Search the Community

I'm a nursing student and during my OR rotation I actually saw the gastric sleeve surgery done. It's a very gentle surgery as far as surgeries go. I was a little apprehensive too just because I know all the complications that can happen but it also helps you prevent them. You know to get out of bed as soon as you can and walk, use your incentive spirometer, etc. And it's really not a hard surgery to get over physically. The challenge is all mental! You'll be fine. Trust your surgeon and tell yourself what you would tell your patients.

Hi everyone! So Rules: 45 oz pure water minimum daily 90 oz total fluids minimum daily 128 oz maximum fluids daily Consult your physician before joining Research ALL possible complications prior to joining Join at your own pace, discontinue at first sign of discomfort Drink at a reasonable rate, enjoy the many benefits of proper hydration, add enhancers/electrolytes as needed Green and herbal teas with no plant or animal milks can count towards pure water total Tea is wonderful on cold days too, but be sure to try regular water in addition Coffee is very satisfying, do try to be careful not to replace too much water with it Record starting/ending weight and *body fat (optional) Enjoy the benefits!!!! Keep us posted

I’ve always been anemic, even as a child. I had my Gastric Bypass in December 2012. As of late I’ve had an increasing problem with my blood levels and several of my vitamins and minerals testing dangerously low, especially my Iron levels. I found an article on the issue and how intravenous infusions may successfully address the issue: http://bariatrictimes.com/intravenous-micronutrient-therapy-imnt-for-gastric-bypass-patients-a-solution-to-complications-of-an-often-unrecognized-problem/ Has anybody else had this problem and if so what option(s) did you explore to address it?

I’ve always been anemic, even as a child. I had my Gastric Bypass in December 2012. As of late I’ve had an increasing problem with my blood levels and several of my vitamins and minerals testing dangerously low, especially my Iron levels. I found an article on the issue and how intravenous infusions may successfully address the issue: http://bariatrictimes.com/intravenous-micronutrient-therapy-imnt-for-gastric-bypass-patients-a-solution-to-complications-of-an-often-unrecognized-problem/ Has anybody else had this problem and if so what option(s) did you explore to address it?

I have PCOS, and struggled with fertility for years... I conceived with IVF prior to this surgery but complications for PCOS have made this surgery needed. You are doing a great thing for yourself, and I just wanted to say good luck with your journey and congrats on the house!

The article say's "potential " adverse events that require monitoring and potential treatment. Risks with all medical procedures and disease. good information. Complications with type two diabetes left untreated “Diabetes is a condition expected to gradually progress over time. If type 2 diabetes goes untreated, the high blood sugar can affect various cells and organs in the body. Complications include kidney damage, often leading to dialysis, eye damage, which could result in blindness, or an increased risk for heart disease or stroke. Unfortunately, the effects of high blood sugars are not limited to this,” Dr. Aluri says. Chronic conditions, like neuropathy (nerve damage), gastroparesis (issues with stomach emptying) can also develop. Diabetes mellitus, Dr. Aluri says, could kill someone if not diagnosed and managed properly. Extremely high blood glucose can even lead to coma (hyperosmolar hyperglycemic non-ketotic state).

I can't say that I had a full on regret, even in the immediate post-op recovery period that was nothing like anybody else's descriptions. However, I do have occasional flashes where I kind of mourn the loss of eating as my coping mechanism/source of joy. That's not to say that I regret by any means and honestly, isn't that what I signed up for? Someone else quoted that remorse comes from indecision. I agree and I believe that's at the very heart of this. This isn't my first rodeo into bariatric surgery. I had lap band in 2005, which was for the most part successful, but had to have it out due to complications. I lived without the band until I returned to some pretty bad habits and gained all of my weight back. It took me almost 2 years to decide if I wanted to go with another bariatric surgery, but once I decided, that was it. I reached a point where I admitted that I just didn't have the tools to go it alone. I committed to the surgery and I no longer considered alternatives. That's my story, but it is very common for bariatric surgery patients to experience regret. And I can't say it any better than @Missouri-Lee's Summit. She totally hit the nail on the head.

Awarewness is definitely key. The rule here is that surgeons have to give a patient an information sheet with all the pro's , con's and possible complications prior to scheduling any surgery. It's called informed consent. Isn't it the same there too?

While cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and all-cause mortality risk is reduced after gastric bypass, the following "cons" were also revealed in a 2018 European study*: . -gallstone and gallbladder disease -gastrointestinal ulcer / reflux -bowel obstruction -abdominal pain -anemia -malnutrition -psychiatric diagnoses -alcohol abuse . *some of these conditions are short-term complications . https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/d-nsr092818.php

Hey Midwest Girl! How are you doing post-op? I hope you're starting to get into the new groove and not having any complications. Keep me posted, I've decided to go with the bypass and my with my surgeon November 8th to schedule my surgery!!! I'm so happy.

It probably helps that I'd seen how many complications were possible with other medical procedures, so that particular piece of paperwork didn't scare me. (Even the upper endoscopy had a long list! And it was a 5 minute procedure.) I was scared before surgery, but I kept reminding myself that this is one of the safer surgeries out there -- safer than gallbladder removal (which is often done outpatient!) and joint replacement. Also, my surgeon has never (knock on wood) lost a patient, and I knew I'd follow the rules and do everything they told me, to maximize my chances of coming out of the surgery healthy. Also, my options were "get this surgery now and maybe get a break from my arthritis" or "chicken out and keep losing mobility and eventually end up with diabetes and heart disease because I can't exercise." So, pushing myself to get over my fear seemed pretty important. Your math might be different, though, and that's OK. ❤️

I'm 8 days and I've been dealing with some complications.. talked to the nurse and they said it's normal to feel uncomfortable. Just have to live with it for now. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I started beforehand, but talk to your surgeon/surgical team/nutritionist, because some supplements and vitamins need to be stopped a few weeks before your surgery to prevent any complications.

Thank you. I did search out many, many past threads of all kinds so I knew complications but it just seemed like more people were having complications and posting - just a casual momentary observation....hopefully. I don’t fear the surgery itself at all, in fact I kinda of welcome the rest for a couple of days!!! I told myself a last January it was time for change, just didn’t think it would take quite this long, but here it goes!

Hi Yessican! Any kind of surgery is scary for sure! For me, the benefits of having the surgery far outweighed the “possible” complications. Best of luck to you!

Its normal to be nervous and start second guessing one self, its a big scary change you are about to make. Yes some people have complications. As part of the process your surgeon should have given you an information sheet explaining what the possible complications are and you should also have been given the opportunity to discuss these and any concerns that you may have with him/her. Its called informed consent. When I started using this site again one of the first things I did was to deliberately search out threads about complications. Maybe I'm weird but I feel that forewarned is forearmed. The actual likelihood of you having a serious complication is pretty low and they are things that surgeons can deal with. I got my date yesterday and I was having a discussion with my surgeon about the fear of surgery and him not killing me( when I'm nervous about things my weird sense of humour kicks in). He said the fear of surgery is normal , it's the fear of the unknown and also it is his job to worry about not killing me not mine! Now things you should worry about are how to manage your shopping addiction once you lose weight and see how amazing you look in your new clothes, and what you are going to do with all your extra energy etc As for timing it's like most things, there is no such thing as a perfect time. The sooner you have the op the sooner you will start your journey to better health. I now have a surgery date of Jan 17 which means that I still won't be eating solid food on my 25th anniversary in Feb!

Hey guys, I’m scheduled for nov 7, I went to my pre-op appointment with my surgeon and they gave me the consent papers to sign. Omg I freaked out when I started reading all the risks and complications possible.. how did u guys over come this fear.. help I’m having second thought now....😞

I'm not even a full month past an invasive surgery. It's immediately visible to anyone who looks at my stats, and it ought to be enough that people give me a little bit of a break. And yet. I made a comment in a thread last night (my first comment in said thread), to correct a little bit of "what about the newbies" concern trolling (as a newbie, I'm qualified), and someone with a very high "reputation score" immediately jumped in and 1) lumped me in with the people they'd been heatedly arguing with for tens of posts, 2) misrepresented what I was saying, and 3) insulted my intelligence. Or at least my education level. When I clarified (angrily, because that's clearly what this person wanted from me, and I am honestly at the very end of my fuse for reasons that aren't relevant to the point I'm making), they doubled down, replying with one abusive post after another in rapid succession. It was awful. The thread has been closed, so while I guess maybe you could still go find it, please don't. If you witnessed it, please don't reopen that line of discussion or name the other person who behaved badly; that is not the point of this post. I'm not making a one-person call-out post; I'm talking about trends. Usually it's a couple of groups of veterans and near-veterans I see squabbling amongst each other, and if you go back in the archives a year, you can see a different set of near-veterans doing pretty much the same thing, about slightly different topics. (All that necroposting someone's been doing lately has accidentally surfaced a lot of ugliness.) And that is the behavior I'd rather focus on: people coming here to fight, being willing to bully newer members in the course of those fights, and still maintaining a high reputation. It's "people," plural, and it's a real problem. It makes reputation really misleading: we should lose reputation when we make the site more negative. And, yeah, the fact that I was provoked to the point of throwing insults back probably means I should lose a little bit of reputation for that, too. My point is, it would be nice to see some way for the community, or the moderators, to penalize bad behavior. Because without that, reputation is incredibly misleading. (I am, however, posting this in Rants & Raves and not Website Suggestions, because the details of how you build a fair moderation system are complicated. Done naively, it would just become another avenue for bullying and cliquishness; you can already see the ghost of that in the meangirl way some people use the "laughing" response on posts they disagree with. And I don't really expect Alex et. al. to put in that level of work, to learn how to do it fairly and then implement that. So this is just a rant. I'm angry that people get to behave badly, bully newer members, and still get little markers by their names suggesting that they are trustworthy. I'm of the opinion that removing reputation altogether would be better than what we have now, but I feel like that's not going to be a view that many share. So. Just a rant. Ignore me if you want; this isn't going anywhere, and I'm not going to pursue it now that I have it out of my system.)

Hello! 5th day after surgery but only my second day on clear liquids as I had a lot of complications after surgery - it was rough, I have to be honest. My doctor gave me the goal of at least 40 ounces of liquids to start and I'm slowly trying to get through it but is it normal to always feel full and bloated? Even just on clear liquids? I'm currently drink broth, juice and water for now (mixed with some medication) and will start on full liquids (shakes and soups) soon but just wanted to ask if this full feeling eventually goes away? or do you feel this all day? or is it because my stomach is still swollen and healing? Even if I'm not drinking I still feel full. I take small sips and usually try to finish about 200 ml every hour- am I drinking too much too soon? Thank you!

Good luck! I was revised from the band on October 10th. I have been complication free and progressing well.

I had a vsg done 10/15, started out at 389, weighed this morning, fully dressed 339. Only complication was a go round with gout. I think the dehydration post op a few days triggered it. A round of steroids and Percocet and I was good as new in a few days. No dumping, no hunger, bp feels down. Went out to the moose lodge last night and forgot to wear a belt, my shorts kept slipping off my ass night. (No no drinking other than a unsweet tea). It’s funny because I wore the same shorts the day of surgery and they were snug on my hips. Good problem to have I guess. 2 week post op dr visit is Tuesday... I’m ready to get back to work.

Hey there ! I havent had much luck in finding any accounts that really shared ALL about the procedure I embarked on. It's been a hell of a ride. I started with a 2 week liquid diet, and this Monday I got my gastric bypass done (RnY). It has been one of the most exhausting and emotionally/ physically taxing things I have ever done. During my liquid pre op diet I thought about giving up but then thought it would be worth it. I went into surgery and I came out with some complications, extending my hospital stay. The doubt really stuck in during that time. Was this the right decision? Should I have done something else? It all just felt wrong. I hadn't had a bowel movement. And my stomach was hurting so bad, plus the trapped gas I was suffering, also the fact that there have been a lot of people that weren't confidential about this procedure. I finally had a good cry about it now since being home. It was just all a big pill to swallow. Needing to be vulnerable to those you cant trust. Not being visited or feel cared for by those that you really thought would be there. Worrying about what others opinions will be the next time you see them. This stupid air that's trapped in my shoulder still. It all just snowballed. I finally got a bowel movement today which almost felt like giving birth ! (Not that I would know since I am not a mother) I finally feel some relief. I finally dont need to think when I can have my next pain killer. I can finally walk. I can finally just have some time for myself, and not be dependant of anyone else. Dont get me wrong... I still can't drive or work. But spending some hours alone in my room, without people constantly waking you up and asking you questions is enough for this girl ! I want to still believe this was the right choice. I dont want to feel ashamed, I just want to feel healthy. And maybe not really that, just find some normalcy again.

I'm pretty good.. no real complaints.. or complications only thing I've noticed recently is my stomach is rumbling alot.. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi everyone isn't crazy how its the hardest decision to make. Which surgery would be the best for us. I struggled with that decision up to a few months ago. Orginially I was set to do the sleeve, thinking it would be less invasive, sounds like a simpler operation, easier for surgeon to perform but for me I had done soooo much research and after having my endoscopy, I'm convinced the bypass would ultimately be my better choice. I had some low grade inflammation in my stomach which I feel could eventually cause bad acid reflux disease. I had BAD acid reflux before don't want to live with it. Again there is so many people who have done the sleeve and not experience any issues with reflux and have had a lot of success and maintain healthier weight. Its my opinion I've read some really bad horror stories about lap band and lots of revisions which are harder to achieve weight loss and complications after 2nd surgery. I'm just saying really research before considering lap band. As for insurance and out of pocket expense, some hospitals have programs that will adjust depending on your income. Hopefully you'll have some kinda help. so my surgery is 11/15 bypass yep its happening crazy time flys

Thank you johnsons13... that is good information. Never thought to have separation to know if complications arise where it’s coming from?!? Idek if I want to rush into making a decision. I just had a biopsy done today so maybe looking to see what comes back on that!