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Got my surgery date for August 24th gastric bypass case#1 in Modesto with Dr. Coirin, super nervous and scared at the same time [emoji15][emoji3064][emoji46] Sent from my SM-G981U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks for starting this thread. I just joined a few minutes ago and I had my initial consultation just yesterday. All of this is a bit overwhelming, but it's good to know that I share a similar story. I'm over sixty and I had my gallbladder removed when I was 22 and Gastric By Pass is being recommended for me because of the acid reflux disease although my surgeon will also do the sleeve if that's what I want. It's kinda freaking me out realizing that either my stomach will be significantly reduced or bypassed all together. I have to make a decision on which way I'm going to go very soon and I'm glad for this forum. I have a lot to read. I won't put up a profile until I decide. Good luck and best wishes for a successful surgery to you.

Surgery Date set for August 24th case 1 gastric bypass..in Modesto with doctor Coirin.. super nervous and excited at the same time. Sent from my SM-G981U using BariatricPal mobile app

As far as Bypass goes my surgeon and I spoke at length about how much bowel he would bypass. He did a short or 100cm bypass on me when most do 150-200cm I'm told. I preferred this as I'd come in for a sleeve with 65 pounds to lose and he convinced me with my history of GERD the Bypass would be better. I was concerned about malabsorption and dumping and he said he found the shorter bypasses had far less dumping and said the bloodwork of his patients was usually better with the shorter bypass as well. He did say the weight loss was sometimes slower with the shorter bypass. And mine definitely is with a 37 pound loss at 4.5 months post op. But I'm ok with it. So... not stomach size but bowel bypass... yes!

I have bypass surgery in February 2019 and have been wondering the exact same thing! My family and close friends know what I'm doing, but my issue is work colleagues. I have told my supervisor that I will need two weeks off for surgery. She didn't ask for details, but I have no doubt colleagues will once I get back--and I do not want to share it with them.

My BMI was 54 last week when I had surgery. I was leaning toward bypass because of my BMI and diabetes and sleep apnea, but my surgeon said he won't do a bypass unless he can't do the sleeve. I ha E GERD as well, and if there had been any anatomical concerns with my stomach that were contributing to the GERD that would have meant bypass. Overall, 5 days out and I feel great and have no regrets. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Yes I couldn't agree more, and if you focus and get it done now, it will be out of your way. You will be on track to a new you. My surgery is booked Oct. 26 and I start my pre-op in a week. Also good news is I successfully defended my PhD and it is out of the way for now (revisions I will do after). I feel its time. You will get through this. Do you have a date set?

Hi all, I'm about a month and a half from my bypass surgery and I'm struggling to be good on my food. My partner is an alcoholic and decided to go off his mental health meds a couple weeks ago without consulting his therapist or me. I've managed to get him to start them again a couple days ago, but it's been rough. Additionally, my special needs 6 year old has been home from his special needs "school"/ therapy center over insurance issues that won't resolve until at least the 30th. His being out of school coincided with my partner starting a new job, so suddenly he's not home with us and my son has been acting out a bit. To top it all off, my chronic pain has been flaring up and I have no medication to treat it. I use heating pads etc. but it's debilitating. My PC thinks it's fibromyalgia and I've been referred to a pain specialist but they won't be calling me to schedule for another 2 weeks. Meanwhile I can barely get out of bed and when I do it's excruciating. So my question is: what do you do for stress relief that doesn't involve exercise or alone time? I have a therapist I talk to once a week and I'm on mental health medication already.

Yes, they bypass is more prone, or predisposed to, ulcers than the sleeve (just as the sleeve is predisposed to GERD.,) but they are a different sort of ulcer than what you have. The bypass tends toward marginal ulcers around the anastomosis (junction) between the new stomach pouch and intestines. This is because the part of intestine that is now immediately downstream of the stomach is not resistant to stomach acid like the duodenum - the upper part of the intestine immediately downstream of the normal stomach, which gets bypassed along with the remnant stomach in the RNY. Consequently, that anastomosis is very sensitive and prone to ulcers, which is the root of the "no NSAID" rule that permeates bariatrics - you don't want to take any medication that could irritate that anastomosis (there are other meds that may be limited, too, but NSAIDs are the most common class.) What I would be concerned about is what caused your ulcer, and whether that cause would be relieved (or exacerbated) by your surgery. Similar to your hiatal hernia and GERD - fixing the hernia will likely correct your GERD and you will be back to "normal" - no more predisposed to it if you get a sleeve, but still possible. One of the problems with the bypass is that it leaves you with a blind remnant stomach and upper intestine, which can't be easily monitored with an endoscopy, so if something develops in that blind section, you may not know about it until things have progressed more than you would like them to progress (possibly to a cancer.) Some express a dislike for the sleeve because if they have a resultant reflux problem then it could lead to Barret's esophagus and possibly cancer, which is a fair concern; however, that is something that can be easily monitored endoscopically if those symptoms develop, and can be treated; problems that may develop in the blind stomach or intestines of the RNY may not be caught until it is too late to treat effectively, so there is a trade off there. You are somewhat caught in the middle, with some contraindications for both of the common WLS procedures. This is where some serious talk, and understandings, with your medical team is appropriate to really get a good handle on your problems going into this, and how those may play out in the future. I/m not so sure that I would be comforted by the matter that the surgeon may be able to work around a problem (such as an ulcer) if that problem is likely to reoccur 5-10 years in the future, and possibly worse - the surgeon is out of the picture by then, but you aren't. There is another alternative that might be worth considering, which would be the duodenal switch - it uses a sleeve, so it doesn't leave a blind remnant stomach, but due to its' malabsorption component, they typically use a larger version of the sleeve which is less prone to GERD problem. Your surgeon may not offer it (it's a more complex procedure, so many surgeons don't offer it) but it may be worth looking into to see if that fits your need. Good luck,

I was on Depo about 20 years before I had surgery, and I gained weight like crazy on that! I finally got off it a few months later since I was scared my weight would keep going up. It may be different after you have surgery, though. I was post-menopausal when I had my bypass, so of course no need for birth control. Hopefully someone will be able to answer this for you...

I agree that at the start of the journey it is easier than later on. Initially you are excited, fired up and committed but you eventually get tired of that. Also the longer you have been banded the easier it becomes to eat many foods that were difficult before. It is not something that a fill would fix as that would probably make you too tight .I am a grazer and always have been. I only work casually and spend a lot of time at home so it is easy to go back and fore to the fridge. Luckily my grazing doesn't seem to have reached the level where it is causing problems. I am obviously not consuming as much as I think I am because I am still maintaining. However this is what I think is going on. The initial period after banding is the honeymoon period. You don't normally see this term associated with banding it is normally talked about with a sleeve but I believe the same thing happens with all WLS. This is the timeframe when you will have the most benefit from your surgery and are able to lose the most weight. Gradually over time you will find that you get hungry quicker, that you can eat more and a wider variety. If you had a bypass and had dumping syndrome that may no longer happen etc. People need to make the most of this period to lose their excess weight or as much of it as they can. They also need to try and learn good habits in the hopes that once the period is over some of the habits will remain. Once your honeymoon period is over you can still lose weight but it will be a bigger struggle. Hopefully if you have lost all the excess by then the band/sleeve/bypass will still give you enough assistance that you can maintain without too much effort. It is normal to eat "unhealthy/sometimes foods" sometimes. The trick is to make sure that you don't break all your newly learnt good habits and go back to the way you were preband.

This is not to slam anyone, but I really would like some input. I read here so many that say the band doesn't work, or that 20,30,or 40lbs have come off and now nothing. I realize that many of you have had problems with slippage or some other medial issue, so I'm not thinking of you, I have been reflecting and I'm finding some greal gray areas for myself. I started to make my food changes the day of my seminar, I cut out sweet tea, sodas, starting taking smaller portions , no drink with food and soon started to feel bertter. And I was working hard to drink my Water. I choose the band because the bypass scared me, and I didn't like the look of those who had it. I followed my own changes from Nov. until my 2 week pre op diet.in Feb. I was down 18lbs on that day. I was good about following the instructions and the weight keep coming off. I didn't exercise much, just watched what I ate. When I finally lost 63 lbs. and was in a size 12....I lost my mind. I got lazy and stopped following the rules. I lost my commitment to the program. I stopped loosing . Even knowing this I can't get on track. I say these things because I don't think we are all as commited as we once were, we are not as honest with ourselves as we need to be. For me candy keeps wandering into my home, coffee creams are the devils inventtion and sugar has rentered through a back door. Still knowing this, I can't seem to shake things back in the right places. I started this journey because I didn't want to be on a diet for life, and I don't feel I am. One of my problems is that even though I don't have ture restriction, I don't have a problem with hunger, I thought if I wasn't hungry I shouldn't eat...very wrong. I am stumped about how to fix where I am, I need to loose anthore 30-35lbs to be in the guidelines. I would like to loose about 15 to feel like I had a true result for my effor. I don't think doc will do a fill since I'm not hungry. I try to eat meat & veggies but it is usually only once a day. Yogurt and Protein drinks to try to get the protein in. My life schedule is strange and gym time never seems to come. So, is it not working or am I doning something wrong.

Outpatient here. Had a revision from lapband to SIPS DS in one surgery. [emoji1360][emoji173]️

My surgeon said to wait 9 months to a year. But, I accidentally jumped the gun and he now says I'll be fine. Had VSG in July 2011 and am now 10 weeks pregnant. My OB is not concerned at all. I reached my goal weight of 141 pounds (started at 183ish) and am now considered in "maintenance." This is my 3rd pregnancy---I was a chubba chubba for the first two pregnancies. I'm was having issues with nausea and zero appetite about four weeks ago due to morning sickness but my OB prescribed Zofran (anti-nausea med) and that has helped immensely. The weird thing is that when I take the medicine and get my appetite back, I seem to have less restriction than before I was pregnant. It's strange. And kinda scary because I don't want to gain too much. I now weigh 143. FWIW, a good friend of mine had gastric bypass several years ago and got pregnant with TWINS within six months of surgery. She LOST about 30 pounds while pregnant. Yes, LOST weight. Her twins were born totally healthy, normal sizes, were not in the NICU, no problems whatsoever, and after giving birth she lost ANOTHER 40 pounds before even leaving the hospital or something crazy. Long story short----she was at her goal weight within hours of delivering her twin girls. They are now 5 years old and typical sassy fun 5 year old girls. So I'm not worried, they are monitoring my nutrient levels and they've been perfect (so far).

They may, but it's not a big deal. The incisions are really small. Your muscles don't feel sore afterwards. Im 5 weeks out from my RNY gastric bypass and muscles are fine. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm booked in for bypass on 22/2/17. Can't wait Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Not leaving the remnant stomach is an option (that is what is done when the surgery is for something like gastric cancer - you don't want it lying around in there, lol) but there are trade offs as usual. The main one that I can think of is that the stomach is no longer there producing acid to neutralize the bile being secreted just downstream of it, so there may be greater chances of bile reflux. AFAIK, there are ways to minimize that when the surgery is done, but these are things to discuss with the surgeon as to how best handle your individual problems. If I had revised my VSG ro an RNY a few years ago, that is how it would have been done - no remnant stomach.

I had lap band in 2013 but then in 2017 it slipped causing me to have severe reflux and in Nov 2017 I had it removed. My Dr said nothing about any revisions so I thought I could maintain my weight myself. Nope...I was right back to where I started. March 10, 2019 I had a Sleeve done by another Dr in which I was very happy with. I am really looking forward to the journey again in getting back to my happy weight of 170.

I haven't had mine done yet, but I am going from band to bypass on October 24, so I'll be right behind you. My office said it typically takes about 2.5 to 3 hours for a revision surgery, this wasn't directly from the surgeon's mouth though, just office staff, so I'll be sure to ask him at my next pre-op appointment. All I know, is I think this will be so much better for us than the band! If your experience from the band has been anything like mine, almost anything would be better

I did in Jan. I did have a minor complication. I came through the surgery ok and was doing fine when a couple of hours later I had a sudden drop in BP. They did an ultrasound and thought that there could be a bleed somewhere so they took me back into surgery and also gave me 4 units of blood. No major issues found in 2nd surgery. I have since spoken to the Doc and he says that the trocar probably damaged a minor blood vessel in the stomach layers - a complication that could have happened with any surgery. I was in hospital for 5 nights and did feel like I had been hit by a bus. On day 5 I developed mild asthma, I couldn’t wait to get home. Felt very weird for the first couple of weeks. Head was fuzzy and I felt like I had a hair in my throat. Possibly Ketosis combined with an ear issue! I have lost all the weight that I regained when my band stopped working and now feel fab. I weigh 50kg. The bypass is so much better than the band. My diet is much healthier, when I’m full I feel it in my stomach not in my throat and chest and I can go out and eat and not spend the night in the bathroom throwing up because 1 bite went down wrong. I don’t have any food issues, I can eat just about anything. I do have to be careful with sugar, too much gives me the shakes, palpitations and leaves me feeling generally awful - this is a good thing.

Kisha and Krimson Butterfly- Its the dog-honest thing. Now that I am 1/2 the size I once was , really-truly AM , down to 182 from HW of 365+, people are coming out of the WoodWork, "Oh I have been watching and supporting YOU all along!" I knew YOU could do it, should I have told YOU?" Yeah it sure would have been nice, especially when I had my PICC line in and didn't know how long That Might Be! Suddenly they want to support ME but where were they when I was scared to death to even undertake it at 72, with so many telling me "I was DESTROYING my health" Should be satisfied to do NOTHING and die OBESE" You'll die on the Operating Table Anyway!" I seem to recall only Tomkitten , my son, really cheering me ON. Even my PCP, the very one who forecast "Death Before 75 " and told me Surgeon #1 was right to drop me because I was over 70 and a BAD SURGICAL RISK! Incredibly he now is Peeved because I have lost weight so Fast, told me He only expected ME to drop 70% of my Excess Weight, That's a VSG amount- I'm an RNY Bypass- We Lose 75 to 85%- wouldn't YOU THINK a DOCTOR Should KNOW THAT? Perhaps I should smile sweetly but inside I AM SEETHING- Seems like it's "A Little Too Late To Do the RIGHT thing NOW!" See I Had convinced myself it was The Right Time- The Right Operation- Done in the Right Place- By the right surgeon- For the Right reasons- To the Right person- but from then on I should use every tool possible to ensure IT All Was Not in Vain. And I worked HARD, So Very HARD to prove I was just as good as people 1/2, even 1/3 MY Age . And Now Suddenly They WANT to join MY PARADE? I just can't fathom it All!

Hi! I too will need a buddy and hope that putting myself here will help that happen. I have my pre-OP apt next Tues! Woohoo! I'm done with all of my appointments! Phewww! I'm still nervous cause I think that this is not real until the day I actually check in for surgery. I hope to have an Oct date and have been going back and forth between the sleeve and bypass. I am already working on mindful eating and the 30/30/30. That is the hardest thing for me so far cause I want to immediately drink water after I eat. Lol Anyhow, I would love to keep on touch with u and wish u well on this amazing journey![emoji4]

@RSM all my docs had a list of my medicines pre-op i take a lot of pills AM then a lot more PM a couple of meds are "horse pills" absorption problems aren't applicable to the sleeve. (covering my assss to say usually not) but there shouldn't be a problem. malabsorption (msp) is usually referred to in gastric bypass surgery. good luck kathy

So, clearly I've made my decision. Which is the total opposite direction I thought it would be. I got off FB (short-term), except for my one bypass support group. And I removed the app from my home screen and in its place I put my Baritastic App. The thing is, this new lifestyle IS my life. At least for now. There is no shame in dedicating my time to it. To talking to those in similar positions as me. And I need to learn to stop comparing myself to others... not shy away from the exposure.

Hi all, I appreciate reading everything everyone has posted! I am currently 25 years old with 2 semesters left of nursing school. I have struggled with my weight all of my life and both my parents had gastric bypass surgery. I decided that after I graduate in April I want to have the surgery in the beginning of May. I figured I am starting a new chapter with finishing school and want to experience actually living life without being a prisoner in my own body. How long do most people request off work? I currently work as an aide lifting and moving patients as well as work on farms doing horse chores and cleaning stalls and shoveling horse turds. Trying to get an estimate on the time off, I will need.