terry1118

I was amazed at how little pain I actually had following my RNY surgery. It hurt some but not as bad as I feared and it was easily managed w/meds. I stopped all pain meds after only four days, and felt good enough to cut my grass after eight days. My gallbladder removal six months later was way worse, but neither surgery could compare to my rotator cuff surgery six years ago - that pain was intense and long-lasting! And that took about a year before I was pain free!

I could live on scallops, shrimp, chicken chili, and Greek yogurt. :-)

I'm over one year out and I still can't eat chicken or turkey, unless it's ground. I do better w/ground chicken than ground turkey - I think it's more moist. I also can't do beef unless it's ground. I can't do roast pork, pork chops, or any fish except for tilapia. There are still many choices available that I can eat and tolerate well. :-)

Last night I made spaghetti squash topped with a meat sauce made w/ground chicken, jalapeño chicken sausage, onions, basil, and zuchinni. I also grilled zuchinni topped w/tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. Mmmm! Leftovers for lunch today! :-) Tonite I think I'll cook up some quinoa linquini and try that w/the last night's meat sauce...

CrunchO's high protein snacks. Shaped like cheerios and crunchy like Muncho's, they come in BBQ or Sour Cream & Onion flavor. 130 cals, 12gr protein. You can buy them on Amazon. I also like humus w/humus chips - lower protein than CrunchO's but higher than most other snack foods. Single serve packs sold in my grocery store for $1.99.

I had my very first (and only, so far) dumping experience at one year out. You can avoid dumping by rigidly adhering to your team's dietary instructions and carefully reading labels. My experience was from not reading the label on baked beans which contained 13 gr of sugar - way more than I've been used to. Bowels are good, too.

Don't stock up on too much of anything, except vitamins. I bought a lot of vitamin B (sublingual), vitamin D (I tend to be deficient), and Biotin whenever CVS had buy 1/get 1 free sales. Your tastes will change drastically following surgery and you don't know what foods you will like or tolerate. For the first week or two I had greek yogurt, cream soups, sugar free pudding, sugar free Popsicles, sugar free jello, broths, and samples of flavored and unflavored protein to mix into them. I'd get two meals out of a yogurt and three or four out of a can of soup. I bought Atkins ready to drink shakes because I had always liked them and it was a quick easy meal in the early days. After I was cleared to drive I was able to go shopping and began looking for and trying different things w/protein that I could tolerate. I found most foods didn't taste 'right' especially in the first month after my surgery. I threw out a lot of food in those early days. Eventually that effect faded away but even one year out I still don't eat enough of any one thing to make 'stocking up' worthwhile except my favorite protein. It took a lot of trial and error to finally find one I liked (I threw out a lot of protein too!). :-)

My PCP referred me to the WLS information seminar. My surgeon sends all lab results and info from post op visits to my PCP also. I haven't been for my yearly physical because I've been seeing my surgeon every three months and getting frequent lab work done. They've been very thorough so it seems unnecessary at this point. I may schedule an appointment soon because I want to schedule a colonoscopy that I've been putting off for five years. Someone I know just lost a relative to colon cancer that was treatable if they had only caught it sooner. Wake up call! :-)

That sounds amazing! My mouth is watering! :-)

I know what you mean about being sad about letting the old larger clothing go. I felt the same way. It took years of searching and considerable investment to build that plus size wardrobe. I think also that after so many weight losses and regains over the years, I feel like I could fail at this, too. Letting go of those clothes was like losing my 'safety net'. It's a huge leap of faith that says 'I will never need these again'. On the plus side, it's so much fun shopping for new clothes and - wonder of wonders - those small clothes cost less than the really BIG ones! I've been buying a lot on clearance. Tops for as little as $3, last season's bathing suit for $10, an expensive dress for $14... you get the picture! I am on a great and happy adventure!!! Lol

Be easy on yourself. You just had major surgery. Your body is healing and recovering from the trauma. You've gone through some drastic physiological changes. Many of us were not in the best of health before surgery due to weight-related health problems and years of unhealthy eating and inactivity. WLS doesn't result in instantly feeling well afterwards. Also, the first 1-3 months you feel nauseous and foods taste unappealing, maybe even bad (it was quite some time before foods tasted 'normal' to me again). Concentrate on the basics - rest, fluids, protein, and slowly but gradually increasing activity. Try staying away from the scale for a few weeks while you're recovering. You'll get there! :-)

One more tip for the peanut butter. Mix in a scoop of vanilla protein powder for added protein and a little sweetness. My husband is a body builder and always adds protein to his natural peanut butter. :-)

Be careful w/the baked beans. I'm over a year out and had my very first dumping experience with B&M Baked Beans (one of the sweet ones - brown sugar or maple). I didn't check the label before eating them but after it happened I looked and it had 13gr of sugar. 1/2 cup of delicious beans was NOT worth a painful, miserable hour in the bathroom (heart racing, shaking, abdominal pain, cold sweats, lightheadedness, diarrhea), followed by another two hours of shaky weakness. It was the first time I ever had that much sugar since my surgery on 5/30/13. On the plus side, I now know that I dump. It reinforces the need to be diligent about label reading. macaroni and cheese from a box has absolutely nothing in it you should be eating. Homemade may still be too high in calories but at least it's a healthier option than a box meal, especially if you use wheat pasta. I have had baked cauliflower and cheese or spaghetti squash and cheese as a substitute when I'm craving something hot and cheesy. I love ricotta bake, too. It's delicious and safe for early stages following surgery. For later stages you can add meat and/or vegetables to it. Even my husband loves it. Google the recipe. I don't eat bread of any kind, ever. Some people can tolerate toasted bread (from what I've heard soft doughy bread is much more likely to bother people). If you choose to try it use a whole grain or high protein bread and choose a natural, low or no sugar peanut butter. I wouldn't eat it every day - while peanut butter does have some protein it is VERY high fat. For spaghetti you can use spaghetti squash or wheat pasta. I very rarely eat pasta but when I do it's wheat and I eat very little of it. I haven't had a problem tolerating it. I do make spaghetti squash far more often. I make it with a ground chicken meat sauce, heavy on the meat for the protein.

That ricotta bake is GOOD! The first time I made a batch for myself (intending it to be more than a few meals for myself), my husband tried it and ate the whole batch! Lol

Dumping happens when sugar and or simple carbs reach your intestine at an area unused to it (due to being bypassed in RNY). Your body's reaction to this is to send Fluid quickly to your intestines resulting in abdominal pain/cramping, cold sweats, light-headedness, shaking, and severe diarrhea. It can happen a little while after a meal (my first/only dumping experience happened a few weeks ago and was about thirty minutes after eating) and can last hours (I spent a long painful miserable hour on the toilet, followed by another hour/hour and a half of shaking and severe weakness). You can avoid dumping by avoiding sugar, foods containing over 10gr of sugar, simple carbs (almost anything white - bread, rice, pasta). If you follow your teams instructions and read food labels this won't happen often, if at all. Food getting stuck/eating too fast/eating too much causes food to back up. This is very common and can happen very frequently. Your body's response to this is to create bubbly saliva to try to ease the problem. The saliva builds up and either does help or causes severe nausea resulting in vomiting, which also solves the problem. Taking small bites, chewing thoroughly, and eating slowly can help prevent this. chicken or other poultry can be very dry, as is pork, and many people can't tolerate these foods (I'm over one year out and have never been able to keep chicken or turkey down). Each individual may have foods they can't tolerate but others can. It's trial and error.

I had RNY on 5/30/13. I have had a great experience and have no regrets. I had no complications, a quick, relatively easy recovery, and a very successful weight loss. I started at 233lbs and currently weigh 118lbs. All my health problems have cleared up and my joint and back pain are gone. My labs are perfect. I'm in the best health of my life. My WLS team has been wonderful. I followed their instructions to the letter which I believe is key to success. If I had it to do over again, would I? The answer is 'HELL, YES!'

The 'Pouch test' has been mentioned in my support group by the psychiatrist who runs it. It's mentioned as a tool to reassure, get back on track or back to basics, or break a stall, because it can do all these things. It reassures people that, yes, their pouch is still small and working correctly. It helps you get back to the basics and can help you get out of bad eating habits by taking you through all the phases of your initial post-op diet. It can help break a stall by sort of 'resetting' your body so it begins losing again (and your mind by mentally starting over). It is harmless (even my PA has mentioned it as a tool) and can have great benefits to those who try it. Do a search of the 5 day pouch test to get the specifics.

There are 'good' carbs and 'bad' carbs (or 'evil' as you say). Bad carbs include sugar and simple carbs and have almost no nutritional value. They contribute to obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. Eating simple carbs result in sluggishness and weight gain with very little benefit. Simple carbs are basically anything made w/white flour, white rice/rice flour, or enriched wheat flour (if something needs to be 'enriched' it's because they processed the hell out of it, stripping away any nutrients it might have had). Good carbs are complex carbs. They are recommended and desirable. They have soluble and insoluble Fiber, Protein, nutrients, and are more slowly digested resulting in a more steady energy supply and other health benefits. Good sources are whole grain breads, crackers, and cereals; brown rice; quinoa; Beans and legumes, etc. A bariatric patient's dietary requirements for good health is protein first, vegetables second, and complex carbs last. It works. :-)

Yes. Family, friends, and total strangers who think because I cash their checks for them once a week that they are entitled to voice their opinion on the matter. I have been called 'anorexic', 'sickly', 'gaunt', and 'skinny'. I've had people ask me if I have cancer and they've said they're praying for me. I've been told I'm wasting away and I don't look healthy. :-p I just had my one year post op appointment. My surgeon says I'm a textbook example of the surgery's success. My labs couldn't be any more perfect. All my health problems have gone away, my joint and back pain is gone, and I feel great! I'm on better health than I have been in over 28 years. I've lost 115 pounds and am holding at a steady 118lbs (I have a small frame and am only barely 5' tall). I wear a size 6 or 8 bottoms and a small top. That being said I still have a little pot belly and some small love handles. Sizes must have changed over the years because before I got pregnant in '86 (with twins) I was wearing a size 9 and I still can't fit into the size 9 leather coat that was the first gift my husband ever gave me. At 118 I am on the high end of the weight range for my height. I'd like to lose maybe 8 more pounds to put me in the middle. It may be that I won't be able to do anything about my belly without more surgery. My insurance will pay if I end up with rashes. But if not, I am more than content with where I am. It's a place I never dared to dream I would ever be! So very happy with my results! For the record, my stock answer now is 'My doctor is pleased with my results and I'm following his recommendations'. Who can argue with that? If people don't drop it I change the subject or end the conversation. :-)

Or just cook it in broth for more flavor. :-)

I wasn't thrilled w/quinoa alone so I mix it with brown rice. You can make a nice quinoa/brown rice salad by adding chopped nuts, dried cranberries, chopped red onion, parsley, and a little lite or fat free dressing of your choice. I like Cesar, Italian, or balsamic vinaigrette. :-)

I just whipped up a batch of spicy chicken chili using my authentic spices I bought in California. Ground chicken, chili spices, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, black beans, corn, salsa, and brown rice. Sometimes I mix in a little refried beans, too. Yummy! :-)

My husband works out every other day for two/three hours - half cardio, half heavy lifting. He had trouble making it through at first. He was working out, then following his workout he'd have his Protein shake. His trainer told him he needed to eat something an hour before his workout so he'd have enough energy to get through it. His trainer told him to eat a PB&J sandwich - natural, unsweetened peanut butter and sugar free preserves on whole grain bread. Obviously you can't eat that but maybe the same idea applies - maybe some form of protein/healthy fat/complex carb combo to give you energy and keep blood sugar stable?

It's my understanding that Biotin only helps emerging hair as it grows in to be healthier, not actually cause it to grow or keep it from falling out. I have taken biotin religiously since three months pre op and it didn't prevent the significant hair loss I experienced from 4-9 months post op. If you Google hair loss + weight loss surgery you get a pretty good explanation of why we lose some of our hair following surgery. It's a combination of the physical stress of surgery combined with initial rapid weight loss. It simply and clearly explains the science of hair growth/loss and why we see hair loss in a specific time frame following stress. Hair loss can be caused by ANY physical or emotional stress. My hair is beginning to fill in again though it will probably not be obvious to anyone but myself until year's end. An added bonus for me is my leg hair has not grown in many months. I shaved last fall and my legs are still completely hairless, as are my underarms. That has been enough of a treat to offset the disappointment of the thinner hair on my head. :-)

ALL overweight people have a fatty liver. I was obese for almost thirty years and ate badly the entire time. My last labs were textbook perfect - everything well within normal limits. Usually losing weight improves or eliminates fatty liver but I don't know if that is the same as 'fatty liver disease'. Talk to your doctor about your specific concerns and ask what the diagnosis specifically means to you, and if WLS will help.