James Marusek

There is an old saying around here "Never trust a fart." It does happen, but fortunately, the problem will go away with time.

One individual in our bariatric surgery support group meetings had a band to RNY gastric bypass conversion. His band started to seriously erode into his stomach and was about to rupture his stomach. He was very pleased with the results. He lost a lot of weight. His pouch was a little bid smaller than most because of the scar tissue. This limited his food volume but he was O.K. with it.

Welcome and good luck on your journey. Let us know if we can be of any help.

Weight loss after RNY surgery is achieved by meal volume control. So as others are recommending, stay with the amounts given by the program in order to maximize your weight loss. The weight loss stage relatively short and then you will then transition into the maintenance phase, so it is important to maximize your weight loss during this first stage. As you go over these amounts, you may experience dumping syndrome. Not a good thing. There are several pre-triggers that tell you when you are close. These can be sneezing, running nose, hiccups, mucous, or food suddenly changing from a good taste to an evil taste. The pre-triggers can vary by individual, but generally once you get to a pre-trigger, ONE BITE MORE, and it full scale dumping. YOU DON'T WANT TO BE THERE!

I have found that Quest Protein bars are good. They come in a variety of flavors, some very unusual. (Such as Coconut Cashew, Vanilla Almond Crunch, Cookies and Creme, White chocolate Raspberry). They have a good amount of protein (~20 grams), low sugar (~1 or 2 grams), and good amount of fiber (~15 grams). I had some issues with constipation and the fiber helped. If you decide to try these, I suggest you try a variety pack to start with so you can find the types you like best. You might buy singles at GNC. Then once you downselect to the ones you like the best, order them by the box over the internet, such as by Amazon. That will help make these affordable. Protein Bars come in handy when you are on the go and cannot drag along your blender to mix up a Protein shake.

Congratulations. Great Job!

I am 3 years post-op RNY surgery so what I say in regards to sleeve patients may be a little off. Protein shakes are liquid and you can consume them without worrying about the 2 ounce limit. Provided you blend everything that you put into the Protein shake all is good. But on the other hand, if you add a lot of calories to your protein shake, it might affect your weight loss. I would recommend adding only the amount to make the protein shake taste tolerable. Because your protein shake is a liquid, it can count towards meeting your daily liquid requirements. So all liquids count towards that goal, including the Water you use to swallow your Vitamins, the liquid portion of the Soups, tea, milk etc. The 2 ounce limit applies to meals. If you exceed the 2 ounce limit of food in your meals, it can get you into trouble.

I am a little confused. You are 3 weeks pre-op and you are experiencing dumping syndrome???? After RNY gastric bypass surgery, the part of you stomach that normally processes fats and sugars is cut away. As a result if you consume fats and sugars, you body dumps them into you intestines and you begin to experience dumping syndrome.

Congratulations on your weight loss.

Ask the people in your household if you snore at night. That is a good indication if you have sleep apnea. You may have the option to switch to a more weight loss surgery friendly insurance company at year's end during the enrollment period. Many require co-mordities but others may make their determination on BMI solely. My insurance plan said "clinical records support a body mass index of 40 or greater (or 35-40 when there is at least one co-morbidity related to obesity)".

Timing!!!! From my experience, I went through the 6 month medically supervised weight loss and exercise program and then 2 to 3 months of other steps which included: pre-op testing, second round of pre-op testing, classroom training, waiting for insurance approval, scheduling surgery. So the point is that you may find it difficult to plan this event. Also one of the considerations that I had was that since this process went almost 3/4 of a year, it went over the calendar year and as a result affected 2 years of deductibles on my insurance plan.

A long time ago. I remember burping for hours on end. It felt like my chest cavity was clamping up. Eventually I began vomiting. Lost many hours of sleep. Couldn't sleep. Had to stay in the vertical position for several hours. That is what I remember.

I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. I had severe acid reflux prior to surgery. But I didn't drink Protein shakes prior to surgery. So I can't help you except that since surgery I never had acid reflux again.

Good luck on your upcoming surgery. Have you gone through your pre-op physicals and your post-op training? These can take a month or two to schedule and undergo.

I tried it once. Hated the taste. So once was enough. But some people find the taste acceptable.

I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass. I am 67 years old. One of the problems I encountered after surgery was that my face began to severely wrinkle. These were very fine wrinkles. They made me look like I was 100 years old. My wife suggested that I use an oil on my face called Bio-Oil. It is available at CVS and Walmart and other stores. It did the trick. I put on a few drops on my face in the morning and it works fine. I am young again.

I had severe acid reflux (GERD). As a result, this is a recommended surgery because the sleeve will only make the condition worse. Also, RNY gastric bypass is almost a gold standard. It has been around a lot longer and they have for the most part got the bugs worked out. It has one of the lowest revision rates and I decided if I underwent the knife once, I sure would not want to repeat the experience.

Congratulations on your surgery.

Congratulations.

I think that many people have tried to lose weight by taking supplements, exercise, and diet restrictions. They may lose weight for a while but then most gain the weight back and then some. It just doesn't seem to work. I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. Before surgery, hunger was continuously gnawing at my bones. While I was eating a meal, I was already planning my next meal. After surgery, I completely lost my hunger. It was not difficult to lose weight when hunger is not constantly continuously gnawing at my bones. About a year after surgery, my hunger began to return but it was not very strong. Even 3 years now, the intensity of hunger is mild. Because my stomach is smaller, if I try and eat more than a cup and a half of food at a meal, I literally get sick and vomit for a couple hours. So I am very attuned to my stomach and when it feels full I immediately stop.

I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. From my perception, there are two parts to the weight loss journey. These are the weight loss phase and the maintenance phase. The goals and objectives of these two phases are different. I think you are right in that when you finally arrive at the maintenance phase, the important thing is to be happy because this is a life-long journey. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

Good luck!

Milk can be a Protein supplement. 8 ounces of 1% milk equals 8 grams of protein. If you supplement the milk by adding 1/4 cup of dry powdered milk to the 8 ounces, that will give you 14 grams of protein per glass. After surgery my taste buds changed dramatically. I could not even tolerate the Water in the hospital. It tasted overly chlorinated. I could drink it only tolerated slivers of ice. As time goes on your taste buds will continue to change so you might keep trying every now and then. Eventually most things will return but it may take months/years. Your daily Fluid requirement is the sum of all fluids you consume during the day. Water counts. Milk counts. The milk or water used in your Protein shake counts. The liquid part of a soup counts. The water you drink to swallow your Vitamins count. Tea and decaf coffee count. Some people find it easier to drink hot liquids, others cold. It varies by person.

Congratulations.

Immediately after surgery your body is in a major heal mode. During this time it is often common for individuals to be unable to meet their requirements for fluids and Protein. Just keep striving for these daily requirements and you should be able to get there. My doctor prescribed omeprazol for the first year after surgery. It was not for treating severe acid reflux but rather to allow the stomach to heal properly. Researching the internet for your conditions seems to imply that you have early dumping syndrome. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=134&ContentID=107 It seems like their main recommendation is to go with smaller meals but a larger number of meals each day. Since you are finding it difficult to consume protein shakes, I recommend that you continue to experiment with different types and brands until you find one that you can tolerate. I used muscle milk light (vanilla creme) powder blended with Water to which I blended in a half a banana to improve the taste. Since you do not have lactose intolerance, milk might be a good source of protein for you. Some people Isopure Zero Carb premixed drinks. Since protein is more important than food at your stage, keep experimenting. You need to find something you can tolerate long term, not necessarily just like but tolerate.