catwoman7

I didn't have any pain after my bariatric surgery, but I DID after my first plastic surgery (lower body lift). I also felt like my body was on fire when I woke up. They put fentanyl in my IV line, and it knocked me out. I'm guessing that's what they did to you - that, or morphine.

I did forget to mention that even though I had to wait 30 minutes before and after eating, once I moved on to solid foods, I only had to wait 30 minutes AFTER eating. I could drink up to the point I started eating something. Not sure what the rationale was there - maybe there's more of a risk of nutrients being washed out of your stomach when you're on liquids and/or purees when you drink BEFORE eating, too (which makes sense since those don't stay in your stomach for very long).

it's pretty rare to wake up during a surgery - that's one of the things the anesthesiologist (or nurse anesthetist) watches out for, and gives you more anesthesia if they notice anything like that. Also, I had virtually no pain after my surgery, and that's actually fairly common. Pain is definitely all across the board with this, but it seems like most of us have little to no pain after this surgery. And like you said, if you're one of the ones who DO experience pain, they'll manage it in the hospital as well as send you home with pain killers.

the no drinking rule applies to snacks, too, unfortunately. P.S. one thing I started doing early out which seemed to help (and I still do it, nine years later) is drink 16 oz of water as soon as I get out of bed in the morning - before eating breakfast, even before drinking my morning coffee. That way I'm 1/4 of the way there (i.e., to my water goal) before eating breakfast and getting dressed!

I would imagine 90% of us felt the same way before our surgeries! Actually, I still do before surgeries even though I've had several. But that first one, especially, since you haven't been through one before. I'm sure it'll go fine for you, though!

I had GERD before surgery (which is why I went with bypass). I was a slow loser, but I never attributed that to GERD. Plus my GERD disappeared after my surgery, so it wouldn't have been a factor in my rate of weight loss regardless. How fast or slow you use usually depends on age, gender, starting weight, how muscular you are, whether or not you lost a lot of weight prior to surgery, how active you are, how closely you stick to your plan, and your metabolism rate (I may be leaving a couple of things out).

^^ I stand corrected. But that's a well above average rate of loss - you usually just see that in people who start off at 300+ lbs (I didn't even lose 100 lbs in six months, and I started at almost 400 lbs!. It was closer to a year for me)

also, I've never heard that people with GERD lose weight slower than people who don't. You're probably losing it slower because you didn't start off at a very high BMI to begin with.

I agree with others have said. But about people starting at 240 lbs and weighing 120 after six months, that would be VERY unusual. People starting off at 400+ lbs might be able to lose that much in six months, but 240 isn't all that high of a BMI when compared to other WLS patients. That's on the lower end of the range. Starting BMI is a big factor in how quickly the weight drops off, at least in the early months...so I would be very surprised to see anyone starting at that weight lose 100 lbs that quickly.

most people with bypass don't have complications- and of those who do, they are usually minor and correctable (or in the case of dumping, preventable). Major complications with bypass are pretty rare. only about 30% of bypass patients dump. I never have, and neither do most of the other bypass patients I know. For those who do dump, it can usually be prevented by not eating a bunch of sugar or fat at one sitting (which none of us should be doing *anyway*). I threw up occasionally the first few weeks after surgery when I ate too much, too fast, or something that my stomach wasn't going to tolerate, but now I throw up about as often as I did pre-surgery - that is, very rarely. And as for food intolerances, most of those are temporary, but some can become permanent. But you'll figure out what your body will and won't tolerate pretty quickly. re: only eating a couple of bites of food. That's only in the first few weeks after surgery. For the last several years, no one would be able to tell I've had bypass surgery by watching me eat. They'd just assume I'm a "light eater", like many of my women friends who've never been obese. When I go to restaurants, if I'm not that hungry, I'll order something like an appetizer, soup, or a salad. If I AM hungry, I'll order an entree, eat half of it, and box up the rest to take home. Most of my women friends do the same thing. you're probably seeing more issues with bypass for two reasons: 1) it's a much, much more common surgery than SADI. As in a LOT more people have bypass than SADI, so of course you'll see more on it. 2). after people get over the first few weeks (which can be tough with either surgery), they usually only post when they're having some issue, because they're looking for advice or support. People who've never had issues (which would include most of us) aren't likely to post that everything is hunky-dory. as far as which to choose, they're both good surgeries. Advantage of SADI is it's a stronger surgery, and you'll likely lose more weight with it. Disadvantage is regular doctors (as opposed to bariatric surgeons) know a lot more about bypass than they do about SADI, so your PCP may not be able to help you if you have issues - they may have to refer you to a bariatric specialist (which, of course, is fine - but just something to keep in mind). Also, if you have GERD, bypass is usually the better choice, since it tends to improve GERD, if not outright cures it. SADI involves a sleeved stomach, which can cause GERD in some people (or make it worse if they already had GERD before surgery). It doesn't happen to everyone, but it IS a risk... good luck with your decision!

for some reason this wanted to insert itself in the middle of my paragraph (above), so I had to post it separately. Anyway, here I am before my first plastic surgery. I had a lower body lift first, then a breast and arm lift, and lastly, a face and neck lift. But as you can see, no one would have been able to tell that I had a ton of loose skin under those clothes. And I did! My abdomen skin was especially awful.

I agree with everyone else. Some hair loss and loss skin is pretty much part and parcel with weight loss surgery, especially if you have a lot to lose. Fortunately, for many of us, we're the only ones who really notice it. I had minimal hair loss so I'm sure no one besides me noticed it - and my loose skin was easy to hide in clothes. I eventually had it removed because it was driving me nuts, but here I am before I had it removed. I can assure you that I had a TON of loose skin, but no one knew It was there except me and my husband.

I did the same - I had my husband take pictures of me every month on my surgery date until I hit maintenance 20 months later. It's much easier to see your progress if you can refer back to previous photos. You can't always tell a difference from month to month, but comparing photos to ones taken three or four months earlier - yep - you can definitely see the difference! Plus it's great having photo documentation of your journey! Congrats, by the way - you're doing great!

Weight-wise we started out about the same, and I'd lost 75 lbs by the six-month mark, so you are doing fine. And it's very normal to drop down to a 1-2 lb a week loss when you're six months out. Just continue to stick to your clinic's plan, and the weight WILL come off. It took me almost two years, but I got it all off (I've had about a 20 lb rebound gain since I hit my lowest weight, which is very common during year 3 - it's your body settling in to a weight it's comfortable at). as far as calories go, that varies so much for everyone that I can't really say if your input is too high or too low. I think I was eating around 800 calories a day at that point, and I used to fret about that because I'd see people on here eating 600-ish. But they could have been shorter, older, less muscular, and/or less active than me, too. As long as your weight is in a general downward trend, I wouldn't worry about it. Some surgeons want their patients eating more calories in general than other surgeons, so the amount you're taking in isn't anything unusual keep in mind that the closer you get to goal, the slower those pounds are going to come off. During year two, there were months I was only losing a pound or two the entire month. But I was persistent and they DID come off.

My first birthday post-op was about eight weeks after surgery. All I remember was I had about two tablespoons of ice cream as a treat, and felt guilty about it for days afterward! (it didn't make me sick, but I was bound and determined from the get-go that I was going to be 100% compliant with my plan until I got all that weight off, so I felt terrible about eating that ice cream!). The next holiday was Thanksgiving. That was about five months after surgery. I took some Light & Fit pumpkin yogurt to eat while the others were eating pumpkin pie, so no guilt! (I will admit I was a bit of a drill sergeant with myself the first year after my surgery, but again, I was 100% determined to get that weight off! I wish I still had that resolve!!)

as far as exercise goes, I was told just walking for the first four weeks post-op. I don't remember my clinic saying anything about doing (or not doing) normal household tasks - or going up and down stairs in my house. They did say not to pick up anything heavy, though. I would say as long as you're not picking up heavy things, you're probably OK - and if something hurts, stop doing it. Hopefully someone not as far out from surgery as I am will know a more definitive answer to this. And btw - welcome to the forum!

sorry to hear this happened to you. Fortunately, these kinds of things are very rare - but I know that's not comforting if you're the one they happen to! Hopefully you'll be on your way again soon without further incident!

"buyer's remorse" is pretty common for the first month or so after surgery - but it goes away pretty quickly and you'll be glad you had the surgery. In the mean time, try to stay on plan - it's important for healing. You WILL get through this...

yes. Eventually all your food restrictions will be lifted. Some people have issues with sugar, however (I don't - which can be good OR bad!)

14.7 stone equals 205 lbs. You're what we in the community call a "lightweight", so yea - you're not going to see the huge drops in weight that people who start off weighing twice your weight typically see. You are doing fine. Just keep at it and the weight will come off.

I cant' really speak to any of this having never been through it, and not being a medical person or counselor, but the 75 lbs - if you've lost 75 lbs since September, I'm sure you look different. It's sometimes hard to tell from month to month by looking at yourself in the mirror, so I had my husband take pictures of me - all four sides (front, back, left side, right side) - every month on the date of my surgery (in my case, the 3rd of every month). We did this every month until I hit maintenance 20 months later. It wasn't always easy to tell from one month to the next, but if I compared pictures to those taken three or four months earlier - yep - big difference!

I agree with everything Arabesque said (as usual!). Get back on your plan. Soon enough you'll be able to enjoy everything you did pre-surgery (but in smaller amounts). Right now it's very important to let your insides heal - and then to work on eating a healthier diet (if you weren't prior to surgery). If you want to succeed with this (and early on, if you want to heal), you really need to follow the plan.

yep - the others are correct. It's the added sugar that they want you to avoid (or really limit). Most of the sugar in yogurt (unless it's got added sugar in it because of the flavorings) is lactose, which is naturally occurring in milk. I eat yogurt every day and have since my surgery nine years ago. I eat very little meat, so having Greek yogurt for breakfast starts my day off with a good amount of protein.

oh yes - those first few weeks are tough and I remember questioning whether or not I did the right thing. But those will fly by and soon everything will be much easier and you'll be glad you did it. and yes - you will eventually be able to eat the foods you love (although in smaller quantities). As time went on, I could add more and more foods - and by the sixth-month mark, all food restrictions were dropped.

a pound is likely just a normal fluctuation. People's weight goes up and down all the time. Have something salty the night before? Weight is up the next morning. Haven't defecated in a couple of days? Weight is up. That time of the month? Weight up a couple of pounds. If it's just a pound and you only started your new routine a week ago, it could just be that - a normal fluctuation. Check again in a couple of days and see where you're at.