catwoman7

it's not super common, although it happens to some. Ask your dentist about the prescription fluoride toothpaste. Many are happy to prescribe it even to "normal" patients. And keep on top of your dental care with regular appts, etc, so if you are one of the people who ends up having issues, at least they can catch problems early.

insurance generally doesn't require you to jump through a bunch of hoops (as long as you qualify, which you said you do) other than many policies require a diet supervised by a physician or dietitian (often for six months) - although not all have this requirement. Your bariatric clinic, on the other hand, will likely have you go through several medical clearances, though - blood tests, sleep study, EKG, etc. Some also require you to go through classes. You may first need a referral to a bariatric surgeon from your PCP - so I would start there. Once you're an official patient at a bariatric clinic, the process will begin..

the infamous three-week stall, right on time! Almost all of us experience that - if you do a search on it on this site, you will find over 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding). Just stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days if you have to. It WILL break - it always does. They typically last 1-3 weeks. And just so you know, you're likely to hit a few of these along your journey. Just hold tight and stick to your plan...

from what I've heard, weight loss is usually quite a bit slower with revisions than it is with a "virgin" surgery

nice to see you back, Brent!

I still log my food at (almost) six years out. I get off track too easily if I stop logging for more than a few days.

you're correct. We were told to stick to whey protein isolate early out because it's more easily absorbed. Once we were a few months out, we were allowed to do concentrates or blends if we wanted to - or give up shakes altogether - as long as we were getting most/all of our protein from food (which at that point most people ARE getting most/all of their protein from food)

once I open a can of pumpkin puree, I use it pretty quickly. I'll make pumpkin protein shakes, pumpkin protein muffins, and pumpkin yogurt out of it. It really doesn't have any taste (unless you add spices, of course), so it's great for adding moisture (and fiber) to things..

I make these occasionally, I use Greek yogurt for moisture - that works as well.

re: shakes, everyone's tastes are so different that you're bound to get 100 different answers here. If you can find individual packets online or in specialty stores (like Vitamin Shoppe), I'd pick up some of those - that way you're not stuck with some $30+ tub of protein powder that you hate. here are the vitamin recommendations from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. You might have to scroll down a ways to see them - and be sure to check the recommendations for your particular surgery (although some clinics have both sleevers and bypassers on the same vitamin regimen). For pharmacy or grocery store vitamins, you usually need to take two multivitamins a day to meet requirements. There are some bariatric-specific multivitamins out there where you only have to take one per day - but either will work as long as it meets the requirements (I take Centrum or the generic equivalent): https://asmbs.org/app/uploads/2017/06/ASMBS-Nutritional-Guidelines-2016-Update.pdf

there is no restriction on burgers. As long as your stomach can tolerate them, you're fine. I personally don't eat ground beef, but I think that's a meat that most of us (or our pouches, anyway) can tolerate. P.S. I do eat "fake" burgers (like Impossible Burgers and Beyond Burgers). I can eat half of one. I'm pretty far out from surgery, though - I may not have been able to eat that much during the first few months out.

not sure where you read that, but I eat cabbage a lot. I can't think of any reason why RNY patients should avoid it. Maybe early out when you're supposed to avoid raw vegetables (that is, if you eat it raw), but otherwise...???

I have a virgin RNY, not a revision, but I had almost no pain with this surgery. Part of me wondered at first if he actually even did the surgery... most people getting a revision do get an immediate relief from GERD (not all - but most), and additional weight loss is around 20 lbs, but I'm sure that depends on your BMI and how hard you work at losing weight. I'm sure you can find people who've lost more than that.

I guess I didn't really care - I just knew I didn't want to be fat anymore. I lost over 200 lbs, and this is what I looked like (I have since had plastic surgery - but this picture was taken BEFORE plastic surgery). For me (and many of us), the excess skin was easy to hide. I just wore 3/4 length (or longer) sleeves and slightly oversized, long-ish tops. Ta da! No more loose skin. Although you're right - you and your husband will know it's there, even if no one else does. I didn't like my loose skin, but on the other hand, I would have taken it any day of the week over being morbidly obese again. I don't know how old you are, how overweight you are, or how long you've been overweight, because all those play a role in how much loose skin you'll end up with. Some people really don't have all that much. I'm probably worst case scenario.

stalls are a normal part of weight loss. I think your body just has to stop once in awhile and recalibrate before it goes on. Almost everyone here has that early stall (within the first month post-op). No need to go back to a liquid diet. Just stick to your eating plan and stay off the scale for a few days. The stall WILL break and you'll be on your way again.

10 lbs down in 20 days this far out isn't very realistic without going insanely (and possibly dangerously) low on calories. I would ordinarily NEVER recommend that someone do that, but given this situation.... Maybe run it by your dietitian first just to see what he/she thinks (and explain the reason)

great job!!

Pain is all across the board, but the majority of us have little to no pain with these surgeries. I had none. I didn't even bother opening the bottle of pain pills they sent me home with. If you're one of the minority that has a lot of pain with this, you WILL have pain meds with you that you can take to keep on top of it. It usually just lasts a few days.

I'm RNY, not sleeve, but I had those doubts as well. But this DID work. I really had to work at it, but my efforts paid off this time.

patches seem to work for some but not for others. I've never tried them because I'm afraid I'd be one of the people they don't work for. you have to take two of most multivitamins to meet requirements. I think there are a few bariatric-specific multivitamins where you only have to take one per day, though - but anything from a grocery store or drug store (like Centrum) you have to take two per day.

almost nobody loses 100 lbs in 4-5 months. Unless they're the size of people on "My 600 lb Life", they would be rare exception. For most people, it takes a year, give or take, to lose that much. I started out heavier than you. I lost 16 lbs the whole first month, so much less than you. And as you can see in my stats, I ended up losing over 200 lbs (took 20 months). Your level of commitment plays a MUCH greater role in your ultimate success than your rate of weight loss does. Besides, rate of weight loss depends on so many factors, most of which (like age, gender, genetics, metabolic rate) you have little - or no - control over. The two things you DO have control over are how closely you follow your program and your activity level. If you do well with those, you WILL lose a significant amount of weight, whether fast or slow.

there are fewer complications with sleeve, but on the other hand, complications with either surgery aren't very common. And if you do have them, most (for both surgeries) are minor and "fixable". I personally would not let that make or break your decision because most of us sail through these surgeries just fine and don't experience complications. However, since you have GERD and choose the sleeve, know that you have about a 30% chance of that getting worse. That was the reason I went with bypass instead (and I've been very happy with that decision). Of course, you may be one of the 70% for whom it does NOT get worse. I wasn't willing to take the chance, but you might be.

I'm not sure if it's the same with a revision vs. a virgin bypass. I felt restriction once I moved to solid foods, but I have a virgin bypass, not a revision, so it might be different. I've heard other revisionists say they didn't feel as much restriction with the bypass as they did with the sleeve, but on the other hand, they do feel uncomfortable when they're on the verge of eating too much.

if you already have GERD, think long and hard about getting the sleeve. GERD gets worse in about 30% of sleeve patients - so it depends on what your risk level is. I had GERD before surgery, and I didn't want to take the chance, so I had bypass. I've been very happy with my decision and would choose it again. Maybe you'll be one of the 70% whose GERD DOESN'T get worse - but again, the decision depends on how much you're willing to take that risk.

you should be able to get there if you work really hard at it. There are a number of us on here who've made it to a normal BMI. The statistics for making it that far are 10-15%, so it's not easy, but it's definitely possible.