James Marusek

Over the years I slowly became obese. It didn't bother me much being obese but then it began to affect my health. I became diabetic. My blood pressure went up and even though I was taking 2 prescription medicines, it wasn't completely under control. I experienced severe acid reflux (GERD). I had sleep apnea. All this was leading me quickly to a grave. So I had RNY gastric bypass surgery 3 1/2 years ago and I am pleased with the results. It is like hitting the reset button. So look at the decision of what would your children do if you died prematurely.

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.

Congratulations on your weight loss thus far. As I dropped the weight, I received a few strange comments. Sometimes I was compared to the starved individuals freed from concentration camps. Anyways I looked at myself in the mirror. Even though I got rid of almost all my clothes, I still retained my coats and jackets. My shoulder length decreased after I lost weight so all my sleeves of my jackets now fell below my fingertips. As a result, I looked like the Disney character Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Anyways the solution was quite simple, I bought new clothes. One of the joys of losing weight is the shopping that comes after. My wardrobe that was around 40 years old and very dated was replaced with the latest styles. Many individuals that make comments like the one you heard, have only your best interest at heart. One of the signs of cancer or other ailments is the dramatic loss of weight. So they are just expressing a concern about your health.

Good luck on your surgery and check back with us when you are on the other side and let us know how it went.

Congratulations.

Congratulations on your magnificent 179 pounds of weight loss so far. Just continue to focus on your exercise, diet, fluids, Vitamins. Good luck.

After I left the operating room I took no pain medicine. I didn't need to because the pain was not strong. I have a high pain tolerance level so I may not be typical of many people. One of the important things for me was to walk, walk, walk. I began walking 30 minutes each day for the 6 months prior to surgery. I walked every 2 hours round the clock while I was in the hospital. Walking really helps to reduce the pain levels. Most of the pain that people experience in the hospital is gas pain.

Stalls are fairly common for those that undergo Sleeve surgery and rarer for those having RNY gastric bypass surgery. Someone on this site created the motto: Embrace the stall. Let us talk a few basics. Stressing out about your weight should be avoided. If you are weighing yourself several times per day, then you are too stressed out. It might be beneficial to throw the scale out the window. This is because stress can cause people to gain weight. Some people limit their weight measurements to their doctor visits. So the next thing is back to basics. 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. Since you are approaching 2 months post-op, you have a choice. Your meal volume is increasing. Therefore if you concentrate on consuming high protein meals, you have a very important option available to you. You can start to reduce your reliance on protein supplements. I went from 3 protein shakes per day in the beginning, down to 2, down to 1, and then when my meal volume increased to 1 cup per meal at a year and a half, I was able to completely offload my use of protein shakes. This is important because protein shakes contain calories. If you can reduce your caloric intake, then you can end a stall. At least that was the approach that I used and it worked for me.

Congratulations on your weight loss thus far. Don't worry about the amount. Generally you drop the pounds so quickly at the beginning and then it begins to tapper off. So it is natural.

I lost 20 pounds over a 6 month timeframe.

There are several different types of gastric bypass surgery. In the United States there are some surgery groups that are Centers of Excellence. They combine a full range of experts to walk you through the complex process. It is a full-meal deal. In Indiana, the St. Vincent Bariatric Surgery Center, located in Carmel, Indiana is a center of excellence. http://www.mybrandnewlife.org They provide free weight loss seminars that describe the various approaches and their advantages and disadvantages. If you go to their website and pull down the menu at top called "Weight Loss at St. Vincent" and "Bariatric Surgery Options", it provides a discussion on each procedure.

I had RNY gastric bypass surgery 3 1/2 years ago. I developed very fine wrinkles all over my face. I looked like I was 100 years old. I can accept some of that because I am 68 but this was going way too far. My wife suggested that I use a product called Bio-Oil which I found at CVS but other pharmacies and Wal-Mart also carry the product. I apply the oil first thing in the morning. No more fine wrinkles. I have been using this product now for over 3 years and very pleased with the results. After surgery, meeting your daily Fluid requirement is very important. If you do not meet this requirement, it can also cause this type of wrinkles.

Congratulations.

After surgery, my taste buds changed and Water tasted over chlorinated. So much so that I couldn't drink it. Eventually I found that I could drink flavored water such as Crystal Light, so that is what I primarily relied upon. It is common to not see the scales move during the first few weeks after surgery. For one thing you gain a lot of weight in the hospital because they fill your body full of fluids. And you have to lose this added weight first. Also your body is in a major heal mode. So do not be too concerned at this point.

I am 3 1/2 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. I had type 2 diabetes for many years prior to surgery and I was taking 2 forms of prescription medicine to keep it under control. I had not progressed to insulin shots but my doctor wanted me to make the transition because my blood sugar levels were still not being adequately controlled. When I left the hospital my surgeon took me off my diabetes medicine. The surgery almost immediately sent the disease into remission and it has remained there during these 3 1/2 years. I periodically, once per month, check my fasting blood sugar levels. Some individuals on this site were diabetic prior to surgery and did not experience this benefit. It appears that it depends on how long they were diabetic and also whether they were taking insulin shots prior to surgery. Even though they remained diabetic, many of these individuals gained benefits because the amount of medication they were taking after surgery was reduced. Also, I do not believe that individuals with Type 1 diabetes saw the remission of diabetes after surgery.

Congratulations and remember to walk, walk, walk.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Many people find it difficult to sleep in a bed for the first few weeks after surgery. Some resort to sleeping on a recliner during this time.

Congratulations.

After surgery, I became lactose intolerant. Whenever I drank milk or anything that contained dairy products, my stomach would hurt and it lead to a quick trip to the restroom with diarrhea. This condition lasted for a couple months and then disappeared. It is common. I stayed away from dairy during this time and that is how I controlled this problem. Some Protein shakes contain dairy. 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. So it is extremely important that you meet your daily protein requirements and this means taking protein shakes daily. So since you are having problems with consuming protein shakes make sure the brand you are using is lactose free. Experiment and find a Protein shake you can tolerate. You don't have to like it only tolerate it. Food is secondary. The transition to solid foods after RNY gastric bypass surgery can be difficult, so don't rush it. My program did not let me consume solids until week 9. Consuming meat at the beginning can be very difficult especially steaks and poultry. Generally I started out with tuna fish. Some of the symptoms you are describing sound very much like dumping syndrome. So a few rules. Never eat before bedtime. Your body processes food differently in a horizontal position than in a vertical position. If you try and lay down and sleep it is impossible, so eat your evening meal early. As I transitioned to solid foods (such as chili and soups) I found that softer foods went down easier than harder foods such as steak. So I heavily relied on them and still do to some extent. I have included a few recipes at the end of the following article that you may wish to try. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

After my surgery when I was in the hospital I could not drink the Water. It tasted overly chlorinated. It was impossible to drink and I loved water before surgery. Taste buds can change after surgery. Over the first year post-op, my taste buds continued to change slowly reverting back to near normal.

As a child I was short and skinny. I used to get bullied and beaten up on a regular basis. As I approached adulthood, I gained a little weight. This meant that I could defend myself better because I had a little weight to push around. In later life as an obese adult, I felt I was being discriminated against in the work environment because of my weight. Nothing that was said to my face and nothing that could be proved in a court of law. Only this is one of the sad realities of life. After losing the weight due to RNY gastric bypass surgery, I can observe the difference that society treats me. I went from invisible to visible. It seems like I have gained more respect. These are subjective observations and may not have a basis in reality. They lie in the smallest of things.

Sorry I don't speak Spanish. But on your question about chicken breast. Eating meat can be very difficult after gastric bypass surgery. I found it pretty important to tenderize the meat. Generally I take a chicken breast and put it in a covered pot of Water. I add a bouillon cube or two and then let it cook on low heat for several hours until the meat is so tender that it comes apart with a fork.

I used Muscle Milk Light (Vanilla Creme) Protein powder. It gave me 25 grams of protein per shake. I found that I could improve the taste dramatically by blending in a half a banana into the shake. Normally I like chocolate but post surgery, my taste buds changed a lot. The powder is lactose free. After surgery I became lactose intolerant and this prevented me from drinking milk or blending in milk into my Protein Shake.