DDN

Baabs,
Thanks for responding. The more research I do, I'm thinking it's going to be best if I have the RNY. I watched the GERD go haywire across the monitor while on the table drinking some thick liquid and having the UGI performed (and this was after not eating or drinking anything for 24 hours). The technician actually mentioned that my case was pretty bad and if he were me, he would take the Doc's advice, especially if I were looking to be relieved of the meds for GERD as well as other meds to help treat other issues. I'm just really concerned about not being able to take any NSAIDs after surgery--hopefully the anticipated weight-loss will help to alleviate the need for them when desiring to limit pain associated with arthritis developed after two knee surgeries or when desiring to rush the cure of a cold or the flu.

After surgery, I could not swallow anything medium or large size. The Calcium pills were large and had to be crushed. They also tasted like chalk. The only way I found to take these was mix them with a glass of Crystal Light and drink them down. Since the crushed calcium tended to form a paste at the bottom of the glass, this generally meant that I had to refill the glass with some more Crystal Light and try again. At least I was meeting my Fluid quota. The good thing to know is that this condition does not last forever. In about 2 months, I was able to swallow and taking the calciums no longer presented a problem.
One of the problems I encountered after surgery was that I became lactose intolerant. Anytime I drank milk or anything that contained lactose, it lead to pain and a quick trip to the bathroom with diarrhea. Some Protein shakes contain lactose. I took myself off all milk products and eventually after a few months this condition also went away.
It took me about 6 months to reach my "happy state", when all these type of conditions were resolved and I could get back to living my life. So be patient.