Beks18

Thank you for replying. It seems like this first week has been dragging on and on.

The only time I had nausea was the day after surgery where I vomited uncontrollably. They kept me an extra night to make sure it passed, which it did pretty quickly. Since then I haven’t had any issues with dumping, nausea or anything like that. I had what I thought was a weird gas pain when I swallowed, but finally realized that it was just swelling and pain from where they fixed my hiatal hernia. Taking tiny sips of Water rather than trying to drink like normal helped. So did trying different temperatures of drinks. I also found out very quickly that my stomach cannot handle crystal light…. Way too acidic and once I stopped drinking that it hurt less. Now I’m already able to drink pretty normally.
You really just have to listen to your body. Eat/drink slowly so you can feel when you’ve had enough, and that will really help you avoid nausea. If you eat or drink too much it will put pressure on your internal wounds and your body is going to want to relieve that pressure and vomit it up or dump it. Slow and steady is the name of the game with this surgery.

Wishing you luck and sending love and healing thoughts your way!

During the first week of surgery, I was absolutely miserable and very much regretting my decision to have the RNY. Now I’m 15 days out from surgery and I have done a complete 180! I feel AMAZING. The support of this forum is wonderful. I appreciate being able to lean on you all and hear from your experiences. If you are on the fence about this procedure, I would highly recommend it. BUT, go into it with the expectation that the first week will be pretty terrible. Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones that it won’t have much pain or issue. But if not, just know it DOES GET BETTER. So much better. I’ve never been so excited to the future. ❤️

During the first week of surgery, I was absolutely miserable and very much regretting my decision to have the RNY. Now I’m 15 days out from surgery and I have done a complete 180! I feel AMAZING. The support of this forum is wonderful. I appreciate being able to lean on you all and hear from your experiences. If you are on the fence about this procedure, I would highly recommend it. BUT, go into it with the expectation that the first week will be pretty terrible. Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones that it won’t have much pain or issue. But if not, just know it DOES GET BETTER. So much better. I’ve never been so excited to the future. ❤️

During the first week of surgery, I was absolutely miserable and very much regretting my decision to have the RNY. Now I’m 15 days out from surgery and I have done a complete 180! I feel AMAZING. The support of this forum is wonderful. I appreciate being able to lean on you all and hear from your experiences. If you are on the fence about this procedure, I would highly recommend it. BUT, go into it with the expectation that the first week will be pretty terrible. Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones that it won’t have much pain or issue. But if not, just know it DOES GET BETTER. So much better. I’ve never been so excited to the future. ❤️

Wendy, I just want to thank you for this. Seeing your experience and your positivity really helped. They did give me an abdominal binder and I also did the pillow method for coughing. 2 weeks out now and I’m feeling a million times better. I hope your journey is going amazingly!

During the first week of surgery, I was absolutely miserable and very much regretting my decision to have the RNY. Now I’m 15 days out from surgery and I have done a complete 180! I feel AMAZING. The support of this forum is wonderful. I appreciate being able to lean on you all and hear from your experiences. If you are on the fence about this procedure, I would highly recommend it. BUT, go into it with the expectation that the first week will be pretty terrible. Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones that it won’t have much pain or issue. But if not, just know it DOES GET BETTER. So much better. I’ve never been so excited to the future. ❤️

I doubt it's a stricture or anything serious, but if you're concerned, it's never a bad idea to talk to your surgeon's office. My guess is it's just due to the swelling. Right now, your new stomach has lots of little "pockets" in it and I suspect that may be contributing to this feeling. If you get to where you can't keep anything down, that's when you should definitely reach out to your team ASAP.

For me, it may have been 5 or 6 days, but like you said, everyone is different.
Also, in terms of the gas bubble feeling you have mentioned a few times, that IS NOT surgical gas. The gas used during surgery is not inside your digestive system. It's in what's called the peritoneal space. This is used to allow the doctor to help visualize all your organs.
My point is that's not what's causing your gas bubble feeling. I can't say I actually experienced that feeling, but it makes be wonder, are you drinking with a straw? Typically using a straw is a no-no right after bariatric surgery because it can cause you to swallow air. Since you have such a limited amount of space right now in your stomach, We don't want any air in there.

I finally had my RNY on June 2nd. It was insanely painful right off the bat and I had a 2 day hospital stay because I wasn’t able to keep anything down. Everything looked normal on the barium swallow. I’ve read on here that hunger goes away… mine did not. I’m so hungry and it sucks. I’m trying to maintain my Water intake and trying to get as much Protein as possible while spacing everything out and taking sips… but I very quickly feel like there are uncomfortable air bubbles in my stomach even with the tiny sips.

Tell me it stops sucking. Because right now I feel like I made such a huge mistake. 😩

Hang in there! The early post-op days are the hardest because you're experiencing all of the negatives with none of the positives. It is totally normal and common to have regrets early on, but over the next few months, you'll gradually get used to the changes, resume eating real food, and lose more weight than you thought was possible. This rough patch will just blip in your memory.

yea I had buyer's remorse the first couple of weeks - but that ended quickly. I had my 10 years ago and it was the best decision I've ever made.

It does stop sucking.

The post op stuff is a beast.....a couple weeks removed from that and most everyone feels much better.
First couple of days I distinctly remember the gasses causing some serious shoulder pains and other discomfort.

I finally had my RNY on June 2nd. It was insanely painful right off the bat and I had a 2 day hospital stay because I wasn’t able to keep anything down. Everything looked normal on the barium swallow. I’ve read on here that hunger goes away… mine did not. I’m so hungry and it sucks. I’m trying to maintain my Water intake and trying to get as much Protein as possible while spacing everything out and taking sips… but I very quickly feel like there are uncomfortable air bubbles in my stomach even with the tiny sips.

Tell me it stops sucking. Because right now I feel like I made such a huge mistake. 😩

I’ve done a lot of bypass research and found out so much that I didn’t have a clue about prior to research. Things like the foamies, the Constipation, medication absorption, etc. I’m curious to hear about things that surprised you after surgery that your clinical team didn’t tell you and that you might not have come across in your own research beforehand. I want to be as prepared as possible for what’s to come. Give me the good, bad, ugly… all of it.

That’s what I’m nervous about… the Constipation. I love that my body keeps things pretty regular these days, but when I have experienced constipation in the past it was the worst!

The noises my gut makes! It's so loud! If I'm full, it's noisy. If I'm hungry, it's noisy!
Is that a home intruder or my stomach? Who knows?
And I echo the always cold part.
Also, it hurts to sit for long periods like I used to! Bonier backside.

What surprised me was all of the food allergies I got after my surgery. I never had ANY, and now I'm lactose intolerant, allergic to peanuts, and DEATHLY allergic to shellfish. I also hate the Constipation. No matter what I eat or how much I drink, I have to take Miralax every morning and sometimes at night, too. And when it's REALLY bad (as in, I haven't pooped in 4 or more days) I have to take a stool softener and laxative to get things moving. I use to poop everyday with no issues. Now...I have ALL the issues.

Being lactose intolerant! Never ever have I dealt with that, but I cannot have regular yogurt or ice cream. I have to eat lactose free fage yogurt, or froyo is okay and doesn't caught tummy issues.

One thing that has surprised me is that I am always cold now! I used to always be warm, and now there are days where it feels like no matter what I do I am still cold.

I've been surprised by my lack of Constipation. I was so prepared for it to happen that I ordered the biggest value container of Miralax to keep on hand... and I used it twice in a year. I am regular like clockwork and have been since about the second month or so. BUT, I have had the vomiting I mentioned in another post, which I wasn't really prepared to have happen.
I have been surprised by how different it feels to eat different types of foods in various quantities. For example, if I eat 3oz of chicken or beef, I'm very full and sometimes can't finish it or have more than a bite of a side dish. But I can eat a very large salad or other non-starchy veggies and it doesn't make me feel stuffed. A few bites of bread can sit really heavy but I can eat crackers without feeling that way at all, where I would have assumed they would be about the same.
Also surprising is that what you eat, how much you exercise, and how much weight you lose in a week do not necessarily go hand in hand the way you think they will. Some weeks you will drop several pounds, other weeks you will not lose an ounce. You can do exactly the same thing both weeks. Your body will do what it wants. Beyond making good choices and sticking with a healthy lifestyle you can sustain (longterm sustainability is the MOST important thing), there's not much you can do to make a meaningful difference in how much weight you lose and how quickly.

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate your perspective. ❤️

Thank you for the insight into your experience. I appreciate your perspective on it all.

Everyone is different! I’m 5years out. My dumping is more like a hot flash with a very upset stomach. I have to lay down until it passes. I never had the foamies but I am nauseous A LOT! Sometimes I can eat a piece of cake with a ton of frosting & it doesn’t bother me. Other times I can’t. I only eat 3.5 oz of food at a time. I never know what my body is going to do. I am also constipated all of the time.
My daughter is 4 y out. She slowly eats 5 meals a day. She has very loose, stinky bowl movements. She can’t eat a lot of sugar & drinks diet Dr Pepper but she would really like to drink regular sodas. I don’t like the taste of diet beverages so I drink an electrolyte replacement beverage.
Bariatric surgery is kinda like pregnancy & your own kids. You don’t know what you are gonna get.
I would like to know if there is a correlation between how much or a percentage of weight you loose & your symptoms afterwards.
Best of luck to you!

Okay, so I had reached a BMI of 40 when I got the referral to the surgical team. But with 6 months of nutrition counseling and the 2 week liquid diet, the day of surgery I had a BMI of 36.3. I chose the bypass and I am very happy with it. My weight loss has not been the dramatic numbers you see with larger patients, but it's been stunning to me. I am almost a year out and am currently within 9 pounds of a normal BMI. I have not been this weight in 30 years and I firmly believe no amount of diet and exercise alone would have gotten me here. I would do it again in a heartbeat and wish I had done it earlier.
With regards to the bypass itself, I am very pleased with it. I chose it over the sleeve because of GERD concerns and because my brother, who had the sleeve 15 years ago, has had a lot of regain that I think the bypass will help me avoid to some degree.
I had some issues with vomiting for the first several months when I didn't eat very slowly or had something that was not the "right" texture for my picky insides. But other than that, I've been great. At this point, I can eat about a third to a half of a typical portion of most meals so I don't feel like I get funny looks or anything from people who don't know my situation. I do not experience dumping, which is sad because it means I can eat sweets if I want them without getting sick. And yes, I do want them, so managing cravings is my biggest challenge. I no longer care much for bread or Pasta and I also don't eat rice. I do like a few roasted potatoes sometimes and I will steal a couple fries from someone else's plate but I won't order them for myself. I mostly prefer Protein, veg, and fruit. And, yeah, sweets...
My labs have all looked good so far (have to go get blood drawn next week ahead of my 1-year follow up). I feel fantastic. My one concern had been not being able to take ibuprofen because I was taking it a few times a week for pain. Well, within weeks of the surgery, even when my weight was still fairly high, my pain went away. I have had one time in the past year when I had a headache and wished I could take ibuprofen (and actually, I could have if I had really needed to because a single ibuprofen, or even one a week, is not a high enough risk to worry about).