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I am so sorry for your loss! I know that it is a scary step and honestly having gastric bypass has less risk than having a hip replacement. You have to remember that chances of dying of obesity is a much more realistic risk. Have you heard what happened with your friend that caused her death? It would be important for me personally to understand the bigger picture there. And it your point you really have to find a doctor that you are comfortable with. Most Bariatric centers of excellence really do such extensive pre op testing before they will even consider doing this surgery. I have a problem with low heart rate and boy did they put me through the ringer before they would even consider touching me. Because they did such a thorough examination I wasn't scared at all. In the end, you have to be comfortable. I would just caution you to look at the facts around your friends surgery and the data that is available on the surgery and on the surgeon you choose. Ask them their mortality rate if anyone has passed away, ask what happened. It will make you feel better. Best of luck to you!

I ended up choosing bypass. #1 reason was severe GERD and I had type 2 diabetes along with a slew of other issues. Initially I was going to go with the sleeve but I got a recommendation from both my surgeon and my gastroenterologist who both said there was no doubt for me, bypass was the way to go. I am very thankful I did it and would do it again in a heartbeat. NO complications, I lost 152lbs and got rid of all those illnesses completely. Do you research and talk with your doctors. Your current health has a lot to do with your choices. Best of luck to you!

@@LisaMergs I am right there with you and let me tell you, when that weight comes off and you realize that all that loose skin is pulling on your body, plastics is a must. At least for me it is. I started with a 5950.00 Brachioplasty and I just took a 19 week project to cover the cost of my Abdominalplasty and breast lift with augmentation. That surgery is going to cost around 18K total..... I started my new project yesterday and I swear as every hour goes by I have a secret smile on my face knowing that I just paid for part of my surgery. I think it stinks that insurance does not cover any of it. For Peres sake, obesity is a metabolic disease. And guess what, it is a disease that can and will end your life early. Why then is reconstruction not covered? I just simply don't agree with that. As I sit here all trussed up in my spanx that hold my tummy in....... It is BS and it needs to change. Just my two cents......

@@The Candidate LOL! I remember them! Oh my gosh those stupid garter belts and giant Kotex or diapers as I referred to them. I was like Mom, seriously get in the real world, this is so old school. As soon as I could figure out how to use a tampon I did. Now my granddaughters....both got their periods at 10, are using tampons and they are only 12. Poor things! And menopause sucks! Especially if you have had a hysterectomy because you have zero indication of when it is really over. Recently I found a essential oil from young living called progesterone plus. Oh my gosh!!! Within 3 days of putting this oil on my wrists and neck, my 50+ miserable hot flashes per day literally stopped. I swear it!!! Unfortunately I was stupid and ran out last week and my next shipment is not due to arrive until tomorrow. I have been quickly ramping up again for the last 3 days. They seem milder so as soon as I get my oil, it's going back on! That oil works for female moodiness, hot flashes...etc. it is just a great all around essential oil for us women to use and I seriously never thought in a million years it would do diddly, but it does and now I am using oils for everything. I have stopped migraines on both me and my granddaughter and I am even about to start diffusing a blend called release for my husband. He is a courier driver and seriously has developed a seriously bad crabbiness while driving. This oil is used for getting rid of anger and general crankiness. I told him I am going to bathe him in it. LOL.

@@katie09/21/2016 It is absolutely normal. I remember feeling actually brain dead that last week. I could not think straight. Hubby and I always wrote bills together. I wrote the checks, he entered them into our electronic checkbook and prepared the bills. That week, I made so many mistakes and he got so pissed at me because he did not realize how messed up I was. I remember yelling at him. I think the words went something like this: Let me take actual food away from you and give you nothing but Protein shakes and Clear liquids for 14 days and see if your brain works the way it is supposed to! About a year after my surgery he decided to try the liquid diet just to detox and get a head start on his weight loss. He seriously did not make it past dinner time. He simply could not handle it. LOL Keep your eye on the prize. You are very close and after surgery you really won't even care. You will have to work hard simply to get your Water and protein in. Stay very hydrated! Best of luck to you!

@@candy32980 Have they told her why? It is important to understand the reasons behind it. They may not be able to perform the surgery for some reason but your Mom deserves to understand why.

@@AnnMarie23 It would be helpful to know your Water and Protein intake as well. As someone said, you actually gain weight in the hospital so you usually have to lose that first and then the rest starts to happen. How are you doing on water and protein? Understanding that will help. Water and protein are critical to weight loss but I suspect you simply had to lose all the fluids from surgery which is normal. It takes a week or so just for that to catch up and the rest should happen if you are on the plan. Best of luck to you!

@@sammy246 I really like lemon, lime and especially grapefruit. Grapefruit oil is supposed to help with hunger as well so you get the essence of the grapefruit flavor and the benefit. I have also tried peppermint when my tummy has not felt so good.

@@KaiserKid This pre op anxiety is 100% completely normal and it comes with some strange emotional fun too. I like you was past ready and terrified not of the surgery but of something coming up that did not allow me to have it. I had stupid stuff happen like the doctors administrator going on vacation and not filing the paperwork with insurance. It caused a 3 week delay for me and I spent the day crying. I am NOT a cryer but I was beyond ready. Then 3 weeks before my surgery date, I went to pull up my pants and threw my back on so badly that I was hospitalized for 4 days to deal with the pain. That caused me to literally freak out, I thought they would cancel my surgery for sure given the fact that I literally could not walk. I was crawling to my bathroom on the floor, could not stand up......well, we finally got that under control and everything moved forward as planned. I started my pre op diet and the rest was smooth sailing. It is normal.....I assure you. You will read probably thousands of posts about it. I found myself much more emotional before surgery than after. After I was too darned excited to be emotional. And as my weight started coming off and I was able to get my Protein and Water in, I felt great.

I use them rarely when I cannot get at a proper mini meal. I don't think they trigger a sweet tooth for me and I definitely have had a sugar problem in the past. Now, food porn is a different story. All the ads on tv drive me insane!

I seriously cannot believe that is legal. Maybe WI laws are different but I just had to do the same thing because my old "back quack" sucked. He threw up his hands and said he could not help me. I had to have all my records transferred and the doctor had nothing to do with it. You go through medical records to have it done and as long as you are not getting for your own benefit you don't have to pay. Well, anyway I am very glad you got away from him. I would not let him touch me with a ten foot pole. I am glad to hear you found someone new and are able to move forward and get on with your new healthier life! Congratulations! Hopefully you hear even sooner. I know my insurance company took 4 hours to approve me. Yes, I was shocked!

@@Danielle Rhodes My husband swears I am dead. My hands and feet are always freezing cold and I love to stick them on his very warm body to warm them up. He swears I am dead.....the rest of me is always cold as well. All summer I have worn a light jacket or have been wrapped in a blanket. I have to say that I am ok with this because when I was fat, I was always hot and sweaty. I would much rather layer on clothing than be hot. I am going through menopause and I was getting about 50 hot flashes per day and I just could not tolerate them. My whole body would be soaked in moments and then I would literally chatter from how cold I would get. Thankfully I started using essential oils and my hot flashes are almost gone completely.

@@izzy13 The reason this is so critical is following WLS most patients have a very difficult time staying hydrated and caffeine actually pushes the hydration from your body. So post surgery it really is critical. The same is true before surgery, most of us don't even realize that we walk around all day dehydrated and malnourished even though we are obese or morbidly obese. The caffeine does not help this situation and they would prefer that you are not going through caffeine withdrawals while dealing with all the other physical changes that happen post surgery. Down the road, many doctors allow small amounts of caffeine back in but it should come only after you really truly have a strict regimen of staying hydrated. hopefully this explanation helps.....it is what was pounded into my brain before, during and after surgery. I was able to quit all caffeine and soda a year before my surgery and it really helped me not to have to get used to drinking so much Water because it really was all I drank before hand. If you have this surgery, get used to drinking water or crystal light........or water with SF drops or fruit infused water. I have recently begun using essential oils in my water. I get the benefit of the flavor and the benefit of the oil.

Well, I would say you had a great night out! Congratulations on your weight loss and your Cougar Status. I do find it shocking the attention one gets from the opposite sex after losing all our weight! Apparently I look great in clothes. It can be a little scary and after being married for 29 years, I have NO idea how to handle it when it happens. I usually sit there with my mouth dropped open not knowing what to say. Apparently no one looked at me when i was fat.

I have not had my TT and Breast lift done yet but I did have my Brachioplasty 8 weeks ago so take this for what it is worth. Ice packs! Ice packs and more ice packs. LOL. I think the biggest thing I learned was how badly your body reacts to plastics. With swelling you get burning pain. Your lymphatic system is definitely effected and even though I had my arms done, my feet, hands and even stomach was swelling. The major swelling went down after about 5 days but even now my arms swell every day. In talking with my surgeon who was phenomenal she told me I can expect my tummy to swell as well. But let me tell you, it is all worth it and I cannot wait for my TT and Breast Lift. The difference for me was unbelievable. I am including some pics. Before After I should also say that my after pic is only 3 weeks post op and still shows swelling but you see what a crazy great result I got. For the first 3 weeks I had my arms buried in ice packs. LOL.

Yes you would include your Protein shakes with your calories if you are tracking them. As time goes by and you are able to eat more actual protein, hopefully you will be able to limit Protein Shakes but that can take some time. I still drink one in the am as my Breakfast. It gives me a head start on liquids and grams of protein. I have a rather large restriction so it is difficult for me to get enough dense protein from food. I track my food in myfitnesspal so I know exactly where my protein, carbs, calories are during each day. Best of luck to you!

I too changed from the sleeve to bypass. I am so thankful now because I got rid of all my comorbitities. For the first 3 months i took a chewable Multivitamin, I believe it was Centrum and had added Iron. It tasted like most Vitamins but it was not bad. Then, I was switched to a simple generic multivitamin that has added D3. I also take Calcium citrate chews by Bariatric Advantage. They are expensive but necessary and they taste pretty good. Almost like a starburst but not as sweet. I have tried them all but strawberry is my favorite. Then i take D3 once per day, B1 (this is because my thiamin was low at the 6 month stage) and B12 sublingual. With the exception of my calcium chews, everything is very inexpensive. I buy them at walgreens on a buy one get one free or buy one get one 50% off. So at this point, the only one i chew is the calcium. the rest i swallow. They don't bother me at all, in fact vitamins used to so i was not looking forward to it but it has been no problem. The B12 i take once per week and it is a liquid that goes under the tongue for 30 seconds before you swallow it. Again, no problem to take this one.

Goal weight is definitely a personal choice. With my bypass they told me on average people lose 70% of their excess weight. Well, that bothered me because if i was going through all of this, i really wanted to get to a normal weight for my height. I chose to use the BMI scale given it is what all the doctors used when assessing whether or not our weight is at a healthy level. When i looked at that chart, it basically told me that i should be somewhere around 165 for my 5'10" height. At the time i was 310lbs and could not even fathom getting to 165 which was my weight after having my first son. prior to that i was actually underweight but i was a teenager. So, I chose 165 as my ultimate goal but i had mini goals along the way. The first was getting below 300, then 250 and then 210 because that meant i had lost 100lbs. then my next big goal was getting to onederland! It was at that point that i finally started to believe i would get to a 165 goal. My surgeon never expected me to get to that weight and absolutely did not set a weight goal. In fact when i got to the 200 mark, he considered my surgery a success. And he warned me that if I wanted to get to my ultimate goal i would have to work very hard at controlling my diet and getting some exercise. I did and I swear I thought that last 30lbs was going to be the death of me. I had limited ability to exercise for the 2nd half of my weight loss because of multiple surgeries so I had to do it with food. I am now at a stage where I have been maintaining since March 2016. I fluctuate between 162 and 158. Part of me would really like to get to 150 so that if I do get the 10% to 15% expected weight gain back that i have some room. I like the way that I look right now and really don't want to lose more but I am a bit worried about regain and I am watching it like a hawk. Something happens when you hit maintenance.....you find yourself being more hungry, more head hunger and you are a bit daring. At least I have been. I still don't eat much but it is really all about choices and it is easier for some reason to make bad ones if you are not careful. Best of luck to you with goal setting and getting to your goal!

The pain in your chest is truly from either drinking too fast or gulping. Sip slowly! The nausea is normal and will get better with time as long as you stay hydrated. If you are at home and are not getting enough fluids this can become a problem very quickly for you and it can become dangerous. You will likely get nausea, dizzy or even hungry feeling. All from being dehydrated. Oh and get used to your stomach talking to you because that will be there forever. I call mine the grouch pouch and she gets makes a lot of noise and yes, other people can hear it. LOL. For me, it even gets louder when i drink milk based products. While writing this i was drinking Water and she's grouching again. LOL! Congratulations on getting through your surgery and I wish you the very best in your recovery, weight loss phase and maintenance! It all happens very fast!

I would say if you are not comfortable to look for a new surgeon. You should not have to be put on hold or not called back. As far as having to redo all the paperwork, that would be a question i would ask your insurance company what would happen. they might even have some suggestions for you. Best of luck and I hope everything works out so you can put this surgery behind you and move on to your new future!

This is my experience and i lost at least 2/3 of my hair volume. I got all my Protein starting at week 4 and my protein levels were normal for all of my labs. Same with Iron which can also cause such a thing. I did a ton of research on this because it scared me both before and while it was happening to me. I am Italian and have a very thick head of hair. My hair started shedding what i thought was bad by month 3 and it progressively got worse as the months ticked by. I spoke with my surgical team, my pcp and my dermatologist who also deals with hair. my PCP was completely useless. Both my surgical team and my dermatologist told me the same thing, My hair loss would stop when the massive weight loss slowed way down. As scared as i was about my hair loss, i became even more scared that my weight loss was going to stop before i got to my ultimate goal. My hair loss slowed way down at month 13 post op. given how much hair i was shedding i seriously could not believe that i wasn't bald nor did i have bald spots. You could see my scalp! The thing is, your hair will grow in all while this is happening. I did take Biotin but i am not convinced it did much of anything and everything i have read basically told me i was right to question it. Biotin helps with regrowth but it will do nothing for the shedding. If you are someone who is prone to hair loss during weight loss or following stress to your body, you will likely lose some hair. Now......for the crazy part. My hair came back and i swear it is even thicker than what it was. I have new hair growth further down my previous hairline! Also, it came back very very very curly and it is even a bit frizzy. While this was going on, i decided to have my hair cut short and cute and it made me feel better. I did get my hair professionally died every 4 weeks as usual and honestly nothing bad happened. Most people that lose a lot do end up cutting it short for a while until it comes back in. it is less noticeable. The other thing i would tell you other than your husband and your stylist, most people don't even notice. We are just much more focused on it than we should be. Best of luck to you!

For me it has to be dark chocolate! It is my guilty pleasure and I have to be very very careful with it because it can be hard to control. I know dark chocolate is not the worst thing ever and even has some health benefits. That being said, the benefit can go out the window if you eat half a bag or a whole bar. So, first of all I account for it in my tracking which helps to hold me accountable. I buy it only when I want it so I don't keep a stash in the house. I buy limited quantity now, like one small bar and allow myself either 1/4 or 1/2 bar. I do feel guilty when I overdue.....so, it is my guilty pleasure.

My insurance required that as well but what they took was my weights off my medical records and then I filled out a document that spoke to all the diets I tried over time. Luckily those diets coincided with my yo yo weights so apparently it was proof enough. I would definately ask those questions at your seminar. You have to jump through a lot of hoops that seem almost ridiculous but I promise it is worth it. Also I would say that even if it seems ridiculous, it makes sense down the road. Having WLS is very very hard work and both the insurance company and the surgeons want to make sure that a patient is ready otherwise it just ends up costing lots of money and big health issues down the road if they don't follow the lifelong commitment that comes with living after WLS. It is a lot of responsibility and I will say there has not been a single day gone by where I did not think about what I put in my mouth and what it might do to my weight. I am two years post op and I had a 9 month wait so nearly 3 years of being hyper aware. That said, I am down 152lbs, My weight fluctuates between 158 and 162. I am very healthy with the exception of damage done to my joints and spine because I waited too long to make this decision. I LOVE that I chose this for myself and would do it again in a heartbeat, I am also thankful for the long drawn out process that helped me get my head straight and prepare me for what was to come. Best of luck to you and if you need anything feel free to reach out.

@@laceemouse I had RNY nearly 2 years ago. My nut has had me eating fruit since the very beginning. Some nutritionists believe in completely removing carbs and then adding them back in as you get closer to goal. Mine has believed in a balanced approach since week 3 when I started pureed foods. 2 bites of Protein to every 1 bit of fruit or vegetable. I will say that it took me longer to than some to get to goal, but I lost 152lbs in 18 months and have been maintaining since March. I have bananas sitting on my counter at home, I eat one about 2 times a week but I also eat tons of strawberries, watermelon, peaches, nectarines, cherries.......I would seriously fall over without my fruit and veggies. I am glad she took a balanced approach with me because I really believe overall it allowed me to build the habit of making better choices. I would much rather have a piece of fruit instead of Oreo Cookies....LOL Oh, and I do drink through a straw daily.....I can do it without gulping air which is why many docs tell you not to. Air, can cause pain even two years later....

@@LisaMergs Inside comments/jaunty banter is simply a form of familiarity. Not to worry- we have all been new here That said- what kind of surgery you have also has a TON to do with whether you can tolerate carbs or not- the "bad" kind, that is. Five and a half months out, I still can not tolerate a piece of banana. Others can. It is always trial and error. And maybe one day I'll be able to- who knows? Sleeve patients don't always experience "dumping" - when the sugars hit your intestines and are not able to be processed like before surgery. That is part of the "accountability factor" associated with bypass. Now some sleevers DO dump- and there are a handful of bypass pts that DO NOT. Typically that is not the norm. Same could be said for fatty foods/greasy fried foods. The point is- GOOD SOLID nutrition is ubër important for ALL of us to not only be successful with the WL tool we now have, but ultimately, to be successful at maintaining our loss. There are ways to "eat around" your surgery- namely by not following the no drinking while eating or for 30 min after you finish eating. I, personally, try and follow a ketogenic diet. Not all NUT will agree with this diet. However, because inflammation is a huge issue for my body- cellularly speaking- and the autoimmune issues I have, my docs and NUT are fine with this- and I have been symptom free since surgery. How cool is that??? One thing I will say- not ALL WLS patients have ready access to a NUT. Some see theirs only before and maybe once or twice after surgery, so if they were unclear about nutrition, and can't find what they need to know here or elsewhere on the internet ( lots of conflicting information out there), then the likelihood is they may be confused or unaware. And because we here all see different doctors- again- conflicting information- and debates ensue. What you need to do is work with your NUT and bariatric team, take what you need from here, and make an educated decision. Hope that helps! Lisa Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Hi There! I just want to clear up one comment. Most gastric bypass patients DO NOT dump. Only 30% of bypass patients have dumping syndrome and many of that 30% clear up after around a year. Also, there are sleevers who dump as well although it is even less common.