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re: the fear of dying = banish that thought. You're not going to die. Weight loss surgeries years ago were dangerous, but they just aren't anymore. Techniques have vastly improved, and these have become very common, routine surgeries. They're really no more risky than any other abdominal surgery. The mortality rate on gastric bypass is 0.3 %. It's even lower for sleeve. So you have at least a 99.7% chance of not dying. Those are excellent odds. Better odds than hip replacement surgeries, and they do those all the time. Honestly, you're more like to experience complications and death by remaining obese than you will be having the surgery. the pre-op diet is tough - and the first few weeks post-op can be tough, too (although in many cases, the pre-op part is worse). But you'll be through this before you know it. I would have this surgery again in a heart beat. No regrets whatsoever.

Hello dear, I hope you are well. I have been hitting stall after stall. I have lost 28 pounds since my surgery on 22/4. A little disheartened. I will be ok 🤍 sending you all big hugs

I'm at 1100 to 1200, as well. The weight loss has slowed down to about 1 lb. a week, but anything less than 1100 calories and I am ravenously hungry now.

I'm sorry that you weren't feeling well. The first week or 2 are the worst. Tomorrow will be a month from my surgery date and I am feeling great . The first 2 weeks were hard. i could barely take in 24 oz of water a day. I do get heartburn now which is strange to me because I have never in my life had heartburn before now. I get it a minimum of twice a day now. Luckily I am prescribed an acid reducer and that usually seems to help. Things are so much better now. I am still on the puree phase of the diet, which is a little infuriating when I am cooking for the family and cant have any and I am still struggling trying to get my fluids in as well. But I do get the importance of treating my healing body better and, like everyone, I am doing my best.

Hey... I had my VSG on 4th April, 2022 (so nearly 4 months ago) For the last month, I've been eating around 1100 to 1200 calories a day. The weight is still coming off at approximately 1lb to 3lbs each week. Including my 2 week pre-op diet I've lost 66lb so far... I've got another 45lb to go.

For me I am only supposed to take in 400-600 calories until I hit stage 4 after 3 months. Then it’s 600-800 calories til 6 months, then 800-1000 from 6-12 months. After that I should be 1000 - 1200 calories for life. I’ve seen others go up to 1000 this early so it could have to do with starting weight, amount to loose, etc. but I’d double check that. Aside from that, there is a well known stall around week 4 (some have it at week 2 or 4). Stick with the program your surgeon gave you and you’ll be fine.

Keep telling yourself! I know it’s the hardest thing but if you can stay off the scale it might help. I find it so hard not to be jumping on every 5 minutes but when I stay off for a week I am so much more healthy mentally! I lost 4lb on pre-op diet but I was not full liquids - mine was low carb diet, only stopped eating actual food at 6pm day prior to surgery. My surgeon sent me home with a photo of my healthy liver (kinda weird seeing your own insides) so I guess I did something right. I don’t know how much I’ve lost since but I’ll hop on the scale tomorrow as I have a post op appointment. When is your surgery? Three days’ time? Best of luck with it! cay

This is really true. It depends the food, what surgery you had, how it was done, how tight your esophagus is etc. I find that I can eat one serving of most foods at a time too. Usually like 1 egg and I feel full. I can however resume eating within 1-2 hours pretty easily but you have to be careful not to eat too much throughout the whole day if you need to take a break in the middle of your meal. Sometimes I need a break after two bites because it feels so tight in my throat. But yeah then there are foods I can eat more of like salad, cheese, and bread. I can also eat more than the recommended serving size of chips or crackers but that tends to make me very nauseous so I avoid it. Pureed foods like refried beans, light soups, and yogurt I can eat in large amounts but again I don't because it makes me nauseous. For example today, I had a protein shake for breakfast and felt fine for 4 hours. Then made lunch as i started feeling low energy. made a sandwich for lunch with some protein chips. I use low calorie low carb small slices of bread (45 calorie slice) 45 calorie slice of cheese and 40 calories worth of plant based lunch meat. I got through a bit over half of the sandwich and three chips from a 160 calorie serving bag. Won't finish it, feel satisfied and know if I went back for more I'd start feeling nauseous. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

Omg SAME. I had compacted stool within 3 weeks post op and almost went to the ER. Dealt with it myself saved myself a fortune in ER bills and my pride. It's still bad but not as bad as it was 1-2 months post op. I still have stomach pains, bowel pain, feel sluggish and nauseous from how backed up I get. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am working from home the week or so after, I am hoping that part doesn't hit me too hard.

The primary functions are 1) to allow time for your surgical wounds to heal (this was MAJOR surgery, you don't want to push it) 2) to slowly integrate foods to prevent sickness/overeating 3) to allow time for you to learn your new body and adjust to your new eating habits. That being said. every surgeon has their own pre- and post- op diet requirements and there is no use comparing one to another. The ASMBS does not have hard and fast recommendations on the food plans, so surgeons are left to devise their own and they can vary wildly. Mine were both extremely restrictive, with the pre-op lasting 2 weeks and post-op being 8 weeks. Regarding the WHY of what you can/can't eat and when, reach out to your nutritionist and see if they can provide some insight on what they recommend what they do. We could all speculate, but ultimately, that guidance is coming from your team an thus the justification should as well.

The whole reason is to let your new stomach heal. You just had major surgery and your stomach was basically cut up and stapled. It needs time to heal from all the cuts and inflammation. Eating solids right away after surgery stresses your stomach out and you can potentially cause a perforation. But every surgeon is different in regards to pre op and post op diet... For me it was 2 weeks of liquids only after surgery which i did to the letter. after that i moved onto small foods on week 3 which was scrambled eggs and canned tuna. and i ate very small amounts at a time. Some cant handle soft foods yet so soon. I am currently 3 months post op and i can eat anything i want without issue. Let that stomach heal properly and you shall be rewarded lol

I wasn’t prepared for how my body was gonna feel first two weeks post op when you are completely malnourished.(I had very strict diet) I never expected to feel so bad…wiped out…drained..no tolerance for daily activity.

I'd like to know the reasons/purposes of the post-op diet and the different stages. I am following my instructions exactly. I think. I hope I'm doing it right. Now, likely all y'all know that a clear liquid diet sucks. The guide I was given says I have to be on the clear liquid stage for week 1 and I have 2 days left. But I have heard others only having clear liquids for 1-3 days. I'm doing well and I'd like to try a few things that are on my list for week 2 if it isn't going to hurt me. Which leads me to the question. What is the purpose of the clear liquid diet? Am I on a clear liquid diet to allow my new sleeve stomach to heal or is it so I won't have issues with reflux, heartburn, nausea or gas? If I knew, maybe I'd try a little of the food from the next stage. Or at the very least, not worry as much when I try to decide if my soup is as clear as it's supposed to be. In two days I graduate to a week 2 full liquid diet. The guide doesn't use the word puree', just full liquid. Is this the same thing or no? According to the guide I can add cream soups (strained). premade Protein shakes, sugar free pudding, V8 Tomato juice, low fat yogurt and Fat free milk. This is much better than week 1, but by the end of week 2, I know I'm going to start looking ahead to week 3 and want to try something from it. Week 3 is really not much different. Just adding bananas and oatmeal. But I can add unsweetened fruit to my smoothies. And, then I see this. NO GRITS & NO POTATOES. Really? Don't just say I can't have it without telling me why. What harm is going to come from potatoes, other than carbs/calories? In week 4, I am finally allowed to have cottage cheese. Not that cottage cheese is something I have to have, but I would love some right now with my clear liquids. I can also finally have well cooked beans and veggies, as well as 2% milk. Then I see, NO RICE & NO GREEN PEAS. Why? Again, I assume its starches and carbs from the rice, but tell me why... Week 5 I can finally have a scrambled egg.. Finally I can have an egg? In week 6 I can finally baked fish. Why not week 5? And then they say, NO HONEY & NO DRIED FRUIT. Why? Again, this is mostly my curiosity. But it frustrates me that they did not give me much (any) background information. I will continue following the guidance they gave me, I mean I'm dropping weight daily so it's working. But when I go to my follow-up appointment next Tuesday, I'm going to bring up some of these specific questions. I know this was a long post, but if any of you can shed some light on any of the questions I have, please feel free.

Ive only got 3 weeks left but wish I could keep it forever. I’ve lost 3 stone in 13 weeks - the sickness was awful for the First month and the heartburn has been crippling. That said the more weight I lost the easier the heartburn became and now I’m worried that I will go back to my old ways - I really hope not.. good luck to you and let us know how you get on

Let the angels sing hallelujah, my surgeon said I can have a cup or two of black coffee in the mornings during my pre-op diet the next two weeks and post-op (if tolerated ok) - I can give up a lot, but coffee was going to hurt 🙂

Congrats on your smooth recovery so far! PS: Those Bariatric Advantage chews are disgusting. Actually, i tried muleiple brands. They are are unbearable, for me anyway. I know some people like the Bariatric fusion brand. They were the best of the worse for me. I still couldn't stomach them daily. Luckily I was cleared for pills and large capsules at 2 weeks. Good luck, I hope you find something you like.

I have not started iron yet. I think the bleed stopped because a week ago my hemoglobin was only at 6 and now it is at 8! Whew!

Thanks everyone for the insights. I've been stuck at about 190 lbs for over six weeks now. Was hopeful to get down to 175-180, so it's very frustrating to be within sight of a goal but not able to get there. I am thinking I'll give it another month or so to see if this is truly a stall. If things don't move I may vary the program (i.e. adjust macronutrient and calorie levels) to see if I can break through it. With regard to the comment about food capacity, I am noticing that I can eat more at this stage of recovery than I could when I did the sleeve surgery in 2015. Even though my sleeve has been replaced by a pouch, I'm able many times to eat the same amount of food now that I could before the revision. Not always, and sometimes I'm still full after an ounce or two, but it seems like overall capacity returned faster this time than before. Could be part of the challenge.

I had a bypass for sever GRED also. I felt the same way that I had made a big mistake those 1st few weeks. Even though it’s done laparoscopically, it’s still a MAJOR surgery. I had a Fundalipacation 12 years prior to fix the GERD it eventually failed & my esophagus was now in an L shape so 1/2 of it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. My insurance covered it but I went to who they recommended (wish I would have known better). He is a great Thorasic surgeon but he’s not a bariatric surgeon. He told me to get all my info off of the internet 🙄 so I pieced together my own eating plan for the 1st 6-8 weeks. He did tell me that I would have to take a PPI for the rest of my life.

are you taking iron? That can also cause black stools. like others have said, you're still healing, so that might be all this is. If the stoma remains too tight (known as a stricture), that's an easy fix - they can stretch it out during an upper endoscopy. I had that done twice (strictures, when they occur, are almost always 1-3 months post-op - they're very rare once you're three months out)

Calm down, stop freaking out and breathe. I know that is easier said than done but try. I also had Bypass, hiatal hernia, severe GERD and nodules in my esophagus. I was not diagnosed with Barrett's but was told I was well on my way. I originally wanted the sleeve and my main reason was for weight loss and to hopefully not develop a ton of medical issues that hang around my family genes. After speaking with my surgeon at my first appointment, he explained that sleeve would likely worsen my GERD while bypass has a much better chance of resolving it. So, after some reading and further research I went with bypass. I had bypass, my hernia fixed, repairs and "trimming" of my esophagus all at once. Fast forward: I am not 4 months post op and have NO regrets or any issues. I did however experience that "stuck feeling" for about a week. I was told it was because my esophagus was narrow and needed time to heal and "loosen" back up after surgery. It did in fact go away, rather quickly. I also had minor spasms for a few days after surgery which also went away. You had more damage than me, it seems so you have to be paiteint and give your body time to heal. Everyone heals differently and you are still fresh out of surgery. I was on 2 prescriptions and eating tums daily and my GERD was still out of control. The day of surgery they stopped 1 prescription of acid meds and I was only taking prescription grade pepcid( Famotidine ). I was told that was standard for at least 2 months after surgery to give our stomachs time to heal and to help prevent ulcers. I have been off ALL GERD medications including the pepcid now for 2 months and still have no signs of GERD or any other acid issues. The meds are likely temporary to give your body time to heal and to act as preventative medication. The black stools are likely the bleeding and if you were on blood thinners, it would be worse. I assume you did some research before choosing your surgeon and trusted him/her. So, trust them. Give yourself the time to heal. Ulcers in general take a bit of time to heal, then adding the surgery and all the other issues you had before surgery. Give it some time. I hope it works out for you! Take it easy.

Three weeks out, you are still healing. Go to your GP, address your concerns. He should be able to tell you if something is going on above and beyond normal healing. Let him in on your symptoms AND your concerns. If he is good at his job, he will address any problems he sees with you, and/or tell you to wait a little longer. That said, I assume the overseas doc is sharing his files with someone on this side of the "pond."

My surgery was June 29th. While I am obese (217 pounds day of surgery), my main and desperate reason for surgery was that I have SEVERE GERD, Barrett's Esophagus, esophageal ulcer, nodules/tumors in esophagus , hiatal hernia-- all from the never ending GERD. My health insurance would NOT pay for my surgery. It's totally excluded no matter the reason. I was headed to esophageal cancer land and was desperate. So, I paid out of pocket and flew to the Netherlands to a really good surgeon and clinic. I am still here and fly home in a few days. For the most part, my pain has been super super easy. But I've had a few issues... and now I am so scared that I made the biggest mistake of my life! What if this surgery causes worse complications than what I had before? I am having severe anxiety reading about all the things that can go wrong...sometimes decades after surgery! This is what's been happening for me. I don't know if some of this could be from the hernia repair as well? If anyone has had that too , please can you share your story? This awful sensation that something is stuck in my throat all the time. It's like if you swallow a pill and it doesn't quite go down.. that. I have that and it is never ending. Esophageal spasms when I tried to eat more solid/less liquid food. Felt like food was stuck for two days. Had to have an emergency endoscopy. The endoscopy showed no food stuck but did show that my esophageal ulcer had not only not healed but was actively bleeding. It also showed that my opening between the new stomach and the intestines was a little narrow. They said it could be due to swelling and just needs time but that I should "keep and eye on it." She said she was able to get her scope down past it, but that was about as bit as it was and no bigger... I am worried about this? Black stools... which, now could mean that my ulcer was bleeding this whole time maybe? They took me off the daily blood thinner shots I was taking. I think it may be slowly getting better...I hope. Now they tell me back on only liquids for a couple more weeks. I am also now taking Nexium twice a day. 80 mg total! This makes me feel like crap. I thought this surgery was supposed to fix the acid? Does this mean it didn't work for me? Why do I have to take the acid meds for 6 months? I have so many questions. I am scared because my surgeon is here in another country. Meanwhile, I have to go home and try to find someone to help follow me in my healing, etc. I just feel really stupid now. My surgeons in the states (4 of them) all said that this surgery was the treatment of choice for me and could totally take away my really bad GERD issues and maybe even heal the stuff in my esophagus. Thank you so much for anyone who can offer some support or a similar story/reason for surgery.

Glad you are starting to feel better mentally! It really doesn't sound like dumping to me although I have never had it, it doesn't sound like what I was told in my class. I guess it could be different for everyone though. I had bad diarrhea for about the first week or so after surgery too. I don't know what it was from because it was random but it passed.