catwoman7

as you get closer to your goal, it slows down a lot. Just stick to your plan, though. My last few months I lost like two or three lbs a month - but it did keep going... P.S. I've mentioned this on this site before, but i remember going to Weight Watchers meetings before surgery, and (mentally) rolling my eyes at these slightly overweight women who'd moan and groan about how hard it was to lose 10 lbs. Being 200 lbs overweight, I had to laugh at that. But now I totally get it... It's REALLY tough when you don't have much to lose. But just keep at it..

our stats are pretty similar. With that much of a loss, you're going to have loose skin. I had a lot of it. Fortunately, it was pretty easy to hide in clothes - I'm the only one who knew it was there. I've since had it removed, though...

at six years out, I think I eat pretty much like I did before surgery when it comes to bite size. I still chew the bites more than I did before surgery, though (although I've caught myself not doing that from time to time - when i'm not paying attention - whoops!). And of course I probably only eat half the calories I used to (or at least on most days...)

it's not unusual for the whole process to take a few months if insurance is paying. If you're self-pay, it usually goes quicker - although they'll still require you to do some of the testing and probably go through any of their required classes.

I went to India for a month in 2019. It wasn't all inclusive, but I ate more than I normally would (although I made it point NOT to overdo it). I came back about 5 lbs heavier, but probably half of that was water that was gone in a few days. The rest wasn't too tough to get off. Enjoy yourself - try different things - and just focus on not overdoing it.

it's probably the infamous three-week stall - we call it that because it's USUALLY the third week, but it can really happen any time within the first 4-6 weeks after surgery. If you do a search on this site, you will find over 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding....). Suffice it to say, a huge majority of us experience it. It usually lasts 1-3 weeks, but you're not the first person I"ve read about where it's lasted for four. As long as you're following your program to a "T", it'll break and you'll be on your way again. Just stay off your scale for a few days if you need to..

I've always used OTC vitamins. Just make sure they meet your clinic's requirements.

not sure where you are in the progression, but you likely won't feel restriction until you move to solid food. And you've had nerves cut - takes awhile for them to regenerate. It's probably best to just measure out and eat however much your plan recommends eating. "Hunger" and "full" are going to be kind of weird the first few months after surgery...

I had no restrictions of lemon and lime, however, the acid might bother your stomach the first few months after surgery.

interesting - but not sure how much this relates to hair loss that occurs after major surgeries, though. Sounds like it helps more with age-related baldness. The hair loss after surgery is temporary and due to the trauma of surgery (it supposedly can be a potential side effect of any major surgery, but i think it's seen more often after WLS than a lot of other types of surgeries because in addition to the stress from the surgery, we're also taking in very few calories those first few weeks & months - so a double whammy. Although they do say that keeping on top of your vitamin and protein requirements can keep it from getting any worse than it is. And it does grow back. Mine lasted about four months - and I didn't really lose enough to notice.

losing hunger for a few months is very common - I actually liked that and wish mine had never come back, because it was so easy to lose weight when I didn't give a flip about food. The vomiting issue is odd, though - I'd contact your clinic about that.

it's really common for it to stick out after weight loss (mine does) - I never thought about having it removed, though. Although mine doesn't particularly bother me...

"a lot" was pretty much my standard answer the first year or two after surgery. I didn't want them silently calculating in their heads what I must have weighed before. Now I often say "over 100 lbs" (although at over six years out, it almost never comes up anymore). To most people, 100 lbs seems like an outrageous amount of weight, so they're satisfied with that answer. The real answer is over 200 lbs. I don't think people without a serious weight problem could wrap their head around that. Plus I don't really want people to know that I once weighed that much.

they're both very safe surgeries - you'll do fine!

^^^^ this

honestly, they are pretty much the same as far as lifestyle and eating go. I do pretty much the same things I did before surgery, other than I eat less now. I love my bypass and I'd choose it again if I had to make the decision today. But there are definitely fans of both surgeries, and the "after life" is pretty much the same. P.S. with both surgeries, there are a lot of restrictions the first couple of months - but once you're a ways out, there really aren't any food restrictions with either surgery.

my husband took the week off but went back to work after about the third day. Although it was nice having him here to get things for me, honestly, I would have been fine on my own. If you do decide to get a home health nurse (although you likely won't need one), I doubt you'd need them for more than a couple of days.

we get rebates from our health insurance if we do something like approved three activities a year. One choice was having a handful of telehealth appts with a dietitian (note this was not the dietitian I usually see annually at my bariatric clinic - this was just a regular dietitian who works for the insurance company). She suggested I cut 1000 calories a day from my diet to lose the weight I wanted to. I maintain my current weight on about 1700 calories a day. So cut 1000 calories from that? Is she f***ing kidding? So I cut 200-ish calories, knowing it'll take months to lose some microscopic amount of weight. But that's how it goes when you're at or close to a normal BMI. You're pretty much equilibrium as far as calories in/calories out, so there's not much to cut - and that weight loss is going to be S-L-O-W! (note that 700 kcal/day is fine during the first months post-op -- but not when you're as far out as I am..)

I still see my surgeon annually, although I know others who switched over to seeing their PCP instead after the first year or two. As long as they know which labs you need and you don't have any complications, it should be OK.

I don't deal with depression issues (fortunately...), but i know a lot of people who do have to have their meds changed or dosages adjusted after WLS - so check with your doctor.

it depends on the person. I can't tolerate much fat/grease, even at over six years out. I went to an event three years ago catered by Cracker Barrel. Everything was swimming in grease, so I got the green beans and one chicken breast - and I removed the breading on it before eating it. I was still in the bathroom afterwards vomiting after that meal - evidently the grease from the breading had soaked into the meat. honestly, though, fatty meals don't have much appeal for me anymore. I was at Panera Bread about a week ago and noticed they have some new sandwich - macaroni & cheese between two pieces of bread. I was horrified...I can't imagine eating something like that. eating on the road hasn't been too, too challenging. If I'm stuck with only chain restaurants as choices, I'll get something like an Egg McMuffin at McDonald's (which you can now get all day), turkey chili or a salad at Panera Bread, or a grilled chicken sandwich somewhere. I also take things like protein bars with me when I'm on the road in case I'm "stuck" with no choices. Or you can always stop by a convenience store -they usually have things like cheesesticks, beef jerky, and/or yogurt... P.S. as far as toleration - before surgery, my husband and I used to frequent Friday night fish fries - these normally feature a couple of pieces of deep-fried fish, tartar sauce, French fries, a roll, and cole slaw made with mayo. I couldn't eat that now. I could eat maybe half a fried fish filet. Or maybe a baked fish filet with the mayo-laden cole slaw (or a baked fish filet with some of the fries). But all of that fried/fatty stuff at once, no - my stomach couldn't handle that.

I got there (at one point - I'm now 6+ years out - gained 20 lbs after hitting my lowest, which is very common...) it's super tough to lose weight when you're at or close to a normal BMI. I remember vividly going to Weight Watchers meetings before I had surgery. I used to roll my eyes at these women who were only slightly overweight who'd moan and complain about how tough it was to lose 10 lbs. Yea - I'd think - try losing 100+. But now I TOTALLY get it. You might be able to do it - but it'll take a lot of work. I'm now 4 lbs overweight, thanks to the pandemic, and it's hard as heck trying to lose it again.

Unjury sells a chicken broth-flavored protein powder that a lot of people like. I used to drink it a lot when I was first out of surgery because I, too, had an aversion to sweet tastes for the first month or so after surgery.

this happens to about 30% of sleeve patients - that's why they recommend bypass to people who had GERD prior to surgery. And people who've never had GERD before surgery can also develop it, unfortunately. Sorry this has happened to you. The suggestions lizonaplane made (above) are good ones. Hopefully some of them will work for you!!

I also had a very easy recovery. Actually, I think that's a lot more common than not. And yes - you'll start feeling the restriction once you move to solid food.