RhondaHigdon

Hi to all. I haven't been on the forum to post for couple of days, as I had my surgery on Jan 12th. I am just curious if anyone else has ever had a 5 hour long gastric bypass. My poor Dr. worked on my lower intestines where I had so much scar tissue and he said if he hadn't fixed it that later on in life it would have given me lots of trouble. So, I'm actually very blessed that my Dr. went above and beyond for my health. However, I paid for it with the pain. Oh my goodness!!!!! I'm talking pain scale of 10 for awhile. It felt like my stomach was on fire. However, by the next morning I was much better. I only had to stay 2 nights and they were thinking 3 at first, so that of course more good news. I just wanted to share and say Hi and I'm glad to be back home.

I know my doctors' main office is in Charlotte. I see Dr. Bauman, at his office in Concord. They have been so wonderful there. I hope things are going good for you. I guess I am most concerned about the first 4 to 6 wks. I think once I get thru those couple of wks I'll feel a little more at ease as fas as complications go. I am just nervous. You know what all we go thru to get to a surgery date, and then now that i am waiting on insurance approval...I'm nervous as can be.

Hi I'm in NC. I live in Salisbury, it is approximatly 40miles N. of Charlotte. I will be having my surgery in Concord. I am currantly waiting on insurance approval. They said it could take up to 2 weeks, so I'm not sure when my actual surgery date is? I hope all is going good for you. Keep us posted.

Hi there! I'm 7.5 months post op from RNY. Since having surgery on Sept. 28, I've lost 85lbs ... averaging about 10lbs per month (with the exception of the first month or two when I lost 15-20). ANYWAY, I haven't lost a single pound in over a month! While I haven't gained any, it's still REALLY frustrating to also not be losing this early in the process. I eat anywhere from 850-1200 calories a day. Average 70-100oz of Water. Keep my Protein between 70-95. Walk 2-4 miles. Peloton 2-3 days a week for 30 mins. I also track every. single. bite. using MFP. I've had a couple stalls here and there, usually lasting 1-2 weeks ... but never a months long! Has anyone experienced this long of a stall this early on in their journey? How long did the stall last? Does anyone have any suggestions for breaking through a long stall? Thanks!

Hello. It’s been a while since I posted here but I have been busy figuring out how to get past a months long stall and some sugar addiction. First, I found out that I have lipedema which is a connective tissue disorder. It’s an abnormal collection of fat that is no longer in it’s original spongy condition. It is literally scar tissue and adhesions under the skin that do not let go of fat easily. I have huge amounts of it on the lower body and some on my arms. The change that worked for me was specific exercises using a vibration plate on the fat deposits and other mechanisms that can be found on the internet. Second, I ended up switching to healthy Keto and that made a great difference in the movement of the scale. I’m down a few pounds now and I no longer have the sugar cravings. I also have gotten better about setting limits on other people monopolizing my time. I’m prioritizing myself and it is really starting to show. I’d be happy to share more if anyone is interested in the connection between stalled weight loss after Bariatric surgery and the condition known as lipedema. It’s not a broadly known condition but it is starting to get attention. I can share some of the resources that I have used in the past few months. To learn more, start here: https://lipedemaproject.org

About hair, up your Protein grams with a collagen powder in your drink. Really helped me. I did have a slight stall somewhere in the middle of the year but then it started coming off again.

nothing will work at this point other than time. Fortunately, it's temporary and it'll grow back. Mine lasted for about three months. Fortunately, I didn't lose much - certainly not enough for anyone (except for me) to notice.

Tiny bites and wait a little bit between bites. It's a hard stage, but you'll make it. Try to make every bite a mindful bite. Taste and enjoy the experience of each bite thoroughly. I remember feeling so confused because it could be different from day to day. One day I could only eat 3 bites at a time, and the next day, everything would go down fine. So strange. Almost 2 years out, and I will still get the foamies from time to time if I eat too quickly or too much at a time. It's so hard to break the habit of mindless gulping.

Thank you so very much for the idea. I might just have to go to OLive Garden today. That sounds so good. I get so tired of eating the same things. Thanks again.

we call that the three-week stall, and it happens to almost everyone. If you do a search on this site, you'll find literally over 15,000 posts on it.
just stick to your program and stay off the scale if you have to. It typically lasts 1-3 weeks. You'll hit a few more of these along the way, but like with you, the first one usually hits within the first month or so after surgery.

stalls usually last 1-3 weeks -and you're likely in one. A one- or two-pound gain is nothing to worry about. Like someone else said, it's usually Water retention or Constipation.

Hi
Sorry for the late replay, but we were celebrating ortodox cristmas this week
Yesterday i was seen by torasic surgeon who also said that there is nothing wrong and also said that the pain might be from the void where the stomach was and to give it time to heal. To be on a safe side shte refered me to a abdominal surgeon on monday maybe, so we will see what he sais.

HI,
I don't know what I was thinking. I felt good? Anyway, a couple of days ago I walked over a mile 3 days in a row and walked as fast and hard as I could. That was a huge mistake. I wasn't thinking about my stomach bouncing around and not only did my Dr, do my gastric bypass he did 5hrs worth of work on my messed up intestines. I didn't do anything the past 2 days I was hurting so bad, not to mention yesterday I ran a fever all day that didn't get above 100.4. I was going to call my Dr today, but the fever is gone, so that is a good sign. However, not only am I so sore, I have lost my apatite, not my taste. Also, I hadn't had any problem with heartburn, but today it has been so terrible I took 2 of the Omeprozole pills. That didn't even work. Any insight to what might be going on with me? I would so greatly appreciate any feedback. Thanks Rhonda

This ^.
Your insides will take about 4-6 weeks to heal. Your soft tissues are still "knitting" together properly and you may have some small adhesions that are sorting themselves out.

I am in the last week of my full liquid diet and I have to say I'm struggling with it.. I am lactose intolerant so anything milk based is out of the question, so pretty much I've done sugar free Jello, popsicles, pudding and broth... ugh going to try and struggle through the rest of this week to get into the pureed stage..

Since you don't want to waste the shakes you already spent money on, you can try mod-ing them a bit:
add more Water blend with lots ice add a tsp or two of instant Decaf coffee crystals (my personal fave) PB2 powder, sugar-free instant hot chocolate (never tried, but read good reviews) blend with a few berries freeze and eat like ice cream/popsicle

Right after surgery I really struggled with Protein Shakes. They all tasted like rotten milk to me. It gets better. Just buy small amounts of anything you can find to try. Hopefully you will be able to drink the ones you invested in in a month or two. 🤞🏻I usually just drank a vanilla Premier Protein. They still tasted like 💩 to me, but I could get them down eventually.

goid luck! 😊

Congrats & I'm glad your Surgeon is a rockstar. I'm glad you feel better already.
My conversion from VSG to RNY to a lot longer than my surgeon expected (~3 addition hours) because he had to clear the field of a great deal of adhesions.

Thank you so very much. I for sure am going to follow all of Dr.'s orders to the T. I sure wouldn't want him to have to go back in.

Hi to all. I haven't been on the forum to post for couple of days, as I had my surgery on Jan 12th. I am just curious if anyone else has ever had a 5 hour long gastric bypass. My poor Dr. worked on my lower intestines where I had so much scar tissue and he said if he hadn't fixed it that later on in life it would have given me lots of trouble. So, I'm actually very blessed that my Dr. went above and beyond for my health. However, I paid for it with the pain. Oh my goodness!!!!! I'm talking pain scale of 10 for awhile. It felt like my stomach was on fire. However, by the next morning I was much better. I only had to stay 2 nights and they were thinking 3 at first, so that of course more good news. I just wanted to share and say Hi and I'm glad to be back home.

Hi to all. I haven't been on the forum to post for couple of days, as I had my surgery on Jan 12th. I am just curious if anyone else has ever had a 5 hour long gastric bypass. My poor Dr. worked on my lower intestines where I had so much scar tissue and he said if he hadn't fixed it that later on in life it would have given me lots of trouble. So, I'm actually very blessed that my Dr. went above and beyond for my health. However, I paid for it with the pain. Oh my goodness!!!!! I'm talking pain scale of 10 for awhile. It felt like my stomach was on fire. However, by the next morning I was much better. I only had to stay 2 nights and they were thinking 3 at first, so that of course more good news. I just wanted to share and say Hi and I'm glad to be back home.

Thank you so very much. I for sure am going to follow all of Dr.'s orders to the T. I sure wouldn't want him to have to go back in.

Wow 😳 Glad you are doing better. I hope the rest of your recovery goes smoothly! 💕

So I finally made it to the other side! I had my Gastric Bypass surgery on dec. 5th at 730am, I wanted to share the little experience I had after surgery. So a little history on myself bc this is the part I want to share bc I have read everywhere on the internet about people asking about surgery and Suboxone. I’m a recovering addict, I was a iv drug user. I’ve been clean for 3 1/2 years. I was worried they would not do surgery on me because of my past and bc of the meds I currently take to keep me on the straight and narrow. I searched the internet before I saw my surgeon I worried I wouldn’t be able to have surgery, well there wasn’t a whole lot out there. I told my surgeon and he was luckily aware of what the medication was and how it would affect me, his only demand was that I was actually clean from abusing drugs for two years. Which I was, I switched over to subutex a month prior to surgery. The naloxone in suboxone would have a bad affect with the pain meds given at surgery. I had no problems with the switch over. Prior to surgery I met with anesthesia and they had a plan, they suggested I do the duramorph shot (the shot in your spine), which sadly I denied which I wish I would have done because when I got into recovery immediately after surgery I woke up in extremely bad pain. I was trying to sit up and move and I was yelling in pain.... it freaking hurt!! They were aware of my meds which is very important don’t try to hide it. They spent the whole day trying to make me comfortable. I was on dilaudid, it was till the afternoon they switched me to toroidal that I finally got relief. But I still got up and walked and used washroom. I finally got some rest. The next day I was like a new person. Still sore but my pain was under control. I was never treated any differently, which has always been my worry. I started taking my regular meds the 2nd day, I actually got to go home that evening too. We went home filled my meds, and felt so good to go home. I’m home now and I’m doing well, the only thing that is really bothersome is the drain, I get it and my staples removed on Tuesday. Oh and changing the bandaids that is the worst!! I’m drinking Water and on clear liquid diet till Tuesday. If anyone is wanting this surgery and on suboxone and has any questions please feel free to ask me. I can only share my journey and what my experience was but it’s nice to know there is someone out there that you can talk to oh also I have been fine with the pain meds they send u home with. I have only used it twice in the 5 days I’ve been home. So hopefully this helps someone and feel free to ask any questions.

Oh please do NOt go through the horrible pain i went through as soon as i woke up from the surgery! do let your doctor know ur tolerance level and don't hesitate to ask him for stronger pain killers! SCREAM if need be to let the nurses hear you! My father had to force the doctor to put me on stronger pain killers because i was in TREMENDOUS pain. Also, tip, it helps to walk the same day after the surgery even if your scared. don't be! walking will help the gas release that they use during the surgery!

I wish you all the luck in the world!! I respect the people now who go through these surgeries it is NOT easy and i hate those who think we took a EASY way out. Definitly NOT easy way out. It's a hard decision to take and I'm rooting for you!