catwoman7

actually not a candidate - I had my RNY six years ago! None of them really bother me. I bloat a lot because I'm very salt sensitive and I also have "redundant colon", so I'm not sure if I'd know for sure if any bloating incident was due to artificial sweeteners or something else.

yep - too fast or too much will often set it off.

I'm sure almost everyone has a few "issues" - but they want to see if your particular issues might hinder your weight loss, and/or if you understand what you're getting yourself into and if your expectations are realistic. Most people do pass it...

Not sure how I'd do it without artificial sweeteners. I don't eat a ton of sweets, but at the same time, when I do, they usually have artificial sweeteners in them. I've lost over 200 lbs, so...

that's not uncommon. A lot of people gain weight while in the hospital because of the IV fluids - some people gain up to 10 lbs from them. But of course, it's not a true gain - it's all water (and it also has sodium in it - which makes some people retain it for awhile...). It takes a few days to work its way out of your system. I'd just stay off the scale for a few days if it's messing with your head.

if your clinic gave you a food plan, that's what you really should be following...at least in the early months. Fifteen lbs in a month is within the average range. I lost 16 lbs the first month and started off well over 300 lbs.

yes - I should have mentioned what lizonaplane did - most of us aren't cleared for strength training quite that early. It was eight weeks for patients at my clinic - I'd check with yours and see. plateaus are frustrating but totally normal. Just continue to follow your plan. If they want you to come up on calories - or stay at your current level - then do that. I'd just check in with them if you're concerned (which it sounds like you are...)

ask your surgeon's office. I was told eight weeks for any strength/resistance training, but check with yours...

most people don't lose 15+ lbs a month beyond the first month or so. And yes - the pace of loss can be about the same as it is without surgery, but the difference is, I was able to do it and then maintain it once the weight was gone. you can only do what you can do - and that is, follow your clinic's food plan and stay active, and it sounds like you are doing both. The other things that factor into the rate of weight loss - age, gender, genetics, metabolic rate, etc, you have little to no control over. I was a slow loser from the get-go and ended up losing all of my excess weight. I just kept plugging away at it. Don't lose hope yet!

most of us spend most of our time in the hospital sleeping, so don't take much. I used my phone (and phone charger). I brought toiletries, but I didn't really have to since the hospital gave me a bag of them (shampoo, toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant...). Bring clothes that are baggy and easy to get on & off for the ride home (I just wore the same thing I wore to the hospital). A lot of people like having mouth spray (like Biotene) and/or chapstick with them for dryness - I did bring them, but I can't remember if I used them or not). That's about it!

they usually do an upper endoscopy to check for strictures - but maybe there are other ways of seeing them (maybe on the CT scan you had? I'm not sure - but again, I'm sure that possibility must have occurred to them as well)

did you get RNY or VSG? If the former, I wonder if it could be a stricture - you're in the right time frame for it. Although I'm sure the doctor would have thought of that..

I was cleared at four weeks for most things (at the time, my "most things" was water aerobics), but I had to wait eight weeks to do weights. I don't know about bands - I didn't ask about that.

ARRRGGHH this damn thing won't let me edit! Or delete! Anyway, I was a slow loser from the get-go, and I ended up losing 100% of my excess weight (over 200 lbs). Your eventual success is due to your level of commitment, not your rate of weight loss. Besides, rate of weight loss is dependent on several factors, only two of which - activity level and how closely you stick to your program - you have much control over. The other things that influence it - age, gender, metabolic rate, genetics, starting BMI - you really have little to no control over. So if you do well with those first two, you WILL lose the weight. So don't fear being a slow loser - many of us were, and we still lost the weight..

should be fine.

I never had nausea or pain while eating (well, other than a few days when I had a stricture). I can't remember how much I was eating at that point - but I followed my plan pretty closely the first few months.

it's been a few years for me so I may not be remembering this correctly, but I think we could have things like canned tuna (or the kind that comes in packets) and cottage cheese in the soft food stage. And yes - I would consider a veggie burger a solid, too.

unfortunately, the surgery doesn't fix our brains ? If you're having major eating issues, like it sounds like you are, you might want to line up a therapist who specializes in eating disorders (or at least has worked with them a lot). Honestly, a lot of WLS patients have done this and have benefited from it. in the end, the surgery controls to a large extent what we can eat in one sitting. If you're snacking all day, you'll end up eating around the surgery. You don't want to do that...

yes - you can cause damage doing that. You need to follow your clinic's food progression. you probably aren't feeling it because there were nerves cut during your surgery, and it takes awhile for them to regenerate. In the mean time, you need to follow your post-op instructions. You WILL eventually feel restriction, but for now you have to trust the process.

most people experience their first major stall sometime within the first month or so after surgery. It's usually the third week, but not always. Mine was weeks 2 & 3. Yours is pretty early - although that's not unheard of.

if you have GERD, they'll usually recommend you go with RNY because VSG can make it worse (it does in about 30% of cases, so it doesn't ALWAYS make it worse). If you don't have GERD, then it comes down to personal preference (although there are people who never had GERD before who do develop it after VSG, so there's that - but it's more likely in people who already had it beforehand). I had GERD so I went with RNY. I didn't want to take the risk of it getting worse, but some people are comfortable with the risk. I've been very happy with my decision and would make the same decision today. Both are good surgeries and you'll find people who've been very successful with both.

yea - it's another issue where there doesn't seem to be a consensus among surgeons. We were told to avoid them the first few months, I think - something about the air getting into your stomach. So I did, but I've been using them without issue since then.

whoops! Trying to delete since I already addressed this. It won't let me, I have to type something!

here are the requirements. Do you meet all of these? If so, did they give you or your PCP a reason for denying you? https://www.molinacenter.com/-/media/Molina/PublicWebsite/PDF/Providers/wa/Medicaid/1023-2009_23924_CM-Provider-Bariatric-Program-Flyer-Update_nob_FNL_508c.pdf