paradigm7

For keeping track of foods eaten, I’ve used the Lose It app for the last 30 years.

1 hour ago, Im4miracles said:

Thank You for that insight!

Michelle, it’s my distinct pleasure.

9 hours ago, Im4miracles said:

Hello!

Just a short story of how I got here! 8/2012, I underwent the Gastric Sleeve. I went from 230 lbs to 140 lbs. I had a hiatal hernia repair during this surgery in 2012 and again in 2021. Every since I had the sleeve in 2012, I have had reflux. Within the last few years, it has increased, severely. It did a little better when I had the hernia repair in 2021. However the hernia has returned and the GERD is even worse. I wake up quite often gagging on stomach acid. Sometimes waiting to go to bed three hours after my last meal/snack, will help SOMETIMES. A lot of times, I have to sleep sitting up. I am taking Protonix 40 MG twice a day for many many years. If I skip a dose, I regret it!

I, unfortunately, have gained quite a bit of my weight back. Once I started gaining, the front desk clerk at my Bariatric doc's office told me I didn't need to come back. I kind of felt like I got kicked out of the program!! So it just got worse after that.

Because of the severe GERD I am having, I bit the bullet and went back to see my bariatric doctor. I was ashamed because I lost 90 pounds after my surgery but have gained 60 of it back. He didn't seem to say much about that. However, he suggested that the best way to get the GERD under control was to revise my surgery from the Sleeve to the Bypass.

I have concerns! I am worried about the diet and will I screw up again? I am worried about mal absorption, dumping syndrome and all the other complications that can come from the Gastric Bypass. I worry about how the Vitamins will taste (silly I know, but if things taste nasty, I have a hard time eating/drinking). What if I can't stick with it like I did the Sleeve? This is a permanent surgery! I am scared but I feel like it is necessary to relieve me of this terrible GERD. I could end up with Barrett's Esophagus and worse, cancer of the esophagus.

Would really appreciate outlooks and suggestions!

Thanks in Advance,

Michelle

Greetings @Im4miracles - Michelle,

I got my sleeve surgery in 2016. I lost around 130 lbs During the time from 2020, I had gained some of the weight back. I also had severe GERD (where the GERD was so severe that I was vomiting my food almost everyday). I went back to my Bariatric surgeon in February, 2020 to revise my sleeve surgery to a Gastric Bypass with hernia surgery I have to admit that I had similar concerns about the Gastric Bypass that you do. I was concerned about the dumping syndrome and wondering if I could keep the weight off with revision to the bypass surgery. I got my Gastric Bypass surgery with hernia surgery in March 2020.

It was the best decision I ever made for myself because in hindsight I don’t have this severe GERD anymore. Once I was released from the hospital, I didn’t have much pain and didn’t have to take my narcotic pain killer. At my 6 month post op appointment, my bariatric surgeon was extremely pleased with my weight loss progress because I had lost 124% of my original body weight. My current body weight is in the mid 130’s. I was really scared that I would experience dumping syndrome after my bypass surgery - which I did not. In my experience, I haven’t had malabsorption of my daily nutrition in my body. My bariatric Vitamins don’t taste horrible (I take my bariatric vitamins daily). Fortunately, my tastebuds haven’t changed because of the bypass surgery. I can eat all foods that I had eaten before I got my bypass surgery. I no longer have to take the Protonix 40 mg because the bypass surgery cured the GERD for me.
Lastly, the weight that I had lost from my bypass surgery hasn’t returned because I use my Lose It application (food journal) to budget my calories, I walk everyday for 30 minutes at a minimum, and I use the nutritional plate method (that my medical nutritionist told me about). The plate method is where you divide your plate in to three sections: first section is 50% of the plate is made out of fruits and vegetables (I typically have 25% of fruits and 25% of vegetables in this section), second section is 25% of Protein food, and the third section is 25% of carbohydrates foods. Using the nutritional plate method I make sure I’m getting the proper nutrition.

Michelle, I hope that what I’ve written has given you food for thought. I have successfully gone from a sleeve surgery to a bypass surgery without any complications and i am extremely happy about my weight loss journey, thus far

Congratulations on your great success! I can remember my elation when I dipped below 200 lbs.

I am two years out from my gastric bypass surgery. On the occasion when I do feel sick, I drink both Smartwater (for the electrolytes) and Fever Tree Ginger Beer. I get both the Smartwater and Fever Tree Ginger Beer at costco. The Ginger Beer is especially nice for calming down nausea and vomiting.