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ChunkCat

Duodenal Switch Patients
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Everything posted by ChunkCat

  1. Dumping is an interesting phenomenon. I had a good friend about 20 years ago who had an old school bypass and she would dump all the time. She'd sit there with a pack of candy, eat some, breathe through the dumping symptoms, and continue to eat it! This was my first exposure to someone with weight loss surgery. I thought she was insane. She also refused to use protein powders so her hair was brittle and falling out. And she didn't take her vitamins so her calcium was low and she'd get heart palpitations. It scared me off of the surgery for a long time. I didn't want to turn out like her! I'm so glad I learned there are better ways... DS patients aren't supposed to get dumping but I drank too much water too fast once and got all the classic symptoms of dumping, including the bathroom runs. It was VERY unpleasant and I will never do it again! LOL I also had a mushroom soup the other night that turned out to have 33 carbs in it (which I didn't realize until I went to log it). Holy cow I thought I was going to die. Same symptoms. I don't have to imagine what will happen if I try to eat a piece of pie!
  2. YAY! Congratulations!! KathyLev is right, it'll seem far away at first and then time will speed up and you'll be in the OR! The holidays will help the time go by. I wish you luck in losing the weight they want you to lose, I find it one of the dumbest requirements. We are having surgery because we can't lose the weight through conventional efforts. Why do they think having a surgery date scheduled all the sudden makes our bodies compliant?? I'm glad she didn't make you have to lose 30lbs or something...
  3. Yes, that's a big difference!! LOL You should be getting a shake about every 3 hours. I had to really keep on top of mine or I'd end the evening having to chug two! It gets you into the habit of eating 5 times a day, which you'll need after surgery. Good luck! Hope today is better than yesterday!
  4. Miralax is what I take when I get worried. Some vets take it daily. I haven't had to do that but I do know it is very important not to get backed up. I usually take a dose or two and then wait, sometimes it takes hours to kick in but it always kicks in. LOL If Miralax doesn't work you could try Milk of Magnesia, it is a stimulant to the bowels so it'll move things along, you just don't want to take it long term to rely on bowel function.
  5. Things are still very swollen inside at the moment, so sometimes it can feel like fluid backs up. I'm two weeks out and still get a bloated feeling from drinking fluids sometimes! But the awful twisting pains have eased a lot, now I'm more likely to just get this dull ache. Good luck with the protein drinks, I can get them down now!!
  6. @BoilerBob Glad to hear things are continuing to go well! I get the gurgling from water sometimes too, I have no clue when it goes away. LOL @ChipB How are the gas pains feeling now? Are you in the hospital for another night or did they send you home? @ZeeGee Yay!!! So happy to see your post! Rest well and keep up that sipping and walking, you'll feel so much better for it.
  7. How many shakes are you supposed to have a day? My plan was 5 shakes, nothing else but water, tea, coffee, nut milks. Keeping hydrated helped me a lot. The hunger is real! Some of it is your body being hungry, some of it is head hunger. Head hunger is a trip! It gets easier with every day that passes, but the first few days can be pretty rough. Some plans allow for strained soups and such, so it is worth asking the nurse about!
  8. Yup! You've got to walk it out. Walk as much and as often as you can. Gas-x sometimes helps a little for some but walking and time are the only cure. ?I'm two weeks post op.
  9. Odds are you will be fine!! There can be awful complications with any weight loss surgery (or any surgery at all for that matter) but those are in the minority of cases, and even then, most of them are caught in time and correctable. Pretty much all of us have a "WTF did I just do to myself!?" moment. I had the DS and 3 days post op it hit me that I had irrevocably altered my stomach and intestines permanently, for life, no going back. I knew that pre-op and thought a lot about it before deciding to do it, but post op it hit me in a whole new way... And then I reminded myself that I altered my body because the way it was was in fact KILLING ME. Drastic times call for drastic measures and all that. Once I remembered that I calmed down... Remember your why. Orient yourself to your goal. And stay off of Tiktok for a while!! ?
  10. Good luck to you both!! I'll be sending good juju for a smooth, boring surgery and recovery! ❤️
  11. I had the switch too! Nov. 1st. How are you feeling?? I should be able to finally move from fluids to purees tomorrow when I see my surgeon for my 2 week post op appointment. I can't wait! I'm so tired of liquids, though I do think they help the healing process...
  12. Have they tested you for bile reflux? The treatment for this is a bit different and it is possible to have bile reflux after an RNY. Talk to your doctor about this, they will probably want to do some GI imaging or an endoscopy to figure out what is going on. There are meds that will work for this but you have to get the right diagnosis first. Good luck!!
  13. Good luck ZeeGee, you can do it!!! It’s worth it!!! Keep us posted!
  14. Why don’t you just stick with shakes, broths, blended soups, yogurt, and sugar free pudding?? Not everyone can handle the purées texture. I’m sure your surgeon will work with you if you can’t stomach it. I can’t imagine why you couldn’t just do liquids…
  15. Yay! Great job!! Make sure to get that water in, it will prevent headaches and keep you out of the hospital. Good for you getting shakes in, I can just barely get one in 2 weeks out! LOL Glad your pain is well controlled. I'm doing good, thanks! Hoping to move to purees Thursday after I see the surgeon at my follow up. Pain is greatly reduced and soreness is starting to fade. Incisions had an allergic reaction to the glue but the cream they prescribed calmed it down fast. They look great now! Still getting my water in. Had to change my electrolyte formula because the one I was taking had a lot of magnesium in it and was sending me straight to the bathroom with awful diarrhea every time I took it! LOL I found a new one that is working much better now. I weirdly feel like I have more energy now than I did before surgery and I'm not sure how that's possible. I have chronic fatigue syndrome so any boost in energy is VERY welcome. I'm sleeping better too. I hear some people do really well in ketosis, I guess I'm one of them. I'm really thankful for that. I've never been able to get my body to go into ketosis before! So glad I had this surgery...
  16. This is so true, you have to be your own best advocate!! I'm glad this time around is going much better for you! Make sure you get your rest, it is easy to overdo it at this stage, I am 2 weeks post op and pacing myself even though I feel like I have more energy than ever! I hope your recovery continues to go smoothly, you sure deserve it. ❤️
  17. How you doing @BoilerBob?? Did they end up sending you home or are you captive for another night? How's the pain and nausea? Getting your fluids in?
  18. The pressure in our little sleeved tummies is different than the pressure in a regular tummy from the things I've read. This can cause reflux to happen. Plus the acid our stomach produce when larger is the same amount produced when smaller, so basically we have more acid than we need. There are better PPIs than Prilosec, have you tried Protonix or Dexilant? I have had much better luck with these. RNY revision for reflux is a good option for a permanent solution. They'll probably do imaging to prove you have reflux (an upper GI series) and an endoscopy to check out the status of your stomach and esophagus. Insurance usually requires these before considering approval of a revision. I wish you much luck in finding a solution!!
  19. Food aversion is real after having issues with vomiting and keeping food down. I agree with @Arabesque, have they done any imaging to be sure it is only a stomach stricture causing this?? @Char V is right, if they continue to just do scopes, you may want to ask to be referred up to someone with more experience. Not saying your doctor is wrong, just that with a chronic condition, sometimes two heads and a new pair of eyes is better than one. I really hope you find answers soon. ❤️
  20. OMG I never noticed that!! Learned something new today... Thank you!!
  21. There is some data I've read that says that aggressive working out can release stress hormones, particularly in women, which can slow weight loss. This is not the sort of working out that you enjoy, but really pushing hard in the gym with HIIT and not properly recovering. Me personally, I have enough stressors to add another one. So I'm inclined to do what workouts feel good and that I enjoy, give myself break days when I need it, and leave the hardcore workouts to those who like to put in time at the gym and don't mind stressing out their bodies. I get enough sympathetic activation in traffic. ?
  22. Babyspoons, what a fantastic visit! That is so exciting, I'm glad you are having such a great surgery outcome. Being able to see those numbers normalize and knowing you can start coming off of meds is just thrilling!! So many of these things CAN be reversed or reduced with surgery. It is just such a modern miracle to me. They took me off my blood pressure meds when I was in the hospital and told me I likely wouldn't need them anymore. I've been checking my BP at home and sure enough, it is steady and normal. No pounding headaches like before. I feel really blessed. And my GP took me off Ozempic and decided not to put me back on anything because I had surgery and she said she expected my follow up in 3 months to show normal levels! My fasting blood sugar in the hospital was 87!! I'm just so happy over it all...
  23. Yaaaay!! You can do this Bob!! Yes, that gas pain was all in my chest. Walking helped SO much with it, even just little walks down the hall and back. Plus they made me sit up in a chair for a while, that helped too.
  24. Do you not see a button to let you edit your post? I edit mine all the time because of typos! LOL Are you on your phone or computer? I never edit on the phone but I do on the computer all the time. Wonder why you don't have the option? It should be right next to "quote" on the bottom edge of your post on the left side.
  25. Egg is a food that not everyone does well with. So maybe skip it for a while? Have you tried anything else like meatballs cooked in a sauce, nice and tender? It takes a while to adjust to each food stage and every body has its own timing. I'd trust yours, hold off on eggs, and try something else in the soft food category like cheese or deli lunch meat. There is nothing wrong with keeping to a base of purees until you've tried enough soft foods to compose meals. Many people just try one new thing a day, so it might take a while to get to that point. If you find you can't progress at all, let your surgeon know. I feel my stomach straight down the center and a little to the left. There are stitches there so tightness and poking sensations are normal for a while, stitches dissolve in everyone at a different rate. If this continues to bother you though feel free to ask your surgeon! They can explain more about where your particular stitches are. Yes, sometimes my stomach flutters too. I think it is normal. Mine also does these spasms where it feels like it is doing cartwheels inside me, also normal.

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