dhrguru

If you could offer one piece of advice to someone like myself. Just starting out on this journey what would it be?

Know your insurance, what's covered and your out of pocket costs. I see so many commit their hearts to this not realizing financially it may not be possible if costs are to high. And then they are devastated.

I am wondering how many different pills on average people are taking life long after surgery? Is it overwhelming? Expensive? Any info on meds/vitamins after surgery is greatly appreciated!!

What surgery are you having? Bypass had more requirements than sleeve.

Initially Vitamins were expensive because of chewables. Once I transitioned to tablets it was much cheaper.

I take

500mg of Calcium, 3x a day

B12 1000mg 3x a week

2 multivitamins a day

Vitamin D 50,000 iu 1x a week

Initially ita overwhelming figuring out spacing, when you can drink/can't drink etc. You get into a routine and it becomes easier.

my med list looks like this:

morning - 2 calcium citrate chewables, 1 multivitamin chewable, 1 iron/b12/folic acid capsule.

evening- 2 calcium citrate chewables, 1 Biotin capsule

I also take 1 krill oil soft gel and birth control, and I am on an antacid for 2 months post surgery (less than a month more to go of those). But those are extras I take for PCOS and post op healing reasons. All in all, not bad at all. My Multivitamins and Calcium citrate come from opurity, and I like them a lot and trust the brand, though the multivitamin is a little too sour tasting for me. The calcium citrate is berry citrus flavor and it's actually kind of good-tasting.

Hope this helps!

You're not taking the calcium and multi at the same time are you? They shouldn't be taken together / near Iron.

I wouldn't call you fully recovered less than a month out from surgery. You feel better and more functional, but inside there is still plenty of healing going on.

I get the struggle, grab and go eating is so much easier. Analyze the menu, maybe there is something Protein rich you can have. Eating out is not a no no, but planning is a must.

And I eat an Oreo occasionally, but I don't encourage it so early out.

Well it turns out my 3rd week stall was just the beginning I am losing very slowly maybe if lucky 2lb a week. While any loss is ok I could lose that just doing weight watchers and have lost more weekly doing Optifast. I guess I was hoping for a couple of months of 3-5lb weekly loses minus the notorious 3rd week stall before settling into a slower pace. But looks like I am firmly in the slow losers club from week 2 onwards.

I am trying to be accepting of this any fellow slow losers want to give me a pep talk or new slow losers want a whine like me lol??

I was expecting bigger losses initially too. But I'm happy with consistent losses, for a long time pre op I couldn't get past the lose two gain 1.5.

Dont you loose weight faster though??

It varies. I've seen every variation you can think of. I would not call my weight loss fast... Consistent, yes. Fast, nope.

Does it have meat in it? If not, I eat meatballls in sauce and add some ricotta and mozzerella cheese.

Some people love making noodles from butternut squash or zucchini.

I hate to even post this but it is bothering me so badly!!! Every since i decided i am going to do wls (sleeve) i have no support my supposedly husband wont even go with me to the orientation! !!!!!! I am very hurt and disappointed! !! He keeps saying i am sexy and i look GREAT at a whopping 347 pounds!!!! Is he deranged? ????? He has been trying to talk me out of it since i told him about me wanting wls... i have been thinking about doing wls for about two years now!!! I have made up my mind and if that means i will endure tjis journey ALONE so be it!!!!!!! I just dont understand WHY HE WOULD NOT SUPPORT ME??!!!

i am very dissapointed with him.. smh.. i literally have noone..my mother has to work on my orientation day so she cant come..

You know it never once occurred to me that I should invite my husband to any appointments. I told him one night that I planned on having surgery, he asked why, I explained and that was that. He met the surgeon the day of surgery.

I think I just knew my hubby wasn't the type to delve into this hand in hand with me... Not to say he doesn't support me, he does in his own way.

My husband has been very supportive of my surgery and weight loss efforts, and I appreciate it. However, he still expects me to cook to foods he likes - which I don't mind, but he is not mindful of the time and energy it takes for me to cook them, and when I make enough to last him a couple days, he eats it all at one time. There are days when I end up cooking 2-3 different dinners to accommodate everyone's wants and needs... If I say anything about him eating so much, he gets an attitude. What do I do????

Rant over........

Freeze the leftovers right away. Initially it'll keep you cooking more often, but eventually you'll have a nice rotation of foods you can pull out the freezer for him then just fix your own meals.

Yes it does! Congrats

Why did you all choose RNY and notthe sleeve??

My sister had sleeve, never reached goal. She also throws up often, I didn't want to live like that. (I've seen many sleeved folks have this issue). I wanted the benefit of restriction and malabsorption, since I have a lot to lose, greater chance of success in my eyes. I don't dump, so that's not an issue for me.

Great job! I love those boots!!

Those are one the the most popular brands around. A lot like them... I don't.

I need my Protein shakes to be milk based, premier aren't. So I stuck with powders.

You know, now I'm wondering if I'm confusing pure and premier to be one in the same??. Scratch what I said.

I recall being very calm/at peace with everything as surgery approached. I associated it with being 100% confident, no doubts, no fears... Just ready. Update us when you can!

Hi! So I have my gastric bypass in 5 days. What should I do to begin preparing? I'm 18, and this is the first major surgery I've had and I've never been admitted to a hospital.

Home is where to focus on being prepared. Make sure everything is set up so you can relax in bed for a few days. For me that meant shopping and meal planning for the family and a deep cleaning of my house. Shop so you have the liquids, Protein etc on hand before you go.

The hospital will cover your needs there. Outside of the typical stuff to pack, I brought my own pillow... Hospital pillows suck!

Guidance?? Sounds like you got this under control! Keep following your doc's instructions and don't let the scale play mind games on you!

So I had my labs ,chest xray, and ekg. My doctor called and said my B12 was normal but he wanted it higher for surgery, he said my folic acid was on the lower end of normal, so he wanted me to up that. He then said my Vitamin D was really low. Which is very normal for Alaskans. He wants me to get 5,000to 6,000 mg per day. So I am on a pill that is 50,000mg once a week. Last he said I have hypothyroidism. That I needed to get a plan of action with my regular doctor. He dais I will lose weight with surgery, but with out help the surgery over time would be a failure. This explains so much. In the past several months I have Migraines like crazy, I'm tired, and gaining weight like crazy. Anyone else find out they had hypothyroidism after your labs? My doctor isn't in the office right now, so another doc wants to do nothing now, redraw labs on the 5th of october. Then start meds if the labs are the same. My life took a huge turn yesterday. It's great to finally have answers, but it's so new and sucky.

I'm not in agreement with your doc's logic about doing nothing now then repeat the tests. If you're hypo new it won't magically change to normal. And since getting the dosage right to get your level back to normal can be tricky, waiting makes no sense. I'm hypo thyroid due to a total thyroidectomy. It took a year to get my dosage correct to bring me back to normal.

I had bypass on 8/10 and I've lost 32 pounds. This week I've only lost one. It was my first week back at a desk job and I've worked out twice. I'm frustrated because everyone is telling me it's normal but I still feel bummed.

I wouldn't consider a 1# loss a stall. Stalls are typically no losses over multiple weeks.

In weeks where I lost 1#, I typically came back the following week losing 4 or so. Keep at it, it'll happen!

Hi Lindsey!

Congrats on making this huge decision! Glad the pain is minimal. how are you doing on fluids and Protein? What are your post op diet stages?

So in short, my story is: Lap band in 2005; gastric sleeve in 2008 and LAST surgery, Bypass scheduled for 9/14/15.

Been pretty tough on myself because of the past but still forging forward. Life is short, I don't want to have regrets with anything - so here's to finally working at it.

would love a mentor.

thank you

What do you feel you need guidance with? How much are you looking to lose? What are your expectations going in?

I had a bmi of 52ish so, no didn't have your experience. I think that if your initial consult was a bmi of 49 then that's usually what the insurance makes thier decisions on. You may gain 10# and still have to do the supervised diet.

You can learn a lot during the supervised diet though, and develop good exercise habits.

My surgeon did a leak test in the operating room! That's while I was asleep. He's with a bariatric center of excellence and I researched beforehand about the surgery and thought that's how it is done now.

Yeah-- to clarify what I'd said, no second leak test was done. One was done during the surgery-- however I've heard of some surgeons doing another test the next day.

Why would any responsible surgeon let a patient leave hospital without allowing adequate time to check for leaking? I am less than 1 week past sleeve surgery and I have to say that the most success you will have from this surgery depends on the experience of the surgeon and do yourself a favor and research your research. Just because a surgeon does this type of surgery doesn't mean he is an expert. We all just get so excited for something that we have longed for, for a long time but your approval for surgery is not based on the surgeon so choose wisely, your quality of life could depend on it.

I threw up for the first time today. It's been almost a month since my surgery.

My nephew wanted McDonalds for breakfast on the way to school. I order myself a egg and cheese biscuit. I threw away the biscuit and just ate the egg and cheese.

I ate fast. It was way too much for my pouch. I vomited about half of it up.

I feel stupid and like failure. Why would I eat anything from McDs? So stupid.

You tried something and it didn't agree... And it wasn't the worst choice you could have made. I still eat McDonald's, I get the egg mcmuffin and toss one side of the English muffin. Sometimes I'll do oatmeal, and even had their grilled chicken.

Learn from it and move on!!

I agree with notinks-- unexplained weight loss should be investigated. When i was losing weight rapidly w/o explanation I learned my thyroid was out of whack.

In terms of surgery-- my understanding is they go with the initial weigh in-- but every insurance company/doctor's office is different.