momof3_angels

If this is something you want to consider, I would start talking to your physician. This may not be something they would even consider with lots of liability. Or you might find someone. I don't know. I would never chose to do a major surgery without anesthesia. Personally, I think the problem isn't so much the anesthesia... but the pain medicine after surgery. If you want to go without narcotics afterwards, that can easily be done. As for anesthesia... there are many medications available... and not all types of anesthesia are narcotics or other addictive medications.

Well, someone found it and posted to it again, so there will be new replies. I don't know about you, but when I read a post, I don't take the time to look at all the dates on all the posts/replies. Especially when I am reading on my phone.

LOL... well that would NOT be constructive! No guns blazing from me I personally have not taken offense from any replies I have received, they have been great. I love the support I am getting. I love the support that most other posters are giving to others as well. But I have read some replies to other posts that were not "tough love" but instead over the top, uncalled for, and totally non-productive. Some are downright insulting. Certainly not tough love. The way I see it, those who get offended most easily are probably the most insecure among us. They need our support the most. And if that means we need to be a little gentler with them, then I am all for it.

Just bumping this thread again to see if anyone else has already completed a post-bariatric surgery thru hike or long distance pilgrimage? Would like to know how you handled nutrition along the way. Especially if you completed the Camino de Santiago in Spain. But experience with long distant (many day) hike would do. I am now 4 1/2 months post op. Below my doctors goal weight. Not far from a "normal" BMI. I will be leaving in late May, just over 9 months post op. I am trying to figure out how to stay hydrated, how to get enough protein, how others did with carbs (need to increase for the hike, but don't want to have to withdraw afterwards and am afraid it will be hard to go back to my non-hiking bariatric diet). I have tried asking some questions on Camino forums, but the average hiker just doesn't understand the challenges that many people face if they have medical issues that affect their diet/nutrition/hydration health. For example, a question about "Are you able to buy electrolytes along the Camino" gets responses like "there are water fountains everywhere, just drink more water". Um, yeah. I would love to do that. But I am still lucky to get 60 ounces in. What I need to know is if I can easily buy electrolyte supplements along the route. If yes, I am good. If not, I need to come up with a plan for hydration. Or someone else asked questions about vitamins and people replied "Just eat fruits and vegetables, vitamins are a waste of money". Um yeah... doesn't work for those with vitamin deficiencies. This person, like me, needs very specific vitamin supplements to maintain her level of health. While we can find a normal mulit... we may not be able to find the right dosing of each vitamin for our needs. And heck... I even talked to my nutritionist about my nutritional concerns for the hike and she tried telling me "just bring all the mulit-vitamins, calcium chews, and individual packets of protein powder and electrolytes with you for the entire trip". Um... sure... that would work for a normal travel situation. But I am packing a backpack with my clothes, bedding, hygiene essentials plus medications, first aid, and other necessary supplies. I will be carrying that bag on m y back for at least 7 hours a day, every day, for up to 7 weeks straight. Yeah.... can't pack enough for the entire trip. She at least understood when I put it that way to her.... but those who have hiked the Camino before and don't have my medical issues just don't know how to reply in a manner that is actually helpful to me. And US thru hikers send themselves care packages to local post offices along the path... but since I would be mailing things from the US, I risk packages getting stuck in customs and not arriving as scheduled and thus I might have to move on without dietary essentials. Anyhow.... if anyone has experience they can share, i would love to know how you dealt with some of these issues. Or if there were other challenges you faced because you are a bariatric patient.

Agreed. Just the choice of wording can mean the difference between someone "hearing" you or "shutting you out" because they feel judged or even persecuted. And if they feel judged or persecuted, they are likely to not come back for more help they obviously need. I try to be mindful of that when I post replies. Tough love is great, if it is well delivered. We just need to be mindful of whether our help will be viewed as constructive help or not. The goal is to provide constructive help.

Well, I am among those women who lose their boobs post op... but wasn't offended since the entire post was sarcastic and not just the comment about the boobs... but I do agree, it may have been offensive to some.

Yes, she survived and gave me the courage to get a referral to a bariatric surgeon. She also convinced her husband to do the surgery. While I was at UMC getting my surgery, he was at TMC getting his (also with your doc). My friend is 4 years post op and looks great and has been in maintenance mode since year one. Her husband is down 75 pounds since surgery and 8-10 inches off his waist. I am down 75 pounds since May 20 (surgery Sept 4), am below my surgeons goal, and near MY goal. Anyhow, I know others who also had your doc and they have all been happy with their results. I only went with a different doc because my PCP referred me to a different doc. Anyhow... he may not be a female with big boobs... but sounds like he is good at what he does, and I would prefer a skilled doc than a hot doc (although the hot doc is always a bonus).

My recommendation would be to track your food. See where you are REALLY at. You may not think you are eating that bad, but when you add everything all up you may be surprised at how much you are eating. Once you have logged a couple weeks, I would review it and then look at your original nutrition plan and get back to basics. If you don't know the details of your original nutrition plan, then ask to see a nutritionist so they can help you. Then stick to the diet! Give yourself 2-3 months on the nutrition plan, log everything... every day. If you still aren't back on track with your weight loss.. then go back to your surgeon and bring a copy of your log. Then, he may reconsider.

Yes, I eat fruits fairly regularly. I do them in green smoothies. I usually mix spinach/kale with frozen fruits and either a protein shake or milk or water to thin it. When I was still in the early months of weight loss and hoping to lose rapidly, I stuck to lower sugar fruits like berries. Now that I am below the doctors goal weight I am not opposed to having more high sugar fruits like bananas and oranges. Fruits are good for you. Just don't do fruit "juice" where much of the fiber has been filtered out and those "juices" that have added sugar.

Oh my. So, a few weeks ago I was getting very dizzy some days because I wasn't getting all of my fluids on most days. I knew I was somewhat dehydrated, but no matter what I did I couldn't get in enough fluids. Had an "attempted" medical procedure and convinced them to give me the full liter of fluids. Felt much better. We repeated this 2 weeks later when I had the actual surgery for the same (obgyn) problem. Felt better again. Then sometime a couple weeks ago... I was REALLY dizzy at work. Forced myself to drink even more fluids. The more I drank, the better I felt. Since then, I have been getting at least 60 ounces of fluid every day which is a vast improvement. Felt MUCH better. Fast forward to yesterday. totally dizzy. But this time I knew it wasn't fluids, it was my blood pressure. It was a different kind of dizzy that I had experienced before. See... I have never had high blood pressure, but I do take a "blood pressure" medication for my tachycardia (fast heart beat). I have taken a low dose beta blocker for years for my fast heart rate. My blood pressure has been a "low normal" for my entire life (however was creeping a little higher int he last year i was obese). After surgery, my blood pressure returned to low normal for me. I don't normally take my blood pressure before I take my medication. Never really had to as it rarely affects my blood pressure. Even when it does, I can FEEL when it does and I know when to monitor my blood pressure. I know my body very well. Well, yesterday it definitely did affect my blood pressure, and boy was I dizzy! This dizziness was way different than my dehydration dizziness and I knew it. I was busy at work, so didn't take my blood pressure until many hours later (when I was no longer dizzy) and it was 90/46, which makes me wonder how low it had been in the AM when I felt like total crap. Needless to say, today I took my blood pressure and skipped my beta blocker. My blood pressure was 94/64. Looks like I will have to suffer from my tachycardia for a bit while my blood pressure stabilizes, but I hate having to do that! I am so much more active when I take it. And no worries... I called my cardiologist and scheduled an appointment - but he can't see me for a few weeks. Doesn't matter... I know what he is going to say anyway! Days when my blood pressure is lower I need to skip my medication. Days when it is borderline I can take a half dose. But I am doing everything else, and there is no other medication he wants to try. Boo! Thankfully, my tachycardia isn't as bad as it could be... my night time heart rate has actually gone down and my day time heart rate isn't as fast as it used to be, but still fast. I think all of this will improve after my body stabilizes from my rapid weight loss. Time for a stall. My body needs it!

Is he with TMC? I think he is my friends doc. I had surgery at UMC.

Depends on the doctor. Mine is fine with me eating anything but very low fat and carbs

Haven't had reflux/ GERD since my VSG. So glad I did the sleeve on so many levels. No regrets here.

Wear it as much or as little you feel you need the abdominal support. It won't really weaken your muscles, instead it will allow you to move more naturally with less pain. You shouldn't need it for too long. I wore it more in the beginning, less later on... but by the time I went back to work I didn't need it anymore at all (8-9 weeks post op). Before that... it really depended on the types of activity I would be doing. The more activity, the more I wore it. The more sedentary... didn't wear it at all. Don't remember exactly when I stopped wearing it, but probably 4-5 weeks post op.

Slow and steady wins the race! Stick to the plan. Pick up the pace with workouts (just add a little something here and there). 50 pounds loss is 50 pounds towards better health and hopefully happiness. Your doing great. I don't know if you are ready to do it yet... but for me a great psychological boost is gathering the clothing that is now too big for me and donating them. I am determined to never go back to my larger sizes.

Agreed. I chose not to tell my extended family, but I have been more open with those around me and am pleasantly surprised at how well it has gone. And like you.... I watched someone who struggled who shared their experience with me and it made me more open to consider surgery for myself. Now I am sharing my experience with someone else who is considering surgery herself... and while I had no complications, I am encouraging her to talk to the person we both work with who gave me my guidance... as she did have difficulties and will give this person a better understanding of benefits and risks.

I am fortunate that most people I tell are interested and are positive and usually even supportive. The only negative I have dealt with is someone who was obviously jealous and unwilling to look at this as an option for herself. She has struggled to lose weight for as long as I have known her and from what I have seen her attempts have always been half assed and riddled with excuses to not follow her supposed diet. And then she sees me and I drastically lost weight very fast. She asked how I did it and I felt I should be honest with her. Her reaction was negative and she has avoided me since lol. No loss on my part. I made a choice to be healthy and I am doing it. She on the other hand is obviously miserable and probably afraid to attempt real change. But if she ever approaches me wanting more info... I will gladly help her.

There are plenty of insurances that will cover bariatric surgery. You will just need to research the insurances available to you and see which ones have the best coverage. That said... you will probably have to wait for a period of time before they will cover a pre-existing condition. Medicare and Medicaid cover it. I have Federal BCBS and many BCBS do cover it. But I suggest looking at the insurance section of this site... you might be able to find posts to give you an idea of who covers it. Look for insurances that seem to do better with preventative care, because they are more likely to understand that if you fix the obesity problem now, you are improving the obese patients overall health and fixing and/or preventing other health problems. Of course, this is a new concept for many insurance providers when it comes to bariatric surgery. Medicare/Medicaid/BCBS seem to get it, but I don't know who else does!

Haha... I can relate... except I didn't have time to be very nervous because my husband was the one telling me I was going to die in surgery (he did NOT want me to do it). I had to make sure my will was done. I had to make sure I gathered all the information about our bank accounts (hubby doesn't access them). and so on and so forth. Everything I did pre-op was to ease his nerves. But the truth is... "I" don't have complicated surgeries (unlike my husband). And while this IS major surgery... it is also not very risky comparatively to so many other surgeries. In fact, it is pretty routine now. So sure, get your affairs in order... but also get ready for the next step in your new life!

Well, I was lucky... I only had to go through 3 months of nutrition visits (but 4 appointments-one per month after the first appt) instead of 6. I already had a sleep study, a cardiologist, an EKG and an Echocardiogram... so I just shared those reports with my surgeon. I had to have a chest x-ray, lots of blood work, and EGD and a barrium swallow. Plus a psych eval. I also had to lose weight consistently at each appt before surgery My first appointment with the surgeon was May 20, my first nutritionist appointment was the same week. I had nutrition appointments in July and August (skipped June only because I was out of the country). And then at the end of August I called to see when they were thinking of scheduling me because I needed to arrange time with work... and since all of my pre-reqs were done (except the last nutrition appt) the scheduler asked if I had any previous documentation of weight loss attempts. I had some doctors office visit summaries from my PCP and cardiologist office that talked about weight and nutrition guidance and sent them to the scheduler. They changed my last nutrition appointment to an earlier date and to a pre-op nutritionist counseling appointment... at which time the scheduler informed me that my surgery was approved for Sept 4th. I didn't think I was going to be eligible until at LEAST September 20th. Again... I was lucky. Most people have 6-7 months before they can have surgery at the earliest.

You lost a lot, really fast. Your body is probably just resetting and getting used to the drastic drop in a short time. That is how I felt when my weight loss slowed drastically. Stalls are normal! Stick to the program. Talk to your nutritionist. Kick up the exercise routine.

I cheated... I have an adjustable bed and I put it upright and THEN attempted to get up! Still hurt, but not as bad as getting up from flat. I would also kind of roll towards my side and push up at times if I was somewhere else. My friend who had the surgery made sure to sleep on the sofa for the first few days so she could adjust herself. When her husband had surgery (same day as me) she urged him to stay on the sofa and he insisted on going to bed... regretted it... and ended up on the sofa. I think they propped themselves up with pillows on the arm of the sofa and used the back of the sofa to grab to pull up. Another option would be a recliner if it isn't too hard to move up and down in. Also, holding a pillow firmly against your abdomen usually helps as you move.

My surgery was about 1 1/2 hours. It is kind of funny, but it has only been a little over 4 months... .but I had the sleeve surgery, my took my daughter for dental surgery, then I had another kind of surgery "attempt", and then I had the actual "other" surgery (obgyn related) a few weeks ago. I can't remember all the details of my VSG surgery now! lol. I know I was on full liquids for a couple days. Then I had orders to drink a sugary drink the night before and morning of (but otherwise nothing to eat or drink after midnight). I took my medicine for tachycardia in the AM as instructed. Went to the hospital by 6am, maybe 6:30. Got weighed. Started my IV (took several attempts). Hung out impatiently. I vaguely remember going back to the OR. I remember them starting to do the OR "right patient right surgery" checks. Woke up a couple hours later, don't remember my recovery room but I do remember my room. And of course post op was medications, fluid challenges, walking, etc. Went home by 11:30 the next day. Oh... and the doc told me I would have 3 or 4 incisions before the surgery, but I had all 7 when I woke up! But all healed nicely.

I am all over the place. Some weeks I walk 4-5 miles almost every day. Last weekend I walked 10 miles and 14 miles (Sat/Sun). I haven't walked since then. This weekend I will do some more really long walks, but I do hope to walk more during the work week. My daughter can't drive to her after school activities since She doesn't have her drivers license, and it is hard to get my workouts in every day like I would like to. She gets her license next month though so I am excited. At that time I hope to go back to doing Pilates at least twice a week. Those classes are 45-60 minutes and I tend to walk a couple miles afterwards. I am not doing weights or anything right now. I MAY try to join a Zumba class, if I can get through it without my heart rate getting too fast like it has in the past.

Bariatric wise, I am allowed 1-2 glasses of caffeinated coffee in the AM, and tea is also permitted throughout the day, but they prefer herbal/non-caffeinated teas. Cardiac wise... I have given up caffeine altogether. Just as well, my biggest source of caffeine was colas which of course are NOT good for a bariatric patient!