catwoman7

I could walk right away. At four weeks, I could do everything except weights. At eight weeks, I was cleared for weights as well.

I thought the pre-op diet was the hardest part of the whole thing - so yes, it does get easier!

I was told to stop them the day before, but to by honest, I'm not sure why. I take vitamins every day, so if I took them the day of the blood draw, my blood levels wouldn't be any different than they'd be any other day, so.. A lot of people say they weren't required to do that. Must just be the opinion of certain clinics.

you're right - cold brew has less acid. A lot of people who have issues with reflux can drink it without problems....

I never had issues with it either. Fluids go right through you, so there's not much chance of messing anything up. Your stomach should let you know if you're guzzling too fast. I didn't chug, but on the other hand, I didn't sip really slowly, either.

bypass has been around for a long time and there have been so many improvements on it over the years that it's really a safe surgery now - not much riskier than sleeve. I'm not a revision, but I had bypass because I have GERD prior to surgery. I'm very happy with it - no regrets at all (I'm over five years out)

just so you know, I didn't even lose 17 lbs the first MONTH, let alone the first WEEK!

I wore baggy clothes. It's been several years, but I think it was sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt. You want something that's easy to put on and take off and is super comfortable. no binder here. Some people have them, but I think most don't. I can't remember if I had the blood thinning shots with my RNY or not (I know I did with my plastic surgery). If just had them in the hospital, though - I didn't have to do them at home.

you may be in a stall. Mine got more frequent and longer as I got further out. Every time, I'd think "well, this is it....my body is done", but then, the weight loss would start up again. It finally stopped when I was about 20 months out. So don't lose hope yet! they say about a year for the honeymoon phase, but that's going to vary for people. It's when you're all gung-ho and weight loss is relatively easy. It gets a lot harder once you're a year or more out.

I had a scopolamine patch behind my ear for my last two surgeries, and I never got sick. I didn't have that for my RNY, so I DID have some nausea the first day, but they put Zofran in my IV fluids which helped quite a bit. I wouldn't let that keep me from getting surgery - even if you do have nausea, it's a small price to pay. But ask for the patch. how old are you? Lots of us had this surgery in our 50s and 60s - I've even seen a handful of people who've had it in their 70s. and your results WILL be good as long as you're committed to your program.

ask your surgeon. Some are fine with caffeine after surgery and some are not. Some are OK with it once you're further out, and some are OK with it but only in limited quantities. I was not allowed caffeine until I was six months out, but surgeons' opinions really seem to be all across the board with this. I dump espresso or coffee in my protein shakes all the time, but I'm five years out. I didn't do this the first six months, much as I wanted to...

not much you can do about it now. Just get back on track ASAP. Vow to not mess up here - those first few months after WLS will be the easiest time ever in your life to lose weight. Take full advantage of that!

not sure all programs would allow fruit and peanut butter to be added to shakes during the liquid diet, though....but you can use things like sugar free syrups to make things more..."exciting" (if that's even possible!) OP - most of us do have to go through those liquid diets - and yes, it's a huge pain, and you just have to white knuckle it. It does get better for most us by about day 3 or 4. Just grit your teeth and do it - in the end, you'll be happy you did! (I should add that I found the liquid diet the hardest part of the whole process - I was actually relieved the morning of surgery that it was OVER!!)

you're going through the three-week stall a little early. Almost everyone goes through that early stall. If you do a search for it on this site, you'll fine 17,501 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding - there literally are 17,501 posts on it). Just stick to your plan and your weight loss will start up again - I promise! My stall lasted for two weeks (weeks 2 and 3 post-surgery), and my weight loss started up again during week 4. I dropped like 6-8 lbs within a couple of days that week. So just hang tight and stay off the scale if you have to...

people lose weight at all different rates due to a host of different factors, many of which you have little to no control over (i.e., age, gender, metabolic rate). Just focus on the factors you DO have control over (sticking to your plan and staying active), and the weight WILL come off, regardless of the speed. Most people lose in the 15-25 lb range the first month, although there are outliers. I lost 16 lbs. But it's sort of pointless to compare yourself to others because some will lose 15 lbs and some will lose 30, and again, a lot of this isn't really within your control. Just stick to your surgeon's plan - in the end, your level of commitment is what determines your success - not how quickly you lose the weight.

I think freaking out before a surgery is pretty normal. major complications like a botched surgery are pretty rare - almost all of us sail through just fine. And so will you.

with liver enzymes, it's actually really common for liver values to be way up until your weight stabilizes. Rapid weight loss is REALLY tough on livers. Mine finally were back down in the normal range once I was at or near goal. Although I don't know your situation - maybe there was something else going on with them.

that could very well be - but in addition, when you get fairly close to goal, your weight loss does slow down a lot. The last 20 lbs were a BEAR for me to lose...

OP - note that if you're a bypass patient, you'll probably be required to take calcium citrate instead of calcium carbonate (Viactive is carbonate)

at that point you probably won't be eating microscopic portions anymore, but on the other hand, your days of eating a 16 oz steak are over. I agree with the above poster that a small 5-6 oz steak would work (although you may or may not be able to eat all that - I probably could if it was the only thing I was eating). Or some other meat like chicken or seafood.

I get all mine at Walgreens or CVS (I don't get bariatric-specific ones), so they're not too bad price-wise. A lot of us start with chewable versions of our multivitamins and then switch to tablets later. As far as capsules vs chewables, I don't think one is necessarily better than the other.

nope. It varies by clinic, not by surgery. Our clinic has the sleevers and the bypassers on the exact same plan.

I discovered during my pre-op sleep study that I had a borderline case of sleep apnea, and that's long gone now. Also, several of my blood levels - cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, glucose - although still within the normal range - were at the very high end of it, and they're all on the very low end of the range now.

the vast majority seem to be very happy with their decision to have bypass (and I'm one of them!) - so you're likely to be as well!

I would say a majority of us struggle with constipation, so that part is normal, but the rest of this isn't. Dehydration can make you feel like crap (and can also contribute to the constipation), so part of it may be due to that. Have you called your surgeon? Having stomach cramps to the point where you can't eat or drink doesn't sound normal - I would call and see what they say.