mskami77

I'm here occasionally. Almost 5 years post-op.

HW 314 SW 296 GW 177 CW 169

I didn't mean to bump an old thread lol.
It would be nice to connect in particular with other bw that have gotten the gastric bypass.
My surgery date is May 15th and i'm getting the gastric bypass :).

Mine was a while ago, but I remember it being far easier than I expected!
For a while, I wasn't allowed to straighten. Walked hunched & slept sitting up on the couch.
Pain was very minimal. was only in the hospital 23 hours post surgery.
Wear your compression. Once the drains are out, you can get firm support bodysuits & waist nippers. I wore compression for about 6 months. This was my ONLY shot to get the tummy I've always wanted and was told the longer I wear compression the better the final result.
Drains, I was TERRIFIED, as I gross out & pass out VERY easily, & I live alone.
They were not bad at all!
For showering, create a long loop of gauze. Make tape tabs on the drain tube (cloth tape works well) Then you can pin the tubes to the gauze loop hanging off your neck.
Don't expect instant skinny. Some people are lucky & look great immediately. Then there's the other end of the spectrum. I was VERY swollen. Instead of my normal size 0-00, I needed size 4 for a while, then gradually the swelling went down & I am 100% happy with my result!
Everyone has a different pain tolerance & experience. All I know is that I was expecting horrible pain, being debilitated and grossed out. I moved slower and hunched but really kept going with my day to day.
Best of luck!

I used one. It was awesome. At the hospital they kept giving me these warming packs to put o the incisions. you should be okay

I used a heating pad and it felt amazzzzzzzzzing No issues. I also used ice sometimes but the heating pad was the best.

Hi,
I am 22 months out and my cravings and bad habits came back at around 15 months out. I slowly started trying different foods and adding in bad food. I stopped logging my food, drinking my Water, got lazy taking my Vitamins and medication. By November first I realized how far off track I had gotten and I stepped on the scale for the first time in months. I had a 30lb regain, which crushed me. I changed some things and got rid of the bad food in the house and went back to basics. I struggle a bit through Thanksgiving and vacation after that but I managed to drop 14lbs. While I was happy about this, I knew I needed to really deal with my emotional eating habits. The first year was easy because I had no cravings. I really believed that I had it under control but I did not. I now realized that this is where the hard work starts. I started reading a book called Never Binge again which has helped me immensely...enough that I now know that I can hit my goal weight this year and that I have a plan and processes in place to help me when I am tempted. I purchased an inspirational food journal that helps me in the sense that it not just focused on food intake and macros. It's more about having a healthy outlook, mind and body. I had joined several bariatric groups on FB but I did not participate much. Now I spend a part of my morning in those groups communicating with various people. I also started a blog, which is terrifying, to be as transparent to myself as possible and also hold myself accountable for my food decisions, good or bad. We can do this...we just never give up and keep going when we have a set back. You can never fail unless you quit.

I'm 5 years out RNY. I also had Gerd pre-op and my doctor would only do RNY. I haven't had any complications, strictures, hernias or anything of the sort. I stay pretty active and hike often. I think better time is spent researching your surgeon and their rates of complication. That has a much greater effect on your personal outcome than overall averages. If you're confident in your surgeon, I'd say go with the sleeve but be open to revision if necessary. Good luck on your surgery.

HW 314 SW 296 GW 177 CW 169

Thanks, y'all. I feel a little calmer about it tonight. I read the prior auth I got from my insurance company, and it just says "surgery for morbid obesity" is approved, so I think it may (hopefully) be good for either/or. Still weighing the options, and all your comments have really helped with that.

I'm 5 years out RNY. I also had Gerd pre-op and my doctor would only do RNY. I haven't had any complications, strictures, hernias or anything of the sort. I stay pretty active and hike often. I think better time is spent researching your surgeon and their rates of complication. That has a much greater effect on your personal outcome than overall averages. If you're confident in your surgeon, I'd say go with the sleeve but be open to revision if necessary. Good luck on your surgery.

HW 314 SW 296 GW 177 CW 169

Oh fasting is brilliant - it's such a fabulous way of reminding ourselves to be grateful for all the food luxuries we have on a regular basis, and a special time to get closer to God. Perhaps make a prayer that this will be for His sake and ask protection from any possible ill effects.

Sent from my SM-G930F using BariatricPal mobile app

IF YOU'RE UNDER HIM, YOU'RE NOT GETTING OVER HIM
so true...

If someone remarks on your black clothing, asks you "Whose funeral?" tell them , I haven't decided yet! Probably then the non-your-business will cease. LOL

Hey Y'all! I'm almost 5 years post-op RNY. I've been vegan for a year. I love to cook and find creative ways to get my Protein in but I'm looking for what others eat on a typical day.
For me it's something like this:
Breakfast: almond butter on sprouted bread toast topped with flax seed/cinnamon or quinoa with soy milk and berries
Lunch: spinach salad loaded with veggies topped with chickpeas or black Beans, roasted barley and pumpkin seeds
Dinner: Small sweet potato topped with 3 bean chili and a cooked veggie or sofritas, roasted veggies and brown rice
Snacks: air-popped popcorn, fruit, hummus n veggies
HW 314 SW 296 GW 177 CW 169

Ok, so sorry you are going through this and have to live with it. The worst thing in my opinion is always being on a level of pain where you can't sleep, move, etc.
But here's where I probably won't be popular, and I can only give you my story. And everyone is SO different and lives a different pain history.
In short, I have osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, cervical stenosis and sacral stenosis, bone spurs on my spine, hips, joints. etc, etc, chronic bursitis in both hips, a 50% ACL tear, and neuralgia 360 around my chest extending 8 inches + neuralgia in my hands/feet from hand/foot syndrome during chemo. And in addition I'm a stage 3c BC survivor on Femara (a drug that causes even more bone and joint pain). I've been on opiod pills, neurontin, tramadol, flexeril, nsaids, tylenol, pain Patches, pain gels, cortisone shots to the joints. Oh and now I have a Parkinsonian trimmer in my head and hands from the radiation/chemo--so it causes constant muscle tension cuz I trie to keep my head/hands/shoulders from shaking deep inside my body.
I used to not be able to sleep longer than 1-2 hours at a time before waking from pain and unintentional movement. I still sleep in a recliner. And every day I woke, I'd wake in at least a 6-7 pain level. I would not medicate until it was an 8+ to 10 cuz I hated the side effects of the drugs. And now that I had surgery, most of that or a lot of that is off the table.
Here is what finally helped me.
1. Adjusting my diet to be as clean as possible. (Every time I eat beef or pork, I wake the next morning 20 years older... Every time I have carby carbs like grains--pain so bad I feel 80 years old. Every time I drink any kind of alcohol other than a little red wine--pain like cray. cheese and dairy is the same way unless it's very very small amounts of reduced fat or fat free dairy.)
2. Started doing severe calorie restriction, then IF and that reduced the pain ENORMOUSLY! Like...magically.
3. Lose weight. I think my doc gave me some number like: for every 15% of body weight you lose, you reduce your pain level by 20-30%?
4. Get PT and then do the frickin core strengthening exercises religiously. (I'm slacking on this! But I can tell when I do them and when I don't. The difference in pain level is a magnitude of 10 with v. without.)
5. Walk daily. Daily. Even when I don't feel like it. Even when it hurts. By the time I'm done, it always hurts less.
The best thing I've done is lose the weight. I can do things now without pain meds that I never thought I could or would be able to do. My goal is to get to 125-130lbs to take off as much extra stress as possible and improve my pain level as much as I can. I think the pain meds caused a continual cycle of spring-back pain (forget the name of it). So it was like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because I medicated, I would have more pain at the end of the cycle and need to take more meds. And because I medicated, I'd built up a tolerance and needed more and more meds to help. Now if I absolutely must have one, it takes maybe 1/4 of the amount it used to take. I now wake only in a 2-3 and end of day is usually only a 4 which is entirely manageable for me.
Some meds that play well together and amplify their effects:
1. Gabapentin + Tramadol together
2. Tramadol + Tylenol together (this one is especially good)
3. Norco 10/325 + Flexoril (last resort med)
Lastly, this is the killer part. (Sorry in advance...and you can only do what you can do--and only you know how clean your diet is and if you are eating low cals.) If you are 5'5" and 178lbs and female, you still have some fluffy slush to get rid of that absolutely would help reduce the pain level. I wouldn't say that if I didn't feel the difference in myself. It was night and day relief.

I'm no longer on any pain drugs. And the only scripts I take are my Femara, thyroid, and omeprazole. I walk daily. I try to do strength training 2-3 days per week as much as I'm able. And I can actually "fast walk"/jog which I never thought possible. It's now been 1+ year since one of my cortisone shots and about 6+months since the other and I'm holding up really well.
I hope my story helps you. I'm sorry for going on about myself. But I just think, if it was possible for me, how many others would/could benefit from it. The freedom from drugs is really just a great gift of this surgery and lifestyle.

Just wanted to thank to thank Creek for this post. Really good information and research links. Will definitely be saving this for when I'm in maintenance planning my long-term eating habits. Please kee[ right now wacking that dead horse. I need this info. Thank you.

Want one I remember from Readers Digest or something similar?
3 Vampires walk into a bar; Barmaid comes over. "What will you gentleman have?
Vampire#1- I'll have a pint of Blood!
Vampire#2- Yeah that sounds good, I'll have the same!
Vampire#3 Nah Nah, I'll just have a pint of plasma!
Barmaid- Okay, I've got it! 2 Bloods and a Blood Light!
Happy Halloween🎃Everybody!

A. Her husband had a Halloweenie:)
Happy Halloween ya'll!

And piggy-backing myself in here, found something new at my Wal-Mart. Called Purely Inspired Organic Protein Plant-based Nutritional shake still 20 gr of protein, pea/brown rice based, I got the French vanilla, I think I can sorta feel the base but quite drinkable. Not that much more than the traditionals, I have been having some dairy issues myself, think I will have no trouble drinking the 4-pack.

BariatricPal is launching our own PodCast. The first 12 episodes for season 1 have already been taped. Stay tuned for that announcement 😀

BariatricPal is excited to announce the sponsorship of Jay Casale's The Lighter Side Of Weight Loss - With Jay podcast! Listen to the latest episode for an interesting interview with yours truly!
Make sure to subscribe and listen on your podcast app here."
"Alex Brecher is the CEO and founder of BariatricPal, the world's largest weight loss surgery forum. He has also had bariatric surgery. Three times. Yep.
He started BariatricPal because he didn't feel he had the support he needed online or off. Years later, the small forums he created have spawned a giant, AMAZING online store at store.bariatricpal.com, and a Hospital dedicated solely to Bariatric and Plastic Surgery.
Also, he's just a cool guy with a great story."

I’m 4 years out and one year ago I was at 123 maintaining well. I adopted a vegan lifestyle for many ethical and moral reasons. I dropped to 109 at first while I was learning many of my Meal Replacements and because my restriction is still so strong. But I started plant based Protein Drinks again just to help supplement and now I’m well balanced with an endless menu of Protein rich foods and back to 120. It’s the best decision I’ve made for myself besides the surgery.

I haven’t been online much since my surgery and wanted to update everyone on my progress. I’m no long an MGB patient. My surgeon revised my procedure to a full RNY Gastric Bypass. After performing the MGB, my stomach had active bleeding due to severe erosive gastritis secondary to my Lap-Band. Having had long term exposure to a foreign body (my Lap-Band) for 15 years caused me to have Barrett’s esophagus and sever erosive gastritis. My surgeon had to redo my entire WLS procedure again to insure an optimal outcome. In my case the RNY was the indicated procedure. Thanks to everyone who has reached out over the last week! You concern and caring words meant the world to me.

If you love cauliflower, choose a colored variety. It also looks really beautiful. 😀😀

I'm just happy to see more action in the vegetarian section!!!
I love hearing about the proper ways to eat different foods, to maximize their nutritional intake. Very interesting topic!