Djmohr

Yay! You are doing fantastic! Congratulations and it is ok to be an attention *****!

I loved your post! All I know is I never used to care about how I looked. I think it comes from years of looking and feeling so crappy. Now, I care how I look! I think about what I am going to wear and clothes and shoes get me excited! Yes, we all are living with the permanent damage that our obesity has caused but it sure feels great to be lighter and feel better that way! Thanks for sharing your terrific story!

Hi Angie & Welcome! My apologies but I am not in your age group, I am 52. Does it count that I feel like I am in my 20's again?LOL! Congratulations on your incredible weight loss and more importantly your maintenance. You should be very proud of your self! I really hope and pray I can be successful at maintenance, I never want to return to my old fat self. You can both receive and support many on this site. I just wanted to say welcome!

I am with the others, usually narcotics does not do anything for nerve pain at all. In many cases pain pills actually create more pain than it helps. I am someone currently taking Vicodin for a recent back surgery and like you I absolutely hate it. I see a pain management specialist on wed. My goal is to find a different solution because I feel like this crap drags me down. I have been on pain meds many times in my life for serious spine issues. The longest was nearly 10 years. I got off of them on my own and although I still had back pain I felt better and used different means to deal with it. Meditation, ice, heat, ultrasound, massage, acupuncture. Good luck to you, try to get yourself off. I will say I took liquid Vicodin in the hospital and 1 day while at home. For me bypass was one of surgeries that I could quickly come off pain meds. I have a high tolerance for pain after 6 back surgeries.

This is great reminder Alex, thank you! I have also been practicing one more. While holiday shopping for your family and friends. Buy something nice for yourself! Show off that new body, there is nothing better than feeling confident and looking fantastic! Shhhhh.....I did this a lot over the last couple weeks. I was tired of wearing clothes that are too big for me. There will be a few gifts under the tree with my name on it from Santa!

It just goes to show you that your mother loves you and never really saw your size either. I think our transformations both to heavy and now thin just goes by those closest to us. When I lost my first 80lbs my husband who lives with me and loves me didn't realize how significant my weight loss was until we walked into one of our favorite places where everyone knew us. An old friend we had not seen in two years was looking really weird and behaving really weird towards me. Later that person pulled my husband aside and asked if he had gotten divorced and who I was. He was not kidding and it shocked my husband because he just did not realize my physical change. I was still the same person. That has happened to me many many times now. People closest to you including yourself requires your brain to catch up with your weight loss. Congratulations on your weight loss!

With bypass it cures severe Gerd/Reflux. I know this because I had it so severe that I was coughing everyday violently regardless of what I was eating. I was on the max doses of reflux medications. There was no where else for me to go that is why I had RNY bypass. Along with many other comorbitities. I have had very few instances of dumping and they were mild. It happens when you eat too much sugar or too much fat at one time. You learn quickly what causes it and you don't do those things. I literally can eat anything I want. That does not mean that I should nor do I. On occasion I have a small treat as does most of us. Soon after this surgery you tend to crave things like good Proteins and good carbs because they make you feel great. I do not like anything overly sweet and I used to be a sugarholic! Your tastes simply change. There are a few foods that I no longer tolerate, eggs and bread for me just do not sit well. They make me uncomfortable so I stay clear of them. If I miss anything I miss a simple sandwich with bread but I am ok having other things instead.

I am 14 months post op, down 135lbs with 10 left to go. I can tell you that the restriction never goes away, people simply learn to eat around it. That's what they mean when it is up to you. I have personally met people that are post op 10 years, the restriction is still there, your stomach size does not change. Our behaviors are what causes us to be successful or fail. You do in fact still malabsorb your food and your nutrients which is why you take Vitamins for life. Just don't eat around your surgery and all will continue to work great. Stay away from grazing and snacking here and there. Continue to track everything you eat, stay active, get your Protein and Water. The rules can never change for us. We are never done, we have never arrived. That is what I am drilling into my brain everyday!

Take a very deep breath and decide if you are truly ready for this to happen. If you are, none of the other stuff should matter at all. Take things one step, one day at a time and that is how it all becomes less overwhelming. This includes the 3 week diet. It really is not that bad and will kick start your weight loss, ensure you have a healthier liver and make things safer. I can tell you that every bit of this is worth it in the end. I am 14 months post op, down 135lbs and 10 lbs from my goal. I thank god everyday for putting the Bariatric community on this earth to help us get healthy. When you feel the stress practice breathing very deep, it can be calming. Good luck to you!

@@dusky goddess I am a crafter but had not been doing much crafting for the last couple of years. I noticed if I keep my hands busy my brain doesn't always thing about munching. For the past six months when my real hunger came back I had to do something. I started crocheting again! I crochet every day and I have made so much stuff in 6 months that I started selling it on eBay. By the way, it doesn't sell well on eBay. LOL! So, I figure I will get enough stuff made and do a craft show in the mall. I love doing it and it has definitely kept me busy. If my neck and back would give me a break I would be back to sewing my quilts. I have an amazing embroidery sewing machine and I love love love quilting. That is what I would be doing and hope to be soon. Try doing something with your hands!

@@leag78 Take it from the stall queen, don't let the scale dictate your loss. Only you do that by ensuring what you put in your mouth is what your body needs to continue to function well. If I have a stall, which I am having one for the last 10 days, and the scale annoys you just stay off it for a while but do stay on the plan or your weight will jump in the wrong direction. You are only done if you choose to give up and change back to old habits. I refuse to ever be there again. Now, do I have that treat I want every once in a while? Of course I do and when I do I can expect the scale to punish me the next day by not moving. If I am ok with that, I have the treat and deal with the stall. I am the cause of my latest stall. That small piece of chocolate chip cheesecake I had started it, the crackers the next day with all the salt did not help. So, 2 days ago I reset and will hopefully start moving in the right direction soon. Good luck to you!

The best feeling ever is what you described! Congratulations! Now when you walk through the mall and see all those cute clothes in the window you can go try them on! I told my husband last night that we need to win the lottery so I can go crazy clothes shopping. I will need a Carrie closet (from sex and the city). He thinks it is funny because for the last 20 years he would have to drag me clothes shopping and I hated every second of it. Oh and the shoes! I have big feet and when I was fat I had extra wide feet so cute quality shoes were very very hard to find. I shopped at one store and usually bought the same brand. Munro. I have already found myself sitting in Macy's surrounded by 25 pairs of cute shoes and they all fit and come in my size! It's a good thing I have control, because I didn't buy any of them. I simply have a ball trying them on. Also, I keep a couple of pairs of my original pants around just to put them on. I actually did that last night and I could actually fit a whole second me in those pants!

I would contact your surgeons office. At this point it should not hurt to get your fluids in. Dehydration can cause severe nausea and make everything worse. The other thing could be a stricture which is holding you back and can make you very ill if you cannot even get liquids down. Can you get any liquids down and if you do what happens?

@@Sam58 Are you tracking everything you eat? Sticking to the required diet? And of course following all the rules: nothing to drink 30 min. Before and after, getting your Protein, taking your Vitamins and getting 64 oz. of liquids daily? If not you might want to reset. The other thing I would say is just because you can eat more or certain things does not mean you should. Right now I am paying for over indulging in too many carbs and too much salt. I know that I did this to myself and I know exactly what I need to do to get it all back on track. I had cheesecake and crackers just because I wanted it. I knew that it would stop my weight loss and I would possibly retain more Water because of it. That same day I also did not get all my water in. Totally my fault and I knew what would happen, I was simply hoping the stall would only last a day or two but I am now 1 week and a pound heavier. What most people don't understand is we have to fight just as hard as if we had not had the surgery every day to stay on track. The surgery helps with portion control, it does not decide what you put into it. None of us are perfect all the time, you just need to reset and get back on track. Good luck!

Welcome Josie and congratulations on taking steps to get healthy! I wish you the best of luck! If you need anything there are a lot of us on this site that will do our best to share experiences.

Have you spoken with your nutritionist? They should be guiding you on these questions but I will share my experience. I am also a bypass patient. I track everything I put in my mouth using my fitness pal. You should be getting 1 gram of Protein for every inch you are tall minimum. 64 oz. of liquid, I use Water for the most part for my liquid . I track calories but they are not my focus. I try to stay between 1000 and 1200 calories per day that are heavily focused on that protein. I track carbs, focus on good carbs and try to stay somewhere between 60 and 80 grams of good carbs, if I go beyond that will carbs, my weight loss stalls out. I do not worry about fats at all but do try to focus my fats on good fats like olive oil, fish and avocado. I do however eat full fat cheese and I eat a lot of cheese. I try hard to get a minimum of 30 minutes of some type of exercise per day which is difficult because I have had 2 back surgeries in the last 6 months so I am restricted to walking only and my back does not tolerate a lot. I do however keep my arms moving even when sitting. If I were you, I would reach out to my Bariatricpal doctor or nutritionist and ask for some guidance. I am 14 months post op and still trying to lose however I am getting close to my goal so I have begun to introduce whole grains back into my diet in very small amounts.

I have never been given a carb count either just to limit them to good carbs knowing that if I am eating all my protein there isn't much room left for carbs. I try to stay below 100 grams of carb a day but prefer to be around 80.

I am 14 months post op and still have the post op poops! LOL, love the title. I have to take stool softener with laxatives twice a day to be able to go. Before surgery I swear I had irritable bowel syndrome because I was always having to run literally to the bathroom. At first when constipation set in I thought, this is cool, I don't have to run to the bathroom all the time. Now, I almost wish I had those days back. I am always constipated and it sucks when you cannot go. I get plenty of fiber and drink tons of Water. Part of my issue is I am currently on pain killers for a spine issue so I am certain that don't help.

I completely gave up caffeine. Don't miss it at all now but it was difficult. I did not give it up for WLS I gave it up because it causes migraines and I was getting them every other day literally. The only thing that ended up helping my migraines was WLS. I get them about once every 6 weeks now if that.

Had I still had mine, my surgeon would have removed it during my bypass. He made sure this was clear because more often than not it will have to come out. The data tells them so.

I had RNY to get healthier. It was the only reason. I had type 2 diabetes, severe Gerd, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stage 3 kidney disease and severe migraines almost every other day. All I cared about was extending my life so I would not die at an early age like my mom did. Within a few weeks of my surgery many of my comorbitities were in remission and I was removed from all mess. I got well fast! My severe migraines went from every other day to maybe 1 every 6 weeks on average. No more diabetes, stage 3 kidney disease, Gerd, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and sleep apnea. All gone! The I started to notice how great I was starting to look. I went from a size 26 jeans to a size 12 which are now too big, I have to go shopping for 10's. I never ever thought I would ever care about clothes shopping but once you realize you can walk into any store and buy clothes, that becomes exciting and fun. I try stuff on just because I can! I have never regretted it for 1 second, going in for my surgery felt like Christmas morning and I am serious about that. Sure I was nervous the whole week before but mostly it was because of the change I knew was coming. My only regret is that I did not do this 15 years ago before I did all this damage to my joints and spine. Best of luck to you!

I am always very surprised at how little information is given to patients that do not have their surgeries done at Bariatric centers of excellence. Most insurance companies require that you use one but there are still some out there that do not. The pre care and post care of a center of excellence is outstanding. Mine literally gave me a 3 ring binder (my bible). It told me everything I needed to be doing day by day, week by week, month by month. It described the 3 different surgeries, the risks and benefits associated with each one. It had a section for each specialist you meet with and a special section for the 6 month supervised diet. Then it provided a huge list of sites to get even more information. I knew exactly what I was getting into from day 1. In addition, my center of excellence made me literally sign a contract stating I would not drink alcohol for the first year and that I would follow all the rules required of someone who has WLS. I also agreed that I would get my labs checked twice per year and take my required Vitamins. I feel bad when I hear about people not getting this level of care. I cannot imagine going through this without all the data. I also met with bariatricians, Bariatricpal nurses, Bariatric physiologist, and a nutritionist every month leading up to surgery, I was beyond educated and would love to see that every patient is but it just seems that is not a requirement of some insurance companies.

I am uneducated when it comes to plastics. Can someone help me understand why ensuring that he is a microsurgeon is important so I really understand how to respond? Does that requirement change depending on what type of surgery that is needed or should it be a requirement of any surgery and all plastic surgeons and if so why. Thanks so much for your help! I am doing a ton of research but this was the first I heard of this question. Thanks so much!

I have learned so very much about what I never ever want to go back to. I believe inside I am the same caring, compassionate person I was before except I am happier and much healthier now. My husband and I are like Mutt and Jeff, we always have been. I love that now when he is being sassy in a fun way I can actually chase him and catch him! (He of course hates this! LOL) My youngest son is very much like my husband, a smart mouth but a mamas boy. He too realizes I can chase him and catch him because I have done it to his shock and amazement. Guess I must have been so big I could barely get around. I remember feeling like that. When I started this process the most important thing for me was getting rid of all my comorbitities so I could feel better. I honestly was not focused on how I looked at all. I simply wanted to feel better. That happened so rapidly and now it is all about how I look and mostly what I can wear. I used to hate hate hate shopping at all. Now I could spend the day in dressing rooms trying on clothes. Last Friday while out looking for a sweater dress, the dressing rooms at Macy's were a mess. People trying on clothes simply left them all in the dressing rooms. I took 10 dresses in with me thinking I would struggle to find one that would fit me (my fat brain at work). I tried on those 10 could have bought them all but didn't. Then, I started going through the clothes in the dressing room just so I could try on more to see if they would fit. I could try clothes on all day everyday because I look great in clothes again! Every once in a while I have to try on a pair of my original pants that are still in my closet to remind me how big I actually was.

I have my first consultation on December 30th with a surgeon here in Milwaukee who has great reviews. I found him on Realself. Thanks everyone for that suggestion. I also am waiting to hear back from another.