James Marusek

It depends on the type of surgery. I had RNY gastric bypass surgery and my weight loss was like a plane in a nosedive. My weight dropped quickly at the beginning but then tapered off the closer I approached the ground and then leveled off at 7 months when I transitioned into the Maintenance phase. I might have seen a couple stalls along the way but they only lasted for a day or two. But generally sleeve patients experience stalls. It is almost their middle name. They even coined the phrase "Embrace the Stall".

It can be a little bit rough sleeping during the first couple weeks. Many people find it helpful to sleep on a recliner for a few days.

I gave myself one injection per day of Lovenox for 6 days after I left the hospital.

One of the gentlemen in our bariatric surgery support group was scheduled for gastric bypass in 2 days time. The results from his pre-op testing came in and they called him and requested that he come to the hospital immediately. Basically he was about to have a heart attack. So he had open heart surgery instead. Then after his body recovered a few months later, he went in for bypass surgery. I can understand that is was disheartening, but in his case the doctor made the right call.

After surgery, I took care of my meals myself. It was perfectly fine with me if my wife ate whatever she wanted and I ate what I wanted. Besides right after surgery, the volume of food I was consuming was almost negligible. I had RNY gastric bypass whereas it appears that your husband is going in for sleeve surgery. This article describes my experiences after surgery. So your husbands experience may be a little different. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf During the first week after surgery, most of the pain you husband will experience is caused by gas. It is important for him to walk, walk, walk to relieve this pain. It also helps to prevent blood clots from forming. But after that time, he may vent 2 or 3 times his normal rate. That is because his stomach is significantly smaller and will not be able to store the amount of gas as he did prior to surgery. The three most important elements after surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and for gastric bypass patients gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes.

Congratulations on your journey.

If you show signs of severe acid reflux (Gerd), RNY gastric surgery may be a better option than sleeve surgery, because sleeve surgery tends to make this condition worse. Several individuals had to have their sleeves revised to gastric bypass after they showed began experience significant problems with Gerd after surgery. In my case, I felt that if was going under the knife once I absolutely didn't want to go under a second time. Once is enough for me.

Good luck on your upcoming surgery. Wow! you are counting down to even the seconds.

Good luck on your surgery, I will pray for the success of your operation. Check back with us when you are on the other side and let us know how it went.

After you are constipated for over 5 or 6 days, your body will be so bound up that normal steps to relieve constipation will simply not work. At this stage I normally insert a glycerin suppository up my rear end. It is just that you do not want that to be a normal approach. For me I found that if I eat an apple before I go to bed at night, I generally will have a bowl movement the next morning. But I have to eat the skin of the apple along with the pulp. Apple sauce does not work. At 9 weeks post-op, my guidelines showed a transition to solids but eating apples began at Month 10 as acceptable according to the guidelines. So perhaps you stomach has not healed to the point that apples are permitted and therefore this might be an unacceptable option. These are some of the options for constipation provided in previous threads: Smooth Move Herbal Tea Prune Juice (warmed) Prunes (4 in the morning and 4 at night) Magnesium citrate Insoluble fibers (Garden of Life Raw Fiber or Renew Life Triple Fiber). Haribo Sugar Free Gummy Bears (be very careful with this one because it can quickly cause the runs) Aerobic Magnesium 07 Ground Flax Seeds (but don’t try to grind it yourself). Use 2 tablespoons per glass of water every night before going to bed. Bowel Clear (herbal blend)

Surgery definitely alters the taste buds. But the interesting thing is that your taste will continue to change. So a week from now something that you liked is no longer palatable and something you couldn't stand becomes acceptable. So just keep experimenting because it changes over time. I remember the first time I tried ketchup after surgery, It tasted like hot sauce. But then after a few months it began to taste like ketchup again.

As you lose weight, the chemicals and hormones that were stored in your fat cells are being released into your body. These will pass through your kidneys and are expelled in your urine or through your sweat. But they can generate a flush of hormones during the weight loss phase. They should simmer down once you transition into maintenance. It is important to meet your daily fluid requirements, because it take fluids to flush these hormones from your system.

According to the internet: Nausea and vomiting are the most common complaints after bariatric surgery, and they are typically associated with inappropriate diet and noncompliance with a gastroplasty diet (ie, eat undisturbed, chew meticulously, never drink with meals, and wait 2 hours before drinking after solid food is consumed). If these symptoms are associated with epigastric pain, significant dehydration, or not explained by dietary indiscretions, an alternative diagnosis must be explored. One of the most common complications causing nausea and vomiting in gastric bypass patients is anastomotic ulcers, with and without stomal stenosis. Ulceration or stenosis at the gastrojejunostomy of the gastric bypass has a reported incidence of 3% to 20%. Although no unifying explanation for the etiology of anastomotic ulcers exists, most experts agree that the pathogenesis is likely multifactorial. These ulcers are thought to be due to a combination of preserved acid secretion in the pouch, tension from the Roux limb, ischemia from the operation, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use, and perhaps Helicobacter pylori infection. Evidence suggests that little acid is secreted in the gastric bypass pouch; however, staple line dehiscence may lead to excessive acid bathing of the anastomosis. Treatment for both marginal ulcers and stomal ulcers should include avoidance of NSAIDs, antisecretory therapy with proton-pump inhibitors, and/or sucralfate. In addition, H pylori infection should be identified and treated, if present. In your particular case it is important to know how you were tested. If this is the result of blood test, the negative result may not mean much. Tests and procedures used to determine whether you have an H. pylori infection include: Blood test. Analysis of a blood sample may reveal evidence of an active or previous H. pylori infection in your body. However, breath and stool tests are better at detecting active H. pylori infections than is a blood test.

Congratulations.

The 26th is just right around the corner. I would recommend three things. 1. Take a good before photograph of yourself, so that you have something to compare to after surgery. Many times we are blind to our obesity. We do not see ourselves. Therefore when the weight begins to drop off rather dramatically, we question if this is really happening. Photographs are a good visualization of our success. Many people carry a before and after photo with them, just to remind themselves of their success. 2. Walk 30 minutes each day, every day until surgery (or equivalent exercise). Walking helps the recovery process go smoothly and minimized the pain levels from surgery. 3. Wean yourself from caffeine and carbonated beverages now. After I gave up my 6 diet coke a day habit, I suffered from a week of severe withdrawal syndrome consisting of severe headaches and body aches. I was miserable. You don't want to combine the effects of caffeine withdrawal with the effects of surgery.

You said you were lactose intolerant. Some protein shakes contain lactose. Premier label says "Contains Milk" in the form of Milk Protein Concentrate, according to the ingredients list. That would qualify it as low-lactose, but not lactose free.

As far as I can determine you are not banned and there are no warnings issued against you. I suspect it is just a problem with the internet. Check back in a few hours and see if it is still a problem.

It is common for your taste buds to change after surgery. Be willing to experiment. After surgery, my taste buds changed dramatically. Even water changed. In the hospital it tasted excessively chlorinated and I could not drink it. So I experimented. Sugar free popsicles became my best friend. Some individuals find hot or cold can help with fluids. For me, I found that I could tolerate flavored water. So I began using Crystal Light. I also found a new drink Bai which I liked cold. In the winter, I found that I tolerate hot drinks such as piping hot cocoa. But you have to use the "No Sugar Added" variety. Also fine English teas were very good. The fluid requirement is met by a combination. It is not only the water that you drink each day. But also the water you drink when you take your vitamins and medicine. It is the milk you drink. It is the fluids content of the protein shakes. It is the water component of the soups you take. It is met by flavored water such as Crystal Light. It is met by sugar free popsicles. It is met by tea and decaf coffee. It is a combination of all the fluids that you consume during the day. So in your wife's case, the light soy milk counts, the chicken broth counts and the popsicles count towards meeting the daily fluid requirement.

Generally I would say a week or less for gas pains from surgery.

As you reach the end of the weight loss phase, constipation can become an intense problem. In my case I discovered that if I eat an apple before I retired to bed, the next morning I had a bowel movement. But you have to eat the skin of the apple. It is a combination of the skin and the pulp. Remember the saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away". For me it was "Eat an apple each night to keep the constipation away".

You are 2 weeks away from surgery. I would recommend three things. 1. Take a good before photograph of yourself, so that you have something to compare to after surgery. Many times we are blind to our obesity. We do not see ourselves. Therefore when the weight begins to drop off rather dramatically, we question if this is really happening. Photographs are a good visualization of our success. Many people carry a before and after photo with them, just to remind themselves of their success. 2. Walk 30 minutes each day, every day until surgery (or equivalent exercise). Walking helps the recovery process go smoothly and minimized the pain levels from surgery. 3. Wean yourself from caffeine and carbonated beverages now. After I gave up my 6 diet coke a day habit, I suffered from a week of severe withdrawal syndrome consisting of severe headaches and body aches. I was miserable. You don't want to combine the effects of caffeine withdrawal with the effects of surgery.

Once you reach the solid stage, you might consider relying on softer foods (such as chili and soups) rather than harder foods (such as steak and chicken). One of the advantages of this approach is in the area of fluids. The liquids used in home made soups count towards meeting your daily fluid requirements. I have included some recipes at the end of the following article. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Many patients after surgery describe hunger as "head hunger" or a false hunger. I had RNY gastric bypass surgery and I did not experience this condition. But here is a link to a thread about this issue with sleeve patients. https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/191057-false-hunger-from-acid/ Generally various individuals said that head hunger was caused by acid in your stomach. The solution they found was to take a proton-pump inhibitor such as omeprazole (also called over the counter Prilosec) to alleviate the condition. In my case even though I had gastric bypass, my surgeon had me on omeprazole for a year after surgery to allow my stomach to heal properly. At this point since you are only 5 days post-op, I wouldn't worry too much at this point. It could be head hunger or it could be a strong desire to chew.

Your thread is cryptic. What type of surgery are you looking at?

The rate of weight loss varies by individual so trying to compare yourself with others can be deceiving. There are several reasons why the rate of weight loss varies. Once factor is their starting weight. Your tickler on the side if it is current shows a starting weight of 249 pounds and a weight loss of 64 pounds. I suspect the majority of your weight loss was due to being sleeved. So in a sense your results will be atypical. So what was your weight just prior to bypass surgery? Was it less than 200 pounds? A person with a lot of weight to lose can drop a lot of weight quickly after bypass surgery. One who has less weight to lose will generally drop weight at a slower pace. The type of surgery will also have a lot to do with weight loss. Sleeve patients lose weight at a much slower rate than bypass patients. Some do not transition into maintenance mode until 2 years after surgery. Whereas a bypass patient will drop weight quickly and may transition into maintenance relatively quickly. In my case I transitioned around the 7th month post-op. Sleeve patients experience a lot of stalls along their weight loss journey. Bypass patients experience very few. But the further you progress after surgery, the smaller the rate of weight loss becomes. Weight loss just tapers off. Weight loss is achieved during the short weight loss phase through meal volume control. The two operative words here are short and volume. So if you want to maximize your weight loss during this phase, you need to adhere to the program guidelines. The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes.