giant) again.  I go to JC Penney, Sears, Kohls, Macys, and Dillards.  Ask a salesperson for help finding things that fit you well and that you like.  You are lucky to have a great husband who is willing to take you shopping.  Ask him for advise on what he thinks looks good on you when you shop. 

When I was transforming my looks, I subscribed to a service that analyzes your body and coloring and then sends you a weekly list of clothes that will look good on you.  I only bought things that they recommended and built a great wardrobe that still works for me today. 

People tell me that I always look in style and pulled together.  I learned from this site http://missussmartypants.com/

I could not stand the texture of pureed foods and just skipped that stage.  I got plenty of nourishment from my protein shakes.  I added back foods at about four weeks out and started with things like ricotta, tuna, ham and split pea soup (finely diced ham) and turkey chili.  I tried pureeing those items and just did not want to eat it, so I would have a shake instead.

I have an attitude that I will probably have to consume pureed chili when they put me in a nursing home, but did not hurt myself at all by not eating it after surgery.

Probably not related to surgery, sounds like damage from frostbite. 

Back in the 1970's it was taught at Weigh****chers - at least the one that I attended.  Another technique was putting Comet Cleanser on a doughnut or cookie and scrubbing it well before eating.

If you are getting sick from normal food, it is either that something is wrong like an ulcer or stricture or you are eating too much.  Eating sugar just makes you crave more sugar.

You need to have your body checked out to be sure that there is no physical reason for your getting sick.  Then start eating tiny meals.  Eating sugar will pack the pounds on quickly, so you might have to just give that up for good.  Weigh you food and try to eat about three ounces of protein for a meal, with a few non-starchy vegetables if you have room.  If you cant finish three ounces, then eat one ounce and put or throw the rest away.

Not everyone has the intelligence, tenacity and emotional fortitude to stick to their plan.  Just like in school, there are A students and F students, but mostly C students.  People are not bad because they get mediocre grades, they are usually just not gifted with the intelligence and self-discipline to do better.

You are not bad, just not a high achiever.  Post-op life is harder for people who have not made the commitment to follow the rules, to get to goal, and to stay at goal.  Gaining weight is like rolling downhill.  It is pretty effortless.  Losing weight is an uphill battle. 

Surgery is a great tool, but not a magic wand.  Keeping weight off will be a lifetime struggle.  There will always be delicious temptations.  Sticking to the task long term sounds easy, but just like any addict, drug abuser, alcoholic, or overeater success is overcoming your addictions one day at a time.

I have a Tanita scale.  I will not accept a scale that fluctuates and most of them do.  I weigh daily and trust my scale.  I have had my Tanita since 1993 and it is always perfectly accurate when I am weighed at doctors offices on their digital scales I get the same weight.  It was $50 in 1993.

Here are the top rated scales from Consumer Reports.

Taylor 7506

Tanita HS-302

Escali E-180R

Buy a scale that you trust and can depend on.  It will make a big difference now and for many years to come.

It was almost across the board back about 1998 to give women Boniva or Fostamax after menopause if their dexa scan showed bone loss.  I took it for about four or five years and never got sick from it or had any side effects.

I am an old lady and have had many surgeries.  Some people believe that they just get over surgery and feel normal again quickly.  The truth is that the body takes a long time to get back to how you felt before surgery.  Reality is that it takes a year before everything is back to normal physically and emotionally.

There will be a morning when you wake up and everything will feel better than it did before your operation.  It will feel like that first beautiful spring day after a cold, bitter winter.  You will feel light, strong and hopeful.  What you are suffering through now will just be like a faint remembrance of a bad dream.

Do the best you can now.  Normal is not just around the corner.  This is as Shakespeare wrote, "the winter of your discontent".  There is a glorious spring and summer waiting for you when these dark days are past.  Think of yourself as a butterfly waiting to emerge in all of your beautiful and slender glory.

Definitely get dressed, do your hair and makeup.  Clean your house and car.  Get out and walk.  Visit with others.  Keep your mind off of yourself and have other interests than what you are eating and how tired you are.  If you are not working now, think about getting a job.  Plan what you are going to eat so it is just a minor part of your day.

A great exercise is going to the mall and walking past store windows and dreaming about the beautiful clothes you will now be able to fit into.  Go to bed early and avoid napping.  Try to stay too busy for that.  Life is going to get better every day for you.  This only gets better.

It is what is supposed to happen.  You do not live the rest of your life on a tiny amount of food and the malabsorption of calories with RNY usually lasts about 18 months.  This is how the body recovers from the effects of being starved by the surgery.  It is smart enough to know how to overcome that. 

With the DS operation there is permanent malabsorption  of calories and vitamins.  With RNY we absorb calories again but do not absorb vitamins the same.  That is why we need supplements for life.

Don't be terrified by this.  Just understand what it is all about.  It is good to prepare by trying to lose 10, 20 or even 30 pounds under your goal weight during your honeymoon period.  I enjoyed the year or so of being too skinny and was ten pounds under goal when my Bounceback regain happened. 

While everyone is different, it is very normal to have a weight gain of about 20 pounds at 30 months out.  It happens to many people and has little to do with exercise.  What happens is that the pouch gets larger and more food can be eaten at a time.  We tolerate most foods well and can eat a lot of some foods. 

Also the intestines regrow little hair like appendages that grab the food and hold it against the intestines so that more calories can be absorbed.  This is the end of the honeymoon stage of RNY.  My Bounceback regain started at 30 months and I gained fourteen pounds in three months.  I went to Weigh****chers, talked to my nutritionist and surgeon, exercised more and finally bought bigger clothes.

What helps me now is to weigh daily and be aware of every pound.   To lose some of the weight, I went on a 900 calorie diet and that takes off one pound a week.  Sometimes I go to 1250 and lose 1/2 pound a week.  If I relax on my calories, the scale can start going up.  That is why I cannot skip weighing.  I consider RNY to have the quick weight loss period, the year or so of effortless maintaining, then the Bounceback regain period and finally true maintenance.