catwoman7

I was almost 60 when I had mine. And I know a couple other people who had PS in their 60s.

I had pretty much zero interest in food for the first five MONTHS after surgery - so yes, you'll make it through the first three weeks. Most people lose their hunger for the first few months after surgery (but not everyone - some people are hungry right away). There's a small percentage of people for whom hunger never comes back, but for most of us, it does sometime during the first year post-op (mine came back at five months out)

wow - that is cheap. I had all the same things done (but no insurance coverage) and I forked over close to $50K US dollars. Was yours a tummy tuck or an LBL? If the former, that would have made a difference. Of course, any kind of health care in the US pretty much costs a gazillion times more than it does anywhere else. I could have had all mine done in Mexico for about 1/3 of the cost...

when I started looking about three years ago, I was told to expect $8000- $10,000 per procedure, with the LBL counting as two procedures since they do so much on that one (so $16,000 - $20,000 for an LBL). I had four consults, and I found that rule of thumb pretty much rung true. But that was a couple of years ago - prices could have gone up a bit since then.

I can't even see my scars anymore - and haven't seen them for a long time.

some people come home from the hospital up to 10 lbs heavier from all the fluids they pump into you. Sometimes it takes a week to get back down to what you weighed when you went into the hospital. Just stick to your plan -- the weight will start to come off.

upper endoscopy - where they stick that tube that has a camera on the end of it down your throat to look at your stomach

yep - a stricture is just overgrown scar tissue!

yes - log food and figure out how many calories you're currently averaging a day - and cut back gradually from there until you start losing again. Once people are out a ways from surgery, the number of calories it takes to maintain or lose varies tremendously depending on a lot of different factors, so you'll just have to experiment to find your range. I can maintain on 1700 and lose on 1500, but that seems to be on the high side for women. A lot can only eat around 1200 to maintain. So again, you'll have to experiment to see what level works for you. and yes - increasing exercise can help a bit (and is great for your overall health), but as they say, weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise, so you'll have to adjust your food intake as well.

actually, a lot of surgeons are now recommending that sleeve patients not take NSAIDs, either. But check with your PCP. Sometimes they're OK with them if it's only very occasional use.

I had two strictures - but not that early out. I had one at four weeks and one at around eight weeks. They just did an EGD and stretched them out. No problems since. Strictures, when they occur, usually appear at 1-3 months out, so yes - yours were early!

I know - this sounds like something along the lines of the foot binding they used to do in China. Yikes.

They're fine to eat. But as the others have said, they're pretty caloric, and there are better options. But I usually have one in my purse for "emergencies" - (when I need to eat and there are no good options) - and I always take a box of them when I travel. But I don't eat them regularly. Maybe a couple of them a month. P.S. they do have low-carb ones. Just check the macros before you buy them to make sure (that is, if you're on a low-carb plan).

hmmm..... I don't really know enough about SIBO to weigh in on this, but I just wanted to say that someone on another forum I'm on has this, and it took doctors FOREVER to figure it out. So maybe??

wow. Some of those are very common "prep" for this - but some are not (mammogram? PAP? checking your calcium level via urine collection?). Unless you've had other issues related to these that they need to make sure are OK before you have surgery? Not sure. But yea - some of these I've never heard of being requirements for WLS .

some people just have big waists, and there's not much they can do about it. I have a "rectangular" shape, and the three plastic surgeons whom I did consults with back when I was looking said there wasn't much they could do about it - it's the way I'm built. I was glad to hear that Gwyneth Paltrow also has a rectangular shape. I've read Duchess Catherine (aka Kate Middleton) does as well, but if so, she knows how to dress to hide it, since I couldn't tell. Anyway, my measurements are 36-34-38, so pretty much a perfect rectangle shape.

I had (and have) restriction with RNY. Many people don't feel it until the move to solid foods, though.

In my case, it was the surgeon's requirement. I don't think I had to attend very many - maybe two or three? I didn't really keep up with it after that. It was on the other side of town, and at 5:00 pm on a Monday. It was hard for me to get over there after work in rush hour traffic.

be prepared for the recovery - it's much tougher than WLS. But so worth it.

go back to the way you were eating before March. If you're like a lot of us, that would be protein first, then vegetables - then, if you have room, maybe a small serving of fruit or whole-grain carb. start logging your food again if you're no longer doing it. Figure out how many calories per day you're averaging. Then cut that by 100 or so. If after a couple of weeks, nothing happens, then cut by another 100. Rinse and repeat. Cutting by too much at once is hard to do - it's easier if you gradually ease into it.

I found that the farther out I got the more I could tolerate. The only thing I really can't tolerate any more is really high-fat meals (which isn't a bad thing to be intolerant of...)

are you feeling depressed? Those symptoms are also characteristic of depression. You wouldn't be alone - a lot of people seem to be feeling it these days, with all that's been going on the last three or four months.

I thought the exact same thing after my surgery! I was afraid I'd gotten the sleeve instead of the bypass, but I can't remember why I thought that. Anyway, I also had no trouble getting fluids in after surgery and wondered if something was wrong. But no - I was fine!

since she's over 1.5 years post-surgery, she's probably well beyond the hormone dump stage - but it could be due to med dosages needing to be adjusted, as you suggested (if she's on psych meds, that is). Or like another poster said, it could be thyroid-related, too.

yes - protein shakes count as fluid