Queen ApisM

I was sleeping on my side right away, with a hugging pillow, but I also didn't have staples.

Hi there. I started our roughly about where you are starting, and went with the sleeve. I am still very early on (6.5 months out) compared to others, but can comment on my experience. I'd always preferred the sleeve, but talked myself into the bypass based on online reading because I was so heavy to begin with. I was never excited about the option, until one of the surgeons I consulted with pushed me (in a good way) to reconsider why I was doing it. Obviously it was going to be my decision, but he emphasized that the statistics are just statistics, and at the end of the day it is a tool that is only going to work - no matter the surgery - if you use it properly. Neither surgery is a magic bullet. That really resonated with me, so I reverted back to my original preference of the sleeve. I would up switching practices, and when I went to the new one, they were perfectly happy with the sleeve as long as I didn't have GERD. I had to get an endoscopy to confirm that was the case.
Again, I am still in the honeymoon period, but I am not regretting this choice one bit. I'm really happy with my weight loss to date (80 lbs since the 2 week pre op diet) and I feel amazing. Honestly, I feel lighter than what I actually weigh and better than I have in ages and ages. Even if I never get to a normal BMI, given how heavy I started, even getting to "just" overweight would be game changing. And, I am comfortable with the changes I made to my body, because it was what I preferred among the options I had available to me.
I hope some longer-term sleevers who started at similar weights will comment. Some have had incredible success!

Bone Broth was great for hitting Protein and liquid goals simultaneously. I found warm liquids and especially broth very comforting and easy on my tummy. You can drink regular broth too, but bone broth has more protein per cup.

I'm not sure how your program works, but the people I deal with regularly are the nutritionist and the PAs, more than the surgeon (I am now 6 months out). Unless something goes wrong, I'm not really going to see her anymore or often. If I need advice on stalls, plateaus, whatever, the nutrition team deals with it.
Surgeons are surgeons - they are really great at doing surgery. And while they are a doctor, just because they have a medical degree doesn't mean they are an expert in everything, including the nitty gritty details of nutrition. As long as you are dealing with a credentialed nutritionist (more on this in a min) who is experienced in working with bariatric patients, I would probably listen to them. Now, I did learn from my own nutrition team that not everyone who claims to be a nutritionist is really qualified or licensed (it depends on your state) so just something to be mindful of.
Also, I think we all need to bring some common sense to the table even after surgery. Meaning, we shouldn't leave our common sense at the door just because we are talking to a surgeon/doctor/nutritionist/whatever. If something sounds off, we should ask questions. And, if needed, I wouldn't hesitate to (nicely) say to the nutrition team, "hey, your advice isn't aligning with what Dr. X said. Can we talk through it because now I am concerned." It alerts them to a problem, and they may be able to help "translate" what the doctor may have been trying to say. My guess is that it wouldn't be the first time they hear it.

I just spoke with my nutritionist and she said it isn’t the first time she had heard that the surgeon said what he said. Also, the nutritionist I have is affiliated with my doctors office. She asked how I would like to proceed. I told her to continue how we were working on things as it is working. I told her I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life hungry.

I'm not sure how your program works, but the people I deal with regularly are the nutritionist and the PAs, more than the surgeon (I am now 6 months out). Unless something goes wrong, I'm not really going to see her anymore or often. If I need advice on stalls, plateaus, whatever, the nutrition team deals with it.
Surgeons are surgeons - they are really great at doing surgery. And while they are a doctor, just because they have a medical degree doesn't mean they are an expert in everything, including the nitty gritty details of nutrition. As long as you are dealing with a credentialed nutritionist (more on this in a min) who is experienced in working with bariatric patients, I would probably listen to them. Now, I did learn from my own nutrition team that not everyone who claims to be a nutritionist is really qualified or licensed (it depends on your state) so just something to be mindful of.
Also, I think we all need to bring some common sense to the table even after surgery. Meaning, we shouldn't leave our common sense at the door just because we are talking to a surgeon/doctor/nutritionist/whatever. If something sounds off, we should ask questions. And, if needed, I wouldn't hesitate to (nicely) say to the nutrition team, "hey, your advice isn't aligning with what Dr. X said. Can we talk through it because now I am concerned." It alerts them to a problem, and they may be able to help "translate" what the doctor may have been trying to say. My guess is that it wouldn't be the first time they hear it.

I'm six months out. I have spit up food once in all that time. Something just did NOT agree with me, but I figured it out fast and stopped eating so while I was miserable for a bit, it passed and then I felt fine. After that, I avoided the culprit and haven't fun into another situation like that. No other vomiting or spitting up.
Of course it varies from person to person and you can't predict how your body will react, but it isn't guaranteed that you'll have a lot of problems.

Miralax regimen. It's gentle enough to be taken very regularly. It has saved me.

Miralax regimen. It's gentle enough to be taken very regularly. It has saved me.

Agree with everything @lizonaplane said. I have a regimen for Miralax - every other day. If things are really regular I will extend to 1x every three days but find every other works well without getting too far the other direction! I also agree on the hot drinks. I mix it in tea and it dissolves immediately, no flavor, it's great. I would try it out and if you like it, you can get large containers of generic Miralax at costco or any of those club-type stores.

A therapist is not a nutritionist. I would go with what my PA and nutritionist think over what a therapist tells me to do with regard to Protein and food intake.
Personally, if they are also in the same practice I would let the nutritionist and PA know that the therapist is dispensing other advice, it is confusing to patients, and they need to sort it out within the practice.

I'm six months out. I have spit up food once in all that time. Something just did NOT agree with me, but I figured it out fast and stopped eating so while I was miserable for a bit, it passed and then I felt fine. After that, I avoided the culprit and haven't fun into another situation like that. No other vomiting or spitting up.
Of course it varies from person to person and you can't predict how your body will react, but it isn't guaranteed that you'll have a lot of problems.

Agree with everything @lizonaplane said. I have a regimen for Miralax - every other day. If things are really regular I will extend to 1x every three days but find every other works well without getting too far the other direction! I also agree on the hot drinks. I mix it in tea and it dissolves immediately, no flavor, it's great. I would try it out and if you like it, you can get large containers of generic Miralax at costco or any of those club-type stores.

Miralax regimen. It's gentle enough to be taken very regularly. It has saved me.

I feel your pain! I also had to pay out of pocket because my employer insurance excluded bariatric surgery. But it has thus far been worth every darn penny.

A therapist is not a nutritionist. I would go with what my PA and nutritionist think over what a therapist tells me to do with regard to Protein and food intake.
Personally, if they are also in the same practice I would let the nutritionist and PA know that the therapist is dispensing other advice, it is confusing to patients, and they need to sort it out within the practice.

A therapist is not a nutritionist. I would go with what my PA and nutritionist think over what a therapist tells me to do with regard to Protein and food intake.
Personally, if they are also in the same practice I would let the nutritionist and PA know that the therapist is dispensing other advice, it is confusing to patients, and they need to sort it out within the practice.

A therapist is not a nutritionist. I would go with what my PA and nutritionist think over what a therapist tells me to do with regard to Protein and food intake.
Personally, if they are also in the same practice I would let the nutritionist and PA know that the therapist is dispensing other advice, it is confusing to patients, and they need to sort it out within the practice.

A therapist is not a nutritionist. I would go with what my PA and nutritionist think over what a therapist tells me to do with regard to Protein and food intake.
Personally, if they are also in the same practice I would let the nutritionist and PA know that the therapist is dispensing other advice, it is confusing to patients, and they need to sort it out within the practice.

I think it depends on your work environment and the requirements of your position.
If your office or work environment is strict about when you can eat or drink, that would be something to consider. For me, I have to eat 3 meals plus 2-3 Snacks to get all my calories in (I'm 6 months out) and I need to drink throughout the day. This wouldn't be an issue at my office, but for some people it could be a problem.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have affected anything.

I think a portion of it has a lot to do with an individual’s recovery experience.
When I has WLS is was totally fine, mentally. My recovery was uneventful and short (I was just mildly sore and got tired easily for a couple weeks). I had food aversion, but it didn’t bother me. I felt better than great.
But when I had plastics a year later, my recovery was not as ideal (a lot of it was my own doing, but I digress), and I went through a good couple weeks of tears and feeling really bummed.
So yeah, things may feel sucky right now, but it won’t always. I’m glad you have a therapist though…that will def help.
Good Luck! ❤️

The chewable Multivitamins are terrible. Having said that, the Bariatric Advantage ones were way better than the Celebrate ones. I tried to switch to save money but it was bad and I just ate (no pun intended) the cost of getting more of the BA ones because the daily torture was not worth it.
I switched to a one a day capsule for the multivitamin once I could do so (around month 4) and I have never looked back. I take the Bariatric Advantage Solo with Iron, as well as the BA Calcium (the same kind as you - I agree they taste like Starbursts but find them quite tolerable, esp the strawberry ones).

This seems nuts to me. Is there a nutritionist? I would talk to them.

This seems nuts to me. Is there a nutritionist? I would talk to them.

I still have a long way to go weight loss wise, but after 70 lbs I had to cut two of my blood pressure meds in half as my BPs were too low. Having said that, I don't expect my hypertension to resolve even if I get to a healthy weight range. Some people will have hypertension regardless of weight, and with my family history, I will be one of those people. I'll be happy with lower amounts of medication and will consider that a win. I also have a heart issue that my doctor is convinced will improve with weight loss, but again, given family history I think he is overoptimistic. Still even if it doesn't improve the issue it certainly will be better for my heart in the long run so either way it will be a win.
The fact that doctors sometimes insist losing weight will fix everything is over simplistic and a cop out (in my opinion). Fit, thin people have diabetes, hypertension, and many other health issues associated with being overweight; case in point, my fit, thin cousin has worse blood pressure than I do that doesn't respond well to medications. Of course losing weight can help with many things, but not always and I think doctors should be honest about that being the case.