Jeanniebug

I'm a 52-year old RnY gastric bypass patient.

I think this entire forum exists for that very reason.

Welcome!!!

Yes. They will likely put something under you, or put you in a diaper.

Let the staff at the hospital know. They have provisions in place.

Congratulations!!! I work from home, on the computer - customer service, on the phone. At the time of my surgery, my job was part time - 5.5 hours a day. I took 3 weeks off. But, I wish I would've been able to take 6. I'm 3-months post-op. To this day, I still have some residual pain and discomfort in my diaphragm (it's mostly just a nuisance, at this point). A recent EGD found a small hiatal hernia that wasn't apparent at the time of surgery. For several weeks, I wasn't able to sit straight upright for long periods of time. Thankfully, my desk chair reclines, so I was able to lean back and get some relief while working.

It's all *very* personal... I chose the RnY gastric bypass for 2 main reasons: 1. I already had GERD and I knew that the sleeve could make it worse. 2. I wanted to have the fear of dumping to help keep me on track. I'm also T2 diabetic and the bypass seems to have a better resolution rate for that illness.

I had RnY gastric bypass on October 18, 2022. I was told that straws were allowed, as long as they didn't cause gas. So, I've been using straws since the day I came home. If you get the bariatric vitamins, then you'll only need to supplement some calcium. You can buy them separately, but if you do that then you're going to be taking a handful of pills, multiple times a day. And it's really not anymore expensive to just buy the bariatric ones. I got the chewables. The soups you can use are going to depend on your stage. If you're on clear liquids, then you won't be able to have cream soups. Once you're on full liquids, then you can have cream soups - you'll just need to strain them. I was allowed to shower the day after getting home - so on my second day post op. I packed an extra long phone charger (didn't need it), a heating pad (didn't need it), an abdominal binder (I didn't use it in the hospital, but I did use it for a couple of days after I got home), an old pair of slippers that I planned to just throw away (I did use them when walking the halls in the hospital) and a robe (I did use it when walking the halls in the hospital). Other than that, I just wore home the same clothes that I wore to the hospital. I knew that I was only going to be staying one night, so I didn't bring any toiletries. I did not have a drain placed, thanks be to God. I've heard those are unpleasant to have removed.

Not feeling well and not knowing why, is awful. I'm glad they were able to give you some answers. I pray that all the biopsies come back negative. ❤️ Hopefully you're feeling back to yourself in a day or so!

Before surgery, my surgeon put me on Ozempic, to treat my diabetes and jump start my weight loss. It worked great!

Okay, so it is just meats and egg whites. I would suggest that you search for "Atkins Induction Recipes". That's what this list looks like, to me. Make sure that it's the Induction phase. You're going to be thrown into ketosis. I would suggest that you add an electrolyte supplement to your diet, to minimize keto flu symptoms. Personally, I use the Mio sport drops in my first glass of water everyday.

Did they give you a list of things that constitute, "protein"? Is it just meats? Maybe try spicing it up different ways..?

You'll surely lose something, but there's no way to tell how much. Maybe start saving up to get plastic surgery..?

I've lost 38 pounds since surgery - October 18th. You've lost more than I have, but you should lose a little faster than me, because I had less to lose. I'm going to say that you're probably right where you should be. Are you in contact with your team? They should be able to give you some advice on calories and what you should be eating at this stage.

I spoke with a pharmacist. They said that all of my meds could either be opened or crushed - or straight-up swallowed because they were small enough.

Welcome! You know yourself best. Hopefully your passion doesn't burn brightly for a few months and then wane in time. This is a long game and it's nearly all mental. I had 6 months of visits and I'm glad for it. The delay gave me time to start therapy, time to read all the books I could get, time to research complications and treatments, time to gather supplies, and time to prepare my loved ones. It also gave me time to try to lose weight on my own, fully cementing the conviction that I cannot. Take advantage of this time - as short as it is. Learn about yourself. Learn all you can about your issues with food and learn ways to correct them. Learn new coping skills - you'll need them when you can no longer turn to food. And you'll need to keep practicing them, so that when food becomes a viable coping option again - later on - you won't go down that road.

I've lost 37 pounds since surgery. The thing that helped me was patience. I know that there's no possible way that I can't lose weight right now. I'm not eating a high enough volume of food. So, any stalls are just my metabolism recalibrating.

Yes! I used to enjoy the feeling of fullness, before surgery too. Now, I don't. "Feeling full" typically means I've eaten too much and it's painful. I never really "feel full" anymore. I stop eating well before I actually feel full.

I'm sorry that you're having to deal with that. I do not have thyroid issues - knock wood. However, they did test my parathyroid, after surgery. So I think it's something they keep an eye on. That makes me think that maybe it's not uncommon. I hope all goes well!

Discovering those signs is probably the hardest part of this process. Have you seen the hunger scale? It looks kind of like the pain scale, that doctors use. That scale meant nothing to me, prior to surgery. I was always either starving or stuffed - there was no in between. Now, I can actually use that hunger scale! I will start feeling a little bit hungry and then over time the feeling slowly builds. I'm still not super-good at judging when I'm full. So, I just eat really slow (30 seconds after I swallow, I will take another bite) and as soon as I kind of maybe think I might be feeling a little bit full, I stop eating. Eating too much is quite painful and the couple of times I've done it, I've regretted it. So, I try not to do that.

Congratulations! You can't burst your pouch with liquid. Drink as much as you can.

Yay!!! It'll be here before you know it!

I haven't - yet. But, I've mostly dealt with my past trauma. It's current (and future) issues that I need help with. Many of us use food as a coping mechanism for emotional pain - the same way an alcoholic uses alcohol, or a drug addict uses drugs. If you take away a person's drug of choice - ours often being food - then it stands to reason that we will have to deal with the issues that we've been masking with the use of food. Well, we either have to deal with the issues or we get to look forward to transfer addiction (or regaining our weight in a year). I knew that I had issues with food and that I used food as a coping mechanism. So, about 2 months before surgery, I started therapy. If you have unresolved trauma that is coming up (or that you're worried will come up) I would suggest speaking to a counselor. The surgeon works on our stomach - not our brain. And if our reason for overeating was mental, then the surgery will only help us in the short term. Eventually, our tummies will heal and we'll be able to eat large amounts of food again. And if we aren't careful, and we make poor choices, then we will regain our weight. We really need to be taking advantage of this first year after surgery, to change our relationship with food.

I waited until about 4 weeks after my bypass, to begin lifting heavy things (85-pound bales of hay) and that was a mistake. I'm not a singer, so I don't know what kind of strain you will be putting on your abs. But, if it's anything like lifting heavy things, I wouldn't do it.

Yep, it's normal! Our pouches can be very vocal! LOL!