notmyname

I SO feel you. I love my doctor. I've had a hard road after surgery - not nearly what you went through, but it wasn't pleasant. It was only 6 months ago that I could eat more than 400 calories a day without being ill and I still mostly only eat soft foods 2.5 years out. So when I got the call about my blood tests after my last and the nurse on the phone (not my doc's normal nurse) said that my cholesterol was a bit high and that it can be "controlled with diet and exercise, for example, stop eating fried foods," I nearly lost my everloving mind. I sent a letter to my doctor and her practice manager complaining about the call. The person on the phone didn’t bother to ask about my eating habits to ascertain if that could be the cause of the high cholesterol, even though high cholesterol can unrelated to diet. Instead, she just assumed that I eat poorly and need to have some self-control. I told them that the reference to “stop eating fried food” was jarring and unnecessary. I also said it was unhelpful given that I don't actually eat fried food (and didn't before my surgery). I also asked them to read a study by NIH on weight bias and really consider training the person I spoke to on it. Writing and sending the letter made me feel a bit better.
I'm sorry you dealt with this.

I SO feel you. I love my doctor. I've had a hard road after surgery - not nearly what you went through, but it wasn't pleasant. It was only 6 months ago that I could eat more than 400 calories a day without being ill and I still mostly only eat soft foods 2.5 years out. So when I got the call about my blood tests after my last and the nurse on the phone (not my doc's normal nurse) said that my cholesterol was a bit high and that it can be "controlled with diet and exercise, for example, stop eating fried foods," I nearly lost my everloving mind. I sent a letter to my doctor and her practice manager complaining about the call. The person on the phone didn’t bother to ask about my eating habits to ascertain if that could be the cause of the high cholesterol, even though high cholesterol can unrelated to diet. Instead, she just assumed that I eat poorly and need to have some self-control. I told them that the reference to “stop eating fried food” was jarring and unnecessary. I also said it was unhelpful given that I don't actually eat fried food (and didn't before my surgery). I also asked them to read a study by NIH on weight bias and really consider training the person I spoke to on it. Writing and sending the letter made me feel a bit better.
I'm sorry you dealt with this.

I don't like flavored yogurt, so I usually buy plain greek yogurt (it is usually either the Kirkland brand or Fage). If I need flavor, I flavor it myself (I like getting the really small frozen blueberries and adding them in frozen - but I wouldn't do that so soon after surgery.)

Premier is typically cheaper in the costco store than at Costco online. Also, they often has $5 off, so watch for that.

How far post-op?
First phases:
Yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, Protein Shakes (for me, it was premier protein)
Later phases:
fish
shrimp (shrimp is so good - easy to defrost and you can easily tailor the amount)
sargento balanced breaks nut/cheese snack packs
string cheese
canned veg
tuna
frozen fruit
Parm chips (sometimes they have single serving bags, sometimes they just have a big bag
Veggie burgers

Premier is typically cheaper in the costco store than at Costco online. Also, they often has $5 off, so watch for that.

Interesting. I've been pretty down about WLS lately because I never got to a healthy weight (I was close and OK where I was), then gained a bit. I was SUPER not happy with the gain. I just looked at a pic on a calendar my friend made me from a trip I took about 6 months after surgery. And I thought - wow, I looked great in that pic. I went back and looked at my weight around that time - yep, its about where I am now. Sure, there are other pics from that trip where I feel like I look terrible. But that one, I feel like I look good. Right-proportioned. So that makes me feel a bit better.

I take these once a day: Bariatric Once-A-Day Multivitamin 90 Ct Capsule-45mg Iron Made for Gastric Bypass Sleeve WLS Surgery
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JREK09G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I like Popsugar Fitness on YouTube!

Most sleevers don't get GERD if they didn't have it before - it just seems that way because people don't really post the positive - you're FAR more likely to see a post about getting GERD than a post about not having a side effect/complication. According to some studies, about 9% of people who are sleeeved get GERD (the title in the link to this article is a bit misleading: https://www.mdedge.com/gihepnews/article/80250/gastroenterology/sleeve-gastrectomy-often-worsens-gerd)
According to the article: "Most LSG patients [who had GERD before surgery] (84.1%) had persistent GERD symptoms after the procedure; only 15.9% reported resolution of symptoms. An additional 9.0% of LSG patients reported postoperative worsening of GERD symptoms. And 8.6% of patients who didn’t have GERD before undergoing sleeve gastrectomy developed the disorder afterward."
So, if you don't have GERD now, this study would say you have an 8.6% chance of getting it afterwards. Most of the people I've met who have had the sleeve have no GERD (and one bypass patient I know does). And the few sleevers I know who do have GERD have it well under control with medicaiton.
In the end, read the studies. Talk to your surgeon. Have you had an endoscopy - talk to your surgeon about the results and what s/he thinks it means for the likeliness of getting GERD.
As to why - my understanding is that because you're stomach basically becomes a tube, the pressure in your stomach increases, which increases the chance of the acid being forced back into the esophagus. This is a really nerdy article, but Table 1 talks about why obese people in general have a higher incidence of GERD, why someone might newly get GERD after sleeve (de novo column), or why GERD might get better after sleeve ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4579881/
NOTE going into the next paragraph - my experience is NOT typical. I know some on this board would prefer that people don't talk about their bad outcomes, but I feel like people should know that a small number of patients do get the. I'd also say that, for me, some presentations of GERD are not preferable to being overweight. Unfortunately, my surgeon gave me the 8.6% figure as ALL sleeve patients - he didn't give me the #s on people who had GERD before (I recognize I should have done more of my own research - I did some, but somehow didn't see the study linked to above). I had a bit of GERD that was very well controlled before surgery. I felt great for about 3 months post-surgery. Months 4-5 were so rough with GERD I could barely eat (I struggled to get 3-400 calories vs. eating about 700 in the few months after surgery) and struggled every waking moment not to throw up. It is better now (at 8 months), but I still have GERD and can tell you at any given time exactly where the acid is in my esophagus. I can tell you that at months 4-5, I would have 100% taken all the weight back to feel better. And even now I seriously regret the surgery and would trade the 125-ish lbs loss to feel like I did before surgery (edited to add - I also have other complications, so its not just the GERD that makes me regret this - but I likely would have had the other complications with RNY, too). But, for various personal reasons that really only apply to me, I wouldn't have had the RNY and still won't convert. So, I'm working on it in therapy because it is not mentally healthy to continually regret a decision I can't take back.

Most sleevers don't get GERD if they didn't have it before - it just seems that way because people don't really post the positive - you're FAR more likely to see a post about getting GERD than a post about not having a side effect/complication. According to some studies, about 9% of people who are sleeeved get GERD (the title in the link to this article is a bit misleading: https://www.mdedge.com/gihepnews/article/80250/gastroenterology/sleeve-gastrectomy-often-worsens-gerd)
According to the article: "Most LSG patients [who had GERD before surgery] (84.1%) had persistent GERD symptoms after the procedure; only 15.9% reported resolution of symptoms. An additional 9.0% of LSG patients reported postoperative worsening of GERD symptoms. And 8.6% of patients who didn’t have GERD before undergoing sleeve gastrectomy developed the disorder afterward."
So, if you don't have GERD now, this study would say you have an 8.6% chance of getting it afterwards. Most of the people I've met who have had the sleeve have no GERD (and one bypass patient I know does). And the few sleevers I know who do have GERD have it well under control with medicaiton.
In the end, read the studies. Talk to your surgeon. Have you had an endoscopy - talk to your surgeon about the results and what s/he thinks it means for the likeliness of getting GERD.
As to why - my understanding is that because you're stomach basically becomes a tube, the pressure in your stomach increases, which increases the chance of the acid being forced back into the esophagus. This is a really nerdy article, but Table 1 talks about why obese people in general have a higher incidence of GERD, why someone might newly get GERD after sleeve (de novo column), or why GERD might get better after sleeve ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4579881/
NOTE going into the next paragraph - my experience is NOT typical. I know some on this board would prefer that people don't talk about their bad outcomes, but I feel like people should know that a small number of patients do get the. I'd also say that, for me, some presentations of GERD are not preferable to being overweight. Unfortunately, my surgeon gave me the 8.6% figure as ALL sleeve patients - he didn't give me the #s on people who had GERD before (I recognize I should have done more of my own research - I did some, but somehow didn't see the study linked to above). I had a bit of GERD that was very well controlled before surgery. I felt great for about 3 months post-surgery. Months 4-5 were so rough with GERD I could barely eat (I struggled to get 3-400 calories vs. eating about 700 in the few months after surgery) and struggled every waking moment not to throw up. It is better now (at 8 months), but I still have GERD and can tell you at any given time exactly where the acid is in my esophagus. I can tell you that at months 4-5, I would have 100% taken all the weight back to feel better. And even now I seriously regret the surgery and would trade the 125-ish lbs loss to feel like I did before surgery (edited to add - I also have other complications, so its not just the GERD that makes me regret this - but I likely would have had the other complications with RNY, too). But, for various personal reasons that really only apply to me, I wouldn't have had the RNY and still won't convert. So, I'm working on it in therapy because it is not mentally healthy to continually regret a decision I can't take back.

I'm 8 months out and I still can't eat rice. If I really need something to sop up some sauce, i'll use cauliflower rice. Its gross on its own, but good with a sauce.

I'm not really asking for advice, I just need to rant somewhere. And my friends have heard enough of it. Don't have a therapy appoint for another couple weeks. So I came here. Had my 9 month (well, because of delays 10 month) check up today. Ever since February, I've felt rotten. The reflux has gotten better, but I'm still pretty much unable to eat much other than soft foods. Sometimes I can eat fish or tofu,but they usually cause pain. Sometimes terrible pain. I've also had a Migraine for 3 months now. Doc says that the food issues may be caused by a small hernia, and to fix that he'd need to convert to bypass. Which for a whole host of reasons I can't do. And he's not actually sure the hernia is causing it. So now I'm left to know that I did this horrible thing to myself to feel better and stave off future health issues - I really couldn't give two craps what I look like. Instead I feel like crap on a stick every day - and apparently that isn't going to change. I feel like I I made this huge decision that has made my life worse, and there just isn't anything I can do about it. I DREAM of veggies - especially nice, crisp raw veggies. My diet was so varied and healthy before - I ate mostly fish/veg, but a lot. And now 90% of my diet is dairy. Which I don't even like. It is just so hard to know I've made a decision to try to make my life better which made my life worse. THis is all compounded by the terrible Migraines. So, I'm just tired. And venting. But, he basically released me to not see him anymore if I get my bloodwork done by my GP. So there's that. And at least he didn't say that patronizing thing that most people say - "Well, but at least you lost all that weight, that has to feel good." No, no it doesn't.

Not a failure, so to speak, but you can get terrible reflux* or hernia.

*One study shows 20% to 31% incidence of post-op new reflux https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23238373
*Another says only 1.1% need something other than PPIs to deal with the reflux https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19949885

My grocery bill has gone way down. Plus, I basically never eat out anymore, and when I do it is in tiny portions.
Some examples of what I buy:
Protein Shakes are typically $2/2.5 each. Fairlife milk is about $4/52 oz - expensive for milk, but still only about $0.61 per 8 oz serving. And it has more Protein, so it is worth it. But you can also buy cheaper milk. So a meal is less than $3. And Premier Protein is $25/18 at costco (sometimes on sale for $5 off) - so $1.40 each.
I buy frozen fish/shrimp at costco - a bag costs about $14 and has roughly 9 fillets in it. Lasts me forever. Each fillet lasts 2 meals for me (3 in the earlier days) - so about $0.78/serving. Add in some canned or frozen veggies, which are a few cents per serving. So, dinner is less than a couple dollars. Edited to add - and a little veg will last a while. I LOVE veggies and easily would eat a single zucchini or head of broccoli in a sitting. Now a zucc or brocoli will last me a week. SO there is savings there, too.
My eggs are fairly expensive - about $4/dozen (they're free range, organic, etc), so about $0.33/serving. But you can get eggs much cheaper.
I make dried Beans - a lb of beans lasts me forever. And the bag is only about $1-2.
My most expensive things for me are veggie sausage (about $4.50/bag - about $0.75/each) and every now and again I treat myself with really good cheese.
My Vitamins cost about $26/30 day supply, so about $0.86/day.
I track my spending pretty closely. Between rarely eating out (especially bringing my lunch to work every day) and eating a lot less, my food bill (grocery, vitamins, dining out) is significantly less than it was before. Plus, I'm off a few of my meds, so that saves me money every month.
If you're worried about the initial outflow of cash to get supplies, start buying things a bit at a time before surgery. Watch for when frozen veg goes on sale and stock up. Same with meat/fish/whatever protein and freeze it in 2-3 oz portions.

Hmm. Well, that's disappointing. Today is my 1 year anniversary, and this month is the first month I've gained weight (1 lb) and inches (2.75 overall). I understand how it happened - about 6 weeks ago I was finally able to eat more real food, so my body isn't used to getting more than 600 calories. Will talk to my doc/NUT on Friday at my appt. Hopefully, my body will eventually progress to tolerating raw veggies - that would really help with being able to eat lower calories.

But, the good - I'm down 134 from my high weight, 112 from surgery weight. Lost 89% EWL. Only 13lbs over a healthy BMI. My doc tells patients to expect to get to a low point, then gain 10-15# over a few years. I had hoped where I am was the weight after a bit of regain, but I suspect I'm now at my low. I've been bouncing around the same weight for 7 weeks - about the same time I got out of the purgatory of only being able to eat yogurt.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Hmm. Well, that's disappointing. Today is my 1 year anniversary, and this month is the first month I've gained weight (1 lb) and inches (2.75 overall). I understand how it happened - about 6 weeks ago I was finally able to eat more real food, so my body isn't used to getting more than 600 calories. Will talk to my doc/NUT on Friday at my appt. Hopefully, my body will eventually progress to tolerating raw veggies - that would really help with being able to eat lower calories.

But, the good - I'm down 134 from my high weight, 112 from surgery weight. Lost 89% EWL. Only 13lbs over a healthy BMI. My doc tells patients to expect to get to a low point, then gain 10-15# over a few years. I had hoped where I am was the weight after a bit of regain, but I suspect I'm now at my low. I've been bouncing around the same weight for 7 weeks - about the same time I got out of the purgatory of only being able to eat yogurt.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

I'll be hitting the year mark on the 29th. I FINALLY started feeling a bit better about a month ago. I can finally eat more than yogurt without pain/getting sick. So, SO thankful. My first few months, I was creating such good habits - cooking every night, eating healthy stuff. When I started feeling like death in February, all that went out the window because all I could eat was soft foods like yogurt, cheese, or milk. So, here I am, nearly a year out, and I have to start over trying to create the healthy habits. And for some reason it seems harder now than right after surgery, but I'll do it.
Now that I can eat, my loss has slowed. I'm up and down a lot, still about 1-2# down in a month. I'm down 135 total, 114 since surgery. Lost 90% EWL and am down to a 26.7 BMI. I'm now a 12/14 (depending on the brand), down from a 24/26. But I still look super flabby. We'll see how it all shakes out now that I can actually eat.

I'll be hitting the year mark on the 29th. I FINALLY started feeling a bit better about a month ago. I can finally eat more than yogurt without pain/getting sick. So, SO thankful. My first few months, I was creating such good habits - cooking every night, eating healthy stuff. When I started feeling like death in February, all that went out the window because all I could eat was soft foods like yogurt, cheese, or milk. So, here I am, nearly a year out, and I have to start over trying to create the healthy habits. And for some reason it seems harder now than right after surgery, but I'll do it.
Now that I can eat, my loss has slowed. I'm up and down a lot, still about 1-2# down in a month. I'm down 135 total, 114 since surgery. Lost 90% EWL and am down to a 26.7 BMI. I'm now a 12/14 (depending on the brand), down from a 24/26. But I still look super flabby. We'll see how it all shakes out now that I can actually eat.

I love the ThirdLove T-shirt bra. I also went to a lingerie store to get fitted - really helped figure out my new size.

My surgeon said that I need certain blood tests done at least once a year, but that they could be done by my PCP. He offered to call my PCP and tell her what tests I needed. Could you call your old surgeon and ask what he recommends and see if he'll either tell you or your PCP what tests to run?

i had a similar thing several months after surgery. I'd had a hernia repair during my surgery as well and it came back. Surgeon said it can happen. I had to have some sort of swallow test to diagnose the problem.

First - good for you for realizing you need to do something with the stress of this situation to not eat - that is SUCH a healthy realization. So, can you think of something else to do. Can you vent to your husband? Go on a walk? Turn on some music and dance the stress away? Use a punching bag?
As for the substance of your problem, I'll put my biases out there first: I truly don't understand why people get upset about the choices other people make about their weddings. I just have never put much weight on being in a wedding/invited to a wedding/where people have their weddings/etc. So, with that said, it is her wedding. You can't control your feelings, but it is her wedding to plan how she and her fiance want it. You have no idea her reasons for not asking you to be in it - they could be completely benign or not - but they're not your business. I suspect she's getting grief from all sides about various choices she's making (mostly because it seems like in our culture every marrying couple gets crap for all of their choices). And then you, someone she really cares for, questions her too. So, I can see why she's upset at you for questioning her choices.
Sometimes you can't control how you feel about things. but do you really want this one thing to ruin an otherwise good relationship? If not, then you could try to apologize. You don't need to apologize for things you didn't do, but you could tell her (jf true) you now realize that it is her wedding to plan, that you're sorry that you added to her stress. And that you value her friendship and want to get back to a good place with her.

I love the ThirdLove T-shirt bra. I also went to a lingerie store to get fitted - really helped figure out my new size.

I'm not really asking for advice, I just need to rant somewhere. And my friends have heard enough of it. Don't have a therapy appoint for another couple weeks. So I came here. Had my 9 month (well, because of delays 10 month) check up today. Ever since February, I've felt rotten. The reflux has gotten better, but I'm still pretty much unable to eat much other than soft foods. Sometimes I can eat fish or tofu,but they usually cause pain. Sometimes terrible pain. I've also had a Migraine for 3 months now. Doc says that the food issues may be caused by a small hernia, and to fix that he'd need to convert to bypass. Which for a whole host of reasons I can't do. And he's not actually sure the hernia is causing it. So now I'm left to know that I did this horrible thing to myself to feel better and stave off future health issues - I really couldn't give two craps what I look like. Instead I feel like crap on a stick every day - and apparently that isn't going to change. I feel like I I made this huge decision that has made my life worse, and there just isn't anything I can do about it. I DREAM of veggies - especially nice, crisp raw veggies. My diet was so varied and healthy before - I ate mostly fish/veg, but a lot. And now 90% of my diet is dairy. Which I don't even like. It is just so hard to know I've made a decision to try to make my life better which made my life worse. THis is all compounded by the terrible Migraines. So, I'm just tired. And venting. But, he basically released me to not see him anymore if I get my bloodwork done by my GP. So there's that. And at least he didn't say that patronizing thing that most people say - "Well, but at least you lost all that weight, that has to feel good." No, no it doesn't.