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Hey all! I share my journey on Instagram! My name is Maddie- my Instagram name is Maddie5088 - I’ve lost 180 pounds. Had gastric bypass June 26, 2017.

First time posting here! Gastric bypass was June 26, 2017 I’m 5’5 Left picture - 338 pounds Right picture - 158 pounds

I met with the surgeon for the first time today. He says I am a good candidate for gastric bypass. My insurance is requiring about 6 months for nutritional classes. I asked a lot of questions. I’m excited and determined to make this happen. 2021 will be the start of a new year for a new me.

March 3rd 2020 i had sleeve conversion to RNY with hiatal hernia repair. I had lost 90% of my weight, but had really bad reflux and food getting stuck and stabbing chest pains. I can say that the sleeve i felt restriction, and still did until the revision. But with the GBP i really don't. My PA said that since liquids and pureed foods are "slider" foods, they will slide right thru without much feeling of fullness. We lost that pyloris that held things in to fill up the sleeve. but, once I start to eat normal foods, i will feel the restriction. She also agreed with the cutting of the nerves and that will come back. My new concern is i am 15 days post op and on day 13 i started getting bad stomach cramps when i drink water. the first day i had really bad gas, and thought that was it. took simethicone to no effect. But any time i drink it starts to hurt almost immediately. Been going on a few days now. I force my water down but an lying on my side in the fetal position most of the time since that is the only way it won't hurt. I read in one of these forums that this is normal, and to try warmer fluids. Anyone experiencing this? Thoughts?

After my first surgery in 1998 my stomach never quieted down, always had to have an after dinner conversation and I am finding it to be true after my bypass as well.

I just spoke with a friend who has a friend going through the Kaiser Options classes (Pre-op requirement in So. Cal). All classes have been postponed and her friend was informed that her surgeries (elective) have been postponed until further notice. I'm praying for those of you who are on the journey and awaiting your surgery. Don't forget the reason why you are on this journey and remember why you are doing this. When you finally cross the finish line, you are going to appreciate your journey even more. We are going to stay united on our journeys rather it be pre or post-op, this is a real test for each of us. Even those of us who are recently post-op, we have to assure that we stay healthy and keep our immune systems healthy. I had a post-op appt via telephone today, I have to hope that I'm doing the right thing because without direct contact with your medical team it's not clear. Hopefully we all stay complication free, hydrated and mentally healthy. There are also those who need a revision due to complications from their first procedure, the list can keep growing. This is a domino effect that we are in together. Sending positive vibes, prayers and blessings to each of you. Practice patience and keep your peace as your guides as we navigate through this.

I'm sorry, ask your surgeon. My Bariatric team said this was common for some patients post-op. This was also discussed in our classes required before surgery. My friend is post-op 2 years and has been revised to rny for almost 1 year, her stomach is a talker. She named her stomach, Tiny Tummy aka TT.

I think you're doing really well! I've only lost 3.8 kgs since surgery and that was two weeks ago. Some people lose weight really quickly post-op, for others it's more of a slow burn and then really gets going a few weeks in. Also, in regards to your friends, I find that a lot of people don't understand how weight loss works. Most people think it's a matter of less calories in + more exercise = weight loss. But our bodies are really complicated, much more so than a 2+2=4 equation, and most people who are obese or morbidly obese have other issues, like insulin or leptin-resistance, which can really hinder weight loss. In addition to that we have lower metabolic rates that are difficult to change. There are two contradictory actions when we diet and start an exercise regimen at the same time. The exercise will give a boost to our metabolism, but the diet will slow it down. So in effect they cancel each other out which is why most people plateau after a few weeks and can't figure out why. The body doesn't like change and will always try to get back to where it was, especially metabolism. Also fat cells like being fat and will use any opportunity to fill themselves up again - something to remember when you are 1 or more years post-op. Going back to any old habits will be a very happy reunion for your fat cells, which is what happened to me and why I needed revision surgery. Fat cells never disappear, they are always there, just much smaller than before. Which is why people who were obese before will always struggle with food compared to people who have always (or mostly) been at a healthy weight. And of course most of us probably have real addictions to food, which is difficult to deal with. Compared to drugs or alcohol, none of which are needed to survive, we need to food to live, so have to deal with our addictions every time we eat, go shopping, or are in any other situation involving food. It really is a hard mental game to keep up with. Anyway, I'm just saying this because if you think of losing weight as a race, obese people do not start at the start line with regular (mostly healthy, maybe overweight) people. We are handicapped by our obesity, our metabolism, our brains, our resistance to different hormones, our food addictions, our co-morbidities, etc which puts us way back behind the start line. So we never get a fair "race" compared to our healthier counterparts. But when we get surgery, the loss of part of our stomach basically resets the entire body back to zero, and now we have a more even playing field. We still still have to work at it, and be vigilant with our food choices, but at least we are no longer handicapped by everything else that was preventing success in all the years we were trying to lose weight. I was reading an recent medical journal that says a) obesity is a disease, just like cancer, and should be treated as such, and b) gastric surgery should be renamed metabolic surgery since it has so many positive effects on the body. Honestly, it's now even being considered as a treatment for diabetes, since it has been so successful in eliminating that problem with obese people who had it pre-gastric surgery, but not afterwards. A good book to read (if you haven't already) is "Fat Chance" by Robert Lustig (M.D.) who goes into really good detail about what I explained above. I find educating ourselves with facts is the best way to counter people who will dismiss what we are doing as a "scam". Most people who think that probably have a very limited idea of what weight loss really entails. Finally, you don't need to prove anything to your friends. The only person you need to prove anything to is yourself! Good luck! Stick to the program, don't worry too much about the scale when it doesn't move fast enough or stalls (because that will happen). When it does, focus on non-scale victories, like clothes fitting better, or moving down in size, being more comfortable in a seatbelt, needing to fill the bathtub with more water since you don't displace as much as before (!), finding your collarbones and cheekbones again, etc. You got this!

Hi Folks: I have no doubt that there are lots of you out there who have recently had a gastric sleeve or bypass in the Boston area. My sleeve was done on February 26 at MassGeneral by Denise Gee. I feel very well. Maybe too well. I find that I don't feel "full" as some describe here. Actually I don't remember feeling full since I was a little kid and that was a very long time ago. I'm just about 3 weeks out from surgery and I'm down 10 pounds. Doesn't seem like much but when you average it out it's about 3 pounds a week so I guess that's not bad. I waiting for the "big weight drop" but right not it's not feeling like it's going to happen! Please drop me a note .... I would love to compare notes. Grace

I will be heading to the hospital in about five minutes, and I thought I would start a thread where I would post my experience and updates with an ESG revision/conversion to gastric sleeve. I had an endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) nearly 18 months ago- more about that another time. An endoscopy last month verified that all but one suture had come undone. Time for a conversion. As expected I am a bit nervous this morning but am grateful that surgery hasn't been cancelled in these trying times. I don't have bariatricpal set up on my tablet or mobile so will be updating in a few days as I won't be carting my old big laptop to the hospital.

Mine was 5.5 hours as a revision but that was due to excessive scar tissue from other surgeries.

This looks good. I'll probably try something similar now that I've had bypass (it's hard to remember that since what I'm going through now reminds me so much of my post-op days after sleeve). I need to keep reminding myself that my stomach is about the size of my index finger - very different to the sleeve.

I think for the most part, the diet we follow post-surgery (whether sleeve or bypass) is what is known as protein-prioritized keto (there's a FB group if you are interested). Keep protein high, fats low to moderate, and carbs low. In fact, I really don't understand the (traditional keto) focus on high fat since the reason most people lose weight is because of low carbs. And of course protein is better for you than fat. That said, some people may be more sensitive to fatty foods after bypass (I just had a bypass revision myself and this is something I'm concerned about). I would talk to your doctor/nutritionist to see what they think.

My question is can I safely do Keto with a bypass and no gall bladder?

Hello everyone, I'm new to the website. I just had my bypass on friday so that makes me 3 days post-OP. Does anyone have weird internal stitch pulling? I placed an order for a bodyband and a body pillow, does anyone else have any suggestions?

Hi, I’m brand new user of this site, I just registered in fact. I found it by searching online for a bariatric subscription box which I see they offer here. Anyway, I’m female, I just turned 43, I’m about 5’6” and starting weight at right around 258 so we are pretty close as far as numbers go. I’m planning to have gastric bypass though as it’s what’s been recommended this far because of my GERD/acid reflux. I’ve been at this for several months (not too far from a year actually) and I was approved by my insurance just recently. I don’t have a surgery date yet as I have a rescheduled EGD I need to complete. I’ve done everything else and some of it twice as I was originally trying for the surgery before the beginning of the year - when I had maxed my out of pocket on my insurance last year. Didn’t make it for a few reasons but anyway I’m rambling, sorry, just want to say that I’m looking for all of the support I can get as well as only my husband is aware of the surgery and I’m not planning to tell family that lives back home in another state. I’m excited to learn more and also possibly order a couple of products to try. I guess it might be best to visit the post-op forum for suggestions on that or see what other forums are available. Thank you for reading if you have this far - I have MDD & TRD (Major Depressive Disorder & Treatment Resistant Depression) so this process/journey seems to be even more difficult for persons like me. But I’m determined to get through it if it’s the right thing for me and so far it seems it is. Happy to be a surgery buddy with you OP if you’d like and also just happy to be here to meet you all and I welcome any suggestions or advice!

I don’t know what to say exactly. Whatever your fears regarding Covid-19 it shouldn’t alter your healthy way of eating post gastric bypass. There are plenty of options that do not need to be “fresh foods” to keep on hand that are bariatric friendly, low carb and low sugar for meals. I managed to get eggs, yogurt, I have protein powder, protein bars, a few protein soups, I also have frozen foods I tend to buy vegetarian frozen foods. But depending on your stage there are options. Unopened cottage cheese and yogurt stays fresh longer check dates. You can buy canned proteins like tuna, chicken, etc. frozen vegetables. No reason to just stock up on carbs. Also try to find things to distract from worries besides food. If you are safe at home just try not to worry. @AJ Tylo is right there is nothing we can do to change the course of this. I’ve immunodeficiency and lifelong chronic illness and I can’t stress over this. I’m just doing my best to stay on track with what I can. even though I’m dealing with my own personal issues despite everything going on out there. Even though it’s hard as life gets thrown into a strange situation that’s new to you just try to take it one moment at a time and be grateful you are healthy and alive. I can’t play psychic as people seem to like to and say it’s gonna get better, just take it in the moment. And find things to occupy your mind. Get on track with getting hydration, and protein and don’t fall for carbs or comfort foods just because you think it will make you feel better. There are many other things you can do to find comfort and solace and distract your mind to feel better even if it’s just binge watching a really good tv show or taking a long walk alone in nature ... you don’t need a gym for that or to be around other humans either. side note if you can’t exercise compensate in other ways. I can’t exercise due to my chronic illness and disability. I follow a low carb way of eating, and calorie counting. But honestly even now you can find ways to get in some exercise, at home, alone in nature, etc. get creative ...

I suggest you do a little homework first. Call your insurance company and ask what are the requirements for WLS. Back in 2009 (lapband) the insurance i had the requirements were..... 35 bmi with 2 co morbids OR over 40 bmi with no co's. I quilified for the 40 bmi. I am also 5'2".... (this is one time where being short pays off). I was 232lbs so my bmi was around 42 i think. WLS was a life saver for me in so many ways. Because i had the LB my weight loss was so, but i stuck with it and followed the rules. Got to 143lbs and stayed there for nearly 8 years. Then in March of 2017, after years of zero problems, i got sick and for a week i threw up violently, slipped my band and had to have her removed. Over the next 2.5+ years (and starting menopause) i put back 30lbs of the 89 i lost. Which was still great.... but i hated how i felt. I also hated that no matter what i did.... diet, diet pills, not eating, tracking food, crossfit,.... nothing stopped it. After about a year without her i realized i wouldn't be able to keep all the weigh off with out some intervention. So i started looking for a Dr. to do a revision. My plan was to get the MGB, but no one would do it..... all i kept hearing was... You don't weigh enough.... ughhhh. I started plans to go down to Mex and have it done there.... then on a last ditch effort i called a local Dr. and had a meeting with him. He agreed that had i NOT been a previous WLS patient he would never do anything.... BUT because i was he could get me in as a "revision". So on Aug. 28, 2019 i went in for the Sleeve. No, it's not what i wanted, but i grabbed the chance and ran with it... that and 14K. Mex was about 9-10k i think. Yes i would have saved a few thousand, but it was worth the extra to have my dr. 10 min from me and not in Mex. Today, i happy at my current weight of 131lbs. The day i was sleeved i was 173.5lbs. Worth every cent of that 14k.

I'm also short (5'3") and for my first surgery was 150 pounds overweight, for my most recent revision, 100 pounds overweight (which put me at 41 BMI). I had no other co-morbidities at the time of either surgery. However, I was self-pay for both, so did not have to go through insurance at all. Unfortunately I think insurance companies have more say than doctors do, but if you meet the minimum requirement I can't see why they wouldn't accept you for surgery. Just don't lose any weight until you get approved!

Had revision, hernia repair and bowel resection on Thursday. Initially, I felt great but 5 hours after discharge I thought my insides were gonna fall out. Tylenol-Cod elixir doest not help much. 18 yrs ago, when I was very young I had a gastric bypass. It went well! Lost 180 Ibs ( lowest wt 126 Ibs, 4’11). Three years later I developed a vertical hernia that was repair. About 10 years in I developed strictures and could not hold any food down. A GI doc at my university dilated by esophagus and gastric pouch. I was furious with him but in hindsight he probably saved my life. The hernia repair was done with mesh which became painful. Due to Change insurances several time I was unable to find a bariatric doctor I felt comfortable with until now. I’m petty sure if your thyroid levels are controlled, gastric bypass will assist in weight loss. Probably remaining on a low carb, lean meat, low dairy diet and exercise 4-5 days a week may also help. That’s my plan!

Well after being denied and appealing the surgery and waiting 7 weeks for a surgery date which is 3/18, I believe they are canceling my revision due to the virus. Because it’s elective.  I hope I’m wrong. I am in so much pain from the heartburn. I’ve been on a liquid diet for 2 weeks.  I’m so upset. 

I had a revision from a lap band to RNY and I know for the first 4 days I had terrible "buyers remorse". But around day 5 I felt like I was gonna make it, and every day was better than the day before. It's totally normal to think "what the hell did I just do to myself???" Almost everyone of us have thought that right after surgery. Your doctor should have you on a PPI for a few months after your surgery. I had heartburn for about a month after mine. Be patient with yourself on the fluid drinking and don't force it. It will get easier. Hang in there, YOU GOT THIS! It WILL bet better, I promise...

@asnirak I had bypass as well (revision) and I also question why it’s so easy for me to drink liquids! That said, I know from my last surgery that liquids go right through you, but also in the first weeks after surgery your stomach is quite swollen and sore, so it may not be able to indicate to you if you are having too much. Which is why it’s important to try to stick to recommended doses if possible. Another reason to do so is to prepare us in getting used to eating smaller portions, and to eating and drinking more slowly. Interestingly, my program has a more realistic liquid intake progression - 1.2L the first two weeks (about 5 cups), then 1.5 the next two, and then 2L (64 oz) once one month post-op hits. I found no problem getting my liquids in in the beginning, but now that I’ve added purées and soft foods I find it a bit more challenging.

@CammyC: I had my revision 26th February and I am convinced I am eating way more calories than you. I still don't feel that good, walks and grocery shopping are exhausting and I'm honestly not really expecting being able to jump around. We all should keep in mind that we had abdominal surgery and general anesthesia. It takes time, at least for most people. Tbh, I can't relate at all to the patients talking about "brimming with energy" shortly after surgery.

You said you're revision? Sleeve to SIPS did you say? Were you hungry after your sleeve as well? Did they touch your sleeve this time? Sorry for these questions. Just asking because I'm a revision as well (MGB to RNY) and have a really hard time battling the cravings this time.