AmyC65

I'm 6 weeks out and I swear I feel hungry sometimes. I'm having some heartburn issues, so I wonder sometimes if the "hungry" is really acid, which feels better for awhile if I eat a bit? Other times, my whole body knows it really needs food - weak, shaky etc. Maybe I just need to re-learn my body's signals. But I say I'm hungry and my RNY friends are say "I'm NEVER hungry! I've NEVER been hungry!" and I feel like something is wrong with me.

Lots of yogurts! Applesauce cups (no sugar added). They even make those apple sauce squeeze bags now. Creamy Soups in restaurants. Possibly white fish broiled that you sorta mash up yourself before eating.

Congratulations to you on making a tough decision for your health and your future! I think my one bit of advice would be, because your insurance doesn't require a long process, do all you can to educate yourself. If there is a support group through your surgeon or hospital, get to that. Spend a lot of time here reading people's stories and questions. I walked through the process with my husband and then 2 of my best friends. So when my time came, I felt pretty informed. And there are still things that surprise and confuse me! Good luck to you on the rest of your journey!

I worried the same early on. It didn't feel like I should be able to take in 5-6oz of soup with no problem. But I'm 7 weeks & 35 lbs down, so it is working. You'll see.

The best thing is to get walking. I understand that might not sound like a fun idea, but it really got things moving for me. If you're home, walk around the coffee table or whatever. If you're still in the hospital, walk the halls. Be patient and try not to force nature with pills.

My husband had RNY a few years before me, we jokingly called it our "farewell tours". But I do see now that my husband can eat just about anything in small amounts - it's not the end of good eating, but it will be a while and it will always be different. (and much smaller portions!)

One of the first friends I told was not supportive - she kept saying, "you look great as you are! You're not even that big!" and I kept saying over and over - that I had high BP, high cholesterol, arthritis and now diabetes. After her reaction, I decided to tell less and less people. It's 8 weeks now and I still haven't put it on FB. I told people who I felt would be supportive. I'm sure others have found out, but I did not need to deal with defending my choices with all the prep and anxiety I had on my own already. It's your decision and you don't need anyone's negativity. I am sort of glad I didn't work out hard before hand, because my recovery has been kind of long and there's been LOTS of couch sitting. I'm pretty sure I would have lost all the muscle I had anyway. I'm almost ready to get back to the gym now and have a long way to go because of all the sitting.

I stalled a little bit later - 4 weeks, I think. It was about 10 days of flat-line and now I'm back to losing again. My Dr. said "PLEASE just weight yourself once a week!" Keep doing what you are doing, it will come off. Your body has to adjust to what it's been through and going through.

No drain for me (RNY) or the 4 friends I have who had the same surgeon. Friends at another surgical office did have drains. They did not do a liquid diet pre-surg, which I have heard has a connection to the drains. Something about the size of the liver? I don't really know. They both hated the drains.

Walk, walk, walk! I'm RNY patient but it is all that helped me. I was in such pain in the hospital and I told my husband he had to drag me around no matter what. It helped so much.

I'll admit, the Protein is a struggle. a lot of the pureed protein options (tuna, chicken salad) are giving me diarrhea (also had gallbladder out during RNY) and eggs are getting OLD. I do my shake in the morning and yogurts during the day. Eggs when I can stand the thought. It's rarely 4 hours, usually 3. But I wake up feeling really HUNGRY and if it's been 3 hours, there's a good chance I really feel the need to eat.

No, it's not emotional. God knows, I've had plenty of that in my life. But food isn't that appealing to me right now - I had my gallbladder out with the RNY and have tons of diarrhea issues. So everything scares me. But I have a rumbling in my stomach, which is why I wonder if it's acid. I just have a hard time relating to the people who say they have NO hunger whatsoever. I have something, for sure. It might not be hungry, but something is going on down there.

I am only 6 weeks post surg, but my husband is over 2 yrs and the gas is still awful from him! lol. There are things he eats that make it worse, and he just doesn't care. <rolling my eyes> So it might not get "better" but you might learn to be able to control it better.

I know a few people who have recovered by themselves and done fine. But there is always that off chance that there will be complications, or that you just won't feel as well as someone else did. Everyone's experience is different. I understand not wanting your mom to jeopardize her job, but remember that it can also give her peace of mind to be with you and see for a fact that you are ok. My parents live in town (my husband took care of me) and dad called every day for over a month. They worry. Maybe let her come for a week?

My recovery has been slower than I anticipated. There has been a lot more sitting on the couch than I planned on and now that I'm trying to get up and get going (6 weeks post) things are a little sore. But I can tell it's b/c I have lost just about every bit of muscle I had before. My hips hurt me yesterday on my walk. But I have had arthritis for ages and that part feels so much better w/o the weight.

Oh man, I'm with you! I'm having a rough time with everything - had my gallbladder out with my RNY. So I think salads are a loooong way off for me. But there's a Thai shrimp salad on an Applebee's commercial that makes my mouth water every time!

I'm not sure about a biotin shampoo but there are biotin supplements. My Dr recommends 10,000mg per day.

Have you tried a non-whey based Protein? I have a few friends who just could not handle the taste & smell of the whey, they had much better success with soy or pea protein. ALso, what about the Special K protein mixes for Water? Not a ton of protein, but more than nothing? I've also seen these drinks, I bought one but haven't opened it yet so I can't tell you how it tastes. But it has a lot of protein. http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/pro-nrg-flavored-hydrolyzed-protein-water-dietary-supplement-4-oz-bottle-berry/ID=prod6177392-product

Racewalker, that's funny. My only memory of the recovery room is groggily hearing nurses and beeping and I thought, "Oh good. I lived."

I did Panera broccoli & cheddar Soup, had very small servings of that in the beginning. Their baked potato soup was too fatty, I think. It upset my stomach. Did beef stew and Campbells ABC vegetable soup, too. Now I'm past smooth foods and I can eat soup as-is.

I was so excited for baby food bananas, I always loved them. (weird, I know.) but they made me sick. Too much sugar for such a small jar. I bought a Magic Bullet and I blend a lot of soups.

I chose RNY because it has a great success rate with diabetes. My other health issues would clear up with either surgery, but when they diagnosed diabetes, that was what really pushed me to consider surgery at all. So I want that diabetes GONE. My husband had RNY 2 yrs ago and he went VERY low weight at first, but has bounced up to a comfortable weight to manage etc. and stayed there for about a year. I think it sounds funny to worry about losing "too much" weight! That has never been a problem before! ha ha. My recovery has been challenging and sometimes I wish I'd done the sleeve. But I didn't have this procedure for a "quick fix", I had it for the benefit of the rest of my life. So if I struggle for a few months but live a long life w/o diabetes or other weight-related health problems, I will consider it a good investment. Good luck with your decision!

Are you still on pain killers? I learned from my husband's RNY (years ago), he dehydrated b/c of the hydrocodone. When we pulled him off that, he was able to start keeping things down. I worked hard to stay clear of the hydrocodone after my surgery because of that.

My week of pre-op was 2 shakes per day and 1 meal of lean Protein and green veggies. I had a raging headache all week, probably from carb withdrawal. Felt miserable. I don't remember anything after wheeling away from my family and going through the double-doors into surgery hallway. That's the nice thing about anesthesia, you can't remember for a good chunk before hand. I was pretty calm right up to then, though. My hospital kept things busy - people coming in, checking on me, going over things etc. so I didn't have a lot of time to sit around and start getting nervous.

I'm 6 weeks out & one thing I'm figuring outbid that "full" doesn't feel the samovars it used to. When I'm just a little too full now, it feels nauseous. Maybe eat slower & small swallows? I'm sorry you're struggling. My problem is diarrhea & it's exhausting & so discouraging to feel like you've screwed up your body. I know this will pass for you - and me- but I feel for you until it does.