PollyAnna3483

This makes me laugh. Before surgery, it seems like it is all about numbers just to get approved. After surgery when I asked about what my goal should be, they told me they don’t like to focus on numbers. They would rather focus on feeling and being healthy. I agree with them but I set a goal in my mind of 135 which just moves me into the Normal weight category. I don’t recall the last time I was a normal weight and I figure there is no better time to get there! I am 3 months out and have lost 32 lbs. seems slow but the scale is moving in the right direction and if it continues, I could be at my goal in about 6 months.

I'm doing GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!!

5lbs gain? You're full of sh*t!!!
Get it?? LOL!!!!!
We've all been there! I usually only go about once a week, but when I do, it's 3-4 times in one day, and the scale loves me! Good luck!!!

So try and work it out - I am divorced and now we are back togethor. Took a ton of hard work and gives on both ends but we are good now.
but if not you can always be friends

Are you getting in all your fluids? The main thing I was told was getting your 64 oz of fluids is the most important thing. Headaches and nausea can definitely be from dehydration. I was too full to get all my Protein in the first few days and they said that was ok. Just focus on fluids. I had a bypass on 11/5. Hope this helps

Congratulations! I had a bypass on November 5th. I was worried about pain and what recovery would be like. I spent two nights in the hospital and had plenty of pain meds while there. I also took pain meds when I got home but not nearly as many. Get up and walk more than they tell you to. It can be exhausting at first but it really does help with gas pains you may have. Follow your surgeons advice, ask lots of questions if things are not clear. I am 10 days out and get tired but my husband and I hung new blinds a few days ago so I figure I am not doing too bad at this point. Good luck tomorrow!

Congratulations! I had a bypass on November 5th. I was worried about pain and what recovery would be like. I spent two nights in the hospital and had plenty of pain meds while there. I also took pain meds when I got home but not nearly as many. Get up and walk more than they tell you to. It can be exhausting at first but it really does help with gas pains you may have. Follow your surgeons advice, ask lots of questions if things are not clear. I am 10 days out and get tired but my husband and I hung new blinds a few days ago so I figure I am not doing too bad at this point. Good luck tomorrow!

Are you getting in all your fluids? The main thing I was told was getting your 64 oz of fluids is the most important thing. Headaches and nausea can definitely be from dehydration. I was too full to get all my Protein in the first few days and they said that was ok. Just focus on fluids. I had a bypass on 11/5. Hope this helps

Congratulations on getting your date! I just had my Bypass last Thursday and was able to start purées today. I am 52 and had a lap and for 12 years. We all have our reasons for wanting to get healthier and there is no better reason than wanting to be here for your family! I was nervous and had a lot of doubts leading up to my surgery but kept my eye on the prize, a healthier happier life! I wish you much success in the coming weeks and months!

I had bypass on 6 days ago. The nurse from my surgeons office met with me before I was released from the hospital. She warned me that I would have this same pain you are describing. She said it is the largest incision in its final healing stage. She said this usually happens 12-14 days out and recommended that I save a few of my pain meds for when this happens. If you don’t have any pain meds left, perhaps a couple Tylenol would help. She said it will only last a day or two. If you aren’t able to get relief I would definitely call your surgeons office for advice. I hope you feel better soon!

I am truly sorry for your loss. I admire you for trying to be a rock for your wife but I hope that you can both lean on each other to get through your grief. You will definitely need to lean on each other during your recovery as well. Just remember you need to get healthy to continue to be supportive.

My surgery is scheduled for November 5th. It is getting so close! I had a lap Band for 12 years and did really well with it but it slipped and I had to have it removed in January. My doctor immediately suggested bypass. I thought no way, I can do this on my own. I have been doing so well for the last 12 years! Ha! My doctor was right. I have gained 40 lbs since having the band removed. I am not required to do a pre op diet. Just Clear Liquids the day before. Seems odd, but I wasn’t going to argue! I would love to have a group to follow through this and talk to about our progress, challenges and successes!

@PollyAnna3483 Your surgery day is my birthday so it's bound to turn out great lololol! Good luck!

Here I thought your surgeon was extra sexxxxy.

Hey guys! I am scheduled for Nov 3 but am on a waiting list for an October slot. My surgeon is trying to work out an additional October date with the hospital. I have an October birthday so I really hope I can get in. This would be the best birthday present I could possibly give myself. I have been gaining steadily for the past 20 years and am approaching 300. My mom died last year after struggling with her health and obesity for her entire adult life. I want to honor her by taking control of my health and living more completely. I wish confidence, happiness, determination, and health for us all. Here's to good things, fall friends! 🧡🍁🍂🤎

My date is November 5th for bypass.

My date is November 5th for bypass.

I’m in! My bypass surgery date is 11/5. Getting nervous, but excited too. My journey started 12 years ago with the lap band. After having some issues I had to have that removed in January. I loved my band, but I am hoping this is going to be even better. I am 5’2” and 225.

Well, I had a different surgery than you so my experience so far may be very different then what yours will be. For me, I've had a lot of stalls along the way though my first one was when I was 3 months out (it lasted 23 days) and I've currently been in one for two weeks now though that may very well have to do with muscle gain as I've been at my sisters house and am taking care of her 1 year old who likes to be carried and I'm walking constantly up and down her stairs...
I was told the Loop DS (the surgery I had) doesn't have dumping syndrome, but discovered that is a MYTH because wheat give me dumping syndrome so I avoid it like the plague! Constipation issues can and probably will happen with EVERY surgery though in my case it's when I have too much Iron in my diet.
I just had my 9 month check up and was told to cut back my iron even more even though I've been alternating it from 1 iron multi one day to 2 iron multi's the next. I was told to stick to just 1 because my iron was very close to being too high as it was on the upper scale of normal and like two points away from being way too high. I had a potassium deficiency in my 3 month check up but it was normal in my 6 month check up but now it's back to being too low. My Vitamin A was deficient in my 6 month check up, but is normal again as of my 9 month check up. My Calcium has been a little high at every check up and they advised me to lower it again even though I was only taking two calciums a day they told me to try taking 1.5 a day.
I'm currently 33 years old. My high weight was 389 pounds. I was 321 pounds on the day of my surgery and right now I'm 219 pounds and am 4 days away from my 9 month surgiversary. The farther along I get doesn't really make it any easier. I find I still have to actively work to stay on track because I'm the only one in my family eating healthy while everyone around me is eating the foods that I used to love. I find I have to pep talk myself into eating right and so far I've been good. The worst I've done is eat a snack size Kit Kat or the two times I ate a cookie. I refuse to get down on myself for that though as it's something I've only done a few times and I make sure it still fits into my carb intake and allotted sugar intake so it doesn't feel like I'm cheating as it fits into my diet plan. Even my surgeons office said it was okay to treat myself as long as I fit it in to my diet plan and didn't overindulge. I find that it's helped me not go crazy by allowing myself a little treat on rare occasions.
The Protein intake for my particular surgery for women is advised to get between 80-100g a day. I try and get the minimum of 80 but since I drink 1 30g Protein Shake a day I'm only responsible for getting a minimum of 50g on my own. I tend to average (with the protein drink) around 90-95 a day.
A weight loss journey is not easy. I don't think it's meant to be, to be honest. I've used this time so far to try and get myself used to better eating habits so that I can keep them up even when I reach my goal weight. I NEVER want to get back to being as heavy as I was. I used to be a 32 in pants and a 34-36 in tops. I'm now a 16 in pants and an xl in tops. I can just buy things without trying them on and they actually look GOOD, which is shocking to me! I like that I no longer have to shop online because stores don't carry my size. I like that I'm no longer plus sized now and can shop in the regular womens section of the store. I like that when I have to visit the doctor the cuff can now fit on my upper arm where before they had to put it on my wrist because it wouldn't fit on my upper arm. I like that when I have to wear a hospital gown for a test or a visit to the ER I can now fit in the regular sized ones and don't have to embarrass myself by asking them for the plus sized ones. So yeah, the journey isn't easy, but it's 100% WORTH it! You will have ups and downs, but sometimes you have to Celebrate the non-scale victories to uplift yourself when you're in a stall or frustrated about something. I like that when I go see a specialist or go the ER they don't bring up my weight at all, where before that was ALL they seemed to do. I love that I'm only 39 pounds from my goal weight when I had been over 300 pounds for 15 YEARS!

Congratulations.
When I was 30 days from surgery I started creating a list of "50 things I want to do," I added it to my WLS journal which I updated every two or three days. After surgery whenever I accomplished something on the list, I would cross it off and add a comment. For instance #1 was "wake up after surgery." On 3 April 2003 I crossed it off with the comment "I did, in fact, wake up after surgery." I included what I call odometer goals, like weighing 4--, 3--, 2--, and clothing sizes. The fun ones where things like running, kayaking, dancing, etc. It was fun.
Review your plan documentation. You should understand everything about your plan. If you're doing Protein Drinks, what are you going to do if they don't taste right, or they make you gag. Have options available, even ones you don't think you'll like. Be ready for the worst.
Then your eventual food plan. Do you understand the principles of your plan? When you are out somewhere and your normal choices aren't available you need to be able to apply the principles to make a good choice. When you post a thread here asking for ideas on what you can eat, be sure to tell us your plan so that we can offer suggestions within your plan.
In the first few months you can't not lose weight. If you go off plan and make bad choices, you will still lose weight. Your weight loss will be a positive reinforcement of your bad choices. When the weight loss stops the new habits you've built will be the bad ones. if you stay on plan consistently the weight you lose becomes a tremendous positive reinforcement for your new good habits. This helps make your new habits your new normal.
You have some rough times coming up. Surgery hurts. Healing takes time. It will be hard. You will get frustrated. You will have to learn how to eat again, both mechanically (small bites chewed ridiculously well) and your plan. Be patient. In a short time things will start getting better. And better.
Wow, this post sorta got away from me.
Enjoy the ride.
Tek

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.

"Bariatric Surgery is probably one of the most effective interventions in health care."
- Laurie K. Twells, clinical epidemiologist at Memorial University of Newfoundland [2]
Are you lurking on these forums debating whether or not you should have surgery? Unsure about making a permanent change to your lifestyle and body, or thinking that since you lost x number of lbs before, you can do it again? Heard about all the horror stories of complications and regain? This was me, one year ago. I want to tell you about the study that changed my mind.
This study[1] looked at three groups: 418 patients who sought and underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (surgery group), 417 patients who sought but did not undergo surgery (primarily for insurance reasons) (nonsurgery group 1), and 321 patients who did not seek surgery (nonsurgery group 2). They performed clinical examinations at baseline and at 2 years, 6 years, and 12 years to ascertain the presence of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.
Let me highlight a couple images from their study. These charts graph the amount patients lost as a percentage of total weight (NOT excess weight) at 2, 6, and 12 years relative to their baseline. First, this graph is the individuals who did not seek surgery.

This group lost only 0.9% of their total weight 12 years after the study began. Those empty triangles? Those are people who ended up getting bariatric surgery anyways. Lets look at the second group, people tho sought out surgery but couldn't get it. So at least we are aware that this group is invested in losing weight.

This group fared slightly better, as patients lost a mean of 2% of their body weight at 12 years out. This excludes patients who got surgery (they lost an average of 10%). Lets look at patients who did get the surgery.


Patients lost an average of 26% of their total body weight even after 12 years. I found this difference absolutely remarkable. To reach that average 26% body weight loss without surgery, you would need to be in the top 5-10% of losers. Think about that.
I used to see getting the surgery as an admission of my own personal failure at willpower and dieting. But this study makes it clear that the probability of success for non-surgical options is astoundingly low relative to bariatric surgery. Studies [3], [4], [5] reinforce the positive impact on health that bariatric surgery has on patients who choose to go through with it. Reading these helped put my mind at ease. Bariatric surgery is one of the best decisions I could make for my health.
I encourage you to skim through the studies to see other benefits I didn't outline here. The NYT[2] article is also a great read for seeing why bariatric surgery is so effective. It distills a lot of the studies into facts that you can use to arm yourself when speaking with family and friends who aren't supportive.
Sources:
[1] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1700459
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/well/why-weight-loss-surgery-works-when-diets-dont.html
[3] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11695-012-0718-9
[4] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.21322
[5] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2546331#Introduction

Here is a look at my journey. the bottom pic is most recent. once i got down to my goal weight, i started focusing on putting on muscle for my extra skin. it has definitely helped in some areas, but i think no matter how much i workout ill always have the belly skin. my arms have tightened up a lot from the working out. my legs as well. the only real bad extra skin i have is again, at the bottom of my stomach. but ive accepted it and dont think im going to do surgery. Life is good. ill take the extra skin any day over being bigger and unhappy.

Congratulations! So happy for you! Keep up the great work!

Congratulations! So happy for you! Keep up the great work!