Berry78

At 2 months out, I'd lost 45/150lbs. My MIL says, "I thought you'd be skinny (at goal) after 3 months!" During a family reunion, I told my Aunts that I'd had surgery. One tells a story about someone she'd known with an early bypass, and that she'd had continuing issues with it. I just nodded. It's true that bypasses weren't as good 20 years ago. (but I didn't have the bypass anyway), My other Aunt says, "Isn't it true that you can gain the weight back?" She actually asked it as a question instead of an accusation.. so I did spend the time educating her that yes, it's up to me to put the right things on the plate. I did get huffy with her when I mentioned I hadn't started a consistent exercise routine yet, and she says "you know you have to exercise!". I said, "Well, duh! I wasn't allowed to do much the first 2 months, so it's only been the last month that I've been kinda slacking." Once I explained that exercise is limited for 2 months after the surgery, it kinda helped her understand that the surgery IS a big deal, and has been a lot for me to get over.

Please seek professional help. Substance abuse isn't good for anyone, bariatric patient or not. Your sleeve should be healed, but even a normal stomach can develop ulcers (a sleeved stomach can too). Your liver has had a lot of work to do (processing the fat), and now you are piling even more work on it, cleaning up the toxic substances. You had the surgery for your health (I assume). But now you're gonna throw it all away? Risking ulcers, liver damage, etc? Please seek help so you can get to the root of WHY you are willing to do this, and hopefully fix the underlying cause(s). Once you fix those, then quitting the substances will be possible. This is a MIND issue. And stomach surgery doesn't fix minds. {Hugs} You have just this one life to live.. make it the best one possible!

Oh, and wanted to add.. with your height, a "normal" weight would be 165lbs. (unless you work out and have tons of muscles). The bypass could be expected to get you to about 225lbs, the sleeve 235lbs. The duodenal switch should get you lower still. But, your comment about not wanting to take vitamins.... You'll HAVE to take vitamins with any of the procedures. But, with the sleeve, it'll be swallowing maybe 2-3 pills. The bypass is around 5-6 pills I think. The duodenal switch is a handful of pills, several times a day. Not knowing your situation.. I think you'd be happiest with a sleeve, and keeping the potential for a revision open down the line. (Unless you have GERD). If you only get heartburn after a heavy meal or specific foods.. that's different. GERD happens regardless of what you ate, and is HORRIBLE. You'd know it if you had it. Many times insurance won't cover a revision unless it's from medical necessity. So keep that in mind too..

I have a theory that I want to share. When I was in college, I ate at the all-you-can-eat buffet style cafeteria. I lost weight. Being confronted with so many choices, I naturally gravitated to eating pretty much the exact same meal for breakfast every day, and dinner was essentially the same each night as well. I found comfort in a consistent meal routine. Getting married, having children, fixing dinner that kids would eat, having leftovers, not wanting to waste food.. all these things really played a part in my gaining 150lbs after leaving college. During the preop and post op diets, I had to completely separate my eating from that of the family. I actually found it extremely easy with our set-up, and so it is now 2nd nature. I eat the same things every day, and it is comforting to me (not boring). I always know what I'm going to have, so that stress of "what's for dinner" doesn't apply to me anymore. Granted, I'm only 3.5 months out of surgery, so we'll see how I feel in a couple more years. My theory is that people that don't mind a limited palette of foods do exceptionally well (mentally) after surgery. Those people that always want something different all the time.. they are going to have a harder time. There are a ton of ways to make salads, but ultimately, it's still salad. How does all this play in for you? Are you someone that would say "But we had chili last night!" or "Do we ALWAYS have to have spaghetti Mondays?!".. you would probably do better with a bypass. But if you're more like me (and have no history of GERD), then the sleeve would probably work well for you. Men lose about twice as fast as women in general. I think the ultimate success is up to your individual body and mind, and less about the procedure you choose. Another thing to think about is your willingness to undergo a second, revisional surgery. Sleeves leave this as a possibility, whereas a bypass is "one and done". A revision doesn't have the dramatic success of an initial surgery, but sometimes is needed if the weight loss stops too soon, or you develop severe GERD.

You should be able to have plain broth. Definitely keep in contact with your surgeon's office, because you don't want to have surgery if you are sick, or just getting over a depleting illness. In the meantime, in case it's just a short bug, just keep on drinking. Any calorie free beverage, unsweetened tea, herbal tea, fat free broths, etc. Hope you feel better soon!

I found my emotions calmed down as my nutrition increased. The first month I was taking in close to a 100g of carbs a day through dairy products (and they were mostly whole.. so I was getting plenty of fat too). After that initial healing period, I started decreasing my carbs (they are at 60g now), to help continue with weight loss. I don't know if this will help, but when I was on the low fat/low carb preop diet, and clear liquids for the first week postop, my emotions were all over the place. Once I brought the milk in during full liquids, things got better very quickly. Everyone is different, so you may be having something else going on. Hormone dumping is very common (fat cells tend to accumulate hormones, so with the rapid weight loss, those hormones get dumped into your bloodstream). If you have been on medications, I suspect some of them also end up in the blood too. The lifestyle change will take a few months to become your new "normal". The main thing is to be kind to yourself. Take it all one day at a time, and things will gradually get better. It absolutely is a great idea to talk to a counselor that is familiar with the bariatric process. {Hugs} It'll get better! I promise!

I was mostly drinking whole milk and protein keifer.. so was getting 700-800 calories, probably. Guess I should have written that stuff down! Oops! I used that first month for healing.. didn't worry about calories too much.

I'm about 15 weeks out, and have been eating over 1000cal since week 4. I'm now doing around 1250. I could eat quite a few more, but am stopping at that. My first month, I lost 17lbs, 2nd month, 13lbs, and 3rd month, 8lbs. So I'd hazard a guess that my higher calories combined with only sporadic exercise has really resulted in slow-ish losses. I am going to work into more exercise, but plan on leaving the calories alone for now. Overall, I am thrilled.. 60lbs down as of today (including preop)! What I've found, is I can drink right up until I eat.. just wait about 5 minutes between my last sip and my first bite. That really helps fit in my 3 meals and a snack, while keeping hydrated. I do wait for at least 30 minutes or an hour before resuming drinking though. As for the peanut butter issue, I weigh out 1oz of peanut butter and put it into a separate container. For convenience, I do a whole jar that way at once, so I can just grab a little container and go. That controls my consumption. (No toast for me.. just straight off my spoon or on celery). That is my daily snack.. that or an ounce of nuts or seeds.

I'm sorry to hear about your last-minute cancellation. Insurance companies can be the pits. If you want to go through Dr. Illan in Mexico (I did), the process is really simple. 1. Fill out the health questionnaire on the website. The doctor will review and you will be approved or denied, and a procedure will be recommended for your situation. 2. Order your passport if you don't have one. Might take 6 weeks to arrive unless you pay for express. 3. Send in the deposit. Schedule your date. 4. Order your plane tickets. 5. (Optional) get fitted for compression stockings for the flights. Flying soon after surgery increases your risk of blood clots, the stockings minimize this risk. They usually cost about $50 from your local medical supply company. 6. Preop diet 7. Fly to Mexico and *finally* be on the other side.

He didn't try them with vinegar.. next time!

What? Dudes don't have unexplained weight fluctuations? My scale is very accurate. When i step on it multiple times in a row, it'll have EXACTLY the same weight reading, down to a 10th of a pound. On several occasions, I've woken up early. Stepped on the scale. Go back to sleep. Wake up 2-3 hours later, step on scale again and am down 2lbs. And no, I didn't pee a quart on the 2nd waking. Craziness! Putting on 5 lbs out of thin air seems far fetched, right?.. but it absolutely can and does happen! I have no idea how, and whether some of that is scale error. But we'll just call it "water weight", and be done with it, since we just do not have an explanation.

This has been my experience EXACTLY. Noodles taste like paste (the, like, two that I've had). I have attributed it to the change in taste buds postop. My interpretation is the surgery has "fixed" my tastebuds, so I can taste what food ACTUALLY tastes like, and not some rose-colored glasses interpretation. So far, my tastes haven't lied. Sweet stuff is too sweet. Things made with plain white flour taste like you'd think plain white flour should taste like I can taste the baking soda in baked goods!! That bears repeating. I can taste the baking soda in a chocolate cake or muffin!! Can't wait to go wine-tasting (and spitting of course).. I might be in for a nightmare or treat, not sure which!

Enjoy! Post op, fried foods won't be your friends.. so might as well eat 'em while you can! My picky 11 year old had fish and chips on vacation, and liked them. Probably the only way I'll get fish into him anytime soon... "chippie" ... love it!

5 weeks is definitely better than the 3 I was thinking. (I even double looked, and still turned the dates around! Lol!) You'll be on soft foods, so no need to puree the minestrone (unless your diet is different from mine at 5 weeks). Everyone recovers differently, but to give you an idea.. pre-op, I could walk 2 miles on the flat without being sore, tired, or winded. At 5 weeks post-op, I was hurting after 1 mile on the flat. At 3 months postop, I went 4-5 miles in hills (and I haven't actually started an exercise program.. so it wasn't that I worked up to 4 miles.. it's purely from having healed, and weighing almost 60lbs less). Funny story.. it was actually supposed to be a 2 mile hike (and I was afraid of that!) But I got lost, so went a lot further! Ultimately, Healing is a lot of mind over matter.. so if you arrange your trip to minimize long walks, and take lots of breaks.. you'll do just fine. Just mentally prepare yourself for being more tired than you would have been pre-op.

Everything has been super smooth sailing (touch wood). The weight is coming off (slow and reasonably steadily), I keep having to buy new clothes, and I eat virtually the same thing every day, so I don't have any food-stress. I am a bit deficient on some vitamins, so have increased my supplements. I have lost 59lbs so far, and my surgery was March 20. (Drives me crazy when I hang out at one pound short of a milestone! Lol.) 66 more pounds, and I'll be at my initial goal... so I'm almost halfway there! My focus is starting to shift away from the surgery and recovery to thinking about more mundane life-topics.. like getting some renovations done on the house, finding a job this fall, etc. (I'm a stay at home Mom, but the kids are getting old enough that I can go back to work!) Thanks for asking!

Ahh.. guess I didn't realize you had a bypass Surgeon knows best! lol. Constipation is frequently a problem, so guess you dodged that bullet!

This is a pretty new procedure (endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty), I'll be interested to know if anyone has had it. Personally I wouldn't choose it. Too new, and I can picture oh so many things going wrong (not necessarily during the procedure, but after... trying to live forever with stitches inside trying to hold a moving, stretching muscle together).

Congrats on the approval! It's unfortunate your holiday is so close to the surgery. You will still be on purees, which will make eating a challenge. You also might still be fatigued. Is there any way to postpone the trip? I just took my big vacation 3 months post op, and was super happy it wasn't closer to the surgery. I had already lost a bunch of weight, could eat anything, and could participate in hiking and physical activities that I wouldn't have been up to at 3 weeks out. It will be possible for you (barring complications), but might not be much fun. As for the lack of excitement.. I wasn't "excited" at all.. too scared for that. The excitement grew gradually postop as I healed and see the pounds dropping off. Was there any chance you could switch to the sleeve? Then malabsorption of meds won't be as much of an issue.

In general, the bypass is favored for PCOS. You have quite a few comorbidities, and may want the more aggressive procedure. If you wanted to try the sleeve, it might work for you.... but be sure you are willing to consider a revision down the road if things don't turn out how you want them to. (A sleeve can be converted to a bypass or duodenal switch). The problem with revisions are they don't work as quickly or effectively as the virgin procedure, and the scar tissue gained from the first procedure makes the 2nd one a little harder to perform, and has a little more painful, lengthy recovery. Insurance companies also frequently have clauses that limit the number of procedures and revisions. Vitamins are required either way, but you'll take more of them with the bypass. One thing that will make you happy to hear.. the intestines get used to the new arrangement over the first couple years, so people with bypasses typically stop "dumping" after that time. They also absorb more nutrients as well. (This is how people start gaining after a couple years if they don't modify their diets permanently). Do plenty of research, and be comfortable with your choice. The sleeve is performed twice (?) as much as the bypass nowadays.. but it doesn't mean all those that get the sleeve have received the correct procedure for them. There are plenty of revisions being performed (mostly for newly-developed GERD). I'm 3 months out from the sleeve, and am very happy. I had high blood pressure (that has gotten better), but that was my only comorbidity.

Congrats on finally getting your procedure! You're not going to recognize yourself once you get healed up!! Your tummy/intestines can take several days to fully wake up from the anesthesia. Hopefully you'll feel better soon!

I don't have one everyday.. probably every-other-day.. but they tend to be enormous! 8-O Sounds like you may want to evaluate what you are eating/drinking. Something might not be agreeing with you. Artificial sweeteners are a possibility. (Okios yogurt acts as a laxative for me.. I eat plain greek yogurt instead). Dairy is another common culprit. Spinach increases my transit time dramatically. Are the stools formed or watery? If watery, you might become dehydrated, so need to find a solution right away. If they are formed, then you have time to experiment.

I hazard to guess you'll be 200lbs before October 1st, and close to goal by Thanksgiving. (You are male, so you will lose about twice as fast as a female). Congrats on the surgery! Good luck!!

This is a great question for your bariatric surgeon. In general, after WLS, you should be healthier and more able to function with one kidney than before the surgery (but it probably takes a year or more for this to be true). Do you have high blood pressure? If you do, and have had it for a while, that can actually damage your kidneys, making you a poor candidate as a donor. Talk to your doctor.. but if your friend can wait around until next summer, that would be a better time for you to consider the donation. Rapid weight loss is tough on all the body's systems, and you wouldn't want to handicap that process by removing one of your own waste filters. By all means, get tested soon to find out whether you would even BE a candidate, so this isn't a question hanging over both of your heads for the next 12 or 18 months.

Brooke, you have done amazingly!! Congratulations!!! mom2tess, I'd say a month stall is a bit concerning if you aren't near goal. Time to shake things up, but without knowing what you are eating or exercise habits, it's hard to make recommendations, other than.. track everything, then go back through, analyze, and tweak. Sometimes we need to eat more and exercise less. Sometimes the opposite. Sometimes it isn't how much, but WHAT we are doing. If you say your exercise is "two miles, moderate pace, every day".. then I'll say that's great, but let's spice it up and add in some weight lifting. Sometimes our bodies can get used to one thing, and it needs a kick in the pants. Pull a switcheroo..

50lbs in a little over 4 months isn't bad. We all lose at different rates. (I had my surgery a month after you and am down 42lbs since the surgery.. so I think we're losing at about the same rate). I get how it seems slow, but it really isn't! Some of us are just taking our sweet time.. but there are probably benefits to slower losses. Our skin might handle it better (fingers crossed) Our gallbladders might be happier Our emotional state might be more calm (I am calmer than before surgery!) If you get concerned, make sure you are tracking what you are eating, and monitoring your exercise, and tweak when necessary. (Personally my exercise has been quite low, so I have lots of room to increase it). Watch for those non scale victories too! I have lost 11 inches off my hip measurement!