James Marusek

Shortly after surgery, I experienced the same problem. It turns out that I became lactose intolerant. I began using lactose free Protein shakes and avoided any dairy products and that worked for me. A few months later, I discovered that I was no longer lactose intolerant.

I had my surgery on May 16, 2013. In a few days, I will be at my one year anniversary date.

After surgery, I was lactose intolerant. I used Muscle Milk Light which was lactose free. It is not soy based. Generally I blended up the powder with Water and added a half a banana. I liked the vanilla Creme flavor.

Several months after the operation, my lactose intolerance disappeared. I also was able to expand my options by using Protein bars as my Protein supplement.

Hi NieMarie

It sounds like your track is significantly different than the one I underwent. When I completed the pre-op testing, they analyzed the results and then determined that other specific tests were required. This was the second round of pre-op testing. These were done by specialist in their fields. If they find no problems during the first round of pre-op tests, then there is no second round of testing required. It sounds like you are getting close to the end.

Looking good.

Ahh!! Yay for May 19th!!

Thank you all for your wonderful responses and suggestions!

I am curious to those of you who have had surgery, how soon after surgery did you start losing weight? I realize it will vary person to person, but I'm just kind of wondering. I don't really know how to go about getting rid of/getting new clothes (which is a part of this process I am really looking forward to!!! )

It somewhat depends on the type of surgery. During the 2 days I was in the hospital after surgery, I gained a few pounds (Water weight) due to all the IVs and fluids they pump into me. I had gastric bypass surgery. I began losing weight almost immediately after I returned home. At the beginning it was fairly dramatic but as time went on, the weight loss slowed down. At 7 months, I had reached my bottom.

In my case, I gave some of my old clothes to my brother. The rest I gave to a Christian thrift shop. I enjoyed replacing my entire wardrobe. Generally, they recommend that you do not buy any clothes until after you near your weight loss goal. But that was one of the rules that I broke. I found that clothes was an excellent motivator for continued weight loss. I would buy a shirt or pants that was so tight, that I could barely put it on. If I took a deep breath, it would rip apart at the seams. Then two weeks later it would fit like a dime. I gained immense pleasure by this.

I had a gastric bypass almost a year ago. After the surgery, my constantly nagging hunger disappeared overnight. It was not difficult to lose weight when I was no longer hungry. On the other hand, foods also lost their taste. Before surgery, I loved the taste of food. But how could one enjoy eating when foods no longer have any taste.

I figured a method of putting taste back into food, which seemed to work for me. If after surgery, you experience the same loss of taste, you might want to take a look at How I Survived Bariatric Surgery available at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Congratulations!

Congratulations on surviving your surgery.

I am approaching the 1 year mark after surgery and I am in the maintenance stage. I don't obsess with my weight. I have an accurate scale, good for increments of 0.2 pounds. I weigh myself each morning when I get up and record my weight. I reached my bottom weight 7 months after RNY gastric bypass surgery. My weight generally falls within the 160.0 to 162.0 range. There were several times when my weight was below this figure and a few times above. Generally I look at the scale as an instantaneous feedback tool. I do a lot of experimentation. If I see a weight gain outside the range, I return to my basic meal plan and the weight falls back in line. So far some of the items that I have to stay away from by using this method are: bread, sweet corn, sweet cherries. On the other side, some of the things that appear to drive my weight below the limit is when I pick up a cold or when I eat out at restaurants.

Mrs. Glo Martin

I am sorry to hear that you are having a problem with your Protein supplements. Eventually, you will have more options open up for you, but the beginning can be pretty rough. On the Protein supplement side over the past 11 months, I made the following transitions

3 Protein shakes per day

2 Protein Shakes per day

2 large cups of hot cocoa (no sugar added) + 1 large berry smoothie

1 large cup of hot cocoa (no sugar added) + 1 large berry smoothie

As I gained more protein on the meal side of the equation, I was able to subtract off some of my protein supplements. When I achieved my bottom weight, I was able to add more calories to the equation (protein + meal plan). As I was able to transition from puree to solids, I was able to use Protein Bars as part of my protein supplements. The first year after surgery is all about transitions and finding options that will work for you.

I never tried to keep my WLS a secret. I told everyone, even strangers on the street. In general, the reaction of most people are either curiosity or supportive. If they want to know why, I tell them it is to correct health issues. Most people congratulate me for my perseverance. I find this to be strange because the surgery enables me to loose weight rather than the will power needed to maintain a diet. But in some peoples minds they are one and the same.

I was talking to my brother in California about my surgery. He told me the following story. He said he noticed that there was a movie star living next door. So in order to satisfy his curiosity, he approached her and asked her when she moved in. She said that she had been living there for a decade and he had never noticed her. He found out that she had bariatric surgery and had lost all that weight. It was basically curiosity that drove him to start up a conversation.

Congratulations. It took me almost a year from when I started the process until I had the surgery. As far as recommendations prior to surgery, here are a few:

* Make sure you do your walking each day prior to surgery. It will help in your recovery.

* Find a Protein drink you can live with. There are many types. Some can tastes worse than others. I found mixing the Protein powder in a blender gave it better consistency.

* Make sure you have a pill splitter and a pill crusher at home.

* My hospital allowed my wife to stay in my room for the two nights I was there. This was a good thing. If your hospital allows it, you might have someone stay with you after surgery.

* Purchase the many types of (prescribed) Vitamins you will need prior to surgery. That way, you will not have to be chasing around finding them right after surgery.

* You might schedule your surgery for Monday thru Thursday and avoid Friday. During the recovery, many surgeons are off on the weekends. I had my operation on Friday, and I was dealing with alternate staff during recovery.

* Make sure you get plenty of sleep in the night or two before surgery. I had to get up once every two hours round the clock in the hospital to get my walking in.

* In the beginning, you will be relying on Protein drinks and Vitamins. They will be keeping you alive. Given the small volume of meals, there is so little nutrition. When you are up-and-about town, you will need a form of Protein Drinks that you can take with you. You cannot take your blender with you wherever you go. In my opinion the blending glasses that you shake do not mix as well as a blender. Later you can meet this need of an on-the-go Protein supplement in the form of a Protein Bar. But at the beginning you cannot. So you might obtain a few super concentrated protein drinks for when you are out. One example is Protein Ice available at GNC. It has 42 grams of protein, zero carbs. In my opinion, it taste terrible, but my wife seems to think it tasted O.K.

Some people who have surgery lose weight in their feet and often times transition into a smaller shoe size. Since you are doing 5 mile walks at a fast clip, if your feet are getting smaller, it could cause a bad reaction, like blisters. Consider that some of your 54 pound weight loss may be in your feet.

After surgery, some items can taste dramatically different. I remember when I had a little ketchup for the first time. It tasted like hot sauce. I wonder if it was the two small bites that did you in or if it was a reaction to something in the tuna wrap. Anyways, the early periods after surgery are a time of change. Keep trying things and experimenting. Many times bad reactions to some types of food will disappear as time goes on.

Congratulations.

The introductory seminar at St. Vincent's Bariatric Center covers the following topics:

* The types of different Weight Loss Surgeries and their risks.

* Determines if you are a good candidate for the surgery.

* Discusses how to fund the surgery. (Which might answer your later question about Medicaid)

* Discusses the requirement by some insurances about a 6 month medically supervised exercise and diet program.

* Discusses the roadmap to the surgery including a visit to a psychologist, an evaluation by a surgeon and downselect to the type of operation, weight loss program, insurance approval, pre-op testing, approval for surgery and setting the date, a pre-operative education class combined with a post-operative regime (meal plan, Vitamins, Protein requirements, liquid requirements) and then the surgery.

At least that is what I remember.

Hi Cherrybomb420

Are you asking about the introductory seminar at St. Vincent's Bariatric Center in Carmel, Indiana? Are you from Indiana?

Shortly after my surgery I had a problem with diarrhea and passing gas. I figured out that it was due to becoming lactose intolerant. I cut out all milk and this problem disappeared. A couple months later, I discovered that I was no longer lactose intolerant. I am 11 months post-op and I believe I pass a lot more gas post surgery than pre surgery. But that is the extent of it and I think being forced to transition to adult diapers is an uncommon occurance.

Yes without all that fat, it is a little harder to keep warm. This year we had quite a bit of snow and since my driveway was 800 feet long, I spent many days shoveling or blowing the snow off my driveway. My hands froze. My kids bought me hand warmers for Christmas. That was just what I needed.

Congratulations. I had a RNY Gastric Bypass 11 months ago, and I remember the first few weeks were rough. There was so much complexity built into the meal plan, Protein supplements, medicine, Vitamins, Water intake, etc. But it does get better. I reached my happy state at 6 months, when everything started to work and all the problems melted away.

Good luck with your surgery. You are one step closer.

Some individuals seem to develop hypoglycemia after gastric bypass surgery. Since I was diabetic before surgery, I monitored my blood sugar levels after surgery. When I left the hospital, the doctor took me off all my blood sugar medicine. During the first week after post-op, my blood sugar levels were in the 100's without medication. I discontinued taking my blood sugar levels on a daily basis and only check them periodically. My morning fasting readings were in the range of 70's to 90's whenever I checked them during the past year.

If your blood sugar levels fall into the 40's this may be a sign of trouble and probably a doctor needs to be involved. You can treat a sudden episode of low blood sugar by eating or drinking something with sugar in it. Some examples of "quick-sugar foods" are fruit juice and milk. You may also take glucose tablets. This is usually all that's needed to get your blood sugar level back up in the short term.

In the first few weeks after surgery, you are getting very little nutrition from meals. It is important during this stage to strive towards meeting your Protein, Water and Vitamin requirements. That is what is sustaining you.

Loss of hunger. I found that to be the case too. It wasn't hard to lose weight when the beast called hunger was not constantly knocking on your door.

During the first few months after surgery, most foods loss their taste. But then your taste buds change.