2Bsmaller18

I would purchase exercise bands and maybe a big exercise ball. You can google a lot of exercises to do with each. Just start slow even if it feels too easy. then increase your reps by 10% a day until you feel a little sore but no pain. Make sure you do a lot of core. You can modify planks and bridging exercises. Again if it seems too easy just increase the time you hold a position and slowly increase. Be gentle with stretching.

I'm sorry you and your husband got Covid. I have been trying to be careful since I am so scared of having to take steroids if I needed them. Does your doctor put you on anything to prevent ulcers when you had to take steroids? I know others on here after bypass have had to take a steroid for other reasons but my surgeon said I can never under any circumstance take them but I am sure one day I will need to.

I stayed on liquids the next day and slowly introduced food on Thursday. I had a quick tiny ache in my shoulder blades randomly a few times the following 2 days and nothing the past day. I have no idea what happened. Maybe I didn't chew enough and food was stuck making it painful until I threw up a little hours later? I wonder if food gets stuck if it causes swelling and further irritates the pouch.

Backstory- bypass was almost 2 years ago. No complications and took reflux meds for 1-2 months post op as procedure. I had plastic surgery in Feb and had some reflux a few days later (I thought this wasn't possible with bypass but assumed maybe from local swelling and irritation form being intubated). The surgeon had me back on the meds for 1-2 months. It seemed to have gone away until October. It's not bad just that I feel/hear a sensation like bubbles pop almost like drinking carbonated soda (which I haven't touched in over 2 years). So the surgeon has me start them back 2 weeks ago. Here's the scary part. Yesterday morning I drank my protein drink as always and after about 30 min. I had a ache dull pain in-between my should blades. I have already had my gallbladder removed years ago before bypass surgery. The ache goes away and I eat normal foods, no issues except once in awhile during the day I get a very dull ache between my should blades. Then last night I was eating some crackers and got the pain worse but not unbearable but really uncomfortable. I woke up hours later at 3am with the back pain. I had a normal BM and later spit up the foamies/salvia and a threw up little bit of the crackers. Side note-- TMI I have been a little more constipated occasionally so I did have a BM before bed and in the middle of the night. Not diarrhea so I am assuming there's no blockage. I was able to fall back asleep and feel ok this morning just tired from being up for 2 hours. I have had the throwing up foamies maybe 5 times since surgery. I am hoping this is just a random thing. I have been drinking my protein shake slowly without issue this morning. I called the surgeon and they said to stay on liquids for 24-48hours to give my system a rest. Of course I google the symptoms and am now trying not to freak out. If I had a blockage I would assume I would be throwing up my shake now and not have had a BM last night. I am def. not bloated. The office said to go to the ER if it gets worse. Why does this have to happen right before a holiday when no offices are open?? I am trying not to worry that this is just one of those random things that happens to us. I don't have any fever, elevated heart rate etc.

I use a Procare brand of multivitamin. It is only 1 pill a day and includes Iron. It is around $12 a month and if you order 6 months worth at once you can save or get free shipping. If you are able to swallow calcium pills (you can cut them in half since they are kind of big) Citracal is not too expensive either. I think you can get that at a local Walmart etc. I drink a Premier protein shake everyday and it has added vitamins and calcium too.

Are you following up with your surgeon annually for blood work or do you see your primary care doctor? My surgeon has me coming in every 6 to 8 months (I am 20 months post bypass) for blood work and to have an in person appointment. I met my goal at 6 months, have maintained, don't have any issues so I am not sure if it's really necessary to see the surgeon. I would also assume I just need annual labs done at this point.

For a sweet tooth I had sugar free jello or pudding with whipped topping. Swaps like that can help as well as flavored waters.

I HATE puking. I dread it so much that If I had morning sickness during pregnancy I would have never gotten pregnant again after my first child. That being said I have gotten sick maybe 4-5 times in almost 2 years. The first 2 times was early on and was a learning curve into what eating too fast or too much the other 2 I think I didn't chew enough or it was random. I felt nauseated but it wasn't puking like before surgery. TMI Some people describe it as foam but I had excessive drool/spit about 30-60 minutes after eating too much/too quickly and had this excess salvia that I spit out multiple times over a half hour and then a few bigger spit ups of food and salvia almost like a infant and I felt better almost instantly.

Maybe I am more limited than the average person. Were you able to eat more volume after 2 or 3 years? I was very restricted initially for the first 6 months and by 1 year I am pretty much at the same restriction that I am at now. Not a big increase. It sounds crazy to want to be able to eat a little more. Not for the desire of eating but I now have to eat 6-8 meals or snacks to get my calories in. I don't want to force more and sabotage myself though.

Looking at everyone's photos I feel I am eating about the same amount, maybe less. I am getting close to the 2 year mark post bypass. Only family knows about surgery. Due to covid and pre Covid work environment I rarely have meals outside of immediate family. I'm stressed about a year form now still drawing attention with the extremely limited amount I can eat. Initially when losing I said I was dieting etc. This far out does anyone have a go to phrase when you are around others regarding eating being so limited. If I had to eat in front of someone now I would probably try to order a slider like soup or salad as my meal so I could eat a small but kind of "normal" portion without drawing attention. If I ordered chicken I would eat maybe 2 ounces and a few pieces of veggies and be stuffed. Is this normal to still be so limited to eating real food? There's no way I could eat 3 ounces of chicken with a half cup of veggies. I can eat 1/3 to maybe 1/2 of a regular size Panera salad.

I am almost 2 years out and I get that once in awhile if I eat or drink too quickly. It will improve with time.

Agree with above re contact the Md if the tingling continues. Are you sleeping propped up due to the pain and you could be irritating your neck causing a pinched nerve? Can you try lying with your arms up on pillows to help the swelling and take pressure off your neck from your arms hanging down? You can take a balled up pair of socks and randomly squeeze it to use your arm muscles, that will help the arm muscles push the fluid and reduce the swelling. For the gas I found lying on one side for an hour then walking and lying on the other side and walking seemed to help. Not sure if it was just time resolved it or if changing positions actually moved the gas around to be absorbed but it worked for me.

I had around 500/day and a goal of 60-70g of protein for the first 6 months. I hit my goal at 6 months and purposely increased calories 100 a day slowly so within 2 months I was able to hit 1000 calories to slow the loss down. Once I hit 1000 calories the weight loss slowed with frequent stalls which was fine since I was at a normal BMI. Keep in mind I started off at a BMI of 36. I think the focus should be protein and if track your weight loss. You may hit stalls but you want to see a downward trend every few weeks. A lot of people lose very rapidly for a few months but after the first few weeks my loss was a steady 2-3 pounds a week. Did the MD give you guidelines? I would assume you want to stay at the 500-700 level because it will easily creep up to 800-900 when you are able to physically eat more and it's a slippery slope if you increase too quickly. I also didn't ever feel hungry but sometimes I would feel a little shaky and would drink some milk so I learned to listen to my body and some days I needed more calories.

I always had yogurt, cottage cheese or refried beans. If it was an on the go snack then I had a protein shake or cheese and lunch meat or tuna. That early out from surgery my snacks were aimed to get my protein in. I would also put PB powder or sugar free Hershey syrup in regular or high protein Fairlife milk.

Can I ask a question?I remember you had an arm procedure done with local anesthesia. My surgeon is "fixing" the area in my arm pit that is still loose form my brachioplasty under local. It will probably be a 1-2 inch incision only. Did you have swelling or any restrictions like no lifting etc. form just the local smaller procedure and incision?

Just throwing this out there but if you decide to break the surgeries up have you asked if you can do one surgery with 2 procedures and 2-3 weeks later when you are able to physically over the big hurdle then do the next set of procedures? That way instead of surgeries months apart and going through the recovery twice you just have one extended recovery? Most procedures after the first week you can physically do most things like get yourself dressed, basic meals etc but still restricted regarding lifting heavy things.

Bypass here but from what I understand liquids and sliders foods (yogurt, soups, protein shakes) go through fast as in 15-20 minutes. Water I think goes thru immediately since I can drink 8 oz. of water in less that 5 minutes. Solid foods for me I am guessing around 45-60 minutes just based on when I feel full and when I can eat again. I am curious if anyone has the factual info. since I am just guessing based on how I feel and what I have read.

You look like a model! I LOVE the swimsuit!!!

Another thing I had to do mentally was pour the shake in a shot glass. I played a 1-2 minute game on my phone and then made myself drink half of the 2 oz shot glass, played another game to distract myself and took another sip. I repeated this every half hour. It is much easier mentally to think you just have to take 4 sips and your are done, then repeat it again 30-60 minutes later. Looking at a full glass is overwhelming sometimes. Hang in there. I promise it gets sooo much easier!!

Try Fairlife milk it has higher protein than regular milk. Have you tried mixing milk with the protein shakes? I had to put the shakes over ice ot water them down a little and could only drink them ice cold. By thinning it out with ice or regular milk it lost the thick, slimy after texture. You can also try protein waters. i think you can find them at Target and Walmart. They had a little bit of a chalky after taste but again if I poured it over ice it thinned it out enough that it was fine. I also got the sample packet form Unjury online and it has soups that were ok.

My scar is to the inside bump of my elbow and extended to the side of my breast. I do have a little saggy skin up near my arm pit that is going to be fixed in a few months. I had a lot of excess skin from my elbow and side boob area and it was very wrinkle and crepey near my elbow (like an 80 year old). The incision doesn't cross the joint at my elbow but is ends right next to my elbow when I hold my arm out straight. I also have the incision in the more traditional inside of my arm. I did see some surgeons are putting it more towards the back so when your arms are out to your side its at the bottom and almost invisible but I was concerned that when my arms are down at my side you would see the incision along the back of my arm. Now that it's too late I wonder if I would have liked it better as the previous person posted in the picture.

Try protein water. I think you can get them at Walmart. I drank a grape and fruit punch one that tasted similar to the Mio flavoring. I didn't like the chalky after taste but if I poured it over ice so it was super cold I could drink it. Can you try mixing a protein drink with milk? That would help thin it out of if it seems too sweet. There are a lot of high protein Greek yogurts and Fairlife milk has more protein than regular milk. Also try drinking the protein drink over ice. If it was thinned out form the ice and super cold I could drink it easier. If you are allowed coffee you could try mixing some vanilla protein shake in as creamer. I also used the Unjury brand of non flavored powder. You can get a sample pack of unflavored, flavored shake mixes (mix with Fairlife milk) and soups. Just make sure the liquid for soups is not too hot or the powder with clump.

I saw my plastic surgeon and he is going to do a local injection to revise some problem spots from my brachioplasty. He also want to do a little steroid injections at some of the darker, thicker incision areas. My bypass surgeon said never to have any anti inflammatory or steroids. He said to not even have a steroid injection in a joint etc. He is very conservative. Has anyone else ever had steroid injections locally just skin deep after bypass? Would you ever consider it? If I do can I take tums or something to help prevent an issue. The steroid obviously wouldn't be taken orally but would go into my blood stream.

I came across this old comment but wanted to ask if you take anything to protect your pouch form steroids? My plastic surgeon wants to do some local injections for scars on my arms but my bypass surgeon is super conservative and said to never take any anti inflammatory or steroids. Not just orally he said to never get a steroid injection in a joint etc.

Same here. I have to plan it out that I have a cracker or a small bite of food in my stomach, take the vitamin with a few ounces of water. I have also put the vitamin in a cup of water for 1-2 minutes so it slides down easier. I have done this at times when I have not felt well or after an episode like you just had.