KathyLev

I made it down to 144 on my own but I finally reached goal thanks to plastic surgery. I'm still recovering from my surgery 3 weeks ago. I actually went to mexico because I found a great Dr that I loved his work and he is board certified in the US as well as Mexico and Cuba. He is known for being very safe and I had to be pre screened medically twice before he would even operate on me. He also works out of a hospital so I thought I had all of my bases covered but my luck is always bad lol. I had complications but I still received amazing care. My only symptom after surgery was a fast heartrate. They brought in all the guns and had a cardiologist, the surgeon himself, a radiologist and the surgeons partner all come in and test me and discuss on my care. My blood came back with a hemoglobin level of only 6.9 and the ultrasound showed a large hematoma. So they immediately wrapped me in a compression garment and then taped me even tighter and I was given 2 blood transfusions through the night. Early the next morning at 7 am I went in for a second surgery to remove the hematoma and to see if I had any active bleeds which I did end up having an arterial bleed which they then fixed. I was also given one more bag of blood. I have the pictures of me opened all the way up during the original surgery and you could not see any bleeding at all so I don't know how this bleed happened but they acted quickly and I felt safe and taken care of the whole time. My dr always has everyone stay at least 1 night in the hospital and I think that is what saved me. So many people go home right away and if that had been me with no other symptoms, I am afraid to think of what could have happened. I was never dizzy or nauseous or even really tired. Just a fast heart rate of 120 with spikes to 150. Unfortunately because I had to have 2 surgeries my front Tummy Tuck scars are taking forever to fully heal but they are still doing great. No infections, just slow healing. I had a lower body lift which is the cut that goes all the way around and is great for tightening the front and the back. Lipo to my back and flanks, a small bbl and breast reconstruction. So I did have a ton of stuff done and with hind sight I may not have chosen to do it all at once because I wonder if that was increasing my chances of complications After the fact though I'm so glad to have it all done and not have to face any more surgeries. They removed about 8 lbs of skin and 2 in fat. I haven't weighed this little since middle school and I'm still swollen so who knows what my final weight will be. I'm so happy with my results and will have to share pictures once I'm fully healed. My youngest daughter and I went shopping this week and bought crop tops to wear together to Celebrate. I've never worn a crop top ever. So I'm looking forward to wearing it in the near future. Gastric bypass certainly has changed my life in amazing ways

I wrote down every meal I ate for months ( the dietician said I had to ) but I got so sick of doing it, I stopped. I still weigh my food occasionally, but I can pretty much eyeball the amount. After eating low carb for years before the surgery, I'm pretty good at knowing my nutrition.

I wrote down every meal I ate for months ( the dietician said I had to ) but I got so sick of doing it, I stopped. I still weigh my food occasionally, but I can pretty much eyeball the amount. After eating low carb for years before the surgery, I'm pretty good at knowing my nutrition.

I wrote down every meal I ate for months ( the dietician said I had to ) but I got so sick of doing it, I stopped. I still weigh my food occasionally, but I can pretty much eyeball the amount. After eating low carb for years before the surgery, I'm pretty good at knowing my nutrition.

I bought a bottle of Peanut Butter flavoring on line and add a dash to my food and/or drinks. A couple drops into the powdered peanut butter really boosts the flavor.

I'm not losing a ton of weight ,but I am off ALL my medicine and my blood work is perfect

I'm not losing a ton of weight ,but I am off ALL my medicine and my blood work is perfect

I'm not losing a ton of weight ,but I am off ALL my medicine and my blood work is perfect

I wrote down every meal I ate for months ( the dietician said I had to ) but I got so sick of doing it, I stopped. I still weigh my food occasionally, but I can pretty much eyeball the amount. After eating low carb for years before the surgery, I'm pretty good at knowing my nutrition.

Normal. We lose weight in "stair steps" .... not a downward slide. ( I wish it was just a slide !!! )

Not really terrifying... I slept through most of it.
Good luck,
Tek

Extremely normal. Bodies are weird and this is an extreme change for our bodies. Just keep following your plan. Your body isn't done yet just needs a little time to adjust is what my team tells me. Just keep chugging along.

This is absolutely normal. Almost everyone experiences stalls multiple times. So many factors contribute. Keep to your programme and you will hopefully be back on track really soon!

Normal. I have always stalled out on average every 2 months or so. And the stalls last progressively longer each time. And I gain 2-4 pounds with each stall, then drop like 6 pounds all at once when it breaks. Just get used to it lol It's literally never ending. But it's very normal and all part of the process.

Very normal. Weight loss is never a consistent straight downward line on a graph. It goes up & down. Zigs & zags. Some weeks you lose a lot. The next not so much & yes you will stall. Stalls are an important part of your weight loss. It’s the time your body takes to reassess your new current needs & then adjusts your digestive hormones & enzymes, metabolism, etc. accordingly. Weight loss puts a lot of stress on your body so think of this time as when your body closes the door, pulls the covers over its head until it is ready to face the world again.
The stall will break when your body is ready. Don’t push it or force it to break & stress it more. Just let it ride it out.

I feel pretty much the same - except for bowel movements. food seems to go right through me .One meal might mean 4 trips to the bathroom. Other times, for no reason , I get constipated. I can't figure it out. I'm NOT liking this side effect !!!!!

I am shy of 2 months post op and down some weight, and with that we are now moving into the realm of needing new undies..
Just upfront, I am women (she\her pronouns) so this may not hit the same way for the fellas, but I am sure others are struggling.. that said...

What has been your strategy? I don't want to spend a huge amount on good compression undies, or fancy because I am hoping to continue this weight loss trend. Any recommendations of brand you used along the way? Is there a brand you swear by? Bralettes are also something I am looking for... I am busty and of course hate underwires..
If you're at your goal or maintaining, what has been your favorite brand of compression garments if you wear any?

Right now I am pretty sure I could stand outside in my undies and set sail as soon as gust of wind came by..

Fortunately most of these are not permanent effects though very annoying at the moment. The only exceptions are the Constipation which may always be something that occurs at times. And feeling the cold can continue. Head hunger will be a constant battle - surgery doesn’t fix that. It just seems worse at the moment when your diet is so restrictive. You always want more the things you can’t have more.
Most of the others pass over a few months once things become more settled. Hormones start to rebalance, energy picks up, you’re eating more & a wider variety of foods, etc.
Watch the blood pressure drops though. Get up slowly, avoid too warm showers, keep your fluids up, add a little extra salt to your diet. Add some soluble fibre to your shake, a Soup, a smoothie, etc. to help with the constipation. Try not to let it get away from you. I’d take a stool softener if I got to a 3rd day without movement.

IIRC, the Constipation comes after surgery, not before - although not everyone has issues with it. Some people do have diarrhea post-surgery (especially the first week or so), but constipation is much more common, and it can become chronic. I don't remember if I had any particular BM issues during the pre-op liquid diet or not (may not have had many BM's at all given we weren't eating solid food), but I suspect your system is just whacked out by the change.

My nutritionist recommended Benefiber once a day when I start the liquid diet. Fiber should help in regulating both extremes. But yeah, your GI system is protesting!

My stomach also growls SO Loud , it's embarrassing ! It doesn't register in my head that I'm hungry . I do think it's just digestive noises.

Here’s my story. On 4/25/22 I weighed 281.8. A few months later at a Dr appointment for reflux the topic of having endoscopic gastroplasty was mentioned and eventually the surgery was scheduled for September 2022.
I reported for the surgery and was going thru the pre-op process when our son called to let us know that he tested positive for COVID. The doctor advised us to reschedule.
The next opening was a couple of months off, so it was rescheduled. I reported for the rescheduled surgery but after at check-in we were greeted with the news that the ventilation system for the operating room was down and we would have to reschedule again. This pushed us into 2023 and required navigating a new health insurance provider.
Finally On 1/24/2023 I had my surgery and by 5/1/2023 my weight had dropped to 224 then “stabilizing” at around 235.
2023 had lots of ups and downs:
- 4/25/2022 – weight 281.8 – bmi 38.2
- 1/23/2023 my last coke have gone over 1 year without a coke. Was typically drinking 1 – 2 20 oz bottles per day of regular coke.
- 1/24/2023 - surgery.
- 3/31/23 got laid off from work.
- 4/6/2023 – robotic hernia surgery
- 4/26/2023 – kidney stones
- 5/1/2023 – weight 224 – bmi 30.3
- 7/11/2023 – procedure to evaluate hiatal herniaI
- 1/18/2024 - COVID.
- 1/25/2024 - big disagreement with boss and resigned.
- 1/29/2024 - received ontingent job offer but significant pay cut. Job won't start for a month so I have time to think abiut job or seek other opportunities.
- 1/30/2024 - weight 234.4 – bmi 31.7
Things to work on:
- Eat better and exercise long term. I’ll do ok eating and exercising for a week or two and then I start stress eating, not feeling like walking.
- Eating – there are times when I don’t feel hungry but want something to eat.
- Regularity – I’ve always been irregular and at times have IBS with uncontrollable BM and then other times go days ( 3 – 4 days) between BM.
- I have a goal of going on a couple of long bike rides 10 -15 miles but need to start getting in shape for them.
- Decide to retire or find new job.
- I rarely feel full. I think that I’m eating less but feel hungry or feel like eating even if I’m not hungry.

Looking for advice on healthy things to eat between meals and limiting appetite here is a list of things that I like to eat .
-
- I like Kind Dark chocolate Cherry Cashew bars (170 cal, 22 g carbs and 6 g protein) - addicting
- Inspire Square Protein wafers by Bariatric Eating (200 cal, 13 g Carbs 15 g protein) - addicting
- BariatricPal Protein Shake or pudding – Chocolate (6 gm carbs 15 gm protein)
- Lunches - Dole Sunflower salad Kit - 350 calaries (40 gm carbs and 9 gm protein)

Hi all,

Relatively new here and enjoying reading about everyone's experiences. My surgery is on 5th February. I have Multiple Sclerosis.
I have been on a liquid diet for 6 days now (4 Protein Shakes a day, so around 800 calories total). The first 72 hours were, quite frankly, absolutely horrendous - I was headachy, very cranky and slept a lot (thankfully I was off work for a few days). Yesterday was my first day back at work and, boy, was it tough. I have a reminder on my phone to have Water every 30 minutes and kept up with that really well and, while I did get hungry, it was the tiredness that really hit me. I was literally nodding off in a meeting at one point.
My MS means I am generally fatigued all the time and so I have some little tips and tricks to help with that in general which might be useful for others. These have been hard to break through the fatigue and tiredness completely, but that may be due to my MS *and* the lack of nutrients and so may work for people without an auto-immune condition.
Some things I do:
Try to go for a walk every hour. Even if it's just a 5 minute stroll around the office, it gets me away from my desk. When I worked in retail and was on my feet all the time, I would take 5 minutes each hour to just sit. I would often go into the lavatory and sit in a stall. I live in the UK so was able to negotiate reasonable working changes to take my MS into account, and my managers were very supportive of me taking breaks. I realise this won't be the case for everyone, but if you can, I really recommend it.
Fresh air. If you can get outside for your walk, do it. Even a couple of minutes of fresh air will help awaken your body and will help energise you. Also get as much fresh air as you can outside of work. I find that I am far more tired if I spend all my time inside than if I step out for a bit. Even at home.
Do the easy tasks first. If you have a long task list - get the easy stuff out of the way. This will be an easy win and will give you a confidence and energy boost to tackle the more challenging items. We want to regulate and manage our energy and get the best pay off for minimal effort exerted.
Smell peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon, etc. I always carry a small vial of eucalyptus essential oil with me and when I find myself getting particularly sleepy at work, just have a quick smell and it awakens my senses. Plus it smells lovely! Any essential oil that wakes you up and is "vibrant" will work.
Talk. Tell your colleagues and manager that you're experiencing some fatigue at the moment and that it is affecting your energy levels at work. You'll be surprised how supportive people will be and how much people want to help.

I hope this helps. Sending you all lots of good, positive energy. 🙏

I had mine in May of 2023. I'm doing great , thanks for asking ! I've been eating low carb ,very small portions and except for a months long stall, everything is going a-ok I haven't had any carbonated drinks or alcohol so far, but I don't miss it. My stomach handles everything good with no problems. I'm down 2 sizes and couldn't be happier ! All my lab work have been perfect and I'm off 3 meds that I took for a long time. Diabetes is no longer in my future ! How have you been since your surgery ? You lost a ton !!!!!

i think many people on here will tell you any revision surgery results in a much slower rate of weight loss than the first time around.