Jaelzion

I had two major fears: 1. I would have some sort of serious complication. For some reason, people delight in telling you horror stories once they know you are having bariatric surgery and all that gave me anxiety. 2. I was afraid it wouldn't work. I don't know why, I just wasn't confident that the surgery would be effective for me. As it turned out, both fears were unnecessary. I had no major issues with surgery and I'm happy with my results so far. 🙂 And now I get to be a counter-example for all those horror stories, LOL.

Yeah, I had a similar issue and I found a brand I could tolerate (Evolve in my case). I ran it past my bariatric team, they reviewed the nutritional info and gave me the thumbs up. So if there's something that works for you and has about the same macro values, they might be fine with it.

Let's see: 1. Like you, I had to attend a seminar 2. There was a list of tests I had to undergo - EKG, Endoscopy, Colonoscopy, check X-ray, blood work and a bunch of other stuff 3. My insurance had a 6 month "weight loss counseling" requirement, so I had appointments once a month for that. 4. After the 6 months, I had an all day appointment where I met with the surgeon, a psychologist, a nutritionist, a nurse practitioner, insurance specialists and some other folks I can't remember 5. My surgeon's office requested pre-auth from my insurance and got it 6. We scheduled my surgery and it took place on 3/26/2019. That's about how it went, as I remember. Hope that helps!

I really wanted to have the bypass and I was upset that it was contraindicated for me (due to unrelated medical issues). But I must say, dumping sounds awful so maybe it worked out for the best!

I had no appetite at all for two weeks. My cousin, on the other hand, ate a chicken wing before leaving the hospital! There's no hard and fast rule.

I wouldn't describe you as a "failed gastric sleeve", you lost 84 pounds! I know how frustrating it is to have to take medication that promotes weight gain, it happened to me with Prednisone. My condition was life-threatening, so I had no choice but to take it. Fortunately, in my case, I didn't have to take it for long and the side effects dissipated pretty promptly once I got off it. You didn't say how long you have been off the medication that caused the problem - is it possible that it is still affecting you? If your bariatric team is not knowlegeable about that particular medication, they may not know what to tell you. Have you tried going back to the doctor that prescribed it? He/She may know better how to manage the after-effects of taking that med. Also, have you googled it? You'd be surprised at how much information there is out there from patients sharing their experiences. For example, I learned online that limiting sodium intake is particularly helpful for mitigating Prednisone weight gain and that helped me a lot. There may be info out there about your particular med as well. I had my surgery right around the same time you did and I'm only up to about 800 calories per day. Maybe try cutting your calories a little more? Also, I'm sensitive to refined carbs, so even if I eat a low calorie diet, my weight loss will stall if my carbs are too high. I generally keep my carbs below 50 per day. I do a 30 minute walk almost every day and strength training three times a week (nothing too crazy, I have a nice beginner's low-impact full-body workout with dumbbells). I found the routine on YouTube and I chose it because it's something short that I can do consistently. The strength training really helped me to keep losing as I added a bit more muscle mass. I started with this routine and then added a little more to it over time: Anyway, don't think of yourself as a failure, life happens. Sorry you ran into this obstacle and hope you are able to get back on track soon. Keep your head up!

My experience was very much like yours. I had a lot of pain post-op and my surgeon had to up my pain meds to get it under control. I also had that intense pain immediately after drinking something. My pain was a little farther down than yours (lower chest instead of middle) but it hit about 1.5 seconds after taking a sip of anything. I had to take super tiny sips and even then it hurt for about 10 days. Overall, my first couple of weeks were just generally awful - I couldn't eat anything and didn't want to. I basically lived by sipping clear protein drinks (not shakes) all day for the first 10-12 days and then I started to rapidly get better. Sorry it's difficult right now, hopefully you will turn the corner soon.

I am 18 months out and I eat about 800 calories per day. I'm not deliberately restricting, that's just how it works out when I eat enough to not be hungry. I'm still losing slowly (2-3 pounds per month) and I assume at some point my weight will stabilize.

Wow, you can have Mountain Dew? I was told no carbonated drinks, ever again. Does it bother you at all? I'm just curious about why I was warned off of it so strongly...

I can relate. I have a sister who was actually very supportive throughout the whole pre-op period, as I was healing from surgery and afterward. However, now that I have lost a significant amount of weight, she seems upset by it. I just try not to talk to her about it much since she's uncomfortable with it. It's definitely a major change that can impact all your relationships.

I love your last line, I may steal that. 😁

At that stage, I was eating about 650 calories per day. It fluctuated a bit but that was the average.

My stats are very similar to yours. I am also 5'1" and started at 250 pounds. I had the sleeve rather than the bypass. My weight loss started slowly compared to others I know who had WLS. I lost about 10 pounds the first month, then 15 the second month and then I settled into about 10 pounds per month until recently (it has slowed down now). At this point I am 18 months out from surgery and I have lost 110 pounds overall. 18 pounds in 21 days is pretty amazing and 3 or 4 pounds in one week is great! I think you're doing fine.

I was the same way for about the first 10 days. Drinking was super painful and as for eating, forget about it. As soon as anything hit the bottom of my esophagus, I had what felt like a painful spasm. I had no appetite, so I wasn't hungry but I did feel weak because I wasn't eating. My surgeon had me drink a lot of clear protein drinks (not shakes). Fortunately that stage passed and I was able to drink more easily and I could add heavier liquids, such as shakes and then soft foods. See what your surgeon says about it, he/she may have some suggestions.

I had many iron infusions when I was suffering from fibroids. I didn't absorb oral iron well and the infusions were amazingly helpful for me. For one thing, they work quickly. By the next day I would be feeling much better. A few times my hemoglobin dropped so drastically that I had to have transfusions and after that my hematologist put me on a regular schedule of infusions until I had my fibroids treated. Once I started getting iron infusions I didn't have to have any more transfusions, which was great.

Hi, I had the gastric sleeve in March, 2019. All my cons are from immediately after surgery. I had quite a bit of pain but it was controlled with IV and then oral pain meds. I wasn't able to eat at all for almost 2 weeks (I mean nothing). I drank protein drinks (not shakes but clear drinks) and that was it for about 10 days. Then I was able to drink shakes and soon I moved on to soft food and purees, etc. By 1 month out, I could eat soft regular food. I did have some early reflux issues for the first 3 months or so but that resolved and I don't experience it now. I had to learn what "full" feels like with my new tummy. I ate too much one time because I didn't recognize that I was full and that was totally miserable. Terrible stomach pain, nausea, I broke into a sweat and finally I threw up. I never did that again so that's the only time I have experienced that. All my "cons" were resolved by the time I was 3 months out from surgery. On the "pros" side, I had very little hunger after surgery and my appetite is still very low. I guess the surgery really did remove a lot of my Ghrelin-producing stomach tissue because I'm rarely hungry and when I am, it's different from that insistent, intense hunger I had pre-surgery. It's like now my body says "Excuse me, we need to eat something" where before it was saying "FEED ME NOW." I lost slowly with the sleeve compared to others I know who had surgery but the weight loss has not stopped yet. I am still slowly losing (about 2 pounds per month) and so far I am down about 110 pounds. I am only 18 months out so I don't know what it will be like years from now, but as of now I am really pleased with my results and I don't have any current cons to report. Edit: I did think of one current "con". I have a lot of loose skin on my abdomen. At some point, I will probably have it removed (which I will have to pay for out of pocket since it's not covered by my insurance). I guess that could be considered a con, but loose skin is better than tight fat!

I wasn't able to eat at all during week one and some of week two - I drank protein shakes and protein drinks to get my protein and fluids in, and that was it. Later in week two, I was able to add yogurt, pudding and plain soups. I think it's normal.

I stayed in the hospital for one night. I had a PCA (push button pain medication) for that night and I needed it. I couldn't even drink water that first night and it would have been impossible for me to take pain medication at home. I was discharged the next day but I really could have used another night because I had major nausea. I would take the pain medication (broken into pieces) and throw it up immediately. I called my surgeon and he suggested I crush the pill and mix it into pudding and take it that way. That worked and I was fine from that point on.

One other thing - are you taking your multivitamin consistently? I am two weeks out from surgery also and I find that I feel very weak and my muscles hurt with the slightest exertion if I miss taking it. Just another possibility.