St77

1 minute ago, onmyway11 said:

Thank you so much for all your detailed and honest answers not surprised by any of them it’s what I expected. Now I just need to get up some courage!!

@st77 one estimate was in Wellesley and one was in chestnut hill so there you go haha 2 pretty high end places.

Oh yes, those will cost you. I can't say if looking into South Shore Hospital or North Shore Medical Center would be any savings.

Were you getting quotes for hospitals in Boston itself or did you look into hospitals in the outer areas?

I'm from MA and Boston will definitely run you a lot of money, but maybe one of the hospitals on the south or north shores might be less expensive.

How is your sodium intake? I was having positional lightheaded, low BP, etc. and I was told to actually try anything I can tolerate that is a little salty. I'm nearly a year out from my surgery and am barely able to eat 1/4 cup of food at any time, so I've been told if I can tolerate something, eat it. My team is trying to slow down my weight loss, it came off too much too quickly.

On the scale of things that taste gross, I agree that milk of magnesia is gross, though the cherry is tolerable.

Now, compared to what my Thiamine Vitamin smells like, milk of magnesia smells heavenly...ha, ha.

2 hours ago, Anasus said:

Thank you for your comment. Yes he has been to his surgeon and he says he needs to expand the pouch but if he cant eat/drink that will not happen. At this point all he does is try to work and sleep. He has received one IV infusion but he got sick even with that. It is like his stomach is producing so much gastric fluids because thats all that he vomits. All we can do at this point is try to figure out how to get any nutrients for him.

I would definitely try to get a second opinion then. I had a PICC line in my chest when I was pregnant because I could not tolerate any food or liquids. That was the only way to get nutrition in.

I really wonder if they checked for a bowel obstruction.

As far as gastric fluids, I'd be surprised if there wasn't something that couldn't be done for that. I'm going to be on carafate for who knows how long because PPIs on their own don't control my reflux.

I hope your brother gets some relief soon.

I had a similar experience. I have a client that I print material for and last year I was out for my surgery around the time she let me know what she needed printed.

When I returned to work, I was talking with her about the order and mentioned the surgery I had. Turns out we both had gastric bypass. She gave me a few tips and reminded me that while it was rough in the beginning, it would get easier.

My Iron levels are typically low, though not like that. To make sure there wasn't something else going on, my doctor sent me to a hematologist for additional testing. He had me go through two iron infusions and my levels have been much better.

I've had that type of pain too and found out it atleast in my case it was gas pain. I now have to take a chewable gas-x pretty much everyday.

Regarding hair dying, get it done before surgery. It was recommended that I wait a few months after surgery to dye it again because the dye itself would not take as well to my hair post surgery. My stylist said the same thing because her mom had the sleeve and experienced that issue.

The cut itself I don't think really makes a difference in the Hair loss. I have been lucky in that I haven't lost much hair.

I personally would not risk going without a passport. There is a way to get one based on urgent travel. You will need to make an appointment, proof of travel, and other requirements listed on the State Departments website.

On the pre-op diet my Migraines skyrocketed. Turns out that it was the shakes because they had artificial sweetners, which are a known trigger of mine.

I'm in my 40's and many years ago I had start replacing my teeth due to issues with my teeth being weak. Like you, the dentist filled as much as possible, but eventually I needed root canals and crowns. Over years I started getting that work done, had to have some crowns replaced when they came off and in one place where there were two teeth that were an issue, I got a bridge.

Root canals for me don't register on a pain scale (but then again I get blinding migraines). Pain is very subjective. However, you can have issues with root canals that may require further treatment and crowns can fall off.

As for dentures...my mom had to get dentures at 26 years old and she said getting all of her teeth pulled for it was painful. Her dentures have had to be replaced a few times because they broke or something was feeling right.

I've heard implants are expensive and it's time consuming for the process.

My sister had her bypass in Boston and she was kept for 2 days. I had mine near Boston and was kept for 3 days due to pain management issues. I can't imagine what it would have been like having it as outpatient.

I'm nearly 9 months out and still struggle with appetite. It's a good day if I get 1/2 cup of food in for the entire day. And the worst part, not eating enough is aggravating my chronic Constipation.

I can tell you my experience as someone who had bypass. My weight as of January 2022 was 245; on surgery day (May 13th, 2022) my weight was down to 223. As of today it's at 134. My height is 5'2.

The surgery itself went fine, but I had some issues with pain management (don't let that freak you out, it's very individualistic on how people experience pain). I was in the hospital for 3 days and released when I was able to keep a bit of broth down.

I found that walking around and heating pad helped with the gas, but it took quite a while for that feeling to go away.

A week out from my surgery I had to go to the ER because I couldn't keep more than an ounce of Fluid down and was dehydrated. 3 bags of fluids and a GI study later, they found there was still some internal swelling that was making it hard for me to meet any fluid/protein goals.

I followed the nutritionist advice and start the mornings with a warm drink, which does help. Now, all of these months later, I'm not able to eat much (once again, this is more the exception than the norm), but clearly the amount of food I've been able to consume is providing energy to get me through the day.

My sister also had bypass without complications and she lost 85 pounds in a year. She's been able to eat most things, though she's learned the hard way about dumping syndrome.

I have no regrets about my surgery and feel much healthier than I've felt. I've gone from a size 22 to a size 8. Something I never thought would happen.

Good luck on your surgery.

On 1/24/2023 at 10:43 PM, Charisse Jordan said:

Just wondering if anyone knows if the 6 or 12 month diet plan would be waived if my Dr determined it is medically necessary for the surgery. I found out I have a brain disease that puts me at high risk of stroke. I’m worried my insurance Blue Shield of California won’t approve it without me doing some sort of failed diet plan first otherwise I’ve completed everything else and am just waiting on approval

As someone else said, only your insurance can answer that. However, with a neurological issue, your surgeon may require neurological clearance for surgery. That's what happened to me. I have seizures and while I had every other criteria met, my surgeon required neuro clearance (my insurance didn't).

2 minutes ago, SleeveDiva2022 said:

My biggest worry is being able to take pills. My MS meds can't be opened or crushed, and I've read that you really can't take pills with the bypass. There's no option to switch out my MS meds. So that's why I didn't go with the bypass originally.

I take a TON of meds to manage Migraines and seizures without any issues. None of them can be crushed or opened either and I have to take them, otherwise I'll end up with off tge charts migraines again.

Glad to hear you don't have cancer. Hopefully you'll have relief from GERD once you have the bypass.

That's hard to say. I was in the hospital for 3 days because there were issues with pain control and originally I had planned to take 2 1/2 weeks off (I also work from home), but ended extending it an additional week due to complications.

Some people have taken less time, others take a bit more, so it really seems to be an individual basis.

Do you have flexibility with using less time off or getting more as needed?

28 minutes ago, SuziDavis said:

Dumping... couldn't they come up with a better word or term for that. Also Pouch is kind of Cringe

Ha, ha....that's what my younger sister says all the time whenever my oldest sister talks about dumping syndrome. She just scrunched her faces and says it sounds like a massive poop problem.

I had my gallbladder out 17 years ago, a month after my daughter was born and I still experience pain like that. I call it the phantom gallbladder and one GI doctor said that I wasn't wrong.

After I had my weight loss surgery I mentioned the pain to my surgeon and she said it's possible there could be something wrong with the sphincter.

I slept in a recliner for the first few days out of the hospital, so I made sure I had clean blankets for that and a few pillows as needed. I also had my laptop arranged so that I wouldn't have to stretch to reach it for when I wanted to watch a movie/show when not napping.

I was stocked up with the recommended food items for the immediate post op stage.

Beyond that, I'm lucky because I didn't have much house prep to do. My husband wanted me to relax after work so I wouldn't be stressed about the surgery. Between him and my 16 year old daughter, they took care of household upkeep.

Good luck on your surgery!

1 minute ago, Laura M said:

Are you nauseous all day or just when you eat and drink? It was first when I was eating harder foods but now it’s starting to be after drinking too. I just don’t understand why it’s getting worse. I hope you find some relief too.

I'm nauseous all day.

1 minute ago, Laura M said:

Hi stt77,

so sorry you are having a hard time too. This is awful. Do you just take anti nausea all day? I’m on zofran but it doesn’t work well. I’m hoping to get some answers soon. Will update after my appt next week. Happy holidays. I will be eating very little, just like Thanksgiving.

Thanks! I'm on Zofran because I'm allergic to all of the other anti-nausea medications. It works ok for me, I just wish the nausea would go away. One thing that the surgeon figured out was everytime I had dry heaving episodes it would almost cause swelling, which kind of exacerbate the problem. She gave me Ativan to try and relax the muscles when this happens and it helped a bit.

I hope you get some answers and relief soon.

I had an upper GI barium swallow to check for strictures about a week after my surgery and while they didn't find one, they did find that the anastamosis to my duodenum was the size of a pencil eraser. After a few weeks there was more space for things to move on through, it was just a matter of healing.

I've also had an endoscopy to check for strictures a few months past my surgery because I still can't consume more than a few hundred calories a day and have nausea and vomiting. Nothing was found.