ynotiniowa

On 4/25/2024 at 9:35 PM, ChunkCat said:

I find the calculator on the Mexico site to be rather inaccurate for me, but everyone varies. Age and surgery type, as well as co-morbidities all impact weight loss rate. It thinks I should be at 212lbs at 6 months but I'm at 240 with 6 days to go. Not gonna happen. It also thinks I should be at 170 by 12 months, but that's not very likely either.

I've always used the following one as it takes into account the different surgeries and looks just like the one my surgeon uses. They calculate from the highest weight, it is important to include that because if you have a lot of weight loss before surgery your percentages may track differently and your post op weight loss may be slower. I've seen this happen to several people with surgeons calculating it improperly, or applying the bypass trajectory to a DS patient, which is a disaster and very stressful for the patient! This one takes into account much more like your age, ethnicity, and pre-existing conditions:

https://riskcalculator.facs.org/bariatric/?_ga=2.112690692.1282950073.1698781773-393992475.1698781773

According to this one I should be at 78 lbs down for my DS surgery at 6 months. I'm at 80 lbs down. My weight loss has tracked along with this thing pretty steadily, give or take 15 lbs, since surgery, except for my 6 week stall. It puts me at 202 by 12 months out, but DS patients lose for 18-24 months post op, so I should be at 170 sometime in that 12-24 month period!

In the end these are all just estimation tools. Our bodies do what they will and we make the most of it. Still, it is nice to have a loose guideline to follow.

Wow, this calculator was wayyyy more accurate to my progress than the Mexico Clinic one. At a year I was down right at 90# and this calculator estimated 100# so I'm pleased to be somewhat close 🙂

I took off 6 weeks but I'm a nurse who has a pretty physical job at moments. I also had my second granddaughter due during my 5th week off so I chose to take 6 weeks so I could enjoy a week of baby cuddles ❤️ Honestly, I had zero complications and very minimal pain with my bypass. Was driving and doing most things without trouble, albeit a bit slower, within the first 3 days. I would suggest take as much time as you can and elect to go back sooner based with how you feel. If you can afford and allow yourself the extra time, just enjoy it and get super familiar with your new you and your new routines. Good luck!!

I have Fep BCBS and it took about a day and a half. They filled on a Monday morning and I had an answer by end of business on Tuesday.

I am sure there will be a lot of "stick to the plan" replies, which I will agree is never a bad decision but I wanted to offer a real life viewpoint lol I was about 5 weeks out from bypass when my guy made homemade pork tamales. I asked him to make some mini ones for me because I knew my tummy could not hold a full size tamale. He made the pork melt in your mouth tender, lighter on the seasoning and I had zero issues have one mini one and I had zero regrets for enjoying it. If you try one, just eat super slow, small bites and make sure you listen to your tummy. That's all I have to offer on the subject 🙂

Over reheating leftovers in the microwave can dry out the food and dry food can cause tummy upset due to textural issues because it's dry. I happily use my microwave, just enough to get my food warm but not dry.

I'm a nurse at the VA. Here's the link to the patient advocates in Philly's area. https://www.va.gov/philadelphia-health-care/health-services/patient-advocates/

Well I'm 4 days post op! Zero issues with hydration and Protein. 80 0z liquids so far today and 65 grams of protein. Never had "sharp pain" but felt like I had an ab workout from hell that I'm still trying to get over the soreness lol. No nausea. No diarrhea. No leaks. No complications. Had surgery at 10 am the 1st and headed home around 9am the next morning. No issues with my chewable vitamins. No horror stories of gad pains from the lapo. Was belching day of surgery, passing gas by day 3, first BM day 4. Taking Miralax each morning, mixed w Gatorade zero. Taking just Tylenol, still have two "pain pills" just in case. Drove my car today! No temp or taste issues. I feel super grateful my luck so far! Down 11.6 lbs but I'm assuming IV fluids weight is alot of that number. I have 6 incisions like the first photo. The bruised one is the one they place the stapler through.  

Sent from my SM-F721U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you all for the great tips and strategies! I do have my favorite Water bottle with me nonstop. Will look for snack containers ASAP. And I love those beef stew to go containers. Will stock my locker with some of those. Any other ideas for shelf stable snacks/food?

I'm four days away from my gastric bypass surgery! Since I'm a nurse (with experience as a pre and post op bariatric patients) my anxiety about the procedure itself is fairly low. Honestly, I was more terrified when I had oral surgery to remove my wisdom teeth lol The nutritional component and meal progression is second nature as I have preached it so many times to our patients. I work for the federal government and have been blessed with great health insurance so getting approval was a breeze (my provider submitted my info on a Monday morning and received the approval by early afternoon the same day). I am taking 5 weeks off to recover, time to go through the progression and some "me time". (which includes welcoming my 2nd granddaughter at the end of February).

My concern lies with the fact that as a nurse, I work the craziest bizarre hours and how I can consistently coordinate the correct "good habits" while at work. My hours typically are 3:30pm to 8am (yes 16 hours evening into the next morning) and 11:30 to midnight (12 hours). I would love some feedback from other healthcare peeps who deal with the 24/7 demand in our field while maintaining adequate nutrition, exercise and keeping a schedule while at work, even when distractions or "train wreck" situations comes up on the job. My boss has been great and when I return I believe I'll mostly work 12 hours shifts (which will be a godsend so I can have enough sleep) but any advice on how to avoid falling back into the normal "pitfalls" that nursing can foster? Nurses literally are the worst snackers, vending machine finding, "let's order out" people ever!!!

Thanks in advance!

Jacki

On 1/11/2023 at 9:28 AM, Kristinajedrey said:

Congratulations! I just got my approval date this morning for February 1st after like 3 denials!! I am so excited but now I’m freaking the hell out and want to eat everything because I’m thinking I’ll never eat/enjoy food again even though I know that’s not true!! Almost like I’m nesting!

I'm having bypass on the 1st also 🙂

Feb 1st here!!!